Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series

Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be 
reproduced without permission. 
Transcribed by Sloan Mason.

"Our Heritage" by Claude MOORE
Friday, November 12, 1993

                     The LANIER Family of Duplin

The LANIER family may have originated in Italy during the crusades and then 
migrated to France. The name LANIER in French means "Falcon." During their 
long stay in France, many of them were musicians, poets, and painters. 
During the Protestant Reformation, they became Huguenots.

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603), much emphasis was placed 
on music at the Court of England. In 1561 the Earl of Hertford went to 
France and induced Nicholas LANIER (d. 1612), a musician at the Court of 
Henry II, to accept an appointment to the Royal Orchestra in England. He 
played the flute and the coronet. His wife, Lucreese, was also a musician. 
Nicholas had six sons, all of whom were musicians in the Royal Orchestra, 
as well as two sons-in-law, and eight grandsons also played in the Royal 
Orchestras under Queen Elizabeth, James I, Charles I, and Charles II.

Clement LANIER (1585-1661) married Hannah COLLET and had 11 children. One 
of his sons, John LANIER (1631-1676), married and migrated to Charles City 
County, Virginia, in 1657. They had a son, John LANIER, Jr., (1655-1719) 
who married and live in Prince George County, Virginia, and had five 
children, one of his sons was John LANIER III (1680-c. 1725) who married 
Elizabeth BIRD. They had four sons: Bird Thomas, Lemuel, Robert and 
Benjamin.

Bird Thomas LANIER (b. 1703) married and moved from Surry County to 
Brunswick County, Virginia, and in 1750 to Duplin County. Two of his four 
sons migrated to Georgia. Lemuel LANIER (1707-1756) married and moved to 
Duplin County in 1752 and in 1756 he was living in Screven County, Georgia. 
Their children were: Thomas (1733-1787), Elizabeth, John, Lemuel Jr., 
Benjamin and Mary.

Thomas LANIER (1733-1787) married Sara MILLS of Onslow County, and settled 
on Cypress Creek near Chinquapin. He served in the N.C. Militia during the 
American Revolution. Thomas and Sara LANIER had the following seven 
children: James (1756-1815); Jesse (1757-1812); John (1769-1791); Stephen 
(1760-1840) Anne, Fannie, and Elizabeth.

Stephen LANIER (1760-after 1840) was married in 1800 to Rhoda JAMES, a 
daughter of Isaac JAMES of New Hanover County and they lived on Cypress 
Creek. Their children were: Dennis (1804-1871) who married Elizabeth JAMES; 
and had two children; Emma (1807-1858) who married John BOSTIC; and Thomas 
who married Susan MAREADY and had nine children.

John and Emma Lanier BOSTIC lived on a plantation on the east side of the 
North East River and near Muddy Creek. Their children were: Thomas, Samuel, 
Jacob, Isaac and Mary Susan.

Mary Susan BOSTIC (1847-1918) married David F. CHAMBERS and had nine 
children.

The southern poet, Sydney LANIER (1842-1881) of Macon, GA., was descended 
by one of the LANIER brothers who settled in Georgia. Sydney LANIER was 
also a musician and a Confederate soldier. There are hundreds of LANIER 
descendants now living in Duplin and surrounding counties. LANIER 
descendants may qualify for membership in the Huguenot Society.

(Source:Mrs. Mamie Chambers SAWYER, Duplin County Records.)

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