Whence I Came

Catherine Barrett of early James City County has been a perplexing individual to research. Some of the confusion has to do with very early assumed familial connections for her which have been accepted without documentation. So, if you've found yourself looking at the evidence pertaining to Catherine Barrett's life, you too have probably wondered when looking at various online lineages,  "How do they know for sure that was Catherine Barrett?"   Let's look at what we do know of her early life in James City County, Virginia.  What We Can Document 1713 Catherine Barrett's debut into the world of records was on November 13, 1713 when Simon Jeffreys received a 167 acre land patent. Jeffreys acreage was described in the patent as being on the west side of the Chickahominy River in the parish of Wilmington, James City County . Water courses that bounded Jeffreys' acreage included Webbs Run and Tobacco House Run. Adjacent landowners were Thomas Rogers and Catherin...

What was the relationship between John and Joseph Holt who married sisters Helena Maria and Edith White? Three Louisa County deeds help to steer us to the answer.  The three deeds include: July 8, 1758 Louisa County VA DB B page 333-334 Joseph Holt of New Kent County and Joseph Holt Jr. of Louisa County VA ..."give a negro girl named Fanny and all her increase"...witnessed by John Holt and Elisha White  (The witnesses to this deed tell us that the Joseph Holt we've been following in Louisa County is also known as Joseph Holt Jr. The question is, who was Joseph Holt of New Kent County?)  September 25, 1759 Louisa County VA DB B page 333-334 Joseph Holt Sr. of New Kent County and Nicholas Holt of Charles City Co ., "for love and affection... 400 acres in Louisa County on both sides of Treasurer’s Run" (Joseph Holt Sr. appears to be the same Joseph Holt of New Kent County in the previous deed. But who was Nicholas Holt?)   March 26, 1762 Louisa County VA DB C ...