Note: as it is not my intention to reprint others works, the following segments taken from other published works are only the segments that refer to my grandfather's line.

"The Roll of Battle Abbey, in the Church of Dives, Normandy of the Companions of William, the Seventh Duke of Normandy, in the Conquest of England," by M. Leopold Deliste, Member of the institute, contains in the celebrated list the name of Tihel de Heiron.

Another copy of the Roll of Battle Abbey, called "Leland's Copy," contains the name of Heroun. John Leland. the author, saw the original roll in the old abbey and transcribed the name therefrom himself. Holinshed's copy of the same roll contains the names of Heiron and Herne. Thus we have this surname occurring on three different copies of this roll.

This is conclusive evidence that one of the founders of the Hearne family accompanied the Conqueror and took part, as a Norman baron, in the conquest of England. One of the name was also a standard bearer to the Conqueror. THE ROLL OF BATTLE ABBEY. The battle of Hastings was fought in Sussex County, about fifty-six miles from London, October 14 A. D 1066. In this battle 67,974 Englishmen were slain, besides those drowned, and 6,013 Normans.

The scene of the conflict bears the name of Battel to this day. By means of this victory, a Norman duke was seated upon the throne of England, who was enabled thereby to hand its crown down to his descendants, the present English sovereign, Queen Victoria, resting her claim partly upon the Norman blood thus transmitted.

The next year the Conqueror began to build a vast abbey on the part of the battle-field where the conflict had been the most bloody and severe, causing the high altar to be raised on the spot where the body of the opposing king, Harold, was found. The abbey he dedicated to St. Martin and endowed it with the most royal privileges. The existing ruins bear testimony to its ancient magnificence, being about a mile in circumference.

An ancient chronicler, in writing of this abbey, says, in quaint old English: "He called it so then for a memorye of his batayle by which Englande he gate, In token of his mighty victorye, That Englande there he had so well overset, (To pray for the soules as was his det,) Which Abbeye is in Sussex, in that stede Where the batayle was and the people dede."

The day after the battle, King William caused a list or roll to be prepared of those who had passed the seas with him from Normandy to England. This roll was suspended, the tradition has it, in the abbey, and was known as the 'Roll of the Battell Abbey.' and contained the "Sirnames of the Chiefe Noblemen and Gentlemen which came into England with William the Conqueror.

A venerable antiquarian thus reports this event. "The daie after the battell verie earlie in the morning, Odo. Bishop of Baioux, soonge masse for those that were departed The Duke, after that, desirous to know the estate of his battell, and what people he had therein lost and were slaine, he caused to come unto him a clerke that had written their names when they were embarked at St Valeries, and commanded him to call them by their names, who called them all that had been at the battell, and had passed the seas with Duke William.' The antiquarian says again -''Many who came over out of Normandy were nobles in their native country, whereby we understand them Lords and owners of such manours, towns, and castles from whence they took their denomination, or sirnames. THE BARONS HERON

Sir Bernard Burke's "Extinct Baronages and Peerages of England" says "Jordan Hairun possessed a barony in Northumberland as his ancestors had done from the time of King Henry I, A D 1100 His grandson, William Heron, in the 32nd year of Henry III ., A. D. 1248, was made Governor of Bamborough Castle, County North umberland, and later Governor of Castle Pickering. in Yorkshire, and still later Governor of Scarborough Castle.

He married Mary, daughter of Odonel de Ford. died in 1256, and was succeeded by his son William Heron. This feudal lord was one of the barons on the part of the king at the battle of Lewes, and was summoned by Edward I., A. D. 1272, with other northern barons, to meet him at Norham, with horse and arms, where he went to give judgment between the competitors for the crown of Scotland. He married Christina, daughter of Roger de Norton, and had issue -- Walter. who married Alice de Hastings, whose daughter Emeline married John, Lord D’Arcy, steward of the household of Edward III.; and Baron Roger Heron, who was one of the knights under Edward at the siege of Stirling Castle, In the ioth of Edward the II., A. D. 1317, he was Governor of Bamborough Castle. His son, Baron Wilham Heron, built Castle Ford in the time of Edward III., and was summoned to Parliament as baron January 8, 1371.

Sir William Heron, grandson of Odonel Heron, and grandnephew of Lord Heron of Castle Ford, was summoned to Parliament in 1393, as 'Willielmo Heron, Chevalier,' and was also styled "Willielmo Heron, Dominue de Lay, Seneschallus Hospitii Regis -- i. e., Lord de Sey and Stewart of the King’s household. This nobleman was a gallant soldier and an eminent diplomatist. He bore arms: Gules, a chevron between three herons argent."

"The Scottish Arms, being a Collection of Armorial Bearings A. D. 1370-1678," by R. R. Stoddart, contains the following facts: In Northumberland, the Herons of Hadston, Bokenfield, Ford, and Chepchase long held a considerable position; barons by tenure from the reign of King John, A D. 1199 till A. D. 1296; barons by writ of summons 1371 and 1393; baronets 1662."

"Stewart, Mary, daughter and heir of Patrick Heron, M.P., bv Lady Elizabeth Cockrane. his wife, married in 1602 Sir John Maxwell, who assumed the additional surname and arms of Heron." William Heron settled in Lincolnshire, and was father of Sir John Heron of Cressy Hall, Treasurer of the Chamber to Henry VIII., whose descendant Sir Edward Heron, Knight of the Bath, 1603. left a son, Henry Heron of Cressy, M.P., in whose possession the Cressy estates in Lincolnshire remain to this day.

Sir Richard Heron was Chief Secretary of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, the Earl of Buckingham, in 1777, and was created a baronet of England July 25, 1778. His son, Sir Robert Heron, of Newmarket-upon-Trent, County Nottingham. married, in 1792, Amelia. granddaughter of Baptist Noel, Earl of Gloucester. He died in 1854. when the barony of Heron became extinct.

Sir Nicholas Hearon was knighted at Drogheda by Sir Henry Sidney in 1566. Arms: Gules, a chevron between three herons argent. Motto: Leges, juraque servat. Sir William Hearne, Knight of Maidenhead, County Berks, was High Sheriff of London in 1797. He descended from Sir Richard Hearne, High Sheriff in 1618, who bore the same arms. Wiliam Heron, son of Jordan Heron, who held a barony in the county, by the service of one knight’s fee, as his ancestors had done from the Conquest, was, in the 32nd of Henry III., 1248, constituted Governor of Bamborough Castle, and of those of Pickering and Scarborough on Yorkshire, in which appointments he was succeeded, in the 37th of the same reign, by John de Lexington, Knt., chief-Justice of all the forests north of Trent.

It was a short time held by Roger Heron, a younger son of the family of William Heron before mentioned; after which it was conferred on Henry Percy, who was made Governor of this and Scarborough Castle, for his good services in the Scottish wars.

It is known that two officers in Oliver Cromwell’s Army were named Hearne, and a number of his chaplains were ministers in the Baptist Church. One of these officers was William Hearne of Anglo-Norman descent, born in London, 1627, and was a wealthy merchant, he served as Captain with Cromwell, in all his famous battles, and after the restoration, found it not wholesome or safe to remain in London, hence with his wife, Mary--whom he married in London, a lady of culture and highly educated--he left London and went, in 1660, to St. Christopher’s, in the West India Islands, and opened a large trade in general merchandise from London to these islands, and the colonies on the coast of Maryland and Delaware.

On his return trips to London he took large cargoes of Muscovada sugar, as his old ledgers show. In 1681 two of his brothers, Derby and Ebenezer, came with him, and settled in the then Province of Maryland, near what is now the Maryland and Delaware line, but on the Delaware side.

Derby settled where what is known now as Theodore Brewington’s Mill, and Ebenezer at the Line Meeting House, The merchant, William, was called by many of the colonists “The Blanket Merchant,” because of the large quantities of blankets he handled in his trade, which he continued back and forth between London, the islands and colonies until the spring of 1688, when he settled near his brothers, but on the Maryland side of the line, near the present town of Delmar, in Somerset County, where he built a residence that he occupied till his death.

William Hearne, the merchant, did a large business from London to the West India Islands from 1680 to 1688 (mostly at the islands of St. Christopher and St. Thomas) and back to London. shipping large cargoes of goods of all kinds from London to the islands, and on the return trip taking back shipments chiefly of Muscovada sugar, in hogsheads, as his old ledger shows, from 1683 to 1688, inclusive.

I have the old ledger before me now, and though greatly mutilated, enough is left to show us clearly his line of business and the character of goods shipped, and though written in a plain hand, and the ink clear and the distinct, and more than two hundred years since written, it is very difficult to decipher the many abbreviations and characters, as they are so very different from those now in use. I note one abbreviation that I thought was modern that is. St. Xtopher’s for St. Christopher’s, as in Xmas for Christmas.

Two of the merchant Williams’ old Ledgers or invoice books, and a Small book of his genealogy descended to his great-grandson. Clement Hearne, who brought them to Kentucky with him in 1798, and one of the old ledgers is still in the family. The book of genealogy traced back in an unbroken line to the time of the Conqueror, 1066, to an officer, a standard bearer to the Conqueror, bearing the family name, Hearne.

This much-prized little book of genealogy was seen and read by several of my generation of the family, who were much older than I; among them were Mrs. Eveline Allen, a granddaughter of Clement Hearne, and William L. Hearne, a great nephew of Clement Hearne, who then (1836) lived in Delaware and died in Wheeling. West Virginia, in 1895. They were both full grown people when they saw the book, and told me how Grandfather Clement prized it and how carefully he kept it, and with what pride he showed and explained it to them. I remember quite well myself the two years I lived with him, though only five and six years old, of his keeping these old treasure books, in a small book case in the wall, always under lock, with the key in his pocket.

His wife died in less than two years after that, and he had to go to live in a room built for him in his son Joseph’s yard. In the meantime Joseph had married his second wife; that rendered both his and his father Clement's life unhappy, and she knew not the value, and perhaps cared not, for these old books of such inestimable worth; hence they were lost or destroyed, except one, which was an invoice book of merchandise carried between London and America,

The house which William Hearne built in 1688 was occupied by some of his descendants for nearly two hundred years, and the land has never passed out of the family being owned now, 1907, by the children of Elijah Freney. lineal descendants of the first settler, William Hearne.

William Hearne named the tract of land on which he lived and his residence "St. Kitts," for the place from which he came. St. Christopher’s in the West Indies. William Hearne, the merchant, died Oct, 1691, and was buried on an elevated spot on his farm, that became a family burying ground, and has been nicely kept and preserved to the present time, 1907.

His wife, Mary, and sons, Thomas and Nehemiah, with many otber descendants, are buried there.[1] In 1897 I had erected on a firm foundation a modest granite monument, the cut of which is shown on opposite page, with the inscription "HEARNE" at the base, and on the face:

William Hearne, merchant, born 1627, and wife, Mary, born in London, England. Settled here in 1688. He died October, 1691. and she died after him. "Thomas Hearne, son of William and Mary, born May 31, 1691 ; died March, 1762. His wife, Sally Wingate, died before him." Nehemiah Hearne, son of Thomas and Sally, died March, 1760. His wife, Bettie, died after him."

At the time of the erection of this monument I had a small granite tablet set at Greenville Episcopal Church, some ten miles east of Laurel, Delaware, with the following inscription: "Ebenezer Hearne, son of Thomas and Sally, born May 6. 1717 ; died April, 1785; and Priscilla, his wife, died April. 1796; buried 2 1/2 miles southeast." Greenville Episcopal Church is the same that the acre of ground for it was given by Cement Hearne.

The Ebenezer Hearne homestead and burying ground is about 2 1/2 miles south-east of this point, where is buried also George Hearne, second son of Ebenezer, born September 2, 1758; killed in the American Army in New Jersey in 1778. The writer has a feeling of gratification that cannot be expressed in words, in knowing that durable markers note the last resting piaces of all his paternal American ancestors in an unbroken line, that can be seen and known as they are visited by the present and all future generations of their descendants; that is, the one for William Heaarne (1691) and son Thomas (1762), near Delmar, but in Somerset County, Maryland; then of Ebenezer, at Greenville Protestant Episcopal Church in Sussex County, Delaware; and lastly, of Clement and Cannon Hearne, at Lexington, Kentucky, where also rest all the deceased members of my own immediate family, and where I intend my own body to be interred.

William Hearne and wife, Mary, were Episcopalians, and members of the Church of England, as were the majority of their descendants for several generations. The records in Princess Anne, Somerset County, Maryland, show that William Hearne, son of William Hearne (merchant), and Mary, his wife, was born Sept. 24, A. D. 1688, and that Thomas Hearne, son of William (merchant), was born of Mary, his wife, May 31, A. D. 1691.

THOMAS HEARNE, son of William and Mary, born May 31, 1691, married Sally Wingate, and died about Mar. 1, 1762, aged 71 years, as shown by probation of his will. He left children named as follows: George, Ebenezer, Thomas, Elizabeth wife of Isaac Moore, John, and deceased son Nehemiah, Jemima, Mary wife of Joshua Morgan, Esther wife of Benjamin Vincent, Sarah, Anne, and a deceased son, William. Will of Thomas Hearne as of record at Princess Anne, Maryland, and also of record in Annapolis, Maryland. In the name of God Amen. The 27th day of January in the year of our Lord God one thousand seven hundred and sixty-two.

I, Thomas Hearne, of Somerset County and Province of Maryland, being very sick in body but of perfect mind and memory, tanks be to God for the same, therefore calling unto mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make this my last will and testament in manner and form as follows:

First of all I give and bequeath to my son George one negro fellow called Hercules. Also I give to my son Ebenezer one negro fellow called Jeffry and also as much tobacco as shall give him five pounds sterling. Also I give to my son Thomas Hearne a negro wench called Sue. Also I give and bequeath to my daughter Elizebeth wife of Isaac Moore one negro wench called Patience. Also I give to my grandsons Elisha Hearne, William Hearne and Joshua Hearne, the sons of my son Nehemiah Hearne, one negro boy, the eldest of them to have the boy and to pay to the other two five pounds a piece it being the full, whole part of my son Nehemiali’s portion out of my estate. Also I give to my daughter Jemima Hearne one negro fellow called London and I order that the said negro be hired out until he is of age or married, the money for the hire of the said negro to be applied toward maintaining my youngest children; as also one good feather bed with furniture and bedstead to my said daughter Jemima and a good, likely cow and calf; also a large pewter dish and a large pewter basin, also three new pewter plates and three new pewter spoons; also one spinning wheel.

Also I give and bequeath to my son John Hearne one hundred acres of land lying and being in Somerset County called “Hearne's venture” with all and every the appurtenances there-unto belonging to him and his heirs forever. Also I give and bequeath to my son John Hearne fifty acres of land called St. Kitts, it lying and being in Somerset County; also a tract of land called Tower Hill, containing fifty acres of land, it lying and being in Somerset County; the third tract of land I give to him and his heirs forever; also I give to my son John Hearne, one good feather bed and furniture and bedstead, and one likely cow and calf, one large new pewter dish, one large new pewter basin, three new pewter plates, and three new pewter spoons, and one small gun and my black vest and breeches and my best hat, also my negro wench called Doll and her increase and one negro wench called Hannah, to him and his heirs forever.

Also I give and bequeath to my daughter Mary, wife of Joshua Morgan twenty pounds to be levied out of my estate, it being the full of her portion out of my estate. Also I give and bequeath to my daughter Sarah Hearne, one good feather bed and furniture and one book stand and one likely cow and calf and one pewter dish and one pewter basin and three new spoons and one negro girl, called Pegg, to her and her heirs forever. Also I give and bequeath to my daughter Anne Hearne one feather bed and furniture and one bedstead and one cow and calf and one pewter dish and basin and three new pewter spoons.

Also I give to my daughter Anne one negro boy called Andrew, to her and her heirs forever. Also I give and bequeath to my daughter Ester, wife of Benjamin Vincent, one negro boy called Holborn to her and her heirs forever. Also I give and bequeath to James Hearne the son of Wm. Hearne one hundred and fifty acres of land taken out of a tract of land called Stains, containing four hundred and twenty acres lying and being in Somerset County near a branch called Coxes Branch. Also I give the remainder of my personal estate to be divided amongst all my children and they that take the most valuable effects to let the others have in proportion the more of other goods. Also I appoint and constitute my son Thomas Hearne my only and sole executor of this my last will and testament, ratifying and confirming this my last will and testament. THOMAS HEARNE. (SEAL) Probated March 26th, 1762.

I have been unable to get any data of the birth or death of Sally (Wingate) Hearne, wife of Thomas Hearne. I have often heard my grandfather, Clement Hearne, say that the Wingate family was a large one, and that those who went to Tennessee. and the Wingates of Frankfort, Ky., were our relatives, as also the Ward families (through the Wingates), Junius R., of Scott County, Kentucky. and Robert J., of Louisville. Ky., who both owned large plantations in Mississippi. were our relatives.

William Hearne, born in the city of London, England, came to this country shortly after 1681 and settled in the then colony of Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. Mason and Dixon's Line to settle disputes between Lord Baltimore and William Penn, cut off a portion of the territory previously claimed by the former and assigned it to Penn. In this strip was the home of my ancestry. Mason and Dixon's line is about one mile south of my grandfather's homestead, and consequently in the state of Delaware. My grandfather was persuaded to and did drop the final "e" in our name. The other four brothers and their descendants still retaining it. My grandfather and all of his sons, to the end of their lives, left off the final "e."

THOMAS HEARNE, third son of Thomas and Sally (Wingate) Hearne, was born 1720, died 1800, in North Carolina. By will his father left him executor of his estate when he died Jan., 1762. He married Nancy Wilson, who was born on the eastern shore of Maryland, as was he himself. They emigrated to North Carolina, Onslow Co., where their son Thomas was born Jan., 1768.

In a few years he moved to Montgomery Co. and settled a few miles from the mouth of the Yadkin River. He was possessed of good property at the outbreak of the war of the Revolution, and having taken the oath of allegiance to the king, he would not espouse the cause of the Colonists, but he refused to bear arms against them. Hence he fared badly at the hands of both parties and between the two, lost most of his property. He died 1800.

Besides the son Thomas, born 1768, he had eleven other children, viz: George, Nancy, Rachel, William, Ebenezer, Elizabeth, Abner, Edmond, Howell, Stephen, Drewry, and John W. Thomas, the elder son, went to Virginia in 1786 and married Rachel Drewry, who was born 1767. They had nine children, but I cannot give their names in order. They are: Thomas D., William R., John and Ebenezer (twins), Nancy, Wilson, Mary, Brunetta, and Aquilla. They were a poor couple and had to work hard for a living. They became parents of two sons in succession, and then of twin sons, John and Ebenezer.

Until nearly grown there was a striking parallel, so to speak, between the twins. When one got sick, the other became sick at the same time and both recovered at the same time, Thomas Hearne had few facilities for educating his children. About 1810 he emigrated from North Carolina to Wilson Co., Tenn., and he and wife both died there 1852. Thomas Hearne, had ten children: Wilson, William, Ebenezer, John, Thomas, Nancy, Lucy, Allie, Priscilla, and Aquilla; there were two sets of twins, Priscilla and Aquilla, Ebenezer and John.

JOHN THOMAS HEARN, son of Thomas and Nancy (Wilson) Hearne, born in Montgomery Co., N. C., 1760 to 1762, married Annie Chesney and settled on Walker's Creek, in what was then Wythe Co., Va., but now Bland Co. He brought several negroes with him, among others the negro wench called Sue, willed to his father by his grandfather, and also the negro girl called Peg, willed to his Aunt Sarah by his grandfather.

John Hearn died of dropsy 1837. His wife also died of dropsy 1841, and both were buried in the old Hearn burying ground on his farm. These two old negro women were also buried there. He owned a large tract of land, and a gristmill, and was a prosperous farmer. The people called his corn crib "Hold Out" because he always kept plenty of corn. He and his wife were both members of a Baptist church, and raised a family of twelve children, three boys and nine girls.

I am unable to give the dates of their births or to name them in the order in which they were born, his old family Bible being lost. The first record we find of John Hearn in Virginia is in the purchase of 130 acres of land Sept. 29, 1806, from Walter Elam and wife on Walker's Creek, Wythe Co.

The second purchase, 130 acres adjoining the first tract, from John Lambert and wife, Aug. 7,1809, and also 50 acres adjoining, from James Lambert. He also bought 200 acres on Laurel Creek, Taswell Co., Va. He sold some of his negroes before his death, and gave some of them to his son, William, to take care of his wife (Annie) till her death.

His personal property was appraised after his death for $2,722.84 1/4 as of record. He was a large muscular man, 5 feet, 10 inches high, and weighed two hundred pounds, dark hair, blue eyes, a prudent, provident hard working man, and was wont to boast of his rail splitting.

His wife, Annie Chesney was full blooded Irish, being born in Ireland; black hair and brown eves, weighed 170 pounds, a ruddy complexion and great worker. John and Annie Chesney Hearn had children as follows: Sarah, married Joshua Bruce; Catherine, married Henderson Justice; William, born July 17, 1793, married Susannah Hicks; James, married Esther Griffin; Martha, married James Jones; Celia, married James Copley; Elizabeth, married Vincent Bruce; Jeremiah, married Miss Whitehead. JAMES, son of John and Annie Chesney Hearn, married Esther Griffin of Gallio, O. Children: Anna, born 1812 ; Rachel, born 1814; Levi Griffin, born June 27, 1816; Isaac, born 1818; Elizbeth, born 1820 ; William, born 1822. Soon after 1812 he settled in Tazwell Co., Va. , and bought a farm of two hundred acres in Burk's Garden. In 1816 he returned to Gallio, O., and resided there till after the death of his wife, 1822, when he brought back his three oldest children, Anna, Rachel and Levi Griffin, to Bland Co., Va., to his grandfather, John Hearn, who raised them.

LEVI GRIFFIN, son of James and Esther Griffin Hearn, born in Burk's Garden, Tazwell Co., Va., June 27, 1816, married Aura White Aug. 25, 1836. He bought fifty acres of land which he improved and lived on it, and bought other land adjoining till he had one thousand acres, of mountain land, and was a sucessful farmer.

At the age of fourteen he joined the Methodist Church, and was a consistent and active member all his life. He was an independent voter, sometimes Democratic and sometimes republican, voting for the best men. He died June 27, 1890. His wife Aura White, was of English extraction and born Mar. 30, 1816. She, like her husband, lived a noble Christian life, and still lingers on the shores of time in her ninetieth year, with her mental faculties unimpaired, and can read ordinary print without glasses.

To this union were born seven sons and five daugters. William, eldest son, born Aug. 2, 1837. He is a genius and natural mechanic.Aug. 21, 1860, he married Ida Jane Smith. [2] 1862 he was conscripted in the Confederate army, but avoided service. Aug., 1865, he moved to Raleigh Co., W. Va., and bought a small farm and in a few years sold his land and bought the mercantile concern of John N. Hutchison at Beckley, county seat of Raleigh Co., W. Va. 1884 he sold out his business and moved to Wyoming Co., W. Va., and bought a large tract of land, and put up goods and added a steam saw and grist mill to his other business.

After remaining there fourteen years, he traded his property for a tract of land at Sand Gap, Mercer Co., W. Va., on which was a store house a houses. Here in 1896 he entered into a general mercantile business; his property is valuable and his business prosperous. He had several children, but I cannot give their names or ages. His wife died Nov. 8, 1900, and Sept. 22, 1902, he married Eliza V. Epperson, and to them were born a son and daughter[1], in religion he was a Methodist, and in politics a Republican.

JAMES, son of Levi Griffin and Aura W. Hearn, born June 10, 1839. Married Esther C. Dewese Feb. 19, 1861. 1867 he was in mercantile business at Frenchville, W. Va., but sold out 1870 and moved to Kansas, but returned to Mercer Co., W. Va., 1873, and again engaged in mercantile business. After some years sold out and engaged in railroad grading.

In religion he is a Methodist, and in politics a Republican, and has served two terms in the legislature from Mercer Co. He has four children, two girls and two boys. Alonzo G., son of James and Esther C. Hearn, born 1864. Has been married twice, has one son, Everett, by first marriage, and three by the last. He lives at Ada, Mercer Co., W. Va. He is a music teacher, and also railroad man, a Methodist and Republican. For the data of John Hearn, son of Thomas and Nancy (Wilson) Hearne, 1720-1800, I am indebted to Levi Lawson Hearn, of Oakvale, West Virginia.

(Maggie's Note: Alonzo G. Hearn fathered my maternal grandfather, Bernard Hearn, by his second wife).