Previously, I have mentioned the challenges with researching a popular surname like ‘Cooper’. There are 4 consecutive generations of ‘Justinian’ Cooper in my lineage, which has been very helpful with such a unique given name. However, there were some obstacles along the way to finding those 4 generations of Justinian’s. The issue was that of the 4 generations baptized, two of the four were listed as ‘Jesse’ in the records! Going back in time the given names at baptism were Justinian in 1670, ‘Jesse’ in 1699, Justinian in 1734 and ‘Jesse’ in 1775. The conclusion I arrived at is that ‘Justinian and Jesse’ were interchangeable as given names.
