Early Ancestors: The Ming Family

In the first Early Ancestors posts I traced two Virginia families on my dad's side. Now we're going to switch to North Carolina (and Bermuda!) on my mom's side. When I first started doing genealogy, the only Ming ancestor I knew was Cynthia Ming (1859-1900) whose name was written by my mother in the family tree in my baby book. I never thought when I started that Texas-born Cynthia would turn out to have such an exotic family background. 

Cynthia Ming and her 2nd husband, Thomas Rhodes

With a little research on my own, and the benefit of the copious research of my cousin, Paul Ming, I can now take this branch of the tree back to the first Ming on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, David Ming, who came to Bermuda in 1612. I would be remiss if I did not also credit two other Ming genealogists who collaborated with Paul: William L. Ming of Texas, and Bill D. Ming of Arkansas. 

This post is dedicated to my cousin, Paul Ming, for his decades of genealogical research, his generous help to other researchers, and his efforts to share his family history with today's descendants and those to come.

My brother and I with Paul

The Story of Christopher Carter

Booklet designed and written by Paul Ming for
"my family members and especially the young members
so they might know about their early ancestors"

The Bermuda Islands were discovered by Spanish explorer Juan de Bermudez in 1503. Usually the word "discovered" means "discovered by Europeans" because the place was already inhabited by indigenous people who had found the place and given it a name in their own language. However, Bermuda had no permanent inhabitants, so it really was discovered and named by Bermudez and his crew. 

The islands are 600 miles east of what is now North Carolina. There are seven main islands and numerous islands too small to be habitable. The islands are surrounded by coral reefs that made landing difficult and caused numerous shipwrecks in the 1500's. Bermuda was first listed on maps in the 1540's as Bermudez, but it was also sometimes called "Isle of the Devils" because of its stormy weather, treacherous coral reefs, and the presence of thousands of ***cahows--seabirds with a particularly eerie cry. 

Map of the New World, 1540
(Bermuda Islands outlined in black)

Both Spanish and Portuguese ships visited the islands in the 1500's to take on fresh meat and water, but the islands were not permanently inhabited until 1609. It was in that year that the English ship Sea Venture wrecked on the reef surrounding the islands and brought my 9th great-grandfather to Bermuda.

Seven ships had come to bring supplies and settlers to the colony at Jamestown, which had been established in 1607. On July 24th, 1609, a hurricane separated the flotilla. The flagship, Sea Venture, under the command of Sir George Somers, was leaking and slowly sinking, and Somers decided to make for the Bermudas and drive the ship onto the coral reef. All 150 people that were on board survived and reached the shore on smaller boats. (An interesting sidenote concerns Shakespeare's play, The Tempest, which was inspired by accounts of the shipwreck. It gives you some time perspective to realize that Shakespeare was alive when this event occurred.)

On board were the new governor of Jamestown, Sir Thomas Gates; John Rolfe and his first wife (his second wife was Pocahontas); and my ancestor, Christopher Carter, a laborer who was probably among the new settlers, as he was not listed with the ship's crew. As Paul wrote in his booklet, "The islands were a paradise with fresh water springs, forest, berries, many birds and feral wild pigs left by the Spanish years before. The officers in charge decided with little chance of rescue the best plan was to build two small ships that could carry all the survivors on to Jamestown. . . It wasn't long before Carter and five other men decided Bermuda was a better place to live than Jamestown," and they deserted camp. They were banished to a small island that could not support life, and supplies were brought to them. Finally, they were pardoned by Governor Gates, even though he was criticized for this decision.

It took ten months to build two ships that could carry the new settlers to Jamestown. In the meantime Admiral Somers found an opening in the reefs where the ships could sail through. On May 10, 1610, the two ships set sail for Jamestown. Not on board were two deserters, Christopher Carter and Robert Waters. "It was rumored that Admiral Somers had aided the deserters so as to have English men on the islands if the Spanish returned to claim it."

In 1611 Admiral Somers returned to claim the islands for the English. He soon died, leaving his nephew Captain Mathew Somers in charge. Captain Somers then sailed for England with the Admiral's body on board. Staying behind with Carter and Waters was one more man, Edward Chard. Together they would become known as the Three Kings of Bermuda, although at that time Bermuda was being called Somers Islands and continued to be for several years thereafter.

As Paul wrote in his booklet,

"In 1612 the ship Plough arrived with 60 settlers and Sir Richard Moore, who was sent to the islands to be the first Governor of the new settlement. The three men on shore signaled the ship to come in as prearranged by Captain Somers in 1611. The ship was directed to anchor near Smith Island where Carter had his camp. It was found the three men had done well. They had an acre garden with corn, beans, wheat, melons, and there were still plenty of wild pigs. They also were growing tobacco, which would later become an important export crop. St. George was built and appointed the capital. Governor Moore divided the settlers into groups he called "tribes." They were sent to different areas and islands. Carter claimed Coopers Island for himself."

Sometime between 1612, when the first female settlers arrived on the Plough, and 1623, Carter married. It is not known from which tribe his wife came, only that they married and had children by 1623. In that year the English ship, Seaflower, which was bound for Virginia, anchored in Castle Harbor. Christopher Carter and his wife were invited on board for a party. During the evening the ship blew up, killing 14 people, including Christopher Carter and his wife. 

The earliest date that Carter and his wife could have married was 1612, when the first women came on the Plough and stayed as permanent residents. Carter and his wife could have had a child as old as 10 at the time of their deaths, and it appears that they had both sons and daughters. Descendants with the Carter name lived on the islands into modern times. In fact, there is a Carter House Museum on St. Davids Island. It was built by a descendant of Christopher Carter and lived in by a great-granddaughter until 1791. 

It is thought that Elizabeth, the daughter of Christopher Carter, married David Ming, the first of our line on this side of the Atlantic. It is known that many Carter and Ming families lived on Coopers Island through the 1600's.

***Being a bird person, I had to find out about the cahow, also known as the Bermuda petrel. It is nocturnal and builds its nests on the ground, which is one of the reasons the species was almost destroyed when the islands became inhabited by humans. Not only were the birds killed for their meat, but their eggs were also prized for food by both humans and by the pigs that had been left by the Spanish. They were thought to be extinct for over 300 years, until a small number were re-identified in 1951. They are still the 2nd or 3rd rarest seabird on earth, and Nonsuch Island on Bermuda is the only place they breed.***

David Ming and Elizabeth Carter

According to the Bahama Historical Quarterly, vol. 13, pg. 13, David Ming came to Bermuda as mate aboard the Plough in 1612. Apparently, he continued to make a living with ships, both building and sailing them. According to the dissertation, "Cedars, Sloops and Slaves: The Development of the Bermuda Shipbuilding Industry" by Michael J. Jarvis at the College of William and Mary, early shipbuilders on Bermuda "contributed important skills toward founding the industry of shipbuilding. David Ming [was a] well-known carpenter on the island. In 1660 Ming ... received 360 pounds for the 'squaring of joyce (joists) and making trussells for the platform at the King's Castle and Southampton fforte.'" 

Early shipbuilding tools, ca. 1690

Ming was recorded as owner of a ship, name unknown, in 1673. According to Jarvis, "Bermuda's early shipowners seem to have constructed their vessels on their own land using their own timber. . . David Ming owned all of Coopers Island (77 acres) in Castle Harbor." This fact is affirmed by Richard Norwood's Survey for the Somers Island Company in 1662/63. There are references to another seafaring David Ming in 1670 and 1672, but these are probably his son. He is shown as mate of the ship Orange, departing Bermuda with oranges in 1670, and as master of the ketch Francis in 1672.

Bermuda 1731

David Ming's estate was inventoried and filed with his will dated 25 June 1673. It was probated 19 August 1674. The will names his wife Elizabeth; sons Joseph, David, Thomas, Benjamin, and Jonathan; daughters Elizabeth Brangman and Rachel Colson; and grandchildren, Hannah Ming and Christopher Colson. Son Christopher had died by 28 July 1662; granddaughter Hannah Ming was his child by his wife, Hannah.

We believe that our ancestor is Joseph, son of the elder David Ming, who left Bermuda around 1700 to settle in North Carolina.

Paul wrote me a letter when he sent the booklet he had made about Christopher Carter. In it he said that he had "learned a little myself, which as you know usually happens. Cooper's Island is no more. When the U.S. Military was on the island beginning in 1940 they filled in the causeways between St. Davids Island and Coopers Island to make a longer runway for the planes. It is the Bermuda Airport now. The only Coopers Island name left is on the small part of the island that is a wildlife area."

Bermuda today--boxed area is former Coopers Island

Joseph Ming I

The date of Joseph Ming's birth is estimated to be before 1669 in Bermuda. 

Beginning in May 1696, "merchants and politicians both home and abroad" (Family Search) were required to sign an oath of loyalty to King William III. Lists of signers are called "association oath rolls." On "this 29th of the 7th month 1696," Bermuda merchants and politicians signed an oath that read, "Whereas itt is required of us that wee shall be true to King William; now King of England and of the English nation: Us say to all his just and lawful commands wee can willingly bee subject unto, not for wrath but ever for contienc saeck [conscience sake?]: And all Commands which are otherwise wheather from him or any other wee shall willingly and patiently suffer under them what men shall be permitted to imposs upon us." Signers include David Ming, Jonathan Ming, and two men named Joseph Ming. You can see the association oath roll of Bermuda here.  

In December 1701 Joseph Ming obtained 200 acres in Bath County, North Carolina, for bringing in seven settlers, including his son Thomas. (The others were Samuel Stokes, Abraham Bosur, John Porter, John Porter Jr., Edward Porter, and Joseph Porter.) Bath County had been carved out of Albemarle County in 1696 and took in the settlements on the Pamlico and Neuse Rivers and some of the settlements south of Albemarle Sound. According to Paul, "It is questionable where [Joseph's] land was located. Early maps show Bath County on the south side of Albemarle Sound; in later records the Mings have land on the Yeopim River in Chowan County on the north side of Albemarle Sound."

From Paul, "Chowan County was first settled in 1658 and a 1700 map shows Chowan County was all land west of Perquimans County on the north side of Albemarle Sound and Bath County on the south side of Albemarle Sound. It shows Chowan County as being all of the North Carolina Territory except those few counties around Albemarle Sound." 

Edenton, the county seat of Chowan County and the first state capital of North Carolina, has a history of settlement reaching back before 1700. It was not planned until 1712 and incorporated in 1722, but it is known that ships were often anchored in the area trading with the first settlers. It was a prosperous port into the late 1700's. Paul encouraged me to visit Edenton, and in 2017 my brother and I did. See the post "Revolution Road Trip: The Mings and Edenton."

Built in 1767, the Chowan County Courthouse
is the oldest courthouse in the U.S. still in use today.

View from the Edenton green out to the estuary

Joseph was a seafaring man, like his father. In 1702 he was the master of the six-ton sloop Tyrall, built in Virginia. In 1702 he was the master of Ruth of North Carolina, a ten-ton sloop. Records show he sailed in to the James, Potomack, and York Rivers.

A Virginia sloop of about 1741

Joseph was married to a woman named Sarah. By 1707 he had died, leaving her a widow with minor children. In March of that year she petitioned the court to grant letters of administration to her. In October 1707 she indentured her son, Nathaniel, probably the youngest, to Christopher Gale, a lawyer and land owner. Records show there were three other sons: Thomas, who came to North Carolina with his father; James, and Joseph. 

Thomas also married a woman named Sarah. Nathaniel married Martha Horth about 1721. It is not known who James married, but his son James Jr. married Mary Horth. Joseph, our ancestor, married Rachel Ward, and they are the subjects of our next profile.

Joseph Ming II and Rachel Ward

Joseph Ming II was born in Bermuda, the son of Joseph I and his wife Sarah. Joseph I was in Bath County in 1701. Later records show Joseph II and his brothers living in Chowan County. It's possible that the move to Chowan County was the result of conflict with Indians in Bath County in September 1711. In the history of that conflict, the Mings are not mentioned, but the John Porter family was. The Porters had been brought into Bath County by Joseph I in 1701. If the Mings were still in Bath County in 1711, they may have moved afterwards to the more settled and safe Chowan County north of Albemarle Sound. John Porter is also shown living in Chowan County after that period. In 1719 Joseph bought 150 acres from Sam Darner in Chowan County.

Joseph married Rachel Ward, daughter of James and Mary Ward. Their marriage date is not known, but it was before 1722, as in that year "James Ward deeded to planter Joseph Ming for a marriage already solemnized between Joseph and Rachel gave two plantations westward of Yoppim [Yeopim] River Bridge, being 108 acres and 200 acres with cattle in Bridge Neck." 

The next year Joseph had to prove that the land he held in Pasquotank County had been seated. This land had been granted in 1702, whether to Joseph I or II is unclear. In the court action of 1723 it was proven that the land did belong to Joseph II. Records of land bought and sold by Joseph between 1719 and 1759 show he had acquired more than 508 acres of land in Chowan County, in addition to the land in Pasquotank.

Joseph and Rachel had six children: Thomas, Sarah, James, Mary, Joseph III, and Annarita. Joseph drew up his will, signing it on 1 December 1750. He names as heirs his wife Rachel; sons Thomas and Joseph; daughters Sarah Wilkins, Annarita Collins, and Mary Ming; and grandsons Joseph Wilkins and Thomas Collins. About three months later Joseph added a codicil to his will, giving daughter Mary only ten shillings; it is possible that Joseph had settled some property upon her for her marriage to William Haughton in 1748. Joseph appointed Thomas Ward, his wife Rachel, and his son Joseph as executors of his estate. He must have died soon after signing the codicil to the will, as an inventory of the estate was taken on 16 July 1751. 

Further information on children of Joseph and Rachel Ming:

• James died in 1743 with no heirs.
• Sarah married William Wilkins on 18 January 1741 and had a son, Joseph. She died 6 February 1802.
• Annarita married Thomas Collins on 25 January 1742. They had a daughter, Francis, and son, Thomas.
• Joseph III married Ann, and they had one son and two daughters. Joseph died in 1755.
• Mary married William Haughton on 1 April 1748; they had a son, Charles, who died before 1809.
• Our ancestor Thomas married Delilah Felton. Their profile follows.

Thomas and Delilah (Felton) Ming

Thomas was probably the youngest child of Joseph and Rachel. How Paul determined his date of birth has lessons for genealogists in thinking outside the box. Thomas was born in an era with no birth or census records, so you have to look to other records for clues. Here is how Paul estimated the date of Thomas's birth from an available record, Joseph's will: "After the death of his father in 1750 it was pointed out in the will that he [Thomas] was not yet eighteen and had three more years of schooling. He was given a horse he was to receive at age eighteen, so it must be assumed he was only a year or two under eighteen. This would make his date of birth between 1732 and 1734." 

Paul's conclusions were reached after reading the will carefully and in its entirety, which is not easy to do, given the legal language and the wills and probate records of the day being written out in longhand. Joseph's will also gives us a clue, Paul says, about his wealth and his regard for education, as it was unusual for a young man to still be in school at that age, and schooling would have been private and expensive.

Another clue to Thomas's age is revealed when he takes over the administration of his father's will from his older brother, Joseph, in 1752. He had to be of age--eighteen--to do so. Another conclusion Paul reached: "Joseph must have been in ill health to turn it over to his brother so soon and the fact that Joseph died in 1755 adds to that conclusion." Thomas sold part of the estate in 1752 to pay off debts against it. 

In 1754 Thomas was listed among the militia for Pasquotank County under the command of Ed. Vail. In 1762 he sold land at Bridge Neck that he had inherited from James Ward, his grandfather, to Richard Rogers and Delight Nixon. (The land had been granted to James Ward in 1706, then it went to grandson James Ming who died without children, then to Joseph II, and finally to Thomas. According to a post at Genealogy.com about a neighboring family, the land was situated at the fork of Eggerton's Mill Swamp.) 

Thomas married Delilah Felton, probably sometime in the early 1760's, as we know that their son James was born about 1765. It is believed that Delilah's father was William Felton, but her mother's name is unknown. During the 1760's and 70's Thomas and Delilah had seven children: sons Joseph, James, Thomas Jr., and Willy; and daughters Mary, Rachel, and Penelope. They also raised an orphan named Mary Babcock. 

Thomas was a miller for a while. A deed dated 1766 shows Thomas bought a grist mill known as Eggerton's Mill on a branch of the Yeopim River which divides the counties of Chowan and Perquimans. By 5 December 1766 Thomas had paid for the mill in full. On 21 March 1768 he sold the mill, now known as "Thomas Ming's Mill" to Francis Brown.

By 1782 the family had moved to Edenton, where Thomas bought a small house. The 1784 tax records show he still owned 200 acres in Chowan County. The first census of 1790 shows Thomas in Chowan County as head of household with two males over 16, one male under 16, four females, and ten slaves. Listed on the same page of the census are heads of households: Thomas Ming Jr., James Ming, and Joseph Ming. (Would that all census takers had such clear and easy-to-read handwriting!)

1790 Chowan County (U.S. Federal) Census

Thomas made his will 6 November 1792. He had died by 1796 or early 1797 because his taxes were paid by William Jackson and William Lawthers. From this point on Delilah was administrator of the will and posted a bond 15 March 1797 to make an inventory of the estate. The estate papers, 55 pages in all, are available on Ancestry. On 28 July 1797 there was an estate sale. The list of items to be given or sold takes eight pages of the probate record.

I always love to read the list of items sold or taken possession of by the heirs, especially because they give you such a glimpse into the life of your ancestor. In this case the items included: a horse cart and wheels, plows, blacksmith tools, a grind stone, a canoe, a razor strop, a shaving cup, a loom, a feather bed, a walnut table and chairs, a tea chest, a looking glass, china bowls, 5 silver teaspoons, a spice mortar, a coffee mill, and books.

One page of items in the estate sale

I'm still not sure I understand completely how an estate was divided and provision made for the heirs, particularly those who were not yet of age. I suspect it's because it's hard for a modern woman to understand why the wife doesn't get to keep all her husband's estate or why her children need to be appointed a "guardian." Family Search has a great document to help you understand probate and all of the records that are produced in the closing of an estate, but I think I need a class or a webinar or something.

It's hard to know what to think of Delilah, Thomas's wife. She brought suit against her son James on 18 March 1797 (this is also part of the probate record) because he had taken possession of three slaves she had "casually lost." A lawsuit was brought against her by her neighbor, William Jackson, for putting her fish pots on his property. Maybe she was just holding her own with these men, but it sure seems like a lot of drama. 

As Thomas and Delilah's children grew up, some moved away from Chowan County. Joseph went to Orange County, North Carolina, and James moved to Limestone County, Alabama, after 1810. Joseph married Sarah Beasley; Thomas Jr. married Sarah Burkett. Mary married a man named Warburton and had a son, Bartholomew; Rachel married Harry Gregory and had a daughter, Sarah. Willy married Elizabeth Roberts on 29 October 1800. No information is known for Penelope.

Our ancestor James married Ann Beasley and is the subject of the next profile. Although we are nearing the end of the 1700's, I want to take James through the end of his life--although we don't know where or when that was exactly. I would just like to connect up this line, as I have already written a post on James's son, Thomas Norton Ming, who was born in 1796. 

James and Ann (Beasley) Ming

James was born about 1765 in Chowan County. He married Ann Beasley, daughter of Thomas and Martha Beasley, on 23 February 1790. (Thomas Beasley was already deceased at this time. The 1790 census shows Martha as head of household with two sons under the age of sixteen and one daughter still living with her at home.)

Marriage record for James Ming and Ann Beasley

James and Ann's eldest son, Samuel Gregory, was born in 1792. On 14 February 1796 Thomas Norton Ming, my 3rd great grandfather, was born. Two other sons, Joseph and Fred, were born to the couple, but the order of their births is unknown. It is believed that they also had at least one daughter whose name and date of birth is unknown.

James had his own farm by the time his father died in 1797. We know this because of the suit filed against James by his mother for being in possession of three of her slaves. 

From Paul's profile of James Ming, "After James's line of the Ming family had been in Chowan County over a century, James left Chowan County sometime after 1815. Some of the Ming families remained there for several more years, but they slowly died off or moved away. By the end of the 1800's the Ming name had disappeared from the census records. James took his family and settled in Limestone County, Alabama." 

It's possible that some of the Mings had previously moved to Alabama during the recession after the Revolutionary War, as there is a record of slaves being sent to Alabama from the Mings in Chowan County. However, the only Mings listed as head of household in Limestone County on the Alabama State Census of 1820 were James and his son, Samuel Gregory. 

1820 Alabama State Census, Limestone County

During the 1820's and 1830's James, Samuel Gregory, and Thomas N. appear in several court cases involving matters of indebtedness. Paul's conclusion is that the three were in business together and having a hard time paying their debts. However, during the same time period all three men served on juries, indicating that they must have had some standing in the community. 

James appears for the last time on the 1830 census of Limestone County as head of household with seven people in the household and five slaves. James may have left Limestone County because of his financial problems, or he may have died there. It is not known where or when James and Ann died or are buried.

Samuel Gregory Ming (who was the ancestor of Paul's fellow researcher, William L. Ming) married Elizabeth Bartie on 14 March 1815. They had five children: Martha A., Sarah Jane, James Samuel, Margaret, and William. 

Thomas Norton Ming married Susannah Stephenson, granddaughter of Colonel William Chapman Whitley and his wife Esther through their daughter Elizabeth who married Robert Stephenson. Both Paul and I are descendants of Thomas N.'s son, William Frederick Ming, who married his first cousin, Susanna Wheat, daughter of Samuel Wheat and Cynthia Stephenson. Paul descends from William Frederick's son, George Alexander, and I descend from his daughter, Cynthia Frances.

And we have come full circle. It was only when I started writing this post and found the reference to David Ming being a "well-known carpenter" on the island of Bermuda that I made the connection to Thomas N. Ming, also a carpenter by occupation. 

Portrait of Thomas Norton Ming
with his hammer and carpenter's square

I love this quote from The Iliad with which Paul opened his book, Ancestral Profiles of Paul E. Ming. It seems fitting after all these generations of Mings.

Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,

Now green in young, now withering on the ground:

Another race the following Spring supplies:

They rise successive, and successive fall:

So generations in their course decay:

So flourish these when those are passed away

(Pope's translation of Homer's Iliad)

See other posts about the Mings:

The Ming Dynasty

DNA Circles: Thomas N. Ming and Susannah Stephenson

Revolution Road Trip: The Mings and Edenton

New Ming Cousins

Early Ancestors: The Bays Family

So, I'm here again to trace a branch of my family tree back to an ancestor who was living in colonial America. This time it's the Bays family. Again, the oldest ancestors that I have traced in this family lived in Virginia, and then my branch moved on to Kentucky. It turns out that a few of the descendants also moved on to Oklahoma, as my branch did.

Before I started in-depth research on my earliest Bays ancestors, the farthest I had researched to any extent was William Bays, born about 1760. It was a complaint filed by my ancestor, Anna Bays, to the Scott County, Virginia, Chancery Court that created the situation I described in the post, DNA Circles: William Bays and Rachel Barker. Anna, the youngest child of William, thought she had not received an equal share of her father's estate. In her complaint she names her mother Rachel (no maiden name given) and her siblings: Charles, Elizabeth (and her husband, Joel Bays, who many researchers mistake as the sibling rather than the in-law), John, Polly (Cody), Rebecca (Gray), Sarah (Barker), William, and Peter C. Some of the siblings still lived in Scott County, Virginia; others had moved to other locations in Virginia or to Kentucky.

Anna Bays married John Sargent in Scott County, Virginia, in 1820. Their second daughter, Rachel, was my 2nd great-grandmother. Rachel Sargent married Goldman Davidson Castle in 1844, also in Scott County. By 1860 they were living in Morgan County, Kentucky, from which location my grandmother, Fannie Castle, moved to Oklahoma in 1907. She remembered her grandparents well--especially the sometimes contrary nature of her sweets-loving, pipe-smoking grandmother.

Finding some sources and doing some reading about the early Bays family in Virginia has been enlightening and exciting. I definitely found some background that was news to me. This is where I have to stop and say that most of the information that I'm about to share comes from the research of others. Many dedicated researchers over the years have found clues in land records, court cases, and DNA tests, and have been generous enough to share those details on genealogical forums. Where I can attribute information, I will. Where researchers differ in their conclusions, I'll mention that as well.

Peter Bays I

Up until 2008, the earliest Bays ancestor in America was thought to be Peter Bays, born about 1690. Researchers were not sure at that time if he was born in England or Virginia. He is referred to as Peter I, because he starts a long line of descendants with that name. He was in Henrico County, Virginia, by 1709, living north of the James River in an area that became Goochland County in 1728. For this information about Peter Bays I, I am indebted to a Bays family researcher named Jerry Penley, now deceased. His tree and notes about his research can be found at www.penjaccphoto.com/ourgenealogy.htm. 

Mr. Penley and other researchers name the wife of Peter I as Sarah, whose maiden name is usually shown as Bibb/Bybe/Bybee. I don't know if these are possible surnames or different spellings of the same name. I can find no source for this information; however, there were neighbors with the surname Bybe, as you will see below. 

The children of Peter Bays I and his wife Sarah are listed in Peter's will, dated October 31, 1729. The abstract of the will appears in the book, Goochland County Virginia Wills and Deeds by Benjamin B. Weisiger and is available in digital form at Family Search, but there are also transcripts of the will available on Ancestry, attached to Peter I in Bays family trees. The original will is recorded in Book #1, page #169, in the Goochland Circuit Clerk's Office. 

The will reads, in part,

"I give and bequeath my land and plantation I now live upon to my eldest son, Peter Bayes, and his heirs forever after his Mother's decease...now I give to my son, William Bayes, two hundred acres of land joining upon Richard Oglesby's line and Thomas Christian's land. When my son, William Bayes, comes to age of fourteen years to have the free possession of his land to his use..."

Horses and tobacco were willed to daughters Sarah, Elizabeth, Jane, Judith, and Mary. The rest of his estate was to go to his wife Sarah, who was to be the executrix. The will was witnessed by "Eliz'th (E) Bybe, Edw'd White, Jno (I) Bybe." 

The will was proved on the 17th day of February 1729. This brings up an interesting situation, as you notice that the dates suggest the will was proved before it was written. However, a note posted on GenForum in 1999 by Anne Bays (I will mention her again) was attached to one of the will transcripts. Here is her explanation:

"The date for the proving should be listed as 1729/30, which is really 1730, but the old calendars turned over the new year in late March instead of January 1st. This causes a great deal of confusion because folks think that there is a mistake in the dates and the will was proven before it was actually written. This is not the case. The will was written in October 1729 and presented in Goochland Court in Feb. 1730, indicating that Peter Bays died sometime between these two dates."

Guardianship papers, traced through Albemarle and Amelia Counties, helped Mr. Penley and others pinpoint Peter II's date of birth as 1723 and William's as 1728. Peter I must have been young at his death, as his daughters were all unmarried and his sons not yet of age.

Along with the name Peter appearing in multiple generations, William is another Bays name that appears again and again. The same names appearing in different generations and the different spellings of the Bays surname sometimes make connecting the dots difficult. While my branch has consistently spelled the name BAYS, other spellings in documents and used by descendants are BAYES, BASE, BAZE, BAISE, and BAIZE.  

Researcher Mark Baze contributed a post to the Bays forum on Genealogy.com in 2008 that compares the accepted spellings of Bays (descendants of Peter I) with those that refer to other families. His criteria for a legitimate Bays spelling is that it consists of one syllable and a long "a" sound. This eliminates spellings that are pronounced "BAY-see" or "BAY-zee," and those with a short "a" sound, like Bass or Basse, particularly since that unrelated name also occurs in the area where Peter Bays I lived.

Apparently, there is also a consistent tradition among the Bays/Baze/Baize families that the family and surname originated in France. Many also claim a French Huguenot connection. The French Huguenots (French Protestants fleeing religious persecution) were granted land in Virginia by the English government and settled Manakin Town on the James River (very near our Henrico County folks) in 1700. In fact, a Peter Bayes is listed as Ancestor for a registered lineage in The Huguenot Society the Founders of Manakin in the Colony of Virginia. I may be mistaken here--and somebody can correct me, if they know--but I tend to discount the French Huguenot connection as Peter Bays was living in Virginia long before the Huguenots came.

Edward Bays, father of Peter Bays I?

It was also Mark Baze who announced in a Bays forum post on July 24, 2007, that DNA results had connected descendants of Peter Bays I with the varying surname spellings of Bays, Bayes, Baze, and Baize. Eventually, this led to a post dated March 10, 2008, that extended the Bays family in Virginia back a generation to Peter I's father, Edward "Base," and a couple of generations back through his mother, Anne Harris, and her parents. 

It is apparent that some very rigorous research was done by some devoted genealogists, among them Mark Baze, Anne Bays (deceased) that Mark credits, and a Harris researcher (deceased) named Kathryn Wiggins. I am sure that I am simplifying years of work, but what Mark called a "confluence" of research consisted of (1) his discovery that three pieces of property in Henrico County in the time period 1723-1725 were adjacent tracts of land on the north side of the James River owned by Peter Bays I, Richard "Baze," and Edward Bays/Base, and (2) Kathryn Wiggins' discovery at the Library of Virginia of the will of Peter Harris, Sr., dated 1687 and recorded 1689 in Henrico County that left his estate to his son Peter; daughter Mechall; son John; and daughter, Ann "Base."

Kathryn Wiggins produced an amazing amount of historical research in installments she called "The Harris Papers: A Genealogical Notebook." There are 35 volumes, many of them available at Family Search. I'm pretty impressed with not only the amount of Ms. Wiggins' work but also with the way she produced the information for the use of genealogists, particularly those in the Harris line. Working in the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's meant that she did nothing digitally. I know none of this for sure, but it looks like to me that she visited repositories in Virginia and North Carolina, transcribed documents related to the Harris family (and families with a genealogical or geographical connection), typed the resulting abstracts, self-illustrated, then mimeographed and hand-bound her "genealogical notebooks." 

Of course, seeing the originals is always better, but in a time when few people had access to the originals, these abstracts had to have been amazingly helpful. If you had people in colonial America in the following counties of Virginia and North Carolina, I would suggest taking a look at "The Harris Papers." Again, not all the notes refer to Harrises. In browsing several volumes of the "Papers," I found information about the Womacks, ancestors of my deceased husband, and the Toneys, my possible maternal ancestors from Goochland County. I also saw lots of Cockes among the first settlers in Henrico County, making me wonder if they are the earliest of that family in Virginia.

Subjects of volumes of "The Harris Papers"

Getting back to Edward Base/Bays: In Volume 20 of "The Harris Papers" on page 35b is a family tree constructed by Ms. Wiggins. Based on her research, the tree descends from a couple, John and Dorothy (Cawcott) Harris who lived in Charles City County. (In Vol. 1 Wiggins suggests that Peter Harris might be the son of William Harris, first of the Harrises in Virginia. Something must have happened between Vol. 1 and Vol. 20 to change her mind.) Their oldest child, Peter Harris, Sr., mentioned above, was born in 1617 (this is according to his statement in a Henrico County court case, dated 1677, that he was 60 years old.) His wife's given name was Mechall (Michelle? Another French connection?). According to Wiggins, the only Peter Harris of this time period was the one living on Turkey Island in Henrico County. Peter Harris, Sr. died in 1688, and his will was recorded in 1689. Named in the will are his son Peter, daughter Mechall, son John, and daughter Anne "Base." Ms. Wiggins' Harris/Cawcott tree shows Anne married to Edward Base/Bays with children, Peter, Edward, and Jane. Peter would be the right age and in the right geographical location to be our Peter Bays I. The conclusion to be drawn is that Peter I was named for his grandfather, Peter Harris, Sr. or his uncle, Peter Harris, Jr.

You can see by Kathryn Wiggins' hand-drawn map that the West and Shirley Hundred (home of John and Dorothy Cawcott Harris) and Turkey Island (home of Peter Harris, Sr.) were very close to each other, geographically.

 

While Mark Baze noted in his Bays forum post that more investigation needed to be done, he tended to trust Kathryn Wiggins' conclusions. He trusted her because she was a Harris, not a Bays, researcher, and had no reason to force a conclusion. However, he couldn't find the original source of her list of Edward and Anne (Harris) Bays's children, Peter, Edward, and Jane. In the last post that he made to the Bays forum on July 29, 2008, Mark Baze was looking for Vol. 1 (Henrico Co.) of "The Harris Papers," to see if he could find the source of Wiggins' assertion that Anne Harris was married to Edward Bays and had a son named Peter. That was before digitization, and Mark was waiting for a book to be available to check out. In 2020 I'm fortunate to have been able to search a digitized copy of Volume 1 of "The Harris Papers" (plus every other volume that I thought might hold the answer) but unfortunate that it does not reveal the mysterious source. 

So...are Edward and Anne (Harris) Bays the parents of Peter I? I still don't know. If they are, it means that both Peter I and his mother were born in Virginia, not England--or France. 

Peter Bays II

Having gone back a generation to pick up the Edward Base/Bays story, let's go forward now to Peter II, son of Peter I. According to Jerry Penley, Peter II (1723-1801) was living in Albemarle County in 1744 when he returned to Goochland County to sell the piece of land his father had left him. From this, Mr. Penley surmised that Peter II's mother was deceased (since there was no other claim on the land) and that Peter had reached the age of 21, which allowed him to sell the land without the aid of a guardian. 

Before I began this story of the early Bays ancestors, I had gone along with the Ancestry members who named Peter II's wife as Susannah "Hannah" Barker. In fact, when I first read Jerry Penley's account of Peter II's life, I thought he must be mistaken in his insistence that the wife of Peter II was named Sarah. This confusion about wives was one of the reasons that Mr. Penley wrote his account: "There is so much incorrect information about Peter Bays, that I would like to help you to sort out the various generations."

Now that I've seen the evidence, I think Mr. Penley was right. According to him, Peter II must have been married to Sarah in 1744 when he sold the land in Goochland County, but she was not able to accompany him to court at that time. We know this because she appeared in court in Goochland County in 1746 and gave up her dower rights to the land that Peter had sold in 1744. 

In 1749 "Peter II and wife Sarah bought land on Tobacco Row in Albemarle County (present day Amherst County)"; on 14 June 1759 "Peter Bayse of Halifax" and "Sarah wife of Bayse" sell this tract of land to William Gilliam of Albemarle County (Albemarle County Deed Book 2, page 128). 

I think the problem is that some researchers combine the two Sarahs, wives of Peter I and Peter II, and skip right from Peter I to Peter III.

Peter Bays III

Mr. Penley believed that Peter Bays III was born about 1750 because he appeared in court in Halifax County for the first time on 15 October 1772, and he would have had to be 21 to do so. It is this Peter Bays that was married to Susannah, whose last name was "possibly Barker," according to Penley. It was also this Peter who fought with the Henry County militia in 1781 at the Battle of Guilford Court House, in which British Lt. General Charles Cornwallis's troops defeated American troops led by Major General Nathanael Greene. A descendant was accepted into the Sons of the American Revolution (#132436) on the evidence of this Peter's military service. 

Peter II was also living in Henry County in this time period but was too old to serve with the militia. Penley says, "There is also a William Bays living in the same area of Henry County as Peter, Sr. (II) and Peter, Jr. (III). I believe, but have not proven, that this William, who later moves to Washington, Lee, Russell, and Scott Counties, is a son of Peter II and a brother to Peter III." This is my William! According to Penley and the SAR application, Peter III died in Russell County, Virginia, before 24 November 1801.

Recently I found the transcript of a deed (Russell Co. VA Deed Book 3, page 347, executed 25 October 1802, recorded 26 October 1802) originally contributed to Ancestry by EmergedDragon7 in 2012. I believe it may list the children of Peter III. It reads:

"This Indenture made the Twenty fifth day of October in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and two Between Jacob Crabtree of Lee County & Commonwealth of Virginia and Mary his wife of the one part, and John Bays, William Bays, James Bays, Joel Bays, Peter Bays, Joseph Bays, Mary Bays, and Susanna Bays, heirs at law of Peter Bays deceased of Russell County & Commonwealth aforesaid of the other part."

And then today I found the transcript of the deed when the heirs of Peter Bays sold the land. It's very informative, in that it names the married female heirs with their husbands and the married male heirs with their wives.

"This Indenture made the 16th day of November in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifteen between Susanna Bays Sen'r [Peter III's wife], John Bays & Catharine Bays his wife, William Bays, James Bays & Ruth Bays his wife, Joel Bays, Peter & Margaret Bays his wife, Andrew Martin & Mary Martin his wife, Joseph Bays, and Harrington Little & Susanna Little his wife."

Peter Bays IV

This is no longer my direct line, and we're getting close to the end of the 1700's but not to the end of the Peters. This Peter Bays was born about 1785 and married Margaret Stone in Russell County in 1814. He died 27 October 1849 and is buried in the Bays Cemetery in Floyd County, Kentucky. He also had a son named Peter.

 

Peter Bays IV headstone, Bays Cemetery, Floyd Co. KY
Contributed to Findagrave by Bobby Davis

William Bays

I believe that William Bays was the son of Peter II and brother of Peter III. Most researchers think he was born in 1760. Jerry Penley located William in Henry County, Virginia, in the 1780's, and traced him to Washington, Lee, Russell, and Scott counties. In 1820 he is on the census of Scott County, Virginia. The Kentucky death record for his son, William, names his parents as William and Rachel Bays. William died in Scott County on 6 September 1827. Rachel is shown as head of household, age 60-70, on the 1830 census of Scott County. Some trees give her death date as 1848.

The children of William and Rachel Bays named in the suit brought by their youngest sister Anna Bays Sargent were: Elizabeth, Charles W., John, Mary, Rebecca, Sarah, William, and Peter C. The eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was married to Joel Bays. Many, many researchers have listed Joel as the son of William and Rachel, but if you read the court case carefully, it is Elizabeth that is the daughter of William and Rachel, and Joel is her spouse. I believe Joel Bays (1782-1852) of Scott County, Virginia, was the son of Peter Bays III. If Peter Bays III and William were brothers, then Elizabeth and Joel were first cousins.

Recently a Bays descendant from Scott County, Virginia, Donnie Bays, commented on my post about the Bays family court case. He had been in touch with cousins that descend from Peter C., above, who moved from Virginia to Knox County, Kentucky. Donnie is a descendant of Joel and Elizabeth Bays. He mows the cemetery where they are buried! He wondered if I would like to have a picture of the cemetery. Of course! 

Isn't that a beautiful backdrop? I asked if the mountains were part of the Appalachians, and Donnie explained that they are, but each section has its own name. This is the Clinch Mountain Range, which I should have guessed. 

He also sent along a photo of this marker for William Bays. I asked if William was buried in this cemetery, and Donnie explained that there is a cemetery 2/3 of the way up the mountain. It is located on William's farm which extended from the creek up to the top of the mountain. The cemetery where Joel is buried is on Joel's farm. 

It's beautiful there, but it was a hard life on the mountain, Donnie says. His grandfather was one of 13 kids. "His [grandfather's] father died young, living up in that mountain. When each child got old enough to make it on their own they scattered from VA to the west coast." This is Reuben Frank Bays (1847-1892), Donnie's great-grandfather. We think he bears a strong resemblance to my grandmother's brother, Warner. 

Reuben Frank Bays (1847-1892)

Miscellaneous

***Thanks to Donnie and one of his cousins, the Joel Bays Cemetery is on Findagrave. Here are photos by Dave Pierson of Joel's and Elizabeth's markers.

When I got on Findagrave to see the photos, I also got a map of the area where the cemetery is located.

I had to smile. When my brother and I were watching Ken Burns' Country Music documentary a few months ago, we talked about the Carter family coming from the Clinch Valley, the home of our ancestors. Do you see what's right below the marker for the cemetery?--the A.P. Carter Highway. The Carter Family Fold is about 15 miles from the cemetery by road, and even closer as the crow flies.

***I belong to a Facebook group called Stapleton Connections. I'm not a Stapleton, but a lot of the Stapletons are Castles. Someone recently posted a video of a Castle family reunion that took place many years ago at Bays Mountain. Well, I had never heard of Bays Mountain, so I looked it up. According to their website, "Bays Mountain Park is a 3550 acres nature park and planetarium located on Bays Mountain in Kingsport, Tennessee." According to Wikipedia, "Two Bays brothers settled in Southwest Virginia, Russell and Scott Counties about 1780. Bays Mountain received its name from this family as they were noted as great hunters." The brothers have to be Peter III and William. 

If my brother and I ever get to travel again, Bays Mountain will be on our itinerary.

***As time went on, of course, the Bays families began to move west. Of the seven children of William and Rachel Bays that I could locate on the 1850 or later censuses (there were nine total), five were living in Kentucky. Some stopped in Kentucky, then kept moving west. Some left Virginia and ended up in Oklahoma.

Donnie Bays shared with me that he had Bays cousins living in Tulsa and in Kansas City. He wondered if I knew anyone with the name Baize. It turns out that one of his Scott County uncles, Joel Melvin, son of Reuben, changed the spelling of his last name to Baize and moved out west. On the 1900 census Joel and his wife Fannie are living in Madison County, Arkansas, with their five children, all born in Arkansas. 

In 1901 they moved to Oklahoma, where they lived in several locations before settling in Pottawatomie County. Joel died in Dale, Pottawatomie County, in 1939 and is buried in Prague, Lincoln County. He had two sons, Melvin Henry Baize, who died in 1985 and is buried in Shawnee, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, and William McKinley Baize, who died in 1991 in Kansas and is buried at Prague.

I usually take a second look when I see the name Bays. As I told Donnie, that's not a common name here, and when I see it, I always wonder if they are descendants of my Bays family. I would never have taken a second look at a family named Baize. There is a family story contributed by a relative to Geneanet that explains why Joel Melvin made the name change, but it makes me wonder if he reverted to the original spelling of the name when he decided to make the change. 

By 1920 the Baize family had settled in Pottawatomie County about 40 minutes from the Chandler/Davenport (Lincoln County) area where my Castle family lived in 1910.