General Notes

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"John was the only son of Captain John Sibley, the eldest son of John Sibley who came to Salem , Massachusetts in 1629.  Robert was born in 1728 during a return visit of his mother, Mary to Leicester, England.  Robert was then raised in the Beverly and Manchester, Massachusetts, area.  He moved to Virginia in 1754.  Unfortunately, Franklin L Sibley left no bibliography, and I have located no documentation to establish the lineage suggested.   The only son of Captain John Sibley was John3, born September 7, 1680.  No other record of John3 has been found .  A diary kept by John Osborne shows that Robert Sibley's father was, indeed, a John Sibley .  This John Sibley resided in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina in 1802.  It is unlikely that John Sibley was still living in1802.  It is possible, of course, that there was a John4, son of John3.

Osborne reported in his diary that Robert Sibley came to his home near Waxhaw, North Carolina , in the vicinity of Richardson's Creek, "for a visit and to sell a negro lad.  Said he was in a hurry to sell and get home to Virgina for he and his wife only came out of Virgina to pay a visit to his people". There is no identification of "his people", but it is presumed that he was kin to the John Sibley who lived nearby.  Robert Sibley could have been the brother of John, a nephew or his son. Osborne's diary also mentions Elijah and Robert Sibley as being sons of John Sibley and that Robert lived in Virginia.  Census records show John Sibley as ahead of family in Virgina in 1790.   In August 1802 Osborne wrote of going to a Methodist meeting and meeting "Esquire John Sibley who invited him to go home with him and have dinner with him and his son, Robert. Whether this is the Robert Sibley who was trying to sell a negro lad in June 1802 or another Robert Sibley is not known.

Another John Sibley died in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1850.  His Will lists children, William, John, Robert, Isaac, Mary Ellen and Caroline. This John Sibley could have been John3, b . 7 Sept 1680.  But, again,there is no documentation to confirm this supposition.

Another John Sibley married Sally Huey, daughter of Hercules Huey, Jr.,and Isabella Smith.  H e moved to Macon County, Alabama, and nothing further is known of him.  Hercules Huey, Sr., d . 1775, age 50, and his wife Catherine, d. 18 Nov 1808, age 80, are buried at the old Waxhaw Pr esbyterian Church near Lancaster, SC.

Very old records in Virginia, undated, name a John Sibley in the Lower Norfolk area, probably about 1630.  This John Sibley could also have been the ancestor of the Fairfax County John or of John of Mecklenburg County, or of both.

As stated, documentation is not available to establish a connection between the John Sibley of Mecklenburg County, NC and the John Sibley of Salem, Massachusetts.  Neither is documentation n available to tie John Sibley of Fairfax County, Virginia, to John Sibley of Salem, Massachusetts, or John Sibley of Mecklenburg County, NC.  The confusion concerning the origin of this John is as great as that associated with the origin of the "first" John in Massachusetts.

There are some circumstances, however, that lead one to believe there might be a close connection ton between the Fairfax County Sibleys and the Mecklenburg County family.  I suggest that John Sibley of Mecklenburg County was the son of John Sibley of Fairfax county.  The proximity of the two areas, the diary references to kinship between Virginia and North Carolina Sibleys and the coincidence of the names William, John and Robert carried through several generations provides some indication of this connection.  I further suggest that Robert Sibley lived in Virginia until sometime after 1802 when he moved to North Carolina to live with or near his father , who must have died shortly thereafter at a very advanced age.

Franklin L Sibley wrote that Robert Sibley moved to Virginia in 1754 and married Jerusha Chandler in 1755 in Halifax County and that all their children were born there.  I have not located the marriage record, but the Chandler family was well represented in the area at that time , as was the Sibley family, some of whom live there today.

Land records show that John Sibley acquired several hundred acres on Waxhaw and Richard's Creek through purchase and State Grants beginning about 1790.  Tax records locate Robert Sibley in Charlotte County, Virginia, in 1782 and land records show that he sold 200 acres in Mecklenbu rg County, NC, in 1804 to Elijah Sibley, probably his son.

Robert Sibley's Will is filed in Mecklenburg County, NC dated 4 Sep1809.  It names his children en.  The combination of land and tax records in Mecklenburg County, NC, Halifax County, VA and Anson County, NC showing Sibleys owning large tracts of land before 1800 dove-tail with census data and names listed in the Wills of several Sibleys.  This has allowed a reconstruction of f portions of the genealogy of this branch of the family with reasonable reliability.  Wills of Robert, Elijah and Elijah M. Sibley have been examined.  Each Will mentions the names of several children."