Revised 8/26/2017. Copyright @2017; The following Documentary Timeline has been compiled and created by Paul Rhetts. It may be copied for research purposes; but it may not be reproduced for inclusion in any printed or electronic distribution of any kind without the express written permission of the author. Any requests to use this information should be sent to Paul Rhetts, LPDPress@q.com.
John PHELPS (1705-1772) and Mary C GIBSON (1709-1767)
s/o John PHELPS (1683-1746) and Margaret Mary TALBOT (1683-1745)
d/o Jonathan GIBSON (1669-1729) and Elizabeth THORNTON (1673-1732)
p/o Martha PHELPS (1737-1767)
Children:
1. Elizabeth (1723-1780) m. Francis Pollard, 1746
2. Jane Cuthbertson (1728-1771) m. John D Williams, 1751
3. Judith 1731-1732)
4. Sarah (1732-1785) m. John Andrew Haynes, 1752
5. Ann (1736-1737)
6. Lucy Ann (1737-1817) m. George Haynes, 24 Sep 1794
7. Martha (1737-1767) m. Benjamin Bolling, 1753
8. Lt. John (1738-1801) m. (1) Jemina Turner, 1761; (2) Susannah Younger, 1787
9. Mary (1738-1767)
10. Aggey Agatha Agnes (1744- ) m. Nathan Turner
11. Patricia (1746- ) m. James Turner
1705 John PHELPS born at Albemarle, Virginia [SAR#74953]
1709 Mary C GIBSON born at Albemarle, Virginia (one source says Hanover, VA) (One source says her parents were Thomas Gibson (1691-1734) and Mary Allen (1652-1734)) [NUGENT, NELL MARION, abstractor. Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants. Vol. 3: 1695-1732. Richmond [VA]: Virginia State Library, 1979. P.103 says: Mary Gibson immigrated to Virginia in 1705; Abstracts of Virginia Land Office patent books 9 through 14, covering the early decades of the eighteenth century. Includes numerous references to land patented by "French refugees," the Protestants (Huguenots) who fled France after Louis XIV revoked the…] [SAR#74953]
1721 John PHELPS and Mary C GIBSON married at VA
1723 dau Elizabeth Betty PHELPS born at Lunenburg, Virginia; died 1780 at Lunenburg, Virginia; married Francis Pollard
1728 dau Jane PHELPS born at Rowan, North Carolina; died 1771
1731 dau Judith PHELPS born; died 1732 at Shenandoah, VA
1732 dau Sarah PHELPS born at Goochland, Goochland, Virginia; died 1785 at Wilkes, Georgia; married John Andrew HAYNES at Bedford, VA
1736 dau Ann PHELPS born at Goochland, Goochland; died 1737
1737 dau Lucy Ann PHELPS born at Goochland, Goochland; died 7 Nov 1817 at Georgia; married ___ Haynes
29 Jun 1737 dau Martha PHELPS born at James, VA; died 8 Mar 1767 at Rowan, NC; married Benjamin BOLLING 20 Jun 1753 at Albemarle, Virginia
1738 son John PHELPS born at Bedford, Bedford, Virginia; died 28 Sep 1801 at Bedford, Bedford, Virginia; married Susannah Younger in 1787 [SAR#74953]
1738 dau Mary PHELPS born at Albemarle, Virginia; died 8 Mar 1767 at Rowan, NC
1742 John PHELPS purchased land for himself in the part of Brunswick County which later became Bedford
1744 dau Aggey Agathy Agnes PHELPS born at Virginia; died in Virginia; married Nathan Turner
1744-45 John PHELPS witnessing land transactions in Lunenburg (formerly Brunswick) County in 1744-45.
1746 dau Patricia PHELPS born at Caroline, VA; died in Bedford, Bedford, Virginia; married James Turner
5 May 1746 John Phelps, the first of the name of whom we have any authentic record, was already settled in Brunswick County, Va., when Lunenburg was taken from that county, and was one of the first Justices of the new county. He, with Matthew Talbot and others, was present at the first Court of Lunenburg County held May 5, 1746. When the increase in population made it necessary to form still another county from Lunenburg's territory, and Bedford came into being, we find John Phelps again at the head of affairs—Justice of the Peace, and a Justice of the County Court in Chancery." The House of Burgesses in the 1750s John Phelps' entered his first session as a burgess with fellow freshman Peter Jefferson of Albemarle County, father of future Declaration of Independence author, Thomas Jefferson. (Thomas Jefferson later represented Albemarle County in the House of Burgesses from 1769-1774). It is likely that Phelps was already acquainted with the family; in 1749 he was sworn in as Justice of the Peace and Justice of the Chancery with Field Jefferson, uncle of Thomas Jefferson, in Lunenburg County. The two also served as Vestrymen in the Parish of Cumberland. In addition to Jefferson, Phelps also served in the House of Burgesses with Augustine Washington of Westmoreland County, father of George Washington. In fact, he served in the company of many Virginians who would later become venerable leaders of the American Revolution: Peyton Randolph, Virginia Attorney General and later first president of the Continental Congress; Benjamin Harrison of "Berkeley" in Charles City County and George Wythe of Williamsburg, both signers of the Declaration of Independence and both representatives to the Continental Congress; Richard Bland of Prince George County, also a member of the Continental Congress. The oratorical and legislative experience these burgesses gained would serve them well in the years to follow when they would forge their own country after the defeat of the British at Yorktown in 1781. Indeed, the seeds of discontent with the Crown were sewn in the years immediately preceding the dissolution of the House of Burgesses in 1769. The last session John Phelps served in the House of Burgesses, August 5, 1755. [Our Kin: the genealogies of some of the early families who made history in the founding and development of Bedford County, Virginia. Published 1930, author Mary Denham Ackerly] Our Kin: The Genealogies of Some of the Early Families Who Made History in the Founding and Development of Bedford County, Virginia by Mary Denham Ackerly and Lula Eastman Jeter Parker; C.J. Carrier Company, Harrisonburg, Virginia 1981: John Phelps, the first of the name of whom we have any authentic record, was already settled in Brunswick County, Va., when Lunenburg was taken from that county, and was one of the first Justices of the new county. He, with Matthew Talbot and others, was present at the first Court of Lunenburg County, held May 5, 1746. When the increase in population made it necessary to form still another county from Lunenburg's territory, and Bedford came into being, we find John Phelps again at the head of affairs--"Justice of the Peace, and a Justice of the County Court in Chancery." He and William Callaway were Bedford's first representatives in the House of Burgesses, and from Hening's Statutes, Vol. VII, we learn that he was a Colonel in the Colonial Army. He died in Beford County in 1772, and his will, recorded in Will Book "A," page 137, mentions wife, Mary; children: Jane, Judith, SARAH, Ann, Mary, Betty, John, and Aggey. John Phelps, Jr., was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary Army. He married (first) Jemima Turner; (second) August 18, 1787, Susannah Younger. He died in 1801. His will, recorded in Bedford (Will Book "B," page 323), mentions: children, Mary Hall, Jemima Forguson, Nancy Forguson, John, Lucy Haynes, Washington, Jeanny, Overton, Robert James, Richard, Thomas, Bethsheba, Glenn, Betsy, Randolph, and William.
1747 The will of JOHN PHELPS I (1683-1747) of Goochland County leaves his son "JOHN, the use of the land where he (i.e., John) [already] lives, next to John Woodson and John Pleasants, and at his death to his son, John Phelps." The land is not clearly identified, but would his "father" have purchased land on the distant Otter River in a different county and let his son farm it? [John Phelps: Feb 14, 1747. Mar 16, 1747. D.B. 5, p389-90. To son John Phelps, use of my land I purchased of Jas. Woodson and at his death to his son John Phelps. To son Samuel Phelps, all land on Watson Branch and 500 acres on Fleamons Branch. To son William, the rest of my land of 560 acres on Fleamons Creek and land where I now live after the death of my wife. To grandson John Phelps, 50 acres land on Horsepen Branch. To grand-daughters, Mary Phelps and Sarah Phelps, 1 Negro each. To Dorothy Learwood, 1 Negro and 4 head of cattle. To wife, Margrate Phelps, 3 Negroes during her life and at her decease to son, William Phelps, and us of plantation whereon I now live. Ex: Williams Phelps, Samuel Phelps, Wit: Wm. Stone, Joseph Woodson, James Barnes. (from p.31)
25 Jul 1749 Phelps, John. grantee. Land grant 25 July 1749. Summary Location: Lunenburg County. Description: 444 acres including some of the branches of the south fork of Little Otter River, beginning just above Aaron Burlesons survey. Source: Land Office Patents No. 27, 1748-1749, p. 239 (Reel 25). (doc)
Dec 1753 John Phelps of Bedford County, Virginia was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, the forebear of the Virginia General Assembly, the oldest continuously operating legislative body in the western hemisphere. When Bedford was formed in December 1753 from the counties of Albemarle and Lunenburg, John Phelps, with William Callaway, served as one of Bedford's first two burgesses. Identified as a Col. [SAR#74953] [Could this be his son John (1738-1801)] [Col. John Phelps occupation: Justice of the Peace, Justice of the County Court in Chancery, Representative to the Virginia House of Burgesses, Colonel in the Colonial Army. [Our Kin: the genealogies of some of the early families who made history in the founding and development of Bedford County, Virginia. Published 1930, author Mary Denham Ackerly]
22 Aug 1754 Phelps served four assemblies in the House of Burgesses beginning August 22, 1754. At the time of his appointment, Phelps already enjoyed a reputation as a respected Justice in Lunenburg and Bedford counties1 a Coroner in Lunenburg, and an Anglican Vestryman in Lunenburg's Parish of Cumberland.
26 Aug 1756 John Phelps listed as Cat. In Bedford Co, VA: Virginia’s Colonial Soldiers: County Militia Rosters, p. 7 (doc) [SAR#74953]
1767 Mary C GIBSON died (age 58 or 62) at Bedford, Bedford, Virginia (one source says Staunton City, VA) (FindAGrave#94474950 says she died 1763)
25 Feb 1772 John PHELPS died (age 67) at Bedford, Bedford, Virginia [one source says 1775] [FindAGrave#94462808]
1772 "Col. John Phelps left his will in Bedford County, Virginia in 1772." ("My Haynes Family" from My Greer And Related Families, Vol. Ii, page 208, by Clayton Alvis Greer, about 1975.) Abstracts of Bedford County, Virginia Wills, Inventories and Accounts 1754-1787 by Miss Joida Whitten; page 34: Will Book "A" pp137-138: JOHN PHELPS Dated ________(left blank) 1771; My daughters Jane, Judith, SARAH, Ann one shilling sterling each. My daughter Mary bequeathed Hanna and one shilling sterling. My daughter Bettey 44 acres beginning at a corner white oak near the mouth of Hunts Spring Branch...to the middle Branch...to the dividing line. My son John Phelps all the land that I am possessed with, also bequeathed Dick and Rachel, and "as a legacy" my riding horse, bridle and saddle and my wearing clothes. My daughter Aggey bequeathed Old Jack and young Dick. My beloved wife bequeathed Lucy. Desire that the estate may remain in my wife's hands during her life or widowhood and at her decease the estate to be brought to an appraisement and equally divided between John Phelps, James Turner "Juner" and Nathan Turner. (Note: This Will was not fully dated, did not name specific executors, was not signed or witnessed.) Court 25 February 1772: "This writing purporting the Last will and Testament of John Phelps Gent. decd. was Exhibited into Court by Mary Phelps and John Phelps and on Examination of divers Witnesses who deposed that the Said John Phelps decd. at the time of his last Illness (when in his perfect senses) did declare and acknowledge the Same in their presence..." Ordered to be recorded. Mary Phelps and John Phelps obtained letters of administration with the will annexed. Security: William Austin and Henry Stratton.