Surname Saturday: Lanier

Today’s surname is Lanier, the birth name of my paternal grandfather.

John William “Will” McCauley (aka Thomas Jefferson “Jeff” Lanier): Born 1 Mar 1875, Alabama (either Chambers or Randolph County); Married Verda Waller Hankins 27 Sep 1904 Earlington, Hopkins County, Kentucky; Died 20 Jul 1959 Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky; Buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Greenville, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.

Joseph Smith Lanier
Born 2 Jun 1847, Randolph County, Alabama
Married Nancy Jane Bennett abt. 1869
Died 1 May 1909 (probably in Mississippi)

William Washington “Buck” Lanier
Born 15 Mar 1813, Jasper County, Georgia
Married Charlotte T. Jackson 22 Oct 1835, Meriwether County, Georgia
Died 11 Feb (or 28 Jan) 1892, Fredonia, Chambers County, Alabama
Buried in New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery, Fredonia, Chambers County, Alabama

James Lanier
Born abt. 1785 North Carolina
Married Polly Smith 29 Jul 1810 Jasper County, Georgia
Died bet. 1850-1860 Meriwether County, Georgia

Nathaniel Lanier
Born 15 Nov 1749 Brunswick County, Colonial Virginia
Married Mary (maiden name unknown) abt. 1771 Pitt County, Colonial North Carolina
Died Jan 1795 Georgia

James Lanier
Born 11 Nov 1724, Brunswick County, Colonial Virginia
Married Mary Cooke abt 1746 Brunswick County, Colonial Virginia
Died abt. 1786 Pitt County, Colonial North Carolina

Sampson Lanier
Born abt. 1682 Charles City County, Colonial Virginia
Married Elizabeth Washington abt. 1706 Surry County Colonial Virginia

The Lanier family has been documented back to the 1500s in a book titled “Lanier, A Genealogy of the family who came to Virginia and their French ancestors in London” by Louise Ingersoll. The three earliest generations listed here are solely from that book. My family was just able to prove my grandfather’s parents this past year and I have only done research back to James Lanier & Polly Smith so there is much work to be done on this line.