Edward is Not Eddie and Eddie is Not Edward

This is one of those rare times when I am not posting about a family I am actually working on. I stumbled across this information while looking for signatures in the "Arkansas First Draft Registrations 1940-1945" on FamilySearch to post on Daily Genealogy Transcriber. This was one of those times when I was strolling through images on one of my family names just to see how others signed the names. None of my Tinsleys were in Arkansas, but I really wasn't looking for relatives.

It was then that I became just a little confused.

The card below is for Eddie Tinsley born in 1897 in Arkansas. There was no signature on the card that was actually Tinsley's, so I progressed to the back of his card that has the physical information.

 Then I progressed to the next card for an Edward Tinsley.

I thought it was odd--this card had no signature either and the commentary about the signature appeared to be the same as the card I had just seen. I looked at the back of the card and this Edward Tinsley had a small knot on the back of his right hand.

I then went back to the first card. The "signature portions are the same (except one is Eddie and one is Edward):

I really thought I was seeing double. And it looked like I was.

The upper right hand portion of the front of each card appears to have the word "twin" written on it. The color also appears to be different and it could be that the original writing was done in pencil.

I wasn't seeing things. The physical descriptions of the men are also different.

The apparent family's 1900 census entry in 1900 is shown below. Note the sons Edward and Eddie in the Burrell Tinsley household.

Census Place: Choctaw, Lincoln,Arkansas; Roll: 65; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0118

What you think is a nickname may not be. Sometimes Eddie is Eddie and Edward is Edward and never the twain shall meet---they'll just share the same parents (at least in this case).

Lesson: watch those nicknames and diminutives. I almost thought Eddie was wrong. It wasn't.

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I'm a strong believer in citations and in my work (and in Casefile Clues) I cite material in the spirit of Evidence Explained. Here on the Rootdig blog, I have a different philosophy. Posts made here have enough information that the reader could locate where the material was obtained.