"The Follins are undoubtedly descended from the O'Fallons, one of the oldest families of Ireland, and show an unbroken line from Milesius, King of Spain." - Edmonston, A genealogical history of the Follin family in America.
And then Edmonston ends that chapter of his book with "Who was the first Follin in America the writer is unable to say. " So he's certain we are descended from Mliesius of Spain, but can't trace the exact line here in America... not encouraging, but I'll work on that more later.
Married
Bathsheba Hurst 1740 – 1799
Bathsheba Follin 1777 – 1858
Married
Alexander Semmes
Married
Bathsheba Follin
Richard Alexander Semmes 1798 –
Married
Permelia Webster 1803 – 1869
Albert C. Simms
Married
Clara Louise Mitchell
Married
Bathsheba Follin
Richard Alexander Semmes 1798 –
Married
Permelia Webster 1803 – 1869
Albert C. Simms
Married
Clara Louise Mitchell
Beulah Laverta (Simms) Heppard 1886-1968
married
Joseph Lumbard 1911 – 1954
married
Nina Frances Ridge 1918 – 1990
Nina Lumbard
Married
Carl Sulouff
Carl Sulouff
married
June Confer
married
Daniel Truckenmiller
Ancient Lineage
A genealogical history of the Follin family in America
By Gabriel Edmonston
Who are the Follins and where did they come from are questions that have been frequently asked me in person and through correspondence. With the splendid facilities afforded by the Library of Congress and the kind assistance of friends employed there I have been able to gather much information that may prove interesting.
Charles Follin son of John several years before his death told me that his father was a great grandson of a Lord Hurst of England on the maternal side He also told me that his mother who was Catherine Sandford was a descendant of a titled English family by that name I made a note of what he told me and afterward copied it in our family record Uncle Samuel Follin repeated this family tradition in his Genealogical Account of the Follin Family in America. Both of these relatives were men of unquestioned honesty and veracity.
Being somewhat anxious to confirm the above statements and to remove any skepticism I carefully looked up the best authorities and found corroborative evidence that sustained the assertion. The Follins are undoubtedly descended from the O Fallons one of the oldest families of Ireland and show an unbroken line from Milesius King of Spain.
" This invasion conquest or plantation of Ireland by the Milesian or Scottish nation took place in the Year of the World three thousand five hundred or the next year after Solomon began the foundation of the Temple of Jerusalem and one thousand six hundred and ninety nine years before the Nativity of our Saviour Jesus Christ which according to the Irish computation of Time occurred Anno Mundi five thousand one hundred and ninety nine therein agreeing with the Septuagint Roman Martyrologies Eusebius Orosius and other ancient authors which computation the ancient Irish chroniclers exactly observed in their Books of the Reigns of the Monarchs of Ireland and other Antiquities of that Kingdom out of which the Roll of the Monarchs of Ireland from the beginning of the Milesian Monarchy to their submission to King Henry the Second of England a Prince of their own Blood is exactly collected. [As the Milesian invasion of Ireland took place the next year after the laying of the foundation of the Temple of Jerusalem by Solomon King of Israel we may infer that Solomon was contemporary with Milesius of Spain and that the Pharaoh King of Egypt who (1 Kings iii 1) gave his daughter in marriage to Solomon was the Pharaoh who conferred on Milesius of Spain the hand of another daughter Scota.]
" Milesius of Spain bore three Lions in his shield and standard for the following reasons namely that in his travels in his younger days into foreign countries passing through Africa he by his cunning and valour killed in one morning three Lions and that in memory of so noble and valiant an exploit he always after bore three Lions on his shield which his two surviving sons Heber and Heremon and his grandson Heber Donn son of Ir after their conquest of Ireland divided amongst them as well as they did the country each of them bearing a Lion in his shield and banner but of different colours which the Chiefs of their posterity continue to this day some with additions and differences others plain and entire as they had it from their ancestors. - O Hart's Irish Pedigrees vol 1 p 55 1887
The Fallon family is descended from Milesius King of Spain through the line of his son Heremon. The founder of the family was Brian son of Eocha Moy Veagon King of Ireland AD 350. The ancient name was Fallumhoin and signifies Governor. The heads of the clan were styled Chiefs of Clonmadoch and their possessions were located in the present Counties of Cork Kerry and Westmeath. The Fallons were Lords of Crioch nag Ceadach so called from Ollial Cedach son of Cathire More King of Leinster and the one hundred and ninth monarch of Ireland. The country of the CFallons was near Athlone in the county of Westmeath but they were afterwards driven across the Shannon into Roscommon. In the latter country the O Fallons became Chiefs of Clan Uadach a district in the barony of Athlone comprising the parishes of Cam and Dysart. They had a castle at Miltown. - Rooney's Irish Families p 286 1837
In the work just mentioned two crests are shown plate 6 figure 33 and plate 10 figure 218. In Burke's Landed Gentry 1904 page 178 another coat of arms is shown that of Bernard Netterville Fallon of Netterville Lodge who is if still living the present representative of that branch In this family the name of John frequently occurs and also the names Letitia and Margaret.
The O Fallons who marched with force
Were chiefs of Clan Uadach of wine banquets
Men who let not their spears decay
Of those are the freeborn clans
Translated from O Dugan.
In a footnote in "Ireland in 1598" by E Hogan pp 153 4 is the following: "In 1585 among the chieftains in the Bos common part of Imany were * * * and Covagh O Fallon of Milltowne. The ruins are still to be seen. - Hy Many p 19
A note on page 151 in referring to Roscommon says It was divided into six baronies in 1574 viz * * * Athloyne, O Kelly, O Fallon, McCogh, O Murye, and McEdmund chief * * * - Car Col 1601 1603 p 475
According to Irish chronologers the family name would be Fallon in the first generation MacFallon in the second and O Fallon in the third. The prefix Mac signifies son of and O signifies grandson of.
The general adoption of surnames made compulsory in the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1559-1603 must have effected some change in the method of designating generations of the same clan or family and possibly accounts for different variations of spelling. It is the opinion of the writer that the name Fallon should be pronounced with the a as in fall. In Heating's History of Ireland which was translated from the original Gaelic by John O Mahony and republished in New York in 1866 on page 739 we find the following:
" Many of the Danish settlers are considered to have taken Irish surnames and prefixed Mac to their names as did many of the Anglo Norman and English families in early times but it does not appear that any of those settlers adopted the prolix 0 as that was confined chiefly to the Milesian families of the highest rank Many of the Milesian Irish on the other hand anglicised their names and many of them have so translated and twisted their surnames that it is extremely difficult to determine whether those families are of Irish or English descent. In the reigns of the Henrys and Edwards many penal acts of Parliament were passed compelling the ancient Irish to adopt English surnames and the English language dress manners and customs and no doubt many of the Milesian Irish took English surnames in those times to protect their lives and properties as otherwise they forfeited their goods and were liabel to be punished as Irish enemies. In modern times many of the old Irish families omit the O and Mac in their surnames an absurd practice as such names lose much of their euphonious sound by the omission and are neither English nor Irish and it may be observed that none of the Scotch Macs omit that national designation or metamorphose their names as the Irish have done Without O and Mac the Irish have no names according to the old verse :
By Mac and O you ll always know
True Irishmen they say
If they lack both O and Mac
No Irishmen are they
Who was the first Follin in America the writer is unable to say. In the Virginia County Records for the year 1754 page 136 occurs the name of Redmon Follin who had a land grant of 1,080 acres in Halifax county. In the first census enumeration of 1782 for Pittsylvania the adjoining county is shown the name of Redmon Fallin as the head of a family of two evidently man and wife They may have been the same person or father and son Fallon of Clan Uadach County Roscommon Arms Gu a greyhound ramp ar holding betw the forepaws a tilting spear point to the dexter or Crest A demi greyhound salient ar O Hart's Irish Pedigrees
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