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Facts and Events
| Name |
Richard Sebree |
| Gender |
Male |
| Marriage |
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to Unknown |
Richard Sebree of Northumberland county, VA, has been found mentioned in only one record, that of the county births between 1661 and 1810.
There are many indications that the Sebree line came from france, probably as Huguenot refugees who fled from religious persecution during the Protestant Reformation in Europe, but documentation is lacking. Oral tradition is that the ancestors were French, or French and Swiss.
The first reference to a particular individual as the emigrant ancestor has been found in a 1942 letter from Frank P. Sebree to Dada Wells Cloud, in which he mentioned"... a short compilation... which I think is authentic, part of which may have followed a family history written by Tom L. Johnson of cleveland, Ohio, "...In all probability Sebree or Sabree is from Sabry, who is named in the list of french Huguenots who came to the James River from London 1700. The name here is Gaspard Sabry."
The same information is repeated, credited to Dada W. Cloud by Fred E. Hand (R34). It is not difficult to find a source for the mention of Gaspard Sabry. What has not been found is proof that he was the emigrant ancestor being sought. Huguenot Emigration To Virginia by Brock (R8) contains copies of documents relating to the importation of more than 500 French refugee emigrants who arrived at the mouth of the James river from London in 1699/1700. Aboard the ship there was listed a family of nine headed by Gaspard Sobry, one of the few family groups so large. There are, in addition, two other lists mentioning families of nine, headed by men of quite similar names. The three entries are:
"Liste Des Personnes Du Second Convoy Qui Serent Toute L'Annee A Maniconton (Gaspard Sobry, sa femme et sept enfans).....
"List of All Ye Passengers From London To James River In Virginia, Being French Refugees Imbarqued In the Ship Ye Peter And Anthony, Galley Of London, Daniel Pereau Commander (Viz't) (Gaspart, sa femme and 7 enfans)
"A list Of Refugees Who Are To Receive Of Ye Miller Of Falling Creek Mill One Bushel A Head Of Indian Meale Monthly As Settled At Or About King Williams Town To Begin In Feb 1700 (1701) (Sobriche, his wife and seven chilren).....
(Brock, R8, pp. 24,15,27, resp.)
That there would be three different families of nine headed by men of such similar names in a relatively small group is implausible. An alternative conclusion is more persuasive, that is, that the three similar names are variants of the name of one man..
The refugees settled at different points in the area, around Jamestown in Norfolk Co., in Surry, and 200 or more on the south side of the James river some 20 miles above Richmond, now in Powhatan Co., on land which had been occuped by the extinct Manakin Indians, from whom the settlement got the name Manakin-Town.
The Sobriche family was among those who settled at Manakin-Town, for the surname appears in a list of a hundred French refugees present March 16, 1701/2 (des Cognets, R15, p.266) and among the recipients of land; "Land allocated to the French Refugees at Manican on October 16th, 1704, totalled; 10,033 Acres, 3 Roods, 19 Poles." The ground allowed each family was 133 acres. The Brock book (R8) also contains a mention of Sobriches in that same area, reproducing a list of French refugee children, widows, and orphans in King William Parish, Henrico Co., VA, c1714. Among the orphans listed were Pre. (Pierre) Sobriche, Jean and Susanne, suggesting the death of one or both of the emigrant parents by that time.
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