When people share the same name within a family, you’re facing genealogy’s classic same name challenge—transforming detective work into identity reconstruction. In my family tree, four William Dowlings span four generations, each carrying the name across different American experiences from 1839 to 1982. Distinguishing between them required more than just tracking dates—it demanded understanding how immigrant dreams evolved through generations, how geography shaped opportunity, and how the middle name “Bernard” became both blessing and complication.
William Dowling: The Irish Immigrant (1839-1893)
The original William Dowling crossed the Atlantic around 1857, a nineteen-year-old from Listowel, County Kerry, joining the wave of Irish emigrants fleeing famine’s aftermath (See: “William Dowling: A Young Listowel Lad in New York“). He settled in Brooklyn, where he married Ellen McAuliffe around 1864, another Listowel immigrant who had arrived the previous decade.
What distinguishes this William isn’t just his immigrant status—it’s the American trajectory he achieved through Brooklyn’s dry goods trade. City directory records chart his remarkable progression: peddler on Grand Avenue in 1866, clerk positions by 1869, and by the 1880s, proprietor of his own dry goods establishment at 295-297 Grand Avenue (See: “Hidden in Plain Sight: The City Directory Advantage“). His final residence at 236 Flatbush Avenue placed him in Brooklyn’s more prosperous neighborhoods, far from the crowded immigrant quarters where he likely began.
William’s life ended January 25, 1893, at age fifty-four, but not before raising six children including Thomas F. Dowling, who would father the next generation. The widower’s business success established economic stability that his descendants would build upon, though in remarkably different ways.
William F. Dowling: The Bachelor Political Activist (1866-1917)
William F. Dowling, born around 1866 to William and Ellen, represents the second-generation Irish-American experience entirely different from his father’s entrepreneurial path. He never married, never owned property, never built a business empire. Instead, he worked as a driver in Brooklyn’s hardware trade and poured his energy into Democratic political clubs that formed the backbone of Irish-American community life.
The records that distinguish William F. from his father and nephew aren’t business directories showing upward mobility—they’re newspaper notices of social and political activities. In 1890, he served as financial secretary of the Prospect Hill Pleasure Club, organizing their annual excursion. Two decades later in 1912, he worked the arrangement committee for the John J. Gabay Club’s ball.
Census records show him living with siblings rather than establishing his own household. By 1915, he resided as a roomer at 66 Fulton Street. Chronic cardiovascular disease claimed him June 29, 1917, at Kings County Hospital. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery alongside family members whose paths diverged dramatically from his bachelor existence.
What sets William F. apart methodologically isn’t just his unmarried status—it’s the complete absence of descendants and property records that typically distinguish same-named individuals. His identity emerges through association patterns, sibling relationships, and political club participation rather than family progression.
William Bernard Dowling: The Soldier Suburbanite (1901-1972)
My grandmother Julia Elizabeth Dowling Sten’s older brother William Bernard Dowling introduced a new element to the naming pattern: the middle name Bernard. Born September 9, 1901, to Thomas F. Dowling and Mary A. Plunkett, William Bernard grew up in Brooklyn’s Ward 29, but his life would follow a geographic arc his predecessors never imagined.
The defining characteristic distinguishing William Bernard from his grandfather and great-uncle wasn’t occupation or marital status—it was twenty years of National Guard service that bookended a geographic transformation. At seventeen, William enlisted December 9, 1918, just weeks after the Armistice. His military records document steady advancement: Private to Corporal by 1921, through various Quartermaster positions, reaching Captain by June 16, 1939. His final discharge came March 1, 1940, after distinguished service spanning the interwar years.
But geography provides the clearest distinction. While the first two Williams lived their entire lives in Brooklyn, William Bernard made a forty-mile journey that represented profound change. Between 1935 and 1940, he moved his family from Brooklyn to Buchanan, Westchester County. He traded urban immigrant neighborhoods for suburban space. The 1940 census places him in Cortlandt, working as a chauffeur while fulfilling National Guard duties from the Brooklyn arsenal. He maintained a dual presence across two counties.
When William Bernard died May 15, 1972, he was buried at Assumption Cemetery in Cortlandt, his final resting place forty miles from Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn where his grandfather and great-uncle lay. That geographic distance measured more than mileage—it captured the mid-century American migration from city density to suburban possibility.
William Bernard Dowling Jr.: The WWII Veteran (1926-1982)
The fourth William carried his father’s full name forward, born November 24, 1926, in Peekskill during his family’s transition to Westchester County. William Bernard Jr. grew up entirely in suburban Buchanan, never experiencing the Brooklyn neighborhoods that shaped his grandfather’s and great-great-grandfather’s lives.
His military service distinguished him from all previous Williams. While his father served stateside in the National Guard, William Jr. entered the U.S. Navy during World War II’s final year, earning him burial at Long Island National Cemetery in Calverton—a veterans’ cemetery that didn’t exist when his father completed National Guard service.
The 1946 draft registration captures William Jr. at nineteen: 6 feet 1½ inches, 162 pounds, blue eyes, brown hair, light complexion with freckles, scars on his right hand and forehead. These physical descriptions provide the kind of distinguishing details genealogists crave when census records list only names and ages.
After naval discharge in July 1946, William married Laura M. Robison in April 1948, worked as a purser, and raised his daughter Barbara in Buchanan. When he died January 19, 1982, at fifty-five, his burial among fellow veterans honored his naval service. This final resting place differentiated him from the chauffeur-captain father, the political activist great-uncle, and the immigrant merchant great-great-grandfather.
Solving the Same Name Genealogy Challenge
Distinguishing four William Dowlings required every professional genealogy technique. The FAN Principle—studying Friends, Associates, and Neighbors—proved essential when William F.’s political club memberships separated him from business-owning relatives. Geographic tracking revealed the Brooklyn-to-Westchester migration that distinguished third and fourth generation from first and second. Military records provided explicit proof through service numbers and discharge dates that couldn’t be confused.
But the most powerful distinguishing factor emerged from generational patterns. The Irish immigrant built a business. His son eschewed business for political community. Military service combined with urban-suburban migration defined his grandson’s life. The great-grandson served in actual combat, lived entirely in suburbs, and died youngest of all four Williams.
The middle name “Bernard” both helped and complicated identification. It clearly separated William Bernard (1901-1972) and William Bernard Jr. (1926-1982) from earlier Williams—until records abbreviated “William B. Dowling” or listed “W.B. Dowling” without expansion, requiring full military records or death certificates to confirm the middle name’s presence.
These four men shared a given name across 143 years of American history, from Irish immigrant peddler to WWII Navy veteran. Yet each lived such distinct lives that confusion became impossible once I understood what made each William unique. The differences weren’t just birth years—they were different American dreams, different geographies, different relationships to community and country. This same name genealogy challenge taught me that the name connected them while everything else set them apart.
YOUR TURN!
Facing your own same-name challenge? Remember: your ancestors were more than names on a page. Look beyond vital dates to occupation patterns, geographic movements, military service, and community connections. The distinguishing details aren’t always obvious—sometimes they’re buried in city directories, political club notices, or the middle name a father passed to his son. Keep digging until each person emerges as an individual, not just a duplicate entry.
- “Kirsten M. Max-Douglas Family Tree,” database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/69485656/family: accessed 28 November 2025). ↩︎
- New York City, Department of Health, Certificate of Death no. 1429 (1893), City of Brooklyn, William Dowling, died 25 January 1893; imaged, “New York City Deaths, 1866-1948,” database with images, MyHeritage (https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-20808-3128091/william-dowling-in-new-york-city-deaths : accessed 6 July 2024). ↩︎
- “Prospect Hill Pleasure Club,” Brooklyn Citizen, 29 September 1890, page 6; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-prospect-hill-pleas/185556367/ : accessed 28 November 2025). ↩︎
- New York City, Department of Health, Certificate of Death no. 13386 (1917), William F. Dowling, died 29 June 1917; imaged, “New York City Deaths, 1866-1948,” database with images, MyHeritage (https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-20808-3176674/william-f-dowling-in-new-york-city-deaths : accessed 7 July 2024). ↩︎
- New York City, Department of Health, Certificate of Birth no. 16368 (1901), Borough of Kings (Brooklyn), William Dowling, born 9 September 1901; imaged, New York City Department of Records & Information Services, Municipal Archives (https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov/view/1261163 : accessed 28 November 2025). ↩︎
- New York, Adjutant General’s Office, military service card, William Bernard Dowling, born 9 September 1901, Pvt Co H 14 Inf (9 December 1918) to HD (1 March 1940); imaged, “New York, U.S., Military Service Cards, 1816-1979,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2340/images/40648_420302988_0279-03790 : accessed 28 November 2025). ↩︎
- U.S., Selective Service System, World War II draft registration card, serial number W-193A, William Bernard Dowling, born 24 November 1926, residing 169 Second Street, Buchanan, West, New York, registered 23 July 1946; imaged, “U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2238/images/44028_02_00059-01380 : accessed 28 November 2025). ↩︎
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