Beeks line: Thomas Page 1595-1676

I'm going to do a dangerous thing here, and write a little bit about an ancestor who hasn't been researched much.  At least, he hasn't been researched enough for the genealogy world to come to a consensus about who he is. 

Still, he's a good reminder that the Beeks family is made up of so many different kinds of people, who came from so many different places and so many different walks of life . Since there are still brick walls there may yet be more surprises for this family.  Today I'm writing about Thomas Page, who was born about 1595 in England and died March 10, 1676 in Rappahannock County.  I do have notes in my files as to the possible identity of his parents, but I am not sure enough about them to list them here.  Likewise, I have a name for a wife but she was about 30 years younger than he was so while it's possible that his wife was Elizabeth Allen, she surely would not have been his first wife since daughter Mary was born just 6 years after Elizabeth.  I've found a reference that says his wife was Elizabeth Finch Allen, and was born in 1607, but again, I'm not finding the documents or supporting evidence. 

What we do think we know about Thomas is that he came to America in 1650.  THe record I'm looking at sas he was "granted" land several times.  Only one of those times was the number of acres a nice, even number that would indicate possibly he had head rights for bringing 12 persons from home, or elsewhere, to work in the colony.  Also one listing includes 600 acres but is dated 12 plus years after Thomas died.  Either this land went to a different Thomas Page, or it could be that it was a delayed entry kind of thing.  The land he acquired included a parcel of 281 1/2 acres on the south side of Rappa River, another 600 acres on the south side of Rappahannock River, another 3075 acres in the same general location, and then 783 acres, and finally a second entry for 600 acres.  His will is said to be missing so we don't know how he disposed of it, or what other assets he may have had.

I have found reference to him as a colonel but I'm not sure what the basis for that is.  His death date is given as March 10, 1676 in Rappahannock County, and that's as much as most of the genealogy world seems to know about Thomas.  We know from earlier reading that if this is one Thomas Page who owned all this land, he must have been a tobacco farmer and probably a fairly well to do man at that.  The strong suspicion is that he would have had slaves or indentured servants, or both, to work the fields.  His home may have been fairly substantial, for the time and place, and he would most likely have belonged to the Church of England, like most of his neighbors. 

Thomas's heritage interests me, and the heritage he left his family is interesting, too.  Virginia planters were not at all common in the Beeks family, especially those who had a military rank like "Colonel".  I hope we can find more information about him!

The line of descent is believed to be

Thomas Page-Elizabeth
Mary Page-Valentine Allen
William Allen-Mary Hunt
Francis Allen-Peter Lehew
William Lehew-Hannah
Mary Lehew-William Featheringill
Elizabeth Featheringill-George Botkin
Charity Botkin-Jackson Wise
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Eliabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Valentine Allen 1630-1712 Immigrant

I've spent considerable time in my genealogy life looking at this family and trying to work out a connection to the James Allen in my line, not realizing that I needed to be interested in Valentine because he was in the Beeks line, whether or not he is also in the Allen line.  I'm finding there is a lot of conflicting information about this Valentine, and perhaps there is more than one person with the name Valentine Allen.  This will just be a brief description of what seems to be proven and what is questionable, and hopefully as time goes on someone will find the smoking gun that proves or disproves the questionable "facts".

Everyone seems to agree that Valentine was born in either 1630   No one seems to agree on where that birth took place, nor on whom the two participants in that birth were.  Many sites say he was born at "Isle of Wight, Virginia" to John and Catherine Mayor Allen.  I don't think the birth location is correct because I found records for his arrival in Virginia in 1650, as a headright for John Catlett and Ralph Rousey.  Of course, it's possible that he was born in Virginia and sent back to England to be raised if, in fact, his mother's death date is also 1630, as I have frequently seen listed, but with no documentation.  At any rate, we know he was in Virginia, in what was then Northumberland County, in 1650.

Arriving as a headright meant Valentine would have had to work for several years, usually three or four, either for the men who brought him over or for someone else who bought his services for that time period.  He was a young and apparently strong man, for he survived all the dangers and diseases of early Virginia and lived to marry Mary Page, daughter of Thomas Page in 1655, and to raise a family.  The most consistent notes I find indicate that their children were Samuel, Reynolds, William, Richard, Christine or Christian, Judith, and Valentine.  There may also have been a Susannah, although her birth date as given would be outside the 1654-1671 birthdates of the other children by several years. 

Valentine and Mary deeded land that Mary had inherited from her father Thomas to two of their children in 1689.  Or perhaps the first gift, to Elizabeth, was a daughter from an earlier marriage of Mary's, for she is not mentioned in the above listing of children. The second gift was to their daughter Christian married to Richard Dyson.  Each of these gifts was for 451 acres. 

I haven't located a will for Valentine yet.  I'm guessing he owned more land than the 902 acres accounted for by his marriage to Mary Page.  I'm also guessing this meant he owned slaves to work his land.  I would love to find the will and I'd love to find more about him, especially to see whether any of his grandchildren or great grandchildren would turn out to be James, of the Allen line. 

The Beeks line of descent appears to be:

Valentine Allen-Mary Page
William Allen-Mary Hunt
Francis Allen-Peter Lehew
William Lehew-Hannah
Mary Lehew-William Featheringill
Elizabeth Featheringill-George Botkin
Charity Botkin-Jackson Wise
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge

I would love to hear from anyone who is working on this family.  Also, please remember that Mary Wise may not be a Wise at all but this is what her legal family would look like.