A GENEALOGY OF AND BY ASA GRAY PHELPS

OF BERTIE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

 (b. 1892 - d. aft. 1954)

Emphasis on Descendants of John Phelps and Mary (Gill) Phelps

by Asa Gray Phelps September 1954

INTRODUCTION

by Susan Elise Heinbueh, Ph.D. May 1995

This (email) herewith serves as my granting official permission to you and others to post my genealogical research and to disseminate it as widely as you would like for any benefit it may be to others.   Permission granted by: Susan Phelps Bedrosian (F/K/A Susan Elise Heinbuch b. 1959). Dated: November 13, 2008

NOTICE by the recorder:  This document was found in the family genealogy section of the NC Library in Raleigh, NC.  under GR 929.2 P539H.  Note:  Footnotes were not transcribed and should be retrieved by the serious researcher.  This document was scanned and may contain OCR errors.

NOTES

This list is designed for use as a loose leaf booklet, except index sheets.

When looking for the relatives of a person, first refer to the index for the page numbers on which the . person's name appears, then take these pages from the booklet and lay them side to side or top to bottom to get the continuation of the family. From these pages other page references on the left side refer to pages on which the person's ancestors are listed and page references on the right side refer to pages on which the person's decendants are listed.

When a name (or names) is underscored it indicates the name by which a person was or is known.

By far the greater part of this information was given to me from memory by my sister, Mittie H. Phelps who had taught public school about forty years in Bertie County, N. C. Please report any errors, omissions or additions to me and I will greatly appreciate same.

Asa Gray Phelps

231 Piez Avenue Warwick, Virginia

September. 30, 1954

INTRODUCTION

By: Susan Elise Heinbuch, Ph.D., New York, 1995

On 30 September 1954, shortly before his death, Asa Gray Phelps set about constructing a genealogy for his family and their future generations. He noted that much of the genealogy was based on the memory of his sister Mittie Harrell Phelps who had been a public school teacher for over forty years in Bertie County, North Carolina. Since its original appearance, many Southern Gills and Phelps, as well as related families have turned to Asa's genealogy as a starting place to guide their genealogical research. Others have used it as an ending place to finally conclude that what they had proven was not lost to the memory of Asa and his sister Mittie.

While the genealogy is based on memory versus documentation, given his age, and the additional fact that he was confined to a wheel chair at its writing, Asa's genealogy is extremely useful and sufficiently accurate to help others on their ancestral journeys.

As I, and others, endeavor to sort out our North Carolinian Gill and Phelps' family lines, we have also found the book useful as a guide. We have also been able to prove or disprove as well as extend some of the information beyond a 'reasonable doubt.' And, believe that making corrected information available is what Asa would have wanted, he notes in his own words "please report any errors, omissions or additions to me and I will greatly appreciate same." We only regret that Asa Gray Phelps' request must be addressed posthumously.

This following manuscript was reproduced from the best available copy I could obtain. I present it in its entirety. It did = have a cover page. There will be noticed some handwritten corrections in hands that are clearly not Asa's. These are reported to have been corrections that individuals made when they reviewed the copy of this manuscript that was later presented to me by a descendant of Asa's. I can not vouch for the corrections as of this writing.

I confess that I originally intended to take this manuscript and have it professionally typed to make it neater and easier to read. Interestingly, or perhaps fate, the typist I approached about the job told me that he too was a genealogist. After examining Asa's genealogy he made several points to me. First, he made me re-appreciate the extraordinary effort it must have taken to develop. Second, he observed the cleverness of the design Asa chose to present the information. Finally, he suggested that, while he would like the typing job, if he were a family member of mine he would prefer to see Asa's original work in his own hand. Therefore, we owe this presentation to the insight and selflessness of another fellow genealogist.

I do not endeavor here to present needed corrections, that is reserved for the supplement. However, I would like to draw attention to a few bits of information. Below are: (1) the direct drop ancestry of Asa Gray Phelps and his sister Mittie Harrell Phelps as they understood it, as presented by Asa in 1954. This is followed by some short notes.; and (2) a relationship chart between Asa and distributor, Susan.

GILL & PHELPS Ancestry of Asa Gray

and Mittie Harrell PHELPS

*per Asa Gray Phelps, 1954

1. Micajah PHELPS m. Susannah -                                                          1. Edward Gill (b. 1775 - d.1836 m. Sarah Winnifred LEDNUM (b. 1779 - d. 1836)

             2. John PHELPS                    married                                                             2. Mary GILL

                    3. Asa Phelps (b. 1820 - d. 1897) m. (1st) Elisabeth COBB

                             4. Gray Worley PHELPS (b. 1850 - d. 1923) m. Elisabeth 'Bertie" Eudora Harrell (b. 1852 - d. 1927)

                                 5. Mittie Harrell PHELPS (b. 1879 - d. 1951) unm., no children

                                 5. Asa Gray PHELPS (b. 1892 - d. aft. 1954)*

                                    m. (1st) Willie Vashti HOGGARD (b. 1894 - d. 1940), no children

                                    m. (2nd) Margaret *Peggy* Brown MACON (b.1907, m. 1942),

                                               Children - Asa Gray PHELPS, Jr. (b. 1943)

                                                            - William Brown PHELPS (b. 1946)

NOTES: (a) Father of Micajah PHELPS is James Phelps, Sr. (d. 1794, Gates County, NC), Mother (unknown); (b) Some records indicate that Edward GILL & Sarah Winnifred LEDNUM, while parents of a Mary GILL, may no be the parents of the Mary GILL who married John PHELPS. My records indicate that the Edward GILL that Asa identifies as the father, may actually be the brother of the Mary GILL that married John PHELPS. If true, the parents of Mary GILL who married John PHELPS are Richard GILL and Mary --. And the Mary GILL that descends from Edward GILL and Sarah Winnifred LEDNUM may have married Thomas SMITHWICK.

SOURCES: (a) Photocopy of original 1794 Will of James Phelps, Sr. Original is filed in Gates County, N.C. in Will Book 1, Page 123; A transcription of James Phelps, Sr.'s will can also be found in Almasy, Sandra L. (1984). Gates County, North Carolina Wills. 1779 - 1807. Volume I. Rothschild, WI: S.A. Almasy, pages 71-72. An abstract of James Phelps, Sr.s' will is also noted in Olds, Fred A. (1954). An Abstract of North Carolina Wills From About 1760 To About 1800: Sunolementing Grimes' Abstract of North Carolina Uls 1663 To 1760. 2nd Edition, Baltimore, MD: Southern Book Company. (b) see, for example, Deed Book EE, Page 599 filed in Bertie County, NC concerning "Thomas Smithwick Deed to William Smithwick and Winnifred Y. Smithwick, dated 17 October 1840."

INFORMATION FOR READERS

Additional copies of this bound manuscript will be prepared on request for cost + postage & handling. Address inquiries to the distributor at the below address. There is n r to anyone who provides documented information related to correcting or supplementing the information presented in this manuscript.

Request of Readers: The distributor, along with several other GillPhelps relations, are working on a supplement to Asa Gray Phelps' genealogy. The supplement will address any omissions and errors that have been identified in this work as well as extend the genealogy, both up and down the lines. This is an ongoing project. Anyone who has documented-information that will assist us in this endeavor is invited to write to the below address. All contributors will be recognized in the supplement unless they elect otherwise. We look forward to a dialogue with others interested in our Southern Gill-Phelps.

Other Research: The distributor is compiling and publishing information on descendants of the southern Phelps from which she and Asa Gray Phelps descend. Send your inquiries to below address.

Send correspondence to:

Susan Elise Heinbuch, Ph.D. 4 Washington square Village, No. 10-L New York, N.Y. 10012-1906

Publication Note: To the knowledge of the distributor, this manuscript was never formerly published. It is not known who is in possession of the original manuscript. Photocopies have circulated through the family for years. Anyone with information concerning the original manuscript or who may have knowledge of its ever being published are asked to write the distributor at the above address.

Copyright Asa Gray Phelps, Warwick, Virginia, 1954

Distributor: S. E. Heinbuch, New York, 1995