Whence I Came

Mr. John White of St. Paul's Parish, Hanover County, Virginia had seven children with two different wives. Unfortunately, the name of Mr. John White's first wife is unknown, but she was most likely born about 1675 or earlier based upon the birth year of about 1695 for her son, also named John White. Fortunately, John White b. about 1695 left behind records and YDNA evidence which help us piece together a general outline of his life. Baptism Record for John White b. abt 1695 The St. Peter's Parish, New Kent County Vestry Book includes a baptism record which has been transcribed as: John son of John White baptis. the 30th May 1697 The below image is the actual page from the Vestry Book which was downloaded from Family Search with the John White entry noted by a red star on the left: As you can see, the year is very difficult to read. Do you think it reads 1697? When processing this record, one of the first questions that comes to mind is who was the father, John White?  Alth...

Did John and Elizabeth Burnett of 1695 New Kent County ever live in St. Paul's Parish, Hanover County, Virginia?  Many researchers believe they did.  But where is the evidence for this claim?  Researchers refer to two documents to support the claim that John Burnett of 1695 New Kent lived in early St. Paul's Parish, Hanover County.  Let's take a look at the evidence.   1677 Blisland Parish Grievance In 1677, the Crown sent to Virginia representatives to investigate the state of affairs as a follow up to Bacon's Rebellion the previous year.  When the Crown's representatives arrived, they let it be known that they would receive written grievances that were signed and sworn to by inhabitants.  One such written grievance was submitted by men of Blisland Parish, New Kent County.  The Blisland Grievance was  dated April 2, 1677 and listed a number of  oppressions under Governor  Sir William Berkeley including high taxes, Native Amer...

Why do so many Burnett family researchers focus on connecting John Burnett of New Kent County, son of Richard Burnett of York County, to the St. Paul's Parish, Hanover County Burnetts?   The claim is that John Burnett, son of Richard Burnett and husband of Elizabeth, was living in Blisland Parish, New Kent County and then moved to St. Paul's Parish where he allegedly died about 1706.  As a focused Hanover County researcher, I've found no evidence of John Burnett of New Kent County having lived or died in St. Paul's Parish.  However, there is substantial evidence of a John Burnett and an Elizabeth Burnett that lived in Blisland Parish well into the year 1756.  Perhaps a fresh look at the records needs to be taken. 1695 - John and Elizabeth Burnett of New Kent County, Virginia The record of interest is the below 1695 York County deed involving John Burnett of New Kent County and Daniel Parke Esq. of York County (it is not clear at this time if this was the grandfa...

Since we now know the Green Community was located along the Chickahominy River loosely bounded by Beaverdam and Powhite Creeks, we should be able to find the general location of the Yellow Community.   If we look at the below table which shows the St. Paul's Parish procession precinct information for Mr. John White's lands, we can see from the precinct numbering pattern from 1711 to 1719, that the Green and Yellow Communities were adjacent or very near to one another.  And since there is no known record for how Mr. John White obtained land in the Green Community or a description of the land, the key to narrowing in on a more specific location is the available property information for the other landowners listed in the precinct processions. Neighboring  Land Owners As mentioned in a previous entry , the early neighboring land owners for Mr. John White's property in the Yellow Community were  T hurmond/Thurman, Jerrard/Garrett, Trotman, Woody, Howard, M...

1701 Map of Virginia Counties (Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624) New Kent County - St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Parishes To establish a base for the analysis of John White in St. Paul’s Parish, it was first necessary to review the records of St. Peter’s Parish and New Kent County.   In 1704, St. Peter’s Parish was divided creating St. Paul’s Parish in the western lands.   Both parishes comprised the western portion of New Kent County until 1720 when Hanover County was formed [1] .   There are a few records from this time period when both parishes were part of New Kent County that help provide a base for understanding Mr. John White of early St. Paul’s Parish.   The records that have survived are listed below, in chronological order: Date Source Record March 8, 1675 Minutes of Council and General Court of Virginia [2] “Upon petition of Thomas Hancock it is ordered that he secure soe much of the estate ...

Many conflicting genealogies exist involving the John Whites of St. Paul’s Parish, Hanover County, Virginia.   These clashing White family histories have formed an entangled web on the internet.   And during my several years of researching these Whites, I viewed this web as a snare to be avoided.   Without the aid of straight forward wills or Bible records, the John White connections of St. Paul’s Parish seemed lost in history.    R ecently, I had an awakening.   I could no longer continue to ignore the John White quagmire.   I had to sort the John Whites of St. Paul’s Parish out for my own peace of mind.   Why?   Because YDNA tells me that I am a relative to the descendants of these John Whites, although we have different surnames.   With the necessary grit, I began an investigation of the precincts where John White was listed as a land owner.   The land proceedings of the St. Paul’s Vestry Record proved allowed me to see t...