A Town & Country Relationship
A few years back, I came across the below 1778 Virginia Gazette advertisement while researching my Thurman family. This Revolutionary War era ad created more questions for me than answers. I couldn't help but wonder why "Mr. John Thurman", a young man originally from rural Hanover County, was acting on behalf of Dr. William Pasteur, the eminent 18th century Williamsburg surgeon and apothecary. Pasteur's Beaverdam Creek plantation, mentioned in the ad, was comprised of 700 acres on the north side of the James River. Today, there is a historic home known as Mount Bernard which proudly stands on a small portion of the original plantation which maintains sweeping views of the James River valley. According to a historic survey of the property prepared by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, it is believed that Mount Bernard was built upon an 18th century foundation - the time frame of the below subject ad.
Initially, I thought Mr. John Thurman may have been a neighbor to Dr. Pasteur's plantation. As a neighbor, Thurman could easily show Pasteur's plantation to interested parties. However, a search of the Goochland County records proved that there was a problem with my neighbor theory, as there was no evidence of John Thurman owning land in Goochland County. Fortunately, one year before the above ad was published, John Thurman was party to a Charlotte County, Virginia deed, stating that he and his wife Judith (daughter of Thomas and Unity Hooper) were "of Goochland County"¹. Seeing that Thurman lived in Goochland County but did not own land, and that he had been given trusted authority to act on the behalf of Pasteur, suggested that Thurman may have been Pasteur's plantation overseer, and was possibly living on the property.
Prompted by this thought, I looked forward in time for additional Goochland County records for Pasteur. And what do you know? Eleven years after the above 1778 ad was published, Dr. William Pasteur paid tithe for another Thurman; "Mr. Nathan Thurman", who also hailed from Hanover County (see below snippet).
Although the groundwork for a working relationship between Dr. William Pasteur and the two Thurman men was developing, how they met in the first place remained a mystery. There appeared to be no familial connections and they lived in very different worlds. Dr. William Pasteur owned an apothecary shop in Williamsburg, provided medical services to some of the most celebrated persons of 18th century Virginia, including Governor Botetourt, and served as the Mayor of Williamsburg between 1775 and 1776. In stark contrast, John and Nathan Thurman lived in eastern Hanover County, a place described by Marquis de Chastellux in his book Travels in North America, in the Years 1780, 1781 and 1782 as being "...so thinly inhabited, that the houses are often at a distance of two or three miles from each other." Pasteur and the Thurman men lived such different lives that Aesop might have referred to them as "the town mouse and country mice".
I worked the Pasteur/Thurman puzzle for a long time but was never able to answer the question of how Dr. Pasteur and the two Thurman men met. Unable to make the connection, I eventually placed the Pasteur/Thurman records in my files for another day.
And That Day Just Came!
The mysterious connection between Dr. Pasteur and the two Thurman men recently came to light again while researching the historic Hanover County home known as Quietude (a topic in my last blog entry). Below is a table which chronicles back in time how Quietude's original 170 acres came into the Wades' possession.
Year Owner/Transfer Acreage/Remarks
1898 Edmond D. Wade estate administration 170
1828 Polly Wade (Dabney Wade's widow) 170
1820 Dabney Wade adjacent to E. Barker est. 100
" " adjacent to E. Barker est. 70 conv'd from Robert Barker
1817 Dabney Wade adjacent to E. Barker est 50 conv'd from E. Barker est
Dabney Wade adjacent to E. Barker est 50 conv'd from E. Barker est
Robert Barker adjacent to Lucretia Barker 70 conv'd from E. Barker est
1816 Edmond Barker est. adj G. Carter & 166 1/2
Wm Reynolds est. on Matadequin Creek
1815 Edmond Barker adj G. Carter & Wm 166 1/2
Reynolds est, on Matadequin Creek
1800 Edmond Barker 166 3/4
1797 James Geddy conv'd to Edmond Barker 166 3/4 of 479
1796 James Geddy 479
1782 James Geddy 479
In summary, the 170 acres for Quietude originally came from a 479 acre tract that belonged to James Geddy. When the land was sold from Geddy to Edmond Barker, it was measured as 166 3/4 acres. As part of the Edmond Barker estate administration in 1817, the 166 3/4 acre tract was divided up into two 50 acre parcels and one 70 acre parcel to pass on to Barker's heirs. Dabney Wade, on behalf of his wife Polly Barker Wade, received two of the 50 acre parcels. Wade then purchased from Robert Barker the remaining 70 acre parcel. Wade recombined the three parcels forming a nice pocket of land (providing a sense of quietude for the residents) that was bordered by Parsley Creek on the west and north, Parsley's Mill Road to the south, and McClellan Road to the east. Below is a map created from the Hanover County, Virginia GIS website which shows in red the location and boundaries of the original 170 acres.
Analyzing the tax records for Quietude stimulated the question, "Who was James Geddy?" I knew nothing about him. So, once again, I turned to my friend and fellow researcher Sydni Thurmond-Hamill to help. It didn't take long for Sydni to find the below 1766 Virginia Gazette advertisement. The ad not only contained the name James Geddy but once again, the twinkling surname of White!
Following this trail, Sydni then found a blog which described the ad and James Geddy at length. Geddy, a famous Williamsburg silversmith, (a true town mouse 😊) appears to have expanded his business by leaving some of his wares at the "public house" of Mr. Bennett White located in the young and enterprising town of New Castle. Unfortunately, Newcaste was abandoned due to siltation of the Pamunkey River and changes in 18th century agricultural supply chains. Below is a drawing of how Newcastle was laid out, located on the banks of the Pamunkey River, in Hanover County.
Until Sydni shared the 1766 ad mentioning Mr. Bennett White, I had never heard the name before. At first I thought there must have been a mistake in type - writing Bennett instead of Barrett. But a thorough search of the Virginia Gazette editions on the Colonial Williamsburg site produced a number of entries for Bennett White.
With the Geddy/White connection in mind, I decided to take a look at the Vestry Book of St. Paul's Parish to see if James Geddy was listed as a land owner in any of the precincts where the White family owned land. And there, on page 480 of the vestry book, was the smoking gun. James Geddy was listed as owning land in only one precinct of St. Paul's Parish. According to the below 1771 procession record, James Geddy's land was near the tract that Mr. John White left his "orphans" - land which was in the possession of Robert Braine. But the biggest surprise was that James Geddy also had Thurman neighbors!
Town and County Relations Summary
Undoubtedly, James Geddy and Dr. William Pasteur had town connections and knew one another. Both men operated shops on the north side of E. Duke of Gloucester Street in colonial Williamsburg. In addition to business or neighborly connections, the Pasteur and Geddy families had familial connections as far away as Halifax County, North Carolina. John Geddy, James' brother, was married to Patience McKinnie whose sister Martha was married to Dr. Charles Pasteur!
Given Pasteur's and Geddy's town connections, and Geddy's land ownership near the Thurman family in rural Hanover County, I think it is safe to say that Geddy was the conduit for the initial Dr. Pasteur and John Thurman working relationship. This relationship must have been successful as the overseer torch for Pasteur's Beaverdam Creek Plantation was passed on to Nathan Thurman. Hopefully one day, Pasteur's account books for his Beaverdam Creek plantation will surface for research. Perhaps they will shed more light on this interesting town and country relationship!
¹Charlotte County Virginia Deed Book 4 pages 50-51
Copyright © 2018 Deborah Thurman Parks
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| 1778 Virginia Gazette Dixon and Hunter: Nov. 27, 1778 – pg. 3 col 1 |
Prompted by this thought, I looked forward in time for additional Goochland County records for Pasteur. And what do you know? Eleven years after the above 1778 ad was published, Dr. William Pasteur paid tithe for another Thurman; "Mr. Nathan Thurman", who also hailed from Hanover County (see below snippet).
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| 1789 Goochland County VA Personal Tax List A page 7 |
Although the groundwork for a working relationship between Dr. William Pasteur and the two Thurman men was developing, how they met in the first place remained a mystery. There appeared to be no familial connections and they lived in very different worlds. Dr. William Pasteur owned an apothecary shop in Williamsburg, provided medical services to some of the most celebrated persons of 18th century Virginia, including Governor Botetourt, and served as the Mayor of Williamsburg between 1775 and 1776. In stark contrast, John and Nathan Thurman lived in eastern Hanover County, a place described by Marquis de Chastellux in his book Travels in North America, in the Years 1780, 1781 and 1782 as being "...so thinly inhabited, that the houses are often at a distance of two or three miles from each other." Pasteur and the Thurman men lived such different lives that Aesop might have referred to them as "the town mouse and country mice".
I worked the Pasteur/Thurman puzzle for a long time but was never able to answer the question of how Dr. Pasteur and the two Thurman men met. Unable to make the connection, I eventually placed the Pasteur/Thurman records in my files for another day.
And That Day Just Came!
The mysterious connection between Dr. Pasteur and the two Thurman men recently came to light again while researching the historic Hanover County home known as Quietude (a topic in my last blog entry). Below is a table which chronicles back in time how Quietude's original 170 acres came into the Wades' possession.
Year Owner/Transfer Acreage/Remarks
1898 Edmond D. Wade estate administration 170
1828 Polly Wade (Dabney Wade's widow) 170
1820 Dabney Wade adjacent to E. Barker est. 100
" " adjacent to E. Barker est. 70 conv'd from Robert Barker
1817 Dabney Wade adjacent to E. Barker est 50 conv'd from E. Barker est
Dabney Wade adjacent to E. Barker est 50 conv'd from E. Barker est
Robert Barker adjacent to Lucretia Barker 70 conv'd from E. Barker est
1816 Edmond Barker est. adj G. Carter & 166 1/2
Wm Reynolds est. on Matadequin Creek
1815 Edmond Barker adj G. Carter & Wm 166 1/2
Reynolds est, on Matadequin Creek
1800 Edmond Barker 166 3/4
1797 James Geddy conv'd to Edmond Barker 166 3/4 of 479
1796 James Geddy 479
1782 James Geddy 479
In summary, the 170 acres for Quietude originally came from a 479 acre tract that belonged to James Geddy. When the land was sold from Geddy to Edmond Barker, it was measured as 166 3/4 acres. As part of the Edmond Barker estate administration in 1817, the 166 3/4 acre tract was divided up into two 50 acre parcels and one 70 acre parcel to pass on to Barker's heirs. Dabney Wade, on behalf of his wife Polly Barker Wade, received two of the 50 acre parcels. Wade then purchased from Robert Barker the remaining 70 acre parcel. Wade recombined the three parcels forming a nice pocket of land (providing a sense of quietude for the residents) that was bordered by Parsley Creek on the west and north, Parsley's Mill Road to the south, and McClellan Road to the east. Below is a map created from the Hanover County, Virginia GIS website which shows in red the location and boundaries of the original 170 acres.
Analyzing the tax records for Quietude stimulated the question, "Who was James Geddy?" I knew nothing about him. So, once again, I turned to my friend and fellow researcher Sydni Thurmond-Hamill to help. It didn't take long for Sydni to find the below 1766 Virginia Gazette advertisement. The ad not only contained the name James Geddy but once again, the twinkling surname of White!
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| Purdie and Dixon: Virginia Gazette Aug. 01, 1766 – pg. 3 col 1 |
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| Harris, M. (1943). The Port Towns of the Pamunkey. The William and Mary Quarterly, 23(4), 493-516. doi:10.2307/1923198 |
With the Geddy/White connection in mind, I decided to take a look at the Vestry Book of St. Paul's Parish to see if James Geddy was listed as a land owner in any of the precincts where the White family owned land. And there, on page 480 of the vestry book, was the smoking gun. James Geddy was listed as owning land in only one precinct of St. Paul's Parish. According to the below 1771 procession record, James Geddy's land was near the tract that Mr. John White left his "orphans" - land which was in the possession of Robert Braine. But the biggest surprise was that James Geddy also had Thurman neighbors!
Town and County Relations Summary
Undoubtedly, James Geddy and Dr. William Pasteur had town connections and knew one another. Both men operated shops on the north side of E. Duke of Gloucester Street in colonial Williamsburg. In addition to business or neighborly connections, the Pasteur and Geddy families had familial connections as far away as Halifax County, North Carolina. John Geddy, James' brother, was married to Patience McKinnie whose sister Martha was married to Dr. Charles Pasteur!
Given Pasteur's and Geddy's town connections, and Geddy's land ownership near the Thurman family in rural Hanover County, I think it is safe to say that Geddy was the conduit for the initial Dr. Pasteur and John Thurman working relationship. This relationship must have been successful as the overseer torch for Pasteur's Beaverdam Creek Plantation was passed on to Nathan Thurman. Hopefully one day, Pasteur's account books for his Beaverdam Creek plantation will surface for research. Perhaps they will shed more light on this interesting town and country relationship!
¹Charlotte County Virginia Deed Book 4 pages 50-51
Copyright © 2018 Deborah Thurman Parks
