All right, my learned friends--a puzzler: >From a colonial VA inventory list, 1729: 1 gamblet, 1 pair of pocket stalliards What is a GAMBLET and STALLIARDS?????? Karen

Hi all, We have just finished uploading the preliminary indexes for our "1790" and "1800" tax lists. This concludes our current activity for Warwick County. We currently have the following online: "1790" 1788 Land Tax List images and index 1789 Personal Property Tax List images and index "1800" 1800 Land Tax List images and index 1798 Personal Property Tax List images and index These files can be viewed at our website: 1790/1800 County Tax Lists of Virginia http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ysbinns/vataxlists/index.htm Hope these are useful. Steve and Bunny -- Subscribe to BINNS-L surname email list: mailto:BINNS-L-request@rootsweb.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe American Binns Families and Individuals: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ysbinns/americanb/index.htm 1790/1800 County Tax Lists of Virginia: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ysbinns/vataxlists/index.htm

Hi all, We have just finished uploading the preliminary indexes for our "1800" personal property tax lists. This concludes our current activity for Isle of Wight. We currently have the following online: "1790" 1790 Personal Property Tax List A images and index 1790 Personal Property Tax List B images and index "1800" 1799 Personal Property Tax List A images and index 1799 Personal Property Tax List B images and index These files can be viewed at our website: 1790/1800 County Tax Lists of Virginia http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ysbinns/vataxlists/index.htm Hope these are useful. Steve and Bunny -- Subscribe to BINNS-L surname email list: mailto:BINNS-L-request@rootsweb.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe American Binns Families and Individuals: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ysbinns/americanb/index.htm 1790/1800 County Tax Lists of Virginia: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ysbinns/vataxlists/index.htm

Greetings, I am looking for information on a black Arthur Brown. Arthur Brown married Pattie Chappell on Aug 14, 1904 in Halifax Co., Va. He may have later moved without his wife to West Va. Thanks, Larry.

Greetings, Looking for info on a black Arthur Irby. Arthur was listed in the 1910 census in Halifax County Va., Meadsville area at 26y of age. Also listed as his wife was Pattie 22y, children listed were Lizzie 5y, Fannie 3y, and Cammie 2y. Thanks, Larry

The below article is posted in the archives on Genealogy.com Impossible and Improbable by Donna Przecha Genealogy thrives as a rewarding hobby because most people in the past lived orderly lives. We expect them to be born, marry, have children and die, and that there will be someone to record most of these events somewhere. Usually this is exactly what happens. All we have to do is find out where these events were recorded. However, occasionally we come across events that just do not fit into the orderly scheme of things. Sometimes they seem to be highly improbable or completely impossible. Disowned Children In past times marrying outside the family's religion, race, culture or social class was considered by some to be taboo. If children violated this rule, some families would disown them and even declare them dead. In one case the parents not only declared the child dead but went so far as to erect a tombstone with her name and her marriage date as the death date. People who were mentally ill or physically deformed might be sent off to an asylum or hospital and the family would act as if they were dead. They might be recorded in the family Bible as having died, so when you find the individual in a census you will be thoroughly confused! A daughter might also be disowned if she became pregnant and was not married or a son cut out of the family if he ended up in prison. Obituaries were generally provided by the families, and facts and children who did not suit the image the family wished to project could be omitted. If a child was not mentioned in the obituary in the local hometown paper, it didn't mean the child didn't exist or was deceased. Finding disowned children can be very difficult because they often moved a long way from their original home to a completely different environment. Someone from Connecticut might move to Idaho or Texas for no apparent reason. With more national indexes becoming available, it is easier to locate these people. Since most census indexes are still on a state-by-state basis, you almost have to check each state as there is no predicting where they might have gone. The names of disowned children might turn up in a will or probate. In a will the parent might want to mention the child just to be sure he or she is cut out of the inheritance. If there was no will, all living children would need to be named in legal documents relating to an inheritance. In past times marrying outside the family's religion, race, culture or social class was considered by some to be taboo. If children violated this rule, some families would disown them and even declare them dead. Bigamy Even in this day of instant communication with cell phones, pagers and the Internet, you can still pick up the paper and read about a man who was married to different women and had two different families, each of which was unknown to the other. (Why a man would want the responsibilities of two families and keeping them secret is beyond me!) In the past it was so much easier to acquire two wives, although it was more often serial rather than concurrent. If a man from Virginia went to California to look for gold, he might decide after a couple of fruitless years that he didn't want to go home and face the ridicule of his family and neighbors. He might decide to just settle down in California, perhaps open a store or take up farming and marry a girl he met there. Since he may have stopped writing to his family in Virginia months ago, he would hardly feel it was necessary to go to all the trouble and agony of trying to get a divorce. He might even send back an announcement of his death just to close that chapter of his life. Even in this day of instant communication, you can still pick up the paper and read about a man who was married to different women and had two different families, each of which was unknown to the other. When a husband disappears, the wife usually goes through the legal process to have him declared dead after a certain period of time. You might encounter the family with the husband in one census and in the next find the wife listed as a widow. This would lead you to believe he died in the meantime and you would look for cemetery records, obituaries, wills and death records. If he simply disappeared, you will not find any of these and may need to explore court records for a legal document declaring him dead. Of course, he may not really be dead at all. Name Changes Many men, especially new immigrants, found it too overwhelming to try to support a family and just walked off and were never heard from again. They might even change their names, settle down in a new area and get married again. This is very difficult to track and document, but one place where this could come out is in military pension records. If a man was in the Civil War, his first wife would know he was entitled to a pension and would apply for one when it became obvious he was never coming back, and could be presumed dead. If he remarried under another name, he might feel enough loyalty to his second wife to disclose his military service and the name under which he enlisted. Once he died and the second wife applied for her pension, both applications would end up with the same service record. If you suspect a possible name change, be sure to consult as many legal or official documents as possible, such as pension papers, wills, naturalization papers or land deeds. Even if a man changed names he might think he had to include his "also known as" (AKA) name to be sure the transaction was valid, fearing the original name might come out at some point and nullify the action. A woman could create genealogical confusion by not changing her name. If a woman had a child out of wedlock, she might move to another town, keep her maiden name but call herself Mrs., claiming she was a widow. Even if people knew she had never married, a mother would be called Mrs. as a courtesy because it would be embarrassing to all concerned to suggest that an unmarried woman had a child. In African-American research, many people assume that a freed slave would take the family name of the person who had owned him before emancipation. In fact, the freed slaves could take any name they liked and many experimented with several names before settling on one. Siblings might choose different surnames so it is not obvious to a researcher that they are related. A parent might have lived on a different plantation and select a different name from the child. Many chose names of famous people or people they admired, so the surname may or may not be significant for the researcher. Freed slaves could take any name they liked, so the surname may or may not be significant for the researcher. Duplicate Names Sometimes a researcher looking through baptism records will find a couple who gave the same name to two different children. A look at the burials usually reveals that the first child with that name died before the second one was born. In some cases no such death is found. In fact, both children seem to live, grow up and produce their own records. This can cause the researcher a bit of confusion and reexamination of the records. For some reason â perhaps a lack of imagination? â parents will give children almost identical names. In one family there was a John and a Jonathan, and both lived to adulthood. Mary and Maria are also possibilities. Sometimes, especially in German names, the first name would be the same for all children of the same sex, but the second name would be different. A family might consist of Johann Georg, Johann Wilhelm, Johann Josef, Anna Barbara, Anna Maria and Anna Theresa. Needless to say, the children usually went by their middle names and the children might be known as Georg, Johann, Josef, Barbara, Anna and Theresa. In later records, they might reverse the name since the middle name was the one usually used. This means you almost have to follow the lives of all the brothers to be sure who was really Johann. Just to confuse matters, Georg and Josef might use their official first name, Johann, on a record. Sometimes, especially in German names, the first name would be the same for all children of the same sex, but the second name would be different. Informal Adoptions Very often in the past, adoptions were very informally arranged. A woman might have a child that she really couldn't care for, because of health or financial reasons, while her sister might have wanted a child but was unable to have one. It might be agreed between the two families that the child would be given to the other to raise. No papers were signed or legal documents filed. Similarly, a foundling might be taken in by a family and simply raised as their own. Wrong Sex We have all encountered a person being classified as a male in one census and a female in another. This frequently happens with unusual names, or names that can be either sex, and usually it is just an error on the part of the census taker. However, there have been cases where children have been raised as if they were the opposite sex. Boys were dressed like girls when they were small and a mother who wanted a girl and was unable to have any more children might well continue that deception until the child revolted. Sex change operations were not possible 100 years ago but people could live as if they were the opposite sex. A woman might be especially tempted to masquerade as a man if she wished to be a soldier or a cowboy or follow some equally masculine occupation. Very recently a well-known band leader died and it was found that he, even though he was married, was actually a woman and no one knew. We have all encountered a person being classified as a male in one census and a female in another. This is usually just an error on the part of the census taker, but alternate explanations are sometimes possible. Race Change While following a family back through the census you might find a person who had always been classified as white, listed as mulatto, meaning a mixture of white and African ancestry. While we know the census taker often made mistakes, this might mean there is African-American ancestry in that line. Appearance played a big part in racial designation and when possible, many people of mixed ancestry would "pass" for white when they could. The children of Sally Hemings are a good example. (Whether or not you believe Thomas Jefferson was the father, it is generally accepted that the father of the Hemings children was white.) Sally herself was 1/4 black, as her father and maternal grandfather were both white. Her children were only 1/8 black. They all drifted off, with or without permission, and settled elsewhere. Eston at first settled in Ohio and in 1852 moved to Wisconsin where he changed his name from Hemings to Jefferson and his race to white. Eston's descendants did not even know of their black ancestry. Beverly (a son) and Harriet apparently disappeared into white society. Thomas became a minister in the African Methodist church and Madison stayed in the black community. Many people, especially in the south, have both white and black ancestry. Given the conditions and disadvantages under which blacks, even free ones, had to live, it made sense to be classified as white if at all possible. It made their lives and the lives of their families much easier. Many people, especially in the south, have both white and black ancestry. Given the conditions and disadvantages under which blacks, even free ones, had to live, many people of mixed ancestry would "pass" for white when they could. Facing the Impossible I would not encourage anyone to look for any of these extreme situations in his or her own family research, but if the impossible or the improbable appears, keep an open mind. If you come across one of these situations, this line may be truncated. Even if you do manage to work around it, it will take much research and documentation to gather enough evidence to prove what really happened. However, if you do manage to piece the whole story together, it will probably be the highlight of your family history! Ruth in NC

If a person changed their name, and did it legally, where would I find a record of it? This would have been 1870 -1880 either in Richmond City or Chesterfield County. Thank you for any help you can give me. I am sending this to several list so please excuse if you receive this more than once. Mildred

I don't know about Virginia, but an ancestor changed his in 1849 in Missouri and it took an act by the General Assemblies of the state and is recorded in their daily activities as a law passed. ----- Original Message ----- From: "M. Flinn" <mildredandirvin@home.com> To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 4:22 PM Subject: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] NAME CHANGE > If a person changed their name, and did it legally, where would I find a > record of it? This would have been 1870 -1880 either in Richmond City > or Chesterfield County. > Thank you for any help you can give me. I am sending this to several > list so please excuse if you receive this more than once. > Mildred > > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > USGenWeb Archives Census Project > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/census/ > > > ============================== > Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com > > >

Name changes were rare and very guarded, hence the courts' that granted such change usually made a note in the courts' "order books" or the "minutes" or in some colonies and states, in the "journals" or "journal entries." Then too, virtually all colonies and states saw to a requirement that such "final orders" showing the change from and to be placed of record in the Clerks' offices in order that all could know of the change. Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: "M. Flinn" <mildredandirvin@home.com> To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 4:22 PM Subject: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] NAME CHANGE | If a person changed their name, and did it legally, where would I find a | record of it? This would have been 1870 -1880 either in Richmond City | or Chesterfield County. | Thank you for any help you can give me. I am sending this to several | list so please excuse if you receive this more than once. | Mildred | | | ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== | USGenWeb Archives Census Project | http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/census/ | | | ============================== | Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: | Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. | http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com |

I'm curious as to whether the Elizabeth Mills, who married William Doswell, late 1700s, is from the same Mills family that John Mills and his daughter, Rebecca, who married Alexander Younger, early 1700s, are from. Does anyone know if there's a correlation here? Sincerely, Brownie MacKie

Hi all, We have finished uploading the Land Tax List image files for Warwick to our "1790/1800 County Tax Lists of Virginia" website. These are: "1790" Tax Lists 1788 Land Tax List images 1789 Personal Property Tax List images "1800" Tax Lists 1800 Land Tax List images 1798 Personal Property Tax List images This concludes our images for the "1790" and "1800" Tax List Censuses for Warwick County. We will index these tax lists as time permits. You can view them at: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ysbinns/vataxlists/index.htm Hope you find them useful. Steve and Bunny -- BINNS-L surname email list mailto:BINNS-L_request@rootsweb.com American Binns Families and Individuals: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ysbinns/americanb/index.htm 1790/1800 County Tax Lists of Virginia http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ysbinns/vataxlists/index.htm

Seeking info on George W. Golder, wife Susan A. in the 1850 time frame in Nottoway Va. I believe they may be parents to my g-g-grandfather's second wife. Willing to share info. Irvin

Greetings All! Just a reminder. New information is added to the Surry Co. Historical Society web site and the Surry VAGenWeb site periodically, so check back occasionally. The Historical Society Newsletters contain obscure records not published elsewhere. We've recently added several of Lorena Leath's award winning photographs. At the Surry VAGenWeb site there's a "How to find your family in Surry Co" page with some useful links. Recommended particularly for those just starting your research. Surry County, Virginia, VAGenWeb web site & Surry List http://www.rootsweb.com/~vasurry/ Surry County, Virginia, Historical Society web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~vaschsm/ Good Hunting! -- Eve S. Gregory, Director Virginia Foundation for Archaeological Research, Inc. http://home.earthlink.net/~vfar1/ Visit my home page for history and genealogy links! http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~eve368g/

They must be shut down. I got an email from them this morning asking me to submit info to them. I tried to "unsubscribe" from their junk email list and the email came back as a bad address. So I logged on to familydiscover.com and there's a "Coming Soon" message by HostAndSave.com. Looks like they might be out of business? -- Cara Showers Anchorage, Alaska cara@dcdesign.com

I apologize if I bothered anyone with my virus warning, which was apparently the case. I have since been informed that this is another hoax. However, I myself am not always faithful about updating my virus program and am always thankful to those who try to help protect my hard work. I personally don't mind being warned, I stated what my message was concerning, no need to open it if you aren't interested, merely delete it and move on. Shelly Murphy ----- Original Message ----- From: <LSmith5071@aol.com> To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, April 06, 2001 6:22 PM Subject: Re: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] Fw: Virus Warning > Virus messages shouldn't be forwarded to the Rootsweb lists. If you have > virus protection you won't get a virus. > > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > USGenWeb Archives Digital Maps Project > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/maps/ > > > ============================== > Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp > >

Virus messages shouldn't be forwarded to the Rootsweb lists. If you have virus protection you won't get a virus.

----- Original Message ----- From: Dawn Richardson <pumpkin@iline.com> To: <NCGRANVI-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, April 06, 2001 8:14 PM Subject: Virus Warning > I'm Forwarding this you from a genealogy mailing list: > > > Subject: Virus Warning > > DO NOT OPEN "NEW PICTURES OF FAMILY" It is a virus that will erase your whole "C" drive. It will come to you in the form of an E-Mail from a familiar person. I repeat a friend sent it to me, but called & warned me before I opened it. He was not so lucky and now he cant even start his computer! > > Forward this to everyone in your address book. > > Also: Intel announced that a new and very destructive virus was discovered recently. If you receive an email called "FAMILY PICTURES," do not open it. Delete it right away! > > This virus removes all dynamic link libraries (.all files) from your computer. Your computer will not be able to boot up. > > > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the #1 > Source for Family History Online. Go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribetrial1y.asp?sourcecode=F11HB > >

[Source: ARCHIVES NEWS, Volume 11, Number 1, Spring 2001, Friends of the Virginia State Archives, Inc., P.O. Box 4804, Richmond, Virginia 23220; The Library of Virginia and Virginia State Archives, 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219 http://www.lva.lib.va.us/] THE MYTHS PERSIST One continues to see in reviews and elsewhere the old myth first advanced as "law" in Hening's STATUTES AT [LARGE] that eight of Virginia's early counties or "Shires" were created by fiat precisely in 1634. In ARCHIVES NEWS and elsewhere, Jon Kukla pointed out that Hening, relying on a researcher's notes, should have stated that by that date these jurisdictions had assumed their functions as fully operating political units. Every edition of THE HORNBOOK OF VIRGINIA HISTORY informs us unequivocally that they were "created" in 1634. Even the scholarly introduction in the first volume of CAVALIERS AND PIONEERS falls into the Hening trap -- while citing evidence to the contrary. In reality, when outlying districts were invited to send burgesses to Jamestown for a General Assembly in 1619, "county" representation was set up, whether termed "Plantation" (of people), "Cities," "Hundreds," or "Parishes." At that early date four of the later-termed "counties" were represented: James City, Charles City, Henricus, Kiccowtan. By 1623/4 Elizabeth City was represented, Warwick River by 1629, Warrosqueake (Isle of Wight) the following year. [JOURNAL OF THE HOUSE OF BURGESSES OF VIRGINIA, 1619-1658/9 (Richmond: 1915)] Robert Armistead Stewart in CAVALIERS AND PIONEERS, who repeated the Hening error, also wrote correctly "The General Assembly of March 1623/4 provided `that a court should be held once a month in Henrico and in James City,' and in Feb., 1632/2 the Assembly `orders that a Monthlie Court be held and kept for remote parts of the Collinie, upper parts, Warwick River, Warwicksqueake, Elizabeth City, Accomack, and at James City, four quarter Courts yearlie.'" (xxi) Records for Accomack exist well before 1634, the ubiquitous date so frequently cited by the misinformed. Dear Friends, you out there in California beside the beautiful Pacific, where Tonto died, we do not mean to mislead you. It's just that sometimes we are misled. We are grateful to William Waller Hening, but he too sometimes made mistakes." * * * * *

Greetings, I am in search of info on Afro American Youngers from the 1870 Federal Census. On pages 703A and 703B in the 1870 Federal Census in the Staunton District of Halifax County Va. there are families, headed by the persons listed below: Dwelling # 87 a white Joel Younger # 88 a black Primus Younger # 89 a black Alfred Younger # 90 a black John Younger # 91 a black Daniel Younger # 92 a black Joe Younger # 93 a black Peter Chappell # 94 a black Jack Younger # 95 a white Phillip Younger. # 96 a black Shadrack Younger I am seeking info on any of these families Thanks, Larry

E. W., I came across the reference to Aaron PINSON in William BYRD's journals of the early history of the land in the area of Aaron's Creek that he called the "Land of Eden." (ca 1728). Byrd was the leader of a party that surveyed the VA/NC border and owned considerable land there which at that time was the western frontier. According to Byrd, this Aaron PINSON was an overseer, but I cannot remember for whom and my notes are not with me. I will check and let you know. I wish now that I was more interested in PINSONs, but it is the JONES/YANCEY/BAYNES families of this area that I am researching. I descend from John JONES, Sr. who d. in Mecklenburg Co., VA in 1791. His son Benjamin m. Mary BAYNES, daughter of John BAYNES & Mary YANCEY, dau. of James. John JONES, Sr. was one of 5 brothers (Robert, James, Richard, & Ambrose) who settled in the area. Appreciate your efforts to help, Ron Hdanw@aol.com wrote: > Dear Ron Jones, > > You wrote in response to a plea for help in locating creeks in Southside VA: > > <Tewahominy Creek is also known as Aaron's Creek and forms the boundary > between Halifax and Mecklenburg Counties. Many spelling variations. Modern > name is for Aaron PINSON or PINSTON who was one of the earliest white > settlers in this area.> > > My question to you: > > Ron, I am assuming you have some interest in Aaron Pinson of colonial times > and may be able to give me some guidance. > > I have an ancestor Richard Simpson (called variously Jr. and then Sr, > depending on the time) a resident in Orange Co., NC ca 1763, later died in > Caswell Co. ..... He and his wife Mary Kincheloe were originally of Fairfax > Co., VA and from the predecessor county of Fairfax. > > One of his associates in Northern Neck Virginia had been an Aaron (Aron) > Pinson and another was Giles Tillott. I suspect there were several men of > different generations who bore these names. > > In Prince William Co., in a survey for Peter Rust of Westmoreland Co., 5 > Feb 1739/22 Apr 1740, chain carriers are Vincent Lewis and Aaron Pincent. > The land is on Pope's Head Run called Piney Br. > > (Refer to Peggy Shomo Joyner's ABSTRACTS OF VIRGINIA'S NORTHERN NECK > WARRANTS & SURVEYS... DUNMORE, SHENANDOAH, CULPEPER, PRINCE WILLIAM, FAUQUIER > & STAFFORD COUNTIES 1710-1780, V. III, p. 126.) > > Have you any further info on Aaron Pinson? Is he the one who was granted > land by Lord Granville? So many southern Virginians (and even further north) > went to North Carolina in colonial times and, of course, later also. > > (Granville Grants) Patent Bk 12, No. 2080, pg. 19 Aaron Pinson 20 February > 1756 67 acres in Orange County in the Parish of St Matthew on the N side of > the N Fork of Haw River, joining (a point) below Pinsons Mill and (a pont) > above the sd mill OR: /s/ Aaron Pinson Wits: W Churton, Enoch Lewis > surveyed 17 December 1753 SCC: Isaac Simmons, Robert Woodland W. Chrton, > Surveyor > > (Granville Grants) Patent Bk 12, No. 2084, pg. 20 Joseph Pinson 6 > September 1754 393 acres in Orange County on the E side of the N Fork of Haw > River, joining the mouth and side of High Rock Creek. OR: /s/ (mark) > Wits: W Churton, Enoch Lewis surveyed 6 October 1753 SCC: Aron Pinson, > Giles Tillot W Churton D Surveyor > > (Sorry--I did not copy the source, but I feel fairly sure these are abstracts > from Margaret M. Hofmann's book Vol II of Granville District grants.) > > I would appreciate your sharing whatever info you have concerning Aaron > Pinson of colonial times, particularly if you trace him back to Northern Neck > prior to these NC grants/patents. > > E.W.Wallace (female) > southern California > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > USGenWeb Archives http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the #1 > Source for Family History Online. Go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribetrial1y.asp?sourcecode=F11HB