Benjamin Lanier (1744 - abt. 1829)

Born 31 May 1744 in Albemarle Parish, Surry, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Ealiff (Hillery) Lanier — married about 1770 in Screven County, Georgia

Descendants

Died about 1829 at about age 84 in Jackson County, Mississippi

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Biography

Benjamin Lanier
Virginia, Births and Christenings
Name Benjamin Lanier
Gender Male
Christening Date 23 Sep 1744
Christening Place ALBEMARLE PARISH,SURRY,VIRGINIA
Birth Date 31 May 1744
Father's Name Lemuel Lanier
Mother's Name Hannah^[1]

Spouse Ealiff /Hillery/

Marriage Screven County, Georgia

Comment

Feb. 14, 1805 Benjamin was a witness in a land transaction on west side of Tickfaw in St. Helena. Conveyance Book A.

Census

Listed in the Colonial Census of 1792, District of Natchez.

Benjamin Lanier
United States Census, 1820
Name Benjamin Lanier
Event Type Census
Event Date 1820
Event Place Jackson County, Mississippi, United States
Page 44^[2]

Military service

Served in the American Revolution from Georgia.

Land

Property: 1784, He received Bounty Land in 1784, Certificate no. 155 and then moved his family to the MS Territory.

Source: Lanier by Louise Ingersoll

Source: LANIER CEMETERY HISTORY, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Belford Carver 8 Sep 2000

HISTORY OF LANIER CEMETERY, 1811 - 1993

Mrs. Helen T. Hanes of Hammond, LA has given her permission to put this article on the Tangipahoa GenWeb which was written by her and her late husband, John K. Hanes, in 1993 when they recorded this cemetery. Data input by Belford Carver, September 8, 2000.

Location: Township 5 South, Range 8 East, Section 43, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana

Directions: 1. From Hammond, north 5.3 miles on Morris Road (Rt. 443) to Tangipahoa River bridge, continue 1.5 miles to first gravel road on left, follow gravel road straight 1 mile to cemetery. 2. From Loranger, south 3.3 miles on Rt. 40-443 to small gravel road on right, follow gravel road straight 1 mile to cemetery.

The creation of the Lanier Cemetery was almost concurrent with the creation of the State of Louisiana. Western Louisiana was acquired through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, but the "Florida Parishes" remained under Spanish control until the settlers revolted in 1810. President James Madison proclaimed "West Florida" to be a part of the United States on December 10, 1810. Only ten months later, in September 1811, the first known persons were buried in the Lanier Cemetery.

The origional pre-emptive claim on the land surrounding the cemetery was made for 1,000 arpens (845 acres) by Benjamin Lanier, my great-great-great-great- grandfather, some time prior to 1806. His son John claimed 641 acres of land directly across the Tangipahoa River. Within these two claims was the ford by which wagons on the Springfield-Franklinton road crossed the river at low water. During other periods, John Lanier operated a ferry at this crossing.

John Lanier and Penelope Jones were married in 1795, and had six children prior to 1806. In 1806, Benjamin Lanier sold his claim to his daughter-in-law, Penelope Jones.

In September 1811, John Walters, a 25 year old merchant from Kentucky, and Joseph Walters his 18 year old brother, stopped at the John Lanier home. Family stories indicated that they had brought a flat-boat load of farm products down the Mississippi River and were traveling back to Kentucky when they became ill with yellow fever. Court records, in Covington, show that both men died on September 18, 1811. According to family tradition, these men were the first to be buried in Lanier Cemetery, but their grave markers have long since disappeared.

When Penelope Jones Lanier died in 1848, the land surrounding the cemetery was acquired by her daughter, Barsheba Lanier Addison. On July 10, 1848, Barsheba soldthe land to Henry T. Holdsworth with the deed reservation: "...the familygrave yard, situated therein shall never be appropriated to any other use than that of a burying ground..."

It is ironic that so few of the early "principals" have marked graves in Lanier Cemetery. The original landowner, Benjamin Lanier, died in Mississippi and was buried there. We can find no evidence (document or headstone) that John and/or Penelope Lanier, or their daughter Barsheba Lanier Addison (who reserved the land as "a burying ground") or her husband Overton Carr Addison are buried there. However, Barsheba's sister Aliph Lanier Kincaid and her husband Jordan Kincaid have stone markers, as do Aliph's twin Alcy Lanier Dunnington and her husband John B. Dunnington. Alcy and John had several children, and Dunnington is now the most numerous family name in the cemetery.

Three children of Barsheba and Overton Carr Addison have markers in Lanier Cemetery: Elizabeth Addison Lower, Rachel Addison Venables, and Aliph Addison Bankston (my maternal great-grandmother), with her husband Nathan M. Bankston.

John K. Kanes, July 1993

Source: 1812 St. Tammany Parish, LA Tax List; Lenear, Benj.-1-1-6-0 [1 M, 1 F, 6 Children, 0 slaves]^[3]

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Sources

1. ↑ "Virginia, Births and Christenings, 1853-1917," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRP2-F6Y : accessed 18 September 2015), Benjamin Lanier, 31 May 1744; citing , reference ; FHL microfilm 30,161.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1820", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHG6-RGZ : accessed 18 September 2015), Benjamin Lanier, 1820.
3. ↑ [1]

See also:

• [2]

• "Virginia, Births and Christenings, 1853-1917," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRP2-F6Y : accessed 18 September 2015), Benjamin Lanier, 31 May 1744; citing , reference ; FHL microfilm 30,161.

• "United States Census, 1820", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHG6-RGZ : accessed 18 September 2015), Benjamin Lanier, 1820.

• Ingersoll, Louise. Lanier, A Genealogy of the family who Came to Virginia and their French ancestors in London. 2nd ed. Washington: Goetz Print. Co., 1970, Pages 119-120. (Pages 120-132 for descendants.)