Family History Supplement - New Information

May 30, 2020

 

Introduction

 

In 2014, I published (using Amazon’s self-published system) “A History of My Eight Great Grandparents – Robertson, Eubank, Luke, Shepherd, Torian, Crawley, Jenkins, and Cocke”.  In this publication, I present a genealogical-related history of each of my eight grandparents, their ancestors, and descendants.

 

This history is based on extensive research of archival sources and records.  More details are presented in the publication on the sources and records that I used. 

 

With the 2014 publication, I concluded that I had spent enough time on the family history research project and would leave it at that point, not actively pursuing more research.  An event that I did pursue, after 2014, was to submit my DNA to AncestryDNA.  

 

Along with the DNA results came access to an AncestryDNA website that included, in addition to the DNA results, a family tree tool that allowed me to easily enter, track, and save a family tree structure.  As I was entering the names, I realized that AncestryDNA searches my entered names against Ancestry.com’s family of data bases (historical records; stories and publications; family trees; and photos and maps).  And, from this search, AncestryDNA suggests potential ancestors for vacant slots on the family tree.   I concluded that this was a powerful search-related tool that was being provided to me.   And that I needed to go back to my family history work, at least until I could optimize the benefits of this tool, to see if I could find family history results that I was not previously able to find.

 

So I did this, and I  have written this family history supplement to provide what the AncestryDNA tool gave me to increase my knowledge and understanding of my family history.

 

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New Family History Information

 

The following contains new information on ancestors that are identified in my 2014 published “A History of My Eight Great Grandparents – Roberson, Eubank, Luke, Shepherd, Torian, Crawley, Jenkins, and Cocke”.  Information related to the eight grandparents is provided separately by great grandparent name, and in the same order as provided in the 2014 publication.  

 

 

Robertson

 

Richard W. Robertson enlisted as a private for the confederacy in 1851, serving in Company K, 21st Virginia Infantry Regiment.  Richard’s father, Alexander, was a captain in the same regimen.  Richard applied for a Confederate pension.

 

A picture believed to show Richard W. Robertson and possibly Mary A Eubank Robertson and their daughters is available.

 

Alexander Robertson indicated in a handwritten note that his father was John Robertson, born April 13, 1776 in Chesterfield County, Virginia and died April 23, 1847 in Lunenburg County, Virginia, a couple of counties south of Chesterfield County.   Alexander’s mother could not be identified and further information on his father, John, could not be found.

 

Alexander, in addition to his son Richard W. Robertson, is buried at Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond.

 

A John Robertson is in the 1810 Chesterfield County, Virginia census, showing one male, age 26 to 44; a female, age 26 to 44; one male, under 10; and 2 females, under 10; with 12 slaves.  This could be the John Robertson who Alexander Robertson identifies (see above) is his father.  The single male, age 26 to 44, fits what Alexander wrote about his father’s birth date.   And, it also fits Alexander being the male under 10, as Alexander was born in 1807.

 

John Noble, Richard W. Roberson’s great grandfather, was murdered by a slave in 1818 (on the basis of court records).  John was the father of  Mary (Polly) Noble, who was one of Richard’s grandmothers.

 

John Noble is believed to have been fairly well off as a successful farmer but, in addition to being murdered by a slave, had other tribulations.  Court records related to John’s death indicate that his wife contested John’s will, feeling that he did not provide sufficiently for her in the will.   Also John’s will indicates that John was angered at Polly’s husband, Samuel Williams, by indicating that Samuel was not to benefit from his property.  The will states limits on what would be left to Polly.  Another problem related to John was that his father, Joseph, left in his will assets to John, but because John was murdered, John died before Joseph, and at Joseph’s death, issues rose again between how those assets left to John would benefit John’s wife.

 

Wills and other court records can often be the best (only) information about individuals, especially for those individuals who would not be in the public eye and written about.  An example of this is with John Noble, for whom little would be known other than what can be learned from his will and other court records.

 

Joseph Noble (1740-1826), John Noble’s father, Mary (Polly) Noble’s grandfather, and Richard W. Robertson’s great, great, grandfather, is believed to be the son of Josiah Noble (1720-1760).   Josiah lived and died in Surrey, England.  Polly’s grandfather, Joseph, is likely to have immigrated from England between 1740 (his birthdate) and 1762, when his son, John, was born in Amelia County, Virginia.

 

Joseph Noble is believed to have been an officer (ensign rank) in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.  The Continental Army had an ensign rank, as did the US Army until 1815.  It was the lowest officer rank available.  Joseph was also in the first Continental Census (taken in 1782 when he was living in Amelia County).

 

Land own by Joseph, and succeeding Nobles, was located in the Sailor’s Creek State Park region of Amelia County, about thirteen miles west of Amelia County Court House.  Indications were found that both Joseph and John grew large amounts of tobacco.  Some, or much, of the Noble land could have seen action during the Sailor’s Creek Battle, one of the last battles of the Civil War.

 

Sarah Powell (1733-1784) is believed to be the wife of John Wright (1729-1788), one of Polly Noble’s other grandfathers.

 

 

Eubank

 

George Eubank, Jr. (1796-1851), Mary A. Eubank’s father, is the son of a Wingfield, Mary “Nancy” Wingfield (1776-1849).   Based on my research, Mary “Nancy” Wingfield is the granddaughter of Robert Wingfield (1697-1769), who was born in New Kent County, Virginia, and died in Louisa County, Virginia.

 

George Eubank, Jr. also marries a Wingfield, Elizabeth H. Wingfield (1804-1851).  Elizabeth H. Wingfield is the great granddaughter of the same Robert Wingfield identified in the previous paragraph.

 

Mary “Nancy” Wingfield’s father was Matthew (1734-1778) who was a son of Robert Wingfield.  And Elizabeth H. Wingfield’s grandfather, Josiah Wingfield (1758-1819), was also a son of Robert Wingfield.  Mary “Nancy” Wingfield father was Joseph B. Wingfield (1775-1850).   This gets a little confusing because of the frequent marriages between Wingfield cousins.   (Using a family tree, such as the AncestryDNA family tree tool, gives a useful way of seeing and comprehending these relationships.) 

 

That Mary A. Eubank is likely a descendant of Robert Wingfield is interesting because Robert is possibly a son of Thomas Wingfield (1664-1720), born and died in New Kent County, Virginia. 

 

Thomas Wingfield was a pastor (1691-1720) at St. Peter’s Church, where Martha Dandridge married George Washington (her second husband; his only wife) in 1759.

 

Also, the Wingfield name is a prominent name in early Virginia history, and Wingfield is a prominent name in England  in the 1600s, including one Wingfield being involved in the company supporting the Jamestown expedition, and also being a member of the expedition.  More information about the Louisa County Robert Wingfield and the certainty of his relationship to the New Kent County Wingfield and other Wingfields in Virginia and England history would be interesting to know.

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Luke

 

One of Dale Delafield Luke’s sisters (and a John Luke daughter), Elizabeth Luke, dies in Norfolk on November 26, 1917.  

 

A newspaper notice stated that Dale Luke visited his brother Col. Granville Gratiot Luke in North Carolina for several days in August 1893.   Granville was living in North Carolina as early as the late 1850s and is buried at the Old Hollywood Cemetery in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.  1833 to  1895 and Col G.G Luke, 56th Reg N.C. appears on his head stone.   A picture of G.G. Luke wearing his Confederate uniform is available.

 

G.G. Luke had a son, also named G.G., born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina in 1880 and died in Norfolk in 1927 from tuberculosis. 

 

It is interesting that Dale’s brother G.G. also had an unusual middle name (Gratiot), suggesting that Delafield (Dale’s middle name) and Gratiot (Granville’s middle name) were selected because they represented ancestral family names.  It was quite common in the 1700s and 1800s to name children using ancestral family names.  Dale’s first name certainly was selected by his parents based on Dale being a name in the Luke family past.  Perhaps Granville is also a name in the Luke family past.

 

A Chas. Gratiot is in the Fort Monroe Elizabeth City, Virginia 1820 census.  Also a Virginian Charles Gratiot served in the Revolutionary War.  Lukes had a connection with Fort Monroe since both Paul Dale Luke and his son John Luke were appointed and served as Old Point Comfort Lighthouse  keepers (Paul Dale until 1819 and John from 1820 to 1844).   Perhaps somehow a connection with Charles Gratiot, who was in the Fort Monroe Virginia census, was formed in such a way as to use Gratiot as Granville’s middle name.  The Old Point Comfort  Lighthouse is near Fort Monroe.  No other possible connections between the names Delafield, Granville, and Gratiot and the Luke family could be found.

 

Paul Dale Luke was made keeper of Old Point Comfort Lighthouse on the basis of his service in the Revolutionary War.  Paul Dale was an ensign in Capt. Samuel Veale’s Co. from 1776 to 1779 (interesting, Paul Dale married a Veale – Sarah Veale, whose father was Lemuel Veale.  Perhaps Sarah was Capt. Veale’s sister).   Paul Dale died (in 1819) while he was keeper of the Old Point Comfort Lighthouse.

 

Navigational aids started being used at Old Point Comfort on the Chesapeake Bay as early as 1774.  The first Chesapeake Bay lighthouse was built in 1802.  Old Point Comfort is the second oldest lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay.   During the War of 1812, the British captured the lighthouse and used it as an observation post.  The first keeper’s house was built adjacent to the lighthouse in 1823, replaced by the present one in 1891.

 

Old Point Comfort is the name given to a small peninsula that is at the entrance to the body of water known as Hampton Roads, which enters the Chesapeake Bay.  The cities of Portsmouth, Norfolk, Newport News, and Hampton border Hampton Roads.

 

The United States started maintaining a fort (Fort Monroe) on this peninsula after the War of 1812 to serve a coastal protection function.  Fort Monroe was decommissioned in 2011 by the US Army for army use, and the Fort’s buildings, including the lighthouse, were turned over to the US National Park Service,  becoming the Fort Monroe National Monument.

 

Details on how John Luke was appointed keeper of the Old Point Comfort Lighthouse are not known.  The Old Point Comfort Lighthouse is about 11 miles north of Portsmouth.   The appointment might have had something to do with John Luke’s military service.  (He served during the War of 1812.)  During this period, the control of the lighthouse locally was under a United States (US) office called Collector of Customs, with various US ports having such an office.   Collection of customs was the responsibility of the US Treasury Department.   In recent times, the US Coast Guard has responsibility for government lighthouses.

 

Paul Dale Luke (1761-1810)’s wife was Sarah (Sally) Veale (born 1749 in Portsmouth and died 1804, also in Portsmouth).  Paul Dale and Sarah were Dale Delafield Luke’s grandparents.  Apparently, Paul Dale married Sarah in 1789.  Sarah’s father, grandfather, and great grandfather were Lemuel Veale (1713-1756), William Veale (1682-1752), and Morris Veale (1655-1705), all born and died in Norfolk County, Virginia (Portsmouth was carved out of Norfolk County in the early 1750s).

 

Sarah Veale Luke’s grandparents William Veale (1682-1752) and Mary Cratchett (1693-1762) have an interesting history.   They were groundskeeper and housekeeper, respectively, for Col. William Crawford, recognized as the founder of Portsmouth.  William Crawford, in his will, leaves significant amounts of his assets to the children of his ground and housekeeper, presumably William and Mary’s children.

 

Paul Dale Luke’s name contains Dale because of Dale ancestors in the Luke family history.  Paul Dale’s mother was Rachel Dale (1737-1775), whose father was Paul Dale (1715-1743) and grandfather was William Dale (1649-1715).  Rachel and Paul Dale were both born and died in Norfolk County (Portsmouth section).  William died in Norfolk County (or city) but was born in Warwickshire, England.

 

Richard Dale, a nephew of Rachael’s, was one of the first commodores (highest rank at the time) in the United State Navy.

 

Apparently Isaac Luke (1729-1784) was born in Northampton County, Virginia on November 26, 1729. Northampton County is across the Chesapeake Bay entrance on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.  It would be  interesting to know how and when Isaac made his way to Portsmouth.  Likely it was around 1750, when Portsmouth was being developed as a separate town.

 

Isaac Luke’s father and mother, John Luke (1709-1761) and Martha Stott (1705-1761), were born and died in Northampton County.  And John Luke’s father, also named John (1647-1709), was born in Salisbury, England and died in Northampton County.  Martha Stott’s father, Daniel, was born in Northampton County (died there in 1736), so Dale Delafield Luke’s Luke family ancestry goes back in Virginia to at least the early 1700s.

 

Lydia M Etheridge (1810-1874), Dale Delafield Luke’s mother, had a last name that occurs frequently, not only in Norfolk County family names, but also in Currituck County, North Carolina names.  Norfolk County, which no longer exists, going away by being annexed by cities such as Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake, when it did exist, extended south to the North Carolina state line and Currituck County, North Carolina.

 

Etheridge appears as a surname in Norfolk as early as the early 1700s, as demonstrated by Robert Etheridge, Lydia’s great grandfather, being born in Norfolk County in 1719.  

 

Many Etheredge’s can be found associated with Currituck County, North Carolina (just across the state line from then Norfolk County).  This is interesting in at least one way:   Lydia Etheridge’s granddaughter, Eva Luke, goes to North Carolina to get married.   Also, one of Lydia’s sons, G.G. Luke is found in North Carolina in the 1850s; serves, as a Confederate Colonel, in a North Carolina regiment; and is buried in North Carolina..   This suggests that Lydia may have had Etheredge relatives aligned with North Carolina and, because of this, she could have had a unique educating influence on her children and grandchildren with respect to their association with North Carolina.

 

 

Eva Luke

 

Separate sections of my family history are devoted to history related to my four grandparents, one of whom is Eva Luke (1870-1929), Dale Delafield Luke’s daughter.  New information discovered specific to Eva Luke follows.

 

Eva Luke’s first husband, before she married my grandfather, William Robertson (1859-1953), was William Beale Stokes.  William Stokes was born in York County, Virginia, which may account for William and Eva ending up in Newport News upon their marriage.  William was a “metal” worker, presumably a blacksmith.  William was 37 and Eva 19 when they married in 1889, in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, and their first child, Eva, was born June 3, 1892.  Eva’s second husband, William, my grandfather, was also a “metal” worker in Newport News (at the shipyard) and it is likely that the two Williams knew one another.  That the two Williams likely knew one another could account for William Robertson and Eva Luke meeting and eventually marrying (William Stokes was murdered on a street in Newport News in 1896 or 1897).  William Stokes mother, Margaret A., lived in Newport News when William and Eva married in 1889.

 

One of Eva’s sisters, Rachel (1875-1812),  who would marry a Taylor, dies at Dixie Hospital, in Hampton, Virginia November 23, 1912, from infection, at age 37.

 

Eva’s other sister, Lillie Dale Luke Hope, dies on December 15, 1935, in Ocean View, Norfolk.  Her husband was George W. Hope.

 

One of Eva and William Stokes’ sons (who would be a half-brother to my mother, Evelyn) was discharged from the Naval Reserve in Newport News in 1927.  My father, Melvin (1903-1984), was active in the Naval Reserve in Newport News in the 1920s, and this might be an explanation for how my father, who was  living in Hampton, Virginia, and my mother would meet, through her half-brother.

 

 

Shepherd

 

A William E. Shepherd death notice was found.  The notice indicates that William was a soldier in various Confederate units.  The death certificate, associated with the naval hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia, shows William’s death to be on May 6, 1899 and gives information on his Confederate service in Portsmouth.

 

A William Shepherd (who could be Martha F’ Shepherd’s brother) is known to have been in service with the Confederacy at the Portsmouth Naval Yard.  The William, dying in 1899 in Portsmouth at a naval hospital, which the previous paragraph discusses, could be the same William who served at the Portsmouth Naval Yard in the Civil War.

 

Elizabeth Hunter, age 54, who is believed to be Jacob Shepherd’s sister, dies on April 23, 1854 in Portsmouth.

 

 

Torian

 

Thomas Torian (1773-1862), George Torian’s grandfather, marries his cousin Mary “Polly” Torian (1774-1820) on January 17, 1793 in Halifax County, Virginia.   Thomas’s father was Andrew Torian, who was Peter Torian’s brother, the father of Mary “Polly”. So Thomas and Polly were cousins.

 

 

Crawley

 

The first identified Cralle (Cralle was the original spelling, later to be transformed into Crawley), whom Amelia Blanche Crawley (1859-1937) is believed to have descended from, immigrated to Virginia sometime before 1655, but after 1615.  This Cralle was born in Sussex, England, not far from Portsmouth, England.

 

Richard H. Crawley (1820-1865) served in the Confederate Army.  He was in Capt. Peter Barksdale Company; the 59th Virginia Regiment.  Richard is captured in April 1865 and is sent to the Point Lockout Prison in St. Mary’s County, Maryland , where he would die from disease caught while in prison.

 

The 59th Virginia Regiment was a volunteer regiment raised in Virginia’s western counties.   Units of the regiment were captured at Saylor’s (also Sailor’s) Creek Battle, in Amelia County, Virginia that took place on April 6, 1865.  It is possible that it was on this day that Private Richard W. Crawley was captured.   The Saylor’s Creek Battle was the last major battle between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac, and several Confederate units were captured.  Three days later,  on April 9, 1865, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia surrenders, effectively ending the Civil War.

 

The Point Lookout Prison was established in 1863 and by the end of the war 50,000 Confederate prisoners had passed through its gates.   Approximately 4,000 of these 50,000 died at the prison.   The National Park Service maintains the Point Lookout Confederate Cemetery, in St. Mary’s County, Maryland where Confederate soldiers’ remains are buried.  Richard Crawley is likely buried at this cemetery.

 

Richard H. Crawley’s wife, Mary Ann Young Crawley, applied for a Confederate soldier pension on May 14, 1900.

 

Richard H. Crawley’s father, Thomas Garner Crawley (1787-1840), was born in St. Stephen’s Parish, Northumberland County, Virginia, which is a county on the peninsula formed by the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers, an area known as the Northern Neck.  Thomas died in Halifax County.  Thomas  Garner likely arrived in Halifax County before 1815 because his father, Thomas Hull Cralle (1766-1815) died in Halifax County.  

 

St. Stephen’s Parish, Northumberland County, Virginia, where Thomas Garner Crawley is born,  is less than 20 miles from the Point Lookout Confederate Cemetery, in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, where Richard H. Crawley, Thomas Garner’s son, is possibly buried.

 

Several generations of Cralles can be identified living in Northumberland County, Virginia who are ancestors of Amelia Blanche Crawley.  Why one, or more, of these Cralles migrated to Halifax County from Northumberland County, about 150 miles northeast of Halifax County, would be interesting to know.  Cralles are found in Northumberland County since at least 1684.

 

During the mid-1700s, land in southside Virginia, which includes Halifax County, was being promoted as available by at least two land developers, William Byrd and Robert “King” Carter.  They bought up large tracts of land (or were awarded the tracks for their service to England) and then enacted programs to recruit families to the land.  In my family history publication’s section on George Torian, information is provided on how Byrd’s land development efforts probably accounted for attracting Scher Torian from Europe to Halifax County.  Byrd was not the only wealthy Virginian developing land in southside Virginia and that not only George Torian ancestors might have been impacted by this land development but also Amelia Blanche Crawley ancestors.

 

As families in the 1700s had large number of sons, land needed for farming became a principle problem and created an incentive for migration from east to west where more land was available. 

 

Amelia Blanche Crawley’s great, great grandfather, John Cralle (1724-1771), married a Spelman Garner (1740-1771).  The first name Spelman is interesting.  (Also Garner is the middle name of Spelman Garner’s grandson, Thomas Garner Crawley, referred to above.)

 

Spelman Garner was born and died in Northumberland County and her mother was Frances Spelman (1717-1799; born in Northumberland County and died in Westmoreland County, Virginia).  My research discovered what I believed could be a possibility that Frances Spelman is a descendant of Captain Henry Spilman (1598-1623; born Congham, England; died Virginia).  The spellings of the last names would be one indication of a connection.  Henry Spilman is of interest historically because of his involvement in the settlement of Jamestown and his interactions with various Indian tribes that Jamestown and other settlers interacted with.  He wrote about his experiences, especially experiences with the Indians, which have been of historical importance in better understanding the first several years related to Jamestown and the first English settlers in Virginia. 

 

Spilman interactions with various Indian tribes allowed him to learn some of the Algonquian language, giving him unique experiences and legitimacy in his Indian interactions.  A belief exists that  he married an Indian woman and had a son.   According to at least one history, while Henry Spilman was associated with Jamestown, hostilities broke out between the Jamestown settlers and the Indians.  Spilman was able to survive this, while many Jamestown settlers did not, and he eventually ended up in northern Virginia in the area called the Northern Neck, where he is believed to have died in 1623.

 

Records indicate that a Clement Spilman (1620-1677) was born in Charles City County, Virginia, and died in Westmoreland County, Virginia.  Charles City County is just west of Jamestown and Westmoreland is on the Northern Neck. Was Clement Spilman Captain Henry Spilman’s son?  His birth date, 1620, would fit the possibility of being Henry Spilman’s son.  His name would also.  That apparently he was born in Charles County, Virginia, near where Henry Spilman might have  been in 1620 and where Henry had opportunity to have a child (possibly with an Indian  woman); and that Clement dies in Westmoreland County, a part of Northern Neck, where Henry Spilman is believed to have died, are also suggestive that Clement might have been Henry’s son.  From historical records, I have discovered that Clement is Frances Spilman’s great grandfather.  Francis Spelman is Amelia Blanche Crawley’s great, great, great grandmother.  So, if Clement is Henry Spilman’s son, this would be an interesting development in Amelia Blanche Crawley ancestral past.

 

Another interesting family history finding, related to Spelman Garner, is that one of her great, grandmothers was Hannah Ball.  Hannah Ball was the sister of Joseph Ball, who was Mary Washington’s father.  Another of my great grandparents, Charles A. Jenkins, can trace Mary Washington and the Balls as ancestors (see the section on Charles A. Jenkins in the 2014 publication).

 

Amelia Blanche Crawley great, great grandfather, Michael Cadet Young (1684-1770) was associated with Robert “King” Carter in the development of land in southside Virginia.  In 1730, Michael became the Brunswick County surveyor, a critical job in the 1700s in land development.   During this period of being a surveyor, and perhaps later, Michael acquires thousands of acres and at one time had five separate farms (plantations) on his land.

 

Michael Cadet Young is believed to have been married twice, first to Temperance and then to Martha Saddler.

 

 

Jenkins

 

Jacob Buckholts (1755-1826), Abraham’s son, served as a captain in the South Carolina Militia under General Francis Marion (the Swamp Fox).  Capt. Buckholts commanded, for a time during the siege of Charleston in 1779, the Racoon Company of Riflemen.

 

Jacob Buckholts references a mulatto girl, Nancy, in his will.  Could Nancy have been one of his children?

 

Jacob’s father and Charles A. Jenkins’ great, great grandfather, Abraham Buckholts (1729-1812), is listed in the Index of the Rolls of Honor (Ancestor’s Index) in the Linage Books of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Vol. 81-160, III and IV, 1972.   Abraham was born in Prussia.  Before participating in the Revolutionary War, Abraham is believed to have participated in the Cherokee Indian Wars of 1758 to 1761 in South Carolina as a Major in the South Carolina Militia.   Abraham was in the 1800 South Carolina census but dies in 1812 in Amite County, Mississippi.  He probably immigrated with his son Jacob to Mississippi between 1800 and 1810.

 

Fielding Lewis (1725-1781), Rosalie O. Carter’s great grandfather, had Lewis ancestors in Gloucester County, Virginia going back to the 1600s.   Gloucester County is on the peninsula formed by the Rappahannock and York Rivers.  Fielding Lewis is believed to be born at Warner Hall in Gloucester County.   Fielding’s grandfather was John Lewis (1654-1733), who married Isabella (Elizabeth) Warmer.  Isabella was one of the surviving daughters (no surviving sons) of Augustine Warner II and Isabella would inherit Warner Hall.  Another of Augustine Warner II daughters, Mildred Warner, married Lawrence Washington, whose son Augustine married Mary Ball, whose daughter, Elizabeth (George Washington’s’ sister), marries Fielding Lewis.

 

Rosalie’s great grandfather, Edward Hill Carter (1726-1792), built and lived on a plantation in Albemarle County, Virginia called Blenheim.  Blenheim, which burned down in the 1800s, was located on a small mountain, currently called Carter Mountain, just south (a couple of miles) of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.  Edward Hill Carter is known to have been acquainted with Thomas Jefferson.

 

That Edward Hill Carter would choose the name Blenheim is interesting.  Blenheim is the name of a major battle during the War of the Spanish Succession, which, in 1704, was a major victory for England against France.  Edward Hill Carter naming his plantation Blenheim, if it were for the Battle of Blenheim, suggests what the British aristocracy (which Carter would likely consider himself to a member of) placed much importance on the battle and its consequences.  One consequence of the battle was for England to rise as a European power and England’s subsequent aggressive posture towards the French in North America, which played out during the rest of the 18th Century.

 

Robert “King” Carter (1663-1732) was Rosalie O. Carter (1818-1853)’s great, great, great grandfather.  Rosalie was Charles A. Jenkins’ mother.

 

Ralph Wormeley I (died 1649) was the great, great, great, great, great grandfather of Rosalie O. Carter.  Ralph Wormeley I, who is believed to have immigrated from England in the first half of the 1600s, went on to reside in Middlesex County, Virginia.  Successive Ralph Wormeley descendants will live on the site that Ralph Wormeley I lived on and would add to the family fortunes and reputation in colonial Virginia.  Middlesex County is on the peninsula formed by the York and Rappahannock Rivers.

 

The fourth Ralph Wormeley IV (1715-1790) was Rosalie O. Carter’s great grandfather.

 

A question is where did Burwell come from in Charles A. Jenkins’ grandmother’s name (Mary Burwell Wormeley).  An answer could be that Mary Burwell Wormeley’s grandmother was Mary Burwell Hall  (1738-1809; born in Amelia County, Virginia; died in Frederick County, Virginia).  But then that raises the question of upon what ancestor (if any) did Mary Burwell Hall depend for using Burwell in her name.  Ancestor names were frequently used in 1700s naming.

 

Rosalie O. Carter’s eight great grandparents were all born in Virginia between 1715 and 1740, except for Jane Lowe Bowles (1726-1793) who was born in St. Mary’s County, Maryland.  And most of her sixteen of her great, great grandparents were born in Virginia.  All sixteen were born between 1686 and 1717.

 

 

Cocke

 

Lillie Shepherd Cocke’s father, John Shepherd Cocke (1798-1877) was a descendent of Thomas Cocke (1638-1696).  Thomas and his son James (1667-1721) and grandson James Jr. (1691-1775) were residents of Henrico County, Virginia.  James Cocke Jr.’s son, Thomas (1715-1797), was born and died in Goochland County, Virginia, as did Benjamin Cocke (1747-1828) and Samuel Cocke (1771-1844), Lillie’s great grandfather and grandfather.

 

Samuel Cocke (1771-1844), John Shepherd Cocke’s father, operated a tavern in Crozier in Goochland County, Virginia, as did John Shepherd Cocke operate one in Albemarle County, Virginia.

 

A recently-placed burial stone in the Parrish Cemetery in Fluvanna County, Virginia indicates that John Shepherd (1738-1796), John Shepherd Cocke’s grandfather, was married to Mary Ann Lilly (1737-1838).  The Parrish Cemetery is behind or near property upon which John and Mary Ann lived.  A Parrish Cemetery is about 4 to 5 miles west of Gum Spring, Virginia, which could be the cemetery where this burial stone is located.   Although information on John indicates he was born in Goochland County, Virginia and dies in Fluvanna County, Virginia, his birth and death could have been in the same place as Fluvanna County was formed from part of Goochland County in 1744.  Edmond Lilly is believed to be Mary Ann Lilly’s father.  John and Mary Ann were second cousins.

 

A Muster Roll, dated February 1778, shows that a John Shepherd was a corporal in Capt. William Cherry’s Company in the Fourth Virginia Regiment, commanded by Major Isaac Bealle.  The Fourth Virginia Regiment participated in several Revolutionary War engagements, including being at Valley Forge.  Whether this John Shepherd is the John Shepherd who is buried in the Parrish Cemetery and is John Shepherd Cocke’s grandfather is not known, but John’s age and place of birth is consistent with information associated with Corporal John Shepherd.

 

John Shepherd was the son of Christopher Shepherd, who died in Albemarle County in 1776.

 

 

I