When Mary Jane Hannibal was born on 1 March 1835, in Oswego, New York, United States, her father, Dorris Hannibal, was 36 and her mother, Melinda Bartlett, was 36. She married Franklin F Palmer on 1 January 1851, in Lenawee, Michigan, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 2 daughters. She lived in Ransom, Hillsdale, Michigan, United States in 1860 and Hudson, Lenawee, Michigan, United States for about 30 years. She died on 7 April 1909, in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States, at the age of 74, and was buried in Maple Grove Cemetery, Hudson, Lenawee, Michigan, United States.
German: from a post-humanist personal name, Hannibal (see 2 below).
English: post-medieval variant of Annable , from Middle English Amabil, Annabel. This female personal name fell out of fashion in the late Middle Ages, and the source of the surname was no longer recognized. It was re-interpreted in the 16th century by classically educated gentlemen as being the name of the Carthaginian general, Hannibal (247–182 BC ). The surname was also sometimes later re-etymologized as honey + ball or bell, hence spellings such as Honeyball and Hunnibell. In this new guise, it coincided with an established variant of Annable with initial H-.
History: There is no evidence for the use of Hannibal as a personal name in England before 1619, when Hannibal Gammon was rector of Mawgan in Pyder, Cornwall. As a medieval surname, it was borne by Matthew Hanibal (1255) and Peter Haniballus, both described as ‘civis Romanus’, and obviously Italians, but it is unlikely that either of these Italian merchants or moneylenders founded an English family.
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