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2, 1647. In 1663 he went abroad with Sir Philip Skippon and others. He owned lands in England of the yearly value of £150 ster- ling, but on his marriage with Elizabeth Duke, daughter of Sir Edward Duke, of Benhill Lodge, near Saxmundham, he sold his lands to Sir Robert Jason for £1,200 and removed to Virginia. He purchased a plantation at "Curls," in Henrico county, called "Longfield," and had a quarter at the falls of the river where Richmond now stands. The colony was in a state of unrest, owing to high taxes and many corruptions in the public offices ; and a sudden irruption on the frontiers of the In- dians, which Governor Berkeley was slow in repressing, fanned the smouldering embers into flames. Urged by his neighbors, Bacon asked Berkeley for a commission to go out against the Indians, which he refused, and Bacon went out without one. Berkeley then proclaimed him a rebel, and out of this arose a civil war in which Bacon supported by the great majority of the people possessed himself of the main authority and drove Berkeley to seek refuge at "Arlington" on the eastern shore with Major-General John Custis. James- town was burned, and many estates were pillaged by both factions.
At length Bacon, through his exposures, contracted a dysentery, and the rebellion vir- tually came to an end through his death in Gloucester county at Major Pate's place, on Poropotank Creek, October 26, 1676. He left two daughters, one of whom Elizabeth, born April 12, 1674, married Hugh Chamberlain, physician to the King. Bacon's widow, Eliza- beth Duke, married (second) Thomas Jarvis, a ship captain, who had 200 acres at Hampton, and after his death she married Edward Mole. In 1698 William Randolph patented "Long-
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field" and the slashes adjoining which had escheated to the King from Bacon because of his rebellion, and these lands descended to William Randolph's son, Richard Randolph, who was known as Richard Randolph, of "Curls." Bacon's rebellion is the most spec- tacular episode in all colonial history, and its leader will always be an interesting historical figure. He had good looks, a commanding manner, and remarkable eloquence, which made him the idol of his followers.
Bowler, Thomas, of Rappahannock county, was a merchant and appears in the records of Rappahannock county in 1663, and on Sept. 29, of the year following, "Mr. Thomas Bow- ler" was appointed a justice of Rappahannock county and took the usual oath. He was sworn a member of the council, Oct. 9, 1675 and died in 1679. He left many descendants in Virginia.
Cole, William, of "Bolthorpe," Warwick county, Virginia, was born in 1638. His first appearance in public life, so far as the records show, was on March 1, 1674-75, when he was appointed a member of the council, an office he held until his death. He was one of the persons denounced by Bacon in 1676, as one of Berkeley's evil advisers, and, of course, the commissioners sent to suppress Bacon's re- bellion described him as "a very honest gentle- man" and a member of the council who was all along constant to the governor and with him in all his troubles. In Oct., 1689, the presi- dent and council of Virginia wrote to England that on the death of the secretary, Spencer, in September, they had had appointed Col. Wil- liam Cole to be secretary of the state of Vir- ginia, and begged royal confirmation. This was given by commission, dated Jan. 17, 1690, and in it Cole is spoken of as a person of "known
integrity and ability to execute the office." On Aug. 1, 1690, he wrote to Lord Nottingham, thanking him for the appointment. He did not hold the office long, however, for on April 15, 1692, he stated in a petition to Gov. Nich- olson, that he had been one of the council of Virginia for about seventeen years, and had been appointed secretary of state; that lately he had become much "decayed" in body and strength, and by reason of a deep melancholy that had seized him, he found himself daily growing worse, and that he was "desirous to live a retired life and to serve God Almighty the small remainder of the time he had to live," and so prayed that a secretary might be appointed, and that he, the petitioner, might obtain his majesty's discharge. The request was granted. Councillor Cole died, March 4, 1694. His tomb, with his arms and an epitaph remains at his former seat, Bolthorpe, War- wick county. He is represented by many de- scendants in Virginia.
Place, Rowland, was living in Virginia as early as 1671, when he owned land in Charles City and near the falls of James river in Hen- rico county. It was on Oct. 9, 1675, that he was first sworn to the council and he continued to serve for several years. He was present as a member in March, 1678, but soon after- wards went to England, evidently with the intention of only making a visit there, though he afterwards seems to have changed his mind, for he never after returned to Virginia. Wil- liam Sherwood, writing to Secretary William- son, July 1, 1678, says that his. letter will be carried by "Col. Rowland Place, a member of the council," who can give "an ample account of matters in Virginia," and, on July 10, 1678, Gov. Lord Culpeper wrote a letter which he stated he would confide to Col. Place, who had
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been an eye witness of many of the events of chief interest which had lately occurred in the colony. On Dec. 13, 1678, Francis Moryson wrote to William Blathwayt that he had "ad- vice" that Col. Place had lately arrived in England from Virginia, and that the colonel was "one of the Council and a very honest gentleman." On March 14, 1678-79, the King directed that Place should be continued in the council, but on May 20 Capt. Rudge, of the ship "'Hopewell' just come from Virginia," appeared before the committee of trade and plantations, and stated, among other things, that the Indians had recently killed several people and totally ruined the plantation of Col. Place, who was in England. Perhaps it was this news that caused Place to linger abroad. He was included in the commission of councillors under Lord Culpeper, read on May 10, 1680, but still did not return to Vir- ginia, and on Dec. 12, 1681, Gov. Culpeper wrote that he had appointed a councillor "in the room of Col. Rowland Place," who was "living in England." He was the son of Francis Place, the celebrated painter of York, and Ann Williamson, his wife. He married Priscilla, daughter of Sir John Brookes, of Norton, county York, baronet. He was born 1642 and died 1713 (see "Familia Minorum Gentium," vol. iii, p. 921).
Lee, Richard, Jr., was the second son of Richard Lee, the immigrant, and Anna, his wife, and the eldest son to leave male descend- ants in Virginia. He was born in 1647, proba- bly at "Paradise," in Gloucester county, but afterwards went to Westmoreland and made his home at "Mount Pleasant," on the Po- tomac river. He was sent to England to be educated and became a student at Oxford. One of his grandsons wrote of him that "he was so clever that some great men offered to
promote him to the highest dignities in the Church if his father would let him stay in England; but this offer was refused, as the old Gentleman was determined to fix all his children in Virginia. *
* Richard spent almost his whole life in study, and usually wrote his notes in Greek, Hebrew or Latin * * so that he neither diminished nor
improved his paternal estate. * * * He was of the Council in Virginia and also other offices of honor and profit, though they yielded little to him." In the proclamation made by "Nat Bacon," the rebel, concerning the griev- ances of "ye Commonality" against the royal- ist, Gov. Berkeley, Richard Lee is mentioned as one of the governor's "wicked and per- nicious councell" who were commanded to surrender or be seized as "Trayters to ye King and Country." The official report to the Eng- lish government regarding those who had suf- fered by Bacon's rebellion, made in March, 1677-78. described "Major Richard Lee" as "a Loyall. Discreet Person worthy of the Place to which hee was lately advanced of being one of his Majesties Council in Virginia." The second Richard Lee was a burgess in 1677 and perhaps earlier. He was a councillor in 1676, 1680-83, 1688, 1692-98 and possibly later. In 1691, out of a scruple of conscience arising from his attachment to the Stuarts and refusal to acknowledge the claim of William and Mary to the crown, Richard Lee, together with Isaac Allerton and John Armistead, refused to take the oaths, and he was therefore dropped from the council. In the following year, how- ever, his name again appears on the records as a member of that body. According to a list of colonial officers, dated June 8, 1699, "Richard Lee, Esqr.," had been appointed by "Sir Edm. : Andros, Governor, &c., to be naval Officer and Receiver of Virginia Dutys for
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the River Potomac, in which is included Westmoreland, Northumberland and Stafford Counties." In 1685 he was spoken of as "Coll. Richard Lee, of the horse in ye Coun- ties of Westmoreland, Northumberland and Stafford." It was probably sometime in the year 1674 that Col. Lee married Laetitia, eld- est daughter of Henry and Alice ( Eltonhead ) Corbin. She was buried beside him in the family burying ground at "Mt. Pleasant," beneath a white marble tombstone bearing an elaborate Latin inscription. Col. Lee died on March 12, 1714.
Warner, Augustine, Jr., of Warner Hall, Gloucester county, son of Col. Augustine War- ner, of the same place, and member of the council, was born, according to his epitaphı, on July 3, 1642, but, according to the register of Merchant Taylor's School, London, on Oct. 20, 1643. His name appears on the books of that school as "eldest son of Agustine Warner of Virginia, gentleman." Warner was the speaker of the house of burgesses at the ses- sions of March, 1675-76, and Feb., 1776-77, and soon after the latter date must have been appointed to the council, for his name appears in a list of members presented to the lords of trade and plantations late in 1677, and was endorsed by them with the word "stet." On March 14, 1678-79, the King directed that he be continued a member of the council, and in a new commission, read May 10, 1680, his name appears as "Col. Augustine Warner." In this year he commanded the militia of Gloucester county. Col. Warner suffered great loss during Bacon's rebellion. The com- missioners sent to suppress the uprising de- clared that "Col. Augustine Warner, Speaker of the House of Burgesses in the late Assem- bly, and now sworn as one of his Majesty's Council in Virginia," was "an honest, worthy
person, and most loyal sufferer by the late rebels." that he was "plundered as much as any, and yet speaks as little of his losses, though they were very great." But the colonel did speak, and spoke with effect in regard to his losses. On June 27, 1678, he presented a petition to Thomas Ludwell, the president of the council, praying for a judgment against Capt. William Byrd, against whom he had brought his action in the general court for £1,000 sterling and costs of suit, for "forcibly entering his dwelling house in Abbington Parish, Gloucester, and taking goods and mer- chandise to the value of 845.2." Col. Augus- tine Warner Jr. married, about 1665, Mildred, daughter of Col. George Reade, of Gloucester, himself a councillor, and formerly deputy sec- retary of state. He died June 19, 1681, and his tomb may still be seen at "Warner Hall."
Leigh, Francis, as "Major Francis Leigh," was included under the great seal for a court ot oyer and terminer in Virginia on Nov. 16, 1676, and on March 14, 1678-79, the King directed that he be continued in the council. Upon May 10, 1680, he was included in the commission of councillors under Culpeper. Nothing further is known of him, but he was doubtless ancestor of the family of Leigh in King and Queen county.
Custis, John, a son of John and Jeane Custis, of Accomac, Va., and formerly of Rotterdam, Holland, was born in 1630. He was sheriff of Accomac in 1664, and in 1676 he was appointed major-general of Virginia militia, and played an active part in the sup- port of Gov. Berkeley during Bacon's rebellion. The commissioners, sent from England to sup- press the rebellion, spoke in terms of the high- est commendation of him. He was a member of the house of burgesses in 1677. but appears
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to have been immediately afterwards appointed to the council, as he was present at meetings of that body from 1677 to 1683. At this later date his health became very bad and he was unable to attend for sometime. His illness, indeed, was so serious and long continued that in England he was reported dead and his name left out of the commission to the councillors of 1685. He therefore prepared a petition setting forth his various services to the colony and praying to be restored to the council, which was forthwith done. He continued active up to 1690, but, his health again failing, he prepared, two years later, another petition asking to be relieved of all his public offices. This was also granted and the few remaining years of his life he spent in retirement at "Ar- lington," his house in the present Northamp- ten county. He died on the 9th of Jan., 1696, according to the inscription on his tomb at "Arlington."
Meese, Henry, as "Colonel Henry Meese," received a grant of 2,000 acres of land in Staf- ford county on June 7, 1666, and, as "Lieut. Col. Henry Meese," he was, in the year fol- lowing, a member of the Northern Neck com- mittee. On March 14, 1678-79, the King ordered that Meese be added to the council, and his commission was dated May 10, 1680, but on Dec. 12, 1681, Lord Culpeper wrote that he had appointed a councillor in the place of Col. Henry Meese, who was living in Eng- land. It appears from the letters of William Fitzhugh that his wife survived him and made England her home. There is some reason to believe that he left a daughter Grace, who mar- ried Charles Ashton, of Northumberland county, Virginia, ancestor of the well-known family of that name.
Page, John, the progenitor of the Page family of Virginia, was a member of the Eng-
lish house of that name, a branch of "the Pages of Harrow on the Hill" of Middlesex, England. He was born in 1627 and came to Virginia about 1650. Of the earlier years of his life in Virginia, save that he acquired a considerable tract of land given in reward for services in transporting persons into the colony, very little is known, but 1657 he represented York county in the house of burgesses. The commissioners to suppress Bacon's rebellion reported that "Major John Page was a great loser in his estate by the rebellion." On Dec. 12, 1681, Lord Culpeper wrote to the authorities in England that he liad appointed "Colonel John Page of the As- sembly to be councillor." He was present at meetings of the council as late as 1689. In 1686 he was appointed, together with Nicholas Spencer and Philip Ludwell to revise and annotate the laws of the colony. On Oct. 15, 1691, the privy council in England ordered that Col. John Page, who had been thought to be dead, and for that reason omitted from the last nomination of members of the council, should be "restored to his place and presi- dency in the said Council of Virginia." Col. Page was a man of pious life and took a great interest in the welfare of his parish. It was he who gave the land and twenty pounds in money towards. building the old Williamsburg church, which is still in a good state of preser- vation. A fine collection of portraits, repre- senting members of this family, including Col. John Page, is to be seen in the library of Wil- liam and Mary College.
Beverley, Robert, was a descendant of an old English family of Yorkshire, which had bcen staunch in its support of the King dur- ing the civil war, Robert Beverley himself growing up with strong royalist proclivities. He was probably a native of the town of Bev-
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erley and, coming to Virginia about 1663, set- tled in Middlesex county, of which he was a justice in 1673. He rapidly attained great prominence in colonial affairs and was one of the most popular men of his period with the rank and file of the colonists. The situa- tion at the time was a peculiar one. In 1670 Beverley had been elected clerk of the house of burgesses and soon became the leader of the majority of that body, and it was they who, at the outbreak of Bacon's rebellion, were, with the Ludwells and Thomas Ballard in the council, the strongest supporters of Gov. Berkeley in his efforts to suppress the up- rising. It seems surprising that the popular house with their chosen leader should have been so strong in support of the governor and that the only effective aid which the rebels received should have come from members of the aristocratic council. Beverley himself was very active in the field against Bacon's followers, and, in 1676, Berkeley appointed him commander of all his forces, and finally a member of the council. Upon the arrival of the commissioners, sent from England to sup- press the rebellion, there was introduced another element into the dispute. Gov. Berke- ley, resenting the intrusion of these strangers to the colony, was not disposed to yield any of his authority or prerogatives to them or to aid them in their task, and in this he was again strongly supported by the house of burgesses under Beverley's leadership, who. with the governor, were disposed to regard the commissioners as interlopers. Beverley thus incurred the enmity of those who were later to possess the authority in the colony, and especially of Jeffreys, soon to be the gov- ernor. Beverley was accused to the commis- sioners of plundering during his activities against Bacon, but Berkeley was able to save
him from punishment for the time. During the governorship of Chicheley, however, Bev- erley was accused of inciting the rioting tobacco planters and was imprisoned on ship- board. He escaped a number of times, but was recommitted, while other charges were trumped up against him by his powerful enemies and carried to England. Gov. Cul- peper, being at that time in England, the King directed him, upon returning to Virginia, to put Beverley out of all his public offices. He was finally released from prison upon his humbly asking pardon for his past offences and giving security for his future good be- havior. His popularity had not waned in the meantime and the house of burgesses imme- diately elected him their clerk. But with Bev- erley's sturdy independence of spirit, position could only be the prelude of misfortune. The creatures of King James were now securely intrenched in their hold on the colony, and the only power with the inclination to resist them was the house of burgesses. The opportunity soon came, for at the session next following Beverley's reëlection the governor and council made the illegal request of the assembly to be empowered to levy a tax upon the colony. This the house at once and firmly refused, and, according to Gov. Effingham, even dis- puted the right of the King himself to use the veto. Beverley seems to have been a leader in this action and thus incurred the anger of the throne, which ordered him to be disabled from holding any public office and prosecuted to the full extent of the law as Effingham should deem advisable. It is illustrative of the fact that the political questions of that time were by no means simple, that the same man should have been at once a royalist and a champion of the people, and, furthermore, that the democratic Beverley should have so
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strongly opposed the popular uprising, and the loyal Beverley stood against the unjust usurpa- tion of the King. It is also a high tribute to his courage and uprightness of purpose. He did not long survive his final political down- fall, but died about March 16, 1687, leaving several sons of position and distinction, Rob- ert Beverley, who wrote the history of Vir- ginia, being one.
Kemp, Matthew, was a son of Edmund Kemp, of Lancaster county, a fact set forth in a grant to him of 1100 acres of land on Pianketank. He lived at first in Lancaster, then including Middlesex, and was justice and sheriff of that county in 1659. On Nov. 15, 1660, a certificate was granted by Lancaster county court to Matthew Kemp for the im- portation of certain head-rights, among whom were himself twice mentioned and his wife Dorothy. Later in life Col. Matthew Kemp removed to Gloucester county, which he repre- sented in the house of burgesses. In 1676 Bacon, in his proclamation, included him among Gov. Berkeley's "wicked and pernicious councillors, aiders and assistants against the Commonality." The commissioners, sent to suppress the rebellion, however, regarding his character from their point of view, speak of him as a gentleman of an honest, loyal family, a very deserving person and a great sufferer at the hands of the rebels. In the years 1678 and 1679 Kemp was speaker of the house of burgesses, and on Dec. 12, 1681, he had re- cently been appointed by the governor a mem- ber of the council while still a burgess. He was county lieutenant of Gloucester, and on May 8, 1682, Gov. Chicheley wrote to the King that he had dispatched Col. Kemp, with oi ders, to raise horse and foot and suppress riotous "plant cutters." This he soon suc- ceeded in doing, making a number of arrests.
He died in 1683. There is hardly any doubt that Edmund Kemp was a grandson of Robert Kemp, of Gissing county, Norfolk, England, and nephew of Sir Robert Kemp, baronet.
Byrd, William, Sr., the founder of the dis- tinguished Byrd family of "Westover," Vir- ginia, was born about 1649, in London. He was the son of John Byrd, a London gold- smith and a descendant of an old Cheshire family. The date of his coming to Virginia is not known, but it must have been as very young man, as it is recorded that on Oct. 27, 1673, he was granted 1200 acres of land lying on the James river and Shokoe creek. He quickly assumed a prominent place in colonial affairs and was implicated in the matter of Bacon's rebellion. He was a near neighbor and adherent of Bacon in the early stages of his opposition, but it seems that he took 110 part in the actual rebellion and in all proba- bility made his peace with Berkeley. He was accused by Col. Augustine Warner, after the rebellion, of having entered his house at the head of some of Bacon's men and plundered his estate to the value of £1,000 sterling, and Warner actually obtained judgment against him for the amount, but the end of the dispute is unknown and Byrd claimed that, at the time of the plundering, he was himself a prisoner in Bacon's hands. In a letter from his wife, written sometime before the rebellion to a friend in England, she speaks of the country as being well pleased with all that Bacon had done and remarks that she believed the coun- cil was, too, "so far as they durst show it." In the year 1695 Col. Byrd was alluded to as having been a member of the council for fif- teen years, but the earliest record of him in this position, appearing in the official records, is in 1681, when he was appointed by Lord Culpeper. On Dec. 4. 1687, James 1I. ordered
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that he be sworn to the office of auditor- general of Virginia, in place of Col. Nathaniel Bacon, the elder. There was a dispute be- tween him and one Robert Ayleway, who claimed to have been properly appointed to the place, but Col. Byrd is mentioned as holding the office as late as the year 1703. Col. Byrd was one of the gentlemen appointed by the general assembly to form the first board of trustees of the newly chartered William and Mary College, and he was one of the four councillors sent to England by Gov. Andros against the charges of Commissary Blair. Upon his return from a trip to England he brought with him the copy made for the Earl of Southampton of the minutes of the Vir- ginia Company, which he placed in the famous Westover Library. This library, commenced by him, was added to by his son and grandson, until it became the largest in America at the time. The records of the Virginia Company furnished most of the material for William Smith's "History of Virginia." They are now iu the Congressional Library at Washington. In April, 1679, the general assembly passed an act granting to Capt. William Byrd a tract of land extending five miles along the James river on both sides and three miles wide and which included nearly all the ground now occupied by the cities of Richmond and Man- chester. The act was later vetoed by the King, but Byrd was still granted a large area, nearly 42,000 acres in all. He carried on an exten- sive trade with the Indians and at one time petitioned the exclusive right to the Indian trade in Virginia. He was sent on a number of occasions to treat with the Indians and on one of these trips went as far north as New York and Albany. He died at Westover, his residence on James river, Dec. 4, 1701.
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