My 8x great-grandfather Lewis Williams first appears in Surry County, Virginia in 1673 as a tithable on a list taken by Robert Caufield for Lawnes Creek Parish.[1] Tithing on just himself, Lewis Williams was a free man. He was also listed on the 1674 and 1675 tithable lists tithing on only himself meaning he had no other males 16 or over in his household.[2] Lewis Williams purchased a cow from the estate of Stephen Allen for 400 pounds of tobacco according to an accounting of the estate filed by Robert Caufield with the Surry Court on 25 January 1675/6.[3]
Indentured Servitude and A Double Payment
On 7 May 1678, Mr. Robert Ruffin was granted a certificate by the Surry Court for 500 acres of land due for the importation of himself, Richard Lanham, George Adwell, Mary Whitehead and Thomas Futrell; The record continues: “As executor of Captain George Watkin, Lewis Williams, Edward Davis and Jennet Davisson and as assigns of Mr. Newsum, Wm. Barton and Margaret Gregory into this colony, he the said Ruffin having made oath there was never any land taken up for them to his knowledge.”[5]
The above record tells us Lewis Williams came to Virginia as an indentured servant. George Watkin paid for his passage (or at least had legal claim), but he was dead. Ruffin was serving as executor for George Watkin because he married Watkins widow Elizabeth (———-) about 1675.[6]
About 18 months later on 29 November 1679, Arthur Allen of Surry Co., Edward Thelwell & Robert Horning of Nansemond County received a joint grant of 337 acres, part of which was in Isle of Wight County and part in Nansemond County. Of the total, 200 acres was granted to Richard Showell 30 October 1669, which was deserted and granted to the above with 137 acres adjacent waste land further due for transportation of seven persons: Robert Ruffin, Rich. Lanham, Geo. Adwell, Mar. Whitehead, Tho. Futerell, Lewis Williams, Edward Davis.[7]
Did you notice the names of those transported in the two records are identical? Robert Ruffin claims that he transported himself, Lanham, Adwell, Whitehead and Futrell. The other two names in common – Lewis Williams and Edward Davis – are two of three people mentioned as being imported by George Watkin above. Why were these people claimed twice? Why did the importation of seven people only garner 137 acres of “adjacent waste land” instead of 50 acres each or 350 acres of good land?
Involved in Community Affairs
Lewis Williams appears on further tithe lists for Lawnes Creek Parish in 1677 and 1678 tithing only on himself.[8],[9] On 1 May 1677, he was appointed constable and ordered to be sworn by the Surry Court.[10] On 3 November 1677, Lewis Williams witnessed two deeds wherein Stephen Lewis sold William Edwards 50 acres of land and “title & Interest of a Molatto boy named Kikotan who is now about seven years old & is to serve untill he comes to be twenty four years of age” for 1,000 pounds of tobacco.[11] He also witnessed a document wherein John Stringfellow appointed John Phillips his attorney dated 11 September 1678.[12] In each instance Lewis Williams left his mark indicating he was illiterate.
Death Reveals A Family
Lewis Williams was dead by 16 June 1679 when Mrs. Elizabeth Meriwether [13] was granted administration of his estate [he left no will] “in the right of the orphans of the said deceased.” Mr. Wm Newsum, Jno Philipps, Junr., Wm Newitt or any two of them were ordered to appraise the estate. Mr. Robert Ruffin and William Edwards were security for Mrs. Elizabeth Meriwether’s administration of the estate.[14] Lewis Williams died between 11 September 1678 and 16 June 1679. While he only lived about six years after his indenture ended, he managed to marry and have children.
Two additional records dated the same day reveal more details about this family:
From a Surry County Guardian Account, the name of Lewis Williams’ wife is revealed: “Lewis Williams & Mary his wife being both dead having in their sickness disposed of their children as by the Testimony of Mr. Robert Ruffin.” The Court “well approving of the several persons to whom they are given (viz) Mr. Wm Thompson, Wm Newsum, Sion Hill, Wm Edwards. It is ordered that the said children remain with them accordingly & Mr. Ruffin’s testimony ordered to be recorded.”[15]
A record of Robert Ruffin’s testimony was also included. He stated that he was at the house of Lewis Williams about four or five days after Lewis Williams died and about two or three days before his wife died. Ruffin testified that he heard Mrs. Williams say that before her husband died, he had “given his sonn to Wm Newsum & his girle to Sion Hill & his Wife & his daughter in law named Mary to Mr. Thompson & ye [the] Ah– of his daughters in law he left to the disposing of her [to] his wife if shee should dye suddenly after him which shee being then very sick did desire that the persons to whom her husband had disposed of his children might have them & for the child left to her disposing she did give to Mr. Edwards.”[16]
Ok, now we are getting somewhere! Lewis Williams’ wife is named Mary (———-). They both died within a week or so of one another to an illness. They were able to choose people to be responsible for their children before their deaths. Interestingly, there are four children being discussed including Lewis Williams’ son, daughter and two daughters-in-law. Back then “in-law” was used differently than is the case today. In this context it means stepdaughter. Mary (———-) Williams was apparently the mother of two daughters from a prior marriage or marriages, one of whom was named Mary.
A Son of Virginia readers will know that I love Estate Inventory & Appraisals (I&As) because they are often the most detailed record, we get with which to learn something about an ancestor or a family. We get Lewis Williams I&A when on 1 July 1679 the Surry Court ordered Elizabeth Meriweather to “present unto ye Commissioners of the said County of Surry at the next Court a true and perfect inventory of the said Estate” of Lewis Williams.[17] She did so on 4 November 1679:
William Newsom, William Newitt, John Phillips conducted the inventory and appraisal on 28 June and valued the estate at 6,547 pounds of tobacco. On 9br [November] 4 1679, Elizabeth Meriweather presented the I&A and it was recorded.[18]
Lewis and Mary (———-) Williams were not well off, but had managed to acquire the basics for subsistence farming. He owned no land so he was likely a tenant farmer growing tobacco. The Williams family had some livestock, clothes [described as old], some spare fabric, a few kitchen tools, pots and pans, 45 pounds of bacon, an old musket and a flock bed [a mattress filled with bits of wool or cloth]. The rest of their furniture consisted of a chest, an old box and a small round table. Notice that there were no chairs.
Court Records Reveal the names of Lewis and Mary (———-) Williams’ children
The Son
The name of Lewis Williams’ son and daughter are revealed in subsequent court records. First, on 5 July 1681, William Williams, orphan of Lewis Williams, was bound out as an apprentice to Mr. William Newsum [the same man his father chose for him on his death bed]. The Surry Court ordered William Williams to serve Newsum until he turned 21 years old. The abstract[19] record also provided that the child was “8(?) yrs old ye 3d day of 8br(?) next.” IF the transcriber was correct – and those are her question marks – Lewis Williams son would have been born about 3 October[20] 1673. Newsum obligated himself to teach William Williams to read and when his term ended he would provide Williams with two young cows and calves, three barrels of corn and good clothing.[21]
A few days later, on 9 July 1681, William Newsum & Mathew Swann [his security] posted a bond with the Surry Court for 10,000 of tobacco. The record notes that William Williams, orphan of Lewis Williams, was bound as an apprentice to William Newsum until he reached the age of 21 and that Newsum was obligated “to doe & perform sundry things” that were not specified, but would have amounted to the aforementioned cows, calves, corn and clothing.[22]
The Daughter
At Surry County court on 7 November 1682, sitting Justice Lt. Col. Wm. Browne consented to taking up a case he was a party to due to his marriage to Elizabeth Meriweather, administrix of Lewis Williams estate. Now that she was married, that responsibility fell to Lt. Col. Browne who agreed to turn over the whole estate to Sion Hill “undr whose care one of the orpns of the deced.” Hill and his security George Williams [no relation] agreed to make “paymt of the same to the sd orphans.”[23]
Several months later on 2 July 1683, Sion Hill and George Williams bound themselves to the Surry Court for 5,000 pounds of tobacco. The condition being that Sion Hill shall deliver “unto the Orpns of Lewis Williams, deced, their portion or child’s ppt of the goods and chattles of their late father” “when they shall come to lawfull age.” Hill also agreed with respect to the “orphan in his possession” to teach her religion, provide her with sufficient “meate, drink apparell &lodging.” Lastly, Hill agreed that “if it shall happen that the said Orphns or any of them shall dye before they come of age shall appoynt the same to be paid to whom by ———- of blood aught to have it.”[24]
At court on 2 September 1684, we learn that the child placed with Sion Hill was Mary Williams, orphan of Lewis Williams, where it was noted that her mother had placed her with Sion Hill before her death. The court record noted that Hill had “taken noe care of ________ for the said orphan.” Now under the care of the court, Mary Williams was placed with James Cane as an apprentice until she “come of age or be married.” James Cane obligated himself to teach her to read and at the end of her term was to “give her with a young cow & calf and good clothes.”[25]
On 6 July 1687, Mary Williams was back in court as James Cane had left the county. Samuel Thompson agreed to take the place of Cane and assume his obligations. It was noted that Thompson agreed to “cure the said Mary’s scald hand.”[26] On 6 January 1690, Mary Williams as back in court as Samuel Thompson had also left the county. Mr. John Thompson agreed to have her apprenticed to him.[27]
Poor Mary Williams! About 3 years when her parents died in 1679, by the time she reached her early teens she had lived with four different families. And somehow scalded her hand badly enough for the Surry Court to take notice. Unfortunately, I have found no further record for Mary Williams.
Her brother William Williams fared much better as he remained with the Newsum’s until he turned 21 years old. Soon after his apprenticeship ended, he married Ann Sessums and they went on to have 11 children. The family of my 7x great-grandparents William & Ann (Sessums) Williams will be the subject of a future blog post.
My descent from Lewis Williams (all births, deaths and marriages Surry County unless noted):
8x great-grandparents
LEWIS WILLIAMS, b.c. 1655, England, d.c. 1679, m. Mary ———-, d.c. 1679, issue:
7x great-grandparents
WILLIAM WILLIAMS, b.c. 1673, will dated 17 November 1740, recorded 15 April 1741, m. abt. 1697, Ann Sessums, b.c. 1694, d. bef. 1740, dau. of Nicholas Sessoms, issue:
6x great-grandparents
WILLIAM WILLIAMS, b.c. 1700, will dated 7 April 1779; recorded 26 October 1779, m. Mary ———-, issue:
5x great-grandparents
JEREMIAH WILLIAMS, b.c. 1760, d. c. 1790, m. 1782, Martha Mitchell, dau. of Abraham & Mary (———-) Mitchell, issue:
4x great-grandparents
JOHN M. WILLIAMS, b. 17 August 1785, d. 17 August 1850, m. 1815, Mary Mitchell Thomas, daughter of Matthew and Ann (Gwaltney) Thomas, issue:
3x great-grandparents
ELIZABETH RIDLEY WILLIAMS, b. 10 May 1822, d. 1899, m. Nathaniel Randolph Berryman, issue:
2x great-grandparents
LUCY ROWELL BERRYMAN, b. 13 September 1833, d. 14 July 1931, m. Sidney Baxter Edwards, issue:
LUCIE BAXTER EDWARDS, b. 11 December 1891, d. 29 May 1973, m. William Richard Rowell
[1] MacDonald, Edgar and Slatten, William. Surry County, Virginia Tithables 1668-1703 (Baltimore: Clearfield Company for Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 2007), p. 17
[2] MacDonald, Edgar and Slatten, William. Surry County, Virginia Tithables 1668-1703 (Baltimore: Clearfield Company for Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 2007), pp. 20, 23
[3] Surry County Deeds, Wills, Etc. No. 2 1671-1684, p. 104: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-KZ7J?i=375&cat=366316 ; accessed 24 April 2023
[4] Herrman, A., Faithorne, H. & Withinbrook, T. (1673) Virginia and Maryland as it is planted and inhabited this present year. [London: Augustine Herrman and Thomas Withinbrook] [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2002623131/.
[5] Surry County, Virginia Orders, Part 1 (1671-1691), p. 198; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKK-X9B7-B?i=199&cat=374004 ; accessed 14 April 2023
[6] Ruffin Family. (1910). The William and Mary Quarterly, 18(4), 251–258. https://doi.org/10.2307/1922552; accessed 15 April 2023
[7] Nugent, Nell Marion. Cavaliers & Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, Volume II 1666-1695 (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1977), p. 204
[8] No extant lists for 1676 due to Bacon’s Rebellion.
[9] MacDonald, Edgar and Slatten, William. Surry County, Virginia Tithables 1668-1703 (Baltimore: Clearfield Company for Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 2007), pp. 31, 37
[10] Surry County, Virginia Orders, Part 1 (1671-1691), p. 138; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKK-X9BC-B?i=168&cat=374004; accessed 14 April 2023
[11] Surry County, Virginia Deeds, Wills, Etc. No. 2 1671-1684, p. 157 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-KZM1?i=428&cat=366316; accessed 24 April 2023
[12] Surry County, Virginia Deeds, Wills, Etc. No. 2 1671-1684, p. 185; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-KCY5?i=456&cat=366316 ; accessed 24 April 2023
[13] Mrs. Elizabeth Meriweather was the widow of Nicholas Meriwether (d. 1678) and would go on to marry Lt. Col. William Browne of Four Mile Tree in Surry County.
[14] Surry County, Virginia Guardians Accounts 1672-1750, p. 13; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-K61X?cat=366398; accessed 12 April 2023
[15] Surry County, Virginia Guardians Accounts 1672-1750, p. 13; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-K61X?i=21&cat=366398; accessed 12 April 2023
[16] Surry County, Virginia Deeds Wills Etc., No. 2, 1671-1684, p. 211; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-KCTY?i=482&cat=366316 ; accessed 15 April 2023
[17] Surry County, Virginia Records, Deeds, Willis Inventories, Etc., 1671-1684, p. 216; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-GSLS-Q?i=386&cat=370538; accessed 17 April 2023
[18] Surry County Deeds, Wills, Etc., No. 2 1671-1684, p. 238 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-KCR4?cat=366316; accessed 15 April 2023
[19] I try to view the original copy of each record as they are full of details not in abstract records. In this case: however, the full record is unreadable. Take a look: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKK-X9B2-Y?i=274&cat=374004. Surry County Orders part 1 1671-1691, p. 342
[20] The year began March 24 until 1752 so 8br – or the eighth month would have been October.
[21] Haun, Weynette Parks. Surry County, Virginia Court Records (Part 1: Order Book 1671-1691) 1672-1682, Book III, (Durham, NC: 1990) p. 141
[22] Surry County, Virginia Deeds, Wills, Etc. No. 2 1671-1684; p. 19 (pages upside down at back of book 2) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-KCXB?i=628&cat=366316 ; accessed 24 April 2023
[23] Surry County, Virginia Orders, Part 1, 1671-1691, p. 389; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKK-X9B2-8?i=298&cat=374004; accessed 24 April 2023
[24] Surry County, Virginia Deeds, Wills, Etc. No. 2 1671-1684; p. 19 (pages upside down at back of book 2); https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-KCXB?cat=366316; accessed 24 April 2023
[25] Surry County Orders Part 2 1671-1691 , p. 451; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKK-X9BJ-8?i=338&cat=374004; accessed 24 April 2023
[26] Surry County Orders Part 2 1671-1691, p. 576; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKK-X9B6-K?i=401&cat=374004; accessed 24 April 2023
[27] Surry County Orders Part 2 1671-1691, p. 788; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKK-X9BW-7?i=506&cat=374004; accessed 24 April 2023
A Son of Virginia 