This week we take a look at the lineage of the Jarrell and Fitzgerald surnames as they pertain to my family’s history.  I have researched this family extensively and have copies of many original records for the ancestors in this line.

Earliest Known Ancestor

Thomas “The Immigrant” Jarrell, my 9th great grandfather, was born about 1635 in England or Ireland.  There is a large community of researchers out there piecing together the Jarrell family history, none of whom have been able to definitively source the migration of Thomas into the United States.  Thomas was married on May 29, 1661 although sources differ on whom he married: it may have been Joan/Jean Cook, or possibly Margaret Knight.  He died 17 Jul 1713 in Surry County, Virginia.

Lineage

This is one of the few families in my research that divides and merges halfway through the line.  I am descended from one Jarrell family line that splits halfway down.  My second great-grandfather, George Maywood Jarrell (1867 – 1946) married his second cousin Emily Florence Jarrell (1874 – 1945).  Both of them are descended from sons of William Jarrell (1750 – 1818) and Susannah Parks (1751 – 1825).

Paternal Lineage for the Jarrell Family

Maternal Lineage for the Jarrell Family

Paternal Lineage: Jessica Marie Cole > Douglass Lyal Cole > Florence Mae Fitzgerald > Vondall Euart Fitzgerald (1899 – 1978) > George Maywood Jarrell (1867 – 1946) > Lewis Jarrell (1840 – 1900) > Thomas Jarrell (1798 – 1870) > Ansel Jarrell (1774 – 1880) > William Jarrell (1750 – 1821) > Henry Jarrell (1725 – 1818) > John Fitz Jarrell (1722 – 1742) > Thomas Jarrell (1673 – 1741) > Thomas “The Immigrant” Jarrell (1635 – 1713)

Maternal Lineage: Jessica Marie Cole > Douglass Lyal Cole > Florence Mae Fitzgerald > Vondall Euart Fitzgerald (1899 – 1978) > Emily Florence Jarrell (1874 – 1945) > Amos Davis Jarrell (1833 – 1914) > Parks F(itz?) Jarrell (1801 – 1881) > William Jarrell (1750 – 1821) > Henry Jarrell (1725 – 1818) > John Fitz Jarrell (1722 – 1742) > Thomas Jarrell (1673 – 1741) > Thomas “The Immigrant” Jarrell (1635 – 1713)

Items of Interest

• Lewis Jarrell was a Confederate soldier in the Civil War.  He served in the 1st Company B, 5th Kentucky Mounted Infantry.  He enlisted on October 26, 1861 in Prestonburg, Kentucky and was wounded in battle almost immediately. By December 31, 1861 he was listed as sick at home.  Lewis spent the remainder of the war at home in Morgan County, Kentucky.
• At some point between 1920 and 1930, my 2nd great-grandparents George Maywood Jarrell and Emily Florence Jarrell changed their last name to Fitzgerald while living in Porter County, Indiana.  I have not been able to pinpoint the name change to a particular year within the decade.  In 1920 the US Census shows Jarrell, and in 1930 it shows Fitzgerald.  The family did not move from one Census to the next, they simply changed their name.  None of the family knows for sure why they changed it.  Many of George and Emily’s children were born with Jarrell as their surname but changed it to Fitzgerald when their parents did.
• The legend for the name change is that George and Emily believed their ancestors were originally named Fitzgerald and changed the name to Jarrell when they came to the United States “to sound less Irish.”  The story I have always heard is that George and Emily were proud of their Irish heritage and decided to take the name back once and for all.  In all of my research, I have been unable to prove the family came from Ireland.  In fact, many of the Jarrell researchers believe the original surname was always Jarrell and the family came from England, not Ireland.
• Several of the Jarrell family members began changing their last names during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  Some of the variations are Jarrells, Fitzgerald and Gerald.  Many of these families have descended from this same group of ancestors from: Elliott County, Kentucky; Craven County, North Carolina; Surry and Isle of Wight Counties, Virginia.

Additional Information

There are several Jarrell family researchers throughout the country including Linda and Roger Jarrells of Sandy Hook, Kentucky.  This husband and wife duo have worked very hard to preserve the Jarrell family name in Elliott County.  Linda volunteers much of her time with the Elliott County Historical Society which has a vast library including many Jarrell family treasures.

Check out my Ancestry Family Tree for Thomas “The Immigrant” Jarrell.

Check out my Ancestry Family Tree for George Maywood Jarrell/Fitzgerald.

Check out my Ancestry Family Tree for Emily Florence Jarrell/Fitzgerald.

Find A Grave has several Fitzgerald family members in Hebron Cemetery in Porter County, Indiana as well as several Jarrell family members in the Jarrell Family Cemetery in Sandy Hook, Kentucky.