ABCs & Our Family Trees: Letter L

I have always been fascinated by language, specifically where it originates and how it adapts, mutates, and relates to other languages. That is why I found the recent series of blogs by Andrew’s Kindred so intriguing. It combined my love of etymology with my love of genealogy. I was so inspired, in fact, that I decided to try my to try my hand at chronicling the origins of our families’ surnames.

---

This is the eleventh installment of a series of posts documenting the etymology of many of our families’ surnames (recent and distant, direct and indirect.)

Now that the K names have been discussed, next up is the letter L:

Advertisements

Rev. Stephen Bachiler

My genealogical researches have uncovered dozens of devout ancestors. This is the first installment of a series of posts titled “Doing God’s Work: Our Families’ Faithful”, documenting the lives of those who served God.

---

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Rev. Stephen Bachiler was my spouse’s 11th great-grandfather. Unlike many of our family’s faithful, this man of the cloth was no stranger to scandal.

Born in 1561 in England, nothing is known of Stephen Bachiler’s childhood, including the names of his parents. What is known is that on 17 November 1581, he enrolled at Oxford University. He graduated from Oxford University’s St. John’s College five years later in 1586. He then entered the clergy, becoming the vicar of Wherwell, Hampshire in 1587.

Say What?

About a decade ago, I assisted a coworker with researching her family history. This coworker and I went to lunch, where she rattled off her family surnames. Between bites, I wrote down her information. That weekend, I started searching high and low for her missing kin.

250th Anniversary of the Mason-Dixon Line

On this day, 250 years ago—9 October 1767, the survey of the Mason-Dixon line was completed.

Starting in the early 1700s, my Noel-Ardinger and Taylor-Thomas lines and my spouse’s Spangler family settled in southern Pennsylvania and northern Maryland: Adams, Cumberland, Franklin, Lancaster, and York Counties, Pennsylvania and Carroll, Frederick, and Washington Counties, Maryland—on or near the Mason-Dixon line.

Anna L. (Spangler) Kenney

On this day, 29 September 1932, Anna “Annie” L. (Spangler) Kenney passed away. She was my spouse’s 2nd great-grandmother.

Anna L. Spangler was born on 10 September 1863, in Botetourt County, Virginia, to parents Charles David Spangler and Elizabeth Ann (Ann Elizabeth) Bryant.