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The Homer Family of Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Cape Cod, Massachusetts has an extensive history, going back to 1602 when Bartholomew Gosnold discovered the area. Settlers had come to The Cape for years after the discovery and expedition, from 1621 to 1691 (in this area and during this time, it would have been called "Plymouth Colony" by many). To this day, many families still claim (and are able to support the claim) ancestry in Plymouth Colony and Old Cape Cod. Some of the oldest families are: O'Kelley, Sears, Bradford, Alden, Soule, and many others. After the Plymouth Colony period, many other families also moved in and claimed residence in Barnstable County. One distinguishable family is that of the Homers.

The origin of the Homer family is obscured, and two etymologies can be found. Homer is either an old Anglo-Saxon name, derived from the roots '"hol," meaning "high," and "mere" meaning "pool, lake"; or Homer is an Anglo-Norman name, derived from the Old French word "heaumier," meaning "helmet maker." Nonetheless, the name can still be found in records dating not long after 1086.

A ship master by the name of John Homer was born in London, England, around 1656, to a semi-noble family from Ettingshall, Staffordshire. Not a lot in terms of records remains of his life, except that he immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts in the 1690s. He was said to have been a very worthy and significant resident of the city. In Massachusetts, John Homer met Margery Stephens and married her on the 13th of July, 1693. Together, they had multiple children, one of which was his son Benjamin, from whom most of the Homer diaspora descends. Benjamin was born in Boston, yet died in Yarmouth on the Cape.