Pamunkey Davenports Descending from Martin of Hanover and Such Others as May Be Interested: Much has been made (and worthily so) of the Davenport-Jouett connection which had its highest Pamunkey Davenport profile in the marriage of James Davenport, Sr., one of the two sons of Martin Davenport named to inherit Martin's plantation in Hanover County at Martin's death in 1735, and Frances Jouett, daughter of Matthew Jouett. We know that James Davenport, Jr., son of Sr., who married Dicey Kennedy (daughter of Davenport Kennedy--the Kennedys are still entangled), named his eldest son born in 1786 Jouett. We also know that there was an earlier Jouett Davenport, who first appeared as a tithable in Trinity Parish, Louisa County, in 1768 on Henry Gambill's list which also included Jack Smith Davenport, a son of John Davenport of Martin. Henry Gambill was the son of Henry Gambill, Sr., and Mary Davenport, a daughter of Martin Davenport, and was married to Charlotte Jouett, another daughter of Matthew Jouett. No identification of the Davenports of North Anna settlement prior to 1998 included the earlier Jouett Davenport. We also have the matter of Matthew Jouett's having been ordered on 13Aug1743 by the Louisa Court to pay Glover Davenport for one day's attendance as a witness for Jouett in his successful suit against Richard Brooks. Glover Davenport is another identity much in need of clarification. Matthew Jouett [Sr.] died shortly after that 13Aug1743 session of Louisa Court, for the Vestry Book of Frederickville Parish (which included all of Louisa County above the St. Martin's Parish line until the creation of Albemarle County in 1745), under date of 13Sep1743, cites the processionary returns of Abraham Venable and James Watson as having included the lands of "Matthew Jouett, Decd." There has been much confusion relative to Matthew Jouett, Sr.'s estate for his LW&T (Last Will & Testament) which surely existed, for John Moore and Jouett's widow Susannah were active in its execution for a number of years and initiated actions in Spotsylvania, Louisa, Goochland, and Amelia counties (among those of extant records), was not probated in Louisa County. Speculations that it was probated in Albemarle are nonsense, for Albemarle County was not created until 1745. The answer to jurisdiction of the probate and where the estate papers were recorded appeared in Louisa Court Orders, to wit (in extract): 13Jan1744 - On motion of John Moore, executor of the Last Will & Testament of Matthew Jouett, Decd., to have the Estate of the Deceased in Louisa County appraised, ordered Abraham Venable, Charles Barret, and Thomas Paulet to appraise said Estate and report to next Hanover Court. (Louisa County, VA, Court Orders 1:93) [Some reportings of this datum have failed to take into account the calendar then in effect, and cite 1743 as the year of record.] Matthew Jouett, Sr., was a resident of Hanover County when he died, not Louisa, despite the fact that he had a house in Louisa used for the Louisa Court at its earliest session on 13Dec1742. In self-serving enabling, the Court granted Jouett a license to keep an Ordinary (an inn or tavern where food and drink were provided at a set price) in the same house. Jouett was apparently a tavern entrepreneur of some sort, for he was security for a number of ordinary licenses in Hanover, Goochland, and Amelia counties, and surely had served customers in Hanover where his home plantation was--as well as the ordinary in Louisa which also served as the court house during early Louisa court sittings. Inexperienced researchers are frequently confounded by the fact that in Colonial Virginia residence had no relation to holding a County office, obtaining a license, or exercising influence in local affairs. Colonel William Byrd, Jr., for example, was the County Lieutenant (responsible for the military protection and affairs) of Halifax County, and lived at his luxurious plantation in Charles City County more than a hundred miles away for the entire time he held the office. Peter Fontaine, Jr., another example, was the first and long time County Surveyor for Halifax County, but lived in Halifax for only the first five years of holding the office, then moved to Charles City County to attend to the estate of his deceased father, and then moved to Hanover County where he remained, holding the appointment of Halifax County Surveyor throughout--assistants in Halifax doing all the work, with Fontaine collecting a full share of all fees. Those two instances come quickly to mind, but there were dozens of others. One Virginia Governor, appointed by the King, held the office for many years, never left England. The King nor his governor could do no wrong, and royal favorites could do much as they pleased. Matthew Jouett, Sr., was a Hanoverian when he died. All of the records of his estate perished in Richmond in 1865. So the Jouetts are in the same boat as the Davenports in that regard. We have not consulted private Hanover records made available for public use, are not sure just where the Jouett home plantation was in relation to the Davenport plantation, but it was surely within courting distance if James Davenport wed Frances Jouett and his nephew Henry Gambill, Jr., whose father's plantation in Louisa County was adjacent to Martin Davenport's plantation in Hanover County, wed Catherine Jouett--and Glover Davenport was sufficiently aware of Matthew Jouett's business affairs as to be a witness for him in a law suit. Thomas Davenport, another believed son of Martin, sued and was sued by John Moore, executor of Matthew Jouett, Decd., in 1746, documenting that Thomas was a resident of Louisa at the time, for Moore obtained a judgment against him in Louisa Court for 18 shillings with interest from May 1744. One of the fascinating aspects of researching early Louisa court records was not only the Jouett presence, which became more apparent as John Jouett, Matthew's eldest son and Matthew Jouett, Jr., moved into Louisa and began to assume more active roles in Louisa records--while the Davenport presence slowly diminished. Between 1742 and 1748, every known Davenport identified or associated with Martin Davenport, Sr., excepting sons Martin and James, appeared in Louisa Court records--namely Glover (1742), Henry Gambill (married to Mary Davenport), Richard (1743), William & Richard (1744), Joseph Venable (married to Lucy Davenport) & Richard (1744), Charles Kennedy (married to Crotia Davenport) & Richard (1744), Thomas & Jouett Estate (1745), John (1746), Jouett Estate & Thomas (1746), Richard (1746), Dorothy, Martin's widow (1747), John (1747), Glover (1748), Thomas Graves (husband of Ann Davenport, alleged daughter of Davis Davenport ) & David (1748), Henry Gambill (1748), and John for Thomas Ballard Smith against Jouett executor (1748). Multiple appearances in given years are not noted. In most instances, the Davenports were in roles that required county residency. If they were sued, and the Louisa Court heard the case, they were Louisa residents. When Glover Davenport was seated as a juror in the Crown's prosecution of Gilbert Gibson for selling liquor without a license in 1748, it documented not only Glover's residency but also that he was considered a freeholder credited with at least 50 acres of land. (Only freeholders could sit on juries.) There are no Glover Davenport land records extant in Louisa, so whose land was he leasing or tenanting? Davenport land? Jouett land? Others? (Gilbert Gibson was found guilty, was fined either 3,000 pounds of Tobacco or 21 lashes well laid on at the County whipping post. The record is silent as to which choice Gibson made.) I don't want to get into purely Jouett matters, but I cannot help but wondering in comparing Jouett legends recounted in various histories and family accounts with what we found in Louisa records, whether any of the Jouett family historians ever went beyond the folk tales. The family attained high prominence during the Revolution: Captain Matthew Jouett [Jr.] was the Quartermaster, 1st Regiment, Virginia State Troops, raised in 1775, under Colonel Patrick Henry, then commanded the 7th Company of Foot, 7th Virginia Continental Line, and was killed in Chester County, Pennsylvania, at the Battle of Brandywine on 15Nov1777. In Captain Jouett's Company at Brandywine were his son Robert, 2nd Lt, and John and James Davenport, both privates and sons of James Davenport, Sr., and Frances Jouett, of Hanover County. Lt. Jouett and John Davenport survived the battle unscathed, but James Davenport was wounded in the left foot, was permanently disabled. Still in Continental service as a lieutenant, Robert Jouett was one of the few survivors of Buford's Massacre at Hanging Rock, SC, on 19May1780, when Tarleton's British Legion cut down Colonel Abraham Buford's 3rd Virginia Detachment, refusing to give quarter or honor white flags or surrenders. Continuing to serve, Robert Jouett was wounded at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, SC, on 8Sep1781. But the most renown of the Jouetts, principally because of the flamboyance of the deed, was the ride of Jack Jouett (John Jouett, Jr.) from Cuckoo Tavern, operated by his father, in Louisa County to Charlottesville to warn Governor Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia Legislature that Tarleton and his British Legion were making a sudden cavalry sortie from Cornwallis' Army on the York Peninsula towards Charlottesville to capture Virginia's government. Virginians liken Jouett's ride to that of Paul Revere. Jefferson and the Virginia legislators fled to Staunton in the Shenandoah before the British arrived. John Jouett, Sr., son of Matthew, Sr., was a long time tavernkeeper in Louisa as well as a perennial deputy sheriff. During the Revolution, he served as Commissary (collector of food, fodder, and other supplies for Virginia soldiers in the field) for Louisa County, and held the rank of Captain of Militia. Little wonder that those Davenports of descent from Matthew Jouett and James Davenport, Sr., take great pride in the services of their ancestors and kin in the Revolution. Let's conclude by closing off the elder Jouett Davenport: Jouett Davenport first appears in Virginia records in 1768 when he was included as a Louisa County, Trinity Parish, tithable on the list of Henry Gambill [Jr., wife Catherine Jouett], along with Gambill and Jack Smith Davenport, a son of John Davenport and grandson of Martin of Hanover. Presence on the list signified that the individual was white, of the age of 16 or older, or was a slave of any age or sex. Masters were listed first, followed by those yeomen in the service of the master, and then the slaves, who had only a first name. Each master gave in his list to the Squire, and it was an indictable offense to turn in a short list. (David Davenport was indicted in the Cumberland County in 1786 for failing to list his sons Martin and Jesse, both of age 16 or older, on his return.) Tavernkeeper John Davenport of Spotsylvania was near the height of his financial problems in 1768, which may explain why Jack Smith Davenport, was working for his cousin Henry Gambill. Jouett Davenport's presence has an element of mystery, for his likely father (see below) James, Sr., and family were still in Albemarle County (did not return to Hanover until 1770), and if a member of the family, Jouett was surely the eldest son. What was the eldest son of a landed plantation owner doing working for another master, even if a relative? If Henry Gambill, in addition to being a planter was also a millwright, Jouett Davenport may have been serving an apprenticeship, for Jouett died as a millwright (see below). By 1770 Henry Gambill had improved his lot: he listed four tithables, himself, Jouett Davenport, and two slaves, but was landless. He was likely on Jouett land, for John Jouett, eldest son of Matthew, Sr., and the operator of Cuckoo Tavern, in the same district as Gambill listed 13 tithables, including 10 slaves and 757 acres of land. Henry Gambill either went elsewhere (he was involved in extensive litigation with David Davenport in Cumberland County in the early to mid-1770s), was not on the Trinity Parish, Louisa County, tithables list again until 1775, when he was in another district and listed himself, John Jouett (the later famous Jack), 1 slave, and no land. Jouett Davenport appeared on no Louisa tithables list extant after 1770. If he had finished a millwright apprenticeship, possibly he had returned to his family fold in Hanover County, where James Davenport, Sr., had returned to reclaim the Old Martin Davenport plantation from the financial foibles of his brother David (who had moved to Cumberland County). There are several Jouett Davenport mentions of Louisa and Spotsylvania court records in the 1770s and early 1780s, but the seminal item has been found among the loose papers in the Louisa County Clerk of Courts archives, to wit (in extract): 12Jul1786 - James Davenport, executor of Jouett Davenport, Decd., sued Margaret Biggers, executrix of William Biggers, Decd., on a plea of Trespass with damages of L50. James Davenport complained that William Biggers, late of Trinity Parish, Decd., contracted with said Jouett Davenport, millwright, Decd., in Bigger's lifetime to have work done, that said work was done. As said Jouett Davenport's executor, James Davenport claims an unpaid bill of L5/16/3 and L50 damages. (The suit was continued to Mar1789, sworn and nonsuited in May1789) The document is quoted in full legalese in Abercrombie, Janice (comp.), Lo uisa County, Virginia, Judgments, 1766-1790 (Athens, GA: Iberian Publishing Co., 1998), 177. There were three James Davenports in the locale at the time: James, Sr., wife Frances Jouett; James, Jr., wife Dicey Kennedy, both of Hanover County (adjoining the Louisa line); and James Davenport, wife Mary Rutherford, son of William Davenport and a grandson of Martin of Hanover, who was located on the north side of the North Anna River in Spotsylvania County, directly across from James, Sr., in Hanover County. That the James Davenport who was executor of Jouett Davenport was James, Sr., is deducible by the fact that Jouett Davenport was suing James of Spotsylvania when he died--making William's James an unlikely candidate for the executor, and by the fact that James Davenport, Jr., was an indigent, disabled war veteran in 1785 pleading for more pension support from the State, making him also an unlikely candidate to be executing an estate. Jouett Davenport's LW&T, which James Davenport, Sr., was executing in 1786, had to have been probated in Hanover County, and those papers are all gone too. There was a yet unidentified Kesse (Keziah) Davenport in Hanover in the late 1780s--she was one of the signers of James Davenport, Jr.'s petition to the Governor and Virginia Legislature for an increase in his disability pension in 1789 (signing between James Kennedy and Thomas Davenport). Was Keziah the widow of the deceased Jouett? Neither James Davenport, Sr., nor his widow Frances, mentioned Jouett, kith or kin, in their wills probated in Georgia. Was this another case, like Martin of Hanover, of leaving a child out of a will? Were the children of Jouett submerged in identity into a second husband's household until they came age? There were Davenports in both Hanover and Goochland County in later years who have not been identified. Some of them were possibly descendants of Martin Davenport, son of Martin who was landless but apparently had a large family. Were some of them descendants of Jouett Davenport whose will was executed by James Davenport, Sr.? When Richard Davenport of Albemarle, an identified son of Martin of Hanover, died in 1791, his LW&T directed his executors to complete the sale of the tract in Louisa County he had made to Tarlton Brown Luck, who had married Crotia Cassidy Kennedy, daughter of Charles Kennedy and Crotia Davenport, in 1790. Tarlton Brown was an attorney in Louisa before the Revolution who after a whirlwind career in law and commerce, over extended himself, and found himself being sued by half of Virginia. He ran away. absconded as they called it back then. That explains Tarlton Brown Luck, but it doesn't explain Tarlton Brown Davenport of Goochland County in the early years of the Nineteenth Century. A little more light at the end of the Jouett-Davenport tunnel? John Scott Davenport Holmdel, NJ