I33151: THEOBOLD de BLOIS of Blois (ABT 0950

Notes

Father: John Buford b: 21 SEP 1707 in Lancaster Co. or Middlesex Co., VA
Mother: Judith Early b: ABT 1710 in Christ Church Parish, Middlesex Co., VA

Notes

"married Susanna Rives, daughter of William Rives, in Sussex County 29 December 1783. In 1796 Reaps bought about 100 acres in Jones Hole Swamp from Timothy Rives
Children:
Martha Mitchell (9 Oct 1784) married Benjamin Turner in Sussex County 26 March 1802.
Paul Mitchell (23 Aug 1786) married Nancy Seward in Sussex County 12 February 1807. They were later in Georgia.
William Rives Mitchell (2 Nov 1788 — 5 Apr 1796) died young.
Thomas Branch Mitchell (20 Oct 1791).
Henry Mitchell (18 Jan 1795).
Margaret Mitchell (23 Jan 1798) married William Elder.

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2 William REYNOLDS b: 3 OCT 1755 d: 27 MAR 1785 + Ann THORNTON b: 1750

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Children:
Elijah Seale b. About 1819 in South Carolina
Sarah Ann Seale b. About 1823 in Shelby County, Alabama
Robert Seale b. 13 Mar 1826 in Shelby County, Alabama
Mary Ann Seale b. About 1830 in Shelby County, Alabama
John A Seale b. About 1831 in Shelby County, Alabama
Levi Seale b. About 1833 in Shelby County, Alabama
William Edward Seale b. 29 Oct 1836 in Shelby County, Alabama
Henry Martin Seale b. About 1840 in Shelby County, Alabama
Samuel John Seale b. 19 Apr 1845 in Shelby County, Alabama

m2: Sarah Post (Wife) b. 25 Jun 1800 in Georgia Marriage: 8 APR 1855 in Shelby County, Alabama

Notes

Volume IV Chapter II The Warner-Smiths of Purton. "General John Smith, of "Hackwood Park," Frederick Co., Va., copied into the family Bible of one of his nieces from the original Purton family Bible of Capt. John Smith and Mary Warner, the following list of the births and marriages of the children of that family. The original was written in quaint language, with contracted words which have been changed to the present form in copying:
Capt. John Smith, of "Purton," born at "Purton," Gloucester County, 1662, son of Colonel John Smith, Speaker House of Burgesses, and Anne Bernard, his wife, both of "Purton"; died at "Purton," 14th April, 1698. He was trustee and governor of William and Mary College from the date of its charter until his death. He married, 17th February, 1680, Mary, daughter of Col. Augustine Warner, of Warner Hall, Gloucester County, Va., Speaker House of Burgesses, and his wife Mildred Reade. Mrs. Mary Smith died Nov. 12, 1700. They had issue:"

"Capt. John Smith, of "Purton," b. 1662, d. 1698, married (Feb. 17, 1680) Mary, daughter of Col. Augustine Warner, of "Warner Hall," Gloucester County, Va. This is the only one of the children of the first John Smith, of Purton (i. e., Col. John Smith who married Anne Bernard), who attained historical prominence in the Colonial Records of Virginia. Prof. Lyon G. Tyler, President of William and Mary College, and Editor of the Quarterly, in various numbers of the magazine has given particulars concerning the history of his ancestral home, "Purton," and of the connection of this John Smith with the origin and earliest history of William and Mary College. From these articles, and various other sources, this statement is written. (Wm&Mary College: This college was the first corporation in America to be recognized by the royal will. It was the first English college to receive from the College of Heralds, in 1694, a coat of arms.)

"A view of the house at "Purton," was taken when the property was neglected and very much out of repair. Its appearance and surroundings were very different when it was the residence of Capt. John Smith."

The bay, also, has shoaled up since that period, and navigable waters have become reed and grass-grown shallows. But still the bluff and water shows that it was once a beautiful location for a residence. (These pictures are reproduced from the William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. X, No. 1.)

Capt. John Smith held his title from his position in the Provincial Militia. He was vestryman of Petsworth Parish, in October, 1691. An order was entered in the vestry book concerning £10 left by him for the poor. Under date October 1, 1701, it is stated "Madam Mary Smith" left a legacy of £5 to be distributed among the poor.

"Purton" occupied the site of the romantic incident connected with the rescue of the great explorer, Capt. John Smith, by Pocahontas; but afterwards the Indians deserted the place and in 1614, when Strachey wrote, the Indian head war-chief Powhatanhad retired to a location called Orapaks, at the head of the Chickahominy River. The strenuous life of the Colonists of that period left little room for idealism, and with no great ruins left to preserve the location of their "Meeting Place," there was nothing else to make the first historians of the colony very exact in defining its location.

Robert Tyndall drew a chart in 1608. On this chart "Poetan," situated on "Portan Bay," about eleven miles from West Point, appears as the capital town. It is marked on the chart by four wigwams, whereas the other Indian towns are represented by one only. No other location is shown as "Werowocomoco." This last is merely a descriptive name, meaning "the town of the Werowance" or "Capital." The terminal means "council," "conference," "meeting," "assembly," as used as "Matcha-comoco,"-a grand council. "Poetan" is merely another spelling of "Powhatan," and this was, doubtless, the real name of Powhatan's residence, the principal meeting place of the tribe or nation of Indians of which Powhatan was the chief or king.

There have been various spellings of the word Poetan; Porton, Portan, Purtan, Purton; the place still goes by the name to this day. In 1608, Tyndall called it "Poetan." In 1673, Hermann called it "Porton." In 1751, Fry and Jefferson called it "Portan." In 1807, Dr. Madison used the same spelling. The present Coast and Geodetic Survey uses "Purtan." In 1661, York County records "Purton," and in Hening's Statutes, 1663, when the residence of Col. John Smith, Speaker, it had the same spelling.

It was at Poplar Spring on this estate, that in 1663, a conspiracy was concocted by ex-soldiers of Oliver Cromwell's army, to destroy the Royalists and take possession of the country; but the plot was disclosed by one of their number, "Birkenhead," a servant of John Smith of "Purton," and nipped in the bud by the Royal Governor, Sir William Berkeley.

The explorer, Capt. John Smith, "Admiral of New England," says in one place that Werowocomoco was twelve miles from Chiskiack. In this statement William Strachey, the secretary to Lord de la Warre, agrees. Chiskiack was a region above Yorktown, the locality of which is definitely fixed. It was an Indian town, and the parish established on its site was first called Chiskiack Parish, and afterwards Hampton Parish, extending, as the record shows, from Yorktown Creek to Queen Creek. The Indian town of Chiskiack was nearly opposite to Carter's Creek, and was about twelve miles from Purton.

Purton estate contained 1665 acres and was bounded by Broad Creek, York River and Poropotank or Adam's Creek.

Another chart given by Dr. Brown in his "Genesis of the United States," was found in the Spanish archives, and is supposed to have been the one sent to England in 1608, with Explorer Smith's "News from Virginia." This chart shows about eleven miles from West Point, and twelve miles from Chiskiack, a bay "Werowocomoco." Below Werowocomoco on the same side of the river are two Indian towns "Cappahowsack" and "Cautaunteck." There is to this day a wharf on the north side of York River called "Cappahosick" (Cappahowsack), evidently marking the old Indiam district of that name which lay between Werowocomoco and Timberneck Creek.

It was this district of "Cappahosick" that Powhatan offered to sell to Smith for "two great guns and a grindstone." Werowocomoco was above it.

The connection of Capt. John Smith, of Purton, with the origin and establishment of William and Mary College, is shown by the manuscript of the Bristol Record Office (W. & M. Quar., Vol. VII, No. 3.)

The initiative was taken in a petition of the clergy "humbly presented to the consideration of the next General Assembly, for the founding a College, 1690." Commissioners were appointed to solicit subscriptions, and among them we find Capt. John Smith. The names of these solicitors supposed to include those most actively interested in the advancement of education in 1690, were: Mr. James Blair, Commissary; Captain William Randolph, Colonel Edward Hill, Mr. Francis Eppes, Captain Joseph Foster, Mr. Patrick Smith, Minister of Southwark; Mr. Benjamin Harrison, Mr. Henry Baker, Colonel Thomas Milner, Colonel Joshua Lawson, Colonel Lemuel Mason, Mr. Samuel Ebon, Minister of Bruton; Edmund Jennings, Esq. Captain Francis Page, Mr. Henry Hartwell, Mr. William Sherwood, Captain Henry Duke, Mr. Dewel Pead, Minister of Middlesex; Mr. Christopher Robinson, Mr.John Buckner, Major Lewis Burrell, Colonel Philip Lightfoot, Major Henry Whiting, Captain John Smith, Mr. Thomas Foster, Colonel Richard Johnson, Mr. William Leigh, Mr. John Farnefold, Minister of Bowtracy; Captain George Cooper, Mr. Christopher Neale, Captain William Hardwick, Captain Lawrence Washington, Colonel William Fitzhugh, Captain William Ball, Captain John Pinkard, Mr. Robert Carter, Captain William Lee, Mr. Teagle, Minister of Accomac; Colonel Daniel Jenifer, Colonel Charles Scarborough, Colonel John West, and Captain John Carter.

Jointly and severally to procure as many subscriptions, gratuities, and benevolences as you can, within this Colony of Virginia, towards the defraying the charge (cost) of the said buildings, hoping if it shall appear by the largeness and the number of the said subscriptions, that the people of the country intend seriously and sincerely to advance so good a work, that then it will meet with no obstruction, neither from their Majesties, nor from the General Assembly, but will be duly carried on and receive all legal approbation and encouragement.

Given under my hand and seal, this 25th day of July (in ye 2d year of their gracious Majesties' reign), A. D. 1690."

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Notes

2 James Knox TAYLOR b: 5 DEC 1797 d: Bef 1847

My Southern Family

THEOBOLD de BLOIS of Blois

ABT 0950 - ____

ID Number: I33151

Sources

Dr. BOYD

ABT 1800 - ____

ID Number: I77214

Sources

Ann BUFORD

ABT 1738 - ABT 1785

ID Number: I54439

Notes

Sources

David CROUCH

ABT 1767 - ____

ID Number: I81130

Sources

HANSON

Jony T. HICKERSON

ABT 1865 - ____

ID Number: I3082

Sources

Amanda Lynn MASON

Reaps MITCHELL

13 Feb 1758 - 12 Mar 1803

ID Number: I64610

Notes

Sources

Robert A PARKER

Lt. William REYNOLDS

3 Oct 1755 - 27 Mar 1785

ID Number: I79584

Notes

Sources

Green Berry SEALE

ABT 1797 - Oct 1869

ID Number: I100400

Notes

Sources

Capt. John SMITH Gent. of "Purton"

1663 - 14 Apr 1698

ID Number: I29235

Notes

Sources

James Knox TAYLOR

5 Dec 1797 - BEF 1847

ID Number: I66980

Notes

Sources

Fances WALLES

ABT 1780 - ____

ID Number: I25914

Sources