I was thrilled this past week to receive in the mail a great big heavy package postmarked from Virginia. As soon as I saw the from address, I knew it was the book I ordered a couple of months ago, Beaufort County, North Carolina Ancestors by Roy Archbell, Jr.
Before I had opened the package, I thought, gracious, this is bigger than the old big city phone books used to be back in the 1980s!
But once I had gotten the brown paper wrapper torn away, I realized that Roy had also included his book on Archbell Genealogy – The Descendants of John Archbell of Beaufort County, North Carolina. What a wonderful surprise!
Roy and I share a few ancestral lines. If course it would be impossible not to with our people being from Beaufort County and surrounding areas, I am grateful for the work he has put into documenting his research, as well as that of his late Aunt Lida Archbell Overton, from whom he inherited literal truckloads of a lifetime of research when she passed away towards the end of 2021. Lida and Roy always shared a bond over their love for family research and when she left this world, her daughters knew that she wanted her nephew Roy to have the repository of her research. After cataloging it and poring over what she had left behind, he donated the collection the the library at East Carolina University for the benefit of future researchers.
I have only begun scratching the surface of the content of this hefty book on Beaufort County Ancestors, but I can already see it’s a wealth of information about the county from it’s earliest origins. It includes history, maps, pictures, and many genealogies with solid documentation. I especially look forward to digging in to some of our shared lines. The book’s index is a valuable resource for finding the mention of names included in passing in his genealogies that you otherwise might not know about.
I’m including the book’s Table of Contents, which was provided by the author, along with a letter from Roy Archbell, Jr. about the book, as well as the order form so you can order your own copy if you’re interested.
At the top of his letter, Roy does include his email address in case you would like to reach out to him.
Letter from the Author
ROY A. ARCHBELL, JR.
6300 MONCAP TRAIL
ROANOKE, VIRGINIA, 24018
TELEPHONE (540)-588-7731
EMAIL: royarchbell@yahoo.comNovember 8, 2023
To All Whom It May Concern:
In 2019 I published Archbell Genealogy which was awarded the “Best North Carolina Family History” of that year by the North Carolina Genealogical Society. At that time you purchased or expressed an interest in the book because of your interest in family history. If you have read or pursued the book you are aware that it represented the culmination of my lifelong interest in family history. The book was also purchased by or donations made to numerous public libraries across the country. Since completing Archbell Genealogy I have also completed Thomason Genealogy, which tells the history of my wife’s direct Thomason line ancestors. This book was also well-received. The review of the book by the NCGS contains the following comment:
Some of you may have known or heard of my father’s late sister, Lida Archbell Overton. Aunt Lida was an amazing amateur genealogist. She lived to be 102 years of age passing away in 2021. Prior to her passing she and I had started a collaboration on another project that she had spent over 50 years of her life on. Aunt Lida was determined to discover all of her direct line paternal and maternal ancestors and develop as much information on each of them as she could. She told me that after her passing she wanted me to have all of the genealogical information she had developed in the hope that I would take the information and preserve the memories of our ancestors in a manner similar to what we had done in Archbell Genealogy. After her death her daughters asked me to take the information and use it as I thought best. The information consisted of over 20 banker boxes of materials.
I am now in the process of finalizing my new book which will not only identify our direct line ancestors but will tell their personal stories based on the surviving information that Aunt Lida and I were able to discover. These are the stories of our grandparents and the many “Great” grandparents who preceded them. Anyone who is descended from a Beaufort County ancestor will likely discover the stories of many of their own ancestors. Most of the information contained in the book has been reviewed and approved by the noted professional genealogist John Anderson Brayton as part of a process required by the organization known as the Order of First Families of North Carolina. In order to have an ancestor approved it was required that the application submitted by the member contain primary proof that the ancestor had settled in North Carolina by 1729 and that the applicant was directly descended from the ancestor. Aunt Lida was an active member of the organization and Brayton approved Lida’s direct line connection to 29 ancestors who had settled in eastern North Carolina by 1729. Not only were these 29 ancestors approved but so were the proofs that connected Lida to them. My book will contain chapters on 46 direct line ancestors including the 29 just mentioned. A list of the 46 ancestors is enclosed. Many of these other ancestors did not arrive in North Carolina until after 1729 but were settled in Virginia and/or other colonies by or before that date. To give you a better idea of the forthcoming book it presently contains around 450 pages with numerous documents, maps and illustrations. The book will be hard-covered like Archbell Genealogy was and will contain a detailed index. A working copy of my Clark Chapter is enclosed.
The working title of the book is Beaufort County Ancestors since the overwhelming majority of the 46 ancestors settled originally in Beaufort County. The book also contains a chapter on the early history of Beaufort County formerly known as Bath County. Our early Carolina ancestors were mostly small farmers with plots of land located along the creeks that fed into the Pamlico, Neuse and Chowan Rivers. However, numerous of these ancestors rose to high positions in colonial society. Twenty or more had plantations of over 1,000 acres of land with enslaved individuals numbering as few as one to 20 or more. The ancestors included sheriffs, politicians, Justices of the Peace, Revolutionary War heroes, judges, members of the North Carolina General Assembly, Virginia House of Burgesses, clerks of court, attorneys, doctors, merchants and ministers. The Town of Bath was founded on a tract of land owned by David Perkins. Rev. Charles Chauncey was the second president of Harvard College. Francis Delamare arrived in North Carolina in 1686 and was a French Huguenot. Captain John Walley was a founder of Bristol, Rhode Island. Nichols Purefoy became a leader of the “Anabaptist Dissenters” in Craven County in 1740 and was jailed and whipped for his religious beliefs. John Jones, Sr. was a drummer in the War of 1812. Jacob Little ran the new boundary line between Halifax and Edgecombe Counties in 1779. John Clark served on the early Vestry of St. Thomas Parish in Bath. Captain Jesse Bryan was a cavalry officer in the American Revolution and fought at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Richard Graves owned the famous Graves Ferry that was located on the Neuse River and operated in the early 1700’s along the only land route from Bath to New Bern. Captain Thomas Graves was a member of the first Virginia House of Burgesses that met in 1619. Walley Chauncey was a physician in Bath during the mid-1700’s as well as Clerk of Court and an attorney. All of these men were my direct line ancestors and many were likely yours as well. Many more of our ancestors, whether well-known in their time or not, have their own fascinating stories to tell. In my book I have done my best to preserve these stories for generations to come.
I expect to submit the book for publication in early 2024. In advance I am trying to get an idea of how many copies I should publish. If you think you might be interested I would appreciate hearing from you. I am not asking that you commit yourself to a purchase but only that you might consider a purchase. This will at least give me an idea of how many to publish. I currently plan to charge $50.00 per copy plus shipping cost. If you think you might be interested, just send me an email or drop me a note. My addresses are listed in the letterhead. Please feel free to forward this information to anyone else that you think might be interested.
I have several copies of Archbell Genealogy remaining. As a previous purchaser, the book is offered to you at a discount of $50.00 plus shipping. It would make an ideal gift to children or grandchildren for Christmas!
Best wishes to all and with kind regards, I am
Sincerely Yours,
Roy A. Archbell, Jr.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgement
- Introduction
- Map-1733 North Carolina
- Beaufort County Proprietary History
- Alligood – Chapter 1
- Archbell – Chapter 2
- Baynor – Chapter 3
- Blount – Chapter 4
- Boutwell – Chapter 5
- Bowen – Chapter 6
- Bryan – Chapter 7
- Carney – Chapter 8
- Chanucey – Chapter 9
- Clark – Chapter 10
- Cornell – Chapter 11
- Corprew – Chapter 12
- Covington – Chapter 13
- Crofton – Chapter 14
- Delamare – Chapter 15
- Galloway – Chapter 16
- Garrett – Chapter 17
- Godley – Chapter 18
- Graves – Chapter 19
- Hardy – Chapter 20
- Hill – Chapter 21
- Hunter – Chapter 22
- Johnson – Chapter 23
- Jones – Chapter 24
- Kent – Chapter 25
- Little – Chapter 26
- Mayo – Chapter 27
- McKoy – Chapter 28
- Pearce – Chapter 29
- Perkins – Chapter 30
- Perry – Chapter 31
- Phillips – Chapter 32
- Purefoy – Chapter 33
- Putnell – Chapter 34
- Reading – Chapter 35
- Richards – Chapter 36
- Ross – Chapter 37
- Searles – Chapter 38
- Smithwick – Chapter 39
- Trippe – Chapter 40
- Turner – Chapter 41
- Vines – Chapter 42
- Walley – Chapter 43
- Warburton – Chapter 44
- Whitmell – Chapter 45
- Young – Chapter 46
- Source Commentary – Chapter 47
- Index – Chapter 48
- About the Author – Chapter 49
When I saw this post and read it I immediately printed the order form and sent it off. I’m anxiously awaiting the book. There are many familiar surnames that are covered.