Heathcock Genealogy Database - Person Sheet
Heathcock Genealogy Database - Person Sheet
NameMary Molissie Thomas 
, 9G Grandmother
, 9G GrandmotherBirth1603, County Durham, England
Deathaft 1673, Charles City Co VA Age: 70
Spouses
1Thomas Ledbetter , 9G Grandfather
, 9G GrandfatherBirthca 1600, Possibly near Durham, England
Deathca 1655, Charles City Co VA Age: 55
ChildrenHenry (ca1625-ca1700)
Notes for Mary Molissie Thomas
This name for the wife of Thomas Ledbetter is given in several online family trees.818 So far, I have not been able to obtain verification, so this is a tentative assignment.
Notes for Thomas (Spouse 1)
There is very little documention for this man, who is presumed to be the first Ledbetter to arrive in the New World. None of the published lists of emigrants to America includes a Ledbetter. Although Burke’s Landed Gentry has been credited with stating that a Thomas Ledbetter was in Virginia, in 1635, no Ledbetter is shown in the original Jamestown list of colonists, nor in the census of Jamestown in 1623.814
It is known that there was some man named Ledbetter because of the 1668 deed to Henry Ledbetter which mentioned land that had been sold to Henry’s father (see note attached to the Henry Ledbetter record). It has been argued that the Ledbetter immigrant was more likely named Henry than Thomas, because of the relative popularity of the two names at the time.815
The following post appeared on a Ledbetter forum in 2000:816
Yes, there were Ledbetters in the County of Durham, England in the 1600s. They may have been there at least as early as 1250. A citation in the 1934 edition (I'll have to check my notes on the date) of Burke's Landed Gentry, pp. 1334, on the family "Leadbitter of Warden," begins with this lineage: "A member of this old border family, Walter de Ledbetere is mentioned in the Assize Roll of Northumberland, 40 Henry III (1256) and is described: Of Heydon," which is in Warden Parish in the N.W. division of Tynedale Ward. Seven of the (Ledbetter) names are to be found in the Muster Roll for Northumberland, 1538. While the citation does not contain a reference to your Josiah, it does contain the names of numerous other Ledbetters who may provide additional clues to the person you are researching. There is another family, "Leadbitter, late Of Flass Hall," also of Durham County, that begins with a John Francis Leadbitter-Smith (see Leadbitter of Warden), b. July 16, 1788.
E-mail me your snail mail address and I will mail you a copy of the Burke's citations.
Of great interest to all Ledbetter researchers, including me, is the notion that someone has actually identified the mysterious "Thomas Ledbetter" who was in Virginia as early as 1618. This "first" Ledbetter (father of Henry Ledbetter) is often called "Thomas." And yet, so far as I or most other Ledbetter researchers can discover, there is no documentation with his name. The first reference to Thomas is in the book "Ledbetters From Virginia" which says that Burke's Landed Gentry has an entry stating that a Thomas Ledbetter was in Virginia in 1635.
But as far as has been discovered, the first reference to the original, or the person believed to be the original, Ledbetter immigrant is a land patent of 125 acres sold to "Henry Ledbetter's father," who is unnamed. This Henry Ledbetter, who is named in some early Virginia documents, was born about 1625 or so, probably in England.
If someone has finally established the identity of the first Ledbetter immigrant as a Thomas Ledbetter, who was in Virginia in 1618, with an actual port of emmigration, I'd be delighted to know about it and where the documents were finally found.
George
It is known that there was some man named Ledbetter because of the 1668 deed to Henry Ledbetter which mentioned land that had been sold to Henry’s father (see note attached to the Henry Ledbetter record). It has been argued that the Ledbetter immigrant was more likely named Henry than Thomas, because of the relative popularity of the two names at the time.815
The following post appeared on a Ledbetter forum in 2000:816
Yes, there were Ledbetters in the County of Durham, England in the 1600s. They may have been there at least as early as 1250. A citation in the 1934 edition (I'll have to check my notes on the date) of Burke's Landed Gentry, pp. 1334, on the family "Leadbitter of Warden," begins with this lineage: "A member of this old border family, Walter de Ledbetere is mentioned in the Assize Roll of Northumberland, 40 Henry III (1256) and is described: Of Heydon," which is in Warden Parish in the N.W. division of Tynedale Ward. Seven of the (Ledbetter) names are to be found in the Muster Roll for Northumberland, 1538. While the citation does not contain a reference to your Josiah, it does contain the names of numerous other Ledbetters who may provide additional clues to the person you are researching. There is another family, "Leadbitter, late Of Flass Hall," also of Durham County, that begins with a John Francis Leadbitter-Smith (see Leadbitter of Warden), b. July 16, 1788.
E-mail me your snail mail address and I will mail you a copy of the Burke's citations.
Of great interest to all Ledbetter researchers, including me, is the notion that someone has actually identified the mysterious "Thomas Ledbetter" who was in Virginia as early as 1618. This "first" Ledbetter (father of Henry Ledbetter) is often called "Thomas." And yet, so far as I or most other Ledbetter researchers can discover, there is no documentation with his name. The first reference to Thomas is in the book "Ledbetters From Virginia" which says that Burke's Landed Gentry has an entry stating that a Thomas Ledbetter was in Virginia in 1635.
But as far as has been discovered, the first reference to the original, or the person believed to be the original, Ledbetter immigrant is a land patent of 125 acres sold to "Henry Ledbetter's father," who is unnamed. This Henry Ledbetter, who is named in some early Virginia documents, was born about 1625 or so, probably in England.
If someone has finally established the identity of the first Ledbetter immigrant as a Thomas Ledbetter, who was in Virginia in 1618, with an actual port of emmigration, I'd be delighted to know about it and where the documents were finally found.
George
Notes for Thomas (Spouse 1)
1. First Generation in Virginia817
1. Thomas Ledbetter, b about 1600, perhaps near Durham in the northeast part of England near the coast, d about 1655 in Charles City County, Virginia, in that part south of the James and Appomattox Rivers, which became the northern part of Prince George County in 1702 and was included in Bristol Parish in 1642.
In chapter two of this volume we have referred to the tradition that Ledbetters migrated from Durham to Virginia. A search of all the published lists of emigrants to America has not disclosed the name of any Ledbetter.
Burke's Landed Gentry is credited with stating that a Thomas Ledbetter was in Virginia in 1635. No Ledbetter is shown in the original Jamestown list of colonists, nor in the census of Jamestown in 1623.
1. Thomas Ledbetter, b about 1600, perhaps near Durham in the northeast part of England near the coast, d about 1655 in Charles City County, Virginia, in that part south of the James and Appomattox Rivers, which became the northern part of Prince George County in 1702 and was included in Bristol Parish in 1642.
In chapter two of this volume we have referred to the tradition that Ledbetters migrated from Durham to Virginia. A search of all the published lists of emigrants to America has not disclosed the name of any Ledbetter.
Burke's Landed Gentry is credited with stating that a Thomas Ledbetter was in Virginia in 1635. No Ledbetter is shown in the original Jamestown list of colonists, nor in the census of Jamestown in 1623.