Further Observations on the Ancestry of Colonel Thomas Ligon of Henrico County

Source: Neil D. Thompson, “Further Observations on the Ancestry of Colonel Thomas Ligon of Henrico County,” Virginia Genealogist 38[1994].

[page 48]

Fifteen years ago there was published in this journal a useful correction to what had previously been published concerning the descent of the immigrant Thomas LIGON from the family of LYGON of Madresfield, co. Gloucester,¹ and thus from the Lords BERKELEY and other notable medieval English families.  The authors apparently did not notice that John SMYTH of Nibley had covered the ground before them² and omitted a number of important documents in their account.  Having been requested to review the proposed line by a descendant,³ and since the promised further account which had been planned never appeared, it seemed appropriate to review the line of descent from William LYGON of Madresfield to the immigrant with the additional information.

William LYGON of Madresfield, born in or about 1512,⁴ died at Madresfield 8 Sept. 1567 and was buried at Great Malvern “in the high chancel” 2 Oct. 1567.⁵ His will, dated 22 Aug. 1567 and proved 12 Aug. 1568,⁶ named his eldest son Richard as executor and entailed upon him the lion’s share of the family lands.  His second son Thomas was named in the remainder after Richard’s heirs male.  He did not mention his three younger sons, his three elder daughters (all married by then) or his wife, though she

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¹ Michael J. Wood and Gary Boyd Roberts, “Four Thomas LYGONs (LIGONs): An Abstract of New Findings,” The Virginia Genealogist, v. 22 (1978), pp. 353-55.  These notes do not concern themselves with the career and family of (Col.) Thomas LIGON in Virginia.

² John Smyth, of Nibley, The Lives of the BERKELEYs … (3 v.; Gloucester, 1883-85), v. 2, p. 178, 183-84.

³ Brice M. Clagett, Esq., of Washington, D.C., who has kindly granted permission to publish the findings separately in advance of the appearance of his book on the ancestry of his children, to be published next year.

⁴ Inquisition post mortem of (Sir) Richard LYGON, Public Record Office, Chancery Ser. 2, 109:74 (Gloucester), 110:172 (Worcester), which shows William LYGON age 44 in 1556.

⁵ Great Malvern, Worcestershire, Parish register, unpaged.

⁶ Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 15 Babington (1568).

[page 49]

did survive him.

As early as 1529 he contracted to marry Eleanor DENNIS,⁷ daughter of (Sir) William DENNIS of Dirham, co. Gloucester, by his wife Anne, daughter of Maurice, Lord BERKELEY.⁸ She was dead by 2 March 1585/6 when the administration of her intestate estate was granted to her three younger sons, Thomas, Hugh and Francis LYGON; the probate documents are lost but the act book preserves the date.⁹ She was probably residing on the LYGON dower lands in co. Gloucester.

As Richard LYGON, eldest son and heir, was age thirty years and more when his father’s inquisition post mortem was taken,¹⁰ thus born in or before 1537, and if three of Richard’s four sisters were married by 1567, so born by 1547, we pay [sic] place the birth of Thomas LYGON, second son, in about 1545.  He was buried at Elkstone, co. Gloucester, as “Thomas LIGON, Gent.,” on 14 Aug. 1603.¹¹ No probate record appears to exist for him but there seems to be no reason to doubt the list of his seven children given by Smyth, who would have known his eldest son Thomas, receiver for his cousin Henry, Lord BERKELEY, personally.¹²

Thomas LYGON married his cousin Frances DENNIS, daughter of Hugh and Katharine (TRYE) DENNIS of Puchlechurch, co. Gloucester.¹³ She survived her husband and died at Caludon, co. Warwick, and was buried 30 Jan. 1634/5 at Walsgrave-on-Sowe in the same county;¹⁴ her will, dated 17 Oct. 622 [sic] and proved 1 June 1625,¹⁵ mentions only two children, her sons Thomas, named executor, and Richard.

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⁷ William D. LIGON, The LIGON Family and Connections (2 v.; Hartford, Conn., 1947-57), v. 1, p. 45, dates the marriage contract to Autumn 1529, probably from the original in the Madresfield archives.

⁸ Smyth, op. cit., v. 2, p. 178.  For a family pedigree see also (Sir) John Maclean and W.C. Heane, ed., The Visitation of the County of Gloucester … (Harleian Society, Publications, Visitation ser., v. 21; London, 1885), pp. 50-51.

⁹ Consistory Court of Gloucester, Act Book, 1585.

¹⁰ Inquisition post mortem of William LYGON, Public Record Office, Chancery ser. 2, 148:1 (Worcester), 149:128 (Gloucester).

¹¹ Elkstone, Gloucestershire, Parish register.

¹² Smyth, op. cit., v. 2, p. 184.

¹³ Maclean and Heane, op. cit., p. 51.

¹⁴ Walsgrave-on-Sowe, Warwickshire, Parish register, unpaged.

¹⁵ Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 70 Clarke (1625), in which it is said that she is residing at Merson, co. Wilts.

[page 50]

The son Thomas LYGON, born in or about 1577 (aged 44 “or thereabouts” in 1621),¹⁶ was buried at Walsgrave-on-Sowe as “Mr. Thomas LIGON from Stoke” on 20 Dec. 1626.¹⁷ He married there 18 Aug. 1623¹⁸ Elizabeth PRATT (“Mr. Thomas LIGGINS and Elizabeth PRATT from Caludon”), baptized at Stoke-Biggin, co. Warwick, 10 Oct. 1602,¹⁹ buried at Walsgrave-on-Sowe as “Elizabeth LIGON” 19 Aug. 1631,²⁰ daughter of Dennis or Dionis PRATT and his wife.  The nuncupative will of Denis PRATT, undated but proved 21 July 1614,²¹ left everything to his wife Ann “to bring up the children”; the estate was a small one and it appears that Elizabeth PRATT was well below the social level of her husband, for she is not called “Mrs.” at marriage, at burial or in her estate proceedings.  John Smyth does not mention any prior wife for Thomas LYGON and, given the short period of time between marriage and the birth of the son Thomas (less than five months) it is likely that Elizabeth PRATT had been a housekeeper or maidservant for Thomas LYGON and was impregnated by him.

Administration of the estate of Thomas LYGON “of Stoke in the County [sic] of the City of Coventry” was granted to his widow Elizabeth 16 Feb. 1626/7.²² Stoke and Walsgrave-on-Sowe are suburban parishes to the City of Coventry while Caludon was part of the ancient parish of St. Michael’s, Coventry; since the early registers of St. Michael’s are destroyed, it is good that the LYGONs seem to have had their baptisms, marriages and burials at Walsgrave-on-Sowe (sometimes “Sowe,” a short form, is found).

Administration of the estate of Elizabeth PRATT alias LIGGON of Aldridge, co. Warwick [Aldridge is in fact in co. Stafford] was granted 30 Aug. 1631 to Richard LIGGON, paternal uncle of Thomas and Joan LIGGON, children of the said Elizabeth.²³ Thomas had been baptized 11 Jan. 1623/4 and Joan 3 April 1625 at Walsgrave-on-Sowe as “of Caludon.”²⁴ While John Smyth

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¹⁶ Chancery Depositions, Elizabeth I-Charles I, Group 3, Bundle E 20, Suit 23, one of several valuable discoveries made by Mr. Michael Wood for the previous summary.

¹⁷ Walsgrave-on-Sowe Parish register.

¹⁸ Ibid.

¹⁹ Stoke Parish register, unpaged.

²⁰ Walsgrave-on-Sowe Parish register, unpaged.

²¹ Consistory Court of Lichfield, Original wills, 1614.  The register entries for 1614 in the Stoke Parish register are virtually illegible.

²² Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Admon. Act. Book 1625-27, p. 133.

²³ Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Admon. Act Book 1631-33, p. 48.

²⁴ Walsgrave-on-Sowe Parish register, unpaged.

[page 51]

satisfies himself with saying that Thomas and Elizabeth “hath issue” and does not name or pursue the two orphans,²⁵ the fact that the young Thomas LIGON was a cousin both to the Lord BERKELEY and to Governor (Sir) William BERKELEY [Margery (LYGON) BERKELEY, the Governor’s paternal grandmother, was the eldest daughter of William and Eleanor (DENNIS) LYGON]²⁶ would go far to explain the patronage which brought him to Virginia, and, given the lack of any other qualifying Thomas LIGON/LYGON of the proper age in England, and the names that the immigrant (Col.) Thomas LIGON gave to his children and the positions of responsibility and authority held by the latter at an early age in Virginia,²⁷ gives no reason to doubt the identification made by Messrs. Wood and Roberts as the correct parentage for the immigrant.

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²⁵ Smyth, op. cit., v. 2, p. 184.

²⁶ Ibid., v. 1, p. 261; v. 2, p. 184.

²⁷ The best summary of the life and career of (Col.) Thomas LIGON in Virginia is in John Frederick Dorman, ed., Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5 (3rd ed.; Richmond, 1987), pp. 356-57.

Four Thomas Lygons (Ligons)

Source: Michael J. Wood and Gary Boyd Roberts, “Four Thomas Lygons (Ligons): An Abstract of New Findings,” Virginia Genealogist 22[1978].

[page 253]

The following abstract of new findings concerning the immigrant Col. Thomas LIGON of Henrico Co., Va., his father, grandfather and son, is a preliminary report on a major re-examination in both England and Virginia of the immigrant’s immediate family, of all traceable contemporary English LYGONs, and of the family’s numerous colonial connections and notable American progeny.  A much longer article is planned, but the following will add much to, and correct various mistakes in, the major treatments of this family in print — William Daniel LIGON, The LIGON Family and Connections (2 v.; Hartford, Conn., 1947-57), and articles by John Bennett Boddie in William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, 2nd series, v. 16 (1936), pp. 289-315, and Virginia Historical Genealogies (Redwood City, Calif., 1954), pp. 343-44.  Mr. LIGON confused his immigrant ancestor with the latter’s almost certain father, and both Mr. LIGON and Mr. Boddie confused Col. Thomas and his son.  Both authors too used the unusually rich muniments at Madresfield, the LYGON ancestral seat in Worcestershire, but apparently did not examine the various parish registers, chancery depositions, or even Prerogative Court of Canterbury administrations, covering the immigrant’s immediate family.  Thus the death in England of the Calouden farmer, his approximate age (badly guessed by Mr. LIGON), the given names of his wife and children, and the very existence, then, of a younger Thomas LYGON, hypothesized by Boddie, who is almost certainly the immigrant — all these facts are now being reported for the first time.  Recently published Virginia materials, the originals of which Mr. LIGON and Mr. Boddie variously misinterpreted, allow us rather easily to unravel the confusion between the immigrant and his son.  Col. Thomas LIGON of Henrico Co., Va., his almost certain father and grandfather, and his son, are thus as follows:

1. Thomas LYGON, second son of William LYGON and Eleanor DENNIS of Madresfield, Worcestershire, lived in Elkstone, Gloucestershire (not Elston, Wiltshire), married Frances DENNIS, a cousin, daughter of Hugh DENNIS and Katherine TRYE of Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire.  As “Francisca LIGON ux’ Thomas LIGON nuper de Elkeston,

[page 254]

gen.” she was fined 20 shillings for recusancy in 1592.¹ Frances, then a widow, was of Merson, Wiltshire, when she made her will on 17 Oct. 1622, but later lived with her son Thomas at Calouden and was buried in the adjacent parish of Sowe 30 Jan. 1624/5.  Her will was proved by him 1 June 1625.² Through a line that Mr. Roberts cannot confirm, and of one link of which he is dubious, John TRYE (1513-1579) of Hardwick, Gloucestershire, an uncle of Frances DENNIS, is charted by Gerald PAGET as an ancestor of H.M. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.³

2. Thomas LYGON, farmer, of Stoke-by-Coventry and Calouden, Warwickshire, born ca.1577,⁴ married (perhaps a second wife) 18 Aug. 1623 Elizabeth PRATT at Sowe.  She was baptized at nearby Stoke-Biggin 10  Oct. 1602, daughter of Dennis PRATT.  Thomas LYGON was buried at Sowe 20 Dec. 1626.  Administration on his estate was granted his relict Elizabeth 16 Feb. 1626/7.⁵ Elizabeth was buried at Sowe 19 Aug. 1631.

3. Thomas LYGON, baptized at Sowe, Warwickshire, 11 Jan. 1623/4, is almost certainly the immigrant Col. Thomas LIGON of Virginia, surveyor and burgess of Henrico County.⁶ He made his will 10 Jan. 1675 and administration was granted his widow and executrix, Mary, 16 March 1675/6.⁷ He married ca.1650 Mary HARRIS, born ca.1625,⁸ daughter of Thomas HARRIS (born 1587) and Adria, perhaps

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1  Catholic Record Society, Publications, v. 18 (n.p., 1916), p. 125.

2  William Daniel LIGON, The LIGON Family and Connections, v. 1 (Hartford, Conn., 1947), pp. 103-04.

3  Gerald Paget, The Lineage and Ancestry of H.R.H. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (Baltimore Edinburgh & London, 1977), v. 2, pp. 274 et seq.

4  Chancery Depositions, Elizabeth I-Charles I, Group 3, Bundle E 20, Suit 23, which shows him as “aged 44 or thereabouts” in 1621.

5  J.H. Morrison, ed., Prerogative Court of Canterbury Letters of Administration, 1620-1630 … (London, 1935), p. 70.

6  For his career as burgess see H.R. McIlwaine, ed., Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1619-1658/59 (Richmond, 1915), pp. xxii, 95, and for his various land patents see Nell M. Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers, v. 1 (Richmond, 1934), pp. 440, 516; v. 2 (Richmond, 1977), pp. 49, 51-52, 92, 116, 124 (he is referred to progressively in these grants as major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, and “Mr., Sr.”).

7  Henrico Co., Va., Deeds & Wills 1677-92, p. 35; Order Book 1678-93, p. 167.

8  Ibid., Deeds & Wills 1688-97, p. 107.

[page 255]

GURGANEY.⁹ Col. LIGON surveyed an area called “Mawburne” or Malvern Hills in Henrico County (in England Malvern Hills are very near Madresfield) and at least once acted as an agent for Sir William BERKELEY, governor of Virginia, his almost certain second cousin.¹⁰ His children were Thomas Jr., William, Joan, Richard, Mathew, Hugh and Mary, named undoubtedly after himself (Thomas Jr.), his wife (Mary), his sister (Joan), two of his father’s brothers (William and Richard¹¹), and his father’s maternal grandfather, Hugh DENNIS of Pucklechurch.  Nothing can be found to document a later English career for Thomas LYGON, born 1623/4, and no other Thomas is unaccounted for and of the right age to be the immigrant.

4. Thomas LIGON, Jr., born ca.1651,¹² who was dead by 20 Aug. 1678.¹³ The immigrant’s eldest son, he left no issue and probably died unmarried.¹⁴ A fifth Thomas LIGON (died 1705) was the eldest son of Thomas, Jr.’s, next brother, William LIGON and the heir-at-law of his immigrant grandfather.¹⁵

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9  Martha Woodroof Hiden and Annie Lash Jester, Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1625 (2nd ed.; n.p., 1964), pp. 202-05; Boddie, Virginia Historical Genealogies, pp. 198-200; Boddie, Southside Virginia Families, v. 2 (Redwood City, Calif., 1956), pp. 128-32; Boddie, Historical Southern Families, v. 4 (Redwood City, Calif., 1960), pp. 190-92, v. 8 (Kailua, Hawaii, 1964), pp. 10-11.

10  LIGON, op. cit., v. 1, pp. 307-08, 100.

11  William LYGON of Calouden, gent., buried at Sowe 16 Aug. 1616 (although possibly the immigrant named his second son after Sir William BERKELEY, a likely sponsor or protector, as well) and Richard LYGON, also called “LIGON” in various English depositions, almost certainly the historian of Barbadoes.

12  Nugent, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 116, 124.  His father is called “Sr.” 18 March 1672/3, but “Col.” 28 Sept. 1672.

13  Pauline P. Warner, ed., Orphans Court Book, 1677-1739, of Henrico County, Virginia (Tappahannock, Va., 1963), pp. 11-12, a transliteration of p. 3 of the original.

14  Waverly K. Winfree, comp., The Laws of Virginia, Being a Supplement to Hening’s The Statutes at Large, 1700-1750 (Richmond, 1971), pp. 344-47.

15  LIGON, op. cit., v. 1, pp. 360-63.

Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia

Source: Virginia M. Meyer and John Frederick Dorman, editors, Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5, 3rd edition (Richmond: Dietz Press, 1987).

[page 9]

[MUSTERS of the Inhabitants of Virginia 1624/5.]

[4] Neck-of-land Charles City

THE MUSTER OF THOMAS HARRIS

THOMAS HARRIS aged 38 yeares in the Prosperous in May

ADRIA his wife aged 23 yeares in the Marmaduke in November 1621

ANN WOODLASE theire kinswoman age 7 yeares

[page 10]

SERVANTS

ELIZABETH        aged 15 yeares in the Margaret & John 1620

PROVISIONS: Corne, 7½ bushells; Pease, 1 bushell.  ARMES & MUNITION: Powder, 11 lb.; Lead, 2; Peeces fixt, 3; Armour, 1; Coat of Male, 1; Sword, 1.  CATTELL & POULTRIE: Cattell young and old, 11; Poultrie, 30.HOUSES AND BOATS: Houses, 2; Boats, 1.

[page 354]

HARRIS (Thomas)¹

+*1. THOMAS¹ HARRIS, Gent., subscriber to the Second Charter issued 23 May 1609,² came to Virginia before 1616 and is believed to have arrived, 1611, aboard the Prosperous “in May.” Listed as an Ancient Planter, he was settled, 1623/4, with his wife at Neck of Land, Charles City.³ His muster there, 1624/5, listed him as aged 38, his first wife *Adria, aged 23, who came in the Marmaduke, Nov. 1621, and Ann WOODLASE, “their kinswoman aged 7.”

¹ William Glover Stanard, Chart of Some of the Descendants of Captain Thomas HARRIS of Henrico County who Came to Virginia in 1611 (Richmond, 1893); William Daniel LIGON, The LIGON Family and Connections (n.p., 1947), pp. ix, 306-83, 844; V IV. pp. 248-49; V VII, p. 204; Malcolm Hart Harris, “Three William HARRISes in Hanover County,” The Virginia Genealogist, XXII, pp. 187-93; William R. Taylor, “Evidence of the Descent of William⁴ HARRIS of Goochland Co., Va., and his Father William³ HARRIS of Henrico, New Kent, Hanover and Louisa Cos., Va., from Maj. William² HARRIS son of Capt. Thomas¹ HARRIS of Jamestown,” The Virginia Genealogist, XXII, pp. 261-70.

² Br. Gen. p. 913.

³ Hotten, p. 170; CP I, p. xxxiv.

[page 355]

Land originally assigned HARRIS within Diggs Hundred (later Bermuda Hundred), of record 11 Nov. 1635 for 750 acres, lay “southward upon the land of Edward VIRGANY [GURGANEY] and thence extending Northward upon the land of Joane his [second] wife…,” 100 acres due him as being an Ancient Planter on order of the late Treasurer and Company, 18 Nov. 1618, and 650 acres due for transportation of 13 persons.⁴

Thomas¹ HARRIS came into possession of the GURGANEY land by 2 May 16365 and repatented the 700 acres included in this tract in Henrico, 12 July 1637, “called by the name of Longfield, with swamp and marshes … southeast towards Bremoes devident … 400 acres granted unto Edward GURGANEY by order of the Court, 1 October 1617 … and bequeathed by Ann GURGANEY, widdowe of the said Edward, to Thomas HARRIS as by her last will dated 11 February 1619 [1619/20].”⁶ In a second renewal of the patent for “Longfield,” 25 Feb. 1638/9, HARRIS claimed 100 acres in the name of his “first wife Adry HARRIS, being an Ancient Planter.”⁷ These facts suggest that Adria perhaps was the daughter of Edward and Ann GURGANEY and that her passage, 1621, on the Marmaduke,⁸ was a return trip to Virginia rather than an initial voyage. Adria had died by 11 Sept. 1626 when Rebecca GRAYE testified in court that Goodwife WRIGHT, a suspected witch, had told Thomas HARRIS he “should burie his first wiefe being then betrothed unto him (which cam so to pass).”⁹

HARRIS served as Burgess for the Neck of Land, 1624, for Henrico, 1640, 1647-48,¹⁰ was appointed, Aug. 1626, as one of the “Commissioners for the Upper Parts,” which included Henrico, and in Dec. 1640 was Commander of Henrico County.¹¹ His will, now lost, was made about 1649.¹²

He married (1) Adria, perhaps GURGANEY, and (2), after 1625, Joane —-.¹³

Issue: (by 1) 2. MARY²; (by 2) 3. WILLIAM².

⁴ Patent Bk. 1, p. 304.

⁵ Ibid., p. 337.

⁶ Ibid., p. 438.

⁷ Ibid., p. 615.

⁸ The Marmaduke brought over, 1621, a number of “maids for wives,” but Adria was not listed among them.

⁹ MCGC, p. 111.

¹⁰ Leonard, pp. 5, 18, 26.

¹¹ MCGC, pp. 106, 476.

¹² Waverly K. Winfree, The Laws of Virginia (Richmond, 1971), pp. 344-47. This Act of Assembly passed at the session of 21 May-9 July 1730 to break the entail on part of the land “formerly called Longfield but lately called and known by the Name of Curles,” states that Thomas¹ HARRIS left an only daughter, Mary, wife of Thomas LIGON, and an only son, William HARRIS, and details the LIGON descendants.

¹³ LIGON, op. cit., p. 843, without citing proof, states that she was Joane OSBORNE.

[page 356]

2. MARY² HARRIS (Thomas¹) deposed 2 Dec. 1684 that she was aged about 64.¹⁴ She married, by 1649,¹⁵ Thomas LIGON, who was baptized 11 Jan. 1623/4 at Sowe, Warwickshire, the eldest son of Thomas LYGON (about 1577-1626) and his (2) wife Elizabeth PRATT (1602-1631).¹⁶ He came to Virginia in the 1640s, was Burgess for Henrico, 1656¹⁷ and was lieutenant colonel of militia and surveyor of Henrico County until his death.¹⁸ Thomas LIGON left a will, now lost, 10 Jan. 1675/6-16 March 1675/6.¹⁹ Mary made an agreement with her brother Maj. William² HARRIS that he should have the “whole profits of the surveyor’s place” until her eldest son should come of age and half of the profits thereafter. Testimony as to this agreement was recorded 1 Nov. 1679.²⁰ By deed of gift, 29 April 1691, Mary² (HARRIS) LIGON conveyed to her “loving sons, Richard LIGON and Hugh LIGON,” 200 acres lying in Curles, Henrico County, “being part of a greater divident granted unto Captain Thomas HARRIS deceased and given by will of said Thomas HARRIS to his daughter Mary LIGON,” to be equally divided between them.²¹ Mary LYGON, Senr., left a will 18 April 1703/3-1 Feb. 1703/4.²²

Issue: [LIGON]²³ 4. Thomas³, born about 1651, died before 20 Aug. 1678, unmarried;²⁴ 5. WILLIAM³; 6. JOHAN³; 7. RICHARD³; 8. Matthew³, born about 1659, died before 1 May 1689, without issue:²⁵ 9. Hugh³, born about 1661, held 150 acres in Henrico County, 1704, married (1), 1688-89, Elizabeth WALTHALL, orphan daughter of William WALTHALL,²⁶ and (2), between June 1711

¹⁴ Henrico Co. Deeds & Wills 1688-97, p. 107. Since she was not named in the muster, 1624/5, she was probably closer to age 60.

¹⁵ Winfree, op. cit., p. 345.

¹⁶ Michael J. Wood and Gary Boyd Roberts, “Four Thomas LYGONs,” The Virginia Genealogist, XXII, pp. 253, 255.

¹⁷ Leonard, p. 33.

¹⁸ Ligon, op. cit., pp. ix, 306-18.

¹⁹ Henrico Co. Order Bk. 1678-93, p. 167; Wills & Deeds 1677-92, p. 35.

²⁰ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1677-92, p. 109.

²¹ Henrico Co. Deeds & Wills 1688-97, pp. 231-32. The title to this land was finally settled, 1 Nov. 1706, by equal division between Matthew⁴ LIGON, son of Richard, and William⁴ LIGON, as heir of his brother Thomas⁴, son and heir of William³ LIGON (Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1706-09, pp. 4-7).

²² Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1697-1704, p. 366.

²³ The mother’s will names sons Richard and Hugh, deceased son William, daughters Johan, wife of Robert HANCOCK, and Mrs. Thomas FARRAR and some grandchildren. Children Richard, Matthew, Hugh and Mary are mentioned 20 Aug. 1678 (Henrico Co. Orphans Court Bk. 1677-1739, p. 3). Sons Thomas, William, Richard and Hugh are mentioned, 1730 (Winfree, op. cit., p. 345).

²⁴ Henrico Co. Orphans Court Bk. 1677-1739, p. 3.

²⁵ Henrico Co. Order Bk. 1678-93, p. 369.

²⁶ Henrico Co. Deeds & Wills 1688-97, pp. 97, 158; Malcolm Elmore WALTHALL, “The WALTHALL Family” (typewritten; Richmond, 1963), p. 7.

[page 357]

and Dec. 1713,27 Jane (PEW) PRICE, widow of 6. John³ PRICE (see PRICE), but had no known issue; 10. MARY³.

3. WILLIAM² HARRIS (Thomas¹), born about 1629, was heir to “Longfield,” later known as “Curles.” His inheritance of the plantation is established through a suit, John BROADNAX against William SOANE, 1 Oct. 1700, to clear title to the land and establish boundaries.²⁸ He served as a justice of Henrico, Burgess for Henrico, 1652, 1653, 1656, 1658,²⁹ and major of militia of Henrico and Charles City. On 3 Oct. 1670 he was ordered paid £25 “for his Srvice in the Westerne discovery.”³⁰ He left will 20 April 1678-1 Feb. 1678/9,³¹ but was dead by 7 Oct. 1678 when the inventory of his estate was ordered made.³²

He married (1) —– and (2) Alice —–, whose (2) husband, George ALVES (died 1734³³), of New Kent County, in a suit, April 1683, concerning her son’s indenture, is named as having married the “relict of Major William HARRIS deceased.”³⁴ Alice took her sons to New Kent County.

Issue: (by 1) 11. Thomas³, unmarried, left will 10 Feb. 1678/9-2 June 1679;³⁵ (by 2) 12. WILLIAM³; 13. EDWARD³; 14. Love³.

5. WILLIAM³ LIGON (Mary² HARRIS, Thomas¹), born about 1653, was a major of militia. On 2 April 1682 he “set up his name at the Court Door and thereby published his intentions for England.”³⁶ He married Mary TANNER, daughter of Joseph TANNER and his wife Mary (who later married Gilbert PLATT). On 1 April 1679 Mrs. PLATT made a deed of gift to her daughter Mary, wife of Mr. William LYGON.³⁷ Mary PLATT’s will, dated 10 March 1699/1700,³⁸ named daughter Mary LIGGON and grandchildren Thomas, Joseph, Phebe and Lucretia LIGGON.

²⁷ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1710-14, pp. 189-90, will of John³ PRICE; ibid., p. 115, deed from Hugh and Jane LIGON to John⁴ PRICE.

²⁸ Henrico Co. Order Bk. 1694-1701, p. 286.

²⁹ Leonard, pp. 30-31, 33-34.

³⁰ JHB 1658/9-1693, p. 55. Lt. LIGGON, not identified by given name, was ordered paid £10.

³¹ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1677-92, p. 68.

³² Ibid., p. 107.

³³ Hanover Co. Record Bk. 1733-35, p. 203, reference, 4 March 1734/5, to George ALVES, “lately deceased.”

³⁴ Henrico Co. Order Bk. 1678-93, pp. 137, 139.

³⁵ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1677-92, pp. 90-91. The will was witnessed by Alice HARRIS, his step-mother, and by Richard³ LIGON and his wife Mary, and named “cozen Richard LIGON” a legatee. The HARRIS land “at the Ware [Weir]”, left to Thomas³ by his father, was devised to “my sister-in-law [half-sister] Love HARRIS.” This was part of a patent for 1202 acres, 7 Sept. 1671, to Maj. William² HARRIS (Patent Bk. 6, p. 496).

³⁶ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1677-92, p. 241.

³⁷ Ibid., p. 87.

³⁸ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1697-1704, p. 202.

[page 358]

William³ LIGON left will 21 Jan. 1688-1 Aug. 1689.³⁹ His widow Mary and daughter-in-law Elizabeth (as widow of the heir at law) were jointly charged with 1341 acres on the 1704 quit rent roll of Henrico County. Mary (TANNER) LIGON married (2), 1707, as his (2) wife 5. William² FARRAR (see FARRAR).

Issue: [LIGON] 15. Thomas⁴, died before 2 April 1705 when administration of his estate was granted to his wife,⁴⁰ married, 2 Feb. 1697/8,⁴¹ Elizabeth WORSHAM who married (2), by 20 Aug. 1706,⁴² Alexander MARSHALL; 16. William⁴, aged 59 in Oct. 1741,⁴³ of Prince Edward and Amelia Counties, left will 22 Oct. 1759-27 Sept. 1764,⁴⁴ married Elizabeth BATTE;⁴⁵ 17. John⁴, married —–; 18. Joseph⁴; 19. Sarah⁴, married 32. Henry⁴ LIGON; 20. Mary⁴, married (1), 15 July 1698,³⁶ William ANDERSON, and (2), by 1 Jan. 1716/7,⁴⁷ Peter ROWLETT of Bristol Parish who left will 5 Jan. 1749/50-4 May 1750;⁴⁸ 21. Phebe⁴; 22. Lucretia⁴, posthumous.

6. JOHAN³ LIGON (Mary² HARRIS, Thomas¹) deposed 1 Oct. 1683 as wife of Robert HANCOCK that she was about 30 years old.⁴⁹ HANCOCK received a deed of gift from his mother-in-law Mrs. Mary LIGON, 2 Feb. 1684/5,⁵⁰ and held 860 acres in Henrico County, 1704. He left a will, 18 Oct. 1708-1 March 1708/9,⁵¹ and Johan HANCOCK left a will, 22 Sept. 1726-7 Nov. 1726.⁵²

Issue: [HANCOCK] 23. William⁴; 24. Robert⁴, living 1729,⁵³ married, by 2 Feb. 1712/3. Margaret —–;⁵⁴ 25. Sarah⁴, married, 1688-89,⁵⁵ Arthur MOSELEY, Jr., born 1655, who held 450 acres in Henrico County, 1704, married (2) 16. Elizabeth (COX) JAMESTON (see COXE) and left will 22 Feb. 1728/9-6 July 1730;⁵⁶ 26. Mary⁴, married, by 1 June 1708 when her father deeded them 100 acres,⁵⁷ John HATCHER who held 215 acres in Henrico County, 1704, and

³⁹ Henrico Co. Deeds & Wills 1688-97, p. 75.

⁴⁰ Henrico Co. Deeds & Wills 1697-1705, p. 450.

⁴¹ Henrico Co. Deeds &c 1697-99, p. 96.

⁴² Henrico Co. Orphans Court Bk. 1677-1739, p. 49.

⁴³ R.T. Barton, Virginia Colonial Decisions (Boston, 1909), II, p. B150.

⁴⁴ Amelia Co. Will Bk. 2X, p. 75.

⁴⁵ Prince George Co. Wills & Deeds 1713-28, pp. 471, 485.

⁴⁶ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1697-1705, p. 124.

⁴⁷ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1714-18, p. 137.

⁴⁸ Chesterfield Co. Will Bk. 1, p. 45; Order Bk. 1, p. 44.

⁴⁹ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1677-92, p. 254.

⁵⁰ Ibid., p. 296.

⁵¹ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1706-09, p. 152.

⁵² Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1725-37, p. 70.

⁵³ Ibid., p. 234.

⁵⁴ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1710-14, pp. 186, 189.

⁵⁵ Henrico Co. Deeds & Wills 1688-97, p. 97.

⁵⁶ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1725-37, p. 272.

⁵⁷ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1706-09, p. 94.

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was living on Pamlico River, Edgecombe Co., N.C., 25 June 1736, when he sold land deeded to him by his father Edward HATCHER;⁵⁸ 27. Johan⁴, given 200 acres by her father, 1 June 1708,⁵⁹ married, 5 April 1700,⁶⁰ Samuel HANCOCK, carpenter, who held 100 acres in Henrico County, 1704, and left will 1 Sept. 1760-6 Feb. 1761;⁶¹ 28. Phoebe⁴, married (1) Thomas BAILEY of Varina Parish who held 251 acres in Henrico County, 1704, and left will dated 21 Dec. 1723,⁶² and (2) Nicholas GILES;⁶³ 29. Elizabeth⁴, married 23. John Sutton⁴ FARRAR (see FARRAR).

7. RICHARD³ LIGON (Mary² HARRIS, Thomas¹), deposed 1 Dec. 1693 he was aged 26 or 27.⁶⁴ Upon coming of age he assumed his father’s place as surveyor of Henrico County, according to the agreement made with his uncle. On 8 May 1704 he petitioned the Assembly requesting that he be restored to the place of surveyor, from which he had been suspended, 26 Aug. 1703, and again, 19 April 1705, he petitioned the Assembly for an allowance for surveying the land (5,040 acres) appropriated for the use of the French refugees at Manakintown who had come to Virginia, 1700.⁶⁵ He held 1028 acres in Henrico County, 1704. His will, now lost, was presented by his executor, Mathew LIGON, 2 March 1723/4.⁶⁶

He married, between 20 Aug. 1678 and 1 April 1681, Mary WORSHAM, daughter of William and Elizabeth (?LITTLEBURY) WORSHAM.⁶⁷

Issue: [LIGON] 30. Matthew⁴, of Cumberland County, left will 1 April 1764-14 Sept. 1764,⁶⁸ married Elizabeth ANDERSON;⁶⁹ 31. Richard, Jr., to whom with Matthew⁴ LIGON a patent for 290 acres in Henrico County was signed in the General Court, Oct. 1706, under survey of 15 March 1705/6;70 32. Henry⁴, of Prince Edward

⁵⁸ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1725-37, p. 664.

⁵⁹ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1706-09, p. 94.

⁶⁰ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1697-1704, p. 220.

⁶¹ Chesterfield Co. Will Bk. 1, p. 377; Order Bk. 3, p. 112.

⁶² Henrico Co. Miscellaneous Court Records 1650-1807, II, p. 576.

⁶³ Henrico Co. Wills & Deeds 1737-46, p. 330, sale, 6 Dec. 1747, of Phoebe’s dower in the land of Thomas BAILEY, her late husband.

⁶⁴ Henrico Co. Deeds & Wills 1688-97, transcript, p. 450.

⁶⁵ JHB, 1702-1712, pp. 78, 89.

⁶⁶ Henrico Co. Minute Bk. 1719-24, p. 318.

⁶⁷ Henrico Co. Orphans Court Bk. 1677-1739, p. 2; Wills & Deeds 1677-92, p. 164; V XXXV, p. 48.

⁶⁸ Cumberland Co. Will Bk. 1, p. 299.

⁶⁹ Prince George Co. Wills & Deeds 1713-28, p. 232, will of Mathew ANDERSON, Jr., 25 Feb. 1717/8-10 June 1718.

⁷⁰ Louis des Cognets, English Duplicates of Lost Virginia Records (n.p., 1958), pp. 82, 85. The patent now of record is dated 22 Jan. 1718/9, however (Patent Bk. 10, p. 409).

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County, left will 10 Nov. 1759-14 Dec. 1769,⁷¹ married his cousin 19. Sarah⁴ LIGON, who left will 2 July 1784-Jan. 1785;⁷² 33. Sarah⁴, married, by 1 June 1708,⁷³ Richard GRILLS, who moved to North Carolina and left will 1 Feb. 1719/20-4 April 1720;⁷⁴ 34. Mary⁴, married Capt. John COLEMAN who, Dec. 1688, chose his brother Robert as his guardian,⁷⁵ owned 200 acres in Prince George County, 1704, which he and his wife Mary sold 8 May 1725,⁷⁶ purchasing, 13 May 1725, 185 acres on Whipponock Creek,⁷⁷ which fell into Dinwiddie County, 1752.

10. MARY³ LIGON (Mary² HARRIS, Thomas¹), born about 1663, married 6. Thomas³ FARRAR and died before 1686 when he remarried.

Issue: see FARRAR….

⁷¹ Prince Edward Co. Will Bk. 1, pp. 52-53.

⁷² Ibid., pp. 351-53.

⁷³ Henrico Co. Order Bk. 1707-09, p. 46.

⁷⁴ J. Bryan Grimes, Abstracts of North Carolina Wills (Raleigh, 1910), p. 144.

⁷⁵ Charles City Co. Order Bk. 1687-95, p. 180.

⁷⁶ Prince George Co. Wills & Deeds 1713-28, p. 834.

⁷⁷ Ibid., p. 798.

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SWANN

William SWANN who, 5 Nov. 1635, patented 1200 acres in James City County on the south side of James River, west from Smith’s Mount to the half way Necke,¹ naming among the headrights Jon. SWAN and Edwd. SWAN, and died 28 Feb. 1637/8 in his 52nd year,² has been stated to be identical with a Mr. William SWAYNE who was listed, 23 June 1620, along with Messrs. Arthur, Thomas and William SWAYNE, as allowed each a share of stock in the Virginia Company which had been transferred to them by Sir Thomas GATES.³ In 1621 Mr. Arthur SWAYNE and associates were arranging to transport and settle 100 persons in Virginia and, 20 Dec. 1624, the arrival in Virginia of the Flyinge Harte of Flushing, sent out by Mr. Arthur SWAYNE, William CONSTABLE and others, was announced.⁴

Although the name of Arthur SWAYNE is once written in the records of the Virginia Company as SWANN, no evidence is known to establish that William SWANN who patented land in Virginia in 1635 is identical with a William SWAYNE who held a share in the Virginia Company.  Since there is a difference of five years between the age at death of William SWANN as stated in the family register and the baptismal record of William SWAYNE who was a member of the Virginia Company, identity with that man seems unlikely.  If there were two William SWAYNEs who were members of the Virginia Company, the possibility that the other man was the Virginia settler exists, but no connection between the SWAYNEs, who were London merchants, and the SWANN family of Southfleet and Denton, Kent, has been established.  The son and grandson of William SWANN of Virginia used the arms of this Kentish family.

William Glover Stanard in listing members of the Virginia Council⁵ stated that Thomas SWANN of “Swann’s Point,” Surry County, was born in Virginia.  No evidence has been found to confirm this statement, and thus to establish that William SWANN was in Virginia

¹ Patent Bk. 1, p. 293.  This patent was renewed, 10 March 1638/9, by Thomas SWANN as due in right of “his late father William SWAN” (ibid., p. 625).

² Family record, compiled by Samuel SWANN (1653-1707), owned in 1919 by a descendant in North Carolina, V XXVIII, pp. 30-32.  He was buried at “Swann’s Point,” Surry County, beside his (1) wife.

³ R, Va. Co. I, p. 372; III, p. 61.  Whether the two William SWAYNEs were the same or different persons is not indicated.  The last three apparently were the William, baptized 11 Feb. 1581/2, Thomas, baptized 1 Jan. 1587/8, and Arthur SWAYNE, baptized 21 Nov. 1591, sons of Edward SWAYNE, whose marriage to Elizabeth METHWOLD occurred 3 April 1581 (A.W. Hughes Clarke, ed., The Register of St. Lawrence Jewry, London, 1538-1676, pt. 1 [London, 1940], pp. 18-19, 21, 23).

⁴ R, Va. Co. I, pp. 534, 561; IV, p. 567.

⁵ William Glover Stanard, Virginia Colonial Register (Albany, N.Y., 1902), p. 38.

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at the time of the birth of his son Thomas in May 1616.  Additional evidence is needed to prove William SWANN’s residence in Virginia before 1625.