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I have spent the last couple of weeks looking for parents of Mary Keeling Steele but have not gotten any closer to proving her lineage. The practice of the Keelings, Thoroughgoods. Lovetts, Martins, etc naming of their children (Thomas, Adam, Edward, John, William. Elizabeth, Mary, Margaret) through the generations since the arrival of Thomas Keeling, Sr (1608-1664) from Worcestershire, England to Lynnhaven Parish, Lower Norfolk, VA, where he married Anne Thoroughgood (1610-1683). The majority of this Keeling family established and appeared to have remained in Princess Anne County, at least until after the Revolutionary War, so maybe that fact can be used to filter out our Mary Keeling. I found a Pedigree Resource File (Poynter-Wiles) on FamilySearch showing a Mary Polly Keeling, b 31 Oct 1753 in Prince William, VA married in 1772 Robert Steele in Prince Edward County, died ca 1795 in Wythe, VA. I don't have access to Prince Edward marriage bonds for that time period but will continue to pursue it. On a side note, I have learned over the years to sense that there have been, and always will be, misfits in any family, which begs the question of whether Mary was illegitimate. If genealogy was a cohesive venture our efforts would be so much easier, but in even the most established families people do relocate, as shown in one document I ran upon: Princess Anne Co. D 3 1714-1724 p. 415 Thos. Keeling of Rhode Island Marriner to Wm. Benson 50 a. 2 Jan 1721. p. 419 Thos. Keeling of Rhode Island to John Lovet. 5 Dec 1721 for 5 shillings, all that land etc bought by Thomas Keeling, father of sd. Thomas Keeling from Robt. Bond containing 55 a. and also a part of another tract which Thos. Keeling the father bought of Anthony RIchmond containing 5 acres. Jan 1721 Thos. Keeling of Rhode Island to Adam Keeling of Princess Anne for 5 shillings 5 a. of land beginning at a corner tree of Adam Keeling's and standing on a long creek ye grandfather of said parties to those persons, running south to William Richomond's land. 3 Jan 1721. The search continues....

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Thanks, Barbara! I had worked long and hard (and proudly!) figuring out the very complicated ancestry of Mary Keeling. It was difficult because of the repetition of the names over so many generations---but then I came across the marriage of Mary Keeling to Joel Cornick, and it was definitely correct---so I had to delete all that I had done! : ( There was a Keeling in the Jamestown area that I'd like to investigate. I did not know about the Rhode Island connection, so that's interesting. I'd love to seen any documents you have. May I see your tree if it's online?

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No tree, unfortunately, maybe in a decade or two, lol. I'm pretty old school in my approach to family histories, but I understand how my brain allows information to sink in- namely, writing it down in notepads, which jogs my memory, but has a very obvious downside. I haven't put my Keeling notes onto my laptop yet, but I will pass along some items of interest: I think that if you want to see the Jamestown angle you would probably have to start with Thomas Keeling, Sr, b. 1608 d 17 Oct 1664 Lower Norfolk, VA. Arrival to VA 1628 or 1635 Civil: Virginia, Princess Anne. Believed to be s/o John Keeling 1577-1642 and Alice Waterhouse c 1586-1650. Thomas first arrived in VA in 1628 on the Hopewell as one of Adam Thoroughgood's indentured servants. Following his term of indenture keeling returned to England. He married Anne Thoroughgood, daughter of Sir John Thoroughgood and Frances Meauris. John was Adam Thoroughgood's elder brother. The Keelings returned to Virginia in 1634 on the John and Dorothy with Adam Thorowgood the ship's captain. Virginia Land Grants and Patents: Thomas Keeling 100 acres Elizabeth City 18 Nov 1635 bk. 1 p 131; Ensigne Thomas Keeling 200 acres Low Norfolk Co 9 Nov 1643 p. 945; Thomas Keelong 700 acres Low Norfolk Linhaven Pr 25 Oct 1651 bk. 2 p. 342. Keeling in Prince Edward, VA. George Leonard Keeling b. 1630 Jamestown Virginia m. 1650 Naomi Nancy Ferguson. Parents Anne Bray Thoroughgood, Lt. Thomas Keeling. (I will keep working on this end, Kitty, and will inform you of any exciting new alleys- hope this helps!)

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Old school is good. Thanks!

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https://gw.geneanet.org/tdowling?lang=en&pz=timothy+michael&nz=dowling&p=mary+helen&n=keeling ... Good morning Kitty, Link was informative about ancestry of Mary Helen Keeling 1753-1788 Ancestry of Mary Helen Keeling

Thomas Keeling 1608-1664 Anne Bray Thoroughgood 1613-1683 Lancaster Lovett 1609-1673 Bathsheba Anne Johnson 1615-1716 John Carraway 1614-/1669 Anne Foster ca 1620-/1692 Robert Foster 1587-1666 Mira Dorcas Isham ca 1587-1670 Henry Woodhouse 1608-1655 Mary Judith Carter 1611-1666 Thomas Keeling 1608-1664 Anne Bray Thoroughgood 1613-1683

| - ca 1630 - | | - 1645 - | | - 1649 - | | - 1604 - | | - 1629 - | | - ca 1630 - |

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Adam Keeling 1644-1683 Ann Martin 1640-1683 Lancaster Lovett /1650-1702 Mary Carraway ca 1657-/1736 Thomas Cartwright ca 1650-1707 Lancaster Lovett 1609-1673 Bathsheba Anne Johnson 1615-1716 John Carraway 1614-/1669 Anne Foster ca 1620-/1692 Henry Woodhouse 1640-1687 Sarah Keeling 1644-1687 Henry Spratt 1650-1686 Isabella Dudley 1650-1700

| - 1668 - | | - ca 1677 - | | | - 1645 - | | - 1649 - | | | | - 1673 - |

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Thomas Keeling 1674-1714 Elizabeth Lovett 1678-1769 Robert Cartwright †1736 Ann Shipp 1672-1729 Lancaster Lovett /1650-1702 Mary Carraway ca 1657-/1736 Henry Woodhouse 1664-1702 Amie Spratt 1674-1709

| - 1700 - | | - 1695 - | | - ca 1677 - | | - 1689 - |

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Adam Keeling 1698-1771 Sarah Cartwright John Lovett ca 1682-1738 Isabell Woodhouse 1690-1740

| | | - <1709 - |

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Thomas Adam Keeling 1726-1766 Elizabeth Lovett 1724-1800

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Mary Helen Keeling 1753-1788 I have went no further on this data as yet, but I think that following the correct generations helps lol,as there are two Thomas Keelings who married two Elizabeth Lovetts. I will focus on Thomas Adam Keeling 1726-1766 and Elizabeth Lovett 1724-1800 for time being.

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Sep 21, 2023·edited Sep 21, 2023Author

This is appreciated, Barbara. I don't trust geneanet.org; however, I will look over what you shared. At first glance, it appears to be copied from what I figured out several years ago (and posted online). I researched and documented every line. Yes, I know about the two Thomas Keelings who married Elizabeth Lovetts. Everything fits until we actually get to Mary Keeling, who was orphaned before adulthood and married Joel Cornick. When I found that is when I removed my research from the internet.... I am not sure her name was really Mary Helen. I think it might have come from a mistranscription of "Kelen" (Keeling). Also, I don't even thinK the 1753 birthdate applies to "our" Mary Keeling. What I need to see is the marriage record of Mary Keeling and Robert Steele. I believe I had it at one time but can't locate it now. I am going to post images of the pedigree that resulted from MY research. Go back to the top of this page and look at my original post to see it. I will also post it on the Facebook page---hope you can join.

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