Mr. John White's Land in St. Paul's Parish - Purple Community
The fourth and final track of land that Mr. John White owned within St. Paul's Parish was obtained some time between 1719 and 1731. Based upon the 1735 St. Paul's processional records, Mr. White sold this land some time between 1732 and 1735. Although this tract of land was not held for a long period of time by Mr. White or passed on to his heirs, it is still of interest to know where he owned land. Once again, there is no evidence of how Mr. John White came into possession of this land or how he sold it. Consequently, there is no known land description. To determine the general location of Mr. John White's fourth piece of property, it is necessary to analyze the lands of the other property owners mentioned in the 1731/32 Precinct 6 procession record including:
Mr. John Bowls, Richard Winn, John Johnson, John Sutton, Stephen Sunter, Widow Wade, Widow Casey, Philip Reynolds, John Glenn, and Anthony Winston's orphans
For the purposes of this research, this neighborhood of landowners will be referred to as the Purple Community. The below graphic illustrates how this 4th piece of land shows up only once in the processional records.
Following is an analysis of the other land owners in the Purple Community.
John Sutton:
John Sutton's two 1724 land patents located on both side of Grassy Swamp help begin the process of locating the approximate area of the Purple Community. These two land patents, totaling 800 acres, were granted on the same day, July 9, 1724. One of the land patents lists no surrounding land owners only the water course, Grassy Swamp. Sutton's second patent mentions the adjacent land of John Johnson. The below topographic map snippet illustrates the location of Grassy Swamp (also known as Grassy Swamp Creek) and how it flows into the Chickahominy River. Note the large pond along Grassy Swamp Creek, just north of Route 660, known on Google Maps as Grassy Swamp Pond.
John and Thomas Johnson:
On the same day in 1724 that John Sutton received his two land patents on Grassy Swamp Creek(one of which adjoined John Johnson's land), a Thomas Johnson received a 200 acre land patent on the north side of Grassy Swamp Creek, adjacent to John Johnson. Although we don't have a description of John Johnson's land, we know that he was adjacent to both John Sutton and Thomas Johnson.
copyright@2018 Deborah Thurman Parks
Mr. John Bowls, Richard Winn, John Johnson, John Sutton, Stephen Sunter, Widow Wade, Widow Casey, Philip Reynolds, John Glenn, and Anthony Winston's orphans
For the purposes of this research, this neighborhood of landowners will be referred to as the Purple Community. The below graphic illustrates how this 4th piece of land shows up only once in the processional records.
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| Land owned by Mr. John White in St. Paul's Parish, Hanover County Virginia |
John Sutton:
John Sutton's two 1724 land patents located on both side of Grassy Swamp help begin the process of locating the approximate area of the Purple Community. These two land patents, totaling 800 acres, were granted on the same day, July 9, 1724. One of the land patents lists no surrounding land owners only the water course, Grassy Swamp. Sutton's second patent mentions the adjacent land of John Johnson. The below topographic map snippet illustrates the location of Grassy Swamp (also known as Grassy Swamp Creek) and how it flows into the Chickahominy River. Note the large pond along Grassy Swamp Creek, just north of Route 660, known on Google Maps as Grassy Swamp Pond.
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| Glen Allen USGS Quad Topo Map - Grassy Swamp Creek at the Chickahominy River |
On the same day in 1724 that John Sutton received his two land patents on Grassy Swamp Creek(one of which adjoined John Johnson's land), a Thomas Johnson received a 200 acre land patent on the north side of Grassy Swamp Creek, adjacent to John Johnson. Although we don't have a description of John Johnson's land, we know that he was adjacent to both John Sutton and Thomas Johnson.
Richard Winn:
Richard Winn did not receive a land patent. But it is clear that by 1736 he owned land in the area between Grassy Swamp and Stony Run Creeks due to a 240 acre patent issued to John Ragland. Stony Creek is located to the east of Grassy Swamp Creek. The wording of Ragland's patent describes his land as:
1. being on the branches of Stony Run
2. sharing a property line with Richard Winn at Bowles Road
3. sharing a corner with "Sutton" on Richard Winn's line
The description of Ragland's land parent locates Sutton's, Johnson's and Winn's land between Grassy Swamp and Stony Run Creeks, north of the Chickahominy River. Below is a topographic map which illustrates this area within the yellow boundary.
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| Yellow Tavern and Glen Allen USGS Quad Topo Maps - Area between Grassy Swamp and Stony Run Creeks |
According to "The Genealogy of the Winn Family" prepared by James Winn in 1936, Richard Winn had a son named John Winn who "owned a great deal of land in Hanover County, Virginia along the Chickahominy Swamp." John Winn is credited with having donated land for the first Baptist Church in Hanover County in 1776. The church constructed for worship was originally known by two names; the Winn Meetinghouse and the Chickahominy Meeting House. The first pastor of the church was John Clay, father of statesman Henry Clay. As a body, the church is still in existence today, and is known as Winns Baptist Church. The below map indicates the location of the church (with a black star) between Grassy Swamp and Stony Creeks.
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| Yellow Tavern and Glen Allen USGS Quad Topo Maps - Location of Winn's Baptist Church |
Michael Holland
On August 25, 1731, Michael Holland received the largest land patent in the subject area. The patent included 6,350 acres which shared property lines with many but most importantly included John Sutton, John Johnson, and Thomas Johnson.
DeedMapper Assistance
Fellow researcher Frederick M. Sorrell Jr. happens to be well versed at using Direct Line's software program, DeedMapper. I asked Fred if he would plot the land patents for the subject area between Grassy Swamp Creek, the Chickahominy River, and Stony Run Creek. And being the good friend that he is, he produced the following work of programmable art. I was so pleased with the results as the map really helps to visualize the land patent connections for the area. For an added touch of reference, I included the location of Winn Baptist Church and shaded in Grassy Swamp Pond.
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| Direct Line Software DeedMapper – Map Created by Frederick M. Sorrell, Jr |
From the St. Paul's Parish 1731/32 procession list of property owners, we can see the surnames Bowles, Sutton, Johnson, and Casey displayed on this map. And from the above discussion regarding land patents in the area, we can see how the surnames of Ragland and Winn fit.
Summary:
The Purple Community was located within and around the Grassy Swamp Creek, Chickahominy River, and Stony Run Creek area. Mr. John White owned land in this area for a short time. Who he obtained the land from and to whom he sold it to is unknown. It is eye opening that Mr. John White's name is never mentioned as an adjacent land owner in any of the subject land patents. But the St. Paul's Parish procession records indicate that he did own land in the Purple Community in 1731/32.
Following, is a map with the general boundaries of the four communities where Mr. John White owned land.
Following, is a map with the general boundaries of the four communities where Mr. John White owned land.
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| Hotchkiss, J. (1886) Map of Hanover County, Virginia. [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2003683403/. |
What happened to the four tracts of land that belonged to Mr. John White? The next entry addresses this question.
copyright@2018 Deborah Thurman Parks
