This is a page where family members can discuss the materials I have posted on my family history website, offer suggestions and submit additional documents not already posted on the Albert Bohannan research site:

Monday, December 24, 2012

Evidence of French Roots?

I know of two sources that claim the Behunin's have a French ancestry.

(1) Shirley Schiess lived for many years in Lincoln Nebraska and was in close contact with my great Aunt Violet Behunin who also researched the Behunin line.  Shirley wrote a history of Albert Bohannon that indicates "the name Bohannon is of Scot and/or Irish derivation. However, it is probable it is an Anglicized version of the French name; therefore much easier to pronounce after the family migrated to New York." The complete history can be viewed at the following website:



(2) Many years ago, I also became acquainted with a pedigree that extended the Behunin line back 8 generations beyond Albert Bohannon.  The oldest generation is Perre Andre Behunin, born in 1502 in Nice Franch.  He was married to Marie St. Claire. I discovered that the source of the pedigree was El Dean Behunin, a cousin of my father.  When I visited El Dean at his home in San Diego, he said he was a free mason and that our ancestors were all free masons back to Nice France.  He said he obtained the names of our ancestors by visiting the cathedrals that be built in Canada and Scotland by our free mason ancestors and that the catherdrals contained records of our family history.  Although he would not provide me with any original source documents, he suggest I could gather the information myself by visiting the same cathedrals in Canada and Scotland, as he had done.  I got the impress that he really did not have the source documentation for the pedigree and that he was sending me on a wild goose chase.  I really doubt there were any cathedrals in Canada or Nova Scotia before 1750 that would have been built by our free mason ancestors.  Furthermore, I've found no evidence of any individuals with these names, dates of birth and place of birth.  My guess is that El Dean, for some reason only known to him, fabricated the pedigree.