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Re: Thank you...
in reply to a message by Tiggs
How interesting. When I was a child living in a suburb of Buffalo, New York, there was a teenage girl who went to my church who was called "Chana" or "Channa" Smith. I don't remember how they spelled it, but it was pronounced to rhyme with Hannah. In her case this was a pet form of Christiana. The family explained that her older sisters couldn't pronounce Christiana when she was a baby and it came out as "Channa". She was the daughter of Henry P. Smith III, who was later a US Congressman. I can't find a reference to Channa herself on the Internet right now, but she was named after her father's mother, Christiana Long Smith, and you can find references to her here, explaining how Christiana Street in North Tonawanda was named after her:http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/citystreets.htmlSo yes, I do know of one case where a name similar to Chaney was used as a pet form of Christiana.
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Interesting indeed.Again, thank you so much for taking the time to assist. I'll have to look into this family and, maybe I can find a name-interested historian in Arkansas. I actually did contact the local Mason's lodge in Arkansas, asking them to look for old membership records, since the gravestone has their symbols on it. Still waiting to hear back and it's been a while, so I may have to pester them again. :)
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