Hi Doc and All, Since I am interested in all things Powhatan, in addition to Davenports, I read Doc's post with great interest. He has made an interesting argument regarding the parentage of Francis Davenport, for whom Richard Davenport was named legal heir according to the court record cited below. However, given that Doc says in 1787, the date of the court record, Richard Davenport is thought to have been about 25 years old -- why could not this Francis have been a heretofore unknown eldest son of Absolam of Powhatan? If indeed he was fairly young (ie, 16-22) when he enlisted/was drafted, if he was a son of Absolam, then he might well not have appeared in any court records or even tithe lists in Powhatan 1777 on, or its parent Cumberland prior to that period. I don't know if these have been examined. I just throw this out as another scenario, which could also work based on the information supplied in the post, unless all the Cumberland and Powhatan tithe lists have been already examined and you know every male who appeared in Absalom's household at age 16? And/Or you know that Absalom and Elizabeth were too young to have had a son Francis, before Richard. Either way, primogeniture argument still works. If Francis were Absalom's eldest son, and Richard the second son, Richard would have inherited. A couple of other comments...my understanding is that signature to the oath of loyalty is sufficient for DAR membership. Also, participation in the Virginia Continental Line seems to have been the exception not the rule for my families in Southside Virginia. Virginia had very few of the battlefields during the Revolutionary War, and while there was participation in militia drills and contributions to the war effort, as a rule my understanding is that the greatest particpation in the Continental Line and other formal regiments under George Washington came when the enemy was in large numbers in folks backyards -- though the Bentleys from Amelia Co. participated also in Henry Moss' troops, prisoners on a ship off SC, etc. I too have questions about lack of participation by many of my Virginia ancestors in the Rev War in any way (ie, John Baugh of Powhatan). However, I have just made a tremendous breakthrough in my Louisa Co./Caroline Co. VA Haley/Clark/Stone/Medlock/Matlock/Lankford lines that migrated to Anson/Richmond Co. VA -- and being closer to South Carolina, my research of those counties suggests there was more Revolutionary War particpation it seems in those counties (though my own had a Quaker contingent..that behaved as Quakers) than in Virginia. Best Regards, Janet (Baugh) Hunter In a message dated 4/9/2003 11:30:24 PM Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes: > POWHATAN DAVENPORT CLAIMS RIGHT TO MILITARY PAY > AND BOUNTY LAND OF CAROLINE DAVENPORT > WHO DIED IN CONTINENTAL SERVICE-- > AND THEREBY PROVIDES SEVERAL GENEALOGICAL PROOFS > > The finding following is a sterling example of what can be generated > genealogically from a single public record entry. In this instance, given > the lost records of Caroline County, one cousin's desire to profit from the > Revolutionary War service and death of a distant, likely never met, cousin > has provided proof of relationships that heretofore could only be > attributed > with various degrees of circumstantial evidence. > > Here's the item: > > 19Jul1787 - "Ordered that it be certified to the Auditor of Public > Accounts that Richard Davenport is the lawful heir to Francis Davenport, > Decd., who died in the Continental Service." (Powhatan County, VA, Court > Orders, 3:155) > > Richard Davenport was the eldest son of Absalom Davenport and > Elizabeth Steger of Powhatan County, who was approximately 25-years-old at > this time. > > Heretofore, we had only two records concerning a Francis Davenport > in > Eighteenth Century Virginia. This one: > > 14May1778 - "Mary Davenport appointed Guardian to Francis, Janey, > and > Mary Davenport, orphans of David Davenport, Decd., whereupon the said Mary > gave bond required by Law." (Caroline County, VA, Court Orders 1774-1781, > 158) > > Here's the other: > > National Archives, Washington, D.C., Revolutionary War Records - > "Company Pay Rolls, Captain John Stokes' Company of Colonel Christian > Febiger's 2nd Virginia Regiment, Continental Line, May1779-Nov1779, Francis > Davenport, Private," noted as "Drafted 6Feb[1779], not before mustered." > > The latter two items document that Francis was a minor in mid-1778 > requiring a guardian, but, if the same person, was old enough to be drafted > into the Continental Line in early 1779, meaning that he had turned age 16 > in > the interim and become subject to militia service, a status ratified by the > notation "not before mustered," meaning that the first time he appeared at > a > militia muster, which would have been the first muster after his 16th > birthday, he was taken into Continental Service as a replacement. His was > surely a tragic life, for he was suddenly orphaned, dragooned into the > Continental Army shortly after his 16th birthday--basically a throwaway: > no > wife, no children, no patron, and obviously unable to afford a substitute. > After ten months service in the 2nd Regiment to the northward in actions > that > bled the regiment thin, the 2nd was consolidated with the remaining > Virginia > Line into a composite 1st Regiment, all that remained of Virginia > Continentals in Dec1779. The Virginians were sent south to join General > Lincoln in the Defense of Charleston, and were captured by the British Army > under Sir Henry Clinton at the Fall of Charleston on 18May1780. The > Virginia > Continental Line ceased to function as a field organization thereafter. > Sometime during his service with the 1st Regiment, Francis Davenport died, > either of illness or warfare prior to the Surrender or on one of the > filthy, > disease-ridden prison hulks in Charleston Harbor where the British kept > American prisoners of war for almost eighteen months. We can only > speculate, > for no records of the composite 1st Virginia Regiment survive. (We know, > by > his pension application, that Claiborne Davenport, son of Julius, > originally > of the 5th Regiment, was also among 1st Regiment Virginians captured at > Charleston, but escaped before closely confined, made his way back to > Virginia where he joined State Troops, and continued to soldier until > Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown.) Francis Davenport may not have lived > to > see his 17th birthday, certainly did not see his 18th. > > As a Continental Soldier of a year or more of service, Francis left > an > estate consisting of Military Pay owing to him until the day of his death, > including time as a prisoner-of-war, and at least 100 acres of Bounty Land. > > > Richard, son of Absalom, was heir-at-law to his first cousin under > English Primogeniture Laws still in effect in the United States in 1787. > Females then had inheritance rights only where no male heir existed. Under > Primogeniture, rights descended, never ascended. David Davenport, father > of > Julius, was Absalom's older brother (proved by the Court's recognition of > Richard). Other brothers of Absalom were Gideon Davenport and Reuben > Davenport, both of Caroline, (also proved by the Court's recognition of > Richard), both of whom were living in 1787, and the older of the two would > have been Francis' heir-at-law were they his siblings. Francis' estate > could > not ascend, hence his Uncle Absalom could not be his heir, but Absalom's > eldest son Richard was next in line. > > [David, Absalom, Gideon, and Reuben Davenport were all sons of > Richard > Davenport, Sr., and his wife Keziah Davis, of Caroline. Richard, Sr., was > a > son of Davis Davenport, of King William, and was a brother to Martin of > Hanover, Thomas of Cumberland, Elias of Bertie County, NC, John of Henrico, > Ann Graves of Spotsylvania, and Crotia Mason of Caroline, varying degrees > of > proof and circumstance.]. > > On 9Oct1787, Joseph Carrington was paid L25/15/7, being the amount > owing to Francis Davenport, Soldier, Infantry, as full pay, according to > the > Register of the Auditor's Office for Officers & Soldiers of the Virginia > Line > on Continental Establishment (176:395, National Archives). The Powhatan > Personal Property Tax List of 1787 (Library of Virginia) identified Richard > Davenport as the overseer for Edward Carrington. The Carringtons were a > prominent family in Cumberland, Halifax, Charlotte, and Powhatan counties. > (Mayo Carrington was the Continental Captain who signed Claiborne > Davenport's > discharge, who signed the receipt for Martin Davenport's gun impressed for > Continental Service, and was a Cumberland magistrate for twenty-five years > after the Revolution.) A Bounty Land Warrant was issued for Francis > Davenport's service, but where that land was and who obtained the grant > remains to be determined. We know that Richard of Absalom, a thrice > married > man (at least), allegedly was in Kentucky when his daughter was married in > Powhatan in 1815. > > We suspect that the Francis Davenport, age 21, born in Powhatan > County, Virginia, who enlisted in the 39th Infantry, United States Army, at > Lebanon, Tennessee, on 18Sep1813 (Virginia Soldiers in the U.S. Army, > 1800-1815, 49) was a son of Richard's and a namesake of Francis of David, > the > Continental soldier. We have not researched Francis of the 39th Infantry > further. > > Richard of Absalom, a mystery heretofore and still largely > undefined, > not only benefited as heir to his cousin Francis, but two of his three > wives > were heiresses who brought him both land and slaves. We shall try to learn > more about Richard and his brother Thomas as we continue Powhatan research. > > When Powhatan County was erected out of Eastern Cumberland County in 1777, > Absalom's plantation, obtained by his marriage to Elizabeth Steger (and > whereon he lived for sixty years), was located in the extreme West of > Powhatan, near the Cumberland line. Sons Richard and Thomas Davenport, > married to heiress sisters, spent the 1790s to the west of Absalom in > Cumberl > and, and appeared in records there. By 1800 both had moved east, locating > near Absalom in Powhatan. Neither's family has yet been identified, but > Powhatan work remains undone, but on a work schedule. > > A note of discord: No Revolutionary Service, Military or Civil, has > been found for Absalom of Powhatan, nor for his son Richard, who was of age > in the latter years of the War. Nor is there any mention of Absalom in the > many lists of weapons, provisions, horses, forage, etc, impressed for > either > Continental or State troops, which was passing strange for all of Absalom's > Steger brothers-in-law were either Militia officers and/or Providers, > repetitiously. Absalom was listed among those who took the Oath of Loyalty > to the Commonwealth, so no question exists as to which side he was he > favored. (Whether that oath is sufficient for DAR or SAR membership > qualification, we know not.) > > John Scott Davenport > Holmdel, NJ > > >