In the "olden days", it seemed to be so common to refer to a woman as Mrs. John Homebody and it really messes a person up when doing genealogy. It must have been a more formal distinction. But just sharing--my grandmother was a stickler for being proper. Her reference was that a woman is Mrs. John Homebody, not Mrs. Betty Homebody. Mrs. only refers to the husband's name, not her own.--not married to herself!