web-lev1a BASIC DOCUMENTS ON THE PETER LEVALLEY FAMILY

Updated August 2, 2011
 

General

     RHODE ISLAND ROOTS REPORT:  "Preliminary Report on the Peter LeValley Family
     of Warwick: Migrations out of Rhode Island," by Paul LeValley.  Rhode Island
     Roots, vol. 19, no. 4 (December 1993).  pp. 102-111.  (Copies available for
     $3.50 from the treasurer of the R.I. Genealogical Society, Percival Kingsley,
     2729 Elm Street, Dighton, MA 02715.)  This is the only compiled family
     information that has ever been published.  Based on all of the sources below,
     it traces the migration routes of Peter LeValley's grandsons and their
     descendants through the early 20th century.  It also points out unrelated
     LeValley families, and known LeValley groups whose ancestry has not yet been
     connected to any known immigrant ancestor.  To read a streamlined and updated version,
     click here.

     LEVALLEY GENEALOGY.  Ten folding charts and two computer discs
     containing everything known about the descendants of Peter LeValley as
     of 1999.  Paul LeValley has the originals, several relatives have copies.
     This information is available to relatives at cost ($5.00).  Regular mailing
     address can be found at the bottom of the LeValley home page.  (If your
     computer can't open WordPerfect 8, be sure to indicate the format you
     need.)

     THE LEVALLEY FAMILY  (copies in the R.I. Historical Society Library and Salt Lake
     City).  Family tree on a long scroll compiled by Paul LeValley based on what was
     known in 1971.   It has since been completely superseded by the above.

     SNOW MANUSCRIPT (hand-written original in the Rhode Island Historical Society
     Library, many typed copies around).  Compiled by Louis Snow around 1890, this
     is the most comprehensive early document showing the relationship of the various
     branches.  It forms the key to everything else.  But it omits several branches
     descended from John and Michael.  To read it, click here.

     RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY LIBRARY.  The library has indexed its
     standard genealogical works, as well as two huge miscellaneous local
     collections--the Bates Collection and the Briggs Collection.  Useful mainly on the
     branches that stayed in Rhode Island.

     LaMANCE SPECULATIONS (in her books The Greene Family and Its Branches, and
     Huguenot Pedigrees, and papers in the R.I.  Hist. Soc. Library and Salt Lake
     City).  CAUTION:  Lora LaMance did a lot of sloppy guessing.  She mixed
     LeValleys with DeVolneys, Le Vallois, and de la Vals.  Any LeValley information
     traceable to her needs further proof.

     THE FREEDOM QUEST TRILOGY by James F. LaValley, a descendant of
     Peleg  (Edgewater FL: Denlinger's Publishers, 2003.  $12.95 per volume).
     This is fiction with some basis in fact.  In Freedom Voyage, the historic
     LeValley brush with pirates is here transferred to fictional fourth and fifth
     sons of the original Peter.  (To sort out the relationships, consult false
     leads.
)  Action takes place in the West Indies, where no LeValley is known
     to have gone.  Freedom Venture adds little on actual family history.
     Freedom Valor follows Peleg to Schoharie County NY.  These are
     known as Christian novels.

Descendants of Peter Sr.

     SPENCER COLLECTION (in the possession of Rev. Peter LeValley Spencer, rector of
     the same church the earliest LeValleys attended).  These are mostly land
     evidences over the centuries.  There are letters received by descendants of
     Peter Sr.--particularly Amanda.    Also the brief diary of Anna LeValley.  This is
     the best collection of original sources on the early history.

     SMITH MANUSCRIPT (several copies around).  Compiled around 1890 by Benjamin
     Smith, it gives additional details on his descent from Peter Sr.  In another part,
     he lists clues that might connect the family to the Isle of Jersey.

     WILLIAM F. LEVALLEY DIARY (in the possession of Paul LeValley).  Mostly
     useless trivia, but some insight into daily life in Warwick R.I. in 1901.

     LUCINDA LEVALLEY SNOW DIARIES (in the possession of Bonnie Knox; Paul LeValley has
     copies).  Mostly lists of the social calls she made in 1866 and 1877, but some comments on
     other family members.

Descendants of John and his son Christopher

     RHODE ISLAND STATE ARCHIVES.  Here are the indexed Revolutionary War
     records--also the entire guardianship dispute of John.

     NIAGARA COUNTY HISTORIAN'S COLLECTION (Lockport, NY).  This collection of
     newspaper clippings and state census records is being indexed.  Fire destroyed
     the early records, and the historian rewrote some of them from memory.
     Descendants of Christopher and John Jr. are represented here.

     TIBBITS MANUSCRIPT (in the possession of Paul LeValley).  Dictated in 1910 by
     Marion LeValley and written by Douglas Tibbits Jr., this is the main document on
     the whole Columbiaville, Michigan group.  As it reaches back into earlier
     generations, it confirms speculations by researchers from several related
     families.  To read it, click here.

     LEVALLEY'S FAMILY TREE  (dozens of copies distributed).  Compiled by Rose
     LeValley in 1988, and updated annually for several years, the sheets of this notebook
     provide vital statistics on every descendant of John Cook LeValley's grandson
     William.

     LAWLOR COLLECTION  (Dale Lawlor has the originals; Paul LeValley has copies).
     Letters from the group at Fairgrove, Michigan, from 1856 to 1977.

     CATCH THE STAGE TO PHOENIX by Leland L. Hanchett Jr. turned up new
     information on Alfred LeValley's brief misadventures in Arizona.  (He got
     caught trying to steal his own horses.)  Published 1998.  Paul LeValley
     has a copy.
 

Descendants of John's son John Jr.

     GLASCOCK PAPERS  (Her descendants have the originals; Paul LeValley has copies.)
     From the 1930s to 1951, Ivah Peterson Glascock gathered miscellaneous Bible
     records, research notes, and reminiscences on descendants of John Jr.

     CHADDOCK MEMOIRS (in the possession of Alice Yvanovich--who published part of
     them as 120° in the Shade (And No Shade).  Paul LeValley has copies of both.)
     Reminiscences of an early California raisin grower, whose mother had been a
     LeValley.

     LUND BOOKLET (several copies around).  In 1967, Barbara Kimball compiled family
     memories of George and Lena LeValley Lund.
 

Descendants of John's son Peleg

    THE BASKET LETTERS, compiled in the 1950s by Leslie LaValley as a series of newspaper
    columns, and republished in book form.  (Copies available for $28.25 from the president
    of the Basket Historical Society, John B. Niflot, POB 199, Long Eddy, NY 12760.)  Though a
    history of a whole community, they give much detail on those descendants of Rhoderick
    who settled on the Basket Brook at Fernwood NY.

    LESLIE LAVALLEY CHARTS (Paul LeValley has copies.)  Charts compiled in 1992 trace
    descendants of Peleg.  Additional charts from 1939 also give some otherwise forgotten
    details on descendants of Cook.  To read them, click here.

     ANDREWS PAPERS (Genealogy Library, Salt Lake City).  These miscellaneous papers
     trace some descendants of Peleg.

     D.W. LEVALLEY LETTER (in the possession of Eleanor LeValley.  Paul LeValley has a
     copy.).  This 1910 letter by genealogist David Wilford LeValley traces some
     descendants of Peleg.  To read it, click here.
 

Descendants of John's son Cook

     CHURCH MANUSCRIPT (several copies around).  Dictated around 1916 by Mary
     LeValley Church, and prepared in 1956 by Herbert Church, this is the main
     document showing the relationship of families descended from Cook's sons John
     and James Nelson.  To read it, click here.

     PETHTEL MANUSCRIPT (in the possession of Miller LeValley's heirs; Paul LeValley
     has a copy).  Compiled around 1965 by Nellie LeValley Pethtel, this collection of
     Bible records and reminiscences gives fuller details on one group descended
     from Cook's son James Nelson.

     LYNN LEVALLEY SCRAPBOOK (in the possession of Guy LeValley; Paul LeValley has
     copies of the family pages).  Many newspaper clippings on the Covington,
     Pennsylvania group--as well as his Spanish-American War journal.
 

Descendants of Michael

     BIBLE RECORDS survive in several lines descended from Michael.  To view them, click here.

     COOPER DOCUMENTS.  These are mostly photostatic copies of public records
     assembled by Vonda Cooper around 1990 to trace descendants of Michael's son
     Peter Jr. through Ohio and California.

     LYMAN CHAPMAN BIOGRAPHY in Chapman Chatter No. 24 (Winter 1991).  This sketch covers
     the family of Peter Jr.'s granddaughter Catherine--compiled by her great-great-grandson
     Philip Chapman Ellsworth.  (Paul LeValley has a copy.)

     GARY LAVALLEY PAPERS (in the possession of Gary LaValley; Paul LeValley has copies).  Papers
     gradually being written on the early Oklahoma branch of the family.  Also some recipes--
     most of which traveled down female lines.

     THORSON MANUSCRIPT (in the possession of her heirs, several copies around).
     Compiled around 1945 by Laura Thorson, this collection of Bible records and
     letters traces descendants of Michael's son Benjamin.

     MINNICH COLLECTION.  Mary Lovell Minnich, descended from Michael's son Caleb, gathered
     several old photographs and letters--which her descendant Warren Welch rescued when his
     cousin was about to throw them away.    

     DAVOL GENEALOGY.  The ancestry of Nancy LeValley Davol, another descendant of Caleb
     was published in 1916 in The Encyclopedia of Massachusetts: Biographical, Genealogical. 
     Because the name was misspelled, family researchers did not find this document until nearly
     a century later.

For other books by LeValley authors, click here.

Return to the various LeValley families.

Return to the LeValley home page.