WEBB Genealogical Findings

James located to Oneida county. This migration appears to have occurred at the start
of work on the Erie Canal. Westmoreland, where our James appears 1820 and 1830
census, is about 10 miles from Rome, where first ground was broken in 1817. This is also consistent with a no show for James of Manlius in 1820 census, and a War of 1812 muster note that James Webb "not accepted, moved."

One must temper hopeful theory, though, with alternatives. In Lowville, where our David Scott family settled for a time, there are obvious descendants of Rev. Joseph Webb of Stamford, Conn. Appearance of a Disbrow Webb, an obvious descendant of Josiah and Susannah (Disbrow) Webb of Fairfield, Connecticut, could lead us down new paths of inquiry. This is a secondary line of research, however, since some researchers claim Rev. Joseph as son of Richard Webb of Stamford.

Current Findings & Research

William's birth, and Enos was a "larger than life" figure, with War of 1812 service, and living to the great age of one hundred. This researcher has found information which strongly suggests that David Scott was of Ridgefield, Conn. nativity.

It is likely, then that liberties were taken with the Webb family lineage quoted by William. That said, it became a matter of searching the obvious records, such as census, genealogical texts, vital, land and probate records, and the like. A certain amount of field work has also been completed. To date, these conventional searches have not proven productive, although much expansion of allied lines has occurred, with findings of Revolutionary War service for the Cone and Anderson families.

There is further activity with respect to increased collaboration and exploration of the use of DNA testing to focus research areas. DNA testing suggests exclusion of descendants of Richard Webb of Stamford, Connecticut, and of the Christopher Webb family of Braintree, Mass. and Windham, Conn. Further test recruitment for this project will be necessary to confirm this finding.

Some hopeful signs for the family of Haddam founder John Webb have begun to take shape. There are a number of parallels in family migrations, and a James Webb of Saybrook has promise as a candidate family. This lends credence to the James Webb found in Onondaga county, Manlius Township, 1810 federal census for New York, as our own James Webb, since at least one descendant of John Webb, in person of Benjamin Webb of Lafayette, Onondaga county, is present. Manlius is also a geographically suitable location, since David Webb, our James' son, was born Cazenovia in 1811. The two towns are about 10 miles apart. From review of historical texts, the James Webb of Manlius appears to have served War of 1812, which is consistent with William's statements. However, a second James Webb, in town of Onondaga, served many years in public service, past that point at which our

Copyright © Mark H. Webb 2003-2007; All rights reserved. All materials appearing on this site may not be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system without prior written permission of the publisher and in no case for profit.

A number of years ago, I began in earnest my own search for James Webb's ancestry. The obvious starting points were existing research done by other family members. Review of a number of documents, including information from Wilford and Don Webb's manuscripts, seemed to produce no new findings, and review of the historical monograph of William Webb turned up several obvious factual errors. For the Scott family, it was determined that William's statement that Enos Scott was his mother Anna's grandfather was incorrect. In fact, Enos was Anna's eldest brother. This seems to have been William's perception, likely due to the fact that Anna's father David died some 16 years before