I. Origins of the Maple and Mapley surnames:

The Maple surname is generally thought to be an Anglo-Saxon locative name (meaning one who lives near Maple trees) that originated in England.  One early example is Robert atte Mapele, who lived in Essex in 1285 AD. In the 1851 Census of England and Wales, the highest density of Maples was found in Kent. The Maple surname is currently most prevalent in the United States, and most American Maples are believed to be descendants of a single Englishman who immigrated to the colony of West Jersey in the late 17th Century.

Y-DNA studies have found no relationship between the Maples of the United States and the Maples of Kent. Advanced Y-DNA testing has been done for one Maple descended from the Maples of Kent, and he belongs to the Y-DNA branch: R-P312 >> U-152 >> Y32043. The first Maple born in America, Benjamin Maple Jr (1696-1777), belonged to a distinctly different branch: R-U106 >> FGC46245 >> BY63743 >> BY135865. On the other hand, the Maple families of the United States do share distant paternal ancestry with Mapley familes that lived in Buckinghamshire, England in the 18th century -- these Mapleys also belong to haplogroup R-BY63743.

Mapley is believed to be a variant of the Mabley surname, which is thought to be of Norman origin. One early example is Rogerus fillius Mabilie, who lived in Northamptonshire in 1130 AD.  It seems that the surname of the American Maples may have evolved from something like the name Mable .

The Maple Surname Y-DNA Project is looking for males with surnames such as Mable, Mabley, and Mabile. If interested, please contact the administrator at brmaple@att.net .

The project is also looking for more U. K. testers bearing surnames like Maple or Maplesden.

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II. Common Ancestry of MAPLEs in the United States: 

Most Maple-surnamed men now living in North America are believed to be descendants of a weaver named Benjamin Maple, who was present in West Jersey by 1692, and who died in Middlesex County, New Jersey in 1727. Some believe that this was the Benjamin Maple of Ipswich, England, who in 1684 signed a contract to work for 4 years as a servant in Barbados, in exchange for transport there.

The Benjamin Maple who settled in New Jersey had one known son (Benjamin Maple Jr., who died in Middlesex County, New Jersey in 1777), and Benjamin Sr. is thought to have had 6 grandsons with the Maple surname; all were born in Middlesex County:

     Benjamin Maple III - inherited the family farm in 1777.

                               Benjamin is presumed to have died in Middlesex County, New Jersey after 1800.

                               Benjamin's grandchildren lived predominately in New Jersey, New York, and Ohio.

     David Maple Sr. - Administered the estate of his father, Benjamin Maple Jr. 

                               David migrated to Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and he is presumed to have died in Jefferson

                                  County, Ohio after 1807.

                               David's grandchildren lived predominately in Ohio and Indiana. Later generations spread into

                                  Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, and Oklahoma.  

     Thomas Maple Sr - Deeds from Benjamin Maple Jr to his sons Jacob and William mentioned adjoining land of

                                  Thomas Maple.

                               Thomas may have died in New Jersey before 1790.

                               The descendants of Thomas are not well understood. 

     Jacob Maple Sr - A 1772 deed of land from Benjamin Maple Jr to Jacob Maple stated that Jacob was Benjamin's

                                  son.

                               Jacob migrated to Washington County, Maryland, and he is believed to have died in Coshocton

                                  County, Ohio after 1820.

                               Jacob's grandchildren lived in Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa.

     William Maple Sr - A 1772 deed of land from Benjamin Maple Jr to William Maple stated that William was the son

                                  of Benjamin AND his wife, Sarah.

                               William migrated to Washington County, Pennsylvania, and he died in Jefferson County, Ohio in

                                  1812.

                               William's grandchildren lived in Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, and Washington.

     John Maple Sr - appeared in 1772 mortgage and tax records for Middlesex County, New Jersey.

                               John migrated to Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and he is presumed to have died in Lewis County,

                                  Kentucky after 1820.

                               John's grandchildren lived in New Jersey, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois.

     For additional information about Benjamin Maple Sr. and his descendants, see Benjamin's profile (Maple-6) at https://www.WikiTree.com/wiki/Maple-6 .  

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