Bond was an English status name that originally described a peasant farmer or husbandman, from the Middle English word bonde, from Old English bonda, bunda, and reinforced by the Old Norse bóndi).

The Old Norse word was also in use as a personal name, and became other English and Scandinavian surnames alongside those originating as status names. Peasant farmer’s status fluctuated considerably during the Middle Ages. The term came to signify a farmer holding lands from, and bound by loyalty to, a lord or laird. Out of this usage, came the notion that it meant a man who was a free landholder as opposed to a serf.

In England after the Norman Conquest the word sank in status and became associated with the idea of bound servitude.

San Francisco Giant outfielder Barry Bonds was bound over for trial on obstruction of justice charges in 2011 and convicted of a single count. He hit more home runs than any other Major League Baseball player.

The name Staley came about that way. Originally, it was Stallard. Either as an example of friendship or kinship, the name was altered – for example, a young brother might call his older sister Vivian – Vivi – because of the difficulty. Later, the entire family might call the sister Beebee, because that’s how the baby brother sounded it.

It was the same with Stallard, which became Staley – for whatever reason.

Stallard is an English nickname or byname that was originally used in medieval times to describe a valiant or resolute person, from a reduced pronunciation of the Middle English word stalward or stalworth = ‘stalwart’ (an Old English compound of stael ‘place’ + wierðe ‘worthy’).

A. E. Staley was an Illinois businessman whose factory workers played football after the quitting-time whistle sounded. They were called the Decatur Staleys, to honor their boss. The team later was renamed the Chicago Bears, and their mascot bears the title of its namesake team founder, Staley the Bear.

This word webba (Think WE-ba) became Webb in some cases, and survived into Middle English long enough to give rise to the surname, but was already obsolete as an agent noun; hence the secondary forms with the agent suffixes -er and -ster to become Webster.

If you used the Old English – webba – for weave and wanted to indicate the man who was doing the weaving – adding ‘ster’ (one of the suffixes that means the-man-who), you’d have webbe-ster, or in its contracted form, Webster.

The man who weaves.

Statesman and US Senator Daniel Webster was a weaver of words, and was well-respected as an orator.

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It has that mysterious Templar connection. The settlement was named for the Middle English term (which survives in modern English) temple = house of the Knights Templar + ton = settlement or enclosure. In Medieval Times it described a settlement of men at which a house of the Knights Templar could be found.

There are also places named Templeton in Wales and other locations, but likely derived their names from someone with the surname, rather than the other way around.

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“You mean, Michael – the new carpenter?” she asked.
“No, not him. Michael – the son o’ James.”
“Ah,” she replied, “That rascal…”

James is an English patronymic (using the father’s name to describe) derived from Hebrew Yaakov > Latin Jacobus > Late Latin Jacmus — and believed originating in the Hebrew term akev = heel.

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A biblical story contains the mention of a heel in the birth of Jacob. In English, Jacob and James are distinctly separate names, but throughout the rest of the world, the two are considered the same name in cognate form.

Cognates (same name in a different language) of James are Jacqueme (French); Jayume, Jaulmes, Jaume, Jaumes (Provencal); Giacomo, Giamo, Giacomi, Iacomo, Iacomi, Como, Comi, Cumo (Italian); Jaime (Spanish); Juame (Catalan). There are dozens of diminutive forms of James. Patronymic forms include Jameson, Jamisom, Jamieson, Jemison, Jimpson, Jimson, Gemson, Gimson (English); McKeamish, McJames , (Scot); Di Giacomo (Italian); Jaimez (Spanish).

Regretably, that ain’t happenin’ here.

Changes will come as they can, and the intent of this Wiki is to provide information about early US publishing houses, when they were in business, when they went out. It helps date early books, lacking copyright dates.

It is searchable at present, but it is in its early stages. Find it by clicking HERE.

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When Samuel Blunston was given the right by Thomas Penn to 12,000 acres in the Cumberland valley, David Houston was among the deedholders. It was an unsettled time in that area, primarily jurisdictional conflicts among feuding authorities from neighboring communities.

David Houston left his home in the Blunston valley and headed for North Carolina.

An INDEX of his descendants can be found HERE.

A matrix of information still being catalogued.

As people regularly visited those crossing spots, it was logical that some medieval merchant would set up a shop there, to sell food (or dry clothing and towels, after a bad crossing). There were three such places in early England, where the crossings bloomed into communities.

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Alford is an English place name that described an old crossing point in a stream or river, and three particular places (Surry, Somerset, and Lincolnshire). The man who moved away from one of those early locations would be known at his new residence as Alford, as in John – from (the community of) Alford. People tended to point out outsiders in their midst and newcomers were known sometimes by their previous home’s location.

The Surry community derived its name from Old English eald = old + ford = water crossing. The Somerset locale was named for the Old English female given name Ealddyd (from eald = old + gydM/em> = battle). The Lincolnshire location is from Ealh = temple + ford.