The Bobbitt Family In America

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There are no indications that William Bobbitt had any political aspirations or problems either in Wales or in the Virginia colony. He apparently did not come to the colony for religious reasons as the records show that he was a member of the established Church of England and remained so until his death in 1703. His son William Bobbitt was also a member of the Church of England as it was recorded in 1736 when the vestry of Bristol Parish paid William for burying John Dalahny. It seems likely that William Bobbitt Senior came to the colony for the sole purpose of economic opportunity for himself and his family.

An extensive search to prove the name of the wife of William Bobbitt has failed. His marriage would have been recorded in Wales and the records there do not make a positive case for William. We know that the family in the colony of Virginia was related in some way to the Sturdivant family. It is somewhat significant that John Sturdivant received a land grant on October 28, 1673. The land that John received joined the land that William Bobbitt received on October 27, 1673. The first Bobbitt female mentioned in the records before the year of 1679 was Joanna Bobbitt. Since the sons of William were relatives of the Sturdivants I have concluded that the wife of our William Bobbitt was Joanna Sturdivant and from later records she was called Anna Bobbitt. John Sturdivant was a young man when he received his land grant and was likely the brother of Joanna rather than her father. The Bobbitt family and the Sturdivant family had close relationships which included subsequent marriages to the year of 1750.

One may search hundreds of pages of colonial records and find few names of females mentioned in any way. Females were not allowed to buy or sell land. Females seldom inherited land from their fathers or husbands. The maiden names of females were mentioned only in the marriage records and few of these records have been preserved. The females in the Virginia colony were not taxable, but were sometimes listed on the tax lists if they were widowed.

Our civil wars have destroyed many of the records that would prove the exactness of our genealogy and substantiate much of our family history. There are questions and answers in the records that have been preserved. Studies of the records along with the history of the people and times the records are dated will with logic and mathematics give us satisfactory answers.

It does not matter how changeable the story may be as long as the essence of the story can be substantiated by the records we are fortunate to have as our heritage from history.