The descendants of
WILLIAM BEBB and MARTHA HUGHES
of Llanbrynmair, Wales
Compiled and Published by HERBERT BEBB
1652 West 102nd Street
Chicago, Illinois
December 1944
The following genealogy traces in both male and female lines the American descendants of William (1) and Martha (Hughes) Bebb, who were married at Llanbrynmair, Wales, in 1751. (The parenthesis numbers "(1)", etc., are explained at end of Introduction) Available information is also supplied as to the Welsh descendants of William Bebb (3). Much of the material for the early generations has been obtained through this group.
Tradition has it that the first Welsh Bebb was a Hugenot weaver who came to Welshpool at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He and his fellow immigrants and their descendants contributed their skill to the developing flannel industry. (See Appendix C) During the 1700s, most of the farmers worked their own wool at home, carding, spinning and weaving by hand. Llanbrynmair (Llan-church; bryn - hill; mair - Mary) at the intersection of three mountain streams attracted early power development which gave employment in 1850 to about 500 persons. In the letters of this period, the price of flannel tends to crowd out the price of crops, as an index first of prosperity and later of adversity.
The Llanbrynmair parish records show that the fecundity of the early Bebbs contributed to the population increase. Some of the families were apparently too large for the parental income so that pauper burials appear. Other families achieved the status of "yoeman" which was just below "gentlemen", in the social scale. The records show 161 Bebb baptisms between 1663 and 1812, many of them with no record clues as to parentage. Hence there is no basis for the inference that, because the name is comparatively uncommon in this country, a close traceable relationship can be inferred between most bearers of the name. "Homes of Family Names" by Henry Brougham Guppy, indicates that in a 10,000-name sampling in North Wales, the name Bebb occurred 40 times, contrasting with 500 for Evans and Roberts and 1,500 for Jones. This frequency of the Bebb name is more than 100 times the frequency in the current Chicago telephone directory.
It seems probable that the name was simplified at the time of the immigration from France. The French form may have been a name like Boebe to which the English name Beebe has been attributed. (See Beebe Genealogy by Clarence Beebe) The History of Llanbrynmair lists early occurrence of the names Morris Bebbe and William Bubbe, implying that originally there may have been a final e. On the other hand, the name has been accounted for, I think erroneously, as a contraction of Barbara and hence as a variant of Babb. (See Bardsley's Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames)
The birth of our William Bebb (1), who married Martha Hughes does not appear in the parish records. One of his descendants William Bebb Hughes (44), abandoned in 1908 an effort to trace the ancestors further back, saying, "I cannot find out much about our own family. They cannot be a late branch of the Brynaere [Brynaere (hill of battle) was a farm north of Llanbrynmair station occupied by a family of yoeman Bebbs not covered in this book. See frontespiece and Appendix D, Chart l.] family and I cannot make out who was my great-grandfather, [i. e. the father of William (l). His burial was notified like this 'William Bebb of Rhiwgriafol was buried May 15, 1817, aged 93 years', so he must have been born about 1724, but I have not seen that any William Bebb was baptised in those years. He could not be the son of Brynaere and yet he must have been a person of some importance to marry Martha Hughes of Cwmcarnedd."
The statement that William (1) "could not be the son of 'Brynaere" is based on the excellent reason that the rejected parent had a son William who married Gwen Jarman, not Martha Hughes, and is clearly distinguishable from our William (1) on the records.
Nevertheless there were reasons to suspect relationship between the two families. One of the reasons is that Gwen Jarman, wife of the William Bebb of Brynaere who was nearest the age of our William (1), is referred to in her burial record as "wife of William Bebb of Rhiwgriafol." This may be due to the Clerk's confusing the two Williams, but if correct it means that Gwen's William and Martha's William (1) were both "of Rhiwgriafol". A second reason is the popularity of the William and Edward names in the two families. In our line, four successive parents (1,3,7,17) employed these two names for their sons The first known Brynaere Bebb was a William and named two of his sons William and Edward. The son William repeated. A third reason is the fact that Demetrius Owen, a Llanbrynmair genealogists included the two families in the same pedigree. Chart 1, Appendix D, is based on his data. While I agree with Hughes (44) in rejecting the specific relationship that Owen suggests, I give some weight to Owen's evident belief that there was a relationship. The solution that looks most plausible to me is to adopt as the parent of William (1) an Edward Bebb "of Brynairey" (it will be observed that these names are spelled with considerable freedom) buried in 1726 (no birth record). This Edward may have been overlooked by Owen. His death is two years after the birth date indicated by the burial record of William (1) for whom we similarly lack a birth record. If this Edward was the father of William(l), his death during his son's early infancy. would tend to account for the absence of a family tradition as to the father. The child, William (1), may have been brought up by his mother's relatives and have had relatively few contacts with his father's family. But this is mere speculation.
Since William(44) spoke Welsh and had direct access to the records, whereas the present writer lacks mastery of that language and has only a transcript of the Bebb parish entries, it seems wise to acquiesce in the conclusion that the previous ancestry is not to be definitely found at Llanbrynmair. The possibility remains that our William may have been born in another parish.
While it is a common practice of genealogists to ignore the maternal lines since they do not bear the family name, there is obviously no logic in the discrimination. The American female descendants of William (1) and Martha kept up the family contacts to such an extent as to call for inclusion in this book. This family feeling is attributable in part to the colorful figure of William Bebb (8), who in 1846 was elected governor of Ohio. While many old American families can boast numerous equivalent or superior marks of distinction, it must be remembered that the Welsh spoke a foreign language, that the Ohio to which they came was a frontier state, and that their ministers had the same motives for desiring to keep them unassimilated into the American environment that the religious leaders of French Canada have had. The chance for a son of such immigrant parents to achieve oratorical mastery of the English language and win state-wide political recognition was remote and pride in his accomplishments ran correspondingly high. A large proportion of American bearers of the Bebb name carry the tradition that they are descended from cousins of Governor Bebb (8). Apparently all of the first cousins are included in the present book. To the extent that "cousins" may mean second cousins, proof of this relationship would involve supplying the missing ancestor of William (1). Hence I would like to receive proof of any such relationship. Descendants by maternal lines have shown their sense of family solidarity by the frequent use of Bebb as a middle name. While the more recent generations have tended to drift apart both geographically and in family interests, the fact remains that the descendants of William (1) constitute a family group more closely allied in spirit and interests than most of the comparable groups that have been the subjects of family histories.
The section on the descendants of William (6) is based largely on material supplied by William Bebb Jones (26) of Van Wert, Ohio; the section on the descendants of Governor Bebb's sister, Mary (9), on materials supplied by Mrs. Annie Francis Crafts (69) of Oberlin, Ohio; and the section on the descendants of Ivan Bebb Jones is based on the work of Mrs. Mary Robert Scott (74) of Chicago. Mr W. Ll. Davies of the National Library of Wales and Mr. Iorwerth Peate of the National Museum of Wales have gone far beyond the routine service of their positions in extending help and advice. Dr. Richard Bebb (47) not only supplied the information as to his branch of the family, but was the guide and inspiration of my voluminous correspondence with sources of information in Wales. After virtual completion of the manuscript in 1942, publication was delayed by circumstances beyond my control. I have included data coming to hand during the interval but have not reworked the entire field.
For readers who already have some familiarity with books in the genealogy field, no apology for, or explanation of, the arrangement of material and the number system will be necessary. For the reader who has had no such experience, and who consequently is disappointed at not finding the successive steps of his own ancestry set forth on successive pages or who is puzzled by the apparently double number system, we offer this explanation.
If we decided for you, as the individual reader in question, to show before your paragraph, your father's paragraph and before that your grandfather's this choice in your favor would immediately involve the result that your father's brothers and their descendants could not similarly find an unbroken sequence unless the material was repeated. In order to avoid such a dilemma practically all genealogies adopt a horizontal arrangement for the material completing one generation before starting the next and rely on a number system for reference up and down. As to persons who have no descendants, there is less occasion for reference from one part of the book to another. Hence we give no numbers to such persons except where cross references in the text make it desirable. This does not imply any reflection as to. the importance of the unnumbered persons.
Each individual who leaves descendants appears twice. First, as a child at the end of the section dealing with his parent. At this point he is merely given his number plus a birth date sufficient to distinguish him from other possible bearers of the same name. In the next generation he will be treated under that same number just as his father was treated in the previous generation and his children will similarly be introduced at the end with their new numbers. In order to trace from the parent down, select the number of the child in whom you are interested in the column of numbers indented from the left margin at the end of the parent's treatment then find the corresponding number at the left margin in the succeeding generation. In order to trace from the child up to the parent, take the left margin number at the beginning of the parent's paragraph and find the same number in the indented column in the preceding generation. This is more complicated to describe than it is to work out in the book by actual experiment For those who find difficulty in using this standard number system, I have supplied in Appendix D a series of charts.
Chart 1 deals with relationships in Wales; Chart 2 with the branch of the family whose first settlement in America was in Van Wert County, Ohio; Chart 3 with the branch (including Governor Bebb) that first settled in the Paddy's Run neighborhood; Chart 4 with the descendants of Governor Bebb's cousin, Evan Bebb Jones. To avoid unweildy size and complex folding, the charts have bean carried only through six generations. The subsequent family histories will presumably be known to most searchers. The number appearing at the right of each name in the charts is, of course, the number assigned to that person at the end of his parent's paragraph in the text and is the number appearing at the beginning of his own paragraph in the next generation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(Sources limited to specific individuals are cited under the word "references" at the end of the respective paragraphs in the text. The following references of general application are listed in the approximate order of their importance for our purposes as background reading and 98 source material. )
1. William Bebb was born about l724 as appears from his burial May 13, 1817, aged 93. The family tradition in America refers to him as William Bebb, Tawelan, (Spelled Tawelfan on the British ordnance map. See frontspiece) a farm or settlement southwest of Llanbrymair station, but Demetrius Owen, a Llanbrynmair genealogist, reports that he moved in 1804 to Rhiwgriafol and refers to him as William Bebb of Rhiwgriafol (a settlement in the adjoining parish of Darowen). Apparently these place names cannot be relied upon to distinguish one William Bebb from another. Owen states that Tawelan and Rhiwgriafol came into our Bebb family through marriage of William(l) Nov. 23, 1751, to Martha Hughes, daughter of William and Dorothy Hughes, "owners" of those farms. By his will, in the Registry at Bangor, Wales, William Hughes gives to his eldest son, Edward, "my tenement called Cwm Carnedd" [For location of these place names see frontspiece] and "my other tenement called Tawelan with its appurtenances now held in jointure by Jane Owen of Gielo"; to his second son, William, two hundred pounds, but if William dies without issue then to the third son, Richard, which sum shall be paid by Richard [as executor] to William; to daughter Martha, wife of William Bebb, five pounds; residue of personal estate to Richard with benefit of Hafod Owen; Richard executrix (sic). Dated May 15, 1762. Signed by mark, witnessed by Thomas Roberts, Richd Pryce and Susanna Pryce. Richard sworn as executor June 1, 1767.
The silence as to Rhiwgriafol implies that that tenement, contrary to chart 1, appendix C, was a possession of William Bebb (1) independently of the Hughes connection. If the birthplace of William (1) was at Rhiwgriafol and therefore not in Llanbrynmair but in the adjoining parish, this would account for the absence of record of his birth since the Darowen records are not nearly so well preserved as the Llanbrynmair.
It is difficult to reconcile the fact that the will virtually disinherits Martha with the fact that her descendants, William (6) and Edward (7), were associated with the two tenements given by the will to her brothers. Another difficulty is the clash between the implication of "my tenement" in the will and the statement of William (6) in 1830 (near middle of appendix A) that he was paying more "rent" for Rhiwgriafol than his father or anyone else ever paid.
Children, Llanbrynmair Parish, Montgomeryshire, Wales:
2 Elizabeth, born 3 Sept 23, 1752; (baptised Oct. 7, 1752) married
William Bebb of Brynaerau. (See appendix C, chart 1)
3 William, born March 28, 1757.
Mary, born at Plas y Pennant (according to 1908 letter of William
Bebb Hughes (44)) Feb 25 1763 (baptised Feb. 26); died young.
4 Edward, born Aug. 2, 1767.
5 Martha, born at Hafodwen, Nov. 3, 1770 (baptised Nov. 5).
The foregoing dates are taken largely from the Welsh New Testament in possession of the family of Edward C. Bebb (52), illustrated on the following pages.
2. Elizabeth Bebb, born Sept. 23, 1752; baptised Oct. 7, 1752, at Llanbrynmair; marriage license July 13, l773, to William Bebb [Brynaere] and Elizabeth Bebb. There are hints of blood relationship between the two families, but no proof. See Introduction,page 1. Elizabeth's husband was blinded as the result of a fight, anticipating a similar calamity in the book "How Green Was My Valley." They spent their later years at Tygwyn, Aberhosan. William Bebb Hughes (44)said in 1908, "the Bebbs in Brynaere ended with this family."
Two errors need to be guarded against. First, on the basis of Bebb-Hughes letters evidencing interest in Margaret's estate some or the Hughes descendants have assumed that the Margaret who married Ezekiel Hughes was a fifth child of William (1) and Martha. This is not supported by the family bible (See illustration) nor by the parish records. The relationships shown on this page account for the letter passages and fit all the known facts. Second, chart 1, appendix 1) originally showed Ezekiel marrying a Margaret, born 1758, daughter of a Nathaniel Bebb, of Brynaere. This encounters a discrepancy in ages. Also, if Ezekiel was the one who married the 1758 Margaret, then Thomas Jones, the other man shown on the parish records as marrying a Margaret Bebb, presumably married the niece of William (1). Since this Thomas Jones was one of my maternal ancestors, I am confident that such an interesting connection or the two lines would have come down to me in our family tradition. Other evidence points to the same conclusion that Ezekiel married Margaret, born 1776, daughter of Elizabeth (2).
Children:
Anne, born June 24, 1774; married Feb. 5, 1799, Griffith Jones,
Penegoes. Margaret, born Aug. 4, 1776; married May 30, 1803, Ezekiel
Hughes, nephew of Martha Hughes (1). He migrated to American on the same
ship with Edward Bebb (4) and the two were associated in the early
settlement of Ohio. Margaret died in 1804; buried at Hooven near Cleves,
Ohio; no children.
3. William Bebb, born Mar. 28, 1757; died Oct. 2, 1826; married June 21, 1784, Lowry Breese. She was baptised Mar. 3, 1762. Her parents, John and Jane Breese, of Hafodwen and later of Rhydymeirch, Llanbrynmair, died when she was young and she was brought up in the home of David Evans. She died Jan. 1, 1847. William Bebb Hughes (44) wrote in 1908 that Lowry "was of the same family as John Breese, Cormathan and Llewellyn Breese America and Melingerie family." Pride in the Breese connection is evidenced by the name's subsequent use as a Christian name. See William Breese Bebb (46) and his son, Llewellyn Breese Bebb.
Children:
6 William, born Oct. 21, 1787, (baptised Oct. 28th).
7 Edward, baptised Feb. 24, 1793. Demetrius Owen says there were three
additional sons, but doesn't name them. They don't appear on the parish
records. Presumably they died young.
4. Edward Bebb, born Aug. 2, 1767; died June 18, 1840; married Feb. 12, 1802, Margaret (Roberts) Owen, born Sept. 1, 1774. daughter of Evan and Mary (Greene) Roberts. The marriage in Cambria Township, Somerset County, was witnessed by John Roberts and George Roberts.
William Bebb (17) of Cricklas wrote in 1906 that at about the time of the Napoleonic Wars the farmers and workers were having a lean time and there was not enough work on the small Tawelan farm for the father and two sons. So Edward "decided to emigrate to America and with that in view he asked Miss Roberts, the sister of the Reverend John Roberts, the Independent minister, to go with him but she refused... It was a very serious thing at that time. They took about two months to get across with their own packed up food and many ships were wrecked on the way and the passengers never heard of again. So Miss Roberts refused to go and he went by himself."
We continue with excerpts from an account written in 1850 by Margaret's brother, George Roberts, who was a fellow passenger of Edward (4). "On Saturday the 11th of July 1795 we parted with our dear relatives, at Llanbrynmair and started toward {end of document in my possession MB}.
This document was transcribed from a photocopy of (part of) the original kindly supplied to me by Wyn Evans in Jan 1998. I now have a photocopy of the book, and one day might get some more of it on line.
I have scanned the text to transcribe it, and have proof read it, but there may still be one or two transcription errors. There are some minor errors and discrepancies in the original text, which I have ignored - "yoemen" (yeomen) for instance.
I don't own the copyright of this book, and I don't know who does. I think publishing it here is in line with Herbert Bebb's original intentions. But if anyone thinks there is a problem, please mail me. Anyone using my transcribed version may only do so in the furtherance of genealogical research and understanding, and for non-commercial purposes.
Charles Good tracked down some (paper) copies:
| Site | Location | Call No | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami U | SW Depository | CS71 B43714 1944 | Available |
| Ohio State U | OHS General | 929.2 B386b | Lib Use Only |
| State Lib Ohio | Genealogy | CS71.B437141944 | Lib Use Only |
This 1976 newspaper article talks of Bebbs in Ohio - in particular, the founders of Venedocia in Van Wert county. It describes a Huguenot past for a companion of Venedocia's William Bebb, one James Jervis, which seems to be well researched and solid, and also discusses William's Welsh roots.
Without wishing to detract from the achievements of William Bebb, Governor of Ohio, I'm inclined to be doubtful about Herbert's beliefs in his linguistic abilities. While the Welsh in north and particularly west Wales held on to the Welsh language as long as possible, into the 20th century, many would have been bilingual and I suspect that being a gentleman, or even yeoman, and not having a good command of English would have been mutually exclusive even in the early 18th century. Charles Good drew my attention to an account of William's life, which also claims that he had a prior knowledge of English.
The Welsh language is currently enjoying a revival.
The 'ordnance map' would refer to a map published by the Ordnance Survey, who are the UK's principal mapping agency. Originally their maps were produced for military purposes, and I expect they still are, but most UK maps are sold by them or based on their maps. Their HQ is in Southampton, and they have a Web site at http://www.ordsvy.gov.uk/. A related site, with a gazeteer of place names, can be found at http://www.campus.bt.com/CampusWorld/pub/OS/mainmenu.html.
As far as I am aware this William Bebb is not in my direct family line. But Hugh Hughes, a member of Powys FHS, is of the Welsh branch of this family.