Individual Details

The will of William McBee provided for son Mathias to inherit the part of his 800 acre patent that contained the dwelling, after his mother's decease. Mathias sold 170 acres on 15 Nov 1762 that was described as part of old William's 800 acres. Old surveys were often incoreect as to total acres. Either his mother had died or he was selling only a part of his inheritance. It's most likely she had also died.

The information I have seen on Susannah generally states that they married about 1725 I'm sure this is someone's best guesstimate]. I've seen that they married both in Prince George's Co MD and King George Co VA and that her father was a John Vardry.

This is what I found - from links on USGenWeb county pages and some general net surfing. Prince George's was formed from parts of both Calvert and Charles Counties, which were two of the original counties of Maryland. A John Vaudry [sic] lived in Charles County quite early. There are land records for 400 acres in 1660 [tract called Wilton] and another 100 acres in 1665 [called Tilney which was adjacent to Wilton]. There is said to be a deed dated 27 Aug 1670 when Ignatius Casuine sold 300 acres to John Vaudrey, carpenter, a tract called St. Nicholas. Just as a tidbit to offer - all tracts in Maryland were required to have a name when granted.

A WorldConnect/Rootsweb file has a timeline of research done on John Vardry, but it seems to have been basically copied from someone else. In this information John Vaudry is said to have married Mary Elizabeth Cage, daughter of John F. Cage by wife Ann Hall who was a daughter of William Hall of St. Mary's Co, about 1670. There is a note dated in 1671 that John Vaudrey & wife Elizabeth acknowledged their right to St. Nicholas. I also had seen previously that John Vardry's wife and Susannah's mother was an Elizabeth.

The land records where I found John Vaudry also show a John Cage in Charles Co. The tract Tilney had been surveyed for William Hall. This would seem to add plausibility to the above relationships.

Children born to John Vardry & Elizabeth are listed in birth order, but not specific dates. Anne, Elizabeth, John Jr., George, Philemon, SUSANNAH. John Vaudrey died 10 Jan 1722, a date which could be the date of his Will, proved 18 Sep 1723. He was still in Charles Co and the will is said to have named eldest son John, sons George & Philmon, daughter Susannah Vaudrey and daughters Anne and Elizabeth, both of whom married Wards - Elizabeth at the time was the widow of Benjamin Ward.

There is a note that John Vaudry Jr sold land inherited from his father, deed dated 2 Dec 1731, and he was still of Charles Co. Since by this time, Prince George's County had long since been formed, it's apparent that the Vardry residence was in Charles Co and remained so.

So Susannah & William McBee were not married at the time John Vardry wrote his will in early 1722. There is no mention of whether or not the Will of John Vardry named his wife Elizabeth. Given that one of the sons of William & Susannah was Vardry McBee, I think there's little doubt of her surname.

This had direct line implications for those of you descended from Joannah McBee & Robert Walters. I have a bit of a lineage problem with my husband's family since he descends from Thomas Walters and not Robert. Seletha McBee, wife of Robert, eldest son of Thomas & Lucy, was the daughter of another William McBee. A younger William, not the William McBee whose wife was Susannah Vardry; the younger William's wife was Abigail, surname unproved. Most researchers of the Thomas/Lucy Walters line have "assumed" the younger William to be a son of William & Susannah Vardry McBee. However, the will of this elder William McBee, although it names many children including Joannah Walters, does NOT name a son as William. The younger William McBee was definitely still living at that time. Many land records, entries and patents in Lunenburg/Halifax differentiate between a William McBee and a William McBee JR, but as we know in that time period the "Junior" simply meant a younger man of the same name and did not necessarily denote kinship, nor specify the kinship if there was one.

I might add here, too, that the children of William & Abigail introduce some different given names into the mix. They did have both a William and a Susannah, and nothing is known of Abigail so some of the names could have been from her side of the family.

There are some reasonable possibilities for the omission of a son William from the elder McBee's will. Primogeniture was still in effect meaning that the eldest son received any land not specifically designated in a will, so sometimes the eldest was left out of the bequests, knowing that he was provided for by law. [This can often be discovered by the eventual sale of the land and I certainly don't have all the land transactions of the the McBees.] Children who have received their bequests already are sometimes omitted and not mentioned in a will that provides for their siblings. [Elder William had given son Vardry 200 acres by deed, but he restated that gift in the will.]

It is quite possible that the William McBee whose wife was Abigail was not a son of William & Susannah - he could very well have been a nephew who simply joined his uncle in Virginia. He could also have been a son of a young first wife who did not survive.

There's room here for a lot more research in Maryland. My conclusions are few except that I do believe this

2. Susannah Vardry could have been a daughter of John Vardry [& most likely Elizabeth Cage] of Charles Co MD and the wife of William McBee of Lunenburg/Halifax.

3. The two William McBees of Halifax Co were in all probability related, the most likely relationships being father & son or uncle & nephew. [There aren't any records of any other men of this name in the area that cannot be assigned to one of these two.]

Birth		Prince George's County, Maryland
Marriage	Abt 1725	WILLIAM McBee
Death	Bef Nov 1762	Halifax County, Virginia

Spouse	WILLIAM McBee (1700 - 1759)
Child	WILLIAM McBee (1725 - 1812)
Child	Samuel McBee (1728 - )
Child	Elizabeth McBee (1732 - )
Child	Joannah McBee (1733 - )
Child	Mary McBee (1734 - )
Child	Vardry McBee (1734 - 1800)
Child	James McBee (1737 - )
Child	Mathias McBee (1738 - 1817)

Father	John VARDRY ( - 1721)
Mother	Elizabeth CAGE ( - )
Sibling	Anne VARDRY ( - )
Sibling	Elizabeth VARDRY ( - )
Sibling	John VARDRY Jr. ( - )
Sibling	George VARDRY ( - )
Sibling	Philemon VARDRY ( - )