AN INTRODUCTION TO BLEDSOE GENEALOGY

THE FOLLOWING IS PUBLISHED HERE BY PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR - MR. BANKS MCLAURIN, JR. MR MCLAURIN IS PROBABLY THE AUTHORITY ON THE BLEDSOE FAMILY DUE TO HIS OVER THIRTY YEARS OF RESEARCH ON THE FAMILY. HE HAS A THREE VOLUMN BLEDSOE GENEALOGY AVAILABLE AND OTHER MATERIALS. CONTACT HIM AT:banksmclaurin@sprintmail.com

By Bryce O. Templeton who died 11 June 1972

(page 1) J. Guy Cisco in his "Historic Sumner County, Tennessee" (BK#739), p55 says: "The origin of the Bledsoe family is lost in obscurity. There is a tradition that it came originally from the Northern part of Italy during the time of the Crusades and settled in Kent, Eng., but of that we can find no proof. It is believed that the name was originally Bletsoe and that the family belonged to the old nobility of England. But this is not claimed as a fact." J.W. Wells in his "History of Cumberland County, Kentucky" (BK#757), p. 349 says: "This family reaches far into the history of the European countries. They are of Saxon origin, being named from a royal line. In that country the name was Bluchers, in Italy Bledecines, in England it was Bletchers and in America Bledsoes." One branch of the family claims that it was of French origin; another that they came from Holland, and still another that the first Bledsoes camefrom Wales, and one says they came from Bledsoe, Scotland, near the English Channel." As no proof has been offered or found, to support any of these statements, it seems that the only thing that cna be said about the origin of the family is that there were Bledsoes in England as early as the 13th century. Some years later members of the family were found in many parts of that country with the name generally spelled Bletso of Pletso, but no English records are available to show which members of the family emigrated to America, though Cisco says that the Bledsoes came to the American colonies early and were people of consequence, owning a large estate in Northumberland County, Virginia.

Some of the Bledsoes must have been members of the aristocracy at some time in the past as there is in existence a Bledsoe coat of arms described in documents in the British Museam as:

Arms: Or, on a bend sable between three escallops azure as many garbs of first, all within a bordure gules.
Crest: A wolf's head, or, semee of hurts and gorged with a mural collar azure.

For those who do not have the time to look up words ion the encyclopaedia, it may be said that the arms consist of a gold shield with a red border and a diagonal black bar between three blue scallop shells, and decorated with three gold sheaves of wheat; and the crest is a gold wolf's head with small blue spots and a blue collar representing a stone wall around the neck. The wreath on which the crest rests is of alternate twists of black and gold.

W. Cecil Wad's "Symbolism" says that gold signifies the wealth, power, and glory of the one to whom the arms was given. Black is for constancy. Red is for courage, magnanimity and military experience. Scallop shells indicate that the Bledsoe family were lineal descendants of those who journeyed to the Holy Land every year to worship at Jerusalem and also indicates that the family fought in the Crusades. Wolf (crest) is for valor. Mural collar (wall) was given to those who assisted in storming fortresses.

(Page2) As no records have been found to show which branch of the English family the American Bledsoes may have come from, it cannot be said that any of the American line has any right to the use of this coat of arms, and it is described here only to show that a family of Bledsoes having the right, once lived in England.

Mr. Warren Bledsoe, writing in 1936, said: "Bletsoe and Bletsoe Castle, I really stumbled on, though I knew they were somewhere on our way. The castle is beautiful, lovely outside, but much cut up inside. It was renovated and added to in 1612 which was about the time William Bletsoe bought the manor....There is a gate, then a grove of trees and then a moss covered bridge over a moat overgrown with grass, then green, and then the castle - a long, low, spacious hall, no towers, but once fortified, now decayed but elegant. It is inhabited by tenants.

Mrs. Adelaide Bledsoe Cormack Kingman, who spent a couple of years in England in the late 1930s, wrote in 1940: "I went to the town of Bletsoe, near Bedford in Bedfordshire. This is the smallest county in England and is in the Dissenter county. Bletsoe Castle, birthplace of Margaret of Beaufort, grandmother of Henry VIII, still stands, although it is only two stories tall instead of the four it once showed. The old moat is still in evidence. Until recently the castle was the property of the St. John of Bletso family - not related to us.

Information copied by various people from records in the British Museum, such as the Harleian Society Records, Harvey's Hundred of Willey, and Blayde's Genealogia Bedfordensis, shows that a William Bletsoe (#1) of Archester, County of Northhampton, had a son Richard Bletsoe who married Margaret Clarke. they had a son William Bletsoe (#2) listed as of Wymington, County of Bedford. He was baptised in 1571 and burried in 1639. He married as his second wife, Agnes Cobb, and had a son (his second) William Bletsoe (#3) who was baptised May 24, 1607 and burried Dec 24, 1657. He, in turn, married Oct 21, 1630, Elizabeth Sharpe, and had a son William Bletsoe (#4) who was baptised May 1, 1632. These families had many other children who do not seem to be of interest in the American line and are not being listed here.

Nugent's "Cavaliers and Pioneers" (BK #834) giving abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants from 1623 condensed from original records, lists three early colonists by the name of Bledsoe:

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