Gabriel Baubeau, Fils

Gabriel Baubeau was the progenitor of this line in America. Born in Saint Sauvant France c.1651, the eldest son of Gabriel Baubeau and wife Catherine Rivault. Gabriel was a Protestant, a Huguenot persecuted by the French Government that was controlled by the Catholic Church. Along with his parents and two brothers Laurence and Jean, he appeared on a list in 1681 of Huguenots sentenced to death for their faith. The entire family also appears on a later list in 1681, as having recanted their faith and, thus, escaped execution.

It is believed that the Baubeau family made their way to England, a Protestant country, and found safety there. Gabriel was transported via England to Virginia, in 1699, by Robert Nash, along with seven others. Many believe the other seven were Gabriel's family, but no concrete evidence has surfaced to prove this claim. Beware of internet trees that show the entire family in Virginia. They often confuse the father and son, showing this Gabriel married to his own mother. Gabriel was named on a Land Patent dated 25 Oct 1700 in Kent County, Virginia, issued to Robert Nash, as one of the people Nash transported to Virginia. No other Baubeaus were listed on that patent.

Although most Huguenot immigrants to Virginia settled in the Mannakin colony, it is important to note that the Baubeau family is not associated with that colony. Settling outside the colony hastened the family's assimilation into the British-American culture.

Gabriel later moved to King William County, where his name appears as witness to a deed executed by Elizabeth Spencer White, widow of James White, on February 19, 1703, conveying land to two of her sons by the first marriage. By October, 1703. he and Elizabeth are married. He acquired land in King William County, which became known as Bubboes Plantation. Gabriel Baubeau died in Virginia by 1704, when Elizabeth was listed by herself on land records.

It is believed that Gabriel and Elizabeth had one son, Spencer Baubeau. Not much is known about this Spencer Baubeau until he reaches adulthood. No records have been found for his birth or baptism. The first official record of Spencer is in 1733 when he is named as a defendant in a lawsuit. Some sources list his first name as Francis, but this has not been proven.

A note about the name:

The Huguenots were a persecuted group in their native France and were often not able to educate their children. Many in the American Colonies were also poorly educated. Names were written as they sounded. Baubeau became Baubau, Bubboe, Bowbo and, eventually, Bobo. As the generations pass, I have tried to spell the name as the individual might have spelled it in his own time or taken from documents in his own time. By the time Gabriel's descendants move to South Carolina and other parts of the American South, the spelling was uniformly Bobo.

Links to additional material:

• http://www.blankensteingenealogy.net/gabriel_bobo_%26_elizabeth_spe...
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/s/m/i/Janet-Lee-Smith-SD...

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Son of Gabriel Beaubeau or Baubeaux and Cathrine Rivault of France. Entered the American Colonies in 1700 under the Virginia headright system (Name appears as Gabriel Baubau; Sponsored by Robert Nash) [Source: Nugent, Nell Marion, "Cavaliers and Pioneers", Abstracts of Land Patents and Grants, Vol. 3, 1695-1732, p. 38-39]

Married Elizabeth Spencer White c.1702-1703.

His name does not appear in court or land records after 1704 and some speculate that he died about that time, though there is no conclusive proof either way. [Source: HUGUENOTS IN THE BACKCOUNTRY: THE BOBO FAMILY of France, Virginia and South Carolina, by Bryan Scott Johnson, Huguenot Society of South Carolina, Transaction 100, 1994]. Likewise, there is speculation regarding the number of children he fathered.