Bloodlines
There is preliminary DNA evidence that the Faulkner family line originated in Germany. The G2a haplogroup had limited frequency (<3%) throughout Europe during the post Roman Empire period, and it is now indicated that a member of this genetic group emigrated across the Chanel to the east coast of England or Scotland. This emigration very likely coincided with the Anglo-Saxon movement into Britain. It cannot be underestimated the degree of back-and-back and forth movement of ancient peoples over the years. The G2a family match traces back to the surname, Falckner. It might well prove significant that the family surname might have survived in many variations over a thousand years! There is substantial DNA evidence that the Faulkner/Falconer surname was resident in Scotland for the last thousand years. There is an oral history of the Falconer family that tells the tale of 6 brothers emigrating from Scotland to Ulster around the period of 1725 to 1750. Current DNA matching firmly establishes the family in both Kilrea, County Londonderry and Craigs, County Antrim. There is also evidence that the Mooney line was also from the same communities and might have been familiar to each other’s families, although the Mooneys were clearly Catholic and the Faulkner/Falconers, Presbyterian.
John Faulkner/Falconer (1779-1828) was born in Craigs, County Antrim and emigrated to Abbeville, South Carolina in the mid 1820s.
James Faulkner (1805?-1855?) was born in Kilrea, Londonderry or Craigs, Antrim, Northern Ireland and shows up in Lincoln County Tennessee about 1830. His wife, Sarah Mooney (1806?-1875?) was also born in Northern Ireland and is living with her sister in Lincoln County, Tennessee in 1830. They had seven children, all born in Tennessee, the first in 1834. Robert Copeland Faulkner (2/15/1848- 5/31/1928.) In 1849, they followed Sarah’s sister, Jane Barber and her family to Bastrop, Texas where they ranched and raised cattle on Walnut Creek.
Robert Copeland Faulkner married Sara Eta Carroll (1858-6/1881) in 1873 and had four children. Robert Thomas Faulkner (12/29/1875-8/22/1937.) After her death, he married the widow of his brother Neal, Elizabeth Jane Ryan (10/5/1859-3/20/1946), and had one child in 1899. Robert Copeland Faulkner and family moved to Scurry County, Texas around 1885 and lived there until 1900 when they relocated to Eddy County, New Mexico, ranching just south of Carlsbad Caverns. Later the family moved to Hot Springs, New Mexico (renamed Truth or Consequences) where the family continued to ranch cattle.
Robert Thomas Faulkner took his wife and family to Lake Arthur, New Mexico where he ran a saloon. He had to leave the area after his trial and acquittal for killing his best friend in a drunken card game in Dayton, New Mexico. In 1905 he moved to Hope, New Mexico where he was a sheep shearer. Neil Douglas Faulkner (8/5/1910-8/7/1986) was born in Hope, New Mexico. Sometime around 1915, the family moved to Taft, California where he worked in the newly discovered oil fields.
In 1923, Neil Douglas Faulkner and family moved sequentially to Santa Ana, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach and eventually Long Beach. Neil spent his formative years in Huntington Beach on 5th Street and PCH and went to Huntington Beach High School through his Sophomore year and lived at the beach. He married in 1938 to Ramona Marshall and had two sons. Robert Thomas Faulkner (12/3/1947) was born at St. Mary’s Hospital in Long Beach, lived briefly on Signal Hill and moved to Cardiff-by-the-Sea in 1955. Robert Thomas Faulkner graduated from UC Irvine in 1969 and received a Masters degree in 1971 from Long Beach State. He married Joan Teresa Schwarze (1/3/1951) in 1982. They have two sons, Neil and Kyle Faulkner
Neil Douglas Faulkner (7/11/1986) has a son, Waylon Robert Faulkner (12/1/2019,) and currently lives in San Pedro, CA. He is an artist and has his own Tattoo Shop. Kyle Faulkner (3/19/1991) lives in West Los Angeles and is self-employed in real estate development.
