Early on in the research of my wife’s family history the name “Meckie Braley or Brahle” came up and being unfamiliar with how internet genealogy works, I accepted that as a true name and then moved on. Unfortunately, like conspiracy theories, incorrect genealogical interpretations spread like wildfire across the web.
So, of course the person who has been misnamed “Meckie” certainly does or did actually exist. The problem is with the name “Meckie” being applied to him.
Johan Friedrich Brahle was born in Württemberg, Germany around 1810. In 1832 he boarded the ship “Marcus” and sailed from Rotterdam, Netherlands and sailed with many other legal immigrants to Sag Harbor, New York. Sometime between 1836 and 1840, Fredrick married Elizabeth Edwards (maiden name presumed to be Grounds) from Missouri. She was a widow with two daughters from that first marriage: Sarah and Elizabeth Edwards.
In the 1850 Census, “Frederick Braily” and Elizabeth are living in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. Sarah and Elizabeth are with them and misidentified as also being Braleys. The first two of their sons together, George and James are also born at this time.
1860 they are not to be found in the census records (yet), but I’m sure they are out there somewhere — name misspellings are more common than mis-readings, so hopefully that’s all that’s probably keeping them hidden.
Come 1870 and “Fred Braly” is in Bossier Parrish, Louisiana. Sarah (Camp) and Elizabeth (Miller) have married and moved on and all five boys are in the household: George, James, William, Jessie, and Benjamin.
Sometime between 1870 and 1880, Elizabeth has passed away, the boys are grown, and the myth of Meckie is born. “Fredrick Braley” and two sons James and William (30 and 29 respectively) are living together in Webster Parish (newly formed in 1871 from Bossier, Claiborne, and Bienville parishes). George and family are living next door as well. At least they got the last name correct for the first time.
Admittedly at first blush, it’s very easy to see how the scrawled “Fredric” can look like “Meckie” — fooled me initially too. But on closer inspection and comparing the handwriting on the rest of the same page (since it’s by the same person), Fredrick is clearly what was written. The Ms and Fs for male and female show that the first letter is definitely an F. Once you overcome that mental hurdle, the lower case “r” is apparent. Those two letters are distinct when you see it, but they are close enough together to hint at being an “M”, but they are definitely not. From there, the rest of “Fredric” falls into view.
So no Meckie Braley/Braily/Braly/Brahle exists. This is the only source where the confusion creeps in, yet the Myth of Meckie has been repeated countless times and in countless trees — even in official sites like Ancestry and FamilySearch.
Sadly, Fredrick Braley’s life ends about 1888, the same year as his firstborn son. By account, Fredrick took his own life by shotgun to end physical suffering from an unknown (to us) ailment. But his legacy lives on in many, many descendants.