Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Saturday, October 22, 2005

The Phelps Brothers of Corbett Ridge





















(L toR)Gordon--Latham--Milton--When they were the cat's meow!!!--My Father Latham and his two brothers--"Hide the women" when these three were on the prowl--Not to mention they could "Cut a Rug" on the dancefloor at the local Legion Hut or between dances get into a scrape with some of the other farmboys--According to my dad they set some new landspeed records on the rural roads of Caswell Co.in the 40's--They all worked hard on the family tobacco farm--Gordon and Milton Enlisted in the Navy during World War 11--Latham couldn't go because he was the only son left to help on the farm(much to his dismay)as he wanted to go too--They all married and today there are many descendants of the Phelps Brothers of Corbett Ridge including myself

Catherine James Walker Phelps 1901-1987
























My Grandmother--Mother of Wilford Latham Phelps--Wife of Lewis Elmo Phelps--Daughter of Charles Young Walker and Lena Rivers Murray--Grandaughter of Robert Young Walker-Gr.Gr.Gr.Grandaughter of William Walker "The Loyalist" (1743-1819)--My Grandmother was a true "Southern Lady" steeped in the traditions of the Old South--She would rather be "whipped" than appear in Church without being in the latest fashion dress and the perfect hat. She had the fanciest "walk" I ever saw--Made the best Pound Cake in the County--She never learned to drive, but remained fiercely independent and always managed to get where she wanted to go--She loved to talk about family history with me and God Bless her for that.--She would whip you for killing a Blacksnake--And tell you to "make haste" when a chore needed doing--I can see her showing off her new hat to the Heavenly congregation right now.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Guy and "Fronnie" Phelps

Guy Wilford Phelps and Phronia Washington Walker Phelps. Guy was the brother of my Grandfather Elmo Phelps. "Fronnie" was the sister of my Grandmother Catherine Walker Phelps. Two Brothers married Two Sisters, which made their children double-first Cousins. Guy was a Son of Wyatt Edward Phelps-Grandson of Thomas H. Phelps and Great-Grandson of Thomas Phelps Sr.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

UPDATE/CORRECTIONS TO: Discovery of an unpublished index to a 1931 Perquimans genealogy book, "History of Perquimans County, NC"

In my original blog on this subject I erred in saying there was no index to the deeds in that book. In fact, there is a very good and complete deed index, but is easily overlooked since there was another "general index" at the book’s end. But the "general index" is only 4-5 pages and covers only the firsts 38 introductory pages of the book.

The sections of the book that are not indexed include the following sections:
Petitions, Div of Estates, Marriages (in alphabetic order but no index of related names), clerk of court, sheriffs, and Representatives. Following that is a long section of family names which contain wills, births, and other information, some with her introductions. There is also a section on Rent Rolls and a small section of wills. But none of these are indexed by name - other than a table of contents family name section. In fact, in my local library copy, there a number of hand-written entries in the "general index" by those who wanted others to find information. Further the author's use of the page heading "Record of Deeds" on most all of the pages leads the casual reader to overlook these many sections.

So the full index which is available in Seattle is needed badly by any Perquimans researcher. I have requested a copy of the index sheets covering Phelps and Bateman.

This book (not this index) is now digitized at http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/historyfiction/document/wih/index.html

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Discovery of an unpublished index to a 1931 Perquimans genealogy book, "History of Perquimans County, NC"

Most genealogy libraries have the 1931 book, "History of Perquimans County, NC" which contains wills and genealogies of early Batemans and Phelps. It also has abstracts of deeds from 1681 through the Revolution. Deeds from 1730-1784 are not abstracted elsewhere. Unfortunately there has not been an index of this book or those deeds. However there is such an index. It is in the Seattle library as "Index, History of Perquimans County, N.C.” prepared by Marie Freeman and Helen Stevenson. http://www.spl.org/ Their library reference for the document is by Freeman, Marie. [S.l. : M. Freeman?, 197-?] 197-?] Call #: R929.3756 W732Hi

The index has great implications for James PHelps researchers as well as researchers of others in early Perquimans Co, NC Thes little known death of a James Phelps, reported to have married Mary Bateman of Perquimans was noted in a 1758 deed of record of (not sold/bought by Phelps). (Deed book F:278). Extremely few researchers have known about this deed and the death comment of James. The reason is that the indexes did not cover the years 1730-1784 and James would not have been found in the indexes for the original deedbooks. Only by stumbling on the paper “A Quaker Woman and Her Offspring” which made note of the deed was I able to make the connection. The author, Gwen Boyer Bjorkman, of Seattle, found this deed by an index for the entire book which was compiled by the two women in Seattle. She was instrumental in helping me sort through all this.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Early Phelps in Perquimans, NC: "A Quaker Woman and Her Offspring"

Written by GWEN BOYER BJORKMAN.

This 1987 prize winning paper details the saga and early settlement of Phelps and their genealogy in Perquimans County, NC. Most important is the first recorded proof that a James Phelps - elsewhere named as husband of Mary Bateman - "died early" by 1858 (the date of the death proof). Many have therefore incorrectly named this James as the James of Caswell CO who died in 1785.

The paper begins with this: "It is usually difficult to document the lives of colonial women. As a category, they left few legal documents. Yet, through sundry records, it is possible to reconstruct the life of one remarkable woman—Hannah (Baskel) Phelps Phelps Hill. One does not read about Hannah in standard histories of early America, yet she held the first Quaker meeting in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in her home in Salem and later opened her home to the first Quaker meeting in the Albemarle settlement of Carolina. She was truly the Proverbs 31 lady. After all these years “her children [will now] rise up and bless her;... saying: ‘Many daughters have done nobly, But you excell them all!’ “‘ Despite her accomplishments, however, Hannah did not set out to be a noble heroine. She emerges in history as a young woman—human and alone, as far as family is concerned. TO SEE THE REST CLICK ON THE ABOVE URL.

Monday, October 03, 2005

A Map of Virginia showing property of key Phelps

A map of Virginia showing the approximate property areas of the key Phelps in the 1700s. Information source was primarily JC Rogers, Phelps researcher. Click on the above link.