Old Theory – rtb family.us

Our Old Theory – Now Dismissed

Part 1 – The line, by generation, down to Jehiel:

Part 2 – Jehiel and his family were as follows:

M1 – Jehiel, b. 1774, CT, m. Betsy 1801, d. about 1852
F2 – Betsy, b. 1776, CT, d. about 1852
F3 – Betsy’s daughter, b. about 1799
M4 – Walter, b. 20 Aug 1803, m. Elizabeth Zimmer about 1826
F5 – Female, b. about 1805
F6 – Amelia, b. about 1808
F7 – Female, b. about 1810
M8 –Possibly Jehu, b. 13 Jul 1812

Part 3 – We have reliable records that prove Jehu Babcock and his wife, Elsa, are our ancestors.

Proof of Part 1

The Babcock Genealogy by Stephen Babcock clearly shows the generations one through five. Elihu’s father, Simeon Babcock moved from Westerly, RI to Coventry, CT around 1736.

Susan Whitney Dimock’s book, Births, Marriages, Baptisms & Deaths, from the Records of the Town & Churches in Coventry, 1711-1844, 1897, shows the link from five to six. It shows Jehiel Babcock’s birth, siblings, parents and grandparents in Coventry, Tolland Co., Connecticut. Jehiel’s father was Elihu Babcock, born and raised in Coventry. Records show that Elihu Babcock of Coventry served in the Revolutionary War with the Connecticut militia responding to the British attempt to seize military supplies in Concord and Lexington.

Analysis of Part 2

From the records of Henry Cady of Schoharie, N.Y., Jehiel Babcock was an early settler of the Town of Wright, Schoharie County, NY.

Land records show Jehiel purchased lot 34, 50 acres of land in 1800. In 1826, he purchased the southeast corner of lot 33, 27.24 acres of land, adjacent to lot 34. In 1850, the agricultural census reported that his 83 acres of land in the Town of Wright was being actively farmed.

The 1850 population census showed that Jehiel and his wife Betsy were born in Connecticut. He was 76 and Betsy was 74. Also living with them were: Amelia (probably their daughter), Jehiel (probably their grandson), and Elisabeth (probably their granddaughter). The younger household members were probably doing a lot of the farming.

If the assumptions in the the census spreadsheet notes are true, the census records from 1800 through 1850 are totally consistent with part 2 of the theory. The low and hi columns contain the age ranges from the census records. The last row named T Wright indicates the total number of household members reported each census year. See my short story about Robert Babcock and his family based on this theory.

We no longer think M8 is Jehu

We have not been able to prove that our Jehu is the son of Jehiel. The problems are: federal census records from 1790 to 1840 name only the head of household; Jehiel did not have a will; Jehu apparently never owned land in NY; by 1850 our ancestor Jehu was married and lived part way across the state of NY; and we don’t match the DNA of known descendants of M4 (Walter Babcock).

Conclusion

Although the census data is consistent with Jehu being the son of Jehiel, we don’t have a document that firmly links them. We know of DNA-tested descendants of Walter Babcock but we have not matched them. We do have DNA matches that suggest our Jehu is from another line. So we have dismissed this theory in favor of a new one. See the next page.