Some Virginia Tidewater Families Culminating in Jesse Columbus South’s First Wife Mary Elizabeth Houlder, Mother of Clark Albert South, Grandmother to CE South

This is a snip from the tree; we'll be going over the bottom of this snip

The Price Family of Jamestown and Tidewater Virginia: Our Welsh background

First a little note about Welsh names: I had not known that the Welsh used patronymic last names, but apparently it was quite common up until around the 1400s, and the practice persisted in some counties long beyond that time. That means that if John had a son Evan, he would be known as Evan ap John, meaning Evan son of John. Hence the modern name Upjohn. Sometimes the ap was simply dropped, and in other cases it was joined to the forename, and sometimes not as ap but as plain p. Historians seeing a family with Welsh background named Price would presume that originally it was ap Rhys (Rhys being a common first name for males). The ap is somewhat akin to the O in an Irish name like O’Neil or the Mc or Mac in a Scottish name like MdDonald or MacIntosh. 

Two views of Brecon, Wales

John Price I (1584-1628) 10xggf

John was born in 1584 in Brecknock, Montgomeryshire, Wales. One half of this county is now in the Brecon Beacons National Park, known for its mountain peaks. It had a large Roman fort and Norman castles before the Welsh. Since it lies near the English border, it was a point of conflict over centuries and the site of the last stand for independence against England in 1282. Most of my information about the Price family comes from another Texas researcher, Kay Haden, who has done extensive work on them, primarily using land records and deeds from early Virginia as well as available published sources.

John Price I came to Virginia early enough to be considered an “Ancient Planter,” one who arrived in Virginia before 1616, remained at least three years, and received one of the first patents (deeds) of land as authorized by Sir Thomas Dale. There is, unsurprisingly, an Order of the Descendants of Ancient Planters as well as the Jamestowne Society. John Price is on both official lists because in the Muster of 1624, likely done to take stock of those who survived the Indian attacks of 1622 (which wiped out about 25% of the English population) James stated that he was 40 years old and had come on the Starr, most likely its second voyage in 1611. It states that he lived on “ye Neck of Land, Charles City.” His wife Ann was 21, having arrived on the Bonaventure in 1620. They had a child Mary, and listed provisions of corn, peas, gun powder, lead, guns, armor, a sword and a dagger. As you can see, safety was a priority. The Virginia Company had made a decision in 1618 to release all the settlers from their indentures which was the year John Price was granted 100 acres for himself and another 50 for bringing another settler, most likely his wife.  Henrico land records show that his son Matthew received this land patent after John’s death.

John was active in the community and signed a 1625 petition about the importation of tobacco and the conduct of Captain John Martin. He represented “The Necke of Land” on 10 May 1625 in the General Assembly.  John’s death was likely between 1628-1630. His wife remarried to Robert Hallom, and it from records of their land dealings that researchers have been able to piece together  parts of the Price family history. It appears that John greatly increased his holdings around Turkey Island Creek, land that eventually becomes a seat for the powerful Randolph family. This “Necke of Land” was also known as the Bermuda Hundred. There is a good map on the Encyclopedia Virginia website as well as this one:

The petition from the General Assembly in Virginia Colony showing Price’s signature

John Price II (abt.1628-abt. 1662) 9xggf

Not much is known about John Price II, but his wife’s brother or 2^nd husband, John Rowen left a 1662 will in which he instructs his brother Henry to bring up the two sons of John Price and to manage their estates. He also made some bequests of property to Daniel and John Price III. These sons sold land originally patented to the Immigrant John Price I; this land was left to his son Matthew, and it is not known what happened to him that allowed John Price I’s grandsons to possess it.

John Price III (abt. 1650-1711) 8xggf

John Price III is another Price about whom not much is known except his marriage to Jane Pew/Pugh and his will proved in Henrico County in June,1711, which leaves bequests to sons John, Daniel, Pugh, and daughters Mary and Elizabeth. It is always interesting to read these wills which spell out which bedstead, rug, blanket, couch, iron pot, and horse or cow a child is to inherit. [In my mind I think of how our children will donate such things to charity or give them away otherwise or trash them after our departure from this life.]

John Pugh? Price IV (abt. 1690-bef.1751) 7xggf 

We have 15 DNA matches with a common ancestor of John Price and wife Hannah Williamson.

John Price IV, was born in Varina in Henrico County, Virginia in 1690 to John Price III and Jane Pugh/Pew. He had a brother named Pugh Price, but sometimes his middle name is given as Pugh.  He married Hannah Carter Williamson in 1714. He died in Bromfield, Culpeper County, Virginia, in 1776. His father outlived him.

 Mary Elizabeth Price (1714-1784) 6xggm      

Our connection to Mary Price, born in Culpeper County, Virginia, in 1714, and most probably the daughter of John Pugh Price and Hannah Williamson, is not well documented enough to make me completely satisfied, but given that we have DNA matches to her parents and her husband, Massey Thomas (1710-1776), and two good records of their marriage in the records of  St. Paul’s Parish, King George County [Virginia county history is a tangled web, but King George County was established from Stafford and Westmoreland Counties, adjacent to Culpeper County and all involved in the Price and Thomas families’ history], after a lot of pondering,  I am going into print with her as the link between Prices and Thomases.

The Thomas Family, Another Welsh Line with Early Tidewater Virginia Ties

But NOT  the Thomas family from the Shipwreck of the Sea Venture

William Ap Thomas (1613-1665) 9xggf

William is sometimes referred to without the ap prefix. He was born either in England or Wales (you find both on numerous trees), but his father’s birthplace is always given as Wales.  In the 1630s William emigrated to the Virginia Colony at Elizabeth City County, one of eight shires created in the Virginia Colony by order of the King. He then brought over his three sons, William, Robert, and John. William patented land in more than one county, around 3500 acres in all. He served the colony as Justice in 1656 and as representative in 1652. His wife Rebecca took out letters of administration of his estate in Yeocomoco Parish in Northumberland County in 1665, so we know he had died by that date.

John Thomas I (1648-1710) 8xggf

John was born in Northumberland County, Virginia, to William and Rebecca who had emigrated from England or Wales. The Micou histories of the Thomas family just state that John was the son of William, and that he died in 1710 leaving wife and children Richard, William, John II, Elizabeth and Jane. The Millenium File for him on Ancestry shows place of death in Nansemond County, Virginia.

  

John Thomas II (1684?1690?-1782) 7xggf

John Thomas II was born in the St. Stephens parish in Northumberland County, Virginia, in either 1684 (the most common date given) or 1690. His wife was named Susannah and is referred to in land records, but there is a question whether she was the widow Susannah Portis Frizzell (found in numerous trees) or Susannah Massey, which would account for his son’s being named Massey. He appears on the rental rolls of Northumberland County in 1760 and numerous other land records between 1742 and 1756. He died in 1782, having outlived his son Massey. His will mentions numerous grandchildren, including children of Massey.

We have two DNA matches whose trees contain John Thomas II as our common ancestor.

Massey Thomas (1708-1776) 6xggf

Massey Thomas was born in Washington Parish, Westmoreland County, VA in 1708. He married Mary Price 28 November, 1731, in Stafford County, Virginia. There is a good marriage record for this marriage. According to the Micou history, his will mentions wife Elizabeth, (2^nd wife? Mary Elizabeth Price?) children Reuben, John III, William, Massey (who went on to serve valiantly in the Revolutionary War), Jesse, and Susannah, which Wikipedia says was sometimes a nickname for one named Sarah.

We have seven DNA matches whose common ancestor in both their tree and ours is Massey Thomas.  

Sarah or Susannah Thomas (1737-1799) 5xggf  

Sarah or Susannah Thomas’ birth is recorded in Ancestry’s Family Records Collections. On numerous Ancestry trees her marriage in Augusta County, Virginia to Henry Lambert on May 20, 1762.

  

Resources

http://sites.rootsmagic.com/KaysAncestry/individual.php?p=18840 Kay Haden’s material on the Price family.

http://www.ancientplanters.org/ Order of Descendants of Ancient Planters website.

https://books.google.com/books?id=tcM40zgdAZgC&pg=PA828&lpg=PA828&dq=the+immigrant+john+price+jamestown,+virginia+1610&source=bl&ots=xNuAqVxi5d&sig=ix6kczoGuxdHb8v5W5mAIm26ISk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjn4-bmje3bAhUmuVkKHRu_ANs4ChDoAQgoMAA#v=onepage&q=the%20immigrant%20john%20price%20jamestown%2C%20virginia%201610&f=false Online version of the book Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia 1607-1624: Families G-P, edited by Frank Dorman with material on the Price family.

http://www.virginiaplaces.org/vacities/7jamestown.html Really good site for information about Jamestown Colony with very nice photos and maps and an extensive number of links to other Jamestown sources.

Ransome, David R. “Village Tensions in Early Virginia: Sex, Land, and Status at the Neck of Land in the 1620s.” The Historical Journal, Vol.43, No. 2 (June 2002) pp. 365-381. Published by Cambridge University Press and available online (with membership) at JSTOR. This is a very interesting article researched mainly in the records of the Virginia Company that sponsored Jamestown settlement. It includes John Price by name and describes the changing nature of the Virginia settlements and the rise of wealthy planters and landowners. Since my son has membership in JSTOR, I was able to print the article.

http://www.virginiaplaces.org/vacities/hundreds.html Good explanation of the term hundreds in early Virginia.

https://books.google.com/books?id=b9oBAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=massey+john+thomas+culpeper+va&source=bl&ots=2NRyfja9nR&sig=J0MPHG7fEA20bBIEgMF20zDNMD8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjVh66l5traAhUREHwKHWjyAFoQ6AEIRjAG#v=onepage&q=massey%20john%20thomas%20culpeper%20va&f=false online access to Genealogical and Historical Notes of Culpeper County, Virginia: Dr. Philip Slaughter’s History of St. Mark’s Parish by Raleigh Travers Green, Culpeper, VA, 1900. pp.155-6 contains a segment on the Thomas Family contributed by Mrs. Mary Dunnica Micou.

Micou, Mary Dunnica. Southern Biographies and Genealogies, 1500s-1940s: The Thomas Family. I used the quotes from this source provided on FamRoots.org from the Horwitz Family pages. This varies slightly from the source above and was published about forty years later.

 https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=tree_roots&id=I5110 RootsWeb entry on MasseyThomas with some good documentation in wills and deeds.

I will carry on with these lines, still aiming at Mary Elizabeth Houlder, CE South’s grandmother.