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...

Sisters Edith and Helena Maria White (daughters of Mr. John White and his second wife, Katherine) married brothers, John and Joseph Holt. The double marriage in these two families came to light in the below 1758 Louisa County, Virginia deed where John and Joseph Holt, as husbands of Edith and Helena Maria, signed their permission to lend Katherine Brain (Brane) the real and personal property which their wives inherited from their father's estate, plus a female slave named Lydia. The deed explains that when Katherine's "natural life" ended, the properties would then return to her children. Other signers of the deed include Elisha and William White (brothers to Edith and Helena Maria), Thomas King (husband of sister Tillah White), and Sackville Brewer (husband of sister Martha White).   Louisa County VA DB C pages 72-73 So, who were John and Joseph Holt? And is there evidence that they were brothers? Find out more in the next blog entry .  copyright©2024 Deborah Thurman...