What’s in a Name?

We have been unable to determine the origin of the street name “Caroline.” Other nearby streets took their names from individuals prominent in local affairs. Corcoran Street got its name from William Wilson Corcoran, one of the founders of the Corcoran & Riggs Bank, the predecessor of the recently departed Riggs Bank. George Washington Riggs, the other founding partner in the Corcoran & Riggs Bank, gave his name to Riggs Street and Place. Wallach Place takes its name from Richard Wallach, the mayor of Washington during the Civil War.[1] And Willard Street was named for Henry A Willard, who platted that square in 1868.[2]

The origin of Caroline Street’s name remains a mystery. Research indicates that Groff’s wife was named Susan. A suggestion that the street might have been named for the wife of a U.S. president from this post-Civil War era (Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877-1881, wife named Lucy; James A. Garfield, 1881, wife named Lucretia; and Chester A. Arthur, 1881-1885, wife named Ellen;) indicates no relationship. Diller Groff did have a daughter born in 1879. She is listed as Mary C on the 1880 census, and in the Rock Creek Cemetery records. (She died 18 October 1888.) Perhaps she was Mary Caroline, and known in the family as Caroline.

Further afield, preliminary research in the records of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, has not identified his parents. There are a number of Groff families of the right age, but Diller has not been located in any of them. However, there are cases of "Mary C" - perhaps one is a Mary Caroline. It was common among the Pennsylvania "Dutch" for both men and women to have a given name based on a family tradition or saint, and a second name that was actually used in everyday conversation - the "call name." (E.g., for over 100 years all male Gambers in Lancaster County were baptized "John." Of course it was necessary to have a "call name" to distinguish among them.)

Last update 21 October 2005