| Our Lane Genealogy Lane is an Anglo-Saxon word denoting a roadway and presumably people living hard by a lane (road, trail, alley, whatever) were characterized by appending Lane to their given name. The name derived from Old Norse l�n, a row of houses, and possible from the Greek word for drive, elan. When early, and most likely illiterate members of the Lane families met with paperwork, their name would commonly be phonetically spelled by the attending scribe and might come out as Laine, Lain, Layne, etc. but nevertheless they are all of the same family. Virtually all Lane ancestors came from England or Ireland. The earliest one to arrive in America was Rafe Lane. He arrived in Virginia in 1584 and was followed by numerous arrivals of members of the Lane family over the next 4 centuries. Although it�s fashionable to trace ones ancestor�s arrival to an early date, it must be kept in mind that a lot of the earliest arrivals were culled from England and �given� the opportunity of immigrating to the new world because they were undesirables of one form or another and unwanted in their native country. Numerous loads of �liberated� criminals were packed off to the New World as were political malcontents, religious deviants, and indentured servants. Not many families can boast of ancestors of noble or famous birth among those arriving early upon these shores. The same can be said for those who so proudly trace their ancestors arrival on the Mayflower since about half of its passengers were being forcefully expatriated by the English Crown to a shore far from dear old England. The following is what I know of our family as of 1996 and may need to be revised, as further knowledge becomes available. William Laine, Sr. was born about 1700, and it is known that he was living in Goochland Co., Virginia in 1733 and in 1746. He is reputed to have come West from the Virginia coast, but I don�t know when or precisely from where he came. I don�t know whether he arrived on the Virginia coast as an immigrant from England or Ireland or whether he had been born in Virginia to any one of the numerous arrivals between that of Rafe�s in 1584 and William�s birth in about 1700. William�s wife, name is unknown, but she and William produced 3 sons; William Laine, Jr. (b. c 1720), Thomas Laine (b.c1725), and John Laine (b.?) Thomas Laine is the son with whom we are interested. He and his wife, Mary, had a large family including a son named Randolph, (who we will call Randolph Sr.), and in the latter half of the 18th century the family is known to be living in Amherst Co., Virginia. Randolph, Sr. married Mary Robertson; and one of his sisters, Elizabeth, married Thomas Robertson, Mary�s brother. Randolph, Sr. left Amherst by 1798 but so far we don�t know with certainty where he went. His sister Elizabeth and husband, Thomas Robertson, are traceable to Tennessee where they have been variously located in Cocke Co., Roane Co., and Monroe Co., so it seems most likely that Randolph, Sr. and his wife, Mary, probably followed brother and sister to Tennessee. One fact that does seem certain is that my great-great-grandfather was named Randolph. He was born in Virginia on April 9, 1802 (or 1803), and I believe, is most almost certainly the son of Thomas� son, Randolph (Sr.). So far, however, we have not made a definite link between Randolph, Sr. and my great-great-grandfather Randolph, but we, probably, ultimately will and at this point, I assume that this is the Lane line from which our family descends. As indicated earlier, there is strong evidence that Randolph, Sr. left Amherst, Virginia by 1798, and yet, Randolph, Jr. states that he was born in Virginia so one would assume that although Randolph, Sr. left Amherst, VA in 1798, he did not leave Virginia until after Randolph, Jr�s birth in 1803. We first pick up 47 year old Randolph (Jr.) in the 1850 census living in Madison Co., 54th District, Missouri Federal Census. He listed his occupation as a farmer. His wife�s name was Biddy (she is not listed in the 1850 census record but she is there in the 1860 Liberty Township, Iron Co. MO), and, although there were some thoughts as to what her maiden name might have been, we don�t really know any more about her. They were married in about 1830. In the 1850 census there were 7 children listed in the family: Nancy, Isaac, Jacob, Rhody, Catharine, Tabitha � these girls were probably twins, & Moses. Jacob, my great, grandfather, was born in 1838. Randolph�s wife, Biddy, died on March 24, 1879 and he followed some 4 months later on July 25, 1879. Both are buried at the Reynolds Cemetery in Randolph County [just outside the small town of Dalton, AR - about 8 miles south of the Missouri line]. [New evidence reveals that Randolph Lane joined the army to serve his country during the Mexican War; enrolling at Fredericktown, Madison Co., MO on May 28, 1847. He became a Lt. Colonel, Commander of Co. �I�, 3rd Regt for the Missouri Mounted Volunteers.] We first believe we pick up 27 year old Randolph (Jr.) in the 1830 census living in Cocke County, Tennessee. He is listed as Randolph LAIN with a wife & 4 small children; 3 ( a son & two daughters) under the age of 5 years old & one son under the age of 10. Other LAIN families living in close proximity are 2 William LAIN's between the age of 20 - 30 years (as is our Randolph) these men might have been a pair of brothers and a cousin - or all three cousins, a Moses Lain who is between the age of 30 - 40 years, John Lain who is between 40 & 50 years old and Azariah Lain who is between the age of 50 - 60 years. I can't help but feel these men are somehow relative to one another considering the age groups and living close to one another. The questions that have remained unanswered is 'are these men related' and if so 'how are they related'? Other family surnames that become significant to our ancestors are GILLILAND, LEWIS and HUFF. [There were no DUNN surnames listed in the Cocke Co., TN census of 1830.] A decade later Randolph has taken his family and migrated to Missouri, but not before several children were born in Tennessee, Elias, Nancy, Isaac, Jacob and Rhedy. Rhedy was probably born early in the year or possibly enroute (1850 census records lists her age as 10 & birthstate as Tennessee). We find whom we believe to be our 'Randel' LANE enumerated in the 1840 Liberty Township, Madison County, Missouri Federal Census. Also living close are the same surnames that we first took note of living in Cocke Co., TN -- LEWIS, GILLILAND and HUFF families. This time, though, we also see living next to Randel is Mary DUNN. Page 2 |