9.2 A father or relative from Halifax County Co, Va. Includes information about John Phelps d1794 and his sons, John and William
Major revision 7/8/2012: A recently discovered document in the NC Sec of State files documents that the John Phelps who witnessed the will of James was of "Halifax Co, Virginia". He actually was wrote the will as dictated by James. To many the evidence now links the James line to the Halifax Phelps, likely as brothers or father and son. See John Phelps who wrote James' will as directed by James Phelps (Caswell) Named as of Halifax Co, VA Abstracts of "Early Records of NC Vol 1 Probates, admn, inventories." Secretary of State file S108.263 provided by Mark Phelps. See the abstract of the recorded Oct 1786 paper - by Mark and Doug Phelps See the recorded Oct 1786 images sent to the Sec of State papers. Provided by Doug Phelps
Other revisions continuous dated 08/04/2012
(The below paper was originally written to research any possibility that a Phelps from this area was the father of James Phelps d 1786 Caswell Co, NC. Hopefully researchers will find other information helpful to them.)
This report of 2/2006 is a major enhancement over previous versions. Two extensive reports on William and John Phelps are included here..
After extensive research and visits by myself, Mark Phelps and his dad, Latham, to Halifax and Pittsylvania, VA, there is no proof that our James was related to the family of John Phelps d1749 Halifax. However, it is still very possible, considering the closeness and movements of the Phelps families back and forth. Also, the mystery remains of who was the Jno Felps of Pulaski, KY, living with three sons of James.
Reasons to suspect a relationship in Halifax Co, VA
After earlier extensive research into the pre-1800 abstract books of Halifax, I found no connections to James but I wondered still if either William or John, son of John d 1794 Halifax, could have been involved with the James Phelps family. I did not find a James Phelps of the era but there was a Thomas and James Philips very likely were our Thomas and James living in Caswell across the Dan River from Halifax..
In early 2006 fellow researchers Mark Phelps and his father, Latham, (with initial help from me) discovered unexposed wills which proved the descendants of Reuben Phelps, son of James, were in Halifax. (See Mark Phelps’ report.) We also were able to discover the family of the John’s son, John Jr. His will of 1846 and extensive property records proved he remained in Halifax.
In Feb of
2006 I visited the courthouses of Pittsylvania and Halifax counties and
reviewed most of their extensive material which went back to the 1700s.
What may eventually be a solution is to find the present day descendants of John or William and compare a Y-DNA test of them to our James Phelps line. That would prove or disprove a family relationship.
What remains unanswered now is who were the two John Phelps in Pulaski, KY 1810 and 1830? They may point to the real connection to James Phelps of Caswell.
The formation of Halifax Co:
A very
thorough search for a James Phelps in Halifax Co brought forth three possible
references to our James in the proper time period:
1. A James Phelps is named as an owner of property bounding a Halifax property sale March 15, 1784. (Halifax deed book 12, page 403.) The key words were ". From Jacob Die (Dye) of H. to James Reylye (Rylye, Rylie) of Caswell County …. In Halifax on Mill Cr, Dan River bounded by … James Phelps" Curiously, a Mill Cr adjacent to the Va line is listed several times later in property records in Caswell Co by our James and his sons. Since I did not find a James Phelps property record in Halifax, VA it is my opinion that the property record is referring to our James Phelps in Caswell Co, NC.
2.
A James is listed in the
1785 Halifax personal property tax list as being over 21, owning 6 cattle and
1 horse
3.
There was a J Phelps
named in the 1789 tax list, north dist, as other tithables > 21. However, this
date is after our James’ death.
An
interesting James and Thomas Philips appear in two Halifax tax lists:
James Philips in 1784 and Thomas Philips in 1783. It is very conceivable that
these two Philips were in fact James and Thomas Phelps – reporting
property in both NC and VA. Recall that our James listed in
Caswell in 1784 as
Richmond dist on Mill Crk, 2 white polls, 0 black pools, 292a 461 lbs. This is
right at the often disputed Va. line. A Thomas Phelps, not the son of
James but the “older Thomas Phelps”, listed in Caswell earlier and in 1784
listed as: Glouster Dist,
1 white poll, o black polls, 1084a, 461 lbs.
Keep in
mind that in the 1790 Caswell Census, there was a John Fleps, St. Lawrence
Districe: M637 Roll:7 Page 7
The Descendants of John of Halifax d. 1794 Phelps has been moved to a separate page. To view it click Here
Pre-1800
I feel I searched the entire and complete inventory of the Pre-1800 Halifax documents. This includes Halifax books: the abstracts of: will books 1752-1797, deed books 1752-1796, plea books 1752-1851, property tax list 1782-1791, Marriage bonds/ministers’ returns 1753-1800; land entries 1737-1770 in present Halifax, Pittsylvania, Henry and Patrick counties; Election of Burgess voter list 1764-1769; plus several other miscellaneous books. While I used the inventory of the NC Library in Raleigh, I compared to make sure it fully covers all the material at the Court Clerk’s office in Halifax. I also reviewed other several nearby county abstract books. In all I found only two listed James references for the proper period.
