A Philip Cheep is mentioned in the Augusta County records in 1767, which is a little later than it appears that he had moved to the Robinson River Valley. But the record is a tax record, and sometimes the authorities are slow on the upbeat. The citation (brought to my attention by Wanda Cunningham) was found in the " Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, ", by Chalkley, vol. II, p. 403, in the Fee Books of Augusta Co., Virginia.
I skip ahead to 1781, to the Culpeper Classes, where Philip Chelf is in Class 74. The other names suggest he was living behind (to the west of) Garr's Mountain. If a man were excused from the militia when he was 50, then this Philip Chelf is too young to be the immigrant of 1739, who was born about 1716. It does not appear the 1739 immigrant could be our man.
Barbara Yager married Peter Clore. Her birth year is given as 1730, and his is thought to be in the years just before that. Peter died in 1763, and shortly thereafter Barbara Yager Clore married Philip Chelf. In 1768, and in 1770, the couple were sponsors for children of Michael Yager (her brother), and his wife, Elizabeth (Manspiel). These are the earliest records indicating Philip was in Culpeper County. Communicant lists start in 1775, and the couple appears there that year as Philip Zelf and his wife Barbara. In 1776 they appear as Philip Delp and wife Barbara. In 1778 they appear as Philip Delfe and wife Barbara. This shows the difficulty that even German writers had with the name.
The name Barbara Chelf appears earlier than this, for the baptismal register gives Barbara Chelf as a sponsor at the baptism of Margaretha Krickler (Crigler) in 1759. This is strange, as Barbara Yager Clore had not married Philip Chelf by this date. Her husband, Peter Clore, had not even died yet. Apparently, the listing of her at this date is a deliberate action that was made when the baptismal register was rewritten in 1775. There is ample evidence that the baptismal register was rewritten at this date. There is also a Barbara Chelf in 1764, but it cannot be told whether this was before or after Barbara's marriage to Philip, but probably she was married to Philip by then.
If Barbara was born in 1730, she was about 33 when Peter Clore died. I am of the opinion that most remarriages were to partners of a similar age. It would seem to me to be very likely that Peter Clore had been married before his marriage to Barbara. If so, there is a possibility that he had children of his own, from another, previous wife. In the next note I will examine some evidence for this, and try to identify one of the children.
Could the Barbara Chelf of 1759 and 1764 have been a
first
wife of Philip Chelf? Perhaps, but not very likely. The explanation I gave above is much more likely.
(19 Jan 01)
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