I got an e-mail from Sam Carnley yesterday with this explination.


There was a "bound out" woman named Elizabeth Meyer. She arrived in Charles Town, South Carolina in October 1751 aboard the ship Anne from Rotterdam. Upon arrival, she lacked the money to pay her passage on the ship. John Crocket paid it for her and she became indentured or "bound out" to him for about 4 years. In 1755, or thereabouts, she married Christopher Keynlon (Kienlein, Kenline, Kinline, etc.) after she had served out her term of indentured servitude with Crocket. George Christopher Kienlein arrived in Charles Town in 1753 aboard the Ship Elizabeth from Rotterdam. He appears to be the immigrant ancestor of the families now known as Carnley, Carnline and Cantaline. Lewis Carnley Sr. was one of his descendants. He is thought to be a son, but that has not been proven. So there was a "bound out" girl in the family history, but she was married not to Lewis, but his father. In addition to Kienlein, George Christopher used the alias Kienla, which sounds like Kinla, Kindley, and other similar spellings. Over time, the name Kienlein acquired an r and became Kernline. Kienle also picked up the r and became Kernelly. Members of the family were mostly illiterate and did not know how their names should be spelled. South Carolina records show the evolution of the names from Kienlein and Kienle to Kernline and Kernelly and to Carnline and Carnley. It is unknown why George Christopher could not decide what his name should be, but alternated between two similar ones. George Christopher was sometimes called Christian in the records. He had a son named Christopher Jr., who was also occassionally called Christian in the records. After the names became Carnley and Carnline, the records show that the family alternated between those names as well. On the 1810 census of Lexington District, South Carolina appeared the names Lewis Carnly, John Carnley, George Carnly, Christian Carnly Sr., and Christian Carnly Jr. In 1816, Christian Canline (Kanline, Kienlein, Kinline, etc.) Sr. and Jr.were listed on the census of Clarke County, Mississippi Territory. That part of the Territory became Monroe County, Alabama in 1819, and when Christian Sr. bought land there the same year, his name was misspelled as Cantaline in the land records. The name stuck, and until about 1850, many members of the family alternated among the names Carnley, Carnline and Cantaline. Lewis Carnley Sr. died in Pike County, Alabama in 1843, and in his will and probate records, he is referred to by all three names. Christian Cantaline Sr. last appeared in the census in Covington County, Alabama in 1850. He seemed to adopt the Cantaline name and stick exclusively to it longer than others of the family did. After Lewis and Christian Sr. died, their descendants chose one or the other of the three names and stuck with them. There is now a branch of the family for each name. The Carnleys are the largest group and are concentrated in south Alabama, the Florida panhandle and Central Florida in the Polk County area, and in Texas. The Carnlines are the second largest group, concentrated in Louisianna and Texas. There is only a sprinkling of Cantalines left and it is unknown where their greatest numbers are, but a few live in central Florida. The name Carnley is of English origins going back to the 1500s in English records. There are probably a few Carnleys in this country with roots in England, but most American Carnleys are decended from George Christopher Kienlein of Germany and it is only by coincidence that their surname is the same as the English one. There is no known connection of record between between most American Carnleys and those in England. The carnley.org webpage shows the most current list of descendants of the Carnley/Carnline/Cantaline family.