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Sample Research Report
I have completed the current
research session which included the time
spent organizing my findings and compiling this report.
Your goal was learn
more about your ancestor Vivant/Vivont Beville/Bevel and his family. You also
wanted
to confirm the marriage of Vivant to Tabitha Witty.
A big thing to keep in mind when researching in North
Carolina is how/when the counties were formed
and which counties suffered record
damage. How and when the counties were formed can determine where
research is
needed to find documents. Although you think your family’s records might be in
one county –
they could have been filed in another, making research challenging
at times.
Per the NC Archives staff notes, Guilford County was formed
in 1771 from Orange & Rowan. A fire reportedly
set by British troops in 1781
destroyed some records. A courthouse fire in 1872 resulted in a slight loss of
records.
Orange County was formed in 1752 from Johnston, Granville
and Bladen. Some records were said to have been
buried in the woods with the
approach of Cornwallis in 1781 and, as a result, some were reportedly destroyed.
Rowan County was established in 1753 from Anson County. A
few records were destroyed by Federal troops in 1865.
Anson, Bladen Johnston and Granville also suffered fires
and destroyed documents over the years. Combine
this with clerks who may have
destroyed or lost files over the years and we have an explanation of why some
records may never be found.
However, a lot of records did survive and from these we can
usually piece together information.
Below is a list of some of the published records I was able
to look at during this research session. I was able
to make copies of some of
this info and, if you decide to continue with the research, will see about
getting copies of others.
I was able to go through about half of the available
published records for Guilford County before time ran out.
Published Abstracts:
Guilford County Will Abstracts 1771-1841 by Webster
Info already listed in the wills I copied
Guilford County Annotated Digest – Will Book A 1771-1816 by
Hill
Guilford County, NC Abstracts of Marriage Bonds Vol. II
Abstracts of Marriage Bonds Vol. I
Guilford County Marriages 1771-1868 by Thompson & Hartgrove
Same as Vol I & II
Guilford County Deed Book One by Bennett
Nothing found
Guilford County Deed Book 2, 1779-1784 by Bennett
Nothing found
Guilford County Apprentice Bonds & Papers 1817-1870 by
Jarrell
Wm. Beville Cosigned for Joel Murray to be
Master 11/18/1819 of Ellis Mitchell, male orphan of color,
age 2yrs, 11mos. To
learn to be a blacksmith trade, tools, suit at age 21
Index to Deceased, Guilford County Court Minutes August
1781-Feb 1811 by Browning
Got Copies
Guilford County Court Minutes Aug 1781-May1788
Got Copies
Guilford County 1820 Census
1790, 1800, 1810 Population Schedules by Kirkman
Original Wills and Estate Records on file in the Search
Room of the NC Archives.
From these records, I was able to compile the following
time line:
John Bevel, born April 25, 1783 per Guilford County Court
Records, 1785, pg 174: Ordered that John Bevel
orphan of John Bevel Dec’d aged
two years the 25th of next April be bound to John Findley until he
arrives to the
age of Twenty one years to learn the art of a Cooper.
John Thompson v. The Administrators of Joel Beville. Find
for the Defendant. Guilford County Court Records, 1808, pg 429
An Inventory of the Estate of Joel Bevil Dec’d is returned
to Court and filed. Guilford County Court Records, 1808, pg 433
The committee that was appointed to lay off the lands of
Joel Bivell amongst his heirs have finished and which a
report is filed with the
Estate Admin. Guilford County Court Records, 1808, pg 429
Thomas Bevelle proved a deed from Henry Billingsley to
Hezekiah Beville 168 acres.
Guilford County Court Records, 1808, pg 429
Ordered that Samuel Hunter and Zeb D. Bradshaw Esquires and
John Moore be appointed a committee to
settle the Estate of Joel Bevell deceased
with the administrators and make report to next court.
Guilford County Court
Records, 1810, page 523
A settlement of the estate of Joel Bevill deceased returned
to court. Guilford County Court Records, 1810, pg 542
December 16, 1816: Will of Pleasant Beville. Names
“beloved wife Dicey, daughter Elizabeth Brown, “all the
children of my daughter
Elizabeth Brown”, daughter Sally and son Archer. Proven in court November term
1830.
August 1, 1821: Will of William Beville. Names “beloved
wife Lucy A. Bevelle”, sons Vivant & Joel G., Alis
and Elizabeth. John
Tomlinson and Alexander Bevell appointed Executors. Witnessed by Saly Beville,
Mary Thorp and James Tomlinson. Proved in Court August term 1821.
William Beville’s Estate File, beginning August 23, 1821:
John Tomlinson is appointed guardian of
Amaly (Emily) W. Bevell, Elizabeth
Bevell, Allica Bevell, Vivant, Joel T.
August 14, 1827: Will of Hezekiah Beville. Names Thomas,
Alexander Lucy, Dolly Tomlinston his
children and heirs. Philip Beville
appointed Executor. Proven in Court August term of Court 1828.
November 19, 1827: Philip Bevill appointed administrator
for Hezekiah Beville.
February Term of Court 1831: Vivant Bevell is acting as
guardian of Elizabeth Bevell. (Wm. Bevell Estate papers)
May 23, 1844: Archibald Bevell appointed administrator for
the Estate of Lucy Bevell.
Feb. 14, 1857: Archibald Bevell appointed administrator for
the Estate of Lucy Bevell. “died intestate,
leaving some considerable
perishable property which needs the care & attention of some discreet person.”
Estate Sale held 2/2/1857. Attended sale and purchased items: James H. Brown,
Mary Beville, William Beville
February Term 1857: Petition of Archibald Bevill and Cyrus
Mendenhall, administrators of Estate of Alice
Tomlinson, Deceased v. Vivant Bevill and Elizabeth Brown. Petition argues that a slave, Nancy, and her child
were given to Lucy Beville by William Beville in his will, and after Lucy’s
death, Nancy and child were to be
given to all of William’s children to “share
and share alike”. Lucy died January 8, 1757. Nancy’s son, Greene,
was 5
years old at the time. Names William & Lucy’s children: Vivan Bevill,
Elizabeth intermarried with
William Brown, Alice intermarried with James
Tomlinson and Joseph T. Beville. Per Petition: William Brown
died 7 years ago, Alis was dead, Joseph T. sold his interest in the estate to Archibald Beville.
Joseph then died.
Vivant Beville and Elizabeth Brown are living in Tennessee.
November Term of Court 1857: Archabald Bevill & others v.
Vivant Beville & others. Archibald bought a
negro woman and child at public
auction for $1,000.00, Joab Hiatt surety. Also in the estate file is a Order
for Sale dated August Term 1857 for slave Nancy and his child Greene.
Based on these records, there were several families named
Beville living in Guilford County in the late 1700’s.
My THEORY is that one of
them, Joel Bevelle/Beville who died prior to 1808, was your ancestor.
Based on dates of their wills, it LOOKS like there may have
been three brothers living in Guilford County
in the late 1700’s: Joel,
Pleasant and Hezekiah. There may have been a fourth brother, John. If they
weren’t brothers, they were at least connected by family ties in some way based
on records found so far.
Joel is my guess as your ancestor, father of William who
was father of Vivant. I base this preliminary
theory on the naming pattern:
William named one of his sons Joel. But I stress this is a preliminary theory
and needs much more research before being proved or disproved.
At any rate, Joel died sometime prior to 1808 and John
Thompson acted as administrator of his estate.
Since one of the court records
states a committee was formed to lay off the lands (divide) for the heirs
of
Joel, the land records may shed light on who these heirs were.
Pleasant Beville’s will was dated December 16, 1816 and
proven in court during the November term 1830.
Hezekiah Beville’s will was
dated August 14, 1827 and proven in court during the August term 1828.
Traditionally the will was proven in court during the very next term (session)
after the death, so Hezekiah
must have died sometime during the late summer of
1828 and Pleasant must have died sometime in the Fall of 1830.
William Beville’s will, as you know, was dated August 1,
1821 and proven in court during the August
term 1821, so he died shortly after
writing his will. Per the will, his wife was Lucy and children were:
Vivant,
Joel T., Alis and Elizabeth. John Tomlinson and Alexander Bevell were appointed
Executors.
Witnesses were Saly (Sally), Mary Thorp and James Tomlinson. These
executors and witnesses
are the first clue about possible family connections:
Pleasant Beville had a daughter named Sally and Hezekiah
Beville had a son named Alexander.
Were Sally and Alexander cousins, Alexander
being an executor and Sally a witness for their Uncle’s will?
Executor John Tomlinson is later appointed guardian of
William’s children, including Emily
who is not named in the will. Needing
guardians tells us William’s children were all under the age of 21.
The estate
was not settled for a number of years and studying the estate papers gives clues
about
the ages of the children. Based on this, my guess is that maybe Lucy was
pregnant when William
died and Emily was born after his death. She is not
mentioned very often and then seems to
disappear, so she may have died in
childhood.
Please keep in mind John Thompson was administrator of Joel
Beville’s estate. I would like to
see the original record to check the spelling
of this name. Could it be that John Thompson was
actually John Tomlinson – and
the same John Tomlinson later acted as executor for William?
Pure theory – but
needs to be looked at.
By 1831 Vivant is acting as guardian for his sister
Elizabeth. Vivant would have had to have
been at least 21 years old to be a
guardian by then, placing his birth date sometime around 1810 or before.
February 1757 everyone is in court working on the final
settlement of the Estate which included
the auction sale of one of William Beville’s slaves, Nancy, and her son, Greene. Archibald Beville
and Cyrus
Mendenhall petitioned the court for permission for this sale, required since
some of
William’s heirs had died and 2 of the heirs, Vivant and Elizabeth, were
living in Tennessee.
Per this petition, we know the fates of William’s family:
William’s wife, Lucy, died January 8, 1757. Archibald
Beville was appointed administrator
of Lucy’s estate on February 14, 1857.
James H. Brown (brother of William Brown?
Possible husband of Elizabeth Beville?)
attended the estate sale.
Vivant Beville was living in Tennessee
Elizabeth Beville had married William Brown and was living
in Tennessee. William Brown
died in 1750. (Note: in other documents, Pleasant Beville’s daughter, Elizabeth, had
married a Brown. Could these Brown men have
been related?)
Alice Beville had married James Tomlinson who had been a
witness on William’s will.
Alice had died prior to February 1857.
Joel / Joseph T. (deceased by 1757) had sold his interest
in his father’s estate to Archibald Beville.
I don’t yet know how Archibald was related to the family,
but he seems to have done a good
job handling everything after Lucy died.
So, this research session was very fruitful. We seem to
have a family:
Joel and his sons:
Pleasant
Hezekiah
William
and possibly John
Who raised their children in Guilford County. These
children (cousins) seem to have remained
close to each other, at least until
some, including Vivant and his sister Elizabeth, moved to Tennessee.
Please let me know if you have any questions and if you
would like to continue the search.
Study of the land records may tell us more
about and possibly document the family relationships
and possibly document Joel
was the father of William. Because Guilford was formed in 1771,
research
should include records of Orange, Rowan, Anson, Bladen and Johnston depending on
where the family land was located. Once the land has been pinpointed, I will
know which
county formations will affect future research.
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