Showing posts with label ancestors in Jamestown 1600's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ancestors in Jamestown 1600's. Show all posts

Sunday, May 7, 2023

Wash Tubs and Potato Holes-A Genealogy Story

Two of the more prolific(meaning producing many descendants)early settlers in the British Colony of Virginia was the married couple John Woodson and Sarah Winston Woodson.  
Sarah Winston was born in Devonshire, England circa 1590 and John Woodson was born circa 1586 also in Devonshire, England.  John matriculated from St. John's College of Oxford  in March of 1604 at the age of 18 and was set to practice medicine.  Now remember that the science of medicine is nothing like it is today.  The 4 Humors and blood letting was the height of medicinal learning at that time. 8-)

Sometime before 1619 John Woodson and Sarah Winston wed in England. 


John and Sarah then sailed to the Jamestowne Colony onboard the "George" along with Sir George Yeardley who was chosen to govern the colony after then Virginia Colony Governor Dale had returned to England in 1618. The "George" sail 29 January 1619 and arrived at Jamestowne in April of 1619.  John Woodson was asked to go to Jamestowne by the powers that be of the Virginia Company of London to doctor the soldiers and colonists.

So the Woodson couple was in Jamestowne or in one of the surrounding "Hundreds" during the 1622 Massacre but both survived that incident.
John Woodson prospered in his occupation trying to keep the colonists and soldiers alive.  They were to have two sons, John Woodson, Jr. in 1632 and Robert Woodson in 1634.  Both children were born at Flowerdew Hundred(a Hundred is a designation like a Shire(back in England)or a County which it was said came from the time of the Normans in England to denote an administrative district in which 100 soldiers could be commanded from hence the need arise.  Later these large acreages were called Plantations.  
Gov. George Yeardley named this Hundred after his wife's wealthy father, Anthony Flowerdew of Norfolk, England.(George also named another Hundred after his wife's mother, Martha, who's maiden name was Stanley, thus Stanley Hundred.) 

 The 1622 Massacre saw only 6 people killed in Flowerdew Hundred.  Other Hundreds were not so lucky, Henricus, Martin and Smith Hundred saw few colonists survive or all killed and were abandoned.  All told the surprise attack of 1622 saw about 400 colonists killed(a third of the English population in Virginia at that time)and 20 women were kidnapped, who then lived and worked for the Natives until which time as they either died or were ransomed.


Going back in time a bit to explain what was going on by 1622........
The Native American Chief who became known as Powhatan died in 1618.  Powhatan was not his name.  It was Wahunsoacock or some variation of that spelling(actually native peoples had many different names but that's a story for another time).  He was supreme chief(also called a Weroance-an Algonquin word for leader)of about 30 different indigenous tribes in that area of Virginia by the time the English landed in 1607.  The English not understanding Indigenous Indian society called Wahunsoacock "Powhatan".  The Colonists and the Algonquin Indian Confederation under Powhatan lived fairly peacefully together(often called the "Peace of Pocahontas" time)and at times the colonists assaulted various Indian tribes in the Confederation to which there were repercussions.


There were 3 Anglo-Powhatan Wars-the first lasted from 1609 to 1614.  By 1618 Powhatan was dead and his younger brother, Opechancanough(Algonquin for "He Who's Soul is White")became paramount chief.  This chief was known as a fierce warrior and was opposed to the English being in the area.
I guess he saw what lay ahead if the colony prospered and started expanding.  This European concept of "owning" land was a foreign idea to the Indigenous peoples of the New World making Opechancanough no friend of the white man .  He was in charge and instigated the Massacre of 1622.  The white man called him "Chief Eagle Plume".

Between the events of 1622 and 1644 the colonists had built better fortifications around Jamestowne so invading the town and the peninsula it was on was difficult but all the Hundreds were vulnerable to the Native Indians as the colonists spread out from Jamestowne proper.

Here's a YouTube video to explain all this more....


In 1644 John and Sarah Woodson, along with their two sons, were living in Flowerdew Hundred when Opechancanough orchestrated his last major effort to eject the English colonists from the continent with the Third Anglo-Powhatan War.  This was a surprise attack on the settlements on April, 18, 1644.  On that fateful day, John then 10 years and Robert then 8 years would have been out in the fields tending to the tobacco crop except that a neighbor and shoemaker, Thomas Ligon, was there to measure to make footwear for the family(or so the oral tradition within the family goes).  Suddenly as Dr. John Woodson approached home after a house call to see to a sick patient, Natives set upon him and killed him as he rode on his horse toward home.  Sarah saw what was happening outside and bolted the door, grabbing a wash tub and covering John with it and shoving Robert into a rudimentary root cellar under the floor, telling them to remain silent.  Thomas Ligon grabbed the family musket over the mantle and took aim at the attackers, picking some off as Sarah dumped a pot of scalding water on others, built a smoky fire to keep anyone from coming down the chimney too.  When the natives retreated 7 were left dead near the home as well as Sarah's husband, John Woodson.


The Woodson musket is in the hands of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond, Virginia.  It was an English Long Fowler"-meant for bird hunting or small game.  It's the top firearm in the photo above.

That's one version of the story.  In other's Thomas was a neighbor and heard the commotion nearby and rushed to help Sarah and her boys.  We just know that from then on the Woodsons and the Ligons had a familial connection.
And the two Woodson boys John and Robert, were known as "Tub" or "Washtub" and "Potato Hole" from then on.  
Sarah Winston and Dr. John Woodson are my 10 x Great Grandparents an the younger son, Robert "Potato Hole" is my 9th GGrandfather.


Interestingly enough I am also a descendant of Opechancanough.  He is my 11th Great Grandfather if this research is accurate.

These two lines converge at ancestor Mary Burks Woodson.  Opechan Nicketti Mangopeesomon, so far as my research goes at the moment is my 10 x GGmother.  She had children with an Anglo trader named John Rice(or Rees spelling)Hughes.  Some link her to a Dodson man but the records in Charles County list John Hughes and among their children a Mary Elizabeth Hughes. I am at most 1/1000% native American.(1/1034 to be exact from this one pair of 11th GGrands(Nicketti Powhatan's parents)but there may be other bits too so I am going with 1/1000th% for now).  Through Openchancanough I have a teensy bit of Youghtanund and Pamunkey tribe in me even if it's not enough to show up in a DNA test. ;-)
If your family lines go far enough back in colonial Virginia you are almost guaranteed to have an ancestral connection(either direct, cousinry or through marriage)to a native American.


Sluggy

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Sunday, February 19, 2017

I Finally Found One!


I have known since I was a small child that my maternal side, my mother's families, have deep roots in Virginian soil.
At least the last 5 generations had been born and raised in Virginia.  That was a fact passed down orally in the family.

Seems nobody in my mother's families nor her cousins had the genealogy bug.  Sure, there were "stories" that got passed down but nobody had any proof of anything, nor seemed interested in proving the stories were fact.

But little did I know beyond those generations how deep my maternal family trees had been planted in American soil until I began this genealogy quest in earnest.

I quickly was able to dive back into history 200 hundred+ years.
Progress slowed once I got back into the 18th century however.

By year three of digging I had compiled a list of my immigrant ancestral lines that all arrived in the 17th century(pre-1700).  Jamestown was founded in 1607 so all these ancestors arrived within the first 100 years of the English occupation of the New World.

These are my earliest ancestor lines in my direct descent for each surname with the date of, or at least an approximation if records haven't pinpointed, their entry year to America.

Now these are only those ancestral surnames that arrived in Virginia.  I do have some other early arrivals(pre-1700) in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts too. I also have a handful of 18th century arrivals too.


ALLEN-1635 to Virginia Colony
ASTON-1628 to Jamestown/Virginia Colony *
BANNISTER-1635 to Jamestown
BATHURST-1680 to Virginia Colony
BOWMAN-1666 to Virginia Colony
BURTON-1624 to Jamestown
CHAPPELL-1635 to Jamestown
CLEIBORNE-1635 to Virginia Colony
CRIPPS-1664 to Virginia colony
DICKSON/DIXON-bef. 1688 to Virginia Colony
DUDLEY-1637 to Virginia Colony
DUKE-1638 to Virginia Colony
FLIPPEN-bef. 1699 to Virginia
FOSTER-bef. 1675 to Virginia Colony
FOSTER or FORESTER-1648 to Virginia Colony
GARNETT-1610 to Jamestown *
GAYNEY-1622 to Jamestown/Virginia Colony
GREVILLE-1620 to Jamestown *
HARRISON-1632 to Jamestown/Virginia Colony *
HAYES-1637 to Jamestown
HOLLOWAY-bef. 1635 to Jamestown
HOSKINS-1624 to Jamestown *
HUDSON-1635 to Jamestown
HUNT-1635 to Jamestown/Virginia Colony
MASON-1613 to Jamestown/Virginia Colony *
MATHEWS-1622 to Jamestown *
MEADOR-bef. 1635 to Virginia Colony
MERIWETHER-1652 to Virginia Colony *
MILLS or MYHILL-bef. 1647 to Virginia Colony
MOULSON-1663 to Virginia Colony
PUCKETT-1665 to Virginia Colony
RAGSDALE-bef. 1644 to Virginia Colony
RUDD-1698 to Virginia Colony
SEWELL or SEAWELL-1637 to Virginia Colony *
SHEPPY/SHIPPY-bef. 1633 to Virginia Colony *
SNEAD-1635 to Jamestown
STITH-1656 to Virginia Colony *
STRINGER-Before 1644 to Virginia Colony
TAVERNER-1618 to Jamestown
VASSER-1635 to Jamestown/Virginia Colony
WADE/WAAD-1655 to Virginia Colony *
WHITE-1651 to Virginia Colony
WOMACK-before 1655, no port listed but settled in Henrico County(Richmond area)


The Jamestowne Society(a private genealogical society for people with ancestors who were early settlers to Virginia)has a list of criteria it uses to see whether your direct ancestor qualifies you for membership in this "club".

As far as my list above goes all the surnames with astericks are currently qualifying ancestors.  Ten ancestors, whom, if I wanted to spent the time and money on gathering records for, would gain me membership in that club.

Though I've got lots of direct ancestors who came to Virginia very early on in it's settlement by the English I had yet to find one of the original 105 settlers who made the voyage on the first fleet of three ships in 1607 to the shores of the new world.

Until now......


Meet my 3rd Cousin, 13 x removed, George Percy.
George's 2 x Great Grandfather was Richard Neville, 2nd Baron of Latimer.
Richard was also my 15 x Great Grandfather, so our common ancestor.

Born the youngest son to Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland and Lady Catherine Neville he had to make his own way in life due to primogeniture inheritance laws in England.

A graduate of Oxford he made the military his vocation.  He served in Ireland and fought in the Dutch struggle for independence from Spain in the early 1600's.
He was also interested in the world of exploration as it was an exciting time as England tried to play catch up in this arena in the first decade of the 17th century.
He bought shares in the Virginia Company and signed on to venture to the New World in 1607, embarking onto the flagship, Susan Constant, piloted by Christopher Newport.

George Percy was there during the infamous "Starving Time" in the Winter of 1609-1610 and survived.  He kept journals of his experiences during his time in Jamestown which were published.
You can read excerpts from his journals HERE .

George Percy left Jamestown 22 April 1612 to return the England due to ill health and I suspect the tenuousness of life in the colony then.
He sold his Virginia Company shares in 1620 and went back into military service serving for the Dutch forces in their war against Spain.  There is debate on where he died and when, those most seen to think he died around 1627 somewhere in the Netherlands area.

He did marry while in Jamestown to Anne Floyd, and they had a daughter, Anne Percy, who married John West, a subsequent Governor of Jamestown.
Incidentally, John West is also my 6th cousin 13 x removed, through our common ancestor of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick.

You will notice that in the portrait of George Percy he is missing part of his middle finger on his left hand.  The story goes that he lost it during one of the battles in the Low Countries against the Spanish.

So the digging continues and I hope to unearth more ancestral connections to explore.

Sluggy
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Wednesday, February 24, 2016

What's Going on Here

First off a storm came through yesterday.  We were on the northern edge of this weather event and supposedly we were on the rain side of this front.
But no one seems to have told the wet stuff it was suppose to be rain. lolz


No worries though as it all melted as the temps rose later in the day and now on Wednesday we are getting more rain and it's suppose to approach the 60F degree mark.

Did anyone watch "Finding Your Roots" last night on their local PBS station?

It was interesting at least to me that Neil Patrick Harris' (I don't recall how many X Great Grandfather)ancestor William Ferrar probably knew my 11 x Great Grandmother, Elizabeth Powell.
They both survived the voyage to Jamestown in 1618 on The Neptune.  Also on board The Neptune on that voyage was the 1st Governor of Virginia, Thomas West, 12th Baron of De La Warr.  Lord De La Warr died during the crossing some where off the coast of Newfoundland and his body continued on to be buried by his wife, Cecily Shirley West, in the Virginia Colony.
Without the arrival of Lord De La Warr in 1610 with supplies to save the floundering Virginia Colony in the year after "The Starving Time" it is doubtful if the colony would have survived and the founding of English history this continent would have been quite different.
But I digress.......

           What the Neptune would have looked like.

Having only hundreds of people in Jamestowne at that time, I am sure my ancestors and Neil's ancestors  knew each other, if only as neighbors and fellow members of that early society in Jamestown.

And also fascinating is that Mr. Harris' William Ferrar's future wife, Cecily Jordan, came to Virginia on "The Swan" in 1610, and  my 11x GG Thomas Garnett(Elizabeth Powell's future husband)also came over on that same voyage.
Small small world.

So both my ancestors were on board ship with both Neil Patrick Harris' ancestors.  Had fate been tempted otherwise, these people could have married other than how they did and perhaps Doogie Howser and I would be directly related or I'd be a bigtime celebrity instead of him.  ;-)

It's interesting though that Elizabeth Powell and her husband Thomas Garnett(my 11x GGs)are not listed among qualifying ancestors for admittance into the Jamestowne Society even though they each arrived in the colony in 1618 and 1610 respectively and were alive and listed in the 1624/25 Jamestowne Muster, effectively the first English census taken in America.
I guess no one has taken upon themselves trying to qualify them as gateway ancestors for this organization.  Their daughter Susan Garnett's spouse, Thomas Foster, however have been used and proved though.
Whatever.
I just find it interesting that most of us seem to be interconnected if you go far enough back into time.

And in Exciting News--

A big truck came to the house and dropped all this stuff off in the living room.....


And in the den.......


Yes, we are now officially living in a construction zone.  ;-)
Thankfully we can still get to the tv and the chairs. lol

This is the only photo I could really get that really shows something that will be going into the new bathroom........


Construction meeting still to come and then they start.

I.
Can't.
Wait.

Sluggy
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