Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Abraham Womack - Bolling's Quarter Branch - Follow the School Bus

I have been trying to locate a land patent in Virginia granted to Abraham Womack, Jr.

This is from Roger Womack records (I use Roger's and Sam's records almost every day, thank you so much for posting Womack info on the web!):

Patent Book 14, page 267 - 25 August 1731 - Abraham Wamack, Jr. - 400 acres - Goochland County. "George The Second &c To all &c Know ye that for divers good causes and considerations but more especially for and in consideration of the sum of forty shillings of good and lawful money for our use paid to our Receiver General of our revenues in this our Colony and Dominion of Virginia we have given granted and confirmed and by these presents for us our heirs and successors do give grant and confirm unto Abraham Wamack Junior one certain tract or parcel of land containing four hundred acres lying and being on the south side of James River on the branches of Deep Creek in Goochland County, and bounded as followeth (to wit) Beginning at a corner white oak it being Thomas Mosses south west corner and where he corners on the land of Daniel Croom thence on Crooms line south ninety three chains to a corner white oak thence south four degrees east fifty six chains to a corner ash in a branch of Bollings Quarter branch thence east twenty five chains to a corner hickory near the said branch thence down the branch according to its meanders one hundred and two chains to a corner gum at the fork of the said Bollings Quarter branch thence north five degrees east one hundred and two chains to the line of Thomas Moss thence on his lines according to their several courses to the place began at With all &c To have hold &c To be held &c yielding & paying &c Provided &c In witness &c Witness our trusty well beloved William Gooch Esqr. our Lieut. Governor and Commander in Chief of our said Colony and Dominion at Williamsburgh under the seal of our said Colony the twenty fifth day of August one thousand seven hundred and thirty one in, the fifth year of our reign. /S/ William Gooch."



Locating this patent was a bear. Finding Deep Creek was fairly easy. On my Delorme Atlas, I found it flows into the James River in modern Powhatan County, a few miles east of the line between Powhatan and Cumberland Counties. It flows northeast, actually starting in modern Cumberland Co, but most of its length is in Powhatan. Unfortunately, the Delorme map did not show a branch named "Bollings Quarter", though it did show several branches that it did not give names to. None of the maps on the internet, including topozone.com, showed this branch either.

A google search showed some interesting links. There are only a few hits for "Bollings Creek" and two of them are for Womacks, which I will get to in a second. I found a Powhatan County school bus route that mentioned "Bolling Quarter Road". I could not find that road on mapquest, googlemaps, etc. However, I found some of the roads listed on the school bus route, enough to determine that Bolling Quarter Road is a little north of the town of Trenholm is northwest Powhatan County. So, I guess Bolling's Quarter Branch of Deep Creek is near the road - the road probably goes over the creek. And I see on my Delorme map there is fairly large branch of Deep Creek that is crossed by Duke Rd, and that starts in a small lake above Trenholm.

Also, some branches of Muddy Creek are in that area. Muddy Creek flows north into the James River, just inside Powhatan Co from Cumberland Co. Muddy Creek is mentioned in one of the Womack deeds, below.

Now, for VA county formation around this area:

1) Part of Henrico until 1728 when Goochland was formed
2) Part of Goochland until 1749 when Cumberland was formed
3) Part of Cumberland until 1777 when Powhatan was formed
4) Powhatan to the present day

Abraham Womack, Jr in the 1731 patent was the son of the original Abraham Womack in America, who was born circa 1644, and died in Henrico Co, VA before Oct 1733.

The terms Sr and Jr as used back then were different than we think of them today. They just mean that there were two men in the same area with the same name, and Jr and Sr were ways of distinguishing them. The terms did not necessarily imply a father/son relationship. Also, a man who was called Jr in early life, might be called Sr later in life. I have dozens of examples of this, and I could do an entire blog entry on this subject, since it is such a big stumbling block for many modren researchers.

Another stumbling block is how loose people were with names - trust me, "Abraham" and "Abram" were considered the same name back then.

Abraham in the 1731 patent was designated Jr because his father, also named Abraham, was still living in 1731, and both Jr and Sr were living in Henrico, Co. After his father's death, Abraham "Jr" would be called "Sr", first to distinguish him from his nephew Abraham (son of Thomas) in Henrico, and later in Goochland to distinguishhim from his son Abraham.

See http://rebgen.blogspot.com/2007/09/abraham-womack-of-goochland-co-va.html for corrections to the info below:


The next record to mention Bollings Quarter Branch is this:

http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/BAKER_BOLIN/2000-09/0968899679
Goochland County, DEED BOOK 4, Page 239

Aug 15 , 1743 from Ashford Hughes of the Parish of St. James and Goochland, to Alexaander Wamack of same, for 55 (Pounds), all that tract of land in Goochland on the south side of the James River and bounded by Bollings Quarter Branch, the branches of Muddy Creek, Womack, about 400 acres. Signed -Ashford Hughes. Wit- Charles Raley, Fras Amoss, Thomas Dillon. Recorded Sep 20, 1743..

This was my ancestor, Alexander Womack, son of Richard, son of the original Richard, and thus the first cousin once removed of Abraham Womack who patented the land on Bollings Quarter Branch in 1731. Alexander Womack was in Amelia Co, VA a few years later, near other Abraham Womacks, Abraham son of Thomas and Mary, and his son Abraham. Note that his land is adjacent to a Womack, who I believe was Abraham, son of the original Abraham.


Next, I found this:




http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/BLANTON/2003-02/1045506499

Source: Goochland Co. Virginia Tithe Lists 1735-47, transcribed and indexedand published by A. Jean Lurvey, 1864 E. Page, Springfield, MO 65802. 1979.

page 4. Tithe List by Stephen Bedford 1746 [parish not named]

4 [tithes] Abraham Womack Jr.

4 [tithes] Abraham Wormack Sr., Thos. Wormack, Richard Wormack

page 6. Tithe List by James Holman 1746 [parish not named]

3 [tithes] Wm. Womack

page 8. Tithe List by Alexander Trent 1746 continued

3 [tithes] Wm. Womack

page 16. Tithe List by Jas. Holman 10 June 1747 continued

4 [tithes] William Wamack


Jean Lurvey is a well-known Womack researcher, who descends from Thomas Womack and Sarah Owen.

The term "tithable" meant a person who was part of the labor force - free white males 16 and up, slaves or indentured servants of either gender 16 and up. Basically, everyone 16 and up except free white females.

It appears the tax collectors listed free white males by name in households but not slaves. Thus, Abraham Womack, Jr appears to have had 3 slaves aged 16 and up since he had 4 tithes, one for himself, and 3 for his slaves. Abraham Womack, Sr had 4 tithables - himself, sons Thomas and Richard (both 16 and up), and presumably a slave 16 and up.

The various William Womacks in 1746 and 1747 were probably William Womack, son of the original Abraham (born c1644), and William's son William. These were the "Cherry Grove" Womacks, and they had extensive records in Goochland and Cumberland counties.

Abraham (1731 lad patent) had a son William but he apparently lived in Chesterfield Co, VA:



http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~womackfiles/Womackfiles/abrahamwomack1.html
Goochland Co. DB 1?-352 17 Nov 1747, Abraham Womack to William Womack, his
brother.

(Benjamin B. Weisiger III, GOOCHLAND COUNTY WILLS AND DEEDS 1742-1749)
Reference to this deed from Abraham Womack to his brother is found in Cumberland Co. DB 1-62. Cumberland Co. was formed from Goochland Co.


DB 1-62 Jul 3, 1749 from William Womack of Dale Parish in Chesterfield County, to Thomas Stratton of same, for 30 pds and for divers good causes, one tract of about 100 acres of land in C[umberland] on the south side of James River known by a place called Bollings Quarter Branch, being the land acknowledged to me in Goochland Court by my brother, Abraham Womack. Signed - William (X his mark) Womack. Wit - Thos Bedford, John Canifix, William Stratton. Recorded Sep 25, 1749.

(TLC Genealogy, CUMERLAND COUNTY, VIRGINIA DEEDS, 1749-1752 [Miami Beach: TLC Genealogy, 1990], p. 8)


From this, it appears that Abraham Womack (1731 patent) had died by Nov 1747, and his 400 acres had been inherited by his sons. This was complicated by the fact the area changed from Goochland to Cumberland in 1749. Need to see Goochland and Cumberland and possibly Powhatan records to see what became of all this land. Abraham Womack "III" remained in Cumberland for a while, because he was in the 1759 tax list:


http://home.triad.rr.com/gilliamsofva/Cumberland/Tithes1759/Tithes1759.html


1759 Cumberland Co, VA partial tithables list



Alexr Moss, 9
Henry Stratton, 3
Wm. Stratton, 7
Abram Womack, 5
Edwd Tabb, 11
James Moss, 6
Allin Creddle, 2


Note that Abraham Womack "III" is near two Stratton men. The land this Abraham acknowleddged to his brother William Womack was in turn sold by William to a Thomas Stratton of Chesterfield Co, VA.

Getting late, I will continue tomorrow...

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