"Now is the Law of the Jungle---as old and true as the sky;
And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back---
For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack."
Rudyard Kipling
(Dec 30, 1865 - Jan 18, 1936)
From The
Law of the Jungle
This site was built for the main purpose of sharing information with anyone who has interest in our family tree, as well as for building onto our genealogy. The Wolfinger.us site was designed with 3 purposes in mind.
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Heraldry |
German: habitational name for someone from Wolfing in Bavaria.
34 Wolfingers fought with the Union army during the U.S. Civil War --- 0 fought with the Confederate army.
56 Wolfingers enlisted with the US Military during World War II. Although three Wolfingers enlist earlier in 1941, Russell J Wolfinger from Ohio was the first to volunteer 48 hours (December 9, 1941) after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. H. J. Wolfinger III was a prisoner of war in the European Theatre from about June 18, 1944 until being liberated around June 14, 1945.
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Heraldry Shield: Silver a fesse wavy between three fleur de lis. |
The distinguished surname Folgate is one of the most notable Anglo/Saxon surnames, and
its historical trail has emerged from the mists of time to become an influential surname
of the middle ages and of the present day. In an in-depth research of such ancient
manuscripts as the Domesday Book compiled in 1086 A.D., by Duke William of Normandy, the
Ragman Rolls (1291-1296) collected by King Edward 1st of England, the Curia Regis Rolls,
The Pipe Rolls, the Hearth Rolls, parish registers, baptismals, tax records and other
ancient documents, researchers found the first record of the name Folgate in Norfolk where
they were anciently seated as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English
history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts
was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed. But Saxon
surnames survived and the family name was first referenced in the year 1203 when Godwin de
Fieldgate held estates in the county.
Confusing to most, we found many different spellings in the archives researched.
Although your name, Folgate, occurred in many manuscripts, from time to time the surname
was also spelt Fieldgate, Fellgate, Felgate, Fellgett, Filgate, Fieldgett, Feelgate,
Fielgate, Fillgate, Fillget, and these changes in spelling frequently occurred, even
between father and son. There is one record, a father and eight sons. In the
graveyard where they are buried, all nine have different spellings of their surnames.
Many reasons were revealed for these spelling variations but mainly church
officials and scribes spelt the name as it was told to them.
The family name Folgate is one of the most notable of the ancient Anglo/Saxon race.
This founding race of England, a fair skinned people led by the Saxon General/Commanders
Hengist and Horsa, settled in Kent from about the year 400 A.D. The Angles, on the
other hand, occupied the eastern coast.
The Anglo/Saxon five-century domination of English society was an uncertain time, and the
nation divided into five separate kingdoms, a high king being elected as supreme ruler.
By 1066, King Harold came to the throne of England which was enjoying reasonable peace and
prosperity. However, the Norman invasion from France and their victory at the Battle
of Hastings, found many of the vanquished Saxon land owners forfeiting their land to Duke
William and his invading nobles. They became oppressed under Norman rule, and some
moved northward to the midlands, Lancashire and Yorkshire, even into Scotland.
The family name Folgate emerged as a notable English family name in the county of Norfolk
where they were anciently seated. Later, in Worcestershire they were also shown on
tax records as Elias de Felgate was also shown on tax records. They were also seated
at Caldecote Hall in Leicestershire. From their early beginnings, for the next few
centuries, the family name also acquired other estates or manors as branches established
themselves throughout England. Several major conflicts, the Wars of the Roses, the
Cromwellian found them sometimes to be in opposing camps with conflicting interests.
Many changes in spelling the surname were accidental, some were deliberate, to
declare a cause, or to distance a branch from the main stem. In the 16th century
they were seated at Yaxley in Suffolk. Notable amongst the family at this time was
Fieldgate of Norfolk.
For the next two or three centuries bearers of the surname Folgate flourished and played a
significant role in the political development of England. During the 16th, 17th and
18th centuries England was ravaged by religious and political conflict. Puritanism,
Catholicism, Royalist and parliamentary forces shed much blood. Many families were
freely "encouraged" to migrate to Ireland, or to the "colonies".
Some were rewarded with grants of lands, others were banished.
In Ireland, settlers became known as the Adventurers seeking land in Ireland. Called
"undertakers" they undertook to maintain the Protestant faith. As early as
1172 branches of certain family surnames moved to Ireland with the invasion of Strongbow,
still more were encouraged to be a part of the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th
century. Later, the Cromwellian settlements moved other families. In Ireland
they were seated at Lisrenny In Louth and in Lowther Lodge in Dublin.
Meanwhile the New World beckoned and migration continued, some voluntarily from Ireland,
but mostly directly from England or Scotland, their home territories. Some clans and
families even moved to the European continent.
Kinsmen of the family name Folgate were amongst the many who sailed aboard the armada of
small sailing ships known as the "White Sails" which plied the stormy Atlantic.
These overcrowded ships were pestilence ridden, sometimes 30% to 40% of the
passenger list never reaching their destination, their numbers reduced by sickness or the
elements.
Many settlers were recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from
Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to
Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands.
The trek from the port of entry was also arduous and many joined the wagon trains to the
prairies or to the west coast. During the American War of Independence, many
loyalists made their way north to Canada about 1790, and became known as the United Empire
Loyalists.
20th century notable of the surname, Folgate, include many distinguished persons.
Many notable personalities of this name have contributed to the society on both sides of
the Atlantic.
Research has determined the above Coat of Arms to be the most ancient recorded for the
family surname Folgate.
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Heraldry |
O'Neill is arguably the most illustrious among the surnames of Ireland, though only
tenth in the list of most commonly found names. The story of the sept originates in the
myths of prehistory. The ancient clan historians trace the family back to Heremon, son of
Milesius and Celtic conqueror of Ireland. Thence the line continues through many
generations to through Conn Ceadcathach (Conn of the Hundred Battles), second century High
King and on to Niall Naoi Ghiallach or Niall of the Nine Hostages, High King of Ireland
from 377 to 404 AD. As High King of Ireland, Niall reigned from the ancient Irish royal
seat at Tara, in modern Co. Meath. During his reign he conquered all of Ireland and
Scotland and much of Britain and Wales. He took a royal hostage from each of the nine
kingdoms he subjugated, hence his famous nickname. The families that descend from Niall
are collectively known as the Uí Neill, meaning descendants of Niall, and not to be
confused with the sept of O Neill. He had twelve sons, of whom four moved into Ulster to
establish the dynasty there.
Eoghan, son of Niall gave his name to Tir Eoghain (in English Tyrone) and twelve
generations later we find his descendant, Niall Glandubh (Niall of the Black Knee) as High
King in 890 A.D. He was killed in battle against the Norsemen near Dublin in 919. It was
his grandson, Domhnall (c. 943) who adopted the surname O Neill, meaning grandson of
Niall. From the fifth to the eleventh century, and from the twelfth century to the death
of Red Hugh O Neill in 1608, this dominant family were monarchs of all Ireland, kings of
Ulster, earls and princes of Tyrone, statesmen and soldiers. The O Neills are the oldest
family in Europe with unbroken descent in the male line. The descent of the original
Tyrone family has continued unbroken, down to the present holder of the title of O Neill
Mór.
From the sixth to the twelfth century, the Grianan of Aileach, which overlooks the
Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, was an O Neill stronghold. It was plundered many
times and Murtough O Brien demolished it in 1101 in revenge for the destruction of the O
Brien royal seat at Kincora in County Clare. It is recorded that he ordered his soldiers
to carry away the stones with their provisions. In the nineteenth century, the Grianan was
imaginatively restored by a local citizen.
In the fourteenth century a branch of the Tyrone O Neills migrated to Antrim where they
became known as Clann Aodha Bhuidhe, from Aodh Buidhe (or Hugh Boy) O Neill, who was slain
in 1283. His name is perpetuated in the territorial name Clannaboy or Clandeboy. These O
Neills reversed the usual trend in Ireland of that day by taking large tracts of land from
the Anglo-Norman invaders. Their principal seat was at Edenduffcarrig, later known as
Shane's Castle, northwest of Antrim town. The attempts made by the English in the
sixteenth century to exterminate them, which were carried out by Essex and others with a
ferocity and perfidy seldom equalled even in that violent age, were unsuccessful, and O
Neills are numerous there today, as they are also in West Ulster. Since 1740, the O Neills
of Clanaboy have been living in Portugal, where they proudly continue their ancient Gaelic
designation O Neill, Chieftain.
The O Neills of the Fews in Co. Armagh descend from Aodh, known as Hugh of the Fews, died
1475, second son of Eoghan, chief of the name, who was inaugurated in 1432.
The O Neills of Thomond (Clare and Limerick) were chiefs of a territory in the modern
barony of Bunratty: to-day O Neill is not a common name in Co. Clare, but the Nihills and
the Creaghs of that county claim to be of Thomond O Neill stock. Modern historians believe
that Nihills were originally Ulster O Neills who settled in Co. Clare after the battle of
Kinsale.
The name O Neill is quite numerous in and around Co. Carlow, where an O Neill sept was
situated in the barony of Rathvilly. Another O Neill sept was located in the Decies and
its present day representatives are found in Co. Waterford and south Tipperary.
One of the most lasting and identifiable symbols of Ireland, the red hand, is taken from
the O Neill coat of arms. The symbol predates the advent of formal heraldry, which was
introduced by the Normans and is recorded on the battle standards of the Uí Neill in the
fourth and fifth centuries. Even the family motto "Lám Dearg Éirinn" means
"the red hand of Ireland". There are many legends as to how the O Neills
acquired their motto. One story is that when their ancestors sailed close to the northeast
tip of Ireland they agreed that whoever landed first would have that area of land. A
quick-witted warrior chopped off his left hand, threw it onto the shore and claimed his
reward! Modern coats of arms show the symbol as a right hand, but the more ancient records
clearly have it as "sinister" or left.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the struggles to preserve Gaelic Ireland
centred around the O Neills and many of them left an indelible imprint on the history of
the province of Ulster.
Conn Bacach (the lame) O Neill, the first Earl of Tyrone (c. 1484-1559), was the first of
the great warrior O Neills. When his territory was invaded, he went to London to submit to
Henry VIII who created him Earl of Tyrone. His family did not approve of an English title
and there was much feuding, which led to the murder of one of his sons. Conn took refuge
in Dublin, inside the Pale, where he died. Conn was succeeded by his son, Sean an Diomais
(Shane the proud). Shane's followers murdered his half-brother, Matthew, and Shane himself
was murdered by the MacDonnells of Antrim in revenge for the destruction by Shane of their
Scottish settlements in the county.
Conn Bacach's grandson, the great Hugh O Neill (1550-1616), 2nd Earl of Tyrone and son of
Matthew, lived for six years at the Court of Queen Elizabeth as Baron of Dungannon. She
hoped to tame him and win the allegiance of the O Neills and for a long time he appeared
to be loyal to the Crown. Ireland was in a chaotic state, it lacked any government except
inside the Pale, and constant warring had led to famine and disease. Given his experience
in England, Hugh was aware of the wider political issues, and at times it must have been
difficult for anyone to know, including himself, which was the right side to support. He
began a series of intrigues with the local chiefs and also with the English, and was
harassed by Elizabeth's spies. Endlessly suing for peace or pardons, he played for time,
waiting for the promised help from Spain. His marital arrangements were equally unstable.
He divorced his first wife, his second wife died, and, at 45 he eloped with Mabel Bagenal,
the sister of his archenemy, Sir Henry Bagenal. She left him when she discovered he
"affected two other gentlewomen". She did not live long and, after her death, he
married Catherine Magennis. In 1595 he had a successful encounter with the English at the
battle of Clontibret. At the battle of the Yellow Ford, near Armagh in 1598, the Irish had
one of their greatest triumphs and Bagenal was killed. Hugh O Neill now began to be
regarded as Prince of Ireland - The O Neill - a title, which meant much more to him and
the Irish than Earl of Tyrone. His arrogance alarmed Elizabeth who sent over her
favorite, the Earl of Essex, with a vast army. However, Essex was tricked by O Neill and
returned, unsuccessful, to London, where Elizabeth had him executed. She sent another
expensive army with more efficient leadership. Many of the Irish chiefs, thinking only of
their property, joined the English. When the Spanish army finally landed, it was at
Kinsale rather than at an Ulster port. Hugh O Neill had to lead his army in hazardous
winter conditions from the north to the extreme southern tip of Ireland. He wanted to
attack at once, but was, it is thought, restrained by Red Hugh O Donnell and Del Aquila.
When they finally attacked on Christmas Eve 1601, it was too late, and the best
opportunity in centuries was lost.
The defeat at Kinsale marked the end of the Gaelic order and ushered in the exodus to
Europe. In 1607, Tyrone and his family and many other chiefs sailed from Lough Swilly, an
event to become known as The Flight of the Earls. Tyrone died, homeless and penniless, in
Rome. Although they fought continuously, either between themselves or against their
neighbors, they also sought valiantly to drive out the colonisers. When Hugh O Neill,
Earl of Tyrone, and O Donnell, Earl of Tirconnell, fled to Europe, they left Ulster open
to the Protestant plantations of James I, contributing to the continuing conflict in this
area of Ulster, which remained British when the rest of Ireland became independent.
Owen Roe (the red haired) O Neill (1590-1649), a nephew of the great Hugh O Neill, Earl of
Tyrone, was a professional soldier who had served thirty years in the Spanish army. He
returned to Ireland and, in 1642, joined the new movement styled the Confederate Catholics
of Ireland. He defeated the Scots under Monro at Benburb in County Tyrone in 1646. When
Cromwell landed to wreak vengeance, Owen Roe, on his way to join the royalist army led by
Ormond, died.
Owen Roe's nephew, Daniel O Neill (1612-64), was a Protestant Cavalier and a
favorite of
Charles II who, in 1663, appointed him Postmaster-General, an appointment which an O Neill
of Clanaboy, Charles O Neill, was to hold in the nineteenth century.
Sir Phelim O Neill (1604-53), a lawyer, soldier and bon viveur, took part in the
disastrous insurrection of 1641 where he was Commander-in-Chief of the northern forces. He
was betrayed by a kinsman and executed as a traitor.
The O Neills of Ulster were a fiercely proud, sometimes arrogant clan. Although their
royal dynasty is long gone, their fame still lives on in many parts of the world,
particularly in Europe, where O Neills fought in the armies of Spain, Austria and the
Netherlands. There were also distinguished O Neills in the Church and the arts. The
wandering, blind harper, Arthur O Neill (1737-1816), is recorded as having said,
"wherever an O Neill sits he is always the head of the table". This Arthur was
the rootstock from which has sprung some of the best in Irish traditional music.
Sir Niall O Neill (1658-90), the eldest son of Sir Hugh O Neill of Shane's Castle at
Antrim, of the Clandeboy family, had the dangerous assignment of stopping the first wave
of King William's troops crossing the Boyne at Rossnaree in 1690. He was fatally wounded
and was later buried in Waterford. Shane O Neill was the last Gaelic Lord of Clanaboy. In
1740 he sailed for Lisbon in Portugal, and the aristocratic O Neill dynasty continues
there to the present day. After his departure, the O Neill castle, Edenduffearrig in
County Antrim, was renamed Shane's Castle. Today, Raymond, 4th Lord O Neill of the English
creation of 1868, lives there. An ancestor of his, Mary O Neill, married the Reverend
Arthur Chichester, rector of Randalstown. Because these O Neills had died out in the male
line, he adopted the illustrious surname, and the numerous descendants of Mary and Arthur
have kept the name an active one in Irish public affairs. Shane's Castle on the edge of
Lough Neagh has suffered many vicissitudes. In the nineteenth century, Earl O Neill had
almost completed the restoration of the splendid mansion designed by Nash, when it was
destroyed by fire. Some say the fire was caused by Kathleen, the family banshee, who had
been disturbed by the rebuilding. It was later burned again by Sinn Fein, with the
irreparable loss of historical family papers. Raymond O Neill includes among his
wide-ranging activities the preservation of steam trains; he runs a railway system on the
estate at Shane's Castle, which is open to the public. There is also a nature reserve, and
the rebuilt conservatory houses a unique collection of camellias which, are over 100 years
old. Lord O Neill is also chairman of the National Trust in Northern Ireland.
John O Neill, a member of the old Irish Parliament, supported Catholic emancipation. He
was one of the delegates who, in 1789, went from the Irish Parliament to request George,
Prince of Wales, to assume the regency. He was killed at the outbreak of the 1798 rising,
while traveling home to help restore order to his Ulster homeland.
Terence O Neill (1912-90) was Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from 1963 to 1969, the
year in which he resigned. He made staunch efforts to reconcile unionists, nationalists
and republicans. He was created a life peer in 1970, taking the title Lord O Neill of the
Maine, being descended from the Chichester-O Neills.
Hugo O Neill, son of Jorge, whose family has been in Portugal since the eighteenth
century, is officially recognized by the offices of arms throughout Europe as titular
Prince and Count of Tyrone and Clanaboy, but he refuses to use this title. Hugo is, in
fact, a Portuguese nobleman who prefers to use his Irish title, O Neill Buidhe of
Clanaboy.
In the eighteenth century, a few O Neill women came to the fore. Eliza O Neill (1791-1872)
was born in Drogheda, County Louth, where her father, an actor manager, encouraged her
early acting career. When she appeared on the Dublin stage, her dramatic talents were
immediately recognized. Soon afterwards she played Juliet at Covent Garden. Her beauty,
splendid voice and versatility made her a favorite, and she earned an enormous salary
during five very successful years. In 1819 she retired to marry William Wrixon, an Irish
Member of Parliament from Mallow, County Cork. His uncle left him a fortune and he assumed
his name, Becher. Later he was knighted and Lady Eliza Wrixon Becher's many children
married into the Munster gentry.
Early in the seventeenth century the O Neills, together with other leading Irish families,
were pioneers in the exodus to America. They sailed with Leonard Calvert and began the
settlement of Maryland, which became a haven for these early Irish and English Catholic
settlers.
The O Neills had an abundance of Irish talent for drama. James O Neill (1849-1920) was
only five when he left Kilkenny with his parents for America, where he became an
outstanding actor. He played Edmund Banton in The Count of Monte Cristo 6,000 times in
twenty years, and was thus frustrated from developing his acting talent. He was the father
of the great Irish-American dramatist, Eugene O Neill (1888-1953), who was born in New
York. Having worked as an actor, gold prospector and seaman, to name but a few of his
occupations, he began to write plays when he was confined to hospital with tuberculosis.
He won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in the 1920s and the Nobel Prize for literature in
1936. He was very aware of his Gaelic heritage and many of his plays reflect this,
particularly Long Day's Journey into Night and Moon for the Misbegotten.
"Sweet Peggy O Neill" (1769-1879) almost caused the break-up of the United
States. Daughter of a Washington tavern-keeper of Irish origin, she had beauty, wit and
vivacity. Her second husband, John Henry Eaton, a Tennessee politician and member of the
US Senate, was a close friend of President Jackson. In 1829, he appointed Eaton as
Secretary of War. This sudden elevation of Sweet Peggy O Neill was bitterly resented by
the other politicians and more so by their ladies, so Jackson was forced to reorganize his
cabinet! Eaton became US Minister in Spain where Peggy was happily accepted and they were
very successful. He died leaving her a wealthy widow, but she was tempted into a third
marriage by a man who relieved her of her wealth. She spent the last years of her life in
Washington in penury.
John O Neill (1834-78) from County Monaghan carried his nationalism with him when he
emigrated to America. First he served with distinction in the army. Then he joined the
Fenian Brotherhood in an abortive attack on British Canada, in the cause of Irish freedom.
He survived and returned to civilian life to work for a company of land speculators. The
chief town of Holt County is named after him.
Captain Francis O Neill (1848-1936) of Bantry, County Cork, became a senior official of
the Chicago police at the beginning of the twentieth century. Encouraged by his mother, he
listened to, and made notes on, the many traditional Irish singers living around Chicago.
A fellow police officer, James O Neill from County Down, collaborated with him. Together
they published a number of volumes of folk music and dances of Ireland. They left their
great contribution to Irish musical heritage to the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
Subsequent Irish folklorists have been enriched by their research.
Rose O Neill (1874-1944) was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Her father's people were
Irish, and he kept a bookstore and encouraged Rose in her writing and illustrating. She
was the creator of the amazingly popular Kewpie (Cupid) doll, a forerunner of the Walt
Disney industry. For 25 years, her "jolly little elves" disported themselves on
the pages of Ladies Home Journal and other women's magazines. The Kewpie doll image was
used to decorate nurseries, wallpaper, fabrics, china, even radiator caps. She made a
fortune, but was careless, and generous, with her money and ended up penniless.
Congressman Thomas P. O Neill was born in Boston in 1912. Under President Jimmy Carter he
became Speaker of the House of Representatives. Known as "Tip" O Neill, he was
regarded as one of the most powerful advocates of the Irish cause internationally. He died
in 1994.
Britain's entry into the European Economic Community was spearheaded by an O Neill. Sir
Con O Neill (1912-88), who was born in London, went from Eton to Oxford to service in the
Diplomatic Corps. When Britain was officially admitted to the EEC in 1973, part of the
credit was due to Sir Con, who had headed the team that conducted the negotiations.
The story of the O Neills is a long and illustrious one. Perhaps the most appropriate
quotation pertaining to the family is that of a fourteenth-century poet who said, "to
compare any clan with that of the O Neills one may as well contend with the ocean".
Many other lines have been written in their honor, including the following relating to
one of their chiefs
His Brehons around him - the blue heavens o'er him,
His true clan behind, and his broad lands before him,
While group'd far below him, on moor, and on heather,
His Tanists and chiefs are assembled together;
They give him a sword, and he swears to protect them;
A slender white wand, and he vows to direct them;
And then, in God's sunshine, "O'NEILL" they all hail him:
Through life, unto death, ne'er to flinch from, or fail him;
And earth hath no spell that can shatter or sever
That bond from their true hearts - The Red Hand for Ever!
Proud lords of Tir-Owen! High Chiefs of Lough Neagh!
How broad-stretch'd the lands that were rul'd by your sway!
What eagle would venture to wing them right through,
But would droop on his pinion, o'er half ere he flew!
From the Hills of MacCartan, and waters that ran
Like Steeds down Glen Swilly, to soft-flowing Bann -
From Clannaboy's heather to Carrick's sea-shore
And Armagh of the Saints to the wild Innismore -
From the cave of the hunter on Tir-Connell's hills
To the dells of Glenarm, all gushing with rills -
From Antrim's bleak rocks to the woods of Rostrevor -
All echo'd your war-shout - `The Red Hand for Ever!'
Heraldry Shield: A black shield showing an anchor |
Kaufman (Vilkomir, Grodno, Igumen, Slutsk, Dvinsk, Dubno, Ovruch) O: Kaufmann [German] (see Kaufer). M: from the given name Kaufman {Kafman, Kauman, Kaufmans, Gaufman, Kufman}. This given name, spelled as Kaufmann in German, is of uncertain origin. Possibly it arose as derivative of Jacob (also see Yakov) with the addition of the element -man and a semantic change of root due to the existence of the German word Kaufmann (merchant). The existence of Sephardic given name Mercado, sematically similar to Kaufmann, makes this hypothesis doubtful. Variants of this given name: Kojfman (`koyfman' in Yiddish) {Kojfman (Kojkhman, Kovfman), Koufman (Kufman)}, Kofman {Kofman (Kopman, Kokhman, Kokman), Kofmanskij, Kokhmanenko}.
We are actively seeking any information that might be useful to other Wolfingers!
Please submit it and we'll try to provide the means for others to enjoy!
Thanks, Joe Wolfinger
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