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To: BABER and PHELPS Researchers
I have developed an hypothesis that the wife of ROBERT BABER (III) (c1725-1786), grandson of the ROBERT BABER (I) of Old Rappahannock and Essex Counties, the presumed progenitor of most of the BABER lines in Virginia, was not JANE PENDLETON but rather JANE PHELPS.
This hypothesis is supported by the following:
1. None of the family trees I have seen on various websites which show JANE PENDLETON as ROBERT’s wife has provided any documentation or primary source. One of the references sometimes quoted is the DePriest Family Journal, which is full of errors, but even it states that “while nothing definitive is known about Jane‘s ancestry, she is probably the granddaughter or great-granddaughter of early Virginia settler Philip Pendleton.” This is followed by a claim that this would make her a cousin of “noted political leader and jurist Edmund Pendleton.” This seems like wishful thinking, based on no evidence, by somebody trying to claim a famous ancestor.
2. I researched the PENDLETON family trying to find a JANE of the appropriate age in the Goochland and Albemarle County area where ROBERT BABER (II)(c1684-1748) was a substantial property owner along Bear Garden Creek. There
were no PENDLETONS close by and no JANE PENDLETON of the right age in any area within reasonable distance.
3. On the other hand, I did find that JOHN and MARY PHELPS sold 300 acres in the Bear Garden Creek area in 1741 to ROBERT BABER (II). In 1748, when BABER added to his holdings the deed recording listed adjoining properties of
Richard Cocke, PHELPS, and Wentworth Webb. I researched these families as well as other adjacent property holders shown in other deeds involving BABER transactions. The only family I could find with a daughter JANE was that of JOHN and MARY PHELPS. Therefore, this JANE was a likely prospect to become the wife of ROBERT (III).
4. It is notable that the Brunswick County Deed Book 2 in 1744 recorded a sale of 140 acres on the Otter River by JOHN and MARY PHELPS to ROBERT BABER (III). Thus it appears that this land, which had been surveyed by PHELPS, who had relocated more than 75 miles southwest of Bear Garden Creek, was being conveyed to his son-in-law, husband of his daughter, JANE. This stretch of Otter Creek later became a part of Lunenburg, Bedford and Campbell Counties through subdivision. The two families were again neighbors. On one of the tithable lists for Lunenburg in 1748 the names of JOHN and THOMAS PHELPS and ROBERT BABER are adjacent.
5. ROBERT BABER (III) listed three daughters in his will: MARY, JANE and ELIZABETH. It appears the MARY was named for her grandmother, MARY PHELPS. JANE was named for her mother, JANE PHELPS. ELIZABETH was named for her father‘s mother. It seems to fit.
6. There are reports (I have not seen any of that data myself) that there are deeds recorded in Albemarle County which bear the names WILLIAM and LUCY BABER. This WILLIAM is believed to be the brother of ROBERT BABER (III). Some family trees and the DePriest Family Journal (questionable source) claim that the surname of said wife LUCY, is PHELPS. While it was quite common at the time for brothers to marry conveniently neighboring sisters, this particular connection may not stand up. I have not been able to find any LUCY PHELPS of the right age among the wills of neighboring PHELPS families. On the other hand there is a report of a deed dated 1759 in Albemarle County (which I have not confirmed) indicating that WILLIAM BABER sold land given to him by a WILLIAM PHELPS. It could be argued that WILLIAM had transferred the land to his son-in-law because properties were rarely held in the name of daughters. WILLIAM BABER’s will names a daughter LUSEE (Lucy). There has been some confusion in the reading of a will by JOHN PHELPS (d.1771) that may have lead some to believe there was a LUCY in his family. I read the language as “I give my beloved Wife one Negro Child named Lucy…”
There are a couple of family trees which show that WILLIAM PHELPS who died in Albemarle County in 1749 was married to a wife whose given name is unknown but whose surname was BABER. ROBERT BABER, whose wife, I believe was JANE PHELPS, had six sisters, three of whom don’t have recorded husbands. It would be easy to think, with all these other connections, that one of them was WILLIAM’s wife.
CONCLUSION: I believe the sum of the evidence in paragraphs 1-5 establishes the much stronger case for JANE PHELPS as the wife of ROBERT BABER (III) than the case for JANE PENDLETON which lacks any real proof at all. Q.E.D.
I welcome comments pro and con, particularly anything that might clarify the questions left open by paragraph 6.
CHUCK PRINE
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