Bound Labor in Virginia's Upper Northern Neck, 1645-1710
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NORTHERN VIRGINIA, A PLACE APART: BOUND LABOR IN VIRGINIA’S UPPER NORTHERN NECK, 1645-1710 by Steven A. Harris-Scott A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of George Mason University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy History Committee: ___________________________________________ Director ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ Department Chairperson ___________________________________________ Program Director ___________________________________________ Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Date: _____________________________________ Summer Semester 2016 George Mason University Fairfax, VA Northern Virginia, A Place Apart: Bound Labor in Virginia’s Upper Northern Neck, 1645-1710 A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at George Mason University by Steven A. Harris-Scott Master of Arts University of New Orleans, 2005 Bachelors of Science Millsaps College, 2000 Director: Randolph Scully, Associate Professor Department of History Summer Semester 2016 George Mason University Fairfax, VA Copyright 2016 Steven A. Harris-Scott All Rights Reserved ii DEDICATION For Pearl, Mosbey, and Bonny—my family. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It may be cliché to say how many people there are to thank when completing a project such as this, but when it lasts as long as mine has, it is a completely true statement. First and foremost is my master’s advisor, Warren M. Billings, who put me on this path over a decade ago. My dissertation committee has also been instrumental in my development as a scholar and writer. My adviser, Randolph Scully, was very patient with my many changes of direction throughout this process. Rosemary Zagarri was a guiding force in my continued, if slow progress toward completion. Cynthia Kierner probably gave me the best piece of actionable feedback of anyone: to clean up and standardize my usage of “servant” versus “indentured” and “unindentured” servant. The former is now my generic term for all servants, both those with contracts (indentured) and those without (unindentured). No other single change has been more effective at simplifying my language and making the dissertation clearer. Many others deserve thanks for helping me throughout this lengthy adventure. First, my various writing partners have been invaluable, I only wish we could have written together ten times more often than we did! In particular, Royce Gildersleeve, George Oberle, and Lynn Price formed the core of my main writing group for two-plus years of this process, even though by the end, we all lived an hour or more away from each other. Katy McQuiston was also instrumental in keeping me going with numerous writing sessions. George Mason itself also provided me with several opportunities to write in a quiet space, share challenges and snack on free food. Specifically, the Graduate Student Write-In days organized by my friend, Julie Choe Kim and Grad Student Life were wonderful, I only wish they could have happened monthly instead of once a semester. Also, the Faculty Writing Retreats put on by Mason’s Writing Across the Curriculum and Center for Teaching and Faculty Excellence contributed greatly to getting me close to the finish line over the last two years. Several other faculty and staff members and students at George Mason deserve credit for assisting me through this journey. Brian Platt, Ben Carton, Michael Chang and Joan Bristol provided much needed scholarly assistant and mentorship, even though none are in my specific discipline. And of course, thank you to my fellow GMU grad students, friends, and colleagues who have been invaluable support these many years: Gretchen, Jacky, Megan, Jeri, Jenny, Sheri, Ben, Misha, Nona, and many others. iv Several institutions helped and assisted me greatly throughout this process. First and foremost, Mason’s library, especially the Interlibrary Loan department, were instrumental in getting me my microfilm records from Richmond in a timely manner and I just hope I did not annoy them too much. And thank you to the Library of Virginia for providing those records. Thanks to the Fairfax and Stafford County libraries, especially the Fairfax City Library and their Virginia Room for providing extended access to the many transcriptions I used. I am particularly grateful to the Huntington Library in San Mareno, California, and to the Rockefeller Library in Williamsburg, Virginia, for awarding me fellowships to conduct research at their facilities for this project. Their assistance was invaluable and my time there was most enjoyable. Specifically, Taylor Stoermer at Colonial Williamsburg was amazing in his support of my project and spurring me to look into the Fairfax Proprietary as an angle I had not considered previously. Other scholars, conferences and colleagues have been important to me over the last decade. My presentations at the Virginia Forum, the William and Mary Graduate Conference, at Bangor University in Wales have been instrumental in helping me to continue developing my project. Scholars such as John C. Coombs, Douglas Bradburn, Brent Tarter, Ed Ragan, and Elodie Peyrol have engaged me in thoughtful discussions about my project and early Virginia more generally, for which I am grateful. The Omohundro Institute has also been a guiding force in my development as a scholar of early Virginia providing numerous opportunities to attend conferences, symposia, talks and workshops over the years. A special thanks to my friends, coworkers and colleagues at INTO Mason who have been nothing but supportive of my “other job” finishing this dissertation over the last year. In particular, I have been supported immensely by my boss and friend, Nicole Sealey. I have also been assisted greatly by my colleague in the Graduate Pathways Program, Emma Cutrufello, who has picked up some of my slack this summer especially. Last but in no way least, my friends and family who have supported me all along the way. Matt and Ayako Miller are some of the best friends I could ever have and their distractions were (almost) always welcome. My New Orleans friends always made me feel back at home every time I visited, which was always less than I would have liked. Many thanks to my mom, my aunt and cousins, and my late father and grandparents who have provided me with the inspiration I needed to complete this immense task. And even a strange thank you to Hurricane Katrina, which after the destruction it caused to my life, my city and my house, spurred me on to pursue my doctorate at George Mason. Finally, thank you to the love of my life, Pearl, who has been my rock throughout the ups and many downs of this process. I can’t wait to be your rock four or five years from now when you are writing your own dissertation. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures ................................................................................................................... xv List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... xvi Map of the Northern Neck as Part of Virginia ................................................................ xvii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... xviii Note on Sources ............................................................................................................... xxi Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Historiography ................................................................................................................. 8 Chapter One: The Formation of Virginia’s “Upper” Northern Neck ............................... 24 A General History of the Pre- and Post-Contact Upper Northern Neck ....................... 27 Population in the Upper Northern Neck Region ........................................................... 36 Planters and Northumberland County’s 1679 “Lyst of Tithables” ............................... 44 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 50 Chapter Two: A Land of Servants in Virginia’s Upper Northern Neck, 1650-1672 ........ 53 Land Certifications in the Early Upper Northern Neck ................................................ 54 Inventories and Wills in the Early Upper Northern Neck, 1650-1672.......................... 59 Few Bound Laborers in Inventories from the 1650s ................................................. 64 Inventories with Bound Laborers Increase in the 1660s ........................................... 70 Wills from the 1650s and 1660s ................................................................................ 76 “Unindentured” Servants: Incidence, Ages and Lengths of Service ............................. 81 Age Judgments and Unindentured Servants: The Numbers ...................................... 88 Unindentured Servants: Ages, Term Lengths, Sex, and Masters .............................. 93 Persistence and Estimates of the Total Number of Servants in the Upper Northern Neck ......................................................................................................................................