The Descendants of WILLIAM and SARAH {POE) HERNDON of Caroline County, Va. and Chatham County, N. C. by RUTH HERNDON SHIELDS Privately Printed ... 19156 The price of this book is $10.00, postage paid. Please send your order to Mrs. C. W. Shields 227 Vance Street Chapel Hill, N. C. Copyright 1956 by RUTH HERNDON SHIELDS Printed by The Orange Printshop Chapel Hill, N. C. Dedicated to the Memory of Those Intrepid Souls Who Helped to Win the Freedom That Has Been Our Priceless Heritage and who On Frontiers Fraught with Danger Built for Our Security. And to Those Men and Women who With Unfailing Loyalty To the Cause of American Independence Served in the Armed Forces or as Civil Officers of Any of the Several Colonies or States Which Under the Providence of God Became THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA or Were Recognized Patriots or Rendered Material Aid to Their State. J. G. H. iii FOREWORD This book is a continuation of The Herndon Fam~ly of Virginia by Dr. John Goodwin Herndon of Haverford, Pennsylvania. (See Appendix C.) Dr. Herndon had published five volumes in this series when illness over­ took him. 1. THE HERNDON FAMILY OF VIRGINIA, THE FIRST THREE GENERATIONS IN AMERICA. Four PARTS of the second volume, which is called THE HERNDON FAMILY OF VIRGINIA, VOLUME TWO HERNDONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION with the following subtitles for the various PARTS: 2. PART ONE of Vol. Two, DESCENDANTS OF JOHN HERNDON OF CHARLOTTE CO., VA. 3. PART TWO of Vol. Two, DESCENDANTS OF EDWARD HERN­ DON OF SPOTSYLVANIA CO., VA. 4. PART THREE of Vol. Two, DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM HERNDON OF ORANGE CO., VA. 5. PART FOUR of Vol. Two, DESCENDANTS OF RICHARD HERN­ DON OF CAROLINE CO., Va. Some copies of the above volumes are available. I will be happy to send a price list on request, and tell you in what PART your own family appears, or will appear. In asking for information please give as many generations of your family as possible, and tell where they lived, as there is much duplication of names among the various branches of the family. Please enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope. Dr. Herndon had collected and arranged much of the material for the remaining PARTS of this work, and had written many of the sketches. Since I had done much research for T-'Villiam and Sarah (Poe) Herndon I volunteered to complete this PART. My sole qualifications for the task are a love of genealogy and the fact that for the past fifteen years I have been doing research among the North Carolina records for Dr. Herndon. We have had many conferences about the project, and much correspon­ dence. Even the stupidest person must have learned something of genea­ logy from such a teacher. Dr. Herndon had outlined this book through the eighth generation, and written many of the sketches in the fourth and fifth generations. He turned over to me his manuscript and note-books of source material. My V FOREWORD task has been to collect information about the later generations, and to coordinate the mass of new information received from correspondents and from public records. Fifteen months of concentrated effort-including four trips to Washington, D. C. for research in the National Archives and the NSDAR Library and files, and hundreds of letters to descendants of William Herndon and to various Georgia courthouses and the Georgia Archives-constitute my contribution to this book. I hope that readers will pardon my shortcomings as an editor for the sake of having this in­ formation made available to them. The term "now" as used in this book, means the school year of 1955- 1956. I regret that so many abbreviations were necessary in order to in­ clude the wealth of information sent in. My grateful thanks are given to the many persons who have contributed information for this book. The groundwork was laid over forty years ago, and each succeeding year has added new information. I have tried to give individual credit in the place in the book in which each person's contribu­ tion appears. Valiant souls, our forebears, We, your inheritors, salute you! Here in this little book are your names preserved In grateful and loving remembrance. RUTH HERNDON SHIELDS Chapel Hill, N. C. June 1956. Table of Contents Dedication ······································································································ iii Foreword V Abbreviations used in the book viii The First Two Generatiom in America . 1 The Third Generation 2 Correction to # 79 3 Correction to # 80 . 4 Photostat of "Prisoners' Letter" ...................... facing 4 The Fourth Generation 6 The Fifth Generation ......... 21 The Sixth and Later Generations Descendants of James Herndon # 75 ...... 40 Descendants of George Herndon # 77 .. 96 Descendants of John Herndon # 78 . 163 Herndon coat of arms 192 Appendix A, Descendants of Terminia Herndon 193 Appendix B, Family of Ruth Herndon Shields 196 Appendix C, "Herndon Origins" 197 Appendix D, Unidentified Herndons in Georgia 198 Index 199 Abbreviations att. attended, or attendine enl. enlisted b born grad. graduate or graduated ca about inf. infancy d died nfi no further information dau. daughter svd. served dis. discharged unm. unmarried COB Caroline Order Book, Caroline County, Va. CDA Colonial Dames of America C.S.A. Confederate States Army CSRNC ,Colonial and State Records of North Carolina DAC Daughters of American Colonists HAR Hern.dons of the American Revolution HFV Herndon Family of Virginia, The First Three Generations JGH John Goodwin Herndon MCDS Magna Charta Dames Society NCRAA North Carolina Revolutionary Army Accounts NSCAR National Society, Children of the American Revolution NSDAR National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution NSSAR National Society, Sons of the American Revolution RHS Ruth Herndon Shiefcls UDC United Daughters of the Confederacy USA, USAAF, USMC USN,: United States Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy WW 1, WW 2: World War 1, World War 2 And the usually accepted abbreviations for the different states, months, military ranks, etc, viii THE FIRST TWO GENERATIONS IN AMERICA WILLIAM HERNDON was the first HERNDON in Virginia of whom there is official record. His dates are said to have been 1649-1722. Whether these are correct cannot now be proved, but they are consistent ·with all that is known of him. He came from England to New Kent County, Virginia, where he patented land in 1673. His wife was Cath­ erine Digges,1 a daughter of Edward Digges who was Governor of the Colony of Virginia in 1655. For the full story of WILLIAM HERNDON, see The Herndon Family of Virginia, the First Three Generation8. WILLIAM and Catherine Herndon had three sons, as follows: 1. EDWARD HERNDON (1678-1758) m 1st Mary Waller, and had issue; m 2ndly . Leftwich, and had issue. 2. JAMES HERNDON (c 1683-p 1744) m Mary George,2 and had several children, among them was WILLIAM HERNDON (#13 in HFV), the subject of this book. 3. WILLIAM HERNDON (c 1685-1759) m 1st ....., and had issue, m 2ndly Mrs. Sarah (. ) Leftwich. The story of the second and third generations is given in detail in HFV. 1 Several descendants have joined the Magna Charta Dames Society through the Digges-Herndon lineage. Mrs. J. Wells Vick, Maple Lane, Russellville, Ky., 'Will be glad to supply the line to those of the family who wish to join the Society. The Digges-Herndon lineage has also been accepted by the Colonial Dames of America. Mrs. P. S. Crutcher of Louisville, Ky., was the first descendant to join this organization through this lineage. ~ Continued research has shown that Mary George was the daughter of Sarah ( ......) and Thomas Elliott, of the Elliott family of Chipping Ogur, of Essex County, England. Thomas Elliott was buried 4 March 1686. Mary Elliott was baptized 27 Feb 1686 "at Ye Upper Chapel," Middlesex Co., Va. Sarah Elliott m 2ndly, 6 July 1687 Gen. Robert George (b 1666), whose WILL was proved 21 Jan 1733 in Middlesex Co., Va. Sarah ( Elliott) George d 14 April 1734. Mary Elliott seems to have been always known as Mary George. The children of Robert and Sarah George were: Catherine George, b 1689/90 m 1708 Hugh McTyre Sarah George, bap. 12 March 1692/3, m 10 Nov 1710 Churchill Blakey Jane George, bap. 10 April 1702 John George, bap. 3 Se:gt 1704, m 1st ......, m 2ndly, Ursula Dudley. (A present descendant is Henry Hortensius George, Sr., of Richmond, Va.) All names and dates are from the Parish Register of Christ Church, Middlesex Co., Va., and from the Middles€x County Records. This information was contributed by Mrs. Luke Hodges of Wichita Falls, Texas, and Mrs. J. Wells Vick, of Russellville, Ky. THE THIRD GENERATION #13 WILLIAM HERNDON, son of James and Mary (Elliott-George) Herndon, was born about 1706 in King and Queen County, Va. About 1730 he married Sarah Poe, a daughter of Simon Poe of Caroline County, Va., and Chatham County, N, C. Simon Poe died in Chatham Co., N. C., in 1793, aged about 100 years. His WILL, given below,1 mentions his daughter Sarah Herndon. WILLIAM HERNDON died in Caroline County, Va. His WILL, now unfortunately lost, was proved 9 Dec 1773. Two of his sons, William and James, were named executors. Some time after WILLIAM'S death, his widow, Sarah, and all her children except her son William, removed to Chatham County, N. C., where she lived until her death. Children of William and Sarah (Poe) Herndon, as given in HFV, page 42: 72 Mary (c 1731- ) m Elisha Dismukes, said to have settled in Chatham County, N. C. 73 Joseph (c 1733-1763) unmarried 74 daughter (c 1735- ) m John Booker of Chatham County, N.