For Pamunkey Davenport Descendants of Martin of Hanover: When I extracted the item: "Ordered that Martin Davenport is exempt from the payment of county taxes and public service, being aged and infirm," from the Spotsylvania County, Virginia, Court Orders of 20Mar1783 back in 1971, I knew that I had an important benchmark datum for identifying and dating Martin, the son of the first Martin Davenport (d. 1735), proven son of Davis Davenport. Colonial Virginia law mandated that males of ages 16 to 60, with certain exceptions for ministers, millers, blacksmiths, innkeepers, and the disabled, were obligated to serve in the Militia. While required Militia service ended at age 60, the obligation to pay taxes and perform public service, namely to accept Court orders to do inventories and appraisals of decedent estates, serve on juries of all sorts, serve as constable, supervise or do road work continued until death--unless specifically relieved of the obligation by Court Order, as occurred for Martin Davenport of Spotsylvania in 1783. I deduced that this Martin Davenport was the son of Martin of Hanover on the basis that age 60 in Colonial Virginia thinking was legally considered the benchmark for defining "old." Hence, Martin of Spotsylvania, identified as "old and infirm" in 1783, was born in 1723 or earlier, which placed him well within the probable range of birth of the children of Martin of Hanover. Other than the patriarch Martin himself, no other Martin Davenport could be birthdated earlier. Yet, for the next twenty-eight years, that Court Order did not resolve an identification, for corroboration could not be found. Neither of the two Martin Davenports found in nearby contemporary records--one in Spotsylvania, one across the North Anna River in Hanover--fit the Spotsylvania Court's identification of "old," nor the implied identification of poverty (an old, infirm man of wealth was not excused from either taxes or public service, for he had the money to pay the taxes and the servants or slaves to do public service--generally road work). The most logical Martin Davenport was the one in Spotsylvania records, but this man, subsequently identified as Martin of William, and a grandson of Martin of Hanover, was man of relative wealth and activity, owned land, was bondsman in several instances, sued and was sued in Court, and was on the Spotsylvania Tax Lists from 1782 until he sold out and went elsewhere in 1810. No other Martin Davenport heretofore was apparent in Spotsylvania records. Failing to find corroboration of a Martin who met the "old" criteria, I rationalized that the Court Order erred, that it was one of those instances where a Court scribe sneaked something into the record that was intended to be a joke. It was a crime to so contaminate a Court record, dealt with harshly when discovered, but it did happen. Court scribes were not always sober when they did their writing, and there were the daring and witty among them. Then too, the Justices who were supposed to read the Court Orders and sign off, frequently signed without reading, having more important things to do. After Court sessions, Justices frequently were sobriety challenged also. The "old and infirm" designation, I rationalized in working with the few facts that I could muster, was a joke, a prank possibly of a drinking buddy, for there was only one Martin identifiable in Spotsylvania records. And he was a man of substance and obviously not yet "old" in 1783. So I went with the only Martin I had. Rationalization is never a satisfying solution, whether in genealogy or elsewhere, for it is an expedient which provides a logical, stopgap answer of sorts. Nancy Royce, the lady who has been so generously sharing her Davenport data on the Rootsweb for the past several weeks, took me to task on my rationalization. She defended the integrity of Court records, would not accept my identification although she had no other evidence to offer. She was right! New evidence requires new analysis, possibly new identifications. Elaine Steer (Elaine of Avery) has found what neither Nancy Royce nor I could find, namely evidence of another Martin Davenport in Spotsylvania County in the late Eighteenth Century. She shared her finding on the Rootsweb earlier this week. Her evidence is of a Martin Davenport in poverty, and given the condition of his living quarters, likely "old and infirm." You can consult Elaine's full record extract on the DAVENPORT-L Rootsweb of 10/27/99 entitled "[DAVENPORT] 1798 [T]ax List Berkeley Parish, Spotsylvania Co., VA," for I will deal only with its essence here. Elaine found a Martin M Davenport, located on two acres near Davenport's Ford, who had an "Out of repair" [dilapidated] small, wood house, plus three small out buildings (a kitchen built of logs, a meat house, and a dairy (spring house?), all covered with boards. The entire establishment being appraised at $200. Martin M Davenport was likely Martin "M" Davenport, indicating that he signed the assessment with a mark, was an illiterate. The location, the amount of land, and the assessment valuation mitigate against this having been Martin of William. Martin of William was on the Spotsylvania Tax Rolls in 1798 with 136 acres, located just south of New Market (present day Partlow) on the northside of his father's plantation--approximately three miles north of Davenport's Ford. The Martin near Davenport's Ford was clearly a different Martin Davenport, likely the one who was excused from taxes and public service in 1783 for being "old and infirm." Prior to 1792, the land on both sides of Davenport's Ford of the North Anna belonged to the Davenports. On the Hanover side, James Davenport, Sr., son of Martin, had reclaimed the Old Martin Davenport plantation which his brother David had illegally mortgaged in 1768, and was living there until he sold out to William Ashley of Spotsylvania in 1791 and moved to Georgia. On the Spotsylvania side, William Davenport, son of Martin, had owned 68 acres, but had given it to his son James in 1789 as a gift. Nevertheless, on the day after William Ashley had bought the Old Martin Davenport plantation (150 acres), William Davenport sold Ashley 9 acres on the Spotsylvania side of Davenport's Ford, taken from the 68 acres that he had given his son James earlier. The point being that Martin "M" Davenport's 2 acres had to be within either the 9 acres sold Ashley or the residual retained by James of William. Either way, the land after 1761 had belonged to William, son of Martin. In David Davenport's near bankruptcy of 1768, he had mortgaged four parcels of land: (1) the Old Martin Davenport plantation in Hanover--the south side of Davenport's Ford, (2) a large tract in Louisa County, (3) a large tract in Amherst County, and (4) 30 acres, bought of his brother William Davenport, in Spotsylvania County, on the north side of Davenport's Ford. Until David's financial troubles and subsequent loss of the old homeplace, Martin, his brother, had apparently lived with David and their mother Dorothy on the Hanover side of the Ford, although he appeared occasionally in Spotsylvania County records. Given the new finding, no family or evidence thereof is known for Martin of Martin. When David and their Mother, Martin of Hanover's widow, moved to Cumberland County after 1765--David had married Molly Slaughter Davenport, widow of his cousin Stephen, son of Thomas, and succeeded to Stephen's land and assets there--Martin of Martin apparently moved across the Ford, no more than a mile, to the site where Martin "M" Davenport's two acres was appraised in 1798. This was also within the 30-acres that William Davenport had allegedly sold his brother David before 1768, for which no deed was recorded, and was back in William's hands when he gave it (within the 68 acres) to his son James in 1789, and then sold part of that gift to William Ashley in 1791. It would take a Philadelphia lawyer to make sense of the Davenport land affairs on both sides of Davenport's Ford from the time of Martin of Hanover's death in 1735 until William Ashley finally forced James Davenport of William off the land in 1814 (whereupon James moved to Fayette County, Kentucky). Ashley's having allowed Martin "M" Davenport to remain on his land as late of 1798 (and later?) and James Davenport to live thereon until 1814, as well as his ownership of the Old Martin Davenport plantation, suggests a possible in-law relationship. Having now determined that Martin "M" Davenport of the dilapidated two-acre locale near Davenport's Ford was the Martin excused from taxes and public service in 1783, and most likely Martin of Martin, we are left with the Martin Davenport who was tax listed in Hanover County in 1782 with a household consisting of 11 white persons, no blacks--heretofore identified as Martin of Martin, solely by default. Now, by process of elimination, Martin of Hanover (1782) was either a son of John Davenport of Spotsylvania-Louisa, of James Davenport of Georgia, or of Martin of Davenport's Ford, all sons of Martin of Hanover. The other sons of Martin of Hanover--namely Thomas, Richard, William, and David--excluding for the moment Glover, who had no son Martin but had at least two Martin Davenports among his descendants--had identified sons named Martin. John Davenport's wife and family have never been satisfactorily identified, although the Charlotte County three sons are tied tightly together by circumstantial evidence. Heretofore, James Davenport's family has been considered complete in identification, but with the findings lately concerning Jouett Davenport of Hanover-Louisa, the possibility that James, like his father and brother William, left a son or sons out of his LW&T must be considered, and James had no known son Martin. Until we know more about Martin of Martin, the possibility of his having had a son named Martin must remain open. So, thanks to Elaine Steer, we have cleared away some of the murk, but ample remains to challenge us. Comments. John Scott Davenport Holmdel, NJ If it was Martin, son of Martin, near Davenport Ford in 1798, he was at least 76-year-old.