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Franklin Family History

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Name: Franklin genealogy and family history
Date: 1100 [end date?]
Location: SE England, US
Topic: WikiTree Resource Page / Surname History

Profile managers: Admin WikiTree and Alice Luckhardt | Last profile change on 18 September 2009
13:34: Chris Whitten added Admin WikiTree as manager for profile of [anon].

Description

Here is a central place for organizing family history related to the last name Franklin.

Note that other spellings for Franklin include Frankling, Francklyn, Francklin, Franklen and Franklyn.

Contents

Origins of the Franklin Surname

The origins were in the feudal system of medieval England.

From Middle English "frankelin", from the Anglo-Norman French "franc" meaning free, in the sense of liberal and generous. The Germanic suffix "ling" was added.

In 1100, in England, "Franklin" was considered a free man and a holder of fairly extensive areas of land, a gentleman ranked above the main body of minor freeholders, but below a knight or a member of the nobility.

In 1234, the surname spelling "Franckeleyn" is recorded in Cambridgeshire, England.

Benjamin Franklin's family was from England. The first recording of one of his ancestors was that of Ralph Frankelein, which was dated 1195, in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire County.

Famous Franklins

A selection of those with the surname Franklin and their ingenious achievements.


Geographic Centers for Franklin Name

The most populated locations for the surname Franklin is the London and Essex County regions of England.

In the USA most Franklins are in the southern states but also in New York and Pennsylvannia.


Towns Named Franklin

  • Franklin, Pennsylvania was originally Fort Venango, built by the British in 1760. It was taken over by the American colonists and renamed Fort Franklin in 1787 for Benjamin Franklin.
  • Franklin, Massachusetts, southwest of Boston, was named for Ben Franklin in 1786. Ben showed his appreciation of the honor by sending the town a library of 116 volumes which formed the nucleus of America's first public library.


Franklins on WikiTree

Here is the Franklin index, updated this morning. If you are a Franklin and add yourself or an ancestor to WikiTree your additions will appear on the index tomorrow.

Also see Franklyn.



Memories

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Photos

There are 7 photos with Franklin Family History.

Sophisticated, Erudite Ben
Sophisticated, Erudite Ben
Ben Franklin, Franklin Family History, Where: [location?], When: [date?], Comments: 0.


Franklin's design for ‘bifocals’
Franklin's design for ‘bifocals’
Ben Franklin, Franklin Family History, Where: USA, When: [date?], Comments: 1.


Franklin's Lightening Rod
Franklin's Lightening Rod
Franklin Family History, Ben Franklin, Where: USA, When: [date?], Comments: 0.


Franklin's Odometer
Franklin's Odometer
Ben Franklin, Franklin Family History, Where: USA, When: [date?], Comments: 0.


Franklin, PA Courthouse
Franklin, PA Courthouse
Franklin Family History, Franklin, Pennsylvania, Where: Franklin, PA, When: [date?], Comments: 0.


Map - Franklin, MA
Map - Franklin, MA
Franklin Family History, Franklin, Massachusetts, Where: Franklin, MA, When: [date?], Comments: 0.


Map of Franklin, Conn.
Map of Franklin, Conn.
Franklin Family History, Franklin, Connecticut, Where: Franklin, Conn., When: [date?], Comments: 0.




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Profile of Franklin Family HistoryEditPhotos of Franklin Family HistoryChangesTrusted List

Franklin Family History