The Lands of Mr. John White in St. Paul's Parish
Knowing the lands of Mr. John White helps us to understand more about his life. However, this is not an easy task since most of the colonial wills and deeds for Hanover and New Kent Counties were unfortunately destroyed during the Civil War. In order to learn about Mr. John White's lands, it is necessary to scour The Vestry Book of St. Paul's Parish, the principle source of land information for early Hanover and New Kent Counties.
The first known procession of lands within St. Paul's Parish occurred in 1708/09. The vestry divided the parish into smaller sections called precincts, and then ordered that a procession of the property boundaries within each precinct be carried out. The land owners from a given precinct "walked" the boundary lines together confirming where one person's land ended and another's began. When the procession was completed, a list of all the property owners within the precinct was returned to the vestry stating whether or not all were in agreement of the property boundary lines. Unified by a shared interest in property boundaries, the land owners within each 1708/09 precinct formed a parish "community". The original names within each of the1708/09 parish communities serve as a foundation for researching land ownership within the parish. Although the record does not provide a description or map of the many land owner communities within the parish, a sense of how each community grew in population from 1708/09 can be inferred. Over time, many new family names were added to the original foundation names of each community. And occasionally, the procession records included the valuable mention of how ownership of certain parcels within a land owner community were transferred.
To analyze the lands of Mr. John White, it was necessary to first analyze the land owner communities where he owned land. Between the processions of 1708/09 and 1744, Mr. John White owned land in four different parish communities as indicated in the below table. Each land owner community is represented by a different color; yellow, green, blue, and purple. An example of the complexity of following precinct numbers instead of land owner communities can be seen by following Mr. John White's yellow land owner community; Precinct 33, Precinct 19, and Precinct 17.
Neighborhood
Clark, Fleming, West, Massey/Massie, Bailey, Macon, and Melton. The 1705 land patent that Mr. John White received for transporting five people to Virginia (including Trotman) was located in this neighborhood. See this entry for a detailed discussion of the 1705 land patent location.
Neighborhood
Shelton, Bullock, Phillips/Philips, Talley, Whitlock, Hester, McKoy, Anderson, Mills, Hughes, Tait/Tate, Hickman, Eake, Langston, Richardson, Durham, Cooper, Ross, and Pond.
Neighborhood
Bowls/Bowles, Winn, Johnson, Sutton, Sumter, Wade, Casey, Reynolds, Glenn, and Winston.
The next blog entry will be to analyze Mr. John White's land along Beaverdam Creek identified in this study as the Green Neighborhood in order to track the adjacent land owners since precinct numbers varied during processioning years.
copyright@2018 Deborah Thurman Parks
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| Cover of St. Paul's Parish Vestry Minute Book |
The first known procession of lands within St. Paul's Parish occurred in 1708/09. The vestry divided the parish into smaller sections called precincts, and then ordered that a procession of the property boundaries within each precinct be carried out. The land owners from a given precinct "walked" the boundary lines together confirming where one person's land ended and another's began. When the procession was completed, a list of all the property owners within the precinct was returned to the vestry stating whether or not all were in agreement of the property boundary lines. Unified by a shared interest in property boundaries, the land owners within each 1708/09 precinct formed a parish "community". The original names within each of the1708/09 parish communities serve as a foundation for researching land ownership within the parish. Although the record does not provide a description or map of the many land owner communities within the parish, a sense of how each community grew in population from 1708/09 can be inferred. Over time, many new family names were added to the original foundation names of each community. And occasionally, the procession records included the valuable mention of how ownership of certain parcels within a land owner community were transferred.
To analyze the lands of Mr. John White, it was necessary to first analyze the land owner communities where he owned land. Between the processions of 1708/09 and 1744, Mr. John White owned land in four different parish communities as indicated in the below table. Each land owner community is represented by a different color; yellow, green, blue, and purple. An example of the complexity of following precinct numbers instead of land owner communities can be seen by following Mr. John White's yellow land owner community; Precinct 33, Precinct 19, and Precinct 17.
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| Chronological List of Mr. John White's Procession Entries in St. Paul's Parish Vestry Book |
Below is a brief description of the family surnames from the processions between 1708/09 and 1744 which established distinct land owner communities where Mr. John White owned land.
Neighborhood
Thurmond/Thurman, Jerrard/Garret, Trotman, Woody, Howard, Muirfield, Lindsey, and Barker. Trotman, as a neighboring land owner, is important as Mr. John White transported Trotman and four others to Virginia per a 1705 land patent as discussed in this previous entry.
Neighborhood
Thurmond/Thurman, Jerrard/Garret, Trotman, Woody, Howard, Muirfield, Lindsey, and Barker. Trotman, as a neighboring land owner, is important as Mr. John White transported Trotman and four others to Virginia per a 1705 land patent as discussed in this previous entry.
Neighborhood
Clark, Fleming, West, Massey/Massie, Bailey, Macon, and Melton. The 1705 land patent that Mr. John White received for transporting five people to Virginia (including Trotman) was located in this neighborhood. See this entry for a detailed discussion of the 1705 land patent location.
Neighborhood
Shelton, Bullock, Phillips/Philips, Talley, Whitlock, Hester, McKoy, Anderson, Mills, Hughes, Tait/Tate, Hickman, Eake, Langston, Richardson, Durham, Cooper, Ross, and Pond.
Neighborhood
Bowls/Bowles, Winn, Johnson, Sutton, Sumter, Wade, Casey, Reynolds, Glenn, and Winston.
The next blog entry will be to analyze Mr. John White's land along Beaverdam Creek identified in this study as the Green Neighborhood in order to track the adjacent land owners since precinct numbers varied during processioning years.
copyright@2018 Deborah Thurman Parks
