Culpeper County, VA - History: William Nash & Descendants 1635 - 1700's Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by R. Jones, rjones6666@aol.com ***************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net ****************************************************************** William Nash & Descendants Most of our early Nash history comes from Albert Metts, Jr, "Metts Ancestors in America". Mr. Metts establishes a trail of four ancestors to James Nash, born 1739 in Culpeper County, Virginia. Man of the current day Nash researchers descend from this James Nash line. This paper compares the Metts paper with the early Virginia records. The First William According to Metts, our earliest known ancestor in this line was William Nash (and since there were a number after him - call him the first, I). In 1653, William Nash, a commissioner in Northumberland County is granted 700 acres for transportation services. The grant named his wife as "Anne", and according to the commission records, he died in 1655. Hotten reports William Nash arriving in Virginia on HMS Globe of London, August 1635 and he is our William Nash I of Northumberland County. After William's death, Anne Nash remarried to John Mallett in May 1656 (Lancaster Co). Lancaster County was created from Northumberland in the mid-1650's. Mr. Metts does not reference this, but a deposition was filed by Mallett, naming the children of William Nash and references the 700 acres passed down from their father, William. Children named are: Thomas Nash, 27 Sept 1649 William Nash, 6 Aug 1651 John Nash, 20 Nov 1653 A deposition by Thomas Hopkins recorded in 1656, states that his sister, Ann was married to William Nash and had a son, Thomas. Annis Hopkins was listed by Hottens as arriving in Virginia on the Merchant's Hope in 1635 (at age 19). The William & Mary Quarterly reports that Ann married three times. The last marriage was to John Meredith in 1657. There are two court orders on 14 July 1669; one is for the estate of Toby Horton and the second with the estate of William Nash. It is easy to look at this as a single court order, but it actually appears to be two orders. In the second order, "Wm Nash - long since deceased unto his youngest son, also deceased, allowed to ye estate of ye child's said mother, the other to parts to his surviving brothers, to be equally divided between them." This court order appears to say that Wm Nash left his 1/3 estate to his youngest son. It goes on to talk about the estate of this child's mother being divided between the two surviving brothers. This court order along with a 1668 record showing John Meredith marrying Dorothy Byram, clearly points to Ann Nash Meredith's death prior to 1668. The court order also tells us that William's youngest son, John, has died prior to 1669. This seems to be bared out in several subsequent records. Many mention either William or Thomas, but not John. In 1669, a guardian record shows: Thomas Nash - selected John Carter, boatwright as guardian Will Nash - selected Will Edmonds, guardian Consistent with the Metts paper, we have William Nash I , born 1613 (prob England) - died 1655 Ann Hopkins, born 1616 (prob England) - died bef 1668 Mr. Metts must not have had the Mallet deposition, since he did not name William's children, other than William II and even with him the date of birth was stated as before 1648. From the Mallet deposition, we know: Nash children: Thomas Nash, 27 Sept 1649 William Nash, 6 Aug 1651 John Nash, 20 Nov 1653 and died before 1669 Mr. Metts does not say much about William Nash II, other than "he must have been grown by 1672, because he bought 200 acres". Metts says that William II died after 1675 (based on the estate record of Thomas Nash) and then proceeds to William III. The record of William III is also rather brief, with a mention that he married Ann Kirk on 10 Feb 1717. At that point, the history shifts to Culpeper, Va. Lancaster Records 1650-1700 In the period of 1650 to 1700, there are several Lancaster County, Virginia records related to the Nash family. 1675 Thomas Nash estate - Will Edmonds gave security for Will Nash (would assume this is Will Edmonds, guardian of William Nash II) 1676 Thomas Nash - inventory: Thomas Nash - 1676 (Lancaster Co) Wills, Etc No 5 1674-1689 (Reel 18) pg 24a- 25 Inv & appr 12 July 1676 1680 William Herde. The son of Walter Herde selects William Nash as guardian. The court finds Nash of sufficient age. (would assume Nash must have been young - maybe too young to considered suitable guardian. William II would have been 29) 1681 Wm Nash & Thos Buckley work on Wm Edmonds house. 1689 Wm Edmonds, Chris Kirk, William Nash appraise estate of John Carter. (Edmonds guardian of Nash, Nash now 38, Carter was guardian of Thos Nash) 1697-1700 Wm Edmonds Last Will & Testament - appraisers Thos Buckly, Chris Kirk. In his will, Edmonds names his sons Elias and William. (William II guardian dies 1700: note Will Nash was not included in appraisers) From these records, we know that Thomas Nash from Lancaster died 1675 and left his estate to William Nash Lancaster. We also know that William did not have the resources to pay the security himself and was loan the money by William Edmonds, who was the guardian of William II. We know that there is a William Nash in Lancaster through out the late 1600s, with a close relationship to the Edmonds and Kirk family. We know that William Herde selected William Nash as his guardian. In 1698, an inventory and appraisal for William Nash was recorded in Lancaster County. William Nash - 1698 (Lancaster Co) Wills, Etc No 8 1690-1709 (Reel 8) pg 80-81 Inv & appr 10 Aug 1698 The Lancaster County records clearly show activities of William Nash, a brother Thomas, and close ties to William Edmonds, who was William II guardian. We may conclude from this 1698 inventory, that William II has died. In 1698, William II would be 47 - so this could be our William II. There doesn't appear to be a will, so perhaps his death was unexpected. At age 47, William II might have had several children. Amey Nash ? Amey Nash, wrote her will 21 May 1708 and it was recorded 14 March 1710. In this will, she references the following children: Mary Nash Elizabeth Nash Rebecca Nash William Nash Executors are: Elias Edmonds and ..Kirk. Her son is required to pay his sisters 30 shillings in order to collect the rest of her estate. Since her husband (Mr. Nash) is not listed among the executors of the will, we might conclude that he is dead. We know that a William Nash died abt 1698 in Lancaster County and that William II was close to the Edmonds and Kirk family. Wm Edmonds LWT names Elias as his son. Amey may have been the daughter of William Edmonds and wife of William Nash II. Given that in 1724, the Rev Bell reported that there were only 300 families in the Christ Church parish, the assumption of a close alliance between these families may not be unreasonable. In August 1999, George Nash posted a query: -does anyone know: Eliz Nash married Jacob Booseley 1691 or Rebecca Nash (b 1675 Lancaster Co) married Geo Duff 1691. From Amey Nash's will, we know that her daughters, Elizabeth and Rebecca lived in Lancaster. From the George Nash query, it appears that someone has established a date of birth for Rebecca Nash as 1675 in Lancaster Co. William II would have been 24 years old at the time of Rebecca's birth, clearly old enough to be her father. Both daughters married in 1691. From these records, we might conclude that William II married Amey Edmonds, the daughter of his guardian, and they had four children, one of which was William III. Given William II was born 1651 and Rebecca was born in 1675, we might also conclude that William III was born in the same period (1670-1675). Recall that Metts, said that William II must have been grown by 1672, because he purchase 200 acres of land. This might be consistent with a marriage and raising a family. Since both daughters married in 1691, could it be that something happened that year, that they needed to get out on their own? There are no tithe records for William Nash after 1688, but then they continue in 1691 (which could be records for William III, and he has hurried his sisters out of the family house). The Nash Mill On 18 July 1709, William and Ann Nash sell Nashes Mill on the Eastern Branch of Corrotomen, Christ Church Parish, Lancaster Co, Va to Isaac Rowden, gunsmith. The Nash family land was on Dividing Creek, which is off the Eastern Branch. So the location of Nashes Mill is consistent with the location of the Nash family descending from Commissioner Nash. The question is: who are this William and Ann Nash. William II would be 58 years old at this time, so it could be him - but then who was the William Nash that died before 1698? If our conclusion about William II and Amey Nash was correct, they would have a son, William III and he would be about 34 years old at the time of the sale of the Nash Mill. Also, we need to keep in mind, that Lancaster was still relatively unpopulated at that time (300 families by 1724) - how many William Nashes would have been there. Nash Will 1718 & John Nash Then there is a will written by William Nash of Lancaster County, in 1718. This will references "my loving wife Ann"; my godson, Wm Herde; "my loving son William" and ".my will is that my son be educated according to the ability of my estate"; and "my brother John". The executor of the will was Elias Edmonds (son of William Edmonds, William II's guardian). William Nash - 1719 (Lancaster Co) Wills, Etc No 10 1709-1727 (Reel 19) pg 283-284 Will proven 8 Apr 1719 pg 288-290 Inv & appr 13 May 1719 We know that William II's brother John died prior to 1669 and we think that William II married Amey Edmonds, not Ann. The will also references a son that needs educating. Since William II would have been about 68 years old at the time of this will, it is unlikely that he would have a son that needed educating. William II and William III Conclusions From this we may conclude that this will belongs not to William II, but to his son William III. Consistent with this, we also conclude: William II married Amey Edmonds abt 1670-1675 William II & Amey had children: Elizabeth, Mary, Rebecca, William (III), John William II died 1698 Amey died 1710 William III married Ann (prob around 1691) William III and Ann sold the Nash Mill 1709 William III died 1719 These conclusions are supported, somewhat, by the in fact another William Nash married Ann Kirk at about that time (1717) and as such was at an age that he may have needed to be educated. Also there is the will of John Nash of Lancaster in 1734. This John was most likely the one referred to in Williams will. John Nash - 1734 (Lancaster Co) Will - 16 Jan 1734 (12 Mar 1734 proven) identifies wife, Elizabeth and daughter Betty identifies Thomas Hubbard as lien holder(?) exec: Charles Craven & John Kent To summarize the William II and William III families: William Nash II, born 6 Aug 1651 (Lancaster) - died 1698 (Lancaster) Amey Edmonds, born unk (prob Lancaster) - died 1710 children William Nash III, born (prob 1670-1675), died 1719 John Nash, (brother identified in 1719 will), died 1734 Elizabeth, unk (prob Lancaster) m Jacob Booseley 1691 died unk Mary, unk Rebecca, b1675 (Lancaster) m Geo Duff 1691 died unk William Nash III, born (prob 1670-1675), died 1719 (Lancaster) Ann, unk Children William Nash IV, unknown In comparison to the Metts paper, we find that our date of birth for William II is after that from Metts (but he did not reference the Mallett deposition) and our date of death (1698) is consistent with his (after 1675). Mr. Metts does not tell us the wife of William II. For William III, Mr. Metts has a date of birth before 1692 and which is consistent with our conclusion (abt 1670). And, he has a date of death of 1741 and a marriage to Ann Kirk in 1717. While we have concluded, that William III married an Ann, but not Ann Kirk, and he died 1719. Mr. Metts did not reference the 1719 Nash will, so we are not sure that he had that available for his conclusions. William Nash & Ann Kirk Marriage Record. William Nash of Christ Church Parish, Lancaster married Ann Kirk, 10 Feb 1717. Ann was the daughter of Christopher and Ann Kirk of Lancaster. Chris Kirk was the appraiser of the William Edmonds estate, along with William Nash II. There were a number of Chris Kirk's, so it is very possible that Kirk the appraiser was the grandfather of Ann. Also, the executor of Amey Nashes will was a Mr. .. Kirk (probably Chris Kirk). This tells us that the Nash, Edmonds, and Kirk families were very closely aligned. With being married in 1717, it is likely that this is the son referenced by William III in his will of 1718. so we have William Nash IV, born prob 1695-1700 (Lancaster) - died ? Ann Kirk, born unk (prob Lancaster) - died married 1717, Lancaster, Va Culpeper Records & William IV There are also several Orange Co (Culpeper) records that relate back to the Lancaster Co Nash family. 1738 William Nash purchase of 200 ac in St Marks parish of Orange Co 1741 William Nash leased (sold) 200ac of land in Lancaster Co to Thomas Pollard. "This being the land bequeathed to Wm Nash by his late father Wm Nash of Lancaster Co." 1741 Thomas Pollard sells 400 ac in St Marks parish to William Nash. So, 17 years after the marriage of William IV to Ann Kirk, we have a William Nash buying property in Orange Co (Culpeper). A couple years later, 1741, we have a William Nash selling 200 acres of land in Lancaster, which was bequeath to him by his father William Nash. It seems that either William IV moved his family to Culpeper in 1738 or his son, William V, moved to Culpeper in 1738 - and purchased 200 ac of land in St Marks parish. From the record, we do not know which. We do know that William V - married Betty and their first child was born 1739 in Orange Co. From this we might concluded that William V married Betty in 1738 and moved to Culpeper, where he purchased 200 acres of land. Given Williams age, his father probably gave him the money. His father died abt 1741, left him 200 acres of land in Lancaster, which he sold to Thomas Pollard and then bought 400 acres of land in St Mark's from Pollard. so we have William Nash IV, born prob 1695-1700 (Lancaster) - died ? Ann Kirk, born unk (prob Lancaster) - died married 1717, Lancaster, Va child: William V, born after 1717 in Lancaster married Betty abt 1738 and moved to Culpeper County, Va Culpeper Records & William V More Culpeper Records to consider: 1750 William Nash sold 200ac 1753 William Nash sold 200ac William Nash - 1754 (Culpeper Co) Will Book A, 1749-1770 (Reel 31) p 262 Acct rec Oct 15, 1761 p 188-189 Acct rec Mar 16, 1759 p 287 Guardian's acct rec Aug 20,1762 p 102-103 Inv & Appr rec May 16, 1754 From these records, the same William Nash that moved from Lancaster and purchased 600 acres of land (1738/1741) is now selling his land off and then dies shortly afterward. The accounts rec and guardian accts tell of Williams wife, Betty and children. William Nash (V) estate was appraised in 1754 and his wife Betty was named guardian of minor children. Appraisal of his estate was made on March 8, 1754: 8 negros valued at 235pounds; total value 277.14pounds. Appraisers: Joseph James, Anthony Hayne (could be Larkin wife's father), & Reuben Long (father of Polly-wife of John Nash). Inventory and appraisal of estate of Betty Nash, decd made 25 Oct 1766 by Reuben Long. Estate div: equal shares to William Nash, Robert Sanders & wife, Elizabeth Nash, John Nash, Leanne Nash, Elijah Nash, Mary Nash. Betty left a will in Culpeper. Page 79, Oct 19, 1772. Administer: James Nash, her at law. Other heirs: William Nash, Ann (Robert) Saunders, Elizabeth (James) Saunders, Leanna (Bryant) Thornhill, John Nash, Elijah Nash, Mary (Nathaniel) Robertson. - This would establish that Betty died about Oct 1766. It also appears that Elizabeth, Leanne, and Mary were married between 1766 and 1772. In a listing of Westmoreland Co. Va. Wills was the will of James Hardwick, 12 Jun 1749 "Land where I live to son Thomas; son John - 1 shilling; son-in-law Elias Davis 1 shilling; Daughter Elizabeth Nash 1 shilling. dau Sarah Summers - 1 shilling. Dau Cyonway; wife Elizabeth; son James." From this, we have concluded that Betty, wife of William Nash V, was the daughter of James Hardwick. James Nash James and his brother John later moved their families to Abbeville, SC. James married Ann (Jenkins) on 9 Dec 1765. James served as a private in the Artillery in Virginia. His service is documented in the US Archives, Brumbaugh's Revolutionary War Records and Gwathmay's Virginians in the Revolution. James and Ann had five children: James, George, Valentine, Larkin, and Nancy. Mr. Metts is descended from, Mary Richards Nash, the daughter of Nancy and her cousin Reuben Nash. James son, James moved to Jackson County Ga about 1800. His son George moved to Alabama. Valentine ended up in Louisiana and Larkin and Nancy both moved on to Mississippi. James died Dec 13, 1806 in Abbeville. Summary Metts recorded only four Williams from the Commissioner of Northumberland County down to the William of Culpeper. The conclusions above would lead us to five Williams. William Nash I , born 1613 (prob England) - died 1655 Ann Hopkins, born 1616 (prob England) - died bef 1668 Thomas Nash, 27 Sept 1649 William Nash, 6 Aug 1651 John Nash, 20 Nov 1653 and died before 1669 William II, born 6 Aug 1651 Lancaster , died 1698 Amey Edmonds born abt 1650, died 1710 (married abt 1670-1675) Elizabeth, born 1670-1675 - married Jacob Boosely 1691 Mary, born 1670-1675 Rebecca, born 1670-1675 - Rebecca married George Duff 1691 William (III), born 1670-1675 died 1719 John, born 1670-1675 , died 1734 William III born 1670-1675 died 1719 married Ann (prob around 1691) William born abt 1691 William Nash IV, born prob 1695-1700 (Lancaster) - died ? Ann Kirk, born unk (prob Lancaster) - died married 1717, Lancaster, Va William V, born after 1717 in Lancaster died 1754 William V, born after 1717 in Lancaster died 1754 Betty Hardwick (of Westmoreland) abt 1717, died 1766 Married abt 1738 James Nash, William Nash, Ann (Robert) Saunders, Elizabeth (James) Saunders, Leanna (Bryant) Thornhill, John Nash, Elijah Nash,