Thomas (Beebe) Bebe (abt. 1530 - abt. 1575)

Born about 1530 in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died about 1575 at about age 45 in Great Addington, Northamptonshire, England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Randy Beebe [send private message]

Biography

Thomas Bebe is the earliest known ancestor in the direct lineage of the North American Beebe descendants, however very little is known, for certain, about him. What is 100 % certain is that a man named Beebe, perhaps Thomas, was the father of Alexander, John, and Mary (Beebe) Foscutt all certain siblings (as established in the will of Thomas Foscutt, husband of Mary) and (sometime) residents of Great Addington, England. It is also 100 % certain that there was a Thomas Bebe who lived in Great Addington and who signed and/or witnessed legal documents between the years 1551 and 1561. The only known glue holding these two factoids together is first, that Thomas clearly had to be an adult at the time he was documented to be resident of Great Addington hence available at the correct time and place to be the possible father of Alexander, Mary and John who are presumed to have been born in Great Addington during this period of time, and second, John, of the trio of siblings, had a son named Thomas presumably the namesake of his grandfather.

The solitary, known publication offering primary source evidence to support his genealogical assertions for Thomas Bebe was authored by Dr. Alan Henry in a document entitled, The Beebe Family in Northamptonshire in 1997 on a now defunct webpage named GENUKI: The Beebe Family in Northamptonshire. The genealogical information contained in this document is, presently, the genealogical root for the vast majority, if not all, secondary and tertiary Beebe family trees, which cite Thomas Bebe as a forebear. Unfortunately, Dr. Alan D. Henry passed away in Sept of 2011, and consequently his web site was taken down sometime around December of 2019 and no longer exists; fortunately, FamilySearch preserved a copy of Henry's work on their website and a text only copy of the document remains available here and there is an archive of the page on the (Wayback Machine at Archive.org) GENUKI: The Beebe Family in Northamptonshire. The portion of Dr. Henry's research work identifying Thomas Bebe as the forebear of the North American Beebe family is quoted verbatim as follows:

1. " First Generation ^[1]
   1. Thomas Beebe b. EST 1535, England, m. Unknown. Thomas (called Thomas Bebe) lived in Great Addington, Northamptonshire, England and is mentioned in records in 1551, 1559 and 1561. On 19 May 1551 he is cited in a list of 11 names in a Manor Court Roll as a Manorial tenant and serving on a Manorial Jury. On 10 May 1559 he witnessed the will of Alexander Bolney of Great Addington. And on 21 Jul 1561 he witnessed the will of Agnes Bate of Great Addington. While no proof has been found that he is the father of Alexander, John and Mary, he certainly appears to be the most likely candidate.
   2. Children of Thomas Bebe:
      1. Alexander Beeby b. ABT 1555.
      2. John Beeby Sr. b. ABT 1560.
      3. Mary Beeby m. Thomas Foscutt, d. BEF 1610. Mary died 1610. She had two daughters and a son. She died on Easter, 1610 . In her will (which was of the type given verbally) the Memorandum states "that on Easterday last in Anno Dom 1610 immediately after morninge prayer Mary Ffoscutt of great addingtion in the diocese of P'boro widowe being sicke in body yet of good memory beinge & demanded how she would bestowe her goods made ansere to this effect. I have a sonne and two daughtors and I would have that that I have equally divided amongst them . . . " Crossed out in the will were several names including "Elizabeth Bibbie wife of Alexdr Bibie." Foscutt wills later in the century mention Beeby relatives. Thomas: Thomas described himself as a husbandman of Great Addington in his will 2 Nov 1609. He also mentioned his wife Mary and his brothers-in-law John and Alexander Beeby. "

There are several key observations to be considered in evaluating this research treatise; first, the documents cited by Henry, though offering a solid basis of authenticity, consist of pure "unobtanium" to the web-bound genealogical researcher (that is to say, none of the primary document sources cited by Henry are presently available in any form on the internet; second, Henry makes a pointed remark that his placement of Thomas Bebe as the father of Alexander, John, and Mary is informed conjecture, while implying the timeliness and geographic proximity of the data in the cited documents give credence to the notion that his asserted father-child relationships are probably correct; and finally, it should be noted that Henry flatly states that the identity of the wife of Thomas Bebe was unknown to him, neither does he offer any hint as to the identity of Thomas Bebe's parents whatsoever; thus emphasizing that Henry had found zero evidence in his or Steve Walker's research and analysis of the primary English records to provide identification or, even offer a guess, for these three critical family relationships.

Inferred Information

Birth and Death

As of 5 March 2020, no records have been found to accurately establish the actual birth and death dates of Thomas Bebe, however known data can be used to establish a reasonable boundary for these dates, with the median date then being the most probable. It is known from Henry's paper that on "19 May 1551 he is cited in a list of 11 names in a Manor Court Roll as a Manorial tenant and serving on a Manorial Jury;" and it would be highly unlikely that Thomas Beebe would be allowed to be a tenant or allowed on a jury prior to reaching the age 21, hence it is exceedingly likely that Thomas Bebe was born on or before 1530.

Genealogical Lore Associated with Thomas Bebe

Henry's non-identification of the wife and parents of Thomas Bebe (linked as the father of Mary, Alexander, and John Beebe by weak evidence) has not deterred rampant speculative identification of these relationships in the tertiary literature. At the time this narrative was written there were roughly 2500 Beebe family trees in Ancestry.com, alone, which cited Thomas Bebe at the root of the tree. Many of these trees have offered speculation regarding the identity of the father, mother and spouse of Thomas Bebe e.g. :

1. Father: Samuel Beebe (1510-1561); Thomas Beebe (1515-156), etc.
2. Mother: Elizabeth Beebe (1516-1624); Elizabeth Johanna (1516-1624); Elizabeth Hull (1516-1624); etc.
3. Spouse: Elizabeth Beebe (1535-1624; Johanna Beebe (b. 1520); Elizabeth Johanna (1516-1624); Sarah Elizabeth Hull (1535-1624), etc.

The common thread on these speculative relationship identities is that there is either zero supporting source documentation for the relationship assertion or the supporting documentation which is provided is clearly incorrect or has highly questionable associative relevance. Hence, until such time as reliable and verifiable source information is available to affirm a particular asserted identity for the father, mother, and/or spouse of Thomas Bebe, these relationship fields shall remain empty in this Wikitree profile.

Genealogical Records

Published Genealogical Information

• Secondary Source, Dr. Alan D. Henry, The Beebe Family in Northamptonshire, ^[1] Data Extract:

1. ) Northamptonshire Beebe Family; The Beebe Family in NorthamptonshireSubmitted by Alan D Henry, of Michigan, USA
   1. ) Four generations of the family are shown to correct a mistake made in the early 1900s, in a genealogy published by Clarence Beebe. Clarence had thought that Alexander Beeby was the direct ancestor of the North American Beebes. This has now been proven incorrect, though many are probably not aware of this fact. By including four generations, the error can be demonstrated, by showing that Alexander was the Great Uncle, and not the Grandfather, of John Beeby, who died on the way to America in 1650.
2. ) First Generation
   1. ) Thomas Beebe (2.); b. EST 1535, England, m. Unknown. Thomas (called Thomas Bebe) lived in Great Addington, Northamptonshire, England and is mentioned in records in 1551, 1559 and 1561. On 19 May 1551 he is cited in a list of 11 names in a Manor Court Roll as a Manorial tenant and serving on a Manorial Jury. On 10 May 1559 he witnessed the will of Alexander Bolney of Great Addington. And on 21 Jul 1561 he witnessed the will of Agnes Bate of Great Addington. While no proof has been found that he is the father of Alexander, John and Mary, he certainly appears to be the most likely candidate.
   2. ) Children {of Thomas Bebe}:
      1. ) Alexander Beeby (2.); b. ABT 1555.
      2. ) John Beeby Sr. (3.); b. ABT 1560.
      3. ) Mary Beeby m. Thomas Foscutt, d. BEF 1610. Mary died 1610. She had two daughters and a son. She died Easterday, 1610 . In her will (which was of the type given verbally) the Memorandum states "that on Easterday last in Anno Dom 1610 immediately after morninge prayer Mary Ffoscutt of great addingtion in the diocese of P'boro widowe being sicke in body yet of good memory beinge & demanded how she would bestowe her goods made ansere to this effect. I have a sonne and two daughtors and I would have that that I have equally divided amongst them . . . " Crossed out in the will were several names including "Elizabeth Bibbie wife of Alexdr Bibie." Foscutt wills later in the century mention Beeby relatives. Thomas: Thomas described himself as a husbandman of Great Addington in his will 2 Nov 1609. He also mentioned his wife Mary and his brothers-in-law John and Alexander Beeby.

• Secondary Source, Clifford Beebe, Genealogy of the Family of Beebe, Vol I, ^[2] Data Extract:

1. ) Beebe Genealogy Vol I, page v. Chap 1: ANCESTRAL RECORDS OF JOHN BEEBE: {On the fifth (unnumbered) page of Chapter I (John Beebe), Clifford has pasted in four clippings from what appear to be a newspaper, newsletter, or some type of publication or journal {possibly from the John Thorpe mentioned on page iv} containing a narrative on the pre-North America pedigree of John Beebe of Broughton. Clifford does not provide a citation to identify where this information came from, nor does he offer any comment with regard to it's veracity. The text that follows is from these clippings and is more or less verbatim, but has been rearranged to clarify the lines of descent:
   1. ) {Clipping 1:} " ____ Beby (name and date unknown) had two sons, Alexander, who died 1624 and John who died 1622-3.
      1. ) Alexander {son of ____ Beby} married Elizabeth {Clipping 3:} Alexander Beebie of Great Addington, Co. Northampton, shoemaker. Will dated Feb. 20, 1623-4. Unto James my second son that piece of meade {meade = "meadow."} with the appurtenances, which I had and purchased to mee and my heires of Richard Currier, clerke; to him and his heirs after the death of Elizabeth, my wife. To all my grandchildren 2 shill. 6 d. apiece. To my wife, Elizabeth, and John my eldest al my croppe and other goods as well real as personal to be equally divided. Provided 8 April 1624 inventory £55, 2s, 4d. Children of Alexander and Elizabeth Beby:
      2. ) John Beebe {son of ____ Bebe; brother of Alexander.}

Research Notes

1. 2020-03-03; Prior to this date, Elizabeth Johanna had been asserted to be the wife of Thomas Bebe;, however, because there was zero evidence to support this assertion, nor did any evidence surface during additional research, the asserted spousal relationship was severed on this date. The profile of Elizabeth Johanna continues to exist in Wikitree as an orphaned profile.
   1. Likewise asserted father Samuel Beebe and mother Annie (Unknown) Beebe were disassociated from this profile on this date as there was zero evidence offered or found to affirm the asserted relationships. Note, as the date of this note, these identities persist as orphaned profiles in the Wikitree database.
2. Prior to 2020-03-03 the following sources had been cited as having information regarding Thomas Bebe of this profile. A close examination of these sources reveals they have NO content regarding the Thomas Bebe of this profile:
   1. ) "Lineage Book - National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Volume 32; Daughters of the American Revolution; 1911, pp. 5-8."
   2. ) "'Monograph of the descent of the family of Beebe, from the earliest known immigrant--John, of Broughton, England, 1650; including details of patriotic services of individuals during the early settlement of the country, in times of peace and war', by Clarence Beebe; New York; 1852, pp. 5-8." No Mention of Thomas Bebe in this dialog.
   3. ) * Descendants of BEBE Of Great Addington, Northamptonshire, England on rootsweb an Ancestry.com Community. [1] defunct web site.
3. ) Possible, but unlikely (due to London location) baptism record: London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 Thomas Bibe was baptized on 28 Jan 1537 at Saint James Garlickhithe, London, London, England.
4. ) The Clifford Beebe booklet identified below may or may not identify Thomas Bebe as the father of Alexander and John. Clifford's Genealogy of the Family of Beebe Vol I only noted that Alexander and John were brothers and hence they shared a common, but unknown Father.
   1. ) A few quotes from the The Life and Times of John Beebe are available here: The World Catalog states that this Clifford Beebe authored booklet was published in 1990, a year earlier than his 1991 Genealogy of the Family of Beebe publication in which Clifford Beebe ^[2] echos the Clarence Beebe assertion that John Beebe of Broughton was a direct descendant of Alexander Beebe. World Cat also shows that the booklet is available in three US libraries, however as of 2020-02-17 this book has not been accessed and the information content, other than the snippets published online, is unknown.
5. John Beebe of Broughton, by Clarence Beebe (see below) was thoroughly examined 5 March 2020 for any references to the father of Alexander. This booklet has absolutely no reference whatsoever to Thomas Bebe nor to the father of Alexander.
   1. Secondary Source, Clarence Beebe, John Beebe of Broughton, ^[3] Data extract:
      1. ) John Beebe of Broughton; page 8-9: {Note the following text is copied verbatum from the original document (public domain)}
      2. ) "It is interesting to note that the lineage of our immigrant ancestor can be definitely traced back two generations as follows: His grandfather was Alexander of Great Addington, Northamptonshire. He is designated a shoemaker and married Elizabeth____, who died in 1633. His will is dated February 20, 1623-4, and it was proved April 8, 1624. The inventory amounted to 5.2.4. It is also known that he had a brother John and seven children. The eldest son of Alexander was John, the father of our immigrant ancestor. This John was of Great Addington also. He was styled a yeoman and married Alice ____. His will is dated July 30, 1638. It was probated September 11, 1638. The inventory was 280.16.4.
      3. ) He had four children, viz: Alexander, John, James, and William, of whom John the second son was our immigrant ancestor. His home was in Broughton, Northamptonshire. Today {1921} it appears as one of England's loveliest villages."
6. ) 23 March 2020: Research by R Beebe in the past month has gathered a growing body of evidence which indicates that Thomas Beebe and his family originated in Burbage, Leicestershire, England. There are baptism records in this parish for the following family members; correlation to other primary records provides powerful evidence that this is the Thomas Beebe of this profile:
   1. )
      1. ) England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975: John Beebe, son of Thomas Beebe was baptized on 6 Apr 1564 at Burbage, Leicester, England.
      2. ) England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975: John Beebe, son of Thomas Beebe was baptized on 28 Sep 1571 at Burbage, Leicester, England.
      3. ) England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975: Willm. Beebe, son of Thomas Beebe was baptized on 29 Apr 1576 at Burbage, Leicester, England.
      4. ) 'England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975: Cassandra Beebe, daughter of Thomas Beebe was baptized on 4 Aug 1574 at Burbage, Leicester, England.
7. ) The following definitions and syntax conventions apply to the preceding text of this profile:
   1. ) A Primary Source contains data that was recorded by the person in the profile; or by someone known to or with first hand knowledge of that person, during the person's lifetime, death or within two generations thereafter.
   2. ) A Secondary Source is a genealogical reference created as the result of a extensive study of available source material and it provides some evidence of the source documentation used to generate the text data.
   3. ) A Tertiary Source is a genealogical data source which is a collection of genealogical information that does not cite Primary or Secondary information sources, and the data may be factual or hearsay.
   4. ) Braces {Editorial Note Example} are used to insert editorial comments; that is to say, information or clarification that is not contained in the original, cited source material.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Henry, Alan; The Beebe Family in Northamptonshire; this white paper was first published at a now defunct website GENUKI: The Beebe Family in Northamptonshire in 1997. The Alan Henry research files on the Beebe family have been donated to the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library at Ft. Wayne, Indiana .
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Beebe, Clifford, Genealogy of the Family of Beebe From the Earliest Known Immigrant John Beebe of Broughton, England, Vol I, Higginson Book Co., 10 Colonial Road, Salem MA 01970. 1991. Available at:

   1. ) Libraries
   2. ) May be at Amazon.com for online purchase

3. ↑ Beebe, Clarence, John Beebe of Broughton, a Record of Genealogical Descent, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1921.

Other Sources

• Thomas Bebe at Family Search
• "'An Ordinary Family - Extra-Ordinary Times: A LOOK at the BEEBE/BEBEE FAMILY HISTORY 1535-2016', by Roy L. Bebee; Xlibris Corporation; 2016."

Sources which use the Alan Henry paper, The Beebe Family in Northamptonshire (based on the files of Steven Walker of Desford, Leicester, England) as the sole source of information regarding Thomas Bebe:

1. Descendants of Thomas Bebe (Beebe) by Gary Griggs
2. GENI Master Profile for Thomas Bebe
3. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/190072235/thomas-beeby
4. https://e-familyhistory.com/content/BEEBE_ANNEX.htm
5. https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~donkelly/BEEBE/Beebe_Track/tracking.htm
6. https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/m/c/k/Nancy-E-Mckinley-MI/GENE1-0001.html
7. Ziebarth-Magill Ancestry, by Walter E. Ziebarth, John W. Ziebarth.