Abel Upshaw

Disconnected Abel Upshaw from wife Cordelia Martin & son Capt. William William Upshaw May 2020. William’s father is seen as Jeremiah Upshaw, not Abel Upshaw

In 1640 Abel Upshaw and Arthur Upshur, young brothers 14 and 12 years of age, came to the Virginia shores from England. They disagreed on the spelling of their last name and one story has it that the brothers quarreled so seriously that Able changed the spelling of his name so as not to be associated with his younger brother. The name may have been derived from the hamlet of Upshire, in the Parish of Waltham, County of Essex, England. However, since it is thought that the family settled in England around 1572 from France, the town "Upshire", may have taken its name from the Upchur immigrants ("ch" in French is pronounced the same as "sh" in English). There are several spellings of the name: Upcher, Upscher, Upsher, Upshur, Upshaw, with the French spelling being ususally Upcher.

It has been traditionally agreed that Able Upshaw was the father of William but there is no proof of this. Indeed, there is some indication that Able was not the father of William. The children and grandchildren of William Upshaw were named for various fathers, mothers, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, and so on. But not one of them was named Abel.

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: May 19 2018, 16:39:17 UTC
• http://www.upshaw.org/familytree/index.html
• Citation: William Upshaw Document type: Family group sheet Birth: 1666 Father: Jeremiah Upshaw Spouse: Hannah Carber Children: Ann Upshaw, Forrest Upshaw, Hannah Upshaw, Jeremiah Upshaw, John Upshaw, Margaret Upshaw, Richard Upshaw, Sarah Upshaw, William Jr Upshaw