Spurlin family groups and reunions online
Online places where Spurlin relatives and researchers gather: a family reunion blog and newsletters, surname DNA and genealogy projects, surname message boards and Facebook.
Sourcing: weak 6 genealogy · 7 social
Spurlin families and researchers use several kinds of online spaces to share genealogy and plan reunions.
Family blogs and reunions
The Spurlin Family Blog on WordPress calls itself the site of "the family of Owen & Amanda". Its posts, from about 2012 to 2020, cover family history, Reconstruction-era records, Tuskegee Airmen heritage, interviews and memorial ("homegoing") notices.[1] The blog also has a page titled "2010: San Francisco" that embeds the newsletter for that year's reunion.[2] The two-page newsletter (vol. 16, no. 1, dated September 2009), uploaded to Scribd by an account named "SpurlinFamily", was published by the San Francisco reunion committee and announced a Spurlin family reunion in San Francisco for July 16–18, 2010.[3]
In March 2012 the blog announced a family reunion for descendants of Owen and Amanda Johnson-Spurlin. The reunion was held July 20–22, 2012 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Tinley Park, Illinois, with a banquet on July 21. Relatives were asked to send in family-tree information ahead of time.[4] A July 2012 post on a personal blog reproduces a welcome speech from that reunion. On behalf of the Chicago committee, it celebrates "the rich history" of the descendants of Owen and Amanda Spurlin and describes the family's journey "from slavery to success".[5] See also Owen and Amanda Spurlin Family of Mississippi.
Other Spurlin families have held their own gatherings. A 2002 post on the Genealogy.com Spurlin board mentions a Spurlin family reunion at Loomis Park in Fort Dodge, Iowa.[6]
DNA and genealogy projects
The FamilyTreeDNA Sperling Spurling group covers the Spurlin/Spurling, Sparlin/Sparling, Sperlin/Sperling and Spirlin/Spirling variants. In September 2026 it had 43 members and was run by a volunteer administrator.[7] WikiTree keeps a collaborative Spurlin surname page, which listed 361 Spurlin profiles in September 2026.[8] Linkpendium collects links to Spurlin family-tree resources.[9]
Message boards
Genealogy.com hosts a Spurlin surname message board. It held 95 posts in September 2026, and the posts on its first page date from 2005 to 2012.[10] Ancestry's Spurlin message board listed 73 threads and 249 messages, the newest from June 2022.[11] See Spurlin on Reddit and online forums for more on these boards.
Facebook has public posts that mention Spurlin families, such as prayer requests shared in local community groups and obituary notices posted by newspapers and funeral homes.[12][13] Web searches did not find a large public Facebook group dedicated to the Spurlin surname; any such groups are probably private.
See also
- Sperling/Spurling DNA surname project · Genealogy mixed
FamilyTreeDNA hosts a volunteer-run Y-DNA surname project, 'Sperling Spurling', for Spurlin, Spurling, Sparlin, Sparling, Sperlin, Sperling, Spirlin and Spirling lines. Its largest group links descendants of Jeremiah Spurling of Virginia with descendants of 'Big John' Spurlin of Lincoln County, North Carolina. - Owen and Amanda Spurlin Family of Mississippi · Genealogy weak
Owen Spurlin was born enslaved on a Mississippi plantation. He and his wife Amanda raised 14 children and bought farmland near Lexington, Mississippi, in 1899. Their story is recorded in a family history, and descendants have held reunions, including in San Francisco in 2010 and near Chicago in 2012. - Published Spurlin and Spurling family histories · Genealogy mixed
The main published genealogies are Quincy Haggard Spurlin's 'SPURLIN: A Spurlin Family in America' (1987) and Norman Kent Spurling's two-volume 'Spurling family history in Virginia & North Carolina' (1998). Shorter family articles appear in county heritage books, and the largest online trees are on WikiTree and FamilySearch. - Spurlin on Reddit and online forums · Culture weak
Where the Spurlin name comes up in online discussion: Reddit threads about Spurlin athletes, a band director and a dog breeder, long-running genealogy message boards, and a few other platforms that were checked.
References
- ↑ Spurlin Family Blog — The family of Owen & Amanda Genealogy
- ↑ 2010: San Francisco — Spurlin Family Blog — embeds the Scribd newsletter Genealogy
- ↑ Spurlin Newsletter 2010-1 (Spurlin Family Reunion 2010) — Scribd — uploaded by "SpurlinFamily" Social
- ↑ 2012 Chicago Reunion Announcement — Spurlin Family Blog Genealogy
- ↑ Spurlin Family Reunion 2012 — The Professor's Kitchen (Blogger) — July 24, 2012 Social
- ↑ Re: Spurlins in Iowa and/or Illinois — Genealogy.com — Aug. 25, 2002 Social
- ↑ Sperling Spurling DNA group — FamilyTreeDNA — 43 members, September 2026 Genealogy
- ↑ Spurlin Genealogy — WikiTree — "Search all 361 profiles", September 2026 Genealogy
- ↑ Spurlin Family Trees, Crests, Genealogy, DNA — Linkpendium Genealogy
- ↑ Spurlin - Surnames - Genealogy.com forum — 95 posts, read September 2026 Social
- ↑ Spurlin - Family History & Genealogy Message Board — Ancestry — read September 2026 Social
- ↑ Please keep the Spurlin family in your prayers — Facebook group post Social
- ↑ Dr. Barton K. "Bart" Spurlin notice — KY Leader News, Facebook Social
Last reviewed 2026-09-24.