In 1708, a baby boy named Return was born in Guilford, Connecticut.
His parents were Janna Meigs (1672-1739) and Hannah Willard (1674-1749), and he was the fifth of ten children: Janna, Josiah, Jehiel, Hannah, Return, Hester, Silence and Submit (twin girls), Timothy and Eunice.
There’s a story behind Return’s name. That much I know. But so many different versions of the story exist that there’s no telling which one is true.
The most common version starts with Janna proposing marriage to Hannah. She rejects him. (Many sources say this happened repeatedly.) Just as he’s about to ride off, she changes her mind and calls after him, “Return, Janna, return!” He does. They wed. And when they welcome their fifth child, they name him Return in honor of that moment.
Other versions of the story are quite different. One patriotic attempt claims the baby was born during the Battle of Concord (1775), and that “Return, Janna, return” was Hannah’s cry for her husband to come home from battle. Too bad the baby was already 67 years old at that point.
The name has since been handed down to more than a dozen of Return’s descendants, including Return’s son Return Jonathan Meigs, Sr. (b. 1740) and grandson Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr. (b. 1764), who served as governor of Ohio in the early 1810s.
Sources:
- “Dr. Meigs of Lowell Is Dead.” Telegraph [Nashua] 6 Apr. 1931: 1.
- Janna Meigs (1672-1739) – Find a Grave
- Return J. Meigs (#90) – Meigs Family History and Genealogy
- The 1st-6th Meigs Generations – Meigs Family History and Genealogy