Whence I Came

To lead men into battle against the well disciplined British Army during the Revolutionary War, it was absolutely necessary to possess strong leadership qualities. It could be argued that the key leadership quality that was needed to inspire men to do brave things was integrity. Men determined if a leader had integrity based upon the choices he made, and if those choices were based upon a strong moral compass. If so, then men believed their leader to be honorable and could trust him in perilous situations to do the right thing.  As we previously reviewed, Governor Patrick Henry felt that Lieutenant White was such a leader of men when he wrote to General Washington and described White in this manner, "I have only to say that I believe him a worthy young man & a good Officer".  Henry also eluded that Lieutenant White was "just" in dueling with Lieutenant Green. In 18th century understanding, this meant that White was honorable and chose to do the right thing. But ...

White is not the only Hanover County surname that I research.  And sometimes, researching multiple surnames can lead to unexpected surprises.  Such was the case while researching my Wade family connection with friend and fellow researcher Sydni Thurmond-Hamill. Sydni has a very lively and well connected Instagram presence.     A great passion of hers is to follow historic architecture and landscapes.  One of her favorite Instagram architectural historians is Gray O'Dell  who one day posted a photo of Quietude , a historic home in Hanover County off McClellan Road.  In the post, O'Dell mentioned Edmond Wade/Waid (herein after Wade) and his possible lineage.  Knowing of my Wade family interest, Sydni excitedly texted me and we were off and running in trying to determine Edmond Wade's ancestors by taking the "follow the land" approach. Sydni began identifying Wade properties that were labeled on various Civil War era maps. Using these old ma...