Hi! Desperately seeking parentage of a VA Behethland!

+3 votes
242 views

Hello, I've been baffled for years at the parentage of one in our line of women named Beheathland/Behethland and have exerted considerable effort into it. She seems to have not perhaps been born in the parish that recorded her wedding, and the Dade and Brent parentage both seem too unsourced. I've searched to no end (church records that remain, every book I can find) and cannot find which parent would be conclusively hers, and starting to fear I'll go to the grave never knowing.  I've traced every woman of this name in Virginia I could find at this time, and quite literally cannot find anyone who has no genealogy except my relative. The name lived on in our line beyond her, past when it had any meaning to family. Can anyone help here? Thank you so much.

Edit: we have used Dorman's works as well as this document, which records her marriage to George Smith: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1922834  and quite a list of Behethland women to no avail. Also have searched this database that seems newer: https://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/firstnames-all.php?tree=Tree1#char3

It was always assumed she was merely a descendant of Mary Beheathland, but once we got online and not merely using the books the mystery deepened. The name was born by women in my family into the 1920s. Thanks again. 

WikiTree profile: Beheathland Smith
in The Tree House by M Stewart G2G Crew (350 points)
edited by M Stewart
Hi M, Can you edit your question and add the tag southern_colonies? That will get the attention of the project members that do a lot of research in the Jamestown area era.
Thanks. Longtime lurker, but have never used the site. Whew.
I'm also a descendant, and would love to have a clear answer to the question.

2 Answers

+4 votes
The following is from Dorman's "Adventurers of Purse and Person."

Robert Beheathland was an original Jamestown settler, arrived in 1607.  He had one son, John and two daughters, Mary and Dorothy.  According to Dorman, Mary's descendants used Beheathland as a woman's name, Dorothy's descendants used it as a man's name.

Mary married Capt. Thomas Bernard, they had two children, Beheathland Bernard (b. abt. 1635) and a second daughter.

Beheathland Bernard married Capt. Francis Dade, who also used the name Maj. John Smith, and second married Maj. Andrew Gilson.  

By Dade she had children Francis (b. 1659), Mary, and a child who died young, all named Smith, and by Gilson she had Thomas (b. 1665)and Beheathland (b. 1666) Gilson.

Francis was alive in 1670 but no record of marriage or descendants.

Mary Dade married Capt. Robert Massey and Rice Hooe.

Thomas Gilson married Elizabeth Newton.

Beheathland Gilson married Nehemiah Storke.

Dorman carries this line through to the late 1700's, none of the children seem to fit your Beheathland.

---------------------------------------------

Dorothy Beheathland married Randall Crew. She was his second wife.  They had a sons, Robert and Beheathland (who had no descendants)

Robert married but his wife's name is unknown.  They were the parents of sons Beheathland (b. before 1678), Samuel, and Randall.

Samuel, who died by 1704, had a son Robert (born abt. 1699).

Randall, who died by 1714, had a son Randall (born abt. 1699)

That is as far as Dorman carries Dorothy's line.  Doesn't solve your mystery, but may help you follow the lines.  It looks like your woman must be a descendant of Mary.
by Kathie Forbes G2G6 Pilot (862k points)

Apologies for not listing my sources, yes, we are absolutely baffled by this. I've used Dorman, and I've also cross referenced this document: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1922834  only to find her marriage to George Smith, but not her parents. We know that a few in laws of Beheathland Bernard (from Mary's line) bestowed the surname as a given name (I believe one of the Taliaferros? Rushing this out from memory) but this is all a short time frame and a limited geography for a name to spread. The last Lawrence woman with Behethland as a given or middle name died in the 1920s and not being able to nail down the specific ancestry has been very frustrating. Any thoughts? 

I've even also used this resource: https://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/firstnames-all.php?tree=Tree1#char3

Let me know if I should include these in the original post. 

It’s such an unusual name you have to figure anyone who used it was related to the others.  The Colonial Settlers site is great for finding documents, but it does have some incorrect relationships.  You could list the places you’ve already searched as Research Notes.
Honestly, every time I look at it I start pulling my hair out! Colonial Settlers is inaccurate but I've mainly used it for wills and to keep a chart. Everyone I've tracked down also has records of marriage to people who are.....not George Smith. Thanks, I mainly use Ancestry for my tree and am not familiar with the format here, though I much prefer being able to actually talk to others about these mysteries!
+2 votes

I show “Behesland Smith m. John LARRANCE,”  in Marriages of Some Virginia Residents,1607-1800, by Wulfeck, Vol 11 (Originally vol. 6) R-S, page 188. 

 Also, same Vol. 2, I-Me, (originally Vol. 4, p. 125: LARRANCE, John m. 1787/8, Behesland Smith. Pittsylvania Co. etc.  Found in Pension #6399 of Jeremiah Walker.

by Kathryn Spencer G2G6 Mach 1 (11.4k points)

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