Armistead Family History #6 - A New Home in Virginia Colony

                                              Settling in Elizabeth City County

In 1636 the Virginia Colony had a population of about 5,000.  By 1640 Virginia Colony had over 10,000 people, Plymouth and Massachusetts had just under 10,000 people, and the population of all of the colonies together was only 26,634, so as you can see, most of the population was centered in two colonies. By 1650 the population of Virginia was only 18,700 and still concentrated around the James River, with just a small area in Gloucester County just north of the York River. (1)  I put together a crude map below to give you an idea of the concentration of the population in 1650.

The area shaded in blue is obviously water located in the James and York Rivers, Chesapeake Bay, and Mobjack Bay.  The red shading shows where the population was located in 1650.  The dates indicate when the town or county was formed.  Map drawn by Moody Meixner using information from a map published by Houghton Mifflin Company.  

Back in England, King Charles I was on the throne but in the Virginia Colony William and Anne were settling into their new life.  Colonial records show William Armistead receiving a grant for headrights to 450 acres in Elizabeth City County on 7 July 1636. The said land "lying SE upon land of Mr. Southell, N.E. upon land of John Branch, E. upon the Cr. & W. into the woods.  Trans. of  9 pers:  Ann his wife, Rowland Owen, Rich Clements, Robt. Glenister, Yorath Dane, Rich. Banks, Robt. Kendall, Andr. Strecher, Gilbert Guy." This means William paid for 9 people to be transported to the Colony and was rewarded with 450 acres.  On 16 May 1638 he purchased another 300 acres in the same area when he completed a transaction with Richard Popeley.  (2)

Over the next two decades William would enter into several more transactions that we can find in existing records.  It is likely there may have been others that we no longer have records to.  He expanded his operations northward into Gloucester County along the Eastermost River and near Mobjack Bay when he transported 24 people and received 1213 acres.  At the same time another 600 acre transaction is recorded in the same area for transporting 12 people. (3)

William and his sons were among the earliest of the English settlers that opened up this land for farming and settlement by others from Europe.  He was truly one of the early pioneers.

Colonist building a house.  
Goodrich (1), S. G. A Pictorial History of the United States. Philadelphia: E. H. Butler and Company, 1883. http://ushistoryimages.com/sources.shtm 

Of course during this time William and Anne were also busy having and raising a family. I have not been able to find any surviving records for the exact dates of birth for their children, nor do I know if there were additional children that were born that died early.  I have only found four children that survived to adulthood. A possible birth date for the eldest of their children, William, is about 1634-1636. William was the oldest and there is a case to be made he was born in England, but there is no record for it.  The next child we know of is John, who I have estimated was born ca. 1638-1640. Anthony is the next child we know of and I place an estimated birth of around 1642-45 for him.  The last child is Francis, and I have placed a date of birth for her as ca. 1647-48.  If someone out there has documented dates or a reason for better estimates please let me know.

At the time of William and Anne's arrival in Virginia Colony, the governor was Sir John Harvey. He was appointed by the king in 1628 and served to 1639.  Because he remained mostly in England, there were acting governors in Virginia:  John Pott (1629-30), The Honorable John West (1635-1636), and Col. George Reade (1638-1639).  Sir Francis Wyatt was appointed for the years 1639-1642. (4)

Probably the most important or most significant appointment of governor came in 1642, with the appointment of Sir William Berkeley.  Berkeley was born into a landed gentry family in England in 1605.  Though his father died when he was only 12, Berkeley inherited land and was able to secure a proper education.  Between the status of his family and his education he was able to gain a place in the household of King Charles I in 1632.  This facilitated his entry into "The Wits", a court literary circle.  He flourished there, writing several plays.  He would then gain a knighthood for fighting in the First and Second Bishops' Wars (1639-40). (5)

Portrait of Sir William Berkeley, Governor of Virginia. Image ca. 1917 of a painting at Library of Virginia, after an original painting circa 1663.
Painter Hariott L.T. Montague after Sir Peter Lely - Page 146 of Mary Newton Stanard (1865-1929), Colonial Virginia, its People and Customs. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1917. From digital scan athttp://archive.org/details/colonialvirginia00stan
License details:  This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923. Public domain works must be out of copyright in both the United States and in the source country of the work in order to be hosted on the Commons. If the work is not a U.S. work, the file must have an additional copyright tag indicating the copyright status in the source country.

In 1641 Berkeley was appointed to replace Sir Francis Wyatt as Governor of Virginia.  He proved to be a very capable governor.  He worked for a prosperous Virginia in four ways: "a diverse economy; free trade; a close knit colonial society; and autonomy from London." (6)  He used his own farm to experiment with many different crops to try and point the way to more diversity in the crops that were planted. This effort was not particularly successful but another initiative was.  In presiding over the General Assembly he asserted his position to push for more autonomy from England, allowing the Burgesses to share his powers in running the government.  The Assembly was, in effect a "miniature Parliament", assuming strong local rule. In addition he enacted friendly policies toward the Native Americans.  As we will see, this last action would prove to create a major crisis for him later on.  Because of this and other actions, Berkeley's positive influence was felt in Virginia for a long time.  He was looked on as a very successful governor until Bacon's Rebellion broke out in 1676, during his second stay in office.  I'll have more to say about Bacon's Rebellion later. (7)

Berkeley's first turn at governor came to an end in 1652.  When civil war broke out in England between the king and parliament, Berkeley supported the king.  Even after Charles I was beheaded in 1649 he continued to support the Stuarts.  He pulled this juggling act off until parliament sent troops to the colony in 1652 and he was forced to resign.  Parliament allowed him to keep his land in Virginia, and his head, I might add. (8)

Oliver Cromwell    
Painting: Samuel Cooper (died 1672) - National Portrait Gallery, London: NPG 514 
Oliver Cromwell, by Samuel Cooper (died 1672). See source website for additional information. This set of images was gathered by User: Dcoetzee from the National Portrait Gallery, London website using a special tool. All images in this batch have been confirmed as author died before 1939 according to the official death date listed by the NPG.

Oliver Cromwell was born in 1599 in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England.  He was born into a minor gentry family, he attended Cambridge University, and was elected to parliament 1628-1629.
He was elected again in 1640 and was in parliament when Civil War broke out between parliament and Charles I in 1642.  Cromwell had no military experience, but never-the-less he formed a force of Calvary, known as "Ironsides", and in a few years rose to the rank of lieutenant-general.  He was victorious in numerous battles against the king's forces and convinced the parliament to establish a professional army.  He would eventually be a driving force behind bringing Charles I to trial and bringing about his hanging. (9)

Title:  Portrait of King Charles I in his robes of state
Artist:  After Sir Anthony van Dyck
Description:  Studio version of much copied original in the Royal Collection, Windsor Castle
Date:  1636
Medium:  oil
Current location:  Royal Collection    
Object history:  Earl of Sheffield; Listed for sale at London, Christie's, 25 November 1911, lot 117 (unsold); Sold at Parkenthorpe, London, 1912; Sold to Mrs. Whitelaw Reid at New York, Anderson Galleries, 15 May 1935, lots 1195-96; Acquired by Mrs. Elinor Dorrance Hill, Newport, Rhode Island, who gave it to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum, Hartford, Connecticut; Sold to anonymous buyer at New York, Christie's, 25 May 1999, lot 81 (as Workshop of van Dyck); Sold at New York, Sotheby's, 26 January 2012 for $86,500
References:  http://wallacelive.wallacecollection.org:8080/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=65046
Source/Photographer:  http://www.she-philosopher.com/gallery/lely.html (original upload); http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2012/important-old-master-paintings-n08825/lot.197.html (higher resolution upload)

For the next few years Cromwell continued to have battles to win, which he did, and he continued to grow in strength politically, until he was strong enough to proclaim himself Lord Protector.  "In 1657 he refused the offer of the crown. At home Lord Protector Cromwell reorganized the national church, established Puritanism, readmitted Jews into Britain, and presided over a certain degree of religious tolerance.  Abroad, he ended the war with Portugal (1653) and Holland (1654) and allied with France against Spain, defeating the Spanish at the Battle of the Dunes (1658).  Cromwell died on Sep. 3, 1658 in London." (10)  That sounds like a very successful time as Lord Protector.  In addition, and probably most important, he would forever set the direction of parliament having control of the crown.  Parliament passed a number of laws to assure it's power in the future.  (However, the English never seem to be satisfied, because only three years after the crown was restored in 1660, Cromwell's body was dug up and hung, drawn and quartered.  Hmmm, not even sure what to say about that.)

Upon Cromwell's death in 1658, his son, Richard, became his successor, but was only lord protector for about 9 months before abdicating.  He fled to Paris but would later return to England under an assumed name, where he lived until his death in 1712. (11)

Well, so much for a Protectorate, let's bring back the royal kings and queens!  In May 1660, Charles II was made the King of England.  Charles was the second son of Charles I and Henrietta of France. Remember, just a few years ago they hung his dad but now they are bringing in the son as king and digging up poor old dead Oliver to hang.

Charles was born in 1630 and spent his teenage years fighting Parliament's forces.  When his dad was executed, he escaped to France and spent the next 8 years roaming around Europe.  He would marry Catherine of Braganza, but would have no "legitimate" children.  In 1660, after Richard Cromwell's abdication, Charles was invited back to England to become King Charles II. (12)

King Charles II by John Michael Wright or studio- National Portrait Gallery, London: NPG 531 
See source website for additional information. This set of images was gathered by User: Dcoetzee from the National Portrait Gallery, London website using a special tool. All images in this batch have a known author, but have manually examined for strong evidence that the author was dead before 1939, such as approximate death dates, birth dates, floruit dates, and publication dates.

So, as I mentioned before, although England had a king again, it's destiny was forever changed. Going forward there would be no royal prerogative and Parliament would have the superior role over the crown.  Political parties emerged in the Whigs and Tories. Charles' reign lasted for 25 years but was not a great reign.  Besides Charles' ineffectiveness as king, the country suffered two great tragedies.  In 1665 the Great Plague of London caused 100,000 deaths in one year and just one year later the Great Fire of London destroyed 13,200 houses and 81 churches. (13)  On the bright side during his reign, "British chemist Robert Boyle defines the inverse relationship between pressure and volume in any gas", (This would become known as Boyle's Law.) and in 1672 "Isaac Newton's experiments with the prism demonstrate the link between wavelength and color in light." (14)

"Charles' era is remembered as the time of 'Merry Olde England'.  The monarchy, although limited in scope, was successfully restored - the eleven years of Commonwealth were officially ignored as nothing more than an interregnum between the reign of Charles I and Charles II." (15)  Charles died in 1685 from a stroke.

With the Restoration of the king in 1660, Sir William Berkeley's fortunes brightened.  In that year he was appointed as governor of Virginia Colony again.  This time around Berkley's term as governor would not work out as well as the first.  

By the year 1660 many things had changed in the Armistead household.  I have not found any direct death records, but I believe both William and Anne, as well as their son William, were all dead by 1660.  In "York County Virginia Records, 1659-1662" I found the following reference: "I, John Armstead, as heir and one of the executors of Mr. William Armstead, dec'd, assignee of Mr. Mathew Bassett, impower Thomas Penrynn to implead and present John Insworth at county court and proceed agst him.  Last of Aug. 1660, Jno. Armstead,  Wit:  Walter Blake, Edward Goodall"  (All spelling as in original text.) (16)  John would have to be the only one still living to be heir because he was second oldest son behind William, Jr.  So at this time, only John, Anthony and Francis are still living.

Printed from Family Tree Maker charts for William Armistead.

As I have mentioned, William, Sr. was a large land owner, having operations in Elizabeth City County, York County, and Gloucester County.  It appears that as soon as John was old enough to handle the operation in Gloucester, William, Sr. sent him to manage that property.  In about 1665 John married Judith Robinson in Gloucester and became a very successful plantation owner in his own right.  They had four children, Judith, Elizabeth, Henry, and William.  Descendants of John would play very important roles in the history of the U.S.  I hope to spend some time later on this branch.  I have covered some of them in other posts that you may recall.

William and Anne's only surviving daughter, Frances, married three times, outliving her first two husbands, Rev. Justinian Aylmer, and Lt. Col. Anthony Elliott.  She then married Capt. Christopher Wormeley.  I am uncertain how many children she had, possibly two or four.  Frances died 25 May 1685.

Anthony Armistead, (1645-1726) the third son of William and Anne, stayed in Elizabeth City County.  By now you have noticed that I have put some of the names in bold type and underlined them.  If you haven't noticed you really weren't paying attention or have a big problem with your eyes. The reason for doing this is to try to help you with who my direct line ancestors are.  I think it will help keep things straight as I move down to each generation.  I have determined from my research that Anthony is the next in line of my ancestors. There are certainly disagreements out there about the Armistead's tree, in fact I have changed my tree a couple times, but I will proceed with giving my direct line as I see it at this point, because I believe it to be the most logical based on records I have read.  Anthony married Hannah Ellyson  (1648-1728) in about 1666.  Anthony is listed in the records mostly as Captain Anthony Armistead so I will use that as well.  They had five children: William (1667-1716) (who was a Major), Anthony (1668-1728) (who was a Lt. Col.), Robert (1674-1742), Hannah (1679-1748), and Judith (1680-1750). (17)  Some dates are estimates and some are accurate, being based on wills, newspapers, etc.

Printed from Family Tree Maker charts for Captain Anthony Armistead.

Captain Anthony Armistead and his elder brother John Armistead (referred to in records as "The Councilor") assumed important roles in the early Virginia Colony.  John Armistead, The Councilor, was high Sheriff of Gloucester County and also served in the Assembly in 1680-82, 1685-1686, and in 1688 was named to the Council of State. Captain Anthony was Captain of horse in the militia, served as Justice of the Peace, and was Sheriff in Elizabeth City County. He was elected to the Assembly as a Burgess in sessions, 1676-77, 1680-82, 1683-84, 1693, 1695-96, 1696-97, 1698, 1699, and 1703. He was on the "committee in 1700 that reported a revision of the laws that was approved by the general assembly in 1705." (18) (19)  Having been elected or appointed to these positions, tells us he was a large land owner and a man of exceptional influence in his county and the colony.

Being in the Assembly in 1676-1677 turned out to be an historical two years for Captain Armistead.   

Next time I will write about the Armisteads and Bacon's Rebellion in the years 1676-1677, the Virginia Colony, and England in the last part of the 17th Century.

References:

(1)  http://web.viu.ca/davies/h320/population.colonies.htm 
(2)  Nugent, Mell Marion, Cavaliers and Pioneers, Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623–1800, Vol One, Press of the Dietz Printing Co., Richmond, VA., 1934, pg. 45, Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, http://www.archive.org/details/cavalierspioneer00nuge,
(3)  Ibid., pg. 218.
(4)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Virginia
(5)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Berkeley_(governor)
(6)  Ibid.
(7)  Ibid.
(8)  Ibid.
(9)  http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/cromwell_oliver.shtml
(10)  Ibid.
(11)  Ibid.
(12)  http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon49.html
(13)  Ibid.
(14)  Ibid.
(15)  Ibid.
(16)  Weisiger, III, Benjamin B.,  York County Virginia Records, 1659-1662, Iberian Publishing Co., Athens, Georgia, 1989.
(17)  Genealogies of Virginia Families, From the William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol I, Adams-Clopton, Indexed by Carol Lee Ford, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. , 1982, pg. 121.
(18)  Ibid. pg., 120-121.
(19)  Tyler, Lyon G., M.A.LL.D., History of Hampton and Elizabeth City Virginia, The Board of Supervisors of Elizabeth City County, Hampton, Virginia, 1922, pg. 27-28, 38.