Mr. John White Records 1695 to 1705
1695 to 1705 Record Analysis for John White
1695 Court Order to Maintain Roadways
The 1695 New Kent County Court order for Mr. John White is an excellent record. It provides an honorific name to follow, as well as a specific geographical region within New Kent County. More importantly, the time span from 1695 (original court order) to 1705 (confirmation of the court order) shows that Mr. John White had an interest in this geographical area for at least ten years. Figure 1 illustrates an approximate boundary of the court order described area. The boundary was drawn on an 1867 map of Hanover County retrieved from the Library of Congress.
 |
| Figure 1 |
B Represents the unknown Little Creek, branch of Matadequin Creek
C Represents the approximate area for Pole Green Quarter
D Represents the mouth of Beaverdam Creek at Chickahominy River
This geographical boundary is very important when analyzing the precinct processions of St. Paul's Parish for Mr. John White's lands.
1697 Baptism
Two years after the New Kent County court order was issued for Mr. John White to maintain the roads in the above described area, he had his son, also named John, baptized. The baptism date of May 30, 1697 is consistent with the approximate birth year of 1695 for John White Sr. (known as John White Jr. in the St. Paul's Parish records) according to a handwritten record of the Barrett and Elizabeth White family. The record was written in a family book entitled The Confession of Faith. John White Sr. was listed as having died on December 27, 1758, in the 63rd year of his life – giving him a birth year of about 1695. It is reasonable to assume that Mr. John White’s son, John, was born in 1695 and baptized in 1697. A snippet of this family record entry is provided below which also includes the death date for John White Sr.’s wife, Katharine White who died three days after her husband.
Two years after the New Kent County court order was issued for Mr. John White to maintain the roads in the above described area, he had his son, also named John, baptized. The baptism date of May 30, 1697 is consistent with the approximate birth year of 1695 for John White Sr. (known as John White Jr. in the St. Paul's Parish records) according to a handwritten record of the Barrett and Elizabeth White family. The record was written in a family book entitled The Confession of Faith. John White Sr. was listed as having died on December 27, 1758, in the 63rd year of his life – giving him a birth year of about 1695. It is reasonable to assume that Mr. John White’s son, John, was born in 1695 and baptized in 1697. A snippet of this family record entry is provided below which also includes the death date for John White Sr.’s wife, Katharine White who died three days after her husband.
Figure
2 Handwritten Family Record for Mr. John White
Sr. and Mrs. Katharine White from The Confessions of Faith
1702 Militia Muster Record
On
July 4, 1702 (74 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence), two
companies of New Kent County militia assembled and all names recorded. (Bockstruck) The first and larger company was led by Lt.
James Neaves, Ens. Edward Walton, Sgt. Thomas Martin, Sgt. Bryan Henry, Sgt.
Stephen Moon Sr., Sgt. Stephen Willis, John Jones (Marshall), George
Austin (Drummer), Richard Hainsworth (Drummer), John Luck (Clerk), and Corp.
Thomas Moss. There were two Whites
listed in this company; Robert and Jeremiah.
The second company, referred to as “Lower Company of Foot”, was smaller
than the first and led by Col. John Lightfoot, Capt. George Keeling, Lt.
Richard Baker, Ens. Ralfe Stanup, Corp. Thomas Massie, Corp. Thomas Robinson, Corp.
Richard Smith, Lemuel Taylor (Drummer), and Sgt. Daniel Allyn. A John White was listed as a member of the
“Lower Company of Foot” along with the familiar names of William and Thomas
Meredith, William Roundtree, and John Bowles.
In the early land processions of St. Paul’s Parish, Mr. John White owned
land in the same precincts as Meredith, Roundtree and Bowles..
1704 Quit Rent Roll for New Kent County
The first
known record confirming that John White owned land in New Kent County is the 1704 Quit
Rent Roll, a form of land tax levied on patents that had been issued by the
Crown. The rate of one shilling for
every 50 acres was established by the Charter of Orders in 1618 and remained
throughout colonial Virginia.[3]
Although there is no record of John White receiving a land patent within the
boundaries of 1704 New Kent County, he was charged for two parcels of land; 320
acres and 190 acres. Unfortunately, the
Quit Rent entries do not provide a location of the properties, names of adjacent land
owners, nor information that would help determine if the entries were for the
same John White or two different men. In
addition, there is no record of how the two large parcels of land were
obtained. However, given Mr. John
White’s interest in the roads for the area outlined in Figure 1, it is very possible that
the 190 and 320 acre pieces of land were located within this boundary.
1705 Land Patent in New Kent County
Perhaps the most helpful record in providing a base of understanding for Mr. John White's land in early St. Paul's Parish is a 1705 land patent for 211 acres. The land was issued to John White and described as being in New Kent County, St. Paul's Parish (newly formed), and bounded on the west by Beaverdam Swamp, the north by Brandy Branch, the south by Chickahominy Swamp, and the east by the lands of Gideon Macon and John Dennit. Below is an estimated location for those 211 acres using the Hanover County, Virginia GIS online website. [4]
Perhaps the most helpful record in providing a base of understanding for Mr. John White's land in early St. Paul's Parish is a 1705 land patent for 211 acres. The land was issued to John White and described as being in New Kent County, St. Paul's Parish (newly formed), and bounded on the west by Beaverdam Swamp, the north by Brandy Branch, the south by Chickahominy Swamp, and the east by the lands of Gideon Macon and John Dennit. Below is an estimated location for those 211 acres using the Hanover County, Virginia GIS online website. [4]
Figure 3
Approximate Location of 1705 Land Patent of 211 Acres Issued to John White
The location importance of the 1705 land patent becomes clear when viewing a general outline (in red) of the 211 acres on the map in Figure 1. The patent was within the approximate boundary for Mr. John White’s area of responsibility for keeping the roadways maintained, which may have also encompassed his two other parcels listed in the 1704 Quit Rent roll of 190 and 320 acres.
Figure
4 John White’s 1705 Land Patent Location within
the Approximate 1695 Court Order Boundary
It should be
mentioned that the granting of the 1705 land patent was based upon John White’s
transportation of five persons including Edward Trotman, Nicholas Purdy, Anne
Purdy, George Rumsford, and Edmund [ ]ston.
To date, the
five records described between 1695 and 1705 are the only documents that can
help set the stage for Mr. John White of the St. Paul’s Parish Vestry
Record. They do not paint a clear
picture of his lands nor his presence. But by using these records as a base, the
St. Paul’s Parish precinct analysis for Mr. John White’s lands becomes more
vivid and meaningful.
[1] [Map of Hanover County, Va]. [1867] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2002627446/.
[2] The Confession of Faith, agreed upon by the Assembly of Divines at Westminister, with the assistance of Commissioners from the Church of Scotland. Philadelphia: printed and sold by B. Franklin, 1745.
[3] Bruce, Economic History of Virginia, Vol 1, 1895
[4] http://www.hanovercountygis.org/ October 4, 2017
[2] The Confession of Faith, agreed upon by the Assembly of Divines at Westminister, with the assistance of Commissioners from the Church of Scotland. Philadelphia: printed and sold by B. Franklin, 1745.
[3] Bruce, Economic History of Virginia, Vol 1, 1895
[4] http://www.hanovercountygis.org/ October 4, 2017
copyright@2018 Deborah Thurman Parks
