Littleberry Wade Jr. and Sr. Unraveled
Did Littleberry Wade Jr. die after Littleberry Wade Sr. as suggested by the St. Paul's Parish personal property tax transcription? It makes logical sense that a senior would pass before a junior, but can we verify the sequence of their life events? Dates inscribed upon their tombstones would be very helpful, but their grave sites have not been located. And given that Hanover County lost so many historical records during the Civil War, there are few extant records. What may help in this quest are the St. Paul's Parish land tax records which extend from 1782 forward in time, just like the transcribed personal tax list. An analysis of these land tax records may be helpful in verifying when the two men died. Let's begin by taking a detailed look at Littleberry Wade Jr's land tax information.
The first known land record for Littleberry Wade Jr. is shown below. The snippet shows all the land owners who were enumerated in St. Paul's Parish on April 24, 1782. As discussed previously, the lands enumerated for these property owners were all located in the same vicinity - either near or adjacent to one another.
In this 1782 listing, Littleberry Wade Jr. was identified as Berry (a nickname for Littleberry) and owned 285 taxable acres. We don't know how he obtained those 285 acres but they were in the same geographical area as lands owned by Zachary Wade, Jeremiah Wade, Mary Wade, and Edmund Wade. It is this 285 acre tract that provides us with a baseline to analyze Littleberry Wade Jr's land ownership in St. Paul's Parish. Moving forward in time, the land tax records and Hanover County deeds show:
As with Littleberry Wade Jr., the first land record for Littleberry Wade Sr. is in the 1782 St. Paul's Parish land tax record as shown below. He too was recorded with the first name of Berry and his taxable land was recorded on April 23, 1782, the day before the Berry Wade Jr.'s enumeration.
The recorded area where where Berry Wade Sr.'s 250 taxable acres was located did not include any other Wade land owners. But since it was recorded the day before Littleberry Wade Jr's, the two recording areas must have been in the same vicinity. Moving forward in time from 1782, the land tax records and Hanover County deeds for Littleberry Wade Sr. show:
copyright©2019 Deborah Thurman Parks
Littleberry Wade Jr.
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| 1782 St. Paul's Parish Hanover County VA Land Tax Record, Library of Virginia |
- 1783 - Berry Wade Jr. was taxed for 285 acres
- 1785 - John Carter and Rebecca his wife of St. Paul’s Parish to Littleberry Wade Jr six acres on main run of creek; taxed for 291 acres
- 1787 - Littleberry Wade Jr. was taxed for 291 acres
- 1789 - Littleberry Wade Jnr. Taxed for 291 + 70 (70 acres were "bot" of Alexander Crawford Burnett and wife Elizabeth by deed)
- 1790 - Littleberry Wade Jr. taxed for 291 + 70 acres
- 1791 - Littleberry Wade Jr. taxed for 291 + 70 acres
- 1792 - Littleberry Wade Jr taxed for 361 acres (291 + 70) combining the two tracts by the recorder implies that the lands were adjacent and could be treated as one tract.
- 1793 - Littleberry Wade Jr. taxed for 361 acres
- 1794 - Littleberry Wade Jr. taxed for 361 acres
- 1795 - Littleberry Wade Jr. taxed for 361 acres
- 1796 - Littleberry Wade Jr. taxed for 361 acres
- 1797 - Littleberry Wade Jr. taxed for 361 acres
- 1798 - Littleberry Wade Jr. taxed for 361 acres
- 1799 - tax list missing
- 1800 - Littleberry Wade Jr. taxed for 296 acres (65 acres less than in 1798 - a change in the number of acres must have occurred in 1799 - who received the 65 acres has not been determined)
- 1801 - Littleberry Wade Jr. conveyed 18 acres to James Meredith and was taxed for 278 acres (296 - 18 = 278)
- 1802 - Littleberry Wade Jr. taxed for 278 acres
- 1803 - Littleberry Wade Jr. taxed for 278 acres
- 1804 - no entry for either Littleberry Wade
- 1805 - Littleberry Wade estate: (image below)
- 278 - 92 acres to O. Wade (Oney Wade) = 186
- 186 - 46.5 acres to L. Wade (Littleberry Wade) = 139.5
- 139.5 - 46.5 to J. Wade (John Wade Jr) = 93
- 93 - 46.5 to D. Wade (David Wade) - 46.5
- 46.5 - 46.5 to T. Turner (Thompson Turner) = 0
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| 1805 St. Paul's Parish Hanover County VA land tax record retrieved at Library of Virginia |
Littleberry Wade Jr.'s land estate was divided among five men who were most likely his sons and son in law; Oney Wade, Littleberry Wade, John Wade Jr., David Wade, and Thompson Turner. Also, the land estate distribution doesn't include a wife receiving her dower right which could mean that Littleberry Wade Jr.'s wife had also passed by 1805. And one cannot help but wonder if Thompson Turner was related to Walter Turner of the Littleberry Wade Jr. personal property tax list transcription.
The St. Paul's Parish land tax record for Littleberry Wade Jr. tells a different story than the St. Paul's Parish personal property tax transcription. The personal property tax records indicate that Littleberry Wade Jr. died between 1812 and 1815. Whereas the St. Paul Parish land tax records show that he died about 1804.
The St. Paul's Parish land tax record for Littleberry Wade Jr. tells a different story than the St. Paul's Parish personal property tax transcription. The personal property tax records indicate that Littleberry Wade Jr. died between 1812 and 1815. Whereas the St. Paul Parish land tax records show that he died about 1804.
Littleberry Wade Sr.
The recorded area where where Berry Wade Sr.'s 250 taxable acres was located did not include any other Wade land owners. But since it was recorded the day before Littleberry Wade Jr's, the two recording areas must have been in the same vicinity. Moving forward in time from 1782, the land tax records and Hanover County deeds for Littleberry Wade Sr. show:
- 1782 - In addition to being taxed for 250 acres of land, Littleberry Wade Sr. received from Jeremiah and Easter Wade 241 acres on Matadequin Creek (however, Jeremiah Wade pays the tax on the 241 acres until 1787).
- 1783 - Berry Wade Sr. taxed for 250 acres; Per Hanover County deed, Littleberry Wade and his wife Luranah sold to Alexander Crawford Burnett 152 1/2 acres at the head of Black Creek
- 1784 - Land tax alteration shows that Littleberry Wade Sr. conveyed 152 1/2 acres to Alexander Crawford Burnett. This left LB Wade Sr. with 97 1/2 acres.
- 1787 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 97 1/2 + 241
- 1789 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 97 1/2 + 241
- 1790 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 97 1/2 + 241
- 1791 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 97 1/2 + 241
- 1792 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 97 1/2 + 241
- 1793 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 97 1/2 + 241
- 1794 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 97 1/2 + 241
- 1795 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 97 1/2 + 241
- 1796 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 97 1/2 + 241
- 1797 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 97 1/2 + 241
- 1798 - Littleberry Wade Sr taxed for 97 1/2 acres (241 acres transferred to Robert Wade)
- 1799 - tax list missing
- 1800 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 97 1/2 acres
- 1801 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 97 1/2 acres
- 1802 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 97 1/2 acres
- 1803 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 97 1/2 acres
- 1804 - no entry for either Littleberry Wade
- 1805 - Littleberry Wade Sr. listed with 339 1/2 (a gain of 242 acres from 1803) and transferred 50 acres to H. Wade (Hampton Wade) leaving 289 1/2 taxable acres
- 1806 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1807 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1808 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1809 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1810 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1811 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1812 - Littleberry Wade Sr. taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1813 - Littleberry Wade estate taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1814 - Littleberry Wade estate taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1815 - Littleberry Wade estate taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1816 - Littleberry Wade estate taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1817 - Littleberry Wade estate taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1818 - Littleberry Wade estate taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1819 - Littleberry Wade estate taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1820 - Littleberry Wade estate taxed for 289 1/2 acres
- 1821 - 289 1/2 acres of Littleberry Wade estate transferred to Hampton Wade (image below):
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| 1821 St. Paul's Parish Hanover County VA land tax record retrieved at Library of Virginia |
Interestingly, Hampton Wade was listed as a minor in Littleberry Wade Sr.'s 1783 personal property tax entry. Hampton was most likely a son of Littleberry Wade Sr.
Again, the St. Paul's Parish land tax records for Littleberry Wade Sr. tell a different story than the St. Paul's Parish personal property tax transcription. The personal property tax records indicate that Littleberry Wade Sr. died about 1804. Whereas the St. Paul Parish land tax records show that he died about 1813.
Again, the St. Paul's Parish land tax records for Littleberry Wade Sr. tell a different story than the St. Paul's Parish personal property tax transcription. The personal property tax records indicate that Littleberry Wade Sr. died about 1804. Whereas the St. Paul Parish land tax records show that he died about 1813.
Summary
The existing records of early Hanover County show that oftentimes there were two or more men with the same name, living at the same time. Examples of such names include John White, John Symes, John Priddy, Charles Tyler, and Henry Atkinson just to name a few. To help differentiate the men from one another, the suffixes of Sr. and Jr. were used, as well as identifying initials such as "HT" for someone who lived in Hanover Town. But still, due to a loss of so many defining records during the Civil War, many of these same named men were confused with one another and their historical narratives have been combined over time. Such intertwining is what must have occurred when transcribing the St. Paul's Parish personal tax list information for Littleberry Wade Sr. and Littleberry Wade Jr. The lesson has been learned that the assumption of a Senior dying before a Junior cannot be made. Hopefully, with careful analysis of the records that do remain, researchers can unravel other entanglements to better understand the individual lives of those who came before us.
copyright©2019 Deborah Thurman Parks
