USA > Virginia > Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume I > Part 17
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Carter, Edward. Lieut. Col. Edward Car- ter was a burgess for Upper Norfolk in March 1657-58, and again in the following year. He was a councillor in 1659 and seems to have held his seat in the council until 1667, when his name appears as present at a session. He returned, however, to his home "Edmondton," Middlesex county, England, where he died in I682.
Swann, Thomas, of Swann's Point, Surrey, county, son of William Swann of the same
place, was a member of the house of burgesses from James City county, Nov., 1645, and Oct., 1649, and, as Lieut. Col. Thomas Swann, for Surrey, March, 1657-58. He was appointed to the council in 1659 and held that office until his death. He held many civil and military posts in Surry county and seems to have been a very prominent man there. During Bacon's rebellion and the preceding troubles, Col. Swann acted with great moderation. He was opposed to Berkeley's measures and signed the proclamation of April 11, 1676, calling for the election of burgesses to meet in September, but he did not follow Bacon in open opposition to the government, and when Gov. Berkeley re- fused to entertain the three commissioners sent from England to suppress the rebellion, Swann received them at his house at "Swann's Point," opposite Jamestown and all their meetings were held there. In Dec., 1677, the committee of trade and plantations of the English privy council, directed that Col. Swann be recom- mended to Gov. Jeffreys for some reward for his kindness and expense in receiving the com- missioners at his house after Berkeley had refused. His tomb, with crest and epitaph is at Swann's Point and thereon is recorded the day of his death as the sixteenth of September, "in ye year of our Lord God 1680." The good councillor seems to have had an unusual num- ber of wives even for that marrying day and generation, having been wed no less than five times. He had many descendants ; some of them very distinguished.
Whitaker, William, of James City county, was a member of the house of burgesses at the session of Oct., 1649, April, 1652, Nov., 1652, July, 1653, Nov., 1654, Dec., 1656, and March. 1658-59. Soon after the last named session he was appointed to the council, and as "Major
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William Whittaker." his name appears in a to have been one of his favorites, was brought list of members present, Nov. 29, 1659. He died sometime between March 18, 1662, the date of the last grant of land to him, and Oct. 28, 1666, when "Mr. Richards Whittaker" was granted 135 acres in James City county, 100 acres of which had been given him by "Major William Whittaker, his deceased father." He was probably a near relative of Rev. Alex- ander Whitaker. He left numerous descend- ants.
Hammond, Mainwaring, who had been an officer in the royal army during the civil war, came to Virginia early in the year 1650. Col. Henry Norwood, also a cavalier officer, says in his "Voyage to Virginia," that when he landed in York county, Feb. 13, 1650, he found that Capt. Wormeley, of his majesty's council, had "guests at his house feasting and carousing that were lately come from Eng- land," and that most of them were of the writer's "intimate acquaintance." These guests were Sir Thomas Lunsford, Sir Henry Chicheley, Col. Philip Honeywood, afterward Sir Philip, and Col. Hammond. So far as the records show, Col. Hammond held no public office until Gov. Berkeley was restored to power in 1660. Soon after his arrival in Vir- ginia, however, he acquired by patent a large tract of land. On March 15, 1649 (probably 1650) "Manwaring Hammond Esq.," was granted "3,760 acres on York River, on the south side called Fort Royall, 600 acres of which he purchased from Captain Marshall, and the remainder of which was due for the transportation of sixty persons to Virginia." On Nov. II, 1659, as "Col. Mainwaring Ham- mond," he was granted 600 acres adjoining the above. As soon as Sir William Berkeley was reëlected governor, Hammond, who seems
into the public service. At the session of March, 1659-60, the assembly ordered that "Collonell Mannering Hammond, according to the desire of Sir William Berkeley, Kn't., Gov- ernor and Capt. Generall of Virginia, be con- stituted, authorized and made Major General of Virginia." In Oct., 1660, the governor and assembly employed Maj. Gen. Hammond and Col. Guy Molesworth, another distinguish- ed cavalier officer, to go to England and pro- cure from the King pardon for the Vir- ginians for submitting to the parliamentary authority. In their lack of knowledge as to what might be the policy of the restored royal government. this was no act of mere syco- phancy on the part of the colonists, but may have been necessary to secure them from fines or other legal penalties. It was ordered that the two agents should be paid 11,000 pounds of tobacco apiece out of the levies of that year and 11,000 more the next year. It was in 1660 also that Gen. Hammond was ap- pointed to the council, but few references to his services as a member of that body have come down to us. On Feb. 3, 1661, he and Col. Edward Hill sat with the court of Charles City county as itinerant judges, and, on Nov. 6, of the same year, he was present as a councillor. It is likely that he soon after sailed for England and never returned to Vir- ginia. He had a brother in Virginia named Francis Hammond.
Ludwell, Thomas, was son of Thomas Ludwell, of Bruton, in Somersetshire, Eng- land, and Jane Cottington, his wife, daughter of James Cottington and niece of Philip, Lord Cottington. His father was church warden of Bruton and steward of the Sexey Hospital in that town. He was born January 25, 1628-
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1629, and probably came as a boy to Virginia with Sir William Berkeley, his kinsman, in 1642. He probably returned to England and served in the civil wars on the side of Charles I., as still later in a land grant he is styled "lieutenant."
After the deaths of Richard Kemp and Sir Thomas Lunsford, who married Kemp's widow, he acquired his (Kemp's) residence, near Williamsburg, called "Rich Neck," and on the restoration of Charles I., in 1660, was commissioned secretary of state and became a member of the colonial council. In this capac- ity he made frequent reports as to the condi- tion of affairs in Virginia to the secretary of state in England, which speak much for his ability. In 1662 he served as escheator under the treasurer Major Henry Norwood, and in 1663 was one of the commissioners to arrange a cessation of tobacco planting with Maryland, which was, however, balked by Lord Balti- more. In 1673 he was appointed as the suc- cessor of Henry Randolph sole notary public for the colony and was authorized by the gen- eral assembly to appoint deputies in the dif- ferent counties. In 1675 he was appointed one of three commissioners (Colonel Francis Moryson and Major-General Robert Smith being the other two) to proceed to London and seek an abrogation of the patents granted by Charles II. to Henry Bennett Lord Arlington, Thomas Lord Culpeper and other court fav- orites of proprietary rights in Virginia. On their arrival they opened negotiations for a charter incorporating the people of Virginia with a view to a purchase of the patents. the prevention of any new grants of the kind, and the assurance of the Virginians of all their liberties, among which was especially empha- sized the sole right of taxing themselves. Lud- well probably drafted the papers which pre-
sented the views of the commissioners, and in which colonial rights were very fully and ably discussed. The commissioners were at first very successful; a complete charter was granted and passed most of the formalities, but was stopped in the Hamper office by the news of Bacon's rebellion. A new charter was prepared which, though not as full as the first, confirmed the political existence of Virginia as a colony and guaranteed the lands to the peo- ple residing in Virginia and to all actual immigrants. The more extensive of the two objectionable grants was surrendered by Lord Arlington to the King for an annual pen- sion of £600. Ludwell was absent in England o1; this mission, when Bacon's rebellion broke out in Virginia, but returned soon after its close. He did not live long after his return, but died October 1, 1678, and was buried on his estate, "Rich Neck," near the graves of Richard Kemp and Sir Thomas Lunsford. As he never married, his property consisting of this estate and several houses at Jamestown went to his brother Philip, who survived him for many years. In 1674 the parishes of Mid- dletown and Marston were united and named Bruton after the birthplace of Ludwell, the most prominent of the parishioners of Middle- town. This parish included Williamsburg.
Beale, Thomas, was, when we first hear of him, a justice of York county and was styled by the records, "Major Thomas Beale." This was in 1652, and in the same year he deeded land in Gloucester to Robert Todd. He was justice of York again in 1661. On Aug. 25, 1662, Beale had become a member of the council and was present at its sessions in Sept., 1667 and April, 1670, on the latter occasion with the title of "Colonel." By letter of Sept. 30, 1668, his majesty recommended to the gov-
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ernor of Virginia, for the post of "Governor of the fort at Point Comfort," Thomas Beale, of whose, "ability and prudence the King had had long experience." During Bacon's rebel- lion, Col. Beale was one of the signers of the proclamation, dated Aug. 11, 1676, calling the election of burgesses for an assembly to meet Sept. 4. York county records show a deed from "Lient. Col. Thomas Beale" and "Alice his wife." He left a son Capt. Thomas Beale, from whom Gen. R. L. T. Beale, of the con- federate army, was descended. This Capt. Beale married Anne Gooch, daughter of Councillor Major William Gooch.
Corbin, Henry, was a member of an an- cient family in the counties of Stafford and Warwick in England, and the son of Thomas Corbin of Hall End, Warwickshire, and his wife Winifred, daughter of Gawin Grosvenor of Sutton Colfield in the same county. Henry Corbin was born, according to a deposition, about 1629, and came to Virginia in 1654. There is an old family tradition which his resi- dence in England makes probable, that he as- sisted Charles II. in his escape after Wor- cester. Upon his arrival in Virginia, Corbin seems to have at once settled in that part of Lancaster county that is now Middlesex, and to have made his home there through life. Upon June 5, 1657, the governor and council directed that Henry Corbin should be of the quorum in the court of Lancaster. He re- mained a justice of Lancaster until the forma- tion of Middlesex, and then became a member of the court of the new county. He was a burgess from Lancaster in 1659 and 1660, and at the same time was collector of customs for his district. He was a councillor in 1663, in which year he was appointed one of the com- missioners on the part of Virginia to treat
with Maryland with regard to the cessation of tobacco culture. He was frequently present at the meetings of the council until his death, Jan. 8, 1676. Col. Henry Corbin acquired a great landed estate, his chief residence being "Buckingham House" in Middlesex county. He married Alice, daughter of Richard Elton- head, of Eltonhead, Lancashire, and widow of Rowland Burnham of Middlesex, Virginia. The date of this marriage has been given as July 5, 1645, but 1655 is evidently intended. He has many descendants in Virginia and the south.
Smith, Robert. If one may judge by the high military rank attained by Robert Smith in the colony, it seems probable that he had been an officer in the English army before coming to America. The first appearance of his name in the extant records, is as a member of the council in 1663, but it is quite possible that he may have been appointed to that body at the restoration. He soon became a man of prominence and was appointed one of the three major generals in the militia. As "Ma- jor General Robert Smith," he was present in council in March, 1666, and on July 10, of the same year, when an attack from a Dutch fleet was expected. The governor and council ordered Maj. Gen. Robert Smith to demand and seize all ammunition in the hands of any one in the colony. On July 12, he was ap- pointed one of the commissioners on the part of Virginia to treat with Maryland concern- ing the culture of tobacco. He is recorded as being present at meetings of the council as late as 1671, and not long after this, must have been sent to England as the colony's agent, as on July 2, 1673, he is referred to as the agent of Virginia and authorized by the assembly to purchase as many shares as possible in the
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patent for the Northern Neck, which the King had granted. In 1674, he, together with Fran- cis Moryson and Thomas Ludwell, was ap- pointed an agent for Virginia to secure from the King a repeal of his grant of Virginia to Lords Arlington and Culpeper, and a new charter. The charter which they attempted to gain, and which embodied the ideas of the colonists as to their rights, was a splendid document and included among other provis- ions the prophetic stipulation that the Virgin- ians, in common with all Englishmen, should not be taxed without their own consent. Un- fortunately for the efforts of the agents, the news of Bacon's rebellion reached England just as the King seemed ready to sign the charter and served him as an excuse for with- holding it. He withdrew his grant of the colony to the two noblemen, however, so that the colony were much beholden to their agents' efforts. After his return to the colony, he played a prominent part in the suppression of the "plant cutting" insurrection and continued to be present at the meetings of the council until 1683, after which he seems to have visited England. His only daughter Elizabetlı mar- ried Harry Beverley.
Stegg, Thomas, Jr., was a son of the first Thomas Stegg, councillor, a sketch of whose life appears above. The earliest fact men- tioned of the younger Stegg is that he was a justice of the peace of Charles City in 1661. On Nov. 24, 1664, a commission from the King confirming Thomas Stegg's appointment as auditor general was read in court. He was a member of the council in 1666 and died in 1670. His sister, Grace Stegg, was mother of the first William Byrd of Westover.
Bland, Theodorick, the ninth son of John Bland, an eminent merchant of London and
member of the Virginia Company, was born on Jan. 16, 1629. He was a merchant at St. Lucar, Spain, in 1646, at the Canary Islands in 1647-48, and came to Virginia in 1654 as the representative of his father, who had large interests in the colony. He settled at Berke- ley Hundred, Charles City county, and in 1659-60 he represented Henrico in the house of burgesses, of which he was the speaker. By instructions from England, dated Sept. 2, 1662, the act passed by the assembly, imposing two shillings per hogshead on all tobacco from Virginia, was confirmed and "Theodorick Bland, Esq." was appointed collector of the same. A few years later Bland was appointed a member of the council, and was present June 21, 1665, July 10, 1666, and March and April, 1670. On April 17, 1665, Theodorick Bland bought "Westover," Charles City county, an estate of 1,200 acres, for £170 sterling. His grandson, Richard Bland of "Jordan's," who says that his grandfather was "both in fortune and understanding, inferior to no person of his time in the country," also says that he built and gave to the county and parish the church at Westover, "with ten acres of land, a court- house and prison." This may have been so, but it is more likely that he only gave the land. The worthy councillor died on April 23, 1671, and was buried in the chancel of Westover church. The church has long since disappeared but the tomb remains with his arms and the following epitaph :
S. M.
"Prudentis & Eruditi Theodorici Bland Armig. qui obijt Aprilis 23d A. D. 1671 Aetatis 4I Cujus Vidua Maestissima Anna Filia Richard Bennett Armig : hoc Marmor Posuit."
VIR-9
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Theodorick Bland married Anne, daughter of Gov. Richard Bennett. She married sec- ondly, Col. St. Ledger Codd, and died Nov., 1687, at Wharton's Creek, Maryland. He was ancestor of Richard Bland, the great Virginia patriot of 1776.
Cary, Miles, son of John Cary, a merchant of Bristol, England, was born about 1620, and came to Virginia, it is believed, about 1645. He settled in Warwick county and lived at a place called "Magpie Swamp." His landed estate embraced about 2,000 acres, well stocked and having upon it numerous slaves, a store, mill etc. Cary was a collector of customs in March, 1658-59 and in 1663. and as "Col. Miles Cary," he was a member of the house of burgesses from Warwick county in March 1659-60. He was afterwards added to the council and was present at the meetings of that body June 21, 1665, and March 28 and July 10, 1666. He was doubtless still a coun- cillor at the time of his death, June II, 1667. when he is said to have been killed while de- fending the fort at Old Point against the Dutch. Lieut .- Col. Miles Cary married Anne. daughter of Thomas Taylor, a burgess from Warwick county. Many persons in Virginia and the south are descended from him.
Bridger, Joseph, the subject of this sketch, was born in 1628, and in March, 1657-58, he represented Isle of Wight in the house of bur- gesses, as also in 1663. The following year, he was one of the commissioners to decide upon the boundary line between Virginia and Mary- land, and on July 12, 1666, he was one of the commissioners to treat with Maryland upon the subject of tobacco culture, and in the same year he is mentioned as a member of the gen- eral assembly with the title of adjutant general Bridger. In 1670, he was sworn a member of
the council and was present at meetings in 1674. There seems to have been some ques- tion of his eligibility for membership, how- ever, for in a list of the councillors made for the lord of trades and plantations, the name of Joseph Bridger is marked "query," and their lordships stated that they would inquire further into the ability and deserts of Col. Joseph Bridger to be of the council. The King, however, on March 14, 1678-79, directed that Joseph Bridger be continued in the council, and he is mentioned as a councillor as late as 1683. In 1675, Col. Bridger took part in the Indian wars, and in the year following, was described by Nat. Bacon, as one of Berkeley's "wicked and pernicious councillors." During Bacon's rebellion, Gov. Berkeley gave to Col. Bridger the command of "all the country south of James River." In 1680, he was command- er-in-chief of the militia forces raised "so as to be ready for the Indians" in Isle of Wight, Surry, Nansemond and Lower Norfolk. In 1683, Lord Culpeper appointed him his deputy in the office of vice-admiral. Gen. Joseph Bridger died on April 15, 1686. He had ac- quired a very large landed estate in Isle of Wight county besides grants in Surry and James City counties and in Maryland. He has numerous descendants.
Ballard, Thomas, was born in 1630 and came to Virginia in or before 1652, at which date he was clerk of York county. In 1666, he represented James City in the house of bur- gesses and on July 12 of the same year was appointed one of the commissioners to treat with Maryland regarding tobacco culture. Hc was sworn a member of the council in 1670 and was present at sessions in 1670, 1672 and 1675. He was included among Berkeley's "wicked and pernicious councillors" in the
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proclamation of Nat. Bacon in 1676, which seems rather hard upon Ballard, as he was denounced by the opposite party as "a fellow of turbulent and mutinous speech and Bacon's chief trumpet, parasite &c," and ultimately lost his seat in the council on account of his sympathy with and furtherance of the rebel- lion. In Aug., 1676, Col. Ballard issued war- rants for pressing men and provisions for Bacon's service and on Aug. II, he signed the petition calling for the election of burgesses for an assembly to meet Sept. 4, of that year. On June 11, 1677, Gov. Jeffreys wrote Secre- tary Williamson that he had suspended Ballard from the council and a collectorship, and on Feb. 10, 1678-79, the board of trade and plan- tations directed that Col. Ballard be put out of the council. Ballard continued to be a prominent figure in the colony, however, and in 1680, was speaker of the house of burgesses. His case as a creditor of "Bacon the Rebel" was represented to the King by the council in 1686. Ballard's wife, Anna- -, was one of the ladies of the council placed by Bacon upon the breastworks before Jamestown, to delay Berkeley's attack until he could com- plete his defences. He has many descendants.
Chicheley, Sir Henry. Governor of Vir- ginia. (q. v.).
Jenings, Peter, represented Gloucester in the house of burgesses in March, 1659-60, prior to which date, nothing is known of him. He was again a burgess from Gloucester in 1663 and 1666, he was appointed one of the commissioners to treat with Maryland con- cerning the cessation of tobacco culture. He was sworn a member of the council on June 20, 1670, and on September 15 of the same year was commissioned attorney general of Virginia by the King and reappointed to the council. He died in or before 1671.
Spencer, Nicholas. President of the coun- cil and acting governor (q. v.).
Pate, John, of Gloucester county, was the nephew and administrator of Richard Pate who patented 1,154 acres of land on the north side of York river, and who represented Glou- cester in the house of burgesses in 1653 and died in 1657. Col. John Pate was appointed a justice of Gloucester in the year of 1660 and took the oaths as a councillor, according to one account, in 1670, and according to another, on Sept. 27 of the year following. It is re- corded that in 1672, "John Pate, Esq., dying possessed of a considerable estate in this coun- try, and his wife being out of the country, Mr. Thomas Pate, his brother's son," had been appointed administrator. The Pate family is a well known one in Virginia.
Bray, James, of James City county, was living in Virginia as early as 1666, and, on April 15, 1670, was sworn a member of the council. He retained his seat until 1676, when during Bacon's rebellion, he seems to have been an active supporter of Gov. Berkeley. He signed the proclamation of Aug. 11, 1676, calling an assembly to meet in the following September. The commissioners sent to sup- press the rebellion reported, on Dec. 6, 1677, that Mr. James Bray was a great loser in his estate by that uprising, but they were evidently not favorably disposed towards him, for the English board of trade and Plantations, on Dec. 6, 1677, pronounced him to be a "rash and fiery fellow," and, on Feb. 10, 1678-79, the same body directed that he be put out of the council. He was too friendly to Berkeley to suit the tastes of the royal commissioners. His wife, Mistress Angelica Bray, will always be remembered as one of the "guardian angels of the rebel camp," as the ladies whom Bacon stood in front of his men at Jamestown to
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protect them while they were throwing up London, and he was born in England, January fortifications, were called. Her maiden name is not known. Col. Bray was a wealthy mer- chant and ship owner in Virginia. He died Oct. 24, 1691. He had three sons who left issue and a grandson, Col. David Bray, who was also councillor for a few months.
Parke, Daniel, Sr., was descended from the Parke family of Essex, England, some account of which, tracing it back to 1486, is given in Morant's "History of Essex." The coun- cillor's epitaph states that he was of the county of Essex, and his son, in his will, mentions certain plate bearing the arms of his family, "which is that of the county of Essex." Dan- iel Parke Sr. was born about 1629 and settled in York county, Virginia, in or before 1651. He was justice of York in 1655, sheriff in 1659, and a burgess from 1660 to 1670. On June 20, 1670, he was sworn as a member of the council and remained a member of that body until his death, nine years later. On Sept. 30, 1678, Gov. Jeffreys appointed him secretary of state and he held for a time the office of treasurer also. He married Rebecca, widow of "Bartholomew Knipe of Virginia, gentleman," as may be seen from a deed to his stepson, Christopher Knipe, dated 1658. This widow Knipe was a daughter of George Evelyn of Maryland and formerly of God- stone, Surrey, England. He left a son Daniel Parke Jr., who was also a member of the council.
Bacon, Nathaniel, known as "the Rebel," came to Virginia in 1673 and was made a member of the council in 1675. He was a cousin of Lord Francis Bacon and a cousin once removed of Nathaniel Bacon Sr., presi- dent of the council and acting governor (q. v.). His father was Thomas Bacon, a merchant of
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