Johannes Jacob Rieth or Horce Rieth

[robang66]

My husband's 7x grandfather has been traced to Johannes Jacob Rieth, born in Gemany in 1770, dying in Pennsylvania in 1848, buried in Orwigsburg PA.  I have now seen trees indicating that he was 'Johannes Horace' with the same dates, marriage, children.  Question:  Could 'Horace' have been a name used commonly instead of 'Jacob' almost a nickname?  Similar to Jane and Janet in the UK.  I have found no other reference to a Johannes Horace Rieth. Thanks.

[Lisa in California]

I am not familiar with Germany ancestry.  After a brief search, I cannot find any connection on the internet between Jacob and Horace.

This appears to be your husband's ancestor's headstone:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=66286739
It indicates that he was born in 1770 and died in 1846.  Buried Orwigsburg.
Did your Johannes pass away in 1848?

The information provided on the link states that one of his son's was named Johannes, Jr. and his headstone reads "John J. Reed".  It would suggest that their middle names were not Horace.

The link also states that your Johannes' father was Johann.  Was your Johannes' father living in the same community in America with his son?  If so, perhaps your Johannes was known as Horace to help identify which Johannes people were referencing (since there were three generations)?

A friend of our family was known as Annie.  I found out years later that her name wasn't Ann/Annie; they just liked that name as a nickname.  Also, a relative of ours was known as "Sam" which I thought was an odd nickname for a girl.  I finally found out it stood for her initials.  I guess people have their own reasons for using nicknames, if in fact Horace was a nickname/substitute for Jacob.

I am interested in reading what others might have to say about this topic.

[robang66]

Thanks so much for your quick reply.  I agree with your idea  (it certainly solidifies my data).  I really worried that I had been searching down the wrong branch inadvertently, but everything else fits in perfectly.  I, too, will be interested to see if anyone else has any ideas.  Thanks again.  Robang