The Armistead Family. 1635-1910

r Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2008 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.arcliive.org/details/armisteadfamily100garb l^fje Srmis;teab Jfamilp* 1 635-1 910. ^ BY Mrs. VIRGINIA ARMISTEAD GARBER RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. RICHMOND, VA. WHITTET & SHEPPERSON, PRINTERS, 1910. ' THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 703956 ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDtN FOUNDATIONS R 1915 L COPTRIGHT, J 910, BY Mrs. VIRGINIA ARMISTEAD GARBER, Richmond, Va. ; PREFACE. RECORD of the editor's branch of the Armistead family- A was begun in the summer of 1903, at the request of an elder brother, who came to Virginia for the purpose of collecting family data for his large family living in distant South- ern States. Airs. Sallie Nelson Robins, of the Virginia Historical Society, started the ball in motion when preparing his paper to join the Virginia Sons of the American Revolution. From this, the work has grown till the editor sends ''The Armistead Family'' to press, in sheer desperation at the endless chain she has started powerless to gather up the broken links that seem to spring up like dragon's teeth in her path. She feels that an explanation is due, for the biographical notes, detail descriptions, and traditions introduced in her own line; which was written when the record was intended solely for her family. Therefore, she craves indulgence for this personal element. Dr. Lyon G. Tyler's Armistead research in the William and Mary Quarterly is the backbone of the work, the use of which has been graciously accorded the editor. She is also indebted to Mr. Robert G. Stanard and Mrs. Sallie Nelson Robins, of the Virginia Historical Society; Mr. W. S'. Appleton's .Fami'/v of Armistead, Bishop Meade's Ola Chiirclies and families of Vir- ginia, and various other authors of \ 'rgini.a his-ory herein named. Obtaining correct data was a wearying undertaking; some phases of it amusing; charming letters,were recei^/^d and friendships started ; sometimes, ignorance of, or indifference to knowledge of one's ancestry, prompted the remark "My father or grandfather 4 Preface was so democratic that he paid little attention to such matters.'' We wonder if they know that Thomas Jefferson, that great apostle of democracy in Virginia, cared for "such matters." There is on record a letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, his London agent, in which he directs Mr. Adams "to search the Herald's office 'for the arms of my family.' I have what I am told are the family arms, but on what authority I know not. It is possible there may be none. If so, I would, with your as- sistance, become a purchaser, having Sterne's word for it that a coat of arms may be purchased as cheap as any other coat." "What Mr. Adams found we cannot say, but thereafter upon the silver, china, paper of the Sage of Monticello, yea, even upon the fence that incloses his tomb, we find the three leopard's faces with the head of a talbot for its crest." Craving indulgence for all mistakes, we send it forth, assur- ing the Armistead connection that we have done our best. We heard it said a few days since that only two men ever lived who never made a mistake—Enoch and Elijah, and they were trans- lated. Mrs. a. W. Garber, 211 E. Franklin St., Richmond, Va. A FOREWORD. THE search for data and incidents, relating to the Armistead family, has necessitated a great deal of reading, besides literal digging into the records of various counties and the Land Office, disciphering old tombstones, and visiting the sites of old homes and original grants. The drudgery, the vi^eari- ness of it all, is forgotten, but the charm and romance of those early days linger with us, like some tender, bewitching dream, that we would fane keep fresh in the memory of those of the family, who may not have the same opportunity for the study of Virginia's Colonial history. Before considering the country, or the conditions surrounding the early settlers, let us glance at the influences at work in Eng- land, that impelled the emigration of such stalwart, brave men. The emigration to Virginia, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, was evidently the outcome of the restless spirit and craving for adventure that followed in the wake of the Refor- mation and the introduction of printing. These twin wires electri- fied the world. The rebound from the lethargy of dogma burst forth in the wild desire for change, for broadening the horizon of knowledge, and enlarging fortunes. The mystic, dreamland stories of early sea-rovers ; later, the actual possessions of the Spanish crown in the Western Hemisphere, fired the heart of Sir Walter Raleigh, who had the bravery, daring and determination of a sea king, and the far-reaching vision of a states- man. The disasters of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, the mysterious fate of Sir Richard Greville's settlement on Roanoke Island, paralyzed the hopes of that generation. The spirit of adventure, zeal of the missionary, and lust of gold, reached high tide at the begin- 6 The Armistead Family ning of the seventeenth century. In the midst of this fever of unrest, Captain John Smith came back to England, a youth in years, just twenty-five, but a veteran in war and adventure. At the old Mermaid Tavern he and Bartholomew Gosnold, with other worthies of that day, would meet to talk over plans looking to a speedy fulfilment of their dream. King James at last authorized a voyage, and the first permanent English settlement in America at Jamestown was the mustard seed, from which has sprung the brains, energy and wealth of this vast United States of America. Edmund Spenser, in dedicating his Faerie Queen to Queen Eliza- beth, linked Virginia with her other kingdom jewels, perhaps in compliment to his patron and friend. Sir Walter Raleigh, or did his vision penetrate into the future and see the marvelous pos- sibilites of —this wonderland of the west? Aye, it was a very wonderland "the Western paradise" so long dreamed of—to those pioneers, who, after an uncertain, stormy, mutinous voyage, landed first at Cape Henry, and next at the Indian town, Ke- coughtan, "pleasantly seated upon three acres of land, half sur- rounded by the great River, the other part with the Baye of the other river falling into the great Baye, with a little Isle, fit for a castle, in the mouth thereof." "It was a Good Land, most pleasant, sweet and wholesome," but their orders were to settle inland, out of the way of the much dreaded Spaniards, so they sailed further up the river, and "moared their shippes" at James- towne. From that time on, stalwart Englishmen literally hewed their way through dissensions, privations, treachery, famine and mas- sacre, until they were firmly established in plantations or hun- dreds, all over Tidewater Virginia. It may be interesting to know, that up to 1633, each plantation or hundred was repre- sented by a burgess ; at that time the country was divided into eight shires "to be governed, as in England." In 1643 counties were formed. The thirteen counties, at the beginning of the Com- monwealth, 1652, were Elizabeth City County, York, Warwick, Gloucester, Lancaster, Henrico, Charles City, Isle de Wight, Nansemond, Lower Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland. The Armistead Family 7 Elizabeth City County was one of the eight original shires. Rapid changes were now taking place. Fine manor houses were being built instead of log houses ; cultivated fields and rich harvests were in evidence. "The pioneer is now a burgess, a justice, a ves- tryman, a councillor, who rides in his coach and four ; his land a valuable estate, which no creditor can claim for is it not entailed on his eldest son, who shall be lord of the manor after his father ? On the banks of the James, the York, the Rappahannock, flourished a brilliant, prosperous society, whose centres were Vir- ginia gentlemen, with their wives dispensing lordly hospitality." Messrs. Stan^rd, Tyler and Bruce have given to the public interesting and accurate facts of that time. It is plain from their research, that there was in Virginia, during the seventeenth century, a decided aristocracy; that "gentleman" had a definite mean- ing; one who had a right to bear arms. This class of Virginia gentlemen had a right to armorial honor from their ancestors. "Virginians were simply English people living in Virginia, tenacious of their rights and with a will and determination to defend them." The history of the ballot in Virginia begins with that first legislative assembly in Jamestown in 1619. At first every plantation was entitled to suffrage, then counties and the parishes of the counties ; voting was not only a right and duty, but was com- pulsory. Rev. Hugh Jones, "Present State of Virginia in 1728," the in- telligent professor of mathematics in William and Mary Col- lege, said : "They live in the same neat manner, dress after the same modes, and behave themselves exactly as the gentry in Lon- don ; most families of any note have a coach, chariot, Berlin, or chaise." "The public or political character of Virginians corresponds with their private one ; they are haughty and jealous of their liber- ties, impatient of restraint, and can scarcely bear the thought of being controlled by any superior power. Many of them coti- sider the colonies as independent States, not connected with Great Britain, otherwise than by having the same common King, and 8 The Armistead Family being bound to her with natural affection" (Burnaby's Travels in Virginia in 1759).

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