There have
been
various errors in the "Dickenson Story" as it has come
down to us. Two
of the more glaring errors are (1) that Mary Powell,
wife of Henry
Dickenson,
the Clerk, was the daughter of Ambrose Powell, and (2)
that the
Virginia
Dickensons were descended from Henry, who came to
Virginia with
brothers
Walter and John in 1654. The search for Mary Powell
constitutes a study
in itself, which is not presented in this treatise. The
denouncement of
Wharton Dickenson's story of the three brothers was
published in the
Virginia
Genealogist, Volume 18, page 243, October-December
1974.
Here the subject is
not
so much negation of stories as developing a positive
framework of the
family
history. We therefore begin circa 1800 with related
family members in
the
Southwest Virginia area.
These members are
Archelaus,
Humphrey, Henry, James, Mary, Elizabeth and Fanny.
It has often been
stated
that Archelaus and Humphrey were the first to migrate to
Southwest
Virginia,
circa 1769 (1). There seems little reason to doubt this,
and it
suggests
they were "older brothers."
We know of no extant
birth
date for Archelaus. He married Prudence Rowlett of
Prince Edward
County,
Virginia. (2) He died in 1806. (3)
Humphrey's birth
date
is said to be 8 October, 1747. (4) The date of his death
seems to
present
a problem. There is little doubt that he was killed by
the Indians on
an
island in the Clinch River. The inventory of the estate
of Humphrey
Dickenson
is found in Washington County records filed 17 August,
1779. (5)
The confusion
results
from other records of a "Humphrey Dickenson." In the
Davis Cemetery in
Washington County is a tombstone stating Humphrey
Dickenson died 19
June,
1812, age 65 (born 1747). The Mongle-Gobble genealogy
lists Elizabeth
Mongle
as marrying "Murphy Dickenson." (6) This Elizabeth
Mongle is said to
have
been born 23 August, 1783. It is true that in the
inventory of Humphrey
Dickenson of 1779 his wife is named Elizabeth. However,
Elizabeth
Mongle
born in 1783 was not born at the time the inventory
record above is
dated.
There is the will of
a
Humphrey Dickenson recorded in Washington County records
under date of
1822 (7). He names his wife Elizabeth, son Abram,
daughters Sally and
Maria
and states there are 4 other children who are married.
This puzzle is
unsolved,
insofar as the author knows at this time. For my part,
the logical
conclusion
would be that Humphrey, brother of Archelaus, is the one
who was killed
circa 1779. In an entry in the Washington County records
under date of
21 August, 1792 conveys to John Dickenson, grandson of
Henry Dickenson,
late of Prince Edward County, child of Humphrey, one
Negro man slave
named
Dick. This is witnessed by Humphrey Dickenson. Here
then, if seems
clear,
that Humphrey killed by the Indians had sons named
Humphrey and John.
The
Humphrey of the will of 1822 could reasonably be the
Humphrey of this
1792
document. The origin of the Humphrey in the Davis
Cemetery, is not so
easily
explained.
Henry Dickenson, the
clerk,
married Mary Powell. She is believed to be the daughter
of Henry
Powell,
who died in Raleigh Parish, Amelia County, Virginia. (8)
According to
DAR
records, the marriage took place in 1768, but I know of
no
documentation
for this. (9) We know from tombstone data that Henry was
born 29
November,
1750 and died 5 July, 1825.
James Dickenson was
said
to be the youngest son. We know his birth date from the
census, (10)
and
legend says he lived to be 96 years old. He was born in
1764 and died
in
1860, probably early in the year before the census was
taken. He
married
Rosamond Carter. (11)
Elizabeth's birth
date
is unknown at this time. She married John Hawkins, who
pre-deceased
her.
(12) Her descendants state she went with her two sons,
John and
Phillip,
to Madison County, Kentucky, where she died. She married
second, George
Linder. (13)
Mary (Mollie)
Dickenson,
of the bright red hair, was said by her descendants to
have been born
in
1747. (14) She married Henry Hamblen of Prince Edward
County. She is
known
to have been killed by the Indians, but the date is
uncertain. The
family
history records 17 August, 1786. According to James Hagy
(op. Cit.,
page
76), the first attack on Mary was in 1781, and the
following year she
was
killed in a second attack. Mr. Hagy gives as reference
the pension
statement
of James Fraley, and Summers' History of Southwest
Virginia, pp. 365,
367.
Frances (Fanny)
Dickenson
has been the family celebrity, since her story of
capture by the
Indians
and subsequent escape was newsworthy for 100 years. It
was 29 June,
1785
that her husband, Archibald Scott, was killed by the
Indians, and the
children
slain before Fanny's eyes. (15) After her escape, she
married Thomas
Johnson.
An extensive history of Fanny can be found in the files
of Dr. Leland
B.
Tate, Blacksburg, Virginia, a descendant of Fanny.
We can postulate
that
since the oldest child was 8 years old at the time of
her death in 1785
(born 1777), Fanny was born circa 1758, if we make the
presumption that
she was about 18 years old when she married Archibald
Scott. Fanny died
8 (or 9) of May, 1796. (16)
There was at least
one
more sibling in this family - William Jennings Dickenson
- who probably
never saw Western Virginia. (17) His will is found in
Prince Edward
County,
1781, in which he leaves his real estate to his father
Henry Dickenson,
and his personal property to his mother, Agnes. It is
assumed he was
unmarried.
(18)
All of these
children,
with the possible exception of James, were born in
Louisa County,
Virginia,
as will be shown. It is a mistake to say they were born
in Prince
Edward
County. There were children of Henry Dickenson and Agnes
Jennings.
We have no marriage
date
for Henry Dickenson and Agnes Jennings. The Jennings
family of Hanover
and Nottoway Counties, have kept records which state
that Agnes was
born
in 1729 (19) - that she was born in 1727, (20) in
Hanover County,
Virginia.
Her father owned large acreages of land in several
Virginia counties,
and
descendants have traced the family back to the 1500's in
England.
Of Henry's birth we
have
no record, but we know he was born in Caroline County,
Virginia,
apparently
at a time when this section was still a part of King
William County. He
is reported to have had at least 7 siblings. (21) His
father was Thomas
Dickenson, who left a will in Caroline County in 1734,
which has not
been
preserved. (22) The author made inquiry in the Caroline
County Court
House
and the State Library at Richmond. We know that Henry
was left a
homestead
of 466 acres in Louisa County.
According to the
land
patents of Louisa County, Thomas Dickenson got 1,000
acres of land on
Elk
Creek 17 August, 1725, on both sides of the Overton Fork
of the Elk
Creek.
(Although listed as Louisa County, this area was in
Hanover County in
1725).
Henry's legacy was part of this land patent.
Henry and Agnes sold
this
land, together with "the houses and appurtenances
thereto belonging,
the
same is the land given and bequeathed by the last will
and testament of
Thomas Dickarson, late of the County of Caroline (dec'd)
unto his son
Henry,
relation being had to the county court of Caroline, it
will more fully
appear." This land was sold to Griffith Dickarson. (23)
Louisa County as
formed
from Hanover in 1742. It would appear then, that the
Jennings family
lived
near the Dickenson holdings in Louisa, which would
explain how Henry
met
Agnes Jennings. Judging from such birth dates as we have
of their
children,
they were probably married in the 1740's, about the time
the area was
changed
from Hanover to Louisa.
Whether this legacy
to
Henry was raw land or developed by Henry and Agnes, we
do not know. In
either event, it was definitely a homestead when Henry
decided to sell
it in 1765.
Why he wanted to
leave
and go to Prince Edward County is an unsolved puzzle. No
land grant for
Henry in Prince Edward County has been discovered. We do
know that
Henry
served in what was called the "Indian Militia" in 1754
(24). On 17
September,
1758 Henry was paid 5 shillings for furnishing
provisions for the
militia,
and was still on the military roster at that time. (25)
This was the
era
of the French and Indian Wars, and lands were sometimes
granted for
military
service. The government had no money to pay the militia,
and in fact,
many
men refused to serve. The Indians were such a peril that
men would not
leave their families unprotected to join the militia.
(26) The only
recompense
that could be offered militia men was land.
A record of such a
grant
may exist, but the author has not found it. Land patents
were being
given
by King George II of England in Prince Edward County in
1745 and 1763.
(27) But there is little reason to suppose that
Dickensons would
receive
land from such a source. They were already an "old
family in the
colonies,"
and not likely to come under the notice of the King of
England.
In searching the
deeds
of Prince Edward County, the first entry concerning
Henry Dickenson was
on 18 July, 1774, at which time he deeded 133 acres of
land on the
Sandy
River to his son William. (Bounded on one side by land
of Archelaus
Dickenson).
(28) On the same day, Henry sold John Maddox 150 acres
on a fork of the
Sandy River (on Owens and Womack's line). (29)
In other words,
Henry
is selling land, and has seemingly already given land to
Archelaus,
though
we have not learned how or where or when he got the
land. However, some
of the early records of Prince Edward County were
destroyed in the War
between the States. We do not know whether Henry removed
his family
before
or after the sale of the Louisa property, which makes it
problematical
where James was born.
We can deduce that
Henry
sent some of his children to school in Louisa County. We
find from the
records that one Philip Cosby taught a private community
school in the
vicinity of Elk Creek. Philip died in 1763, and among
those indebted to
his estate were:
Henry Dickenson 1 pound 19s. O. D.
Griffith
Dickenson, 1 pound 19s. O.
d.
For seven months
and 16 days
schooling. (30)
This does not
tell us which
child was the pupil. But we can deduce that Henry, who
later became
Clerk,
and who was 13 years old at the time of Philip Cosby's
death, quite
probably,
at one time or another, was a student in this school.
With the
Dickenson
farmstead and the school both on Elk Creek, the
inference is strong.
We have no definite
information
on the religious affiliations of the family. For many
years Dickensons
were members of the Baptist Church known as Goldmine
(on a Creek by
that
name) in Louisa County. But their surviving records
begin in 1770, and
the family under discussion was by then, presumably,
in Prince Edward
County.
We do have some reason to believe they were not
Presbyterians. Church
records
of Old Briary are available, and no Dickensons are
listed. (31) The
author
knows of no early records in Washington County to
indicate the church
affiliations
of the family.
We believe Agnes
Jennings
Dickenson died in 1785. A census was taken in that
year in Prince
Edward
County, in which Henry Dickenson is shown with 3
whites in his family,
1 dwelling and 4 other buildings. Family legend says
that after Agnes
died,
Henry went to live with James, his youngest son, in
Russell County, and
took along 20 slaves. It is likely the census was
taken early in the
year,
because we find in Washington County, under the date
of 8 December,
1785,
"Henry Dickinson, late of Prince Edward County," gave
his daughter
Fanny
one Negro slave named Benjamin "I lent to Nathaniel
Scott." This places
Agnes' death as some time in 1785. We have no record
of Henry's death.
The last court entry is that quoted above in which
Henry Dickenson gave
the slave to John, son of Humphrey - 21 August, 1792.
Henry's father, as
has
been shown by the deed in Louisa County referred to
above, was Thomas
Dickenson.
We do not know who Thomas married. T. E. Campbell, in
his book on
Caroline
County, stated that in 1744 Sarah Dickenson renounced
the will of
Thomas
Dickenson because her legacy was less than her dower.
(32)
In the Caroline
County
Order Book 1740-46, on page 457 is the case of summons
in dower between
Sarah Dickason, widow, plaintiff and William Daniel,
the Younger,
defendant
(march 1744-45). This case came up in the May court
(page 472) and was
continued. It came up again the following September
(page 533) and was
again continued. On December 13 Sarah Dickerson posted
her bond to
William
Daniel, proved by the oaths of Samuel Bowdre, John
Williams and John
Bushell
(p. 545). The next day, Saturday, December 14, the
action in dower
between
Sarah Dickason, plaintiff and William Daniel,
defendant was dismissed,
being agreed. (P. 553).
There is nothing
here
to show that Sarah Dickason (Dickenson) is the widow
of Thomas. She is
merely styled as a widow, and we have no knowledge as
to how many
"Widow
Dickensons" were in the area in 1744. In any event,
Thomas' will was
filed
in 1734, and ten years would be pretty late to protest
a will.
T. E. Campbell was a
native
of Caroline County and knew the people. He might have
had records not
available
to the general public, to state that "Thomas Dickenson
had 8 children
in
9 years. (P. 47). But if Mr. Campbell knew that
Thomas' widow was
Sarah,
such record is not available to us.
The action in dower,
which
seems to indicate that this Sarah was a Daniel before
her marriage.
Genealogies
of Virginia Daniels have been searched for a Sarah who
married a
Dickenson,
but without result. The matter of Thomas' wife bears
further study, but
at present we have no presumptive evidence to identify
her.
We are reaching back
now
to an era when records are sparse, and proof is
difficult. We are told
by C. W. Cram, in his book "Gods, Graves and
Scholars," that hypothesis
belongs to the working method of any science: it is a
legitimate form
of
speculation proceeding from established results.
However, the
hypothesis
must be based on established results - in other words,
also on
documents
- and not "wandering in the wild blue yonder." Wharton
Dickenson did
just
this, falsifying data and foisting a fraudulent
genealogy on Dickenson
descendants. Unfortunately, it is muchly referred to
and widely
disseminated.
As has clearly been
shown
above, one cannot accept statements in books, but must
refer back to
the
documents which they purport to interpret. Ray S.
Worth, in his book on
Tennessee Cousins, contains errors on Dickensons,
which have been used
without checking the original source. Statements in
books have often
been
in error, and it is not permissible to use books to
build a genealogy;
only documents.
With this in mind,
we
begin the search for the forebears of Thomas
Dickenson, and lacking
records
which have been destroyed, we must proceed to gather
existing facts and
project a probably theory.
Examining the land
grants
of Caroline County, we find that the Dickensons have
grants in St.
Margaret's
Parish:
1717 Thomas Dickenson, 390 acres on the
North
Anna at the mouth of Hawkins Creek.
1717 Griffith Dickenson, 400 acres on
the
North Anna, above Thomas Dickenson's grant.
1725 William Dickenson, 400 acres -
North
Anna
1726 Thomas Dickenson, 400 acres -
North
Anna
1727 William Dickenson, 400 acres -
North
Anna
1728 Griffin Dickenson, 400 acres -
North
Anna
We know that
Caroline County
was formed in 1727 from King and Queen, King William
and Essex
Counties.
Hence these grants were mostly made prior to the time
the area was
officially
known as Caroline.
The next record we
find preceding,
are the
Quit Rents of 1704. Here we find:
Dickason, Thomas, King William County
100
acres
Dickason, William, King William County,
100
acres
One would assume
that the
Thomas who had 100 acres in King William County in
1704 is the same
Thomas
who got 390 acres in 1717, and he acquired more land
in the same area -
since it was the boundary line that put him in
Caroline when it was
"pinched
off" of King William County.
Are there two brothers living in the
area
in 1704 (William and Thomas) who are joined by a
younger brother,
Griffith
at a later date?
Was some of this
land
retained in King William County? In 1731, among the
tithables of that
County
was listed: Thomas Deekens. (33)
We have entries in
King
William County concerning William. Most of the
records were destroyed
by
fire in 1885. We do find that in 1704 Phillip
Whitehead sued the estate
of John Pettivor, dec'd, and the Commissioners were
Thomas Spencer,
Thomas
Butler and William Dickinson. (34)
From the sparse
records
photographed and placed in the Virginia State
Library, is a volume of
papers
between 1702 and 1707 of King William County. On
page 372 is an entry
showing
that William Dickason and Abraham Willaroy bought a
lot of « acre
in Delaware Town on 20 day of June, 1707, for which
they paid 482
pounds
of tobacco. The witness signatures are torn off.
In another volume of
salvaged
papers for the years 1721-1722, is a fragment of a
deed in which
Nathaniel
Dickinson conveys 78 acres of land to Rich. Watts.
This instrument is
torn
and mutilated, but the sum of 20 pounds is
mentioned, and "yearly rent
of one pepper corn at the feast of St. Michael...be
demanded to the
intent
that by virtue of these presents...the said Rich.
Watts may be in
actual
possession of these premises." Nathaniel also says
this is land of
which
he is "rightfully seized." It is attested 15 day of
February in, the
Seventh
Year of the Reign of __________. 1721 was the
seventh year of the reign
of George I.
This is somewhat
curious.
In no other record do we find Nathaniel was granted
any lands, and
there
was so many missing records of Quit Rents that we
have no information
on
how Nathaniel acquired this land. But he says he is
"rightfully seized."
Can we assume that
Nathaniel
does not like King William County, and has decided
to sell out and go
elsewhere?
Is he related to the other Dickensons who apparently
do like this area?
We do not know where Nathaniel went, but we do find
that a Nathaniel
Dickenson
died in Louisa County in 1753, and he left one of
his plantations to
his
son, Griffith. (35) We can look upon this as
presumptive evidence that
the Nathaniel who made the will was related to
Griffith Dickenson of
King
William or Caroline County.
We note from the
entry
of the will of Thomas Dickenson on 13 June 1734,
that it was presented
by Griffeth Dickerson and Thomas Dickerson, the
executors, and that it
was proved by the witnesses James Garland and James
Dickerson. (36) It
would seem that Griffith is Thomas' brother, and
that the other
executor
is the son of the deceased. We have no clue as to
whether James is also
a son or not. It seems likely.
As for the Garlands,
they
took up lands on the opposite banks of the North
Anna, in Hanover
County.
We believe that Dickensons married Garlands. This is
shown in later
records
where we find a Garland Dickenson of Louisa County
is an absentee owner
of land in Hanover County. (37) Presumably the James
Garland who
witnessed
Thomas' will is a son-in-law.
There are so many
Dickenson
records in the middle and late 1700's in this
general area that it is
difficult
to make any lineage record that is not specifically
stated in documents.
However, let us
apply
chronology to the records we have found. It is noted
that William
Dickenson
can be placed in King William County in 1704 and
again in 1707. But his
name does not appear in the land grants of 1717. The
name William does
not appear in the grants until 1725. In the
meantime, we find Nathaniel
selling land in 1721 of which he is "rightfully
seized," but for which
there is no record of a land grant.
It appears then that
the
William found in 1704 is older than Thomas, and has
died between 1707
and
1717, and that a son Nathaniel, who is younger than
Thomas, has
inherited
his land. The William who appears in 1725 is not
likely to be the same
William of King William County.
Do we then have a
William
Dickenson, with sons named Thomas, Griffith and
Nathaniel? As we go
farther
back in the records, it can be shown that this is a
chronological
possibility.
William Elmore
Dickenson
of West Virginia worked on his family history, in
which he states that
his James Dickenson was the son of Thomas Dickenson
and Susanna
Robinson
of Caroline County, and that Thomas is a descendent
of Griffith
Dickenson
who patented land in James Cittie County in 1656.
(38) William Elmore
Dickenson
offered no proof of this, and he died in 1915 in
Texas.
Griffith Dickenson
is
a name so common in the 1700's and even up to the
present date, that
sorting
them is no mean task. However, in the 1600's there
is only one Griffith
Dickenson. Griffith is an uncommon first name, and
to be repeated so
consistently
down the years indicates it is a family name, let us
examine the
records
of the Griffith Dickenson of the 1600's, and try to
locate an earlier
link
than 1717.
We find that
Griffith
Dickinson is named as a member of the New Kent
County Militia in 1702.
(39) Can we assume that Griffith is younger than
Thomas, and served in
the New Kent County Militia before going over to
join Thomas and
William?
Other documents we can pursue will also pertain to
Dickensons in New
Kent
County, as will be shown. Was he named for his
grandfather?
Let us see what we
can
find on the Griffith Dickenson in Virginia in the
1600's. He did indeed
patent land in Virginia on 5 January, 1656, 300
acres on the southwest
side of Moses Creek and on the northerly branch of
Tomahack Creek above
Nickatorinces quarter, for transporting 6 persons,
himself twice,
Elizabeth
Dickenson, William Jones and Susan Crotch. This, of
course, is a count
of 5, not 6. The author checked this patent with the
originals in
Virginia
State Library, and it is correct as given above.
Therefore, it would
seem
that his wife Elizabeth is also counted twice. (40)
Such grants were
given
in the amount of 50 acres for each person
transported. However, one
must
not assume that the date of the patent represents
the date of arrival.
The patent might be based on those who had long
since arrived and
settled.
This entry does tell
us
that Griffith had made at least two trips from
England before 1656, and
the inference is that his wife also made two trips.
That she was his
wife
can also be shown by the records of St. Martin
Orgar, London, where the
marriage record shows that Griffith Dickenson
married Elizabeth
Springall
on 12 June, 1649. (41) No ages or parents are given
in this document.
The
rate lists show that Thomas Springall was a resident
there in this
period,
but no proof of parentage has been found. (42) We
can deduce that
Griffith
and Elizabeth came to Virginia any time between 1649
and 1956, for the
first time.
Griffith was
apparently
not a planter, and seemingly patented the land
because he could get it.
He was a trader, dealer, speculator or some kind of
business man.
In existing records
of
Surry County, we find the entry "26 June, 1656/7 The
balance of the
books
of Maj. Jno. Westhorpe, dec'd. One of creditors was
Griffith Dickenson.
(43) On 16 December, 1664 there is the petition of
Griffith Dickinson,
entreating his friend Capt. Thomas Pittman to
petition the court on his
behalf and grant an order against John Dolyes(?)
Estate. (44) Also on 3
May, 1656, Jno. Baldwin and Griffith Dickson have a
suit, which they
ask
Robert Stanton to defer to the next court. (45)
Then we find
Griffith
pursuing a proposition frowned upon by the
authorities. On 10
September,
1663, an order of the Assembly: Divers persons (5)
have erected wares
in
the Face of the town, contrary to the order of the
Assembly. Each was
assessed
a fine of 2,000 pounds of tobacco and cask. One of
these culprits was
Griffith
Dickenson. (46)
Commentators like
McIlwain,
familiar with the terminology then current, states
that wares refers to
weirs, which was the term used for a dam. These five
men seem to have
built
a dam in the James River, at or near Jamestown,
which in some way upset
the order of things. They obviously did not believe
their project would
have deleterious effects, but the event proved them
wrong.
His business deals
must
have been profitable. The Assembly apparently knew
these men could pay
a stiff fine. They probably also had to stand the
expense of tearing
down
the dam.
We do not know the
date
of Griffith's death, but we know it was before 1673.
We find this
entry:
28 May, 1673. The difference between Tho. Wilkinson
as marrying the
relict
of Griffith Dickeson, and William Towne, is referred
to the next county
court of New Kent, who are to determine the
difference. (47)
Who is William
Towne,
and what does he have to do with the widow's
property? Did William
Towne
marry a daughter of Griffith and Elizabeth, and is
trying to get some
of
Griffith's estate out of the hands of her step-
father, Thomas
Wilkinson?
Did any sons come into this litigation? We do not
know, because the
records
of New Kent County have been destroyed.
The last record we
had
on Griffith was 16 December, 1664, in Surry County.
He may have die din
the late 1660's. Since we know the marriage took
place in 1649, we now
see why Thomas, Griffith and Nathaniel are not
likely to be the sons of
Griffith, but presumably grandsons. And this would
tie in with the
presumption
that William of King William County is their father.
If William was
born
in the early 1605's and died after 1707, he would
have lived a
reasonable
life span. But to presume that Nathaniel, who died
in 1753 is a child
of
Griffith of Virginia, would be, though not
impossible, yet improbable.
Having located the
family
in New Kent County, where Griffith's estate is to be
adjudicated, we
look
for other entries that might be significant. On the
April 16, 1684
charges
and levies of New Kent County. John Diggason is
awarded 21 pounds of
tobacco
for carrying a letter to Lt. Story. On Thursday 28
October, 1686, in a
letter submitted by the clerks to their Lordship,
one of the members of
the Custom Commission is William Dickinson. (48) The
names John and
William
are too common to assign without proof. But we can
bear in mind, since
we have still another entry that may or may not be
significant. In the
next century we find he will of William Morris of
New Kent County,
filed
on 25 January, 1745/6, naming among his heirs, his
daughter Eliza
Dickenson
and his grandsons John and Arthur Dickenson. (49)
We do not know
Griffith's
origin. In the parish of St. Martin Orgar where he
was married in
London,
no Dickenson families can be found in the records
for that period.
Considerable
work has been done on English records, without
finding a clue.
That he was the son
of
Jeremiah Dickenson, who came over in 1620, can now
be disproved.
Jeremiah
patented land in James Cittie County in 1636 and
1638. (50) There are
two
entries in the records concerning these lands.
"10 April, 1651 to
Robert
Taylor, 500 acres in James Cittie County on the
Chippoakes, beginning
at
Swan Bay and north toward the river mouth, formarly
granted to Jeremy
Dickenson
by patent dated 6 May, 1638, and granted to said
Taylor by order of the
Governor and Council 24 October, 1650, in the right
of his wife, the
daughter-
in-law of said Dickenson." (51)
In other words,
there
is no male claimant to Jeremiah's land. Nomenclature
of the day was not
consistent with ours, so that we do not know whether
Robert Taylor's
wife
was a daughter of Jeremiah, or possibly his widow.
But the claimant is
not a male bearing the name of Dickenson. The other
entry is:
"Surry County,
Virginia
22 June 1668. Thomas Ludwell, Esq., Escheator
General, Writ 5 October
1667
to enquire what lands Jeremiah Dickeson was at the
tyme of his death
seized
of. Jury find that Jeremiah Dickinson was at the
time of his death
seized
of 500 acres in James Citty County (but now called
Surry) upon Upper
Chipoakes
Creeke, commonly known by the name of Swan Bay,
which became due unto
Jeremiah
Dickinson by patt. 6 May 1638 and that Jeremiah
Dickenson made noe
will,
neither is there any heire in the country. We give
verdict that the 500
acres is escheated." (52)
Our records show
that
Griffith's widow, if not Griffith himself, was in
the colony in 1667
and
1668. Obviously the old records which claim the
Dickensons descend from
Jeremiah, are in error.
The search continues
for
some document showing the origin of Griffith.
Dickensons have ever been
prolific as well as adventurous, as is evident to
anyone who has made
much
of a study of English records pertaining to them. In
the 1600's they
were
by no means all living in England, as can be seen by
examining the
records
of Bermuda, West Indies, and New England. A Thomas
Dickenson was in
Charleston,
South Carlina as early as the 1600's. It is no easy
problem to locate
Griffith's
origins.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
(1) For example, see Castle's Woods:
Frontier
Virginia Settlement 1769-1799, James W. Hagy, a thesis
presented to the
Faculty Department of History, East Tennessee State
University, 1966,
p.
24;
(2) As shown by the will of John
Rowlett,
filed 3 October, 1776, Prince Edward County, Will
Book 1-7, p.
210.
(3) Washington County, Virginia Will
Book
3, p. 17, Inventory of Archelaus Dickenson, 25
September 1806.
(4) From the files of Harry Dickenson,
Orlando,
Florida (not proved).
(5) Washington County, Virginia Will
Book
1, p. 28 Inventory of Humphrey Dickenson, 17 August,
1779.
(6) Genealogy submitted by Glenn
Tunnell,
Los Angeles, California
(7) Washington County Will Book 9, p.
112,
13 May, 1822.
(8) Amelia County, Virginia Will Book
2X,
p. 79, Will of Henry Powell 22 November, 1764.
(9) DAR Patriot Index, Vol. 150, p.
232.
(10) 1850 Census of Russell County,
Virginia
in which his age is given as 86.
(11) Will of Thomas Carter, Russell
County,
Virginia filed 1 August 1803.
(12) Washington County, Virginia Will
Book
2, p. 1349.
(13) Data of Betty Stuart, nee Hawkins,
born
in Sewanee, Tennessee, now Fairfax, VA.
(14) Records of Mrs. J. H. Letton,
Tampa,
Florida.
(15) Calendar of State Papers, vol. IV,
p.
40.
(16) See Journal of the Letters of
Francis
Asbury, Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1958, Vol. II, pp
85-87. However,
records
of the Methodist Church of Blacksburg state that
John Kobler preached
the
funeral sermon of Fanny.
(17) There may have been others who did
not
survive, and no record found of any.
(18) Prince Edward County, Virginia
Will
Book 1, p. 268.
(19) Documented Notes on Jennings and
Allied
Families, 1961 (Atlanta Public Library).
(20) Records of Salt Lake City, said to
be
based on a pamphlet of Mary J. Hardester,
great-granddaughter of
William
Jennings, father of Agnes. Her birth date varies in
this record and
that
cited in footnote 19. (21) History of Caroline
County, T. E. Campbell,
Dietz Press, Richmond, p. 47. (22) Caroline County,
Virginia Order Book
1732-1734, p. 140.
(23) Louisa County, Virginia Deed Book
C1/2,
p 111, 9 September 1765.
(24) History of Louisa County, Malcolm
H.
Harris, Dietz Press, Richmond, p. 49.
(25) Hennings Statutes at Large, Vol.
7,
p. 222.
(26) Malcolm Harris, op. Cit.
(27) Ibid
(28) Deed Book 5, p. 306, Records of
Prince
Edward County.
(29) Ibid, Book 5, page 310.
(30) Malcolm H. Harris, op. Cit. Pp
223,
224.
(31) Old Briary Church, Prince Edward
County,
Virginia from an old copy compiled by James W.
Douglas, Richmond, Dec.
1828. Reprint 1971 by Thomas Proctor Hughes, Jr.,
4140 Chanwil Ave.,
Memphis,
Tennessee 38117.
(32) T. E. Campbell, op. Cit., p.
246.
(33) Virginia Magazine, Vol. 13, p.
67.
(34) Virginia Magazine, Vol. 31, p.
342.
(35) Louisa County Will Book 1, p. 30,
31
August 1753.
(36) Caroline County Order Book
1732-1740,
p. 142.
(37) Virginia Migrations Hanover
County,
Vol. II, 1743-1871, Glazebrook, 1949.
(38) See William and Mary Quarterly,
Series
I, Vol. 15, p. 253. Also Series I, Vol. 22, p.
62.
(39) Archives Section of Virginia State
Library,
card file of what has been presently calendered from
old records.
(40) Patent records can be found in
Cavaliers
and Pioneers, Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and
Grants 1623-1666,
Nell Marion Nugent, Genealogical Publishing Company,
Baltimore, 1963,
or
English Duplicates of Lost Virginia Records, Louis
des Cognets, Jr.,
Princeton,
N. J., 1958 (private publications).
(41) Parish Records of St. Martin Orgar
can
be found in the Library of the Society of
Genealogists, 37 Harrington
Gardens,
London SW7, or Boyd's list of marriages in England,
found in the New
York
Library.
(42) Records of Guild Hall, London.
Levies
made by the king and by the church.
(43) Surry County, Virginia County
Court
Records, Book 1, 1652-1672, Abstracts p. 88.
(44) Ibid, p. 252.
(45) Ibid, p. 100.
(46) Virginia Records from the Randolph
Manuscript,
Virginia Magazine, Vol. 17, p. 342. Also Journal of
the House of
Burgesses
1659/60-1693, pp. 48, 49.
(47) Minutes of the Council of Virginia
and
General Court, edited by H. L. McIlwaine, Vol.
1670-76, p. 344.
(48) Journals of the House of Burgesses
of
Virginia, Vol. 1659-60-1693, p. 257.
(49) Will quoted in Virginia
Genealogist,
Vol. 11, pp. 51-60.
(50) Land patents in the Library in
Richmond,
or see Neil Marion Nugent or Louis des Cognets, Jr.,
as quoted in
footnote
40.
(51) ibid
(52) Virginia Miscellany in the Ms.
Division
of Library of Congress, Foreign Business and
Inquisitions, 1665-1679 -
Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Quoted in Virginia
Genealogist, Vol. 19,
No.
2, June, 1975, p. 130.
Pages 7 to 19
|