My (Grand) Uncle “Sonny” tells the delightful tale of how a misunderstanding lead to the unusual combination of his first and middle names. Most assuredly, when my great grandfather told the doctor’s assistant to (just) give his tenth child the doctor’s name for a first name, he meant he should be given the doctor’s first name. (Or did he?) In great grandpa’s defense, I can imagine naming ten children was probably a bit of a daunting task. After all, the child would have to live with that decision for the rest of his or her life. And if you’d already used up all of your favorites, what’s a parent to do? Let someone else name him, of course. (I am not saying that is what happened, Uncle Sonny. I am just supposing.)

I suspect my 1st cousin, 4x removed, Legal Tender Deason, wished he’d been named after a doctor because he was born on the day his parents ran out of names. That day was August 6, 1885. In all seriousness, there is probably a very interesting story behind his name but it’s likely lost to the ages. Legal, who sometimes appears simply as “L.T.”, was the son of James and Mary (Almond) Deason. Born in Weakley County, Tennessee, he married Elizabeth Summers in 1910.

However he came by that name he thought enough of it to pass it on to his youngest son, Legal Tender Deason, Jr. I know from Legal Sr.’s death certificate that he was a “telephone operator” by trade. Secretly, I had hoped he might have a been a bank teller or cashier. His story is a tragic one for sure. He died from liver cancer at the age of 44, leaving behind a wife and six children. Little Legal never reached adulthood, dying at the age of three.

Legal must have liked having an unusual name. He continued the tradition giving three of his other sons the names Bernice, Dalton and Haron. I can’t speak for Dalton and Haron, but I am guessing Bernice might have been given some grief growing up. (Count yourself lucky, Uncle Sonny. You could have been Bernice Wendell.)

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 1st cousin, 4x removed
Common ancestors: Legal’s grandparents, John R. and Lydia (Turbeville) Deason, are my 4th great grandparents