Last Update: 11/12/2007
Warning: All information below is a best-effort on my part. As always, do your own research before believing what you read on the Internet.
Brothers Caleb, Jonathan and Joshua Gilbert were born to Thomas and Lydia Gilbert of Buckingham, Bucks Co., PA who were Quakers at the time of the births of their children. (Note these dates are in keeping with the Julian calendar, not the present-day Gregorian calendar.) All three of these brothers would eventually own land and/or settle in Newberry Co., SC.
Caleb first shows up in Newberry County records in 1769 as evidenced by deed extracts showing his land being surveyed. Already in the county at that time is brother Jonathan Gilbert who arrived in 1766. Another brother Joshua owned land in Newberry County at one point, but had died by 1783 (per his father's will), and his land was eventually sold by his son Samuel. Joshua's records in Newberry are just fleeting land transactions. I don't know that he ever actually lived there, and indications are that his wife Priscilla Shrigley and son Samuel may have never left Bucks County.
To date, Caleb and Joshua cannot be found in any Quaker records beyond their birth and are not believed to have practiced the faith as adults. Jonathan, however, was an active Quaker for at least the early part of his adult life while still in Pennsylvania. He can be found in Monthly Meeting (MM) records in both Chester County and Bucks County from 1761 to 1765. In 1765, however, he fell out of favor with them due to reported bad debts, and that's the last we see of him in the records there. Fortunately for researchers, though, his wife Hannameel Cary whom he married in 1764 remained in good standing with them for quite some time. It is in the Buckingham MM, Bucks Co., PA records that we see her requesting a certificate for the Bush River MM, 96 District, SC in 1766. Once in South Carolina, we can find record of her and Jonathan's children's births as well as some deaths and "disowns."
Jonathan and Hanameel immediate family looks as follows based on Bush River Quaker records and other records in Newberry and Lexington County...
1 Jonathan Gilbert b: 22 Mar 1737 in Buckingham, Bucks Co., PA d: abt. Jan. 1823 in Lexington Co., SC
.. +Hanameel Cary b: 09 Feb 1746 in Bucks County, PA
.... 2 Cary Gilbert b: 15 Mar 1766 d: Nov 1802 in Newberry County, SC
........ +Unknown Gary
.... 2 Benjamin Gilbert b: 22 Feb 1769
.... 2 Beulah Gilbert b: 08 Sep 1772 d: Aft. 1792
.... 2 Hepzibah Gilbert b: 24 Aug 1774 d: Bet. 1850 - 1860 in Greene Co. IN
........ +John O'Neall b: 16 Mar 1773 in Ninety-Six District, SC d: 1822 in Greene Co., Indiana
.... 2 Achsah Gilbert b: 22 Feb 1780 d: Aft. 1797
........ +John Snelgrove
.... 2 Jonathan Gilbert b: 21 Feb 1782 d: 1782
.... 2 Mary Pearson Gilbert b: 04 Feb 1784 d: 05 Jun 1785
.... 2 Thomas Gilbert b: 26 Oct 1785 d: 27 Oct 1785
By 1790, Jonathan and family had moved to the Orangeburg District and the area that would eventually become Lexington County. They can be found there in the 1790 and 1800 census, and it is now believed that the small town of Gilbert in Lexington County was named after him. In son Cary's estate record in 1803, the estate sale was to take place at Jonathan's home in "Juniper" in the Orangeburg District. Jonathan was still alive when and maps were drawn in 1820 and died around Jan. 1823 when his estate was entered into probate (information compliments of Harriet Imrey). I still need to try to locate estate records for Jonathan and/or Hannemeel to help sort out what became of his surviving children.
That being said, son Cary's estate record made frequent mention of the Gary family. It seems obvious that Cary had married into the Gary family, but I still don't know his wife's first name. According to his estate record, he appears to have had children Matthias, William and Patience as tuition fees were paid by the estate for their schooling. I do not know what became of these children or his wife.
Likewise, I have no idea what became of Jonathan and Hannameel's daughter Beulah and son Benjamin. Beulah at least lived until she was 20 when she was disowned by the Quakers, but I see no further mention of Benjamin. Census searches in later censuses have turned up no matches.
Per Quaker records, I know that Achsah married a Snelgrove man, and recent, but unsourced, findings indicate this man's name was John, son of Edward Freeman Snelgrove. John Snelgrove supposedly had a son Carey G. Snelgrove born 1798, and his name is undoubtedly "Carey Gilbert Snelgrove" which would very strongly imply the boys mother was Achsah. I still have more work to do on this family, but just based on names and places of birth alone, I think branches of this family landed in Alabama and Georgia.
Daughter Hebzibah's line appears to be well documented by O'Neal(l) researchers although I haven't done much first-hand research myself. I do know that she and husband John O'Neal moved to Greene, Co., IN between 1820 and 1830 as part of the Quaker exodus from South Carolina and lived out their lives there. Hepzibah was living with her daughter Achsah Ritter and family in the 1850 in Green County, but appears to have died before 1860.
On to Caleb...
Jonathan's younger brother Caleb (and my 5th great grandfather) first appears in Newberry County, SC when he had land surveyed in 1769. This land was near Jonathan's according to maps. Other than his birth recorded in the Buckingham MM records in Bucks County, I've found no other records for Caleb prior to 1769. I don't know whether he continued to live at home with parents in Bucks Co, PA until he left for Newberry County or whether he had settled somewhere else before heading to Newberry. Caleb can found in miscellaneous records in Newberry County including having provided supplies to the SC Militia during the Revolutionary War. For this effort his descendants qualify for joining the DAR, but contrary to what you'll find stated in history books in various places, there's no evidence that Caleb was a Revolutionary War soldier himself.
Per Caleb's will, we know his wife was named Ann. There are many family files that say her last name was Buzzhardt (or some variation thereof), but to date, we current researchers have found no source for this information. Daughter Sarah who married Patrick McNary was born before 1765 according to the 1810 census entry, however, I don't believe this to be accurate at this point. For one, I believe Caleb's will likely named the children in their birth order: Thomas, Lydia, Joseph, Sarah, Caleb and Ann. And secondly, researcher Harriett Imrey again graciously provided me with a petition for land Caleb made in 1769 in which he only asked for 100 acres which is what a single, head of household would have asked for. As Harriett said, this is pretty good evidence that Caleb was not married and had no children when he made the petition in 1769.
According to Caleb's will and other available data, this is the immediate family of Caleb and Ann:
1 Caleb C. Gilbert b: 14 Jan 1740 in Bucks Co., PA d: Bet. 30 Mar 1805 - 03 Mar 1806 in Newberry Co., SC
.. +Ann d: 1815 in Newberry Co., SC
.... 2 Thomas Gilbert b: Abt. 1772 in Beaver Dam Creek,Newberry Co., SC d: 20 Jan 1835 in Limestone Co., AL
........ +Rebecca Gauntt b: 01 Nov 1776 d: 09 Sep 1816 in Newberry Co., SC
.... *2nd Wife of Thomas Gilbert:
........ +Mary Gauntt b: Abt. 1776 d: 10 Mar 1848
.... 2 Joseph Gilbert b: Bet. 1774 - 1784 in Beaver Dam Creek, Newberry Co., SC d: 12 Apr 1819
........ +Zerrugen Davenport
.... 2 Lydia Gilbert b: 25 Jul 1775 in Newberry Co., SC d: 24 Jan 1832 in Newberry Co., SC
........ +Israel Chandler b: 25 Mar 1770 d: 13 Mar 1829 in Newberry Co., SC
.... 2 Sarah Gilbert b: probably Bet. 1776 - 1785 in Beaver Dam Creek, Newberry Co., SC
........ +Patrick McNeary b: Bef. 1765
.... 2 Caleb Gilbert, Jr. b: Bet. 1784 - 1794 in Beaver Dam Creek, Newberry Co., SC d: 1815 in Newberry Co., SC
........ +Keziah Davenport
.... 2 Synthia Gilbert b: 04 May 1785 in Beaver Dam Creek, Newberry Co., SC d: 24 Jun 1840 in Giles Co., TN
........ +John Reagin Jr. b: 1773 d: 08 Apr 1803 in Newberry County, SC
.... *2nd Husband of Synthia Gilbert:
........ +Jacob Lewis d: 1825
.... *3rd Husband of Synthia Gilbert:
........ +Unknown Weeks
.... 2 Ann Gilbert b: Aft. 1790 in Beaver Dam Creek, Newberry Co., SC
What follows below is a summary of what I know and don't know about what happened to Caleb and Ann's children. In some cases, I know exactly what became of the line, and in others, I have no clue.
According to Caleb's will and subsequent estate records, daughter Sarah married Patrick McNeary (McNary). I found a 1810 census record for them in Newberry County that indicates they are both over 45 and have one son born 1800 - 1810 and three daughters born 1794 - 1800. That's the only information I have on them at this point.
Son Thomas and all his descendants are very well documented. (This is my line). Thomas married Rebecca Gauntt in 1791 and had two sons, Cary and David born in 1793 and 1796, respectively. Rebecca died in 1816, and in 1818 Thomas married her sister Mary Gauntt Coats. Again contrary to some history books which state Thomas met Mary "on a dark, stormy night" in Alabama, Thomas had married Mary in Newberry County per court records. Sometime prior to 1830, Thomas and Mary moved to Limestone Co., AL where they both died. In 1828, son Cary with wife Eunice Chandler and children moved to Giles Co. TN which is adjacent to Limestone County. Other son David followed father Thomas to Limestone County in the early 1830s. Cary and Eunice both died in Giles County after having nine children, and David died in Limestone County after having had six wives and ten children.
Son Joseph Gilbert married Zerrugen Davenport per Davenport researchers. I've not seen the exact source for this, but Joseph has definite ties to the Davenport family based on miscellaneous records in the county. The only census record I've found for Joseph is in 1800 in Newberry County where he and his wife are listed as being 16 - 26 and have a young son under 10. After that, I have no idea what became of them.
Daughter Lydia's life and descendants are also well documented. Lydia married Israel Chandler in 1793 in Newberry County, and died there in 1832. She and her husband are buried in the Old Quaker Cemetery. Lydia and Israel had five daughters and two sons, and as with brother Thomas, many of Lydia's descendants landed in Giles County, TN. The surnames of their daughters' husbands were Case, Gilbert (daughter Eunice married her first cousin Cary), Reagin, Ziegler, Inman, and Davis. All of these surnames can be found in Giles County from the 1830 - 1840 timeframe on.
Caleb and Ann's daughter Synthia (spelling varies) married at least two times, and I believe three times. Synthia married first John Reagin Jr. and had two children by him: son Caleb Cub Reagin b. 1801 and a daughter Synthia who married Larkin Waldrop. Caleb Cub Reagin settled in Giles Co., TN, but I have no idea what happened to the Waldrops. John Reagin died in 1804, and Synthia subsequently remarried Jacob Lewis in Newberry County as is evident in Ann Gilbert's estate records. By Jacob, she had daughters Hepzibah and Anne and son Washington. Jacob died in 1825. Daughters Hepzibah and Anne ended up in Arkansas with their husbands Miles Adams and David Davenport. I don't know what became of son Washington. I believe that after Jacob died, Synthia likely remarried a man with the last name of Weeks. Buried in the Gilbert Cemetery in Giles Co., TN right next to Caleb C. Reagin is a Synthia Weeks 1785 - 1840. This Synthia is the perfect age to be Caleb and Ann's daughter, and the fact that she's buried right next to Caleb C. Reagin leads me to believe that they are one and the same. There was a Weeks family in Newberry County, but I have little documentation on them.
Caleb and Ann's youngest son Caleb Jr. lived a short life. Per census records, he was born between 1784 and 1794, but I'd estimate it was closer to 1784. Again according to Davenport researchers, Caleb Jr. married Keziah Davenport, sister of Zerrugen. Newberry County records show that he was executor of Ephraim Davenport's estate who was Zerrugen and Keziah's brother. In the 1810 Newberry census, they had two daughters and one son all under the age of 10. Caleb Jr. died in 1815 after having served in the War of 1812. In the 1820 census in Newberry County, there is a young widow Cissey Gilbert with one son and two daughters at the ages Caleb Jr.'s children would have been. I believe Cissey is Keziah. I can't locate her in the 1830 census, but in 1827 she was in Chancery Court in the Abbyville District seeking monetary support from a William Sheppard for an illegitimate daughter. There is young widow named Keziah Gilbert in the 1830 Rapides, LA census with young children, but unless our Keziah lied about her age, this can't be her.
Youngest daughter Ann was the only daughter not married when Caleb's will was written in 1805. I have no record at all of what became of her.
