Historical and Genealogical Notes, Wm. and Mary Qrtly., Vol. 6, No. 1 Transcribed by Kathy Merrill for the USGenWeb Archives Special Collections Project ************************************************************************ 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 *********************************************************************** Historical and Genealogical Notes William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 1. (Jul., 1897), pp. 57-70. HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL NOTES. EDWARDS. -- On a farm near Bacon's Castle is a tombstone with this inscription: "William Edwards, born July 20, 1714, died August 20, 1771". - C. W. Warren, Bacon's Castle. INDENTURE between Wm., son of John Blackman, of Bertie precinct, in Co. Albemarle, N.C.: "By agreement of said Father he apprentices himself to Thos. Mason, of Salem, to be ------ marine. Mother and father of said Wm. allow their son to be ten years old." 13 Jan., 1723 - Ex. Not. Rec. Salem. E Putnam, Danvers Mass. Page 58. LUDWELL-PARADISE. - The inside of the cover of an old account book in vellum has the following: "I, Lucy Ludwell Paradise, youngest daughter of Honourable Philip Ludwell, of Greenspring, and wife of John Paradise, Esqr., who married me, in London, May the 14th, 1769, aged sixteen years old, and the said John Paradise, husband to the said Lucy, died in the year 1795, and I, Lucy Ludwell Paradise, returned to my native country, Virginia, in the year 1805. September the 4th, 1805." The will of "John Paradise, of Fitchfield street, Cavendish Square, in the county of Middle- sex, Eng.," was proved at London, the 30th or April, 1796, and from a copy extracted from the Registry of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury he names as legatees: "to Doctor Warren 200L for his attendance as a physician since his return from America; to Sir George Baker, Baronet, full fees for attendance during Dr. Warren's absence; to son-in-law, Count Barziza, and unto my dau. his wife, 50L each for a ring; to Lord Hawke 10 guineas for a ring; to Dr. Edward Bancroft 300 pds. over and above what may be due him; to Rev. Mr. Smarnove, Chaplain to the Legation of her Imperial Majesty of all the Russias, 100L; 16 pds to each of 16 persons named, among whom are mentioned Right Rev. Dr. Chaver, Bishop of Chester, his Excellency County Worvonzaw, Right Rev. Dr. Horsley, Bishop of Rochester, the Right Honorable William Windham, the Right Honorable Frederick North, Isaac Hawkins Browne, Esq., Richard Warburton Lytton, Esq., Bennett Langton, Esq., the Honorable Thomas Jefferson of Monticello, and Col. Nathaniel Burwell, of Carter's Road [Grove], James River, both in Virginia; to servant Thomas Smookum all wearing apparrel and an annuity of 10L. Residue of personal estate to wife, Lucy. Lorde Hawke and Dr. Edward Bancroft, ex'ors." John Paradise was one of the Literary Club. mentioned by Boswell in his Life of Johnson. In 1753 his father, Peter Paradise, was British Consul at Thessalonica. He left two daughters: Portia, and Lucy, who married Count Philip J. Barziza, of Venice, whose son of the same name settled in Williamsburg about 1816, and who married Cecelia Belette, and had ten children. The last was named Decimus Ultimus. One of the daughters, Miss Philippa Ludwell Barziza, is living in Houston, Texas. John Paradise owned several houses in Williamsburg, and his widow lived at "Rich Neck," near the city. When Mrs. Paradise returned to Virginia, after the death of her husband, she brought among other household treasures her dining- Page 59. table, around which the Literary Club had so often been entertained, or met. At the sale of her personal effects after her death this table was bought by Dr. Alexander D. Galt, of Williamsburg, on account of these associations, and is now the property of Miss Mary J. Galt. The same family also own a handsome wardrobe and satin-wood bureau that belonged to Mrs. Paradise. For further information see "Barzizas vs. Hopkins and Hodgson," - Randolph's Reports. Vol. II., 276. DE NEUVILLE. - Jean Augustine de Neuville, son of Robert de Neuville, notary royal in the District of Boulogne sur Mer, and Marie Jeanne Cote of the parish church of Marquise, diocese of Boulogne sur Mer, was born (and baptized by the vicar of Marquise Sousigne) May 13, 1763. Godfather Jacques Dupont and godmother Marie Antoinette Euphrosyne Martin. [From copy of entry made by the vical of Sousigne himself, 1783.] With his brother, Peter Robert, he came to Virginia at the time of La Fayette arrived on his second visit. They were warm friends of America, and near relatives of the De Neuville, whom William Lee knew at Hague. (See "Letters of Wm. Lee".) Jean Augustine (died 1838) married in Virginia Mary Goddin (d. July 31, 1802), and had issue: 1, Mary (b. Aug. 21, 1787), who married Col. Wilson Jones, of Hampton; 2, Elizabeth Antoinette (b. May 8, 1790), who married Gen. Brazure W. Pryor; 3, Robert (b. Dec. 15, 1792), married Mary Stubbs and had Joseph; 4, John Augustine (b. July 4, 1795), married Miss Henrietta Fayette Belette, sister of Philip J. Barziz's wife; 5, Caroline, married Mr. Wray; 6, David Goddin (b. Jan. 7, 1802), died infant. John Augustine De Neuville and Henrietta Fayette Belette had issue: 1, James Virginius, died infant; 2, Louisa Cornelia, died infant, 3, Mary Marion (b. Feb. 23, 1838), married John H. Barlow, Jr., (Children: Henrietta Ludwell, married John T. Daniel, Emma Louise, and John Augustine, died infant). Mrs. Barlow resides in Williamsburg; 4, Louisa Victoria. Peter Robert de Neuville, the other emigrant, married Miss Julia Travis. He died without issue, Sept. 30, 1809. CHAPMAN-JOHNSON. - The letter-book of Richard Chapman and an old deed show the following: Richard Johnson, Esq., of King and Queen Co., a member of the Virginia Council (died in 1699), married in England, and had a daughter Judith, educated in a boarding-school in Lincoln, who afterwards married Sir Hardoff Westneys, about 1700. After coming to Virginia, Col. Johnson Page 60. had, by another lady, sons: Richard, Thomas, and William Johnson. Richard died without heirs. Thomas married Anne, daughter of Nicholas Meriwether, 2d of the name. Their "son and heir" was Nicholas Johnson, of the parish of St. Paul, Hanover Co., who, with his wife, Elizabeth, and his mother, Anne Johnson, deeded, in 1740, "Chericoke", on the Pamunkey River, in King William Co., containing 600 acres (except the burial ground, where Thomas Johnson lay interred), to Richard Chapman, who married, in 1740, Jane Johnson, a sister of said Nicholas Johnson, and "granddaughter of old Col. Meriwether". I learn from the family that their son, Richard Chapman, Jr., married Elizabeth Reynolds, daughter of Captain William Reynolds and Elizabeth Mossom, daughter of Rev. David Mossom. Richard Chapman, Sr., appears to have been from Lincoln, England. "I might have made a good figure at home," he writes; but he does not regret coming to Virginia, "where he had acquired a fortune by industry". He says that Thomas Johnson had three sons and two daughters; and that in 1740, his brother, William Chapman, was his partner in selling tobacco. (See Hening, V., p. 114; QUARTERLY, V., p. 67). TRAVIS-BRODNAX. - In the note on page 16 (July, 1896, QUARTERLY), it is stated that John Brodnax married the Widow Travis. It ought to be William Brodnax. John Brodnax lived in Williamsburg, and was a goldsmith, who, dying in 1719, made his brother William trustee in behalf of his children, Robert, William, Winfield, Mary, Ann, and Sarah Brodnax, and his kinsman, Alexander Boton. (York Co. Records.) His inventory, as returned by his executors, William and Robert Brodnax, was rich in gold and silver ware. In the Brodnax family of Brunswick Co. is an old Bible in which this statement is made: "Robert Brodnax, of Godmersham, Kent, England, was a goldsmith in Holborn, London; married ------, and had: William, born Feb. 28, 1674/5, died Feb. 16, 1726; came to Virginia, and married Rebecca, widow of Edward Travis, of Jamestown, and lived there, and was buried at Jamestown. Issue: 1, William; 2, Edward; 3, Elizabeth. Of these, William married Anne Hall, and they had a son, William E. Brodnax, (born 1755, died Jan. 12, 1831), who married Sarah Jones, and had issue: 1st, Robert, of 'Cascade', North Carolina, born April 20, 1787; 2d, Elizabeth Epes, born Sept. 20, 1789; 3d, Anne, born June 2, 1792; 4th, Wililam Frederick, born July 23, 1793; 5th, Edward Travis, born April 1st, 1799". In this Bible, Hall and Mary Brodnax appear as sponsors in 1787; Thomas H. and Page 61. Patsy Brodnax, in 1794; and William Brodnax, in 1799. From a deposition in Henrico Co., it appears that John Brodnax was born about 1664, and lived in Henrico in 1686. He married Mary, daughter of William Skerme, of Henrico, and he moved to James City in 1694. In 1711 Major John Brod- nax, of York, sold to William Byrd land in Henrico Co. bought by him in 1690. Gen. Wm. H. Brodnax was a distinguished member of the Virginia Legis- lature (born 1786; died Oct., 1834). His mother was daughter of Thomas W. Bellfield, of Richmond Co. A branch of the family lived in Charles City Co. in the eighteenth century. Mr. W. G. Stanard writes that he has seen an impression in wax of an old seal of arms of the Virginia Brodnaxes. There is in Berry's Kentish Geneaologies a pedigree of the Brodnaxes of Godmersham. The Robert who married ------ Gibbon, and who appears last in the list, must have been Robert the goldsmith, father of the Virginia immigrants. The uncle of the goldsmith of London, John Brodnax, who married Dorothy -----, and had issue, Thomas, John, William, Robert, and Elizabeth, must have been the John Brodnax whose will was recorded in York Co., Virginia, in 1657. From the fact that he was called "Major," and was not of the commission of the peace, and from the character of his personal estate, which consisted of the fine outfit of a gentleman - ribbons, slippers, gloves, sword, rings, powder, etc. - he must have been a cavalier officer, just lately arrived. The children named in his will, Thomas, John, and Elizabeth, were described as in London. The following year (1658) was outcried at York the estate of Major Philip Stephens, who had come over with Sir Thomas Lunsford and Sir Philip Honeywood, cavalier fugitives. (Neill's Virginia Carolorum, p. 417; York Co. Records). In the sale of the estate of John Brodnax, of Williamsburg (1719), Edward Travis was a purchaser. He supplies the missing link in the Travis pedigree, and was evidently the father of Col. Edward Champion Travis. (QUARTERLY, V., p. 16). Edward Travis was living at Jamestown in 1752. (Virginia Gazette.) WALKER. - The following items may be added to what appears under Croshaw, QUARTERLY, Vol. II., p. 27, and Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. IV., p. 357. Will of Joseph Walker of parish of St. margaret's Westminster, 1666, names "Kinsman John Walker now living in Va." (New England Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. XXXIX., p. 166). This John Walker Page 62. was burgess for Warwick in 1644, 1646 and 1649, removed to Gloucester county, and was Lieutenant-Colonel and Councillor in 1656. Died about 1671. Married Sarah, widow of Col. Henry Fleet, before 1661. She made a gift to Col. John Walker's six daughters in 1668-'69, viz.: Anne Paine, Frances, Jane, Sarah, Esther and Elizabeth Walker. In 1671 John Dainger- field had married Anne Walker. Dr. Stone married the widow Sarah. Edwin Conway married Sarah, another of the daughters. (Westmoreland County, Essex County and General Court Records.) Capt. Thomas Walker who repre- sented Gloucester in 1663 was probably brother of Col. John Walker; Major in 1666 and Lieutenant-Col. in 1683 (Hening Stats.); was probably father of John Walker of King and Queen, who in 1684 patented lands on the north- side of Mattaponai, adjoining lands of Lieut. Col. Thomas Walker. There is a record of a suit in Ludwell MSS. between John Skaife, clerk, and Susannah his wife, widow and executrix of Thomas Walker, deceased, and John Walker, infant son and heir of said T homas, vs. James Walker, gent. This last John was brother of Dr. Thomas Walker, the explorer, who married about 1741 Mildred, widow of Nicholas Meriwether, by whom she had Mildred, an only daughter, who married John Syme, the elder, and had John Syme, jun., and two other children. (Hening and Munford's Reports, Vol. I., 350; Hening's Stats., VII., p. 54). Mildred Meriwether Walker was sister of Reuben Thornton (QUARTERLY, IV., 157, 281). Her daugher Lucy Walker married Dr. George Gilmer, 2d of that name. Dr. Walker's will in Albemarle court names wife Elizabeth, who was his 2d wife and was the widow of Reuben Thornton. (See "Page Family", edition 1893). PAGE. - "James Shields married Susannah, daughter of John and Mary Page." (See Vol. IV., p. 118). This John Page was probably John Page of New Kent, son of Richard and Grace Page. He was born Nov. 14, 1733 (St. Peter's Reg.). His father Richard was heir of Richard Page of York county, who made his will in 1721; and this Richard was son of Richard Page who made his will in 1694 (York County Records). WASHINGTON-COLVILLE. - Dr. G. Alder Blumer, of the State Hospital, Utica, New York, has had printed in pamphlet the letters of Washington regarding the Colville estate, first published in the Archaeologia Aeliana, of the Society of Antiquaries of New Castle-upon-Tyne. He has also most kindly furnished me copies of the Colville wills on record at Fairfax court-house, Va. It seems that Page 63. Charles Bennett, second Earl of Tankerville, married Camilla, daughter to Edward Colville, of Whitehouse, in the bishopric of Durham. (Collins' Peerage.) Edward Colville was uncle of John and Thomas Colville, who re- moved to Virginia and died in Fairfax county. (Colville wills.) John Colville died about 1755, and, after various gifts to divers persons, he willed his several plantations to his cousin, "the present Earl Tanker- ville", son of the earl first mentioned, and left his brother Thomas to take care of the same. Then after some years Thomas dies, and makes George Washington one of his executors. Sally Savin, wife of William Bernard (p. 183), is named niece of Frances, wife of Thomas Colville, and the will of Frances Colville was proved in Fairfax March 16, 1773. The letters of Washington show relations by no means amicable with the Colville heirs. (QUARTERLY, III., p. 267). The Society of Antiquaries, in their journal for Nov., 1857, published a letter of a Mrs. Sarah Addison, dated Oct., 1836, claiming descent from Thomas Washington, a reputed brother of the president, and "a planter of Virginia, Nevis and St. Kits". But the president had no brother of that name, though he may have been a kinsman. A Thomas Washington obtained a grant for land in Westmoreland in 1771. Dr. Blumer send the following items extracted from the register of St. George's Church, Nevis, West Indies, made January 7, 1897, by the rector, Rev. John Jones: Feb. 9, 1794. Baptized Mary Blackmore Washington, daughter of Robert Washington & Elizabeth his wife. May 20, 1795. Baptized Robert Washington, son of Robert Washington & Elizabeth his wife. Oct. 23, 1796. Baptized William Washington, son of Robert Washington & Elizabeth his wife. Dec. 3, 1797. Baptized Thomas Washington, son of Robert Washington & Elizabeth his wife. "THE FOREST". - Thomas Jefferson married Martha Wayles of "The Forest", in Charles City. This place, so Mr. Talman, of Newport's News, who owned it during the war, informs me, was burned by the Federal troops in the late war. The Virginia Gazette for July 15, 1773, shows that Henry Skip- with married Tabitha Wayles [Randall's Jefferson says Fulwar Skipwith- a mistake]; she was Martha Jefferson's half-sister. John Wayles, the lawyer, had, it seems, three wives - the fist I do not know; the second was Martha Epes, mother of Martha Wayles, widow of Bathurst Skelton, and wife of Thomas Jefferson. As shown by marriage bond at Page 64. Goochland court-house, dated January 23, 1760, his last wife was Elizabeth, widow of Reuben Skelton - wrongly presumed to have died a bachelor. (See "Jones Family", p. 156; QUARTERLY, Vol. II., p. 273; Virginia Historical Magazine, III., p. 396). Bathurst Skelton made his will in Charles City, September 30, 1768; proved September ?1, 1771; gives his wife Martha "his Faton and horses" and all the slaves provided in the marriage settlement between her father and mother; names John Wayles and his wife guardians of his son John. Witnesses, Jos. Harris, Chris. Mantow, Francis Epes. John Wayles made his will April 15, 1760; proved July 7, 1773; gives wife Elizabeth all the slaves devised to her by Reuben Skelton; states that his daughter, Martha, is amply provided for by marriage settlement with her mother, and devises all his lands and slaves to his wife for life and then to his daughters, Elizabeth, Tabitha and Anne; appoints Francis Eppes and his children, as fast as they come to age, guardians of those under age. codicil, February 12, 1773; gives to Robert Skipwith, Esq., 250L; directs a girl slave to be purchased for each of my 3 grandchildren, Richard Eppes, John Wayles Eppes and Patty Jefferson. Witnesses, Anderson Bryan and Henry Skipwith. PEYTON. - In the Virginia Gazette for February 11, 1773, is announced the marriage of "Mr. John Dixon, Jr., to Miss Betsy Petyon, 2d daughter of Sir John Peyton, Baronet." QUERY-BLOOD. - Robert Blood, probably from the vicinity of Ruddington in England, settled first in Lynn, Mass., and later, on a large grant be- tween Concord and Chelmsford. His son Robert, subsequent to 1684, removed to South Carolina, and died prior to or in 1701, leaving at least one child, Ebenezer, who in 1720 was the only surviving child, and then resided in Groton, Mass. One of the principal farms of the Bloods was called Virginia. Can any of the readers of the QUARTERLY inform me where in Carolina Robert Blood, Jr., settled, and anything of his life and family? Any information regarding any of the name resident in the South now, or at any previous time, will be welcome. Address EBEN PUTNAM, Box 5, Danvers, Mass. DIGGS. - Robert Diggs, son of William Diggs, was born July 8th, 1742. "Betty" (Elizabeth) Lawson was born March 9th, 1744. Robert Diggs and Betty Lawson were married by Rev. William McKay December 11th, 1766. They had six children born unto Page 65. them: Sarah, married Joseph Wimberly; Dorothy, never married; Frances, married Elias Fort; Starling, married Elizabeth Hodges; Elizabeth, married Sugg Fort; Catherine, married, 1st Henry Hart; 2nd, George Wimberly, brother to her Sister Sarah's husband. Sugg Fort married Elizabeth Diggs in Robertson county, Tennessee, on December 10th, 1801. They had two children, Eppa Lawson and John Diggs. John Diggs Fort married Miriam Whitfield January 23rd, 1827. They had two children, Elizabeth Diggs ad Jack Ann. Jack Ann Fort married her cousin, Dr. Joseph Marstain Fort, on November 6th, 1849. Issue: Miriam Roberta Fort married W. F. Gill, of Texas. GRYMES-MAURY. - Dr. Joseph Leidy send the following extracts from Walker Maury's Bible records: Mary Grymes, born Aug. 25, 1758; died Sept. 23, 1839; burined at Bellegrove. Walker Maury, born July 21, 1752; died October 11, 1788, of yellow fever, Norfolk. Married March 7, 1777, in Williamsburg. Children: Mary Stith Maury, born June 7, 1778; James Walker Maury, born March 18, 1779; Leonard Hill Maury, born December 4, 1780; Ann Tunstall Maury, born September 5, 1782; William Grymes Maury, born March 29, 1784; Penelope Johnstone Maury, born June 23, 1785; Matthew Fontaine Maury, born September 15, 1786; Catherine Ann Maury, born May 20, 1788. Wm. Grymes Maury's first daughter was named Mary Dawson Maury; first son, Ludwell Grymes Maury. GEN. POSEY-THORNTON-ADAMS, ETC. - Vol. IV., pp. 212-'13, Rev. Forest says that William Harrison, of Stafford and Westmoreland counties, married Sarah Hawley, and that their son George married Martha Price, who, as his widow, married Capt. John Posey, son of Gen. Thos. Posey; and that John's step-mother was Mary, daughter of John Alexander and Lucy Thornton, Mary being Geo. Thornton's widow when General Posey married her. On pp. 34-35, Life of Rev. Archibald Alexander, by his son, Rev. James, we read: "At the early age of seventeen, Archibald Alexander left his father's house to become a private tutor in the family of Gen. John Posey, of the Wilder- ness, in the county of Spotsylvania. The family residence was in a very retired situation, where a few persons of wealth had valuable estates. Among these, visits were frequent, but few other Page 66. persons came into the neighborhood. Gen. Posey had done service in the Revolution as a commander of riflemen in Morgan's famous corps, in which he finally rose to be Colonel. He was a man of noble appearance and courtly manners. Mrs. Posey, who had been a beauty in her youth, was now, at the age of forty, a fine and stately person. She was addicted to the pleasures of society, but generally took the side of religion, in a day when it was frequently impugned, and seemed to be vacillating between duty and the world. Though somewhat decayed in wealth, the Poseys maintained much of the style which belonged to old Virginia families. The pupils were John Posey and George and Reuben Thorton, a daughter Lucy came in for occasional lessons". It is unfortunate that a book so widely circulated calls General Posey "John" instead of Thomas, his right name. He was born July 9, 1750. His first wife was the daughter of Samson Matthews, a leading man of Augusta county in the Revolution, whose brother George became Governor of Georgia. (See Peyton.) She died during the Revolution, leaving the one child John. (By the way, Gen. Posey never had any wealth to "decay", except what he got with his wife, who had wealth from the Alexanders and Thorntons.) Gen. Posey married Thornton's widow after the Revolution. Archibald Alexander was born in 1772, so he ws tutor in 1789. General Posey married his first wife about 1775. His son was about fourteen when Alexander taught him. By these dates Mr. Forest will doubtless see his mistake. Furthermore, General Posey's son John never had any wife but the above Lucy Thornton, his step-sister, and she never had any husband but John Posey. Her name was Lucy Frances, for her two grandmothers, Lucy Thornton and Frances Gregory, one the wife of John Alexander, and the other the wife of Francis Thornton. Frances Gregory was the daughter of Mildred Washington, aunt and godmother of the President. One of the easiest things to remember in the tangled web of Virginia genealogy is the three brothers, John, Reuben, and Francis Thorton, who married the three sisters, Mildred, Elizabeth, and Frances Gregory. Major George Thornton, Mrs. Gen. Posey's first husband, was son of Francis and Frances. He died from drinking cold water on a forced march in the Revolution. John Posey and Lucy Frances Thornton had a son, John Francis, much over six feet in height, and called "the big captain". Part of this I have from the widow of Churchill Jones Thornton, who lately died. Her name was Lucy Maria, and Page 67. she was a daughter of Wm. Beverley, of King George county. Her mother, Sarah Ann, youngest daughter of Gen. Posey, was raised by her childless aunt, Mrs. Wm. Fitzhugh, of King George (born Alexander). C. J. Thornton was son of Reuben (Dr. Alexander's pupil) and Anna Maria Washington, grand- daughter of charles, the President's brother. C. J. Thornton's widow had Reuben's and Anna Maria's Bible with their handwriting in it. She had a miniature of Ge. Posey, by James Peale, 1785, the same year he made a like one of Washington (See Custis.) It is not only an art work of rare beauty, but confirms Alexander's statement that Gen. Posey was a man "of noble appearance." A full-length, life-size portrait of Washington, in oil colors, presented to Gen. Posey by Washington himself, was lost in the burning of the old home of John Posey and Lucy Frances Thorton, in Ken- tucky, some years ago; and in the same fire the pair of silver-mounted, flint-lock pistols given up to Gen. Posey by the British commander at Stony Point, where Posey led the assaulting column, were lost. On p. 162: "Richard, born 1800, a son of Samuel Griffin Adams and Catherine Innes, married a daughter of Col. Miles Selden, and secondly, Lucy W. Thornton." From the lately-deceased Mrs. C.J. Thornton, above mentioned, I have it that the other one of Alexander's pupils (whose name was George W.) had a daughter Lucy, who married an Adams. George W. had eldest sone Henry; daughter Mary Goode; and son Seth Brett killed at Capultepec. Seth's sword and epaulettes are in the Smithsonian In- stitution. John Washington, the immigrant, married a widow Brett as one of his wives. Mrs. Mary Goode Thornton Scott lives at Pensacola. One of General Posey's sons by his second wife was Washington Adams Glassnell. Gen. Posey was never Governor of Illinois, but of Indiana. The names of Price and Hawley, given by Mr. Forest, are absolutely strange to the family of Gen. Thos. Posey, nor has his kinship with any other Poseys but his descendants, nor, indeed, with any one else, ever been shown. All of Gen. Thomas Posey's descendants are now akin by blood to the following descendants of the Washingtons and Balls, to wit: all of Charles Washington's descendants through his wife Mildred Thornton, sister of Major George, above named, whose wife was daughter of Lucy Thornton; all of Samuel Washington's by another Mildren Thornton; all of the Balls descended from a Mildred Thornton; and all of those of Augustine, the President's half-brother, whose wife, Ann Page 68. Aylett, was daughter of Ann Ashton. John Alexander was son of Philip Alexander and Sarah Hooe; Philip, the son of Philip and Sarah Ashton, daughter of Captain Peter. (See Hayden). Peter Ashton was the associate of John Washington, the immigrant. Welles gives twelfth-century documents in which the name is written "Wessyngton vel Ashton". The Ashtons were lords of Middleton, among the most distinguished North English nobility. Welles also gives the manors of Wessyngton and Ashton as cornering on each other. Gen. Posey is buried at Shawneetown, Illinois, which may be why it was thought that he was Governor of that State. His inscription is on a stone three by six feet. (He was six feet two inches high; had light-brown hair and blue eyes; was powerfully built, and killed several men with his own sword in battles). The inscription reads: "Here Lies the Body of Thomas Posey. In the American Republic he was Colonel in the Revolution of '76; Gen'l in the Legion of the U.S. Army; Lieut. Governor of Kentucky, Senator in Congress, and Governor of Indiana. He died as he had lived, a pious Christian, on the 18th of March, 1818, in the Sixty-eighth year of his age. The man's character could never be stained by the malignant breath of envy or malice. He left a fond and aged wife and many affectionate children and worthy friends to deplore his loss" His son Alexander wrote it. A test of Washington's estimation of his trustworthiness and soldierly ability is seen in his putting him between Valley Forge and the enemy in Philadelphia, in command of Morgan's regiment at Radnor, that gloomy winter. His son, General Alexander Posey, by a movement of his troops ended the battle of Bad Axe, in Wisconsin, and with it the Black Hawk War. (See Frost's Indian Wars.) His grandson, General Carnot Posey, of Louisiana, was a brigadier-general in Pickett's division at Gettysburg; was killed soon after in Virginia. He left two sons, John and Carnot; murdered by negroes in Mississippi, for which a mob killed five negroes. - GEO. WILSON, Lexington, Mo. SKAIFE. - Vol. V., p. 240, note 2. The date of matriculation should be 1700, which is omitted. Ledbergh should be "Sedbergh". Rev. John Higginson's son Francis, of Salem, Mass., was bred at Sedbergh, under Wharton. Susannah Skaife was widow of Thomas Walker (See note on Walker, ante). BROWNE. - Vol. V., p. 278. Elizabeth Carter Browne was daughter of Wm. Burnet Browne. She married John Bassett. (QUAR- Page 69. TERLY, V., p. 37). His son, George Washington Bassett, married his cousin, Betty Burnet Lewis, daughter of Robert Lewis (son of Fielding Lewis and nephew of Washington) by Judith Carter Browne, another daughter of William Burnet Browne. The third daughter, Mary Burnet, married Herbert Claiborne, of Sweet Hall. Their son, William Burnet, assumed the name of William Burnet Browne (Hening, XVI., page 57; Slaughter's Bristol Parish, p. 168). Mr. Junius Browne, of Gloucester, is a descendant, and there are portraits of the Browne family at his house and at Rosewell. William Burnet Browne was son of Wm. Browne, of Salem, Mass., who married Mary, only daughter of William Burnet, Governor of Massachusetts, New York, and New Hampshire, who was son of the celebrated Bishop Gilbert Burnet. (For a very interest- ing account of the Browne family, see Essex Institute Historical Col- lections, July-December, 1896, Salem, Mass.) BACON'S CASTLE - A.S. Edwards, clerk of Surry County Court, writes: "I had long ago come tot he conclusion that Bacon's Castle derived its name from having been seized and barricaded by some of Bacon's men during the rebellion. On July 3, 1677, Mr. Arthur Allen sued Mr. Robert Burgess 'for that, during the late most Horrid Rebellion, he, with others, did seize and keep garrison in the plt's house neare fower months (bearing the title of Lieutenant & Commander-in-chief next to William Rookings).' I first find the name 'Bacon's Castle' in Allen Cocke's will, in 1802, where he devises to his sister, Anne Hunt Bradby, his farm and plantation called and known as Bacon's Castle. Anne Hunt was the widow of James Allen Bradby." Allen Cocke was grandson of Arthur Allen, who died in 1728. This Arthur was son of Major Arthur Allen, Speaker of the House of Burgesses, and Catharine, his wife, daughter of Capt. Lawrence Baker, of Lawne's Creek, in Surry. This last was, in 1670, "son and heire of Arthur Allen," deceased, and Mrs. Alice Allen, his mother, was his guardian. (General Court Records; Surry Records.) See QUARTERLY, VOL. V., page 189). HIGGINSON. - "Robert Higginson, of Virginia, was the son of Thomas and Ann Higginson, of Barkeswell, in Warwick; was the younger brother of Thomas, of that place. He married Joanna Tokesey, and about 1643 they went to Virginia, where he died in August, 1649, leaving a sole daughter and heir, Lucy. His widow returned to England in July, 1650. Robert was a printer and painter-stainer of London. Morever, the Barkeswell Higginsons Page 70. were descneded from John, who left a will dated 1640, and was of the Higginsons of Wem in county Salop. Robert Higginson must have been a cousin or second cousin of the Rev. Francis, of Salem, from whom I descend." - EBEN PUTNAM, Danvers, Mass. In 1657 there is mention in the York County records of "Joanna Higginson, widow." - Editor. SIR JOHN BERRY. - "This gentleman was an admiral in the English service, born about 1635, died in England in 1691, and was buried in Stepney Church, London, where there was a monument erected to his memory. He was in Virginia after Bacon's Rebellion, and was engaged on courts-martial or commissions in Surry county, etc., which were trying rebels; at least, we suppose that this commissioner was identical with the admiral. Was he related to the well-known Berry family of King George county, in which there were intermarriages with the Washingtons, Newtons, and the Taylors of Caroline? The chief seat of this family was, for more than a century, at Berry Plains, on the Rappahannock, in King George Co. A large grave- yard, with numerous tombstones, was on this place years ago, but now one solitary grave with its dilapidated stone, surrounded with thick briars, alone remains. Can any one give information about Sir John Berry's stay in Virginia, and what he did? or about the orginal Berry immigrant to King George, or to old Rappahannock county?" - A.G. GRINNAN, Madison Mills, Va.