The Dafler Boys

One of the family trends that Johann Wolfgang and Rosanna Catherine Dörfler immediately diverted from in America was the practice of rigidly-controlled first and middle names. Take a look at Johann Wolfgang's siblings and see if you spot the pattern:

This naming pattern is repeated across generations of Dorflers (refer to Appendix B of Daflers in America: an Introduction to observe it for yourself). This veritable pile of Johanns, Annas and Margarethas is impressive in its consistency. It would have been natural and understandable if they had continued the pattern here. Instead, observe the names they chose for the first generation of American Daflers:

These names share two characteristics: they are all distinctly non-German, and the boy names are remarkably specific. Where in the world could they have found these combinations of names? I can’t answer that for all of the names, but in my research I found some clues that are too close for coincidence:

Melchior Harrison Dafler. By the time Melchior was born in 1861, the Dafler family had moved to their second and final property in Hampstead Township of Carroll County, Maryland. Their property was listed in an 1867 county map, now viewable via the Library of Congress. Here's an image showing a portion of the map:

The Daflers had a farm north of Houcksville (look to the right of the "P" in "Hampstead" to find it), and one of the neighboring farmers to the northeast was named Melchior Harris. Census records indicate Harris was a farmer, had five children, and would have been about 36 at the time of Melchior Harrison's birth.

Lewis Phillip Dafler. Born in 1853, Lewis also seems to be named after a farmer. Lewis Phillips appears in the 1850 and 1860 census in Woolerys Township (east of the first Dafler farm). Phillips was 22 when Lewis Phillip Dafler was born; by 1860 he and his wife had a 6-month-old daughter.

David Henry Dafler. A local farmer's son was eighteen years old when the Dafler family had their second son in 1845. This David Henry lived near the original Dafler home in Westminster Township. Henry had five children and died in Ohio; three of his children have links to Preble or Darke County.

John Earhart Dafler. There are several John Earharts in Carroll County, making selection of a single namesake somewhat difficult. A 25-year-old John W. Earhart appears in the 1850 census in Taneytown Township, employed as a merchant. He would have been 17 at the time of the birth of the first American Dafler child. By 1860 he was a surveyor with a one-year-old daughter.

Taken as a set, these names will indicate that the young Dafler family, far from their birthplace and ancestors, found a surrogate family in their neighbors and fellow worshippers. They found a way to memorialize these relationships in a manner somehow more permanent than paper and pencil - by embedding their closest friendships into the fabric of their family.