USA > Virginia > Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume I > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
III
COLONIAL COUNCILLORS OF STATE
Taylor now conveys the land to Harmer and wife." Elizabeth, wife of Taylor, also con- veys her right of dower in the land. The wife of William Taylor, or Tayloe, was Elizabeth daughter of Richard Kingsmill, and it is pos- sible that Mrs. Jane Harmer was her mother, as Richard Kingsmill's wife was named Jane.
Yardley, Argall, was a son of Sir George Yardley, governor and councillor of Virginia. The younger Yardley's name is first recorded among those present on Jan. 6, 1639, and on July 6, 1640. On Feb. 26, 1644, proceedings were instituted against "Col. Argall Yardley of the Council," for contempt. He was re- elected a councillor in April, 1652, and ap- pointed justice for Northampton in 1653, and once more elected to the council March 31, 1654-55. Colonel Yardley married Sarah, eldest daughter of John Michael, merchant. Their marriage contract bears the date of Jan. 23, 1640. On March 28, 1656, the gen- eral assembly had ordered the "denization" of "John Michael, stranger," then a resident of Northampton county. A deed is recorded under date of Dec. 28, 1648, from "Argall Yardley, elder son and heir of Sir George Yardley, deceased," to his son Edmund, also a deed from Argall Yardley to Henry and Edmund Yardley, and a deed of gift recorded Aug., 1674, from John Michael, Sr., to his daughter Sarah and her husband, Argall Yardley, and to their children, Argall Yard- ley, Jr., John, Elizabeth and Frances Yardley. According to an inventory of the personal estate of Colonel Argall Yardley, Esq., dated Nov. 13, 1655, he had 41,269 pounds of tobacco, and a tobacco house and two servants in Bar- badoes. He has numerous descendants in Vir- ginia.
Bennett, Richard, governor of Virginia (q. v.).
Digges, Edward, governor of Virginia (q. v.).
Mathews, Samuel, governor of Virginia (q. v.).
Wingate, Roger, was a member of an old Bedfordshire family and the son of Roger Wingate, of Barnend, Bedfordshire. In the year 1637, he was living in London and two years later was appointed by the King treas- urer of Virginia and a member of the council. He came to the colony at once and was pres- ent in council Jan., 1639-40, and subsequently. Wingate probably died in the beginning of the year 1641, as in February of that year, Rich- ard Morrison was appointed to the council in his place. This may, however, have been in the following year as his name is included in the commission of Aug. 9, 1641.
Pettus, Thomas, first appears in the Vir- ginia records as included in the commission to the councillors at the beginning of Berke- ley's administration, Aug. 9, 1641. He prob- ably came to the colony about that time. He was present at meetings as late as 1651, but in this year seems to have lost his seat on the arrival of the parliamentary commissioners. The house of burgesses, however, elected him a councillor in 1652 and reëlected him a num- ber of times afterwards. Upon Berkeley's re- appointment to the governorship at the time of the restoration, in 1660, the King again commissioned Pettus a councillor. Colonel Pettus made his home at "Littletown" on the James river, not far below Jamestown. The date of his death is not known.
Morrison or Moryson, Richard, together with two of his brothers, settled in Virginia during the first half of the seventeenth cen- tury, where they all became men of promi- nence, Francis Morrison serving as governor
II2
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
during Berkeley's absence in England, 1661 and 1662. They were sons of Sir Richard Morrison, M. P., of Tooley Park, Leicester- shire, who had served long in the English army and was made lieutenant-general of ordnance. They were also brothers-in-law of Lucius Cary, Lord Falkland. Our subject, Maj. Richard Morrison, was appointed com- mander of the fort at Point Comfort in 1638 and in Feb., 1641, was appointed member of the council in the place of Roger Wingate, de- ceased. Maj. Morrison's death occurred in or prior to 1656, as in that year Mrs. Winifred Morrison is mentioned as his widow.
Higginson, Humphrey, born in 1607, sail- ed from London for Virginia in the ship "George," in 1635. On Feb. 6, 1637-38, as "Humphrey Higginson, Gentleman," he re- ceived a grant of 700 acres of land called "Tuttey's Neck," adjoining Harop, now Wil- liamsburg, and lying on a branch of Archer's Hope Creek, "that partieth this land from Kingsmell's neck," said land being granted to Elizabeth, "his now wife," by order of the court dated October 4, 1637. Tuttey's Neck is still a well known place near Williamsburg, Virginia, and lies back of the "Kingsmill" estate. On Oct. 18, 1642, "Captain Humphrey Higginson, Esq.," received another grant of 320 acres adjoining Tuttey's Neck. Higgin- son's first official position of which there is any record was that of tobacco inspector in the section of James City county lying between the east side of Archer's Hope and Waram's ponds. On Aug. 9, 1641, he was appointed by the King a member of the council, and was present at the meetings held March, 1642-43, Oct., 1644, and Feb., 1644-45. On April 30, 1652, the burgesses elected him a member of the council, and he was present March 31,
1654-55, but he must have gone to England soon after, for in Dec., 1656, the house of burgesses made the following order : "Whereas Thos. Loving, high sheriff of James City County, by Petition Requested the Opinion of this house whether Coll. Higginson, having been so long absent out of the Country, should enjoy the Privilege of Counsellor by exempt- ing certain persons out of the Levies, it is Resolved that in Respect of his long absence, he being upon no public employment, shall not have any Persons Belonging to him exempted." Besides the grants of land given above, Col. Higginson had two others, a partnership with Abraham Moone for 2,000 acres on the south side of the Potomac, Sept. 20, 1654, and one of "Colonel Humphrey Higginson, of the Council of State, and his son Thomas Hig- ginson," for 800 acres on the south side of Pianketank, in Gloucester county, Sept. 20, 1654. The son probably died within a few years, for he is not mentioned in his father's will. Col. Higginson died at Ratcliffe, in Stepney parish, London, in 1665-1660. He left a brother, Capt. Christopher Higginson. Virginia, who has numerous descendants. See William and Mary Quarterly V, p. 186.
Pawlett or Paulett, Thomas, was born about 1585. In Ang., 1618, he came in the ship "Neptune" to Virginia, where he settled in the present Charles City county, and was a member of the first house of burgesses, assem- bled July 30, 1619. In 1623 he was living at "West Shirley Hundred." He was appointed a commissioner (justice) for Charles City and Henrico counties in Feb., 1631-32, and was a member of the house of burgesses for Westover and Flower de Hundred in Febru- ary of the year following, and again for Charles City in Jan., 1639. He was commis-
113
COLONIAL COUNCILLORS OF STATE
sioned member of the council Aug. 9, 1641, its favor at the time of the colony's surrender and retained his seat as a member of that to the commissioners. Col. George Lud- low was for many years one of the wealthiest and most active merchants in Virginia and took up many thousand acres of land by patent and purchase. Like many of the prominent planters, he was much interested in the intro- duction of silk culture. Col. Ludlow's resi- dence was at the place now known as "Temple Farm," a little below Yorktown and it is possi- ble that the ancient house, still standing in part, in which Cornwallis signed his sur- render, was built by Ludlow. body until his death in 1643. On Jan. 15, 1637, "Captain Thomas Pawlett" received a grant of 2,000 acres of land in Charles City county, at Westover, which was bounded on the south side by the river, east by the land of Capt. Perry, and west by Berkeley Hundred. This land was declared to be due to Capt. Pawlett for the "personal adventure" into the colony of himself and his brother, Chidock Pawlett, and for his transportation of thirty- eight other persons. By his will, dated Jan. 12, 1644, he left Westover to his brother, Sir John Lord Pawlett, then living in Manchester, county Southampton, England.
Wyatt, Sir Francis, governor of Virginia (q. v.).
Ludlow, George, was a descendant of the old and distinguished family of Ludlow of Wiltshire. He was baptized Sept. 15, 1596, and came to America about 1630. His first place of settlement was Massachusetts, where he was made a freeman, but about 1634, he removed to Virginia and settled in the upper county of New Norfolk, receiving there a grant of 500 acres of land. He appears to have been sworn as a member of the council in 1642 and on Aug. I of that year signed the "Declaration against the Company." He was present at the sessions of the council until the overthrow of the royal government in 1652, when he was at once elected to the same office by the house of burgesses, and by them re- elected a number of times. He held his office until his death in 1656. Though he was in- cluded in the commission issued to the coun- cil by Charles II. at Breda, in 1650, his sym- pathies were probably with parliament, and according to one authority declared openly in VIA-8
Freeman, Bridges, was a burgess for Pash- bahay in 1629-30, before which date nothing is known of him. His lands lay on the east side of the Chickahominy river, and in Sept., 1632, he represented Chickahominy in the house of burgesses. In November, 1647, he was again a burgess, this time for James City. It was in the same month that the assembly appointed him collector of public levies at Chickahominy and Sandy Point. He was a member of the council, and present at the board, Sept. 30, 1650, and was reëlected a member, April 30, 1652, and again, as "Colo- nel Bridges Freeman," on March 31, 1654-55. It is probable that for a time lie was adjutant- general of the colony, as "Adjutant Freeman" was present as a councillor, Nov. 6, 1651.
Davenant, Sir William, the famous Eng- lish poet, and the successor to "Rare Ben Johnson" as poet laureate, was appointed to his Majesty's council in Virginia June 3, 1650. During the civil wars in England he had been prominent in the army of King Charles, who knighted him, but on the defeat of the Royal- ists, he took refuge in France and devoted himself to writing under the patronage of Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of the unfor-
114
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
tunate King. When Sir William had com- pieted two books of his heroic poem "Gondi- bert," upon which most of his reputation as a poet rests, the Queen ordered him to go to Virginia to convey to the colony some men skilled in various mechanical arts whom she thought would be useful there. Accompanied by the emigrants, and armed with a commis- sion as councillor, the poet set sail for James- town, but he was destined never to fulfill his charge, for before he was out of sight of the French coast, he was captured by a parliament ship and carried a prisoner to Cowes Castle, where he was kept confined for two years. Here his life was spared partly through the influence of Milton, for whom, in true poetic justice, he was enabled to do a like service later in life. Sir William Davenant never made a second attempt to come to Virginia. After his release from prison he devoted him- self to his literary work until his death, Sept. 7,1658.
Stegg or Stagg, Thomas, merchant of Lon- don, came to the colony in or before 1636, when Gov. Harvey called him one of the "ablest merchants in Virginia." On Jan. 6, 1639, he received a grant of 1,000 acres be- tween "Oldman's and Queen's Creeks," in Charles City county, which became his place of residence. In 1640 he aided Secretary Kemp to escape from the colony without the consent of the governor and council, and for this offence was fined fifty pounds and sen- tenced to be imprisoned during the governor's pleasure. It is probable that the imprison- ment was not of long duration, as lie was a burgess from Charles City county in March, 1642-43. At this session he was speaker of the house, and two years later was justice of the same county. He was included in the
commission of 1650 to the councillors, issued by Charles II. at Breda, but was at that time in England a partisan of parliament. He was appointed one of the parliamentary commis- sioners to subdue Virginia, but the frigate "John," commanded by Capt. Dennis, himself a commissioner, was lost on its way to Vir- ginia in 1652, and Stegg and Dennis perished.
Chiles, Walter, merchant, came to Virginia about 1638 and was granted 400 acres in Chiarles City county. As Lieut .- Col. Walter Chiles, he represented that county in 1642-43 iti the house of burgesses. He subsequently removed to Jamestown Island and was bur- gess for James City county in 1645, 1645- 46 and 1649. He is recorded to have sailed from Rotterdam in his own ship, the "Fame of Virginia," but, reaching Virginia waters, was captured by the "Hopeful Adventure," Capt. Richard Husband, upon pretext that he had no license. The Northampton court ordered Husband to release the vessel, but that bold captain, disregarding the order, calmly sailed away with it to the great anger of the worthy men of Northampton. It happened that when the dispute arising from this inci- dent came up before the assembly for settle- ment, Walter Chiles himself was a candidate for the speakership of that body. Gov. Bennet thereupon sent a note to the burgesses in which, after stating that he did not wish to "intrench upon the right of Assemblies in the free choice of a speaker," pointed out that it would be highly inappropriate to appoint Chiles to any office in a body before which his own case must be tried. The assembly, however, with a sublime disregard of pro- priety and the interference of governors, promptly elected him to the post. Chiles him- self, however, very much to his honor, de-
115
COLONIAL COUNCILLORS OF STATE
clined the honor. He is recorded as being present at a session of the council in 1651. His death occurred about 1652. Through his son Walter, who was a member of the house of burgesses, he is numerously represented in Virginia.
Epes or Eppes, Francis, first styled cap- tain and afterwards lieutenant-colonel, settled before 1625, in what soon became Charles City county. In the same year he was a mem- ber of the house of burgesses, and in Feb., 1631-32, represented in that house "Both Shir- ley Hundreds, the Farrar's and Chaplayne's." He was appointed a commissioner (justice) for Charles City and Henrico counties in 1631, and in 1639 and 1645, was a burgess from Charles City. It was on April 30, 1652, that Epes was elected a member of the council, and he probably died before 1655. On Aug. 26, 1635, he patented 1700 acres of land in Charles City county, on the south side of James river, bounded on the east by Bayly's creek, and on the west by Cosons (Cawson's) creek and the Appomattox river. Some of this land is believed to be owned by his de- scendants. Col. Francis Epes probably mar- ried in England, and the arms borne by his descendants in Virginia are the same as those ascribed in English heraldic works to "Epes, or Epps, of Canterbury, Kent."
Cheesman or Chisman, John, was born in 1595 and came to Virginia in the ship "Flying Hart" in 1621. At a later date, he lived in York county, where he was a justice in 1633, a captain in 1637 and a member of the house of burgesses in March, 1642-43. On April 30, 1652, as "Lieutenant-Colone! John Chees- man," he was elected councillor by the bur- gesses. Cheesman must have returned to Eng- land about 1661, as in that year he was men-
tioned in a power of attorney to Lawrence Smith as of the "parish of St. Mary Magda- lene in Bermondsea, in the County of Surry, merchant." Under this power, Smith, in 1662, Icased for twenty-one years, to Edmund Cheesman, or Chisman, of Poquoson parish, York county, Virginia, brother of said John Cheesman, the councillor, all of that gentle- man's property in York county. Col. John Cheesman died before 1678, as in that year his widow Margaret gave a power of attorney to her "cozen," Thomas Cheesman, in Vir- ginia. Councillor Cheesman's brother, Ed- mund Cheesman, was the father of the Ed- mund Cheesman, who took an active part in Bacon's rebellion and was sentenced to death by Gov. Berkeley, but died in prison. The family is numerously represented in Virginia.
Lunsford, Sir Thomas, son of Thomas Lunsford, of Wilegh, Sussex, England, was born about 1610. Though but little is known of his life in Virginia, and his only memorial there is a stone, his name was once a familiar one in every hamlet in England, and was the object of the most intense hatred and fear to a large part of the English people. He was, according to Clarendon, of a very old family, but of small fortune and without much edu- cation. His youth was wild and he was im- prisoned and fined £9,000, for outrages of a violent kind. He made his escape into France, however, and a sentence of outlawry was pro- nounced against him in England. Upon his return to England, he was pardoned by the King and a large part of his fine remitted. In the following year, 1640, he was given a com- mand against the Scots and distinguished him- self at Newburn in spite of the English de- feat. The King, who seems to have regarded him with favor from the start, now rewarded
116
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
him by appointing him lieutenant of the They were Cols. Philip Honeywood, Main- Tower, an act which at once caused the most waring Hammond, Sir Henry Chicheley and Sir Thomas Lunsford. In Oct., 1650, he re- ceived a patent for 3423 acres of land on the Rappahannock river. When Virginia was threatened with an invasion by the parlia- mentary forces from England, Gov. Berkeley did not overlook so distinguished a soldier as Lunsford, who accordingly appears in a list of councillors present on Nov. 6, 1651, as Sir Thomas Lunsford, lieutenant-general. He of course retired from the council on the colony's surrender to parliament. His death must have occurred about 1653, as there is, in that year, an order among the English records, appointing a guardian for his three daughters. By his third wife, whom he married in Vir- ginia, he had a daughter Catherine, who mar- ried Hon. Ralph Wormeley, Esq., secretary of state, and from this marriage Sir Thomas has many descendants in Virginia. intense excitement all over the country. It was at the time when the struggle between the King and commons was rapidly drawing to a crises, and every royal act was scrutinized with hostile eyes. The placing of a man, whose youth had been anything but exemplary, was seized upon by the excited popular imagi- nation and exaggerated beyond the bounds of reason. He was accused of every crime of oppression, of plotting against the people's and was even believed to be a cannibal who ate children. That Lunsford's sympathies were entirely royalist, that he was a resolute and dangerous enemy of the parliament in the civil . wars, was later abundantly proven, and it seems quite possible that he was even vio- lent towards those who opposed him; but the popular belief was undoubtedly quite with- out foundation, and merely one of those ex- travagances which the heated feelings of such a time give rise to. Lunsford took an active Lee, Richard, who was honored in being the progenitor of the distinguished Lee family of Virginia, was descended from the Coton branch of the Shropshire Lees, one of the old- est families in England, their ancestry being traceable for some 750 years. "Colonel Rich- ard Lee, Secretary of State in Virginia, anno 1659," was described by a descendant as "of good stature, comely visage, an enterprising genius, a sound head, vigorous spirit and gen- erous nature." His first home in Virginia was in York county, where on Aug. 10, 1642, he was granted 1,000 acres of land. There is a tradition to the effect that Col. Lee was accompanied to Virginia by a brother Robert, who also settled in York, but whether or not this is true, or whether the other families of Lee in Virginia were in any way related to the councillor, cannot be proven. The first part in the wars which shook England, and was unusually successful in the field. He was thrice captured and twice released, though on each occasion he resolutely declared his allegi- ance to the King. The manner of his regain- ing his freedom for the third time is not known, but he was at liberty before June 29, 1648, for there is a letter of that date from him to the Prince of Wales. After the execu- tion of the King, Lunsford, like so many of his fellow cavaliers, sought refuge in Virginia, which held out for the royal cause, and on Aug. 7, 1649, he received a pass for himself and family to the new home across the water. Ir. Col. Norwood's account of his own voyage to Virginia, he relates finding at Capt. Worm- ley's, several friends and brother officers who, a short time before, had come from England.
II7
COLONIAL COUNCILLORS OF STATE
mention of Lee as holding a public place is in the official records under date of Feb., 1641, when he was appointed clerk of the council. On Oct. 12, 1643, he was made attorney-gen- eral, in 1646 he was a magistrate for York and the year following represented that county in the house of burgesses. He seems to have moved away from York in or before 1651, a> in that year he was paid for services as a burgess of Northumberland. On Sept. 9, of the same year, he was present in the council as a member. He owned three plantations, one in York county, on the York river, and two in Northumberland on Dividing creeks, where necks of land afford such a good harbor that it is used to this day as a landing place for Baltimore steamers. In addition to these places grants of land in Lancaster, Westmore- land and Gloucester were made to him. He was a staunch Royalist and made many trips to England and on to Holland, the latter for the express purpose of seeing the exciled King, Charles II. According to John Gibbons, Lee intended to end his days in England, and with this in view, employed him, Gibbons, to oversee his estate in the colony. It happens, however, that his will arranges for the dis- posal of his English property and the settle- ment of his children in the colony, "all except Francis if he be pleased," so that it seems probable that Gibbons was in error. This will was executed in London on Feb. 6, 1663-64, while Col. Lee was in England. He must have returned to Virginia shortly after this and died almost upon arrival, as he is men- tioned under date of April 20, 1664, as "Colo- nel Richard Lee Esq., who is now deceased."
Taylor or Tayloe, William, was an early settler in York county. In or before 1640, he purchased from John Utie the estate called
"Utiemaria" in that county, but, it seems, did not long hold it. By a deed dated Dec. 25, 1640, "William Taylor of Utiemaria in the County of Charles River, in Virginia, mer- chant," sold to William Blackley, 100 acres of land which he had bought from John Utie, and on Jan. 7, 1641, he sold to Henry Corbell 1250 acres also purchased from Utie. Col. William Tayloe, as he ultimately became, was a bur- gess for York in March, 1642-43, and Nov., 1647. As Maj. William Taylor, he was pres- ent as a member of the council, Nov. 6, 1651, but lost his seat on the surrender of Virginia to the parliament. He was, however, again elected a councillor, April 30, 1652, and once more on March 31, 1654-55. He had been a justice of York since 1647. Col. Tayloe mar- ried Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Kings- mill, of Virginia, and died without issue. His widow married secondly Nathaniel Bacon. The tomb of Mrs. Elizabeth Bacon, now in St. Paul's Churchyard, Norfolk, bears the Kingsmill and Tayloe arms. Through his nephew, however, Col. William Tayloe, of Richmond county, he has numerous represent- atives in Virginia.
Bernard, William, was born about 1598, and came to the colony in 1625, in the ship "America." He was the son of Francis Ber- nard, Esq., of Kingsthorpe, Northampton- shire, and brother of Sir Robert Bernard, Bart., of Brampton, Huntingdonshire. He settled first in Isle of Wight county and prob- ably continued to make his home there. He was certainly living there in 1639, when the assembly appointed him a tobacco inspector for the district extending from Laune's creek to Casstra (?) creek. The act styles him "Mr. William Barnett." Bernard first appears as a member of the council in March, 1642-43, and
118
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
retained his seat until 1652. The house of burgesses again made him a councillor by suc- cessive elections in April, 1652; March, 1654- 55; March, 1657-58 and April, 1658. He was also present as a member on March 13, 1659- 60. He doubtless remained a councillor until his death, which occurred in or not long be- fore 1662. Col. Bernard took part in the effort to make silk culture a success in Virginia, and int the "Reformed Virginia Silk Worm," pub- lished in 1652, John Ferrar Jr., who puts into rhyme the substance of letters lately received by his sister, Virginia Ferrar, says of him:
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.