One of the great challenges of a genealogist is women and their married names. I know I have my fair share of LNUs: Last Name Unknown.

 

So Stephen and I were delighted when we discovered a remarkable tradition in Baton Rouge. Women used their maiden names extensively after marriage. We saw this in probate, e.g. Jane Catherine Tidwell married twice; once to a Robertson and once to a Jemeyson, yet her probate is listed as Jane Catherine Tidwell. We saw this on tombstones. Many times a woman was listed as "Mary Jane Doe, wife of John Smith." And we saw it on land records, law suits and other official instruments.

 

Maybe it was a French/Spanish tradition. Maybe it was a class issue; a woman of a good family used her maiden name to promote he pedigree so to speak. Whatever the reason, I have never seen it before. What a great help it was to research!