• Home
•  | 
• Login/Register
•  | 
• Help

Jesse (John) Van Bebber was born August 8 1759, Pigg River, Halifax (Pittsylvania) County, Virginia. He was a son of Peter and Margery (Bounds) Van Bebber Jr. The family removed to Botetourt (Greenbrier) County, West Virginia, after 1769, where his father built a blockhouse, on Wolfe Creek. The blockhouse was located near the James Graham Family, now in Summers County, West Virginia. They remained here until about 1781, when the family removed to the western frontier, settling at now Point Pleasant, on the Ohio River. Records for the family can be found in Augusta and Botetourt Counties, Virginia, Greenbrier, Kanawha, and Mason Counties, West Virginia. The Augusta County records show that the Van Bebbers, defended the Lewis Settlement, at Point Pleasant, with the promise of a city lot, if they continued to do so. Jesse Van Bebber married Rachel Greenlee, a daughter of Alexander and Anna (Henry) Greenlee, in 1799, in Gallia Township, Washington (now Gallia) County, Ohio. They had a son Isaac Van Bebber, who died young, and a daughter, Elizabeth, who married (1) Joseph Smith and (2) Richard Tillis.
Several records are found in for Jesse Van Bebber in Greenbrier, Kanawha, and Mason Counties, where he appeared in Court as a witness, jury duty, and surveyor of roads. In the, "Annals of Fort Lee," by Roy Bird Cook, he wrote that, "Jesse, James, Matthias Van Bibber, brothers, and their cousin Isaac Van Bibber, Jr, set out in a canoe for the Mouth of Elk (River at Charleston). On their way back to Point Pleasant, they
stopped overnight at Fort Tackett, (located at now St. Albans), not knowing that the Indians were in waiting to destroy the fort, after they left the fort next day.
Mason County Court Order Book, Dec 5 1818, application of Jonas Smith, for a road to Jesse Van Bebber's on the Rocky Fork Road of Thirteen Mile Creek, and thence to the Public Road on the N. E. bank of the Great Kanawha, near Edward Greenlee. Mason County Court, Oct 19 1819, a road from the Court House to Van Bibber's Bridge (Thirteen Mile Creek). In 1797, Kanawha County Court Record Book, Jesse Van Bebber, and his brother, James, were granted Letters of Administration for their father's estate. His father, Peter Van Bebber, died on Oct 10 1796, at Point Pleasant.
Jesse Van Bebber, served in the Kanawha County Rangers, under command of Hugh Caperton. In the late 1700s, the Rangers served up and down the Kanawha Valley, protecting the settler's from Indian attack. When Fort Lee (Charleston), was founded, the Rangers were hired as scouts and messengers. A Ranger, was the last man to be killed by Indians, in Kanawha Valley. Jesse, was appointed Captain in the Virginia Militia, and served until 1808, when he resigned his commission. He owned a farm at the Mouth of
Thirteen Mile Creek, Van Bibber, (now Union) District, Mason County, where he died on April 10 1852. His widow Rachel (Greenlee) Van Bebber, received a pension for his services from the State of Virginia. She lived with her daughter, Elizabeth Tillis, till her death. Jesse and Rachel Van Bebber and their son, Isaac, were buried in Van Bebber-Smith Cemetery, on his farm, the cemetery is now destroyed. A NSDAR Marker was place on his grave for his services in the 1774, Battle of Point Pleasant, serving in the Southern Division, under Col. Charles Lewis.

You must be logged in to post a comment regarding this story.