Let's take a look!
#10 – Samuel Kosciusko Zook
I’m not sure this would have made it without that middle name. And that, of course, comes from Tadeuz Kosciusko, a Revolutionary War hero and kind of like a Polish Lafayette. Interestingly, Zook was not born with that middle name, but with the slightly more normal Kurtz.
Zook was from Pennsylvania, of Mennonite ancestry. A lifelong militia member, he was living in New York City when the Civil War broke out. There, he organized the 6th and then the 57th New York regiments. Zook fought in the Seven Days, and at Fredricksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. He would die of wounds received at that last one.
#9 – Alexander Schimmelfennig
14 letters! It’s a new world record. (Also, as far as I can tell this surname may actually mean “moldy penny”!)
Alexander Schimmelfennig was a Prussian soldier who ended up supporting the wrong side in the Revolution of 1848. He would then flee to Switzerland, be sentenced to death in absentia, and later move to England, where he would become involved with the Communist League, led by Marx and Engels. Emigrating to the US in 1854, he would get a job with the War Department.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Schimmelfennig organized a Pennsylvania regiment made of German speakers. He fought at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, then headed South to command the District of Charleston, accepting the surrender of the city when Sherman came through. Contracting a form of tuberculosis in the swamps around Charleston, he would die of the disease five months after the end of the war.
#8 – Wager Swayne
I’m wagering that first name is a family name, maybe even his mother’s maiden name. Unfortunately, it turns out that that was Smith. Hmm …
Wager Swayne was a real blue blood. His father was an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, and Wager himself went to Yale.
From Ohio, Swayne would serve with Ohio regiments in the Western Theater, including at Iuka and Corinth (where he won a Medal of Honor), then at Atlanta and with Sherman through Georgia and the Carolinas. Swayne was made a general less than a month before the end of the war, the last such appointment made before peace.
Swayne would then serve as the effective Reconstruction governor of Alabama, then as a corporate director before passing away in 1902 at age 1968.
#7 – Catharinus Buckingham
Is that a masculine equivalent of Catharine? Indeed it is, at least according to the Interwebs. They’re also telling me that it’s popular in Northern Europe – in particular, in the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Interestingly, though, the surname Buckingham – and this guy’s lineage in general – seems totally English.
Catharinus Buckingham is actually a descendent of Rufus Putnam, a fairly famous Revolutionary War general. Buckingham would grow up in Ohio, then attend West Point, where he would become a professor. He would then return to Ohio to teach at Kenyon College.
Buckingham served during the Civil War behind the scenes. His biggest claim to fame was carrying the orders to relieve McClellan.
After the war, Buckingham would return to teaching, writing and publishing several textbooks as well. He also tried his hand in the corporate world, managing steel works and an elevator company. He passed away in 1888, at the ripe old age of 80.
#6 – Amiel Weeks Whipple
Wow! Too bad that first name couldn’t be Waldo or Waylon or something else with a W.
I was thinking Amiel was a form of Emil, but it’s actually a separate name, has there syllables, and means “people of God” in Hebrew. Whipple? It’s English, and may trace back to a tree of the same name.
Amiel Weeks Whipple was from Massachusetts, and was a West Point grad. His main claim to fame would come before the Civil War, when he surveyed the Mexico-Arizona border following the Mexican-American War.
During the Civil War, he would lead the balloon reconnaissance unit, serve as McClellan’s chief topographical officer, command the defense of Washington DC, and then fight at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville (with the latter being where he would be killed in action).
He would live on in a couple of Army forts, some Arizona mountains, and several taxonomic names (including his own genus, Whipplea).
#5 – Pleasant Hackelman
Pleasant’s weird enough, but combine it with the distinctly unlyrical Hackelman … Pleasant, I suppose, means just what it says (and might very well be a surname). Hackleman, on the other hand, is the German equivalent of Hooker, for someone who made or used hooks.
An Indiana farm boy, Pleasant Hackleman would become a lawyer, judge, and state representative. Very much a political appointee at the start of the Civil War, Hackleman would be quickly involved in the disaster of Ball’s Bluff. Surviving that debacle (unlike commanding officer and ultimate political appointee Edward Baker), Hackleman would be shipped West, where he would die at the first real action he faced, at the Battle of Corinth.
#4 – Green Berry Raum
What were his parents thinking?
Green Berry Raum (I think I would have gone with initials if I were him) was a small-town Illinois lawyer when the War Between the States broke out. Somehow or other, he was made a major in the 56th Illinois regiment, becoming its colonel within the space if a year. Raum saw action at Corinth, Vicksburg, and during the Atlanta, Georgia, and Carolinas campaigns, getting wounded at Missionary Ridge.
Raum was even more active after the war. After a stint as president of a railroad, he would be elected to the US House, then act as head of the IRS and then as Commissioner of Pensions. Somehow or other, he also managed to write several books, all histories. He would pass away at the ripe old age of 80.
Hard to believe, but this guy found other politicians with the names of Green Berry Samuels and Green Berry Swango.
#3 – Speed Fry
Great name for a short order cook ...
It’s hard to believe that Speed is actually a real surname, but it is. One “famous” bearer of that name is former NASCAR driver Lake Speed. The name actually means “fortunate,” as in the expression “Good speed!” So, I’m guessing General Fry had a fortunate ancestor somewhere in his line.
As for Fry? It’s from the Old English word for a child, denoting someone who was as small as one. It’s where we get the expression “small fry” from.
Speed Fry was actually from Kentucky, a pretty Southern state these days but definitely a border state during the Civil War. A lawyer, he had previously fought in the Mexican-American War, and then was made a judge in the years after his return.
At the outset of the Civil War, Fry was made a colonel and subsequently raised a regiment, the 4th Kentucky. He fought at Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, and Murfreesboro.
His main claim to fame was his personally shooting the Confederate commander at the early battle of Mill’s Springs. Seems Gen. Felix Zollicoffer inadvertently wandered into a crowd of Yankees, and became an instant part of history.
By the way, there just so happens to be a Joshua Fry Speed out there. The two are both from the same rough period too, with Josh being famous mostly as a friend of Lincoln’s.
Even harder to believe, there just so happens to be another Speed Fry, a star athlete at Loyola H.S. in Los Angeles. Seeing as this kid’s full name is Speed Fry VI. I’m guessing these two might actually be related.
#2 – Zealous Tower
Tall maybe. Cell perhaps. Heck, I’d even go for Fawlty. Definitely not Zealous though.
Now, Tower is a legitimate surname, probably designating someone who lived in or near a tower. John Tower, a US Senator from Texas is the one famous Tower I can think of.
Zealous, though, might be a bit of a one-off. My guess is that it might have something to do with our man being from Massachusetts. The Puritans were famous for some pretty crazy names. I’m talking Increase Mather, Praise-God Barebones, and Preserved Fish!
Zealous Tower was a West Point graduate, graduating with honors. He distinguished himself in the Mexican-American War, then concentrated on engineering (including building the initial facilities at Alcatraz).
He would continue his engineering feats during the Civil War, most notably fortifying Nashville against John Bell Hood’s late incursion (or, as some scholars like to think of it, wild goose chase) into Tennessee. Tower also served in the field, getting wounded severely at 2nd Manassas.
Tower would remain in the Army after the war and up to retirement. He would pass on – like most of the guys in this post who survived the war (!?!?) – at 80.
#1 – Galusha Pennypacker
You know, James is a nice name. And so is William. Or John. Or Robert ...
Galusha’s an interesting one. I figured it was Hebrew, but it’s actually Celtic. It means “foreigner,” and is basically the equivalent of the English “Gallic.”
Pennypacker comes from the German Pannebacker, and means “tile baker.” I’m figuring those tiles were ceramic and went on the roofs of houses.
Galusha Pennypacker was from Pennsylvania. Though from a prominent family, he became an orphan in his teens, joining the Army at age 16. A year later, at the outbreak of the Civil War, he would help organize a company and become its captain.
Rising through the ranks, he would subsequently become the youngest general ever, at age 20, too young to vote for the president who appointed him!
Pennypacker saw action at Ft. Pickens, around Charleston, and then around Richmond and Petersburg. Near the end of the war, he gained a Medal of Honor at the capture of Ft. Fisher.
After the war, Pennypacker stayed with the Army for almost 20 more years. He died in 1916 at the age of 72. officially of his war wounds.
Honorable Mention
- Foreign intrigue – Philippe Régis Denis de Keredern de Trobriand, Wlodzimierz Bonawentura Krzyzanowski
- Alliterative absurdity – Montgomery Meigs, Adalbert Ames
- Mistaken identity – Napoleon Bonaparte Buford, Max Weber, Cassius Clay, Jefferson Davis
- 3 or more – Gustavus Adolphus Smith, Green Clay Smith, Egbert Ludovicus Viele, Americus Vespucius Rice, Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana
- Just more weirdness – Adin Underwood, Darius Couch, Gouvernour Morris, Melancthon Wade, Milo Hascall, Theophilus Garrard, Albin Schoepf, Cadwallader Washburn, Ambrose Burnside, Marcellus Crocker, Abner Doubleday, Isham Hanie, Friend Rutherford, Strong Vincent, Gershom Mott, Eliakim Scammon, Emerson Opdycke, Ferdinand Van Derveer
Next time – Confederates!
Hi Cliff! Thanks for giving my site (the Strangest Names in American Political History) a read. Got a good laugh out of your article and was familiar with most of the names you posted, Catharinus Putnam Buckingham being an old favorite..too bad he never ran for political office! Also please to note that you even have a few men listed (Pleasant Adam Hackleman, Egbert Ludovicus Viele, Speed Smith Fry, Cadwallader Colden Washburn and Americus Vespucius Rice) who went on to distinction in the political arena, Rice, Washburn and Viele being elected to Congress and Hackleman being an Indiana state representative. Rice was profiled on the site back in 2012 or so, along with several other politicians with that first name.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read about the Confederates, of which there are a number of curious ones floating around, States Rights Gist and Birkett Davenport Fry being particular favorites.