There is no proof that John RUDD, Sr., was the son of Captain John RUDD. Captain RUDD is found in Virginia records starting about 1663 until about 1699. I have found no evidence in the records I have had available to me that Captain RUDD ever settled in Virginia. Capt. RUDD did have a family according to a letter written in March of 1685. Capt. RUDD was a relative to William BYRD I, and William wrote to Capt. John, calling him uncle, in 1685. In the letter William says he considered it a "great misfortune...that wee are wholly deprived of ever having your company in Virginia Again, where wee have been so often merry together...." This would indicate that Capt. RUDD did not live or settle in the Virginia colony - or, as the letter shows, any other part of the new world. William continues his letter with "I have great hopes (God willing) to see England next year and then doubt not but I shall bee so happy to see you in London." The letter shows that the Captain's wife was still living at this time and that they had children - "Pray give my best respects and service to my aunt RUDDS, and to tell her I beg her acceptance of an otter skin herewith sent; remember mee to ...our good daughter, not forgetting all the small girls" William signs the letter "Dear uncle your obliged cousin and servant Wm. B." The letter was sent "to Capt RUDS per his son." The book Rudd, Pollard, Youngblood and Related Families by Margaret Rudd YOUNGBLOOD, 1980, states that he (Capt. John RUDD) may have been a merchant from Scotland. Records do show that he transported goods, such as tobacco, between the Virginia colony and England and that he was at various times captain of the "John and Mary," the "William and Sarah," and later of the "Hopewell." London port records show him as "master of ship" in 1672, 1675, 1676, 1677, and 1696. He is found on occasion in the Charles City County court records and in the minutes of the Council and General Court of Virginia. He is also found a few times in the Henrico Co. court records witnessing wills and deeds. None of these court records indicated a residency in Virginia or, for that matter, any where else. Capt. RUDD did receive land for importing persons - one entry shows 1250 acres; however, there is no evidence to show that he ever resided on that land. According to the book An Irish Rudd Family, by Norman RUDD, Capt. RUDD moved to Newberry Co., SC, and established a large plantation on the Saluda River at Chappells, SC. I have found RUDDs there, but have not been able to confirm that it was Capt. RUDD who settled there. William BYRD's letter would certainly indicate otherwise. To date, I have not found any evidence, hard or circumstantial, that would lead me to believe that the John RUDD who married Avis WHITTAKER was the son of Capt. John RUDD. I have never corresponded with a RUDD researcher (and that includes Hugh RUDD who is a well-known and well-respected RUDD researcher) who could furnish any small bit of information that would give any support to Capt. John being the father of John RUDD of Chesterfield Co., VA. There is, however, evidence that shows John RUDD (who married Avis) was an indentured servant. Depositions made almost 40 years after his death tell of both he and Avis WHITTAKER being indentured servants and of their first child and possibly their second child being born out of wedlock. (An indentured servant could not marry while fulfilling his or her contract.) Cavaliers and Pioneers, Patent Book No. 11, p. 228, shows an Avis WHITAKER, along with 10 other people as being imported by the EPES. In 1721, the EPES received 538a of land in Prince George Co., VA, as a result of this importation. A deposition made in 1786 states that Avis had been a servant of Peter ROWLETT. (Virginia granted 50a per importation - a "headright." This was easily abused by sailors as they claimed 50a every time they sailed to Virginia - they then could sell their claim. In the case of indentured servants the 50a went to the one who paid the servant's passage. These headrights could be bought and sold so the person claiming 200a for importing four persons was not necessarily the person who actually paid the passage costs. It is also possible that the servant paid his own way and then sold his headright rather than claim the land. Also, persons named on the same list of importations need not have come on the same ship nor arrived in the same year. (The Source, EAKLE & CERNY, p. 220) After their indenturship, John and Avis married and had six more children. No record of their marriage has been found, but they probably married sometime around 1710. John and Avis lived on a plantation that was on the Spring Run of Swift Creek. On 20 August 1711, John had received a patent for 312a in Henrico Co. which crossed Spring Run adjacent to Thomas CHEATHAM, Ellison CLARK, and John FERGUSON. This area is in the western part of Chesterfield Co. and near the present Amelia/Chesterfield Co. Line. If there is any RUDD researcher who can show any shred of information that Capt. John was the father of John of Chesterfield, please make it known here. It would great to be able to claim Capt. John as our ancestor, but until there is something more to support such a claim, we who descend from John and Avis RUDD need to be careful in how we present this part of our family's history. Janet