Essex County, VA - Miscellaneous Court Documents, 1759-1761 The following documents are recorded in "Essex County, Virginia Orders-1759-1761" found on Reel 76 at the Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Page 57 - At a court continued and held for Essex County at Tappahannock on the 18th day of July, 1759 Page 64 - John Bomar and Barbara, his wife against Thomas Bush, an infant, son and heir of Bibby Bush, decd. and Thomas Brooke his guardian - The plt.(plaintiff) files his suit of complaint against the infant, and on their motion time is given till the next court to consider the said bill. Page 114 - At a court held for Essex County at Tappahannock the 18th day of February, 1760. Page 117 John Bomar and Barbara, his wife against In Chancery Thomas Bush, an infant, son and heir of Bibby Bush, deceased, and Thomas Brooke, his guardian. By consent of the parties and advent of the court, it is ordered that John Edmondson, Henry Purkins and James Banks (or any two of them) do settle the administration of the personal estate of Bibby Bush, deceased, and advertise for sale at 12 months credit as many of the Negroes of the said Bibby Bush as will satisfy the youngest children their distributive shares of the appraised value of the said Negroes, and it is ordered that they return an account of their proceedings to this court. Page 150 - At a Court held for Essex County at Tappahannock the 16th day of June, 1760. Page 151 Thomas Bush, orphan of Bibby Bush, deceased, chose Stephen Neal his guardian, and the said Stephen together with Richard Hodges and Thomas Cox, his securitys, entered into and acknowledged their bond for the same according to law, which bond is admitted to record. At a court continued and held for Essex County at Tapp.(Tappahannock) the 22nd day of July, 1760. Page 178 John Bomar and Barbara, his wife against In Chancery Thomas Bush, an infant, son and heir of Bibby Bush, deceased and Thomas Brooke, his guardian........ This suit is continued till the next court for the Reffirees to return their report. Page 186 At a Court held for Essex County at Tapp.(Tappahannock) the 18th day of August, 1760. Thomas Henry Brooke, guardian of Thomas Bush, presented his account against the estate of the said orphan, which being examined, sworn to and allowed, and ordered to be recorded. At a Court held for Essex County at Tapp. (Tappahannock ) the 15th day of September, 1760. Page 191 The order made to summon Stephen Neal, guardian of Thomas Bush is discontinued. Comments: These documents seem to indicate the following: 1. Apparently this was an ongoing case in the Essex County Courts. Many such cases kept coming before the court for years. 2. When Bibby Bush died in 1748 the court appointed Thomas Henry Brooke as guardian of his son, Thomas Bush. 3. Since the original and first document concerning this matter used the term "infant" it was probably used every time the case came up before the court again, even though the child in question could by then have been 5, 10, or 15 years older in the later courts. 4. Since this lawsuit was against the estate of Bibby Bush and his heir, Thomas Bush and his guardian, this document proves that Thomas Bush was the only son of Bibby Bush. According to the law, any other sons would have been required to be mentioned since they would have been heirs to the estate along with Thomas. Since no others are mentioned the meaning is clear that Thomas Bush was the only son of Bibby Bush of Essex Co., Va. 5. Barbara Bush, who married John Bomar, was a sister of Thomas Bush and she, through her husband John Bomar, brought suit against the estate of Bibby Bush in order to get her share of the estate. The court responded by ordering that enough of the slaves be advertised for sale in order to distribute a proper share of the estate to the youngest children. 6. Even though Thomas Bush's mother was still alive, he was still called the orphan of Bibby Bush. Susannah Bush (widow of Bibby) married 2nd in 1758, Stephen Neal. By this time Thomas was old enough according to the law and he chose Stephen Neal as his guardian 7. The earliest document so far found for Thomas Bush in Essex County, Va. is an indenture that he witnessed dated 12/1/1764 (Essex Co., Va. Deed Book 30 - Page 13,14) This would mean that in 1759 at the beginning of this lawsuit he was age 16. By that time Thomas's mother, Susannah Bush had married a second husband who was Stephen Neal and since Thomas was considered by the court to be old enought to choose his own guardian, he chose Stephen Neal. Submitted by Carol Sikes **************************************************************** 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. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. ***************************************************************