San Juan, 2018

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Bird mosaic, San Juan. 11 Mar 2018.

Heslop Legacies

 

J.B.C. Chatelain. 1770.

Yesterday's post described the estate of Sarah Kenyon Heslop and the gifts arranged in her lifetime for two of the children of her younger brother Horace M. Heslop (sometimes spelled Haslop). Before I dive further into the complicated chancery cases over the disposition of the estate, I need to provide a short summary of some of the family players involved in this story.

Horace M. Heslop

Horace was born in 1785, the fifth of ten children of William Heslop and Anne Carter. He served in the Virginia Militia during the War of 1812, and after returning from service, married Sally Hart in Spotsylvania County on 23 September 1816. She died sometime before 1843. Horace then married Eleanor Long in June 1843.

Horace and family appear in the 1850 US Census in Caroline County, Virginia. At some point, he acquired a sizeable plantation in nearby Westmoreland County.

1850 US Census, Caroline County, Virginia.

Horace was a slave owner. In 1854 he published a notice for two runaway slaves in the Baltimore Sun.

Baltimore Sun. 23 Oct 1854.

Horace's second wife Eleanor died about 1853. He died in 1856, leaving a sizeable estate to his seven young children. The children were set up with guardians.

William Wirt

William was a neighbor of Horace Heslop, and a prominent landowner in Westmoreland County. He was named as the guardian of the Heslop children in 1857. Wirt sold off slaves presumably owned by Heslop, earning a total of $2833.50 to be split equally among the seven children. William was named in a chancery case settled in 1873 involving the former slave of Sarah Kenyon Heslop, gifted to Julia Heslop in 1856. Wirt was named in a separate chancery case filed in Spotsylvania County in 1858 on behalf of infant William Wirt Heslop. That case involved the sale of 107 acres from Sarah Kenyon Heslop's estate in Spotsylvania County and 20 acres belonging to Horace Heslop.

Westmoreland County Order Book. P. 57.

Guilford D. Heslop

Guilford D, Heslop was a son of Horace Heslop and first wife Sally Hart. He was living in Caroline County in 1850 and helped move the children to Ohio in 1858. Guilford and his wife Eliza took in Horace's daughters Nancy C. Heslop and Sarah E. Heslop and they were living in their household in Licking County, Ohio in the 1860 US Census.

1860 US Census. Licking County, Ohio.

Westmoreland County Probate Records. 1858.

Guilford joined the Union Army in 1862, serving in the 113th Ohio Infantry. Sadly, Guilford died in battle near Chattanooga, Tennessee on 20 September 1863.

John M. Fulton

Fulton was a former Virginia resident, living in Licking County, Ohio in the 1860 US Census. He was named as a guardian of Julia, Nancy, Joseph, Walker, Sarah and Lawrence Heslop in a chancery case filed in Westmoreland County in 1860. Fulton also filed a petition in Westmoreland County on behalf of the children in 1860 against William Wirt. That file has 81 pages of material. Fulton's petition states William Wirt was holding on to proceeds belonging to the children and would not hand it over to them. Fulton filed guardian bonds with the Licking County Probate Court on behalf of the children.

The Children

• Julia Todd Heslop, born March 1843 in Caroline County, Virginia
• Nancy Carter Heslop, born February 1845 in Caroline County, Virginia
• Lawrence B. Heslop, born 1847 in Caroline County, Virginia
• Joseph W. Heslop, born August 1848 in Caroline County, Virginia (Joseph and Walker were twins)
• Walker Heslop, born August 1848 in Caroline County, Virginia
• Sarah Elizabeth B. "Betty" Heslop, born January 1852
• William Wirt Heslop, born 1853

William Wirt Heslop was taken in by half-sister Elsa Heslop Brooks and appears in the household with her husband and family in the 1860 and 1870 US Censuses. He continued to live in Virginia, while the other six siblings moved to Ohio.

Julia married Elias Showman in Licking County, Ohio in April 1861. She remained in Ohio until her death in 1905.

Nancy married Elias Swick in Licking County, Ohio.

Lawrence seems to have died in Licking County in 1871. He was living with Julia and family in the 1870 US Census, working on a railroad.

Walker died in 1921 in Licking County, Ohio. Joseph died in the county in 1922. It is not clear what happened to Sarah E.

Estate of Sarah Kenyon Heslop

 

Ancestry. Spotsylvania Will Book U. P. 327.

At the end of January, I wrote about the family of William Heslop and Anne Carter, my 6th-great-grandparents. In 1857, one of the daughters of this family, Sarah Kenyon Heslop, left a sizeable estate to the children of her brother Horace. She directed that her slave, George Minor Mercer, be given his freedom and sent to a free state. I am going to pick up George's story in a future post.

Sadly, she did not set free her other slave, Rebecca Henderson. Instead, she directed that Rebecca be given to her niece Harriet Heslop.

Spotsylvania Will Book W. P. 328.

Sarah's estate was admitted into probate in Spotsylvania County, Virginia in September 1857. According to the inventory of the estate, it was divided among all the children of her siblings. Included among the list were children of Ann Graham Heslop - Rice Carter Ballard and my 4th-great-grandmother Emily Read.

Spotsylvania Will Book W. P. 78.

Separate from the will and prior to her death, in 1856, Sarah made a deed of gift to her nieces Julia Todd Heslop and Nancy Heslop. The gift was a slave girl Teny (also known as Courtney), and the girl's future first child (to go to Nancy).

Spotsylvania Will Book W. P. 81.

Courtney became the subject of several chancery cases starting in March 1858 involving the children of Horace Heslop. After the death of Horace in 1856, Sarah may have been caring for his minor children: Julia, Nancy, Lawrence B., Joseph, Walker, Sarah Elizabeth, and William Wirt Heslop. Following Sarah's death in 1857, some of Horace's children chose to move from Virginia to Ohio. This will be the subject of the next post.

Spotsylvania, 1743

 

Spotsylvania Deed Book D, p. 45.

On 3 May 1743, John Carter acquired 140 acres from Robert and Mary King, in exchange for 35 pounds local currency. This was two years after John Carter and Sarah Kenyon were married. Six months later, John purchased 150 acres from Robert and Mary King in Spotsylvania County for 80 pounds local currency.

Spotsylvania Deed Book D, p. 85-86. 

From what I can tell, these were the first big purchases by John Carter in Spotsylvania County. If there were earlier land deeds, someone please correct me. What makes much of the research on the Carter family a bit difficult, is that county land boundaries changed, but I think much of the land where the Carters were located largely remained the same. Richmond County separated into King George County. Part of King George became Caroline County or Spotsylvania County, but the Carters were generally in the same area.

More to follow.

Between the Pitons

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Saint Lucia. 17 Feb 2024.

Fought in a duel

 

The Duel by Marcellus Laroon III. 1768.

While looking for information in the Richmond County, Virginia records on the Armistead family, I stumbled onto the will of Joseph Russell the youngest, son of Sarah Armistead Russell and Joseph Russell Sr, dated 15 August 1748. A little further down the page of Will Book 5 is the testimony of John McDonald to magistrate justice Landon Carter. McDonald testified that he had discovered that Joseph Russell was to fight a duel with a Captain Edward (or Ewart). Russell had prepared his will prior to the duel, and then read the contents to McDonald. It appears young Russell may not have survived the duel with Captain Edward, which may have occurred in September 1748.

Richmond County Will Book 5, p. 560.

The case for Elizabeth

Will of Francis Armistead. Richmond County, Virginia.

This month I have been digging through various Colonial Virginia records, trying to validate with available records the written history on the Carter family, published in 1912 by Joseph Lyon Miller in The descendants of Capt. Thomas Carter of "Barford". Miller's account on our John Carter is based on the recollections of Norborne Sutton (a son of William Sutton and Sarah Carter). Again, the book states that John Carter's first wife was Elizabeth Armistead. From the will of her father, Francis Armistead, dated 8 April 1719 in Richmond County, Virginia, we can see that she was named, along with her brother John Armistead.

As Jacqi covered in her post this morning on Elizabeth Armistead, from the Richmond County records involving her parents, Francis and Sarah, we can confirm that part of the story as valid. I am so far unable to find a marriage record connecting John Carter and Elizabeth Armistead. My assumption is they married around 1735, somewhere between Spotsylvania, Richmond County, or perhaps King George County, depending on who was the guardian of young Elizabeth. She may have been about 19 or 20 at this time, given her birth date from Richmond County records in 1716.

I cannot confirm this yet, but I suspect John and Elizabeth had two daughters:

• Margaret Carter (about 1736)
• Frances Carter (about 1738)

I do not know why the Miller book does not mention Sarah Kenyon. She was the mother of six children with John Carter, including Sarah Carter (mother of Norborne Sutton). An answer to the question could be that Norborne was an unreliable source, as he was born in 1791, both of his parents died fairly early. Sarah Kenyon died about 1763, and John Carter remarried to Hannah Chew. He had another six children with Hannah. Norborne may have grown up without knowing about Sarah has the second wife of his grandfather John.

Back to Elizabeth, she likely died in 1738 in Spotsylvania County, at the age of 22. Her mother, Sarah, remarried in 1722 to Joseph Russell, and may have relocated to Cumberland County, Virginia. Sarah Armistead Russell's son, John Armistead, moved with his family to Cumberland County. There are quite a few Cumberland chancery cases involving Armistead and the Russells.

Richmond County Order Book 8, p. 103.

Richmond County Deed Book 7, p. 106.

Margaret

 

Caroline County, Virginia. 1789 Personal Property Tax record.

Turning my attention to Margaret Carter Marshall, daughter of John Carter, I am hoping to find a link that may connect Margaret to John's suspected first wife, Elizabeth Armistead. According to The descendants of Captain Thomas Carter of "Barford" by Joseph Lyon Miller, Margaret Carter married Captain John Marshall of Caroline County. We have confirmation of this in the various chancery cases for the heirs of Margaret Marshall and records like the above personal property tax entry showing Margaret and her sons William and Carter Marshall, along with her brother William Carter.

We also have the division of John Carter's property listing Capt. John Marshall and Margaret.

Spotsylvania Will Book E. P. 725.

It is not clear when Margaret married John Marshall, but they had at least the following children:

• William Marshall
• Carter Marshall
• John Marshall Jr.
• James Marshall
• Benjamin Marshall
• Thomas Marshall
• Horace Marshall

Margaret died around 1807. At this stage I do not have much more information that may connect Margaret with Elizabeth Armistead. Perhaps looking at John Carter's next daughter, Frances, may help.

Placing locations on the map

 

Google Maps. King George County, Virginia.

As I look into the available records on the Carter and related families in Northern Virginia, it helps to be reminded of where these places were in relation to each other. King George County was formed in 1720 when it split from Richmond County (not to be confused with Richmond, future capitol of the Commonwealth of Virginia).

This map below shows the rough placement of early counties in Colonial Virginia between 1701-1710, followed by another map for 1721-1730.

Rootsweb. 

Rootsweb.

Richmond County was formed in 1692, after the old Rappahannock County was divided into Richmond and Essex Counties. Richmond was also the home county for Elizabeth Armistead, supposed first wife of John Carter. Looking at a present-day map, these locations are reasonably close together.

Google Maps. Richmond County, Virginia.

Marriage deed for William and Frances

 

Spotsylvania Deed Book F, P. 75.

Picking up from the Carter family research prior to the vacation, above are two sections from an indenture of 157 acres between Rice Curtis and William Carter, dated November 1761. The deed indicates it was made following the marriage of William to Rice's daughter Frances Curtis. William's sister (or half-sister depending on the outcome of the research into the first wife of John Carter), who was also named Frances, married Rice Carter 3rd, brother of Frances Curtis. These families were then doubly connected.

Spotsylvania Deed Book F, P. 77.

William and Frances resided in Spotsylvania County, and had at least the following children (according to William's 1802 will and various chancery cases):

• Rice Curtis Carter
• Frances Carter
• Sarah Carter
• William Aylett Carter
• Abraham Carter
• Kenyon Carter
• Guilford Dudley Carter
• John Carter
• Elizabeth Belinda Carter
• Lucy Aylett Carter

William and Frances' children were named in some of the chancery cases I cited last week.

Returning

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. UVF. 18 Feb 2024.

Yesterday and very early this morning, we made the trek back from vacation to home. Sometimes the travel gods smile in your favor, and for part our return legs, we enjoyed some travel luck. But delays in Miami stacked up and one hour turned into three. Gates switched, new pilots appeared and off we went. Then home. A wagging tail greeted us at the door. Comfortable beds and a quick bit of sleep.

I'll have more to share on our past few days in Saint Lucia.  

On the Miami River

 

Library of Congress. Miami River. 1900.

The Pitons of St. Lucia

 

NYPL Digital Collections. William Agnew Paton. 1887.

Fly to the Caribbean by Clipper

 

Library of Congress. Btw 1935-1945.

For the advancement of John & Sarah in the world

King George Deeds 2. P. 450.

Now that we've located the 1764/1766 disposition of the land conveyed by Abraham Kenyon to William Carter, I am sharing the marriage contract between John Carter and Sarah Kenyon. The marriage contract was filed in King George County, Virginia on 5 November 1742. The contract was written on 15 February 1741. For the full document, see the entry starting on page 450 of King George County Deed Book 2. There is a lot of information here requiring a thorough review and I am parking this for later.

King George Deed 2. P. 451.

The marriage bond also shows that by 1742, John Carter was living in Spotsylvania County.

In the next week, I will be digging into the supposed older sisters of John - Margaret Carter Marshall and Frances Carter Curtis. I will also move forward in time, returning to the Heslop family for the disposition of the estate of Sarah Kenyon Heslop.

Digging into the Carter line has proven much more fascinating than expected, and I do not want to rush backward without pausing to read some stories about the family. Here's where I pass the baton back to Jacqi for more detail.

Bingo

 

FamilySearch. King George Co. Deed Book 4. P. 530.

Monday's post featured the find of a copy of the 1749 will of Abraham Kenyon in a Spotsylvania County Chancery case. In that will, Abraham conveyed 300 acres to William Carter, his grandson, son of John Carter and Sarah Kenyon. I had wondered what happened to that land, as it was not conveyed in our William Carter's 1802 will. Above and below are some screenshots from King George County, Virginia Deed Book 4, showing the land in question as part of an indenture dated 25 April 1764.

In this transaction, it seems that William had been ejected from his claim on the land, because the land actually belonged to Abraham's wife Elizabeth, through her mother Margaret Thomasin of Stafford County. Richard Tutt Jr. and Million Kenyon Tutt instead conveyed the land to William Newton in exchange for 17 pounds Virginia currency.

King George Deed Book 4. P. 532.

Hat tip to this old web page titled Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck for the reference to this deed book entry referencing William Carter.

William Carter and wife Frances then brought an action with King George County in November 1766. They were able to convey 40 acres of land (perhaps derived from the estate of Abraham Kenyon) to John Pollard in exchange for 20 pounds.

King George Deed Book 5. P. 660.

King George Deek Book 5. P. 660.

King George Deed Book 5. P. 661.

King George Deed Book 5. P. 661.

Another useful bit of information on this indenture, it was witnessed by Anthony Strother. The same Strother referenced in the Bland v Howison chancery case where the will of Abraham Kenyon was found.

I think we now have confirmation of Sarah Kenyon as mother of William Carter, not Elizabeth Armistead.

A tangled mess of chancery cases

LVA. Carter v Marshall. 1818.

After the passing of John Carter, and his son and executor William Carter, their heirs were involved in a confusing set of chancery cases in Caroline and Spotsylvania Counties.

• Administrator of Robert Carter vs Heirs of Margaret Marshall. Caroline County. This case was brought by Joseph Sutton and Judith Carter Sutton on behalf of the estate of her brother Robert Carter against the heirs of her sister, Margaret Carter Marshall. The original case may have been filed in August 1807.
• Hannah Carter vs Administrator of Robert Carter. Caroline County. This case involved the widow of John Carter vs the administrator of her son's estate.
• Children of Margaret Marshall vs Administrators of Sarah Sutton. Caroline County. This case was filed in 1807 by the children of Margaret Carter Marshall against the heirs of John Carter, including Anne Carter Heslop.
• Administrator of Robert Carter vs John Carter etc. Caroline County. Again a case by Joseph Sutton on behalf of the estate of Robert Carter vs heirs of John Carter.
• Guardians of William Lewis Hume vs Administrator of Rice Carter. Spotsylvania County. Case includes a copy of the will of William Carter.
• Chapman v Marshall etc. Spotsylvania County. Another case involving the heirs of Sarah Carter Sutton vs heirs of Margaret Carter Marshall. This case was resolved in 1823 with the sale of land (see clipping below)

LVA. Chapman v Marshall.

By chance

 

LVA. Bland v Howison, 1841.

I am continuing down the path of digging into Spotsylvania County and early Virginia chancery cases, in the hopes of uncovering information on the children of John Carter. Casting a wide net with surnames and middle names appearing in the family, I stumbled onto a chancery case in Spotsylvania County from 1841 that contained a copy of the 1749 will of Abraham Kenyon of King George County, Virginia. Why would a nearly 100 year old will show up here?

Abraham was a father of Sarah Kenyon, who married a John Carter in King George County in February 1741. In his will, Abraham designated 300 acres of land to William Carter, son of John and Sarah Carter.

LVA. Will of Abraham Kenyon, 1749.

We need a bit more information to know if this William Carter, son of John and Sarah, was the same William Carter who served as the executor of the estate of our John Carter in 1783. It would be great to find another record showing the sale or transfer of the lands inherited from Abraham Kenyon, connecting this William with our distant Carter uncle. John Carter was named the executor of Abraham's will, and "for his trouble, [Abraham left] him one thousand weight of neat tobacco in cash yearly in during the term of years as any youngest daughters arrive to the age of sixteen." The will was presented to the court in King George County on 2 March 1749.

LVA. Will of Abraham Kenyon, 1749.

As for the case, how did Abraham's will end up here? The action seems to have been originally filed with Madison County Court in 1806, on behalf of the administrator of the estate of deceased London merchant John Bland. He claimed that Bland had a contract with Anthony Strother in 1772 for thirty-two pounds eight shillings and the transfer of two slaves James and Sucky, and their infant Sarah. The writing is a bit hard to read, but seems the administrator claimed that one of the slaves was still alive, and in the possession of Samuel Howison. It also looks like the claimant states that this slave (or both) were originally conveyed to Strother through the estate of Abraham Kenyon (again, it is tough to follow).

The case file includes an indenture between Ann Bland of London and Anthony Strother of King George County (dated 4 May 1772). It is not clear how it was resolved, but the case was dismissed in 1841.