While preparing for one of my next book releases, I was doing some research on Benjamin Babb of Middletown, CT. In Jean’s book, she had created a second tree (2) for him as she was unable to prove his relation to any other branch. I dug around online to see what others now thought of this and found that 100% of the trees on Ancestry now showed his father as Joshua Babb. (1-3-1), son of Philip Babb and grandson of Phillip of the Isles of Shoals.

But I immediately noticed that they had younger Philip’s name spelled wrong, had it so that Phillip the elder, would have only been 5 years old at his death. Not a shred of evidence supported these claims, which makes it very frustrating. So, I reviewed what Jean had to say on the topic in her book. It seems that no Babb’s lived in the neighboring villages.

It also seems that his wife Sarah Blake’s lineage was unclear to Jean. She had assumed it was a Married name, but was never certain. This is one thing that has changed since the 3rd Edition of Babb Families of America. Sarah Blake’s lineage is easily established. She lived in Middletown all of her life and is the daughter of Jonathan Blake. A variety of Birth and Marriage records support this information, which are now incorporated into the master tree.

Additional research indicated that the Benjamin Babb (1-3-1-2) who is the son of Joshua cannot be the same person as Benjamin of Middletown, CT (2). Two main reasons stick out. The Inventory of Benjamin’s estate in Middletown was taken in 1776, indicating that he had died some time previous to this moment. Yet, Benjamin the son of Joshua is located in Portsmouth, NH with his father Joshua in the 1790 Census. So, strike that thought from your minds. In the words of ancestry.com, that is one very shaky leaf!

Next, I see that there are 2 other potential Benjamins in our tree that could offer potential as a match:

Benjamin Babb (1-4-10),  who was born in 1723 to Sampson & Grace Taprill (Shameless Plug: Her ancestry is covered in my new book Babb Unabridged: Babb’s Rock, now available on Amazon) , which is also the estimated birthdate as the one in Middletown. He seems to have vanished after the death of his father in 1736 and drops out of site. He was not left land, just 20 Pounds of currency. This makes him an excellent candidate to have moved to Middletown by 1746 in order to marry Sarah Blake.

Benjamin Babb (1-4-2-3), who was born about 1737 to Sampson, Jr & Dorothy Hoit (Daughter of Isreal Hoyt, who also happens to be covered in the new book). This Benjamin would have been too young to have married in 1746 and also is still listed on the 1790 Census which is also a problem. So, we can exclude This Benjamin.

So, this leaves us with only one potential match. Is Benjamin Babb of Middletown, CT (2) actually, Benjamin Babb (1-4-10)? Y-DNA could reveal if one of his descendants is in fact related to Phillip Babb of the Isles of Shoals, but it won’t be able to tell us exactly which branch of the tree he is in. Maybe someday it will, but not today. It also could reveal a whole different connection that we are unaware of.

If you know of a Male Babb Descendant who traces their ancestry back to Benjamin of Middletown, the Babb Family will pay for their Y-DNA test if certain criteria is met. Have them contact me.

Daniel Greig Babb