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WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Arnold is an English patronymic
name from a Norman given name comprised of the Germanic
elements arn = eagle + wald = rule. Occasionally it is
derived as a place name to describe the man from any of
the so-named locations in England and derived from Old
English earn = eagle + halh = nook, hollow. Variations
are Arnhold, Arnould, Arnout, Arnoil, Arnald, Arnaud,
Arnall, Arnell, Arnull, Arnott, Arnatt, Arnull, Harnott,
Harnett, Hornet, Hornett . Numerous cognate and
Diminutive forms also exist.
Some History
According to a paper entitled "Arnold
Line and Lineage," prepared and read by Ethel Zuick
Luckey in 1930, the Arnold line can be traced back
to Ynir, King of Gwentland (now part of Wales) who
reigned about the middle of the twelfth century. This
Ynir was paternally descended from Ynir, son of
Cadwaladr, King of the Britons, who built the Town and
Castle of Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, England.
Llanfihangel Court, located in Abergavenny, is the
ancient seat of the Arnolds. The first of the line
to use the surname Arnold was Roger Arnold
of Llanthony during the 1500's. His wife, Joan Gamage,
daughter of Sir Thomas Gamage, Knight, Lord of Coytey,
was descended from Alfred the Great, King of the Britons,
who was born in 849. However, Luckey was in error when
she stated that the father of William, the first
of the line in the American Colonies, was Thomas.
She was also in error, along with many others, when she
stated that the Thomas Arnold who settled in Rhode
Island was William's half brother.
An excellent source of information
about the first five generations of this line of the
Arnolds in America is the Arnold Memorial, by
Elisha Stephen Arnold. Published in 1935, it corrects
many of the errors made by earlier researchers about the
first William Arnold, his parents, and his half
brother, Thomas--who remained in England. The Arnold
Memorial is required reading for anyone interested in
the early generations of this line of the Arnold family
in America.
References to William Arnold and
his son, William Arnold can be found in the
History of Warren, Rhode Island in the War of the
Revolution, by Virginia Baker. Note that Warren, Rhode
Island was previously a part of Swansea, Massachusetts,
which accounts for L.H. Evert's statement, in his History
of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, that William Arnold
came from "Swansea" to Warren Township,
Bradford County, Pennsylvania in 1797.
An account of the migration of William
Arnold from Rhode Island to Warren Township, Bradford
County, Pennsylvania, and a record of his children, was
recorded by Clement F. Heverly in Pioneer and Patriot
Families of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, Volume I,
pages 303 and 304. A similar account can be found on page
429 in the History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, by L.H.
Everts, which was published in 1878.
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