In a message dated 6/14/2003 11:06:48 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: > Does anyone have any information about the ferries on the James River > during the early later 1600's and early 1700's. > > I have seen on a website where Richard Murphy had a ferry that crossed > the James, near Westover. > > Any truth to this? > > Thanks, Georgia > Hi Georgia, I can't provide any "proof", but will just point out a couple of relevant facts I know, which you probably already do also. (a) William Byrd I, built Westover. He and his wife Mariah/Mary Horsemanden had a daughter Mary Elizabeth, b. 1681/2 who married first James Duke and second Richard Murphy. (I am a Bird/Byrd earliest ancestor in TN early 1800s..all Bird/Byrds in TN, KY, etc. think first about a link to the "Big Birds" of VA as I like to call them (sorry that was awful). As a result, we collect lots of material on them. (b)There was a ferry at Westover in 1702. ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/va/misc/fery1702.txt "Virginia Ferry Operators, 1702" <snip> On James River.In Henrico county at Varina, the price for a man six pence, for a manand horse a shilling. In Charles City county at Wesopher, the price fora man a shilling, for a man and horse eighteen pence. In Appomatockriver at the usuall place near coll. Byrd's store, the price for a manhalfe a royall, for a man and horse one royall." (c) The awarding of ferry concessions was very important, after all it was not only a potentialy financially rewarding venture, but you didn't want to have to depend on irresponsible or uncooperative ferry operators to get you across, especially if you were William Byrd and his family. (d) Therefore, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Richard Murphy, son-in-law or future son-in-law of Wm Byrd I, did indeed have the ferry concession, though whether he actually sat on the river bank, loaded the men, horses and goods, and polled/rowed/sailed them across is debatable -- unless it was a brief rite of passage for a young whippersnapper before he did the more gentlemanly type of things of the Byrd family, like speculate on real estate, drink boiled milk and spirits, tumble his wife on the billiard table, race his horses and play cards, in between excursions to London and back. (e) There might be deeds in Charles County records (which if memory serves are rather spotty) that mention Richard Murphy's ferry or something along those lines. And here I echo E.W. Wallace' frequent advice, which is to check the Virginia Historical Index if available at a library and see where Richard Murphy turns up. FYI, at UsGenweb Archives for Virginia, which I can't get in at the moment via html, there are several other ferry lists under "misc", including the one cited in this directory here: ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/va/misc/ Georgia, I am very curious about the website you said you found with the information, as I have ancestors involved with ferries just a bit west on the Appomattox, near where the Bollings lived at Cobbs -- and there are Murphys mixed in there too if I recall correctly. Are you a descendant of Richard Murphy & Mary Elizabeth Byrd. Good Luck! Janet Hunter

I know that people had to apply to the Court for permission to build mills. Would that also have applied to ferries? Paul?? Mickey -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2003 4:06 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] Ferries on the James River In a message dated 6/14/2003 11:06:48 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: > Does anyone have any information about the ferries on the James River > during the early later 1600's and early 1700's. > > I have seen on a website where Richard Murphy had a ferry that crossed > the James, near Westover. > > Any truth to this? > > Thanks, Georgia > Hi Georgia, I can't provide any "proof", but will just point out a couple of relevant facts I know, which you probably already do also. (a) William Byrd I, built Westover. He and his wife Mariah/Mary Horsemanden had a daughter Mary Elizabeth, b. 1681/2 who married first James Duke and second Richard Murphy. (I am a Bird/Byrd earliest ancestor in TN early 1800s..all Bird/Byrds in TN, KY, etc. think first about a link to the "Big Birds" of VA as I like to call them (sorry that was awful). As a result, we collect lots of material on them. (b)There was a ferry at Westover in 1702. ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/va/misc/fery1702.txt "Virginia Ferry Operators, 1702" <snip> On James River.In Henrico county at Varina, the price for a man six pence, for a manand horse a shilling. In Charles City county at Wesopher, the price fora man a shilling, for a man and horse eighteen pence. In Appomatockriver at the usuall place near coll. Byrd's store, the price for a manhalfe a royall, for a man and horse one royall." (c) The awarding of ferry concessions was very important, after all it was not only a potentialy financially rewarding venture, but you didn't want to have to depend on irresponsible or uncooperative ferry operators to get you across, especially if you were William Byrd and his family. (d) Therefore, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Richard Murphy, son-in-law or future son-in-law of Wm Byrd I, did indeed have the ferry concession, though whether he actually sat on the river bank, loaded the men, horses and goods, and polled/rowed/sailed them across is debatable -- unless it was a brief rite of passage for a young whippersnapper before he did the more gentlemanly type of things of the Byrd family, like speculate on real estate, drink boiled milk and spirits, tumble his wife on the billiard table, race his horses and play cards, in between excursions to London and back. (e) There might be deeds in Charles County records (which if memory serves are rather spotty) that mention Richard Murphy's ferry or something along those lines. And here I echo E.W. Wallace' frequent advice, which is to check the Virginia Historical Index if available at a library and see where Richard Murphy turns up. FYI, at UsGenweb Archives for Virginia, which I can't get in at the moment via html, there are several other ferry lists under "misc", including the one cited in this directory here: ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/va/misc/ Georgia, I am very curious about the website you said you found with the information, as I have ancestors involved with ferries just a bit west on the Appomattox, near where the Bollings lived at Cobbs -- and there are Murphys mixed in there too if I recall correctly. Are you a descendant of Richard Murphy & Mary Elizabeth Byrd. Good Luck! Janet Hunter ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== VAGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~vagenweb ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237