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Captain William Garton, Sixth Great-Grandfather
July 8, 2018
— 2 Comments
Landcaster County
Garton Bible records show Capt. William Garton’s father to be John Garton born 1615 and died 1698. He may be the son of a John Garton of Kingston-Upon-Hull (a wealthy merchant) who married Ann Hobson in 1614,
This Bible has an unbroken chain of possession in the same family. Captain William Garton was a planter, residing in Lancaster County, where he bought land in 1673. He is the oldest proven Garton in the line.
William Garton (1635 – 1709)
6th great-grandfather
6th great-grandfather
Margaret Garton (1678 – 1773)
daughter of William Garton
daughter of William Garton
Thomas Morris (1730 – 1791)
son of Margaret Garton
son of Margaret Garton
Joanna Morris (1762 – 1839)
daughter of Thomas Morris
daughter of Thomas Morris
John Samuel Taylor (1798 – 1873)
son of Joanna Morris
son of Joanna Morris
William Ellison Taylor (1839 – 1918)
son of John Samuel Taylor
son of John Samuel Taylor
George Harvey Taylor (1884 – 1941)
son of William Ellison Taylor
son of William Ellison Taylor
Ruby Lee Taylor (1922 – 2008)
daughter of George Harvey Taylor
daughter of George Harvey Taylor
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Ruby Lee Taylor
I am the daughter of Ruby Lee Taylor
William was recorded in Nell M. Nugent’s “Cavaliers & Pioneers” — as William Garret with 100 acres in Lancaster County, Virginia on Fleet’s Bay on the south side of Tabb’s Creek, 20 December 1667. This land was part of 400 acres granted to George Thompson, 11 March 1657, who sold it to William Angell.
Uriah Angell, heir of William Angell sold the land to William Garret 17 September 1661. William Garton was listed with 2 tithables in Lancaster County, Colony of Virginia starting with 1671.
He purchased 100 acres in Lancaster County from John Boatman on 5 October 1674. In 1681 William purchased 200 acres ” beginning at the mouth of Nanty Poyson Creek” from Thomas and Roberta Martin. William Garton was on Lancaster Tithable list from 1670 through 1709.
He was appointed for horse service in Lancaster County, Virginia Colony 14 December 1687. He left a will in Christ Church Parish, Lancaster County, Viriginia Colony.
Uriah Angell, heir of William Angell sold the land to William Garret 17 September 1661. William Garton was listed with 2 tithables in Lancaster County, Colony of Virginia starting with 1671.
He purchased 100 acres in Lancaster County from John Boatman on 5 October 1674. In 1681 William purchased 200 acres ” beginning at the mouth of Nanty Poyson Creek” from Thomas and Roberta Martin. William Garton was on Lancaster Tithable list from 1670 through 1709.
He was appointed for horse service in Lancaster County, Virginia Colony 14 December 1687. He left a will in Christ Church Parish, Lancaster County, Viriginia Colony.
Will Of Captain William Garton, Will Book 10, pages 63-66, rec’d 8 Feb 1710.
“In the name of God, Amen, I Will Garton, of the parish of Christ Church in the County of Lancaster in Virginia, being sick, but in perfect memory, God be praised, I do make this my last will and testament, in manner and form following.
First – I bequeath my soul to Almighty God that made it, hoping to be saved by the meritorious death and resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ, my redeemer.
Item – to my son URIAH GARTON I bequeath a parcel of land beginning at a Pine tree at the head of the first long branch issuing out of Nanty Poyson Creek, running northeast to a corner tree at the first little branch that issues out of Deuber Cove.
Item – to my son JAMES GARTON I bequeath a parcel of land beginning in Black Sows Neck near Carel’s line so running up Carel’s line to a corner Maple northeast upon a marked line to a corner Red Oak thence northeast to the head of Deuber Cove concluding all within the said lines aforesaid.
Item- to my son ANTHONY GARTON I bequeath a parcel of land beginning at a corner Red Oak from thence to a corner stone in Tark [or Tarll].
Item – to my daughter KATHERINE GARTON I bequeath a parcel of land beginning at a Red Oak at the head of the spring branch issuing out of Tab’s Creek, all concluding within the aforesaid courses and corner line.
Item – All my land bequeathed to my sons and daughter aforementioned I bequeath to them and their heirs forever.
Item – It is my will that my three negroes shall tarry upon the plantation I now live upon, till my debts is paid and then to be equally divided along with my personal estate among my sons and daughters MARGARET and KATHERINE GARTON.
Item – to ESTHER MUGG, I bequeath a full share of my personal estate with my sons and daughters aforementioned if she comes.
I do appoint my sons and daughters aforementioned to see this my last will and testament performed.
Witness my hand and soul this twentieth day of December One Thousand Seven Hundred and Nine.
his
Will [+] Garton
Witnesses mark –
Murler [+] Noulin
William Buttery
Katherine (+) Buttery
Elizabeth [+] Rebelow
Item – To my sons and daughters I bequeath all bounds of Thomas Thompson’s patent lying between Tab’s Creek and Nanty Poyson Creek.
Item – To my son-in-law, Will Cutter, I bequeath more ______ which is on my plantation.
Godfrey Ragsdale Jr. And The Jamestown Massacre
December 6, 2016
— 26 Comments
memorial
My 8th great-grandfather was born in Virginia Colony in 1643. His parents were both killed in the Jamestown Massacre when he was an infant.
Godfrey Ragsdale I was the first generation emigrant to America. He came sometime before 1641. He and his wife were killed in an Indian massacre on April 18, 1644. Their baby, Godfrey II, was spared. He evidently came at his own expense with intent to inhabit the land, for no grant has been found to him, but there is a record of a purchase of 300 acres of land by deed from John Butler, 25 Feb 1642. This land lay on the north side of the Appomatox River in Henrico Co. Virginia. Source: “Godfrey Ragsdale From England to Henrico Co. Virginia” by Caroline Nabors Skelton; 1969; and Henrico Co. Records; Bk. 6; p. 21.
Godfrey Ragsdale II (1643 – 1703)
8th great-grandfather
Ann Wragsdale (1659 – 1724)
daughter of Godfrey Ragsdale II
Benjamin Abraham Vesser (1740 – 1779)
son of Ann Wragsdale
Samuel Harris Vassar (1757 – 1846)
son of Benjamin Abraham Vesser
Mary Vessor (1801 – 1836)
daughter of Samuel Harris Vassar
Margaret Mathews (1831 – 1867)
daughter of Mary Vessor
Julia McConnell (1854 – 1879)
daughter of Margaret Mathews
Minnie M Smith (1872 – 1893)
daughter of Julia McConnell
Ernest Abner Morse (1890 – 1965)
son of Minnie M Smith
Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Ernest Abner Morse
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse
The Ragsdale family name is said to come from Ragdale, England, meaning either “valley at the pass” or “dweller in the valley where the lichen grows.” Henry Ragsdale was born in Leicestershire, England about 1450, his son Robert was born about 1485 in Ragsdale, Leicestershire, England. He died about 1559 and some of his children were Henry, Thomas R. and John R. Henry was born about 1510; he married Elizabeth Oglethorpe about 1532 , and their children were William, Dorothy, Elizabeth, Margaret, Owen and Catherine. Henry died in 1559. William was born in 1575; he married a woman named Heathcote, about 1615; they had a son, Godfrey I, who married Lady Mary Cookney and they both came to America.
Godfrey Ragsdale I and his wife, Lady Mary Cookney arrived in Virginia some time late in the summer of 1638. They were some of the first Ragsdales to come to America. Godfrey Ragsdale I ands his wife, Lady Mary Cookney lived in Henrico County Virginia on a 300 acre plantation on February 25, 1642, upon the north side of the Appomattox River.
On April 18, 1644 afterwards known as “Opechancanough Day” the Pamunkee Indians and several tribes in the Indian Federation went on a rampage. There was a carnage that was greater than the one in the Norfolk area in 1622. The Indians slaughtered no less than 500 Englishman. This massacre fell almost entirely upon the frontier Counties at the head of the great rivers, and upon the plantations on the south side of the James River. Both Godfrey I and his wife Lady Mary were killed and scalped.
From documents we know that Godfrey and Lady Mary had a son named Godfrey Ragsdale II, who was born in 1644. Because his mother and father had been killed in the “Jamestown Massacre”, Godfrey II’s next door neighbors raised him and later became his in-laws. Historians say that most Ragsdales in America came from Godfrey II.
Ragsdales in Virginia
Nicholas Morris, Virginia Colonist
November 2, 2016
— 10 Comments
Immigrant to Virginia Colony
My eighth great-grandfather Nicholas Morris “the Immigrant” was born in England in 1605. He died in St Stephens Parish, Northumberland Co. Virginia on 20 Jan 1663. He was a Justice of the Court by profession. His wife, Martha, was born in England about 1609. She remarried after Nicholas died.
Nicholas Morris owned land on the Great Wicomico River before 1651. His near neighbor and associate was John Mottram, an English Protestant who had frequent visitors among those who had been banished from the colony of Maryland.
Nicholas and his wife, Martha (poss.Mottram) were living in the Virginia Colony by 1641, and first lived on land leased from John Upton. By April 1652, Nicholas was well-established in Northumberland County and was appointed a justice along with John Haynie.
Will probabted, in Virginia, data from familysearch.com per Ancestral File, ver. 4.19. According to Tidewater Virginia Families by Virginia Lee Hutcheson Davis, his will was presented in court in Northumberland Co.,VA on 20 Jan 1664, so he had to have died previous to that. He left his son, Anthony Morris, the plantation on which he lived, containing 550 acres and his wife, the land called “ye Island, being 506 acres”. He also bequeathed to his daughter, Jane (Morris) Haynie, one cow and to each of his three grandchildren, Martha, Elizabeth and Richard Haynie, one yearling heifer.
Martha Morris later married Thomas Lane, a wealthy land owner of Northumberland Co.
She signed her Morris inheritance over to her son, Anthony, on 15 July 1665.
Children:
Thomas Morris
John Morris
George Morris
Abraham Morris
Mary Morris
Elizabeth Morris
Edward Morris b. Bet. 1626 – 1652
Nickolas Morris b. Bet. 1626 – 1652
William Morris b. Bet. 1628 – 1642
Jane Morris b. About. 1630 in VA
Anthony Morris b. 1645 in Northumberland Co., VA m.Dorothy Samford (Wife) Marriage: 1665
Nicholas Morris (1605 – 1664)
8th great-grandfather
John Morris (1633 – 1713)
son of Nicholas Morris
William Morris (1659 – 1727)
son of John Morris
Thomas Morris (1678 – 1741)
son of William Morris
Thomas Morris (1730 – 1791)
son of Thomas Morris
Joanna Morris (1762 – 1839)
daughter of Thomas Morris
John Samuel Taylor (1798 – 1873)
son of Joanna Morris
William Ellison Taylor (1839 – 1918)
son of John Samuel Taylor
George Harvey Taylor (1884 – 1941)
son of William Ellison Taylor
Ruby Lee Taylor (1922 – 2008)
daughter of George Harvey Taylor
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Ruby Lee Taylor
Nicholas Morris served as a Justice of the Northumberland County Court eighteen times between 10 July 1652 and 21 Feb 1658/59 (Northumberland County Order Book 1650-1652, p. 64 and 1652-1665). He also signed the Great Oath (Northumberland County Order Book 1650-1652 p. 139b) VIRGINIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY NOV 1986. When he died, he left and estate of 1000 acres in his 1664 will.
Elizabeth Cocke, 6th Great-grandmother
February 21, 2016
— 17 Comments
Malvern Hill
My 6th great-grandmother was born in Virginia in 1720 in the home where her father had been born. The Cocke family came to Virginia in the 1600’s and played a significant part in the colony’s affairs. She married into the Holt family, another prominent family in Williamsburg. When I was a child my parents took me several times to vacation in Williamsburg. I always looked forward to being there to be immersed in the history of the place. We stayed at the Inn and walked around town to see the blacksmith, the candlestick maker, and many historical reenactments. I have vivid memories of buying sealing wax, which I used on all my correspondence until I was about 18. I had a real thing for fancy stationery and sealing wax that began when I saw it in use at Williamsburg. Now that I know my ancestors lived there I am even more thrilled that my parents (who had no idea about the ancestry connection) gave me the gift of an early interest in history.
Elizabeth Cocke, probably b. 1720’s; m. Dibdale or Dibdall HOLT, son of David HOLT & Margaret DIBDALL of New Kent, Hanover, and Williamsburg, VA (b. 1720’s; d. aft. 1792). Dibdall probably met Brazure COCKE’s family in Williamsburg where the HOLTS were a prominent family. Dibdall’s brother John HOLT served as mayor of Williamsburg and later published newspapers in New York City and Norfolk VA. Dibdall is named in John HOLT’s will, dated Oct. 1, 1749, proved Oct. 30, 1784, in New York. Dibdall’s sister Jane HOLT was married to a famous Presbyterian minister, Rev. Samuel DAVIES (1724-1761), of Hanover Co., VA. Dibdall probably married Elizabeth COCKE roughly 1745 and moved to Amelia Co., VA, soon thereafter. He can be found in Amelia Co. as early as 1748 when he witnessed the will of William STONE (Amelia WB 1, p.55) and was still there in 1762 when he appeared on a tax list. He lived in Nottoway Parish, which later become Nottoway County. A deed dated Dec. 14, 1751, from Phillip STONE of Johnston Co., VA, to Charles CONNALLY & Robert TAYLOR of Nottoway Parish, describes 100 acres in Nottoway Parish adj. where Dibdall HOLT now lives, Charles CONNALLY, Joseph HARPER, Robert TAYLOR’s line by the county line, and William STONE’s line now Dibdall HOLT’s. (Amelia Co., VA, DB 4, p.338.) Robert CHEEK worked as Dibdall Holt’s overseer and lived with him in 1754 and 1755, according to the Amelia Co. tax lists & court records. Dibdall’s daughter may be the Elizabeth HOLT who m. Samuel BIRCH (or BURCH) on May 1, 1764, in Granville Co., NC, with Robert CHEEK as bondsman. Dibdall moved to the Natchez District of the Louisiana territory sometime in the 1770’s & settled in an area that later became Jefferson Co., MS. Dibdall’s name appears on a petition dated Oct. 4, 1779, “from the citizens of Natchez to Lieut. Col. Dickson, 16th Reg. commanding his Britannick Majesty’s Forces in the River Mississippi. . . .” He is also mentioned in his sister Sarah TRULY’s will dated Mar. 15, 1792 (Natchez Dist.) and in other Natchez records. Children may have included David HOLT (m. Rebecca BELK), John HOLT, and William HOLT (d. 1836 in Hinds Co., MS).
Elizabeth Cocke (1720 – 1773)
6th great-grandmother
Elizabeth Holt (1747 – 1811)
daughter of Elizabeth Cocke
Elizabeth Betsy Truly (1782 – 1851)
daughter of Elizabeth Holt
Minerva Truly Darden (1806 – 1837)
daughter of Elizabeth Betsy Truly
Sarah E Hughes (1829 – 1911)
daughter of Minerva Truly Darden
Lucinda Jane Armer (1847 – 1939)
daughter of Sarah E Hughes
George Harvey Taylor (1884 – 1941)
son of Lucinda Jane Armer
Ruby Lee Taylor (1922 – 2008)
daughter of George Harvey Taylor
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Ruby Lee Taylor
ruins of Malvern Hill House
Sarah Rebecca Lewis
August 21, 2013
— 2 Comments
Seal of Virginia
Sara Rebecca Lewis, my 7th great grandmother, was born in colonial Virginia. She married James Jones in 1665.
Sarah Rebecca Lewis (1643 – 1725)
is my 7th great grandmother
daughter of Sarah Rebecca Lewis
son of Ann Williams Jones
son of George Darden
daughter of David Darden
daughter of Minerva Truly Darden
daughter of Sarah E Hughes
son of Lucinda Jane Armer
daughter of George Harvey Taylor
I am the daughter of Ruby Lee
When her husband died she was given 4 human beings and the right to live on the plantation for life. Reading her husband’s will I notice how all the slaves, even the unborn ones, are willed as chattel to the members of the Jones family. The document starts with Almighty God and then moves directly into slavery. This is how Virginia was colonized:
Will of James Jones (I) (Chappell, Dickie & Other Kindred Families, p.63-4)
In the name of God. Amen. I James Jones (I) being weake and sick but of sound and perfect mind and memory, praise be therefore given to God, doe make and ordain this my present Last Will and Testament in the manner and form following, that is to say. First and principally I commend my soul into the hands of Almighty God, hoping through the merritts, Death and passion of my savior Jesus Christ to have full and free pardon of all my sins and to inherit everlasting life; and my body I commit to the earth to be decently buried at the discretion of my Executor, hereinafter named, and as touching the Disposition of all such temporal estate as it hath pleased Almighty God to bestow on me I give and dispose thereof as follows:
First. I will that all my debts and funeral expenses shall be paid and discharged.
Item. I will that my loving wife have the Labour of four negroes during her natural life, they are named Will, Robin, Maria and Betty. Provided they are not removed off the plantation I now live upon, if they are, then Immediately to return to my executor, which plantation I will my wife shall live Upon during her life.
Item. I give my wifes two sons two Negro children, one named James, the other unborn, the first child that either Betty or Maria shall bring to be the other, which two negro children to be Disposed of to my wifes two sons as she shall think fit, the unborn and the born child James to be and remain with their mothers till they come to the age of two years and a half year. My will is likewise that my wife have during her life what household stuff my executor shall see fit and that she have a reasonable yearly maintenance out of my stock.
Item. I give to my daughter Mary Dardin my negro man Jo –during her life.
Item. I give to my daughter Elizabeth a negro named Hanna to be at her disposal to do as she sees fit.
Item. I give to my daughter Hanna one negro named Jack to be at her disposal at her death or before as she sees fit.
Item. I give to my daughter Rebecca two hundred acres of land, lying in Surrey county, beginning from the Swamp up by the Spring, South, to the outline, that to be the headline, to her and her heirs forever.
Item. I give to my Granddaughter Eliza Glover, one hundred acres of land on the south side of Pond Runn, to be her and her heirs forever.
Item. I give to my grandson James Jones, this my plantation I live upon after my wifes Decease and all my land in Prince George county, after his father and mothers Decease, to him and his heirs forever.
Item. I give to my Grandson Thomas Chappell (Thomas Chappell Sr. (III)) one hundred acres of land lying in Surrey county from the Swamp South, joining upon William Cocke above the outline, to him and his heirs forever.
Item. I give to my Granddaughter Jane Cocke, daughter of John Cocke, one negro named Amy to her and her heirs forever as also one feather bed and bolster, one rug and one blanket, and if the ticke be bad Lett a new ticke be bought, as also two young cows, one young mair, One Iron Pot, two Pewter Dishes and one Doz.of Spoons.
All the rest and Residue of my personal Estate, goods and chattel whatsoever, I do give and bequeath to my Loving son James Jones, full and sole Executor of this my last Will and testament and I do hereby revoke, disannul and make void all former wills and Testaments by me heretofore made.
In Witness whereof I, the said James Jones (I) to this my last will and testament do set my hand and seal this the 6th day of April A.D.1719.
James Jones Seal (Sealed with wafer)
Signed and sealed in the presence of: Gilbert Hay Edward Prince Thomas Temple
At a Court held at Merchant’s Hope for Prince George County on the second Tuesday, in May, being the twelfth day of said month, A.D.1719, the above written last will of James Jones, deceased, was exhibited in Court by James Jones, his Executor, who made oath thereto and it being proven by the oaths of the witnesses thereto a certificate was granted to the said James Jones for obtaining a Probate in due form. Teste: Wm. Hamlin, Clerk
Wife’s letter to the Court:
Worthy Sirs: Having seen and heard read the Last Will of my late husband, James Jones, deceased, I therefore think fit to acquaint your W.p.T. that I think myself justly dealt by therein and to prevent further disputes I desire the will probated, I being willing to rely on the Legacy left me in said will. Given under my hand and seale this 20th April 1719.
Her Sarah X Jones Mark Seal (Sealed with red wafer)
Teste: E. Goodrich Mary Loyd
To the Worshipfull: His Majesty’s Justice of the Peace for Prince George County
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