Descendants of Thomas Besbeech (Bisbee) of Scituate, Duxbury and Sudbery, Massachussets
We are a national association of Bisbee Families and friends who have a common interest in each other and in our family heritage. The first Bisbees arrived at Plymouth Colony from England in 1635 and married into many of the Mayflower families who founded the colony fifteen years earlier. As the name suggests, the Bisbee Family Connection was formed in 1988 to connect us, to organize national family reunions and to share our family history. We hope you enjoy our Family History database, and that you will consider registering for a free acount with us and help make this the most complete and accurate source of such information by sharing with us your Bisbee facts, artifacts, and anecdotes.
We are the chosen. In each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again. To tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve. Doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell our story. So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors, 'You have a wonderful family; you would be proud of us.'. How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who I am, and why I do the things I do.
Civil War
Many Bisbees fought in the Civil War. Many lives were forever changed. Even minor wounds, easily treatable today, led to lives of poverty because it prevented them doing manual labor.
Census
Much of what we know of our ancestors comes from the US and State census, giving us a snapshot of a family on the day it was enumerated.
Cemeteries
Our research takes us to many cemeteries, physically and online, where we often find new family members and collect headstone information to guide further research.
The original English family name was Besbeech with several variations of the spelling. The most common, but not only form of the name today is Bisbee. There have been and still are other versions, including Bisbe, Bisbey, and Bisby. A few early families argued over it, but for the most part, differences in spelling just weren't important to them at a time when there were no birth certificates, no drivers licenses, no Social Security cards, etc. Many Individuals used different spellings in their own lifetimes. We even have an example where two brothers signed their name differently on the same legal document! The Website has made a conscious decision to use Bisbee for those in the database who have used variations in the past. If we have a modern family using a variation, we will honor it as is. Check the surname listing to see if your name is included. Please feel free to send us your corrections or additions.
Bisbee's Comedians
A Memphis-based traveling repertory tent show started by Jessie Carroll Bisbee in 1927; last performance in 1966.
Last Indian Raid in Kansas
Rev. Reuben E. Bisbee III family recollections.
Were they really Indians?
Reuben and the Pirates
Reuben Bisbee of Kingston, Mass. went fishing in 1803 and was captured by pirates! What happened next? It's all in the notes on Reuben's page.
Bisbee's Black and Blue
A Very Interesting Bisbee from the Connections Newsletter, Summer 2022. Robert Joseph Bisbee, founder of Bisbee's Black and Blue Tournements.
Henry Ford's Fiddler
"Old Jep" Bisbee, the small-town storekeeper who fiddled his way into the hearts of Henry Ford and Thomas A. Edison.
The Schooner William Bisbee
The William Bisbee was built at Rockland, Maine in 1902 and operated successfully in and out of the Atlantic coast ports from Nova Scotia to Central America.
You're additions and corrections are welcome, as are photographs. Please contact us if you are unsure how to proceed.
