Breazeale Origin France
Found in the Atlanta Journal Constitution about 15 years ago:
"The French surnames Brassal, Brassel(1), Brazeal, Braz(z)el,
ect. can
have two meanings which are now impossible to separate. One denotes
an
official measurer who checked the merchants' scales and the various
liquid and
dry measuring vessels, and the second is a maker of leather gauntlets
and
leather or metal covering for use as body armor.
BRASSELL and BRASSILL may also be variant spelling of the French
surname Brassall or Brassell which denote either a maker of seller
or bracelets.
The Old Irish surnames O'Brassail was anglicized to O'Brasil
and O'Brazil
and then shortened to Brassil, Bressil, Brazel and Brazil. The
meaning could be
"heir, descendants of the contentious one."
In Virginia, Henry Brassel was a headright in a 1687 Henrico
County land
grant and Rechard Brassel was a headright in a 1695 Isle of wight
County land
grant, Henry Brezeale Sr. held land in Henrico County prior to
1700 and Henry
Brezeale Jr. obtained a 300 acre grant in the same county prior
to 1732
The 1782-1787 Virginia Tax Rolls list the spelling as Brazeal.
The 1790
United States Census list the spellings Brasil(1), Brassel(1),
Brassil(1), Braz(z)el(1)
and Brazil in North Carolina and Brazeal, Brazeel and Brazel
in South
Carolina.
There is some possibility that the above are intermixed with
the names
Bracewell and Braswell."
Found in a book in Longview,Texas genealogical Library:
Members of the clan Brazil were descendants of the colonists
whose
legendary ancestor, EREMON, went to Ireland from Spain with the
Milesian
migration 335 B.C. Their ancestral lineage extended to the Carthaginians,
or
their Kinsman the Phoenicians. They were experts in trade and
travel and quite
probably were aware of the great western continent at this very
early date.
These people were lovers of the sea and may have visited
the New World
about 500. St.Bredan- a member of the Brazil Clan----made his
voyage
which extended over seven years.
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITTANICA Volume 4, page 152 in the 1971 edition
states that the voyage of St.Brendan is clearly based on authentic
reports
and that the Irish had knowledge of the Americas before 400 A.D.
The Clan Brazil began to leave Northern Ireland about 800 and
came to
the American continent. They gathered the valuable dye products
noted in
treaties and listed in taxable imports on many ancient records.