Teddlie family lore has the original Teddlie immigrant was William James Teddlie who arrived in the United States in approximately 1790. There is conflicting information on William James’ port of entry. The predominant view is he arrived in Wilmington, Delaware. Another port of entry recently put forth is that William James arrived in Savannah, Georgia. Regardless of his port of entry,William James is believed to have been a sailor from Ireland who apprenticed asa hatter and ended up in Georgia before 1810. Supposedly, he first was in Jackson County where he married Mary “Polly” Pearrie and relocated to Jasper County. William James and Mary raised eleven children, six boys and five girls,nearly all surviving to adulthood. William James died in 1843. In the mid1850s, many of William James’ children and their families moved to the Winn Parish, Louisiana area.

Thissurname project should help point to an area in Europe where the male linepossibly originated. As more men test, it could point to a common surname thatpredates Teddlie.