Sugar Grove: Four Classifications Helped Determine Origin of Names

By Paula Mitchell

Many of the residents of Pendleton County are of Germanic origin.  Many have at least one in their ancestral lines.  How the Germanic names were Anglicized was often determined by the sound the clerks thought the name sounded similar to it in English. 

The Germanic surnames were generally classified four ways:  occupation, relations, descriptive and geographical.  More of the family names were derived from occupation.  Many could be identified in the name ending in “er”, meaning “one who.”

Here are some examples:

Bauer (farmer) — Bower, Bowers;

Baumann (farmer, builder) — Bowman;

Becker (baker) — Baker;

Hartmann (land farmer) — Hartman;

Huber (owner of small farm) — Hoover;

Klein (short, small) — Cline or Kline;

Kuper (cask maker) — Cooper;

Kaster (sexton) — Custer;

Mueller (miller) — Miller  (The most common name in Germany and Switzerland.);

Schaeffer (shepherd) — Shafer, Shaver or Sheffer;

Schenck (dup-bearer) — Shank or Shenk; 

Schmidt (blacksmith — Smith;

Schneider (tailor) — Snyder, Taylor;

Schumacher (cobbler, shoemaker) — Shoemaker or Shumaker;

Wagner (wagoner) — Wagner; and

Weber (weaver) — Weaver or Weber.

Many of these surnames still exist in Pendleton County.

Daily instructions for life include the following:

1. What others think of a person is none of one’s business.
2. Time heals everything, so give it time.
3. Live with gratitude.
4. Don’t chase material things.
5. Surround oneself with happy people. 

Quotes for the week are as follows:

“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly having exciting discoveries.” — A.A. Milne

“We should all do what in the long run gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.” — E.B. White

“There is no charm equal to tenderness of the heart.” — Jane Austen

“Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” — Theodore Roosevelt

Life is better by the fireplace to hear the “Talk of the Grove.:

The Sugar Grove Maple Leaves 4-H Club held its monthly meeting. They had a special presenter, Brenna Mitchell, who taught the club members about magnets.

Visiting Evelyn Varner Sunday afternoon were Cheyanne and Bentley Varner. Also visiting her Sunday evening were Terry Harper and Janet Judy.

Motoring to North Carolina over the weekend to visit Danny and Rhonda Niday were Roger and Reda Shrewsberry and Eugene and Cindy Varner.

It must be that March came in like a lamb and is planning to go out like a lion.  There simply is no other explanation for the turn of events for the weather that the residents have been experiencing this past week.  There was a stark raving freeze, with snow showers over the weekend, that wrenched any notion of early bloom from the trees and shrubs.  

Clickety-clacks for the chin wagers are as follows:

• The Procrastinator’s Club of America sends news to its members under the masthead “Last Month’s Newsletter.”
• The piece that protrudes from the top end of an umbrella is called a “ferrule.”
• To clean tarnished copper bottoms of pots and pans, spread a little ketchup onto the bottom. Let it sit for about one minute. Wipe it clean and rinse.
• The average person falls asleep in seven minutes and is about a quarter-of-an-inch taller at night.
• The longest reigning monarch in history was Pepi II, who ruled Egypt for 90 years (2566-2476 B.C.).

Marleta Wimer was a visitor of Rosalee Grogg.

April birthdays include Charlie Marie Hoover first; Willy Fisher, Judy Austin and Nancy Evick, second; Greg Hoover, third; Derek Crider, fourth; Wesley Puffenbarger and Danielle Hoover, fifth; Davie Simmons and Keith Kiser, sixth; Margaret Sasscer, Judy Rader and Wes Eye, seventh; Junior Homan, eighth; John Todd, Vera Teter and Josh Parker, ninth; Sherry Wilfong and Thelma Puffenbarger, 10th; Jim Holstein and Mike Alt, 11th; Ruth Craig, Lisa (Greg) Jamison and Landon Bowers, 12th; Dustin Simmons, 14th; and Terry Simmons, Frankie Roberson and Beth Propst, 15th.

Concerns for this week are as follows: the Paul Bennett family, Scherry Chambers,  Charlotte Copley, Jeff Craig, Joy Darnell, Jeff Evick, Lee Roy and Ina Evick, the Elsie Eye family, Mary Eye, Ron Gilkeson, Lola Graham, Marlene Harman, Ramona Harman,  Steve and Armanda Heavner, Starr Hedrick, Winona Judy Hewitt, Lorena Hoover, Myrtle Hoover, Alice Johnson, Richard Judy, Margaret Kiser, Rex Landis, Jay Linaburg, Angela Lung, Linda Malcolm, Morris and Sue Mallow, Yvonne Marsh,  Willard May, Neil McLaughlin, Naomi Michael,  Joe Moats, Lincoln Moore, Ernie Morgan, the Reid Murphy family, Aaron Nelson,  Kathy Nelson, Ken and Ruth Nelson,  Cheryl Paine, Sutton Parrack, Betty Lou Propst, the Garry Propst family, Kara Propst, Linda Propst, Nathan Propst, Sheldon Propst, Bryer Puffenbarger, Eldon Puffenbarger, Willard Rader, Don Rexrode, Donna Ruddle, Barbara Simmons, Chloe Simmons, Erin Simmons, Eva Simmons, Ona Smith, Stanna Smith, Steve Smith, Berlie Sponaugle, Patricia Swecker, Harry Lee Temple, Charlotte Thompson, Rosa Tichenor,  Sandra Vandevander, Jack Vogel, Amby Waybright, Jr., Ron White, Judy Williams, Larry Wimer, Carol Windett and the people of Ukraine.