A great deal of work had already been done on the descendants of Henry Ballengee when the author undertook this work. The line was traced back to Isaac Ballengee who came to the Virginia area in the 1770s. This publication attempts to list the descendants of Isaac and give some background.
About 1969 it was discovered that the Belangee family of New Jersey was likely related to the Isaac descendants of Virginia. Several things point to this assumption. First, there is the rather unusual name of Evi that has been carried down through the generations. Another piece of evidence was an old letter in the files of Ruth Belangee Sorensen. She was a family historian for the descendants of James Belangee (second generation in America) of New Jersey. This letter was from Edward Ballengee to Aaron Bellangee. Edward was the son of Henry from Virginia. Aaron Bellangee was a descendant of James and his father Evi Bellangee who settled in New Jersey. Part of this letter reads as follows:
"I HAVE NO DOUBT BUT THAT WE ARE OF THE SAME FAMILY, FOR I WELL RECOLLECT HEARING MY FATHER SAY THAT HIS GRANDFATHER'S NAME WAS EVI, SO THAT IT APPEARS TO BE QUITE A FAVORITE NAME IN THE FAMILY . . . THERE ARE FIVE OF US AND ALL ARE LIVING: OUR NAMES ARE AS FOLLOWS: EVI, EDWARD, ISAAC, SARAH, JANE AND JAMES THE YOUNGEST WHO IS 24 YEARS OLD. ALL ARE MARRIED BUT JAMES AND MOST OF THEM LIVE IN MISSOURI . . ."
Even though positive proof of the connection between the Virginia Ballengees and the New Jersey Belangees has not been proven, this work will include both groups. If, at a later date, proof one way or the other is produced, it will be added for future publication.
The author is aware that probably less than half of the Ballengees in America have been located to date. For this reason a rather flexible numbering system has been adopted. Each Ballengee descendant is numbered according to his family and generation, with children listed after their parents in birth order as much as we know it. The sequence is I. 1. (1) {1} [1] and when necessary a.b.c. Those whose relationship is uncertain will be added at the end with notes in the places on the tree where we suspect that person belongs. We hope that work in the future will continue and the tree will "leaf out" more perfectly.
The quantity of information about an individual does not in any way reflect the importance of that person in the opinion of the author. In the cases of families now living, the author has relied upon information furnished by same. If information is scanty, perhaps more will be submitted for future publication.
In the case of people living prior to present knowledge, information has been taken primarily from records of the county courts, census returns, cemeteries and family records. Documentation will be listed at the end of each section.
The early work of James Isaac Ballengee is acknowledged. As a little girl I can remember this cousin coming to stay overnight on his trips to look for his relatives and ancestors. Our whole family was impressed with this man's beautiful spirit and his determination in his quest. He was the first inspiration for searching out the history of our people.