This weeks challenge is “Favorite Name.”   I will need to go back the the early 1800’s to find my favorite name.

My 4th great grandparents were John Nerren (1800-1852) and Elizabeth Mooney (1806-1876.)  They had 10 known children, 6 males and 4 females.   Their names were typical of the era;  Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, William, James, John, Sarah, Mary, Eliza, Margaret and then that one person with a name that didn’t fit in.  That person’s name was Lorenzo Dow Nerren (1832-1916), my 3rd great grandfather.

Where did that name come from?  Well, after a Google search, it became very apparent.  He, along with 1000’s of men of his generation, were named after Lorenzo Dow, “an eccentric itinerant American evangelist, said to have preached to more people than any other preacher of his era. He became an important figure in the Second Great Awakening and a popular writer. His autobiography at one time was the second best-selling book in the United States, exceeded only by the Bible. ” (Note 1)

Carlisle Weekly Herald (Carlisle, Pennsylvania) · Wed, May 28, 1834 · Page 1

Note 1:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Dow