A question unanswered

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 19, May 7 – 13, 2026
#52ancestors
Prompt: A question the records can’t answer 

Sidney E McCarley was born to Mitchel W. and Nancy R. McDuffie McCarley on December 29, 1873.  Despite an extensive search of every record found on Sidney, no record reveals what middle name the E represents. Not even his children knew what the E stood for as he refused to answer any questions about it. 

Almost every record searched listed him as Sidney E. McCarley. There are a few records that don’t list him as Sidney E or Sid.  One is the 1900 Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory Census when he was 26 years old. It very clearly says, Sidney J McCarley.  The other record is his WWI draft registration. He signed it, Sidney Johnston McCarley.  The 1900 Indian Territory census (different from the Chickasaw Nation Census) lists him as Sidney J. McCarley. Maybe he was experimenting with a new middle name in 1900 or was his name Sidney E Johnston McCarley?  Johnston sounds like a surname, but none of his ancestors carried that name, so where did it come from? 

There has been some speculation that the E stands for Ezekiel because his great grandfather’s name was Ezekiel. His father didn’t know his grandfather, so would his father have named Sidney after a man that died before he was born? The E was there when he was a child and carried throughout his life.  His son, Carl, listed his father as Sidney E (only) McCarley on his WWII draft registration card. When Sidney refused to tell his children what the E stood for, he didn’t say he only had an initial for his middle name.   Two of his other boys, Floyd and Wilbern listed his name on their draft registrations as Sidney E. McCarley. 

The records haven’t revealed his name yet, and they may never reveal the answer. This is one time I would really like to talk to his parents because I know he wouldn't tell me.