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I'm doing family research and have hit a dead end. The dead end in question is listed on Virginia land records from the mid to late-1700's as being called Jesse G- but I can't find a birth record. I'm pretty sure I know who his family was because of unusual family names, and while there were no Jesses in that line who were born in the 17th or 18th century there were plenty of men named John and James.

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So here's the question: Was Jesse ever used as a nickname for John or James? Or something else? If it matters at all, Jesse G- was from a family that likely originated in Lancashire, along the English border with Wales or along the Welsh border with England. The surname is probably Norman-English.