Caroline County, Virginia 'Lost' Wills, 1727-1852, Volume One

Abstracted by Kimberly Curtis Campbell. This volume contains the earliest extant wills for Caroline County. This series will try to fill in the records gap that exists by using a variety of original sources.

FROM THE PREFACE:

Caroline County was formed in 1727, from King and Queen, King William and Essex Counties. Many of the early records have been destroyed. Surviving records often leave more questions than answers. The Order Books are substantially intact from circa 1732, and show where a Will was presented and proved in Court. These Court records are poorly indexed, if at all, and generally give only one line of information. One history of the county, Colonial Caroline, by T. E. Campbell, lists probate records from the Order Books through 1781, which give only the scant information listed in this secondary source. Extensive research is generally required to obtain a copy of the particular line in the appropriate Order Book. [That is, someone must read the orders from the appropriate period and be able to recognize one name written in old script.] Only a few "loose wills" and Will Book #19, November 1814 to July 1818 have survived prior to 1853. This book, and future volumes, is an attempt to relocate Caroline Counties "lost wills" from other sources and localities.

The exact causes of the "records gap" are unknown. Early Clerk's offices were not environmentally controlled as they are today. Pest control was yet another problem. Add to this fire, flood, war and we are fortunate to have what remains. William L. Hopkins book Caroline County Court Records and Marriages, 1787 1810, at page 196, Elizabeth Saunders states she and her husband were married "in 1792 prior to the burning of the clerk's office in 1800". In Marshall Wingfield's, A History of Caroline County, Virginia, at page 273, Robert Hudgin is quoted as to the deplorable condition of the records in 1827 and he received a "vote of thanks" from the justices of the court for his efforts to organize and preserve them. One Will for Daniel DeJarnette, recorded in Will Book 32, contains an affidavit of the executor at page 503, stating that the original will and Will Book were destroyed in April, 1865. There was also a letter written by a Union soldier around 1900, and mentioned in the local paper, The Caroline Progress, in an article written during World War II, stating there were court papers loose in the street during April 1864, when the Union army passed through Caroline County.

To compound the problem, three of the source counties for Caroline records have also had their court records destroyed. This destruction occurred during the Civil War and was almost entirely complete for King & Queen County [Drysdale or St Asaph's Parish], King William County [St. Margaret's Parish] and New Kent County [the parent county for both King & Queen and King William Counties.]

Additionally, the parish registers and vestry books for each of the three colonial churches are lost and presumed destroyed. The parish registers would provide genealogical data in the form of marriage dates, birth dates, baptism dates as well as death records. These records have not been mentioned in any history [Wingfield's or Campbell's], nor have they surfaced in the Library of Virginia, the Virginia Historical Society or any similar collection, public or private in over two hundred years.

WILLS (275) INCLUDED IN VOLUME ONE:
Abraham, William F., 1 Nov 1842/26 Dec 1842
Acres, Richard, 27 Jan 1821/3 Nov 1823 [Spotsylvania Co. Will]
Alsop, Benjamin, /13 Jul 1786
Anderson, John, 1 Oct 1813/11 Oct 1813
Andrews, James, 8 Jan 1817/14 Jul 1817
Armistead, John, 25 Jun 1788/21 Jul 1788 [Pennsylvania], 16 July 1790 [Virginia]
Armistead, Robert, 19 Jul 1766/12 Mar 1767
Armistead, William, 30 Dec 1755/26 Apr 1756 [Gloucester Co. Will]
Bankhead, William, 1 Mar 1788/Jun 1788 [Westmoreland Co. Will]
Battaile, John, 20 Jan 1707/8/10 Feb 1707/8 [Essex Co. Will]
Baughn, Benjamin, 11 Feb 1837/11 Apr 1831
Bayles, Salley, 18 May 1822/14 Mar 1825
Baylor, George, 6 May 1783/14 Apr 1785
Baylor, John, 19 Feb 1770/16 May 1772 [New Market]
Baylor, John, 13 Oct 1807/14 Mar 1808 [New Market]
Baylor, Maria, 24 Aug 1849/17 Oct 1850 [New Market]
Beazley, Adam, [died before 1824, family recreated from suit, no will]
Beazley, Philip, [died 15 Sep 1840, family recreated from suit, no will]
Bell, Moore, [abstract from indenture dated 16 Dec 1799, no will]
Beverley, Robert, 13 May 1733/5 Jun 1733 [Spotsylvania Co. Will]
Booker, Ann, 10 May 1774/18 Dec 1775 [King & Queen Co. Will]
Booker, Richard, 21 Apr 1743/16 May 1743 [York Co. Will]
Boulware, Mark, 19 Jun 1754/16 Jul 1754 [Essex Co. Will
Boulware, Mark L, [died intestate 18__, family recreated from suit]
Bowie, James, 1 Mar 1787/
Broaddus, Rebecca, 19 Jul 1829/14 Jan 1833
Broaddus, Thomas, 3 May 1787/Jun 1787
Brock, Henry, 24 Jul 1762/4 Jul 1763 [Spotsylvania Co. Will]
Brunskill, John (Rev.), 10 Mar 1761/11 Mar 1762
Brunskill, William, 5 Jan 1770/May 1771
Buckner, George, 13 Mar 1807/8 Dec 1828 [Braynefield]
Buckner, Horace, 13 Mar 1820/21 Aug 1820 [Culpeper Co. Will]
Buckner, John, 27 Apr 1748/12 Jul 1748 [York Co. Will]
Buckner, Richard, 28 Jul 1797/10 Apr 1798
Buckner, William A, 6 May 1827/8 Mar 1830
Buckner, William, 5 Mar 1783/Feb 1788
Burke, Henry, 5 Apr 1777/10 Jul 1777
Burke, John, 25 May 1787/Feb 1790
Burke, Thomas Henry, 23 Dec 1828/8 Jun 1829
Burruss, Elizabeth, 16 Oct 1855/ 14 Aug 1856 [Fredericksburg Will]
Burruss, Frances, 25 Jan 1816/Jan 1817 [Kentucky, Christian Co. Will]
Burruss, Jacob, 20 Mar 1742/
Burruss, Jennings, 6 Jan 1790/Jan 1794
Burruss, Sina, 17 May 1800/14 Oct 1800
Burrus, Thomas, 7 Mar 1824/12 Apr 1824
Burruss, William C, 1 Feb 1845/14 Apr 1845
Butler, John, 7 Apr 1810/9 Jul 1810
Butler, Isaac, 9 Apr 1875/18 Jul 1877 [Hanover Co. Will]
Camm, John, 20 Feb 1767/ [King & Queen Co. Will]
Campbell, Joseph, [died intestate 1794, family recreated from suit]
Campbell, Joseph, Jr., [deceased 1809, family recreated from suit, no will]
Care, William R, 2 Nov 1840/9 Nov 1840
Carlton, John, 29 Jun 1835/12 Oct 1835 [King & Queen Co. Will]
Carter, John, 9 May 1778/18 Dec 1783 [Spotsylvania Co. Will]
Carter, John, 2 Jan 1834/9 Jun 1834 [the Trap]
Carter, William, 18 Jul 1804/16 Nov 1864 [North Wales]
Catlett, John (1), /1670 [no will, recreated from several references in other records]
Catlett, John (2), 18 Nov 1724/ [Essex Co. Will]
Catlett, John (3), 14 Jun 1738/3 Jun 1739
Catlett, John (4), 8 Nov 1744/28 Mar 1745 [Orange Co. Will]
Cason, Thomas, /Spring 1836 [family recreated from suit, no will]
Chandler, Robert, 1802/13 Sep 1803
Chandler, William, 28 Jul 1815/[nonprobated earlier will]
Chandler, William, 31 Dec 1821/31 Dec 1821
Chapman, Robert, 6 Sep 1811/9 Oct 1815
Chiles, John, 3 Apr 1816/10 Feb 1817
Clarke, Edmund, 7 Apr 1847/14 Jun 1847
Coleman, Daniel, 6 Oct 1815/12 Aug 1816
Coleman, Francis, 20 Jul 1771/14 Nov 1771
Coleman, Maria, 31 Dec 1838 [Appr. & Div. of slaves, family recreated from suit]
Collins, Josiah, 2 Nov 1817/7 Jul 1823 [Spotsylvania Co. Will]
Collins, Thomas, 6 Feb 1781/8 Apr 1781
Conner, George, 26 Sep 1813/13 Aug 1844
Conway, Thomas, 17 Mar 1823/12 Mar 1827
Corbin, Alice, 1791/13 Feb 1792 [King & Queen Co. Will]
Corbin, Francis, 11 Sep 1817/11 Jun 1821 [The Reeds]
Corbin, Gawin, 1 Nov 1739/12 Feb 1744 [King & Queen Co. Will]
Corbin, John Tayloe, 2 Feb 1799/27 Jan 1800 [Middlesex Co. Will]
Corbin, John Tayloe, 16 Feb 1792/15 Apr 1794 [Laneville] [King & Queen Co. Will]
Corbin, Maria, 1794/1797 [Laneville] [King & Queen Co. Will]
Corbin, Richard, 12 Mar 1790/15 Sep 1790 [Laneville] [King & Queen Co. Will]
Crutcher, Thomas, 11 Jan 1782/Jul 1786
Dabney, Elizabeth, 9 Mar 1827/13 Aug 1827
Davis, Richard, 16 Jun 176_/Nov 1761
Dejarnett, Joseph E., /8 Sep 1828
Dickinson, David, 23 Apr 1812/14 Sep 1812
Dickinson, George W., 13 Dec 1825/17 Sep 1826
Dickinson, Thomas, 6 Mar 1826/14 Aug 1826
Dickinson, William, 23 Sep 1822/15 Oct 1823
Dickinson, William W, 13 May 1851/
Dillard, John, /9 Dec 1800 [The Sycamores]
Downer, William, 5 Nov 1808/12 Dec 1808
Dudley, Anna, 10 Feb 1809/ [Spotsylvania Co. Will]
Dunlop, Ellen Bankhead, 24 Jul 1849/Sep 1849 [Fredericksburg Will]
Dunn, Andrew, 4 Jul 1818/
Durrett, George, 3 Jun 1811/20 May 1812
Durrett, Henry, 15 Feb 1841/12 Jul 1841
Edge, Samuel, 2 Sep 1785/10 Jan 1788
Ellis, William, 6 Feb 1779/13 Mar 1809
Estes, Abraham, 10 Aug 1757/8 Feb 1759
Ferrell, Augustine, Jr., 6 Mar 1807/6 Feb 1812
Ferrell, Edward L, /[died intestate 1845, family recreated from suit]
Fitzhugh, Winney, 16 Jul 1841/14 Feb 1842 [free Negro]
Garnett, Reuben, /[died intestate 18__, family recreated from suit]
Gatewood, Benjamin, 10 Apr 1780/12 Oct 1780
Gatewood, James, 30 Nov 1778/12 Sep 1783
Gatewood, James, /[division of Estate 1808, family recreated from suit]
George, John, 7 Feb 1784/May 1784
George, Reuben, 16 May 1799/10 Dec 1799
Gouldin, Sally, /died intestate 1844, family recreated from suit]
Grafton, William, 21 Feb 1813/
Graham, Sarah, 20 Sep 1832/13 Mar 1838
Gray, John, 3 Feb 1807/10 Mar 1807
Gray, Phoebe, 24 Oct 1818/14 Mar 1831
Gray, William, 9 Jul 1798/1 May 1799
Gray, William Fauntleroy, 1 Aug 1792/Dec 1792
Hampton, John, 9 Apr 1801/12 Jul 1803
Harrison, William, Jr., 2 Mar 1840/1841
Harrison, William H, 7 Jan 1842/11 Sep 1843
Hawkins, John, 16 Feb 1725/6/21 Jun 1726 [Essex Co. Will]
Hawkins, John, 1755/
Hay, Ann (Robinson), 22 May 1751/8 Mar 1753 [Haymount]
Hipkins, Elizabeth, 15 Jan 1827/9 Nov 1829 [Gaymont]
Holloway, John, [no dates] [Essex Co. Will]
Hoomes, Benjamin, 15 Jul 1811/13 Jul 1812 [Point of View]
Hoomes, John (Col.), Oct 1804/16 Jan 1806 [the Bowling Green]
Hoomes, Thomas Claiborne, 28 Jan 1821/12 Mar 1821 [Melrose] [K & Q Co. Will]
Hord, Ambrose, 1 Apr 1780/May 1781
Hord, John, 3 Oct 1806/10 Mar 1807
Hord, Peter, 21 Sep 1787/10 Dec 1787 [Stafford Co. Will]
Houston, Robert, 1827/12 Mar 1834
Hundley, Matthew, 15 Dec 1828/9 Mar 1829
Hundley, (Matthew) Richard, /13 Sep 1830
Hurt, Benjamin, 19 Jan 1781/Feb 1781
Hurt, Benjamin, Senior, 8 Mar 1835/14 Sep 1835
James, Susannah, 26 Sep 1829/13 Jun 1831
Jeter, Samuel, 1 Apr 1842 [date for division of land, no will]
Johnston, Aquilla, 5 Feb 1784/1788 [Spotsylvania Co. Will]
Johnston, John, 15 Oct 1785/9 Feb 1786
Johnston, William, 24 Apr 1769/12 Oct 1769
Jones, Edmund, 1801/6 Apr 1801
Jones, Fanny, 2 Mar 1804/9 Oct 1804
Jones, Hannah, 28 Dec 1822/12 Jul 1824
Jones, James, 23 Oct 1795/Jan 1802
Jones, John, /[died intestate 1779, family recreated from suit]
Jones, Sally, 12 Sep 1786/ [Spring Garden] [Hanover Co. Will]
Jones, Thomas, 13 Oct 1788/11 Jun 1789
Jones, William, 25 Mar 1818/11 May 1818
Kay, James, 25 Apr 1768/20 Feb 1767?
Kelley, Elijah, 19 Nov 1833/10 Mar 1834
Kidd, Willis, 7 Jan 1843/13 Feb 1843
Lindsay, James, 9 Jan 1782/13 Apr 1782
Lomax, Thomas, 26 Apr 1790/12 Nov 1811
Madison, Ambrose, 31 Jul 1732/6 Feb 1732
Madison, James (Captain), 21 Jan 1820/11 Jan 1830
Mallory, Pamela H, /1859 [family recreated from suit, no will]
Marshall, Benjamin, /[died before 1 Jan 1836, family recreated from suit, no will]
Marshall, John (Captain), /10 Jan 1782, family recreated from suits, no will]
Marshall, Thomas, /31 May 1704 [Westmoreland Co. Will]
Mason, David, /Oct 1802 [family recreated from suit, no will]
Mason, John, /[deceased before 7 Feb 1813, family recreated from suit, no will]
Meaux, James, 10 Nov 1822/10 Mar 1823
Miller, James, 3 Oct 1807/4 Mar 1808 [Westerton]
Miller, Robert, 1 Sep 1812/1813
Miller, William, 8 Jul 1809/12 Feb 1810
Mills, Thompson, 1 May 1808/12 Sep 1808
Minor, Elizabeth, 17 Jun 1809/10 Feb 1812 [Topping Castle]
Minor, John, 27 Feb 1800/13 May 1800 [Topping Castle]
Mitchell, John, 10 Aug 1807/Mar 1809
Monroe, John, 6 Oct 1802/14 Dec 1802
Moore, Edward J, 13 Mar 1849/9 Apr 1849
Motley, Edwin, 5 Oct 1808/3 May 1809 [King & Queen Co. Will]
Motley, Elizabeth, 5 Jul 1837/12 Aug 1839
Newton, Edmund, 9 Dec 1851/12 Jan 1852
Newton, Polly, 25 Nov 1839/14 Nov 1842
Noel, James, [Admin. qualified 11 Aug 1839, family recreated from suit, no will]
Norment, Samuel, 28 Jun 1810/10 Sep 1810
Page, John, /1841
Page, Robert E, /1846
Parker, James, 14 Dec 1815/19 May 1817
Peatross, Matthew, 11 Jan 1768/11 Aug 1768
Peatross, William, 15 Feb 1808/12 Dec 1808
Pendleton, Edmund, 19 May 1799/13 Dec 1803 [Edmundsbury]
Pettis, James, 5 Oct 1822/
Piccadate, Maurice, /[died before Nov 1834, family recreated from suit, no will]
Pickett, William, 10 Oct 1743/20 Dec 1743 [Essex Co. Will]
Pitts, James (the elder), 26 Jul 1777/9 Sep 1800
Prewet, Eliza, 13 Sep 1844/
Pruett, Thadeus, 1 Jan 1838/12 Feb 1838
Puller, John, 4 Mar 1818/16 Mar 1818 [Culpeper Co. Will]
Purks, William, 16 Nov 1849/11 Mar 1850
Quarles, Wilson, 13 May 1850/12 Aug 1850 [Moss Side]
Rawlings, Albin, /10 Mar 1807
Rawlings, Jeremiah, 10 May1804/13 May 1806
Redd, William, 28 Oct 1801/Oct 1802
Richerson, Thomas, 1815/1 Nov 1815
Roane, Alexander, 9 Jan 1788/8 Apr 1790
Roane, Thomas, 27 Jan 1799/8 Apr 1799 [King & Queen Co. Will]
Robb, James, 30 Oct 1804/14 May 1805
Rogers, George, 13 Sep 1799/11 May 1802
Sale, Robert, 17 Dec 1816/12 May 1817
Samuel, George Washington, 6 May 1822/14 Oct 1822
Samuel, James, 28 Apr 1809/12 Jun 1809
Samuel, Phebe, 1 Mar 1821/0 Jul 1821
Samuel, William, 21 Sep 1818/Nov 1818
Saunders, Elizabeth, 21 Jan 1833/14 Jul 1833
Scott, Thomas, 3 Nov 1772/
Seay, Flurry, 29 Jul 1828/9 Feb 1829
Shaddock, James, 16 Mar 1843/12 Jun 1843
Ship, Lemuel, 13 Apr 1787/July 1788
Skelton, Merewether, 13 Mar 1778/7 Feb 1782 [Hanover Co. Will]
Skinker, Elizabeth, 21 Jul 1823/3 Jan 1828
Sneed, Israel, 27 Nov 1787/Oct 1788
Southworth, Elizabeth, /1821 [died intestate, family recreated from suit]
Stern, David, 12 Apr 1796/13 Jun 1797
Stern, Peyton, 9 Apr 1799/14 Oct 1800
Stevens, John, 15 Jan 1753/8 Mar 1753
Stevens, John, 17 Apr 1817/8 Sep 1817
Stuart, Henry, Senr., 24 Jan 1795/13 Jan 1801
Sutton, James, 25 Sep 1794/8 Dec 1795
Sutton, John C, 28 Mar 1847/
Sutton, Joseph, 19 Nov 1818/15 Apr 1823
Sutton, Susannah Frances, 17 Jul 1835/14 Mar 1837
Sutton, William, 18 Apr 1796/12 Apr 1797
Swan, Jonathan, 18 Apr 1786/Sep 1786 [Higginbottom]
Swan, Joshua, 25 Oct 1820/10 May 1824
Taliaferro, Bartholomew, 18 Sep 1601/3 May 1602 [London, England]
Taliaferro, Charles C, 10 Oct 1831/13 Feb 1832
Taliaferro, Christopher, 8 Nov 1782/20 Jan 1785 [King William Co. Will]
Taliaferro, Philip, 3 Apr 1838/3 Jul 1848 [Gloucester Co. Will]
Taliaferro, Thomas, 25 Jun 1839/12 Aug 1839
Taliaferro, Walker, 13 Jun 1781/Feb 1782
Taliaferro, William, 10 Nov 1760/ [King & Queen Co. Will]
Taliaferro, William (of Bath), 1814/10 Mar 1817
Taliaferro, William, /[deceased by Mar 1810, intestate] [Blenheim]
Tankersley, George, 6 Nov 1814/
Temburlake, Ann, 2 Apr 1833/9 Sep 1833
Terrell, Elizabeth (Harris), 5 Jul 1848/ [this Will was superseded]
Terrell, Elizabeth (Harris), July 1852/ [Prospect Hill]
Terrell, George F(ox), 5 Dec 1854/
Terrell, Henry, Sr., 26 Mar 1760
Terrell, James, 18 Oct 1766/11 Feb 1768
Terrell, Jesse, 28 Aug 1834/11 Mar 1839
Terrell, Samuel, 20 Sep 1842/
Thomas, James, Sr., 15 Sep 1846/ [first Will]
Thomas, James, Sr., 11 Aug 1849/ [second Will]
Thomas, James, Sr., [no dates] [third Will]
Thornley, William, 24 Aug 1836/8 May 1837 [Hampstead]
Thornly, George, /[died intestate 1842, family recreated from suit]
Thornton, Reuben, 23 Mar 23 Mar 1768/12 May 1768
Todd, Charles, /[died 1831 intestate, family recreated from suit]
Toler, Benjamin, 4 Jul 1804/23 Dec 1808
Tomas, Catlett, 8 Aug 1843/9 Apr 1849
Turner, George, /[died intestate 1799, family recreated from suit]
Turner, Reuben, 25 Jul 1810/13 Jun 1814 [Moon's Mount]
Vaughan, Cornelius, 6 Nov 1735/
Walden, John, 29 Aug 1793/14 Oct 1794 [Walden's Tower]
Ware, Nathaniel, Feb 1844/May 1848
Washington, Ann E, 21 Mar 1842/23 May 1842 [King William Co. Will]
White, John, 16 Jan 1813/14 Feb 1820
White, Richard B, 13 May 1847/
Whitlock, Euclid, 10 Dec 1780/Aug 1783
Whitton, William, 17 Apr 1729/9 Jul 1730
Wilson, James, 9 Jul 1811/12 Aug 1811
Wilson, Thomas, /[Inv. & Appr. dated 1836, no will]
Winston, Edmund, 13 Oct 1833/9 Dec 1833
Winston, Nathaniel, 1786/1787
Woolfolk, John G(eorge), 28 Aug 1818/10 May 1819 [Mulberry Place]
Wright, Henry, 23 Jun 1840/ [first Will]
Wright, Henry, 24 Oct 1841/ [second Will]
Wright, Henry, [no dates, third Will]
Wright, James, 3 Aug 1807/12 Oct 1807
Yarbrough, Henry, 29 Apr 1784/9 Apr 1793
Young, Lucy, 17 Jun 1853/12 Dec 1853 [Court refused Will]
Young, Richard, 17 Oct 1775/1778