Last years Week 6 Prompt was ‘Favorite Name.’  I wrote about my 3rd Great Grandfather,   Lorenzo Dow Nerren

How am I going to top that one?  After a few moments, I remembered the name of one of Lorenzo Dow Nerren’s Granddaughters.

It has been documented by many about the birth of  Seawillow Margaret Ann Pipkin.  She was born on 22 Oct 1855 in Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas.  This is her story:

“The day Seawillow was born there was a disastrous flood on the Neches River in Beaumont, TX. The Rev. John F. Pipkin and his pregnant 2nd wife, Amelia Rabb and some of the family slaves were swept along on a raft. Just before the birth of his daughter, a human chain was formed by the slaves to fasten the raft to a Willow tree. The Rev. looked up through the branches of the Willow tree and gave thanks to God for the safe delivery of his daughter in the midst of the flood water. Thus the name Seawillow.
Seawillow grew up in Beaumont and became a school teacher in Luling and Lockhart. She married Littleberry Walker Wells and moved to a farm not far from his parents on Plum Creek. The farming community grew to have a small population with a general store and a church with an arbor. In 1899 when a post office was needed, the city was named Seawillow, Caldwell Co. TX. in her honor.She named one of her daughters Seawillow Lemon, and many of the Wells, Pipkin and family friends have named their daughters Seawillow.”

So how does her story fit into my family?  The granddaughter of Lorenzo Dow Nerren was named Berta Seawillow Nerren,  She was born on 24 Feb 1885 in Angelina County, Texas.  I have no proof, but I suspect the middle name Seawillow was in honor of an unknown person to them with a heartwarming story.