Surname Saturday - Barwick

Today, I asked ChatGPT, "Can you share the origins of the surname "Barwick" in the southeast of the United States, including Georgia?"

  It did not disappoint.  

"The surname "Barwick" in the southeastern United States, including Georgia, traces its origins to the early settlers William B. Barwick Sr. [should be Jr] (1755–1807) and his wife, Elizabeth Phillips (1760–1820). Originally from North Carolina, they relocated to the Cheraw District (later Darlington County), South Carolina, around 1785. William Sr. [should be Jr]  was a Revolutionary War soldier, serving in the Dobbs County, NC Militia during the late 1770s and early 1780s. ​Find a Grave, Freepages

The couple had fifteen children, nine of whom were sons who carried on the Barwick name. Following Elizabeth's death in 1820, disputes over the family estate led several of their sons to migrate southward:​

• William B. Barwick Jr. (1795–1855): He moved to Thomas County, Georgia, where he became one of the first settlers in the area now known as Barwick, Georgia. The town was named in honor of the Barwick family. ​Find a Grave

• Nathan, Benjamin, and Redden Barwick: These brothers also relocated to South Georgia, contributing to the spread of the Barwick surname in the region. ​

The town of Barwick, Georgia, established in the early 1890s with the extension of the railroad, is divided by the county line between Brooks and Thomas Counties, and it was named after R.H. Barwick, a Primitive Baptist leader, further cementing the Barwick legacy in the area. ​Wikipedia

Today, many individuals bearing the Barwick surname in Georgia and Florida can trace their ancestry back to these early settlers, reflecting a rich family history intertwined with the development of the southeastern United States."

  My further research this afternoon indicates that this information is true and (mostly) correct. 

  In following the sources that ChatGPT used, I found the Surname DB (The Internet Surname Database) which gives some information on the origins of the name Barwick.  According to the site, the name Barwick is an English locational name from Barwick in Norfolk and Somerset. Its place name variations include: Bereuuica (Norfolk), "Berewyk" (Somerset), Berrick, Berwick, and Borwick. All of these derive from the Olde English pre-7th century "berewic," a corn farm, composed of "bere," barley, corn, and "wic," an outlying farm; as in "granary lying some distance away from the main village." Names based on location were originally given as a means of identification to those who left their village or place of origin to settle elsewhere.  Barwick is first recorded in the 13th century. Of course, surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England, this was known as the Poll Tax.  Surnames have continued to "develop" over the centuries, often leading to surprising variants of the original spelling.  

  William B. Barwick Jr.'s son, Nathan Barwick (1782-1868), moved to Emanuel County shortly after marrying his wife, Elizabeth Whiddon (1782-1880), in 1810.  Their son, William Whiddon Barwick (1819-1869) married my 4th grand-aunt, Winnford 'Winny' Odom (1821-1864). 

  Through  the years, the Barwicks have inter-married with Drakes, Keas, Odoms, Tapleys, etc. several times, so I have LOTS of cousins on this line!  Barwick is the 13th most popular surname in my tree with 215 individuals.  The earliest date for a Barwick in my tree is 1731 and the latest date is 1961.

Logo of the City of Barwick
courtesy of 
cityofbarwick.org

Family Surname: Schwall or Schwalls

The surname Schwall is German in origin.  Germans began to use surnames in the 1400s.  Occupational names were the most common, but nicknames and location names were also used.

Every village had similar trades (or occupations) from which people took their surnames, so people from different German villages who had the same trade and therefore the same surname are not necessarily related.

Today, German surnames have undergone many spelling changes, especially as Germans have immigrated to the United States.  In my own family's instance, my ancestor added an "S" to Schwall in order to differentiate himself from his cousin living in the next county over. 

The word "schwall" means "flood" in German.  Does this give me a hint as to where the name came from?  Maybe.  In the course of my research, I came across the origin of the name.  It was based on location, perhaps a swamp or swamp-like land.  Unfortunately, I did not copy the information I found, nor did I record the source, and now have no way of knowing exactly what it said.  A lesson learned. 

In my online research, I find this origin and meaning multiple times:

"South German:  habitational name from places so named in Nassau and the Rhineland."

So what the heck does THAT mean?  Well, it does provide clues...

Habitation is a place of residence or a colony or settlement.  So the adjective habitational would describe the surname as a name from a place of residence or colony or settlement.  

Nassau is a town located in the German State of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz in German). It is about 60 miles southwest of Bonn.

Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. 

The Rhineland lies in West Germany along both banks of the middle Rhine River.  It borders on the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. 

So this gives me a possible area that my Schwalls ancestor was from.  However, that is a lot of ground to cover which would be oh so much easier if I had any idea what village or town or city where George Schwalls was born.  I do believe it might be in the correct vicinity considering this:  The state of Rhineland-Palantinate was established in 1946.  It was formed from the northern part of the French Occupation Zone, which included parts of Bavaria... (italics added).  This is significant because on one single document I have managed to locate during my research, George indicated he was from Bavaria.  So even though this German state was formed almost 100 years after he left the country, it still gives me a clue as to the general location he may hail from.  

Another clue is that Rhineland-Palantinate has supplied immigrants to many parts of the world.  The Pennsylvania Dutch spoken by the Amish in the United States is derived from the German dialect spoken in the Rhineland-Palatinate, which many Palatine refugees brought to the colony in the early decades of the 18th century.  Family lore insists that our Schwalls were "Dutch." 

I have information about only 4 generations of my maternal Schwalls line:

- George W. Schwalls Sr.

My 2nd great-grandfather.  He was born 01 Jan 1837 somewhere in Germany and died 21 Jan 1908 in Johnson County, Georgia.  He married (1) in 1866 in Edgefield County, South Carolina, Lincelia E. Claxton, born 10 Apr 1839 in Edgefield County.  She died 18 Jan 1882.  They had seven children: 

 Susan M. Schwalls
Linnie Schwalls
Charlie Milton Schwalls
William Louis Schwalls
Mattie Schwalls
M. M. Schwalls
George W. Schwalls Jr

George married (2) 16 Jul 1883 in Johnson County, Georgia, Mary J. Williams, born 15 Mar 1851 Georgia.  She died 14 Mar 1922.  They had six children:

Hattie Barbara Schwalls
Dillie Schwalls
Samuel Thomas Schwalls
Rosa Schwalls
Rufus E. Lester Schwalls 
Lizzie Lee Schwalls  

- Mattie Schwalls

 
My great-grandmother.  She was born 25 May 1877, presumably in Johnson County, Georgia.  She married 18 Nov 1903 in Johnson County, Lusion Keman Tapley, born 31 Mar 1870 in Johnson County and died 3 Jul 1935 in Wadley, Jefferson County, Georgia.  They had the following children: 

James Tillman Tapley  
Charles Morgan Tapley
Champ Lusion Tapley
Woodrow Tapley (died shortly after birth)

Mattie passed away 26 Apr 1912 after giving birth to Woodrow.

- Charles Morgan Tapley

 

 My grandfather was born 27 Jun 1907 in Johnson County, Georgia and died 12 Nov 1973 in Swainsboro, Emanuel County, Georgia.  He married (1) 27 Jun 1928 in California, Gladys Ruth Van Cleave, born 31 Jul 1909 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and died 01 Dec 1987 in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California.  They had two children.  Charles married (2) 03 Dec 1939 in Redlands, San Bernardino County, California, Ethel Irene Ranney, born 06 Jul 1913 in Elsie, Clinton County, Michigan and died 12 Nov 1973 in Dublin, Laurens County, Georgia.  They had the following child:

- Linda Irene Tapley

My mother was born in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California.  She and my father had the following children:

  Michael Edward Tapley
 
- And ME. 

Sources:

Ancestor Search, Free Dictionary of Surname Origins & Last Name Meanings, German Surname Origins & Genealogy Resources, http://www.searchforancestors.com/surnames/origin/germansurnames.html

British Surnames and Surname Profiles, Schwall, Classification and Origin of Schwall,  http://www.britishsurnames.co.uk/surnames/SCHWALL/origin

Family Education, NameLab, Schwall, http://genealogy.familyeducation.com/surname-origin/schwall

Dictionary.com, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/habitational

Rhineland-Palatinate. (2013, May 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 9, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rhineland-Palatinate&oldid=554882307

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rhineland.jpg

Liz's Surname Table

So I came across a pin on Pinterest about creating a Surname Table.  The article stated this table would be a big help in finding common surnames among DNA matches.  I can see some use in basic genealogy research also, such as seeing the "holes" in your research and trying to remember all the surnames.  As for myself, I get so focused on certain surnames, I forget about some of others!  This helps me see at a glance what surnames are in my tree so hopefully I won't overlook a mention of one of them on my next research trip.

This was a little tricky for me, especially the 4th great-grandparent area.  Maybe it's because there are so many I don't know or that it was hard to find a format in FTM 2017 that made me see the names easily.  Either way, hopefully, it is correct now. 

My great-grandmother, Bessie Alice Carter Ranney was adopted.  So the cells with the * indicates her adopted line so I don't need to research those surnames. 

My father's paternal line and my mother's paternal line overlap.  So the ### in a cell indicates a repeat surname. 

You will see a couple of names mentioned twice.  This is because they are in different lines, and I am not sure yet if they are the same family. 

And of course, empty (blank) cells indicate I have some more research to do!

The article I got the idea from is located here:  our-surname-tables-for-dna-research.  I was confused by her video (because I don't have that cool fan tree she used!), but it gave me the general idea, and I figured it out from there.  The order of the columns are Paternal Father, Paternal Mother, Maternal Father, and Maternal Mother.

Try it out.  Add a tool to your genealogy toolbox.  Let me know if you have questions, and I'll try my best to help. 

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How Many Surnames?

As posted by Randy Seaver over at his Genea-Musings blog:

"It's Saturday Night - time for more Genealogy Fun!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  Go into your Genealogy Management Program (GMP; either software on your computer, or an online family tree) and figure out how to Count how many surnames you have in your family tree database.

2)  Tell us which GMP you're using and how you did this task.

3)  Tell us how many surnames are in your database and, if possible, which Surname has the most entries.  If this excites you, tell us which surnames are in the top 5!  Or 10!

4)  Write about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a status or comment on Facebook.

NOTE:  If you can't figure out how to do this in your GMP, use the Help button and search for "count persons" then follow directions."

I use Family Tree Maker 2011.  I had to go to the Help files to find out how to do this.  (I didn't even know it could be done!)  I had to try a couple of different keywords in the Index search, but finally under "Reports" I found "Surname Report."  Bingo!  Once I read over the directions, it was clear this was just what I needed.

So I went back to FTM, clicked on "Publish" and a list of publication options (reports) available came up.  I went down the list to  "Person Reports" and there I found what I was looking for:  "Surname Report."  I double-clicked that and under "Options" I chose for "All Individuals" to be included, to  "Sort by surname count," and "Show divider between surnames."  (This last choice was a just a personal one - the results would have been the same either way. 

Voila!  There was my report! 

The reports lists:  surname, total number in database, total number of males with that name, total number of females with that name, along with the earliest and most recent years of birth of those with a particular surname.

3)  I have a total of 647 surnames and 3,640 individuals in my database.  The top 10 surnames, along birth year ranges, are as follows:

• Tapley:  339 persons, from 1691-1994
• Powell:  158 persons, from 1715-1963
• Hubbard:  152 persons, from 1601-1893
• Drake:  127 persons, from 1647-1967
• Price:  127 persons, from 1680-1956
• Ranney:  119 persons, from 1661-1951
• MNU (Maiden Name Unknown):  71 persons, from 1730-1936
• Wheeler:  70 persons, from 1807-1959
• Claxton:  64 persons, from 1836-1974
• Page:  52 persons, from 1758-1919

and an optional #11 if you don't count MNU:

•  Schwalls, 51 persons, 1837-1950

This was a great exercise!  I actually am quite surprised by the results.  Several of my actual lines, such as Drake, Ranney, Page, and Schwalls, are lower on the list than related-by-marriage-only names such as Powell, Price, and Wheeler.  Very eye-opening.

Thanks, Randy, for a fun (and enlightening) time on a Saturday night!

Surname Saturday: Tapley

The surname Tapley is English. "It is locational from a place in the county of Devonshire called Tapeley" (which is how it gets pronounced most of the time!).  It's meaning is "wood where pegs were collected."  "In medieval times widespread use was made of pegs in the construction of buildings."  In various forms, it dates back to 901 and in the current form to 1585.

Source:  www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Tapley

It was only the 6,782nd most popular surname in the 1990 U.S. Census. Source:  www.genealogy today.com/ surname/finder.mv? Surname=Tapley

Info| Copyright 2000-2010 by Labo   Source: www.gens-us.net Today in the United States, Tapley is most common in two states:  Georgia and Maine. (Numbers of Tapleys in other states is shown above.) I am a Georgia Tapley, through and through.  We can trace our family back to Hosea Tapley (1691-1778) who migrated to America and settled in Caswell County, North Carolina.  Eventually the family migrated south to Georgia with a brief stop in South Carolina.  This is the main family line that I research.