Yarnall - Yarnell Family Genealogy
Hello Cousins,
If you share the Yarnall or Yarnell Family surname, then you
most likely belong to a huge family that traces its root's in America
back to the year 1683 when two brothers, Francis and Phillip Yarnall
arrived from their native England and established our family here.
At present there Are Over 13,000 names on the list both living and dead
who directly descend from these two brothers.
For those of us still among the living few of us know each other
and we are trying to fix that.
Some Of Our More Famous Cousins Or Their Spouses,
All Positively Linked To The Family
John Joliffe Yarnall - 1786 Lt. USN, Naval Hero, Battle Of Lake Erie (1813)
Lost While On Board The Sloop Of War Eperiver, When It Sank In The Atlantic
In July 1815. He Was 29 When Died In The Service Of His Country.
There Have Been Two US Destroyers Named After Him.
Mordecai Yarnall - 1816 Noted Naval Astronomer.
His Books Are Still In Use Today At The Naval Academy.
John H Yarnall - 1820 Commodore USN He Trained
Midshipman In the Days Before Annapolis Was Built.
Harry E. Yarnell - 1875 Noted Admiral US Navy
A Guided Missile Cruiser Was Named After Him.
Timothy Matlack, Married To Ellen Yarnall - 1736
Penman Of The Declaration Of Independence.
He Is The One Who Actually Wrote The Declaration Of Independence
On The Parchment. He Did Not Sign It, He Wrote It!.
He Also Presided As Prosecutor At The Court Martial Of Benedict Arnold.
Mordecai Matlack - 1762 Son Of Timothy And Ellen (Above)
Midshipman On Board The Frigate Randolph, Killed In The Battle With
The English Ship Of The Line H.M.S. Yarmouth Off Charleston South Carolina March 7 1778.
He Was 16 When He Died In The Service Of His Country.
William Yarnall Slack - 1819 Brigadier General Confederate States Army
Died Of Wounds Received At The Battle Of Pea Ridge Arkansas, March 7 1862.
Also included are Authors, Frontiersmen, Clergy and others from various
professions that helped forge and shape our nation.
From Our Quaker Forefather, The Family As Well As The Country We Have
Helped Build Has Grown, Evolved And Are In Fact Interrelated.
The family also
has very strong ties to the military and served in every conflict in our
Nations History from the Revolution to Desert Storm, with members to
this day wearing the uniform of our armed forces who continue the
Tradition to serve our country with pride. In case any one wonders
our family was split like so many other American families and members
fought for both the Blue and the Gray, during the Civil War. We lost family
members on both sides of that conflict.
The list covers 11 generations and the 12th generation
members are being born at this time. The tree is huge and many
branches just come to a dead end. I know that there are many
long lost cousins out there just waiting to be discovered. The
family originated in Pennsylvania, but we now are spread all
over the country. As the family spread out, contact was lost
with many family members and their dependents.
Accounting for every single member of this family may not be
possible but the attempt is being made. If you share our name
and are interested in finding out if you belong to our clan, and
want to trace your "Roots" drop me a note.
This is not a commercial enterprise and nobody will try to sell
you anything, this is just a search for members of this family and links
to our common history and ancestry.
What you get out of this is the knowledge that you belong to
a family that is much bigger than you ever thought and a history
that is longer than that of the country that most of us live in.
A new branch of the family has appeared in Canada. Other branches
of the family are in England and even in Australia as well here in the United States.
As we begin a new century and the families 317th year in North America, I am amazed at the history
that our family has witnessed and took part in. The efforts of our
forefathers to preserve and defend this country have in some small
way helped shape the history and traditions that we all share today.
A Few Comments About The Spelling Difference.
Allot of folks ask about the two different spellings of the last name, I will try to explain some of the reasons behind that.
2 ways it is spelled
Yarnall Yarnell
4 ways it gets pronounced,
Yarn (ALL)
Yar (NALL)
Yarn (ELL)
Yar (NELL)
The basic rule is that most everyone with the "ALL" ending descends from Francis Yarnall, His family pretty much stayed in the Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia area. Those of you with the "ELL" ending as a rule descend from Philip. His family was the one to scatter to the 4 winds. Several factors also lend themselves into this, Like our ancestors education, the poorer educated ones simply spelled the name as they pronounced it so some "All's" became "Ell's", there are cases where within one family one brother would spell it one way and another would spell it differently so as not to be confused with his brother.
Another factor was regional, as the family spread out regional accents had a part in the way the name got spelled. For instance here in Texas I am a "ALL" and pronounce it that way, but the accent here pronounces it "ELL" so when ever the phone rings I get Mr. Yarnell... You can even spell out your name and it comes back "Ell" It is OK with me I can cash the check either way ... and I have,... There are many more reasons and some will never be known, rest assured no matter how you spell it you most likely descend from either Francis or Philip.
How To Contact Us
If you find this of interest and want to learn more.
Click the E-mail link below and drop me a note.
Subject title " Yarnall"
Information needed,
You can start with yourself, include your spouse and children
Brothers and sisters, Parents and Grand parents with dates if known.
What ever information you can supply helps.
Also needed is a contact address E-Mail or street so that any questions
can be answered and also that the information can be given to you.
I am not the one doing the family tree research but I am helping them out.
All the research is being done by Fred H. Yarnall and Robert Yarnall
with the help of a lot of other Yarnall's all reply's will be forwarded to
the ones doing the actual work.
