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Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects
1959
The Rise of the Burwells
John L. Blair College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences
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Recommended Citation Blair, John L., "The Rise of the Burwells" (1959). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539624513. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-2e74-qc60
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A thesis
Present** to fh* Futility of tfi# Dep&tmni of History th* College of Willis* and Mary
Xn Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts
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John t. Biair
1959 APPROVAL $H8tf
This thesis is mfo«£&$*& in. partial fulfillment #1
ths rs^itiiMnii# ffcf th* 6*gr«o of
Master of Arts
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liMiiU MiJi'H» wrJKWWiOSSSSj^^ n nw*w mm Richard is* Morton, Fh*0 TABLE OF COHlSSfS
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Preface...... V
Chapter X The Early Years ...... 1
Chapter IX Expansion and Consolidation * * * # . . • , • . 14
Chapter III Tha Third 6anaratlon ...... 40
Susmary •••••••< 76
Bibliography . ♦ ...... 80 little olf ,f6oti#,, PRErACB
the Btirvell* aaong the loafers ©I colonial Virginia !«r orer
* century* for n m # years they tut in tha house of Burgas*** an© upon the Council* they serte© ©a mwvtrout special eeawiCteeSt which in note cases were form*! ■for specific purposes avsh as to *i© in eh* renewal if the coital l ^ s Jattstowa to WlUiaashurg or to help in eh* astabHabnsnt; of * school of higher learning. fh* Bwrwalta* neighbor* inf friaa©** «n© in many ***** their ooaposa© ths alae* Which to * ***** «*£*»* contrail*© Virginia* . ffcos* it I* the *af*ff|iit a* * family with eWett this pspar i* largely coeaarne© •
fh* Burnells Virginia nr* now a forgotten faeily* Esnfr*
|*ig with th* lyr*#, teas an* other proaiaent figures if eh* peris©* tin Burnells haw* has* relegate© to * pogitiaa they 4© u©t'©ae*rve* Bu* largely to eh* lach of family. papers so© *h* ©esttuetion of county y*eor©s» yet th*r* 4** fragment# to f&*ca together m accurate aetimat* *f eh* petition of elm Burnell* in colonial eeeiaty* fh* author h*» attempts© to stress not only eh* iurwelle themselves# hut their relation* with other families, fhie, Mi of necaseity entail*© * certain amount of genesl* ogical ©ate, which I trust will thow wore clearly eh* feet the* nearly ail the high position* in the colonial government rest*© in the hen©* of * relatively few leafing famiU**5 an* that through marriage an© neighborly contact** the Burnells war* unique in t a m e of their relation* with thee* ruling families*
fhi* "Ancient family of the Btrawille81^ ha© interests in tha Haw hori© seme year* before the first lewis Burnell emigrate© to it ahont 1640*
^ ’Inscriptions on ©1© Tombs in Olonets ter Co®* Virginia 0" William an© MaryQuarterly 2(1894), ZZO, vx their economic rise vet more rapid than their political ascendancy, which had not reached it« apex When the last male member of the third generation, lewis Burwell 111, died in 1744„ But hy this time the achievement of position mas already accoapliShed, and the history of the Burnells from this point on la largely a a tody of maintenance and farther consolidation*
Nevertheless, from the broader view of &s*ric#n political history, it ii certain that the Harwells1 greatest serviced mere yet to he rendered; for if they mere among tha first families by 1144, it was the following fifty years which composed the Golden Age of the Burwell© and the colony Which they and their friends benighly ruled®
In instances Where I have copied from manuscripts, it should he noted \ : ’ that I have not extended abbreviations, hut hive lowered superior letters and modernised-such archaic forms- as the * y * character for #*th*M
this is unfortunately an age when, to render praise to some individual often brings about the accusation of m ulterior motive. It is thus with considerable personal risk that t undertake to offer gratitude and appreeie* t tioxk to my advisor * and one whom I would like to consider as a friend *
Dr* dames Horton Smith, whose door was ever open to his bothersome student, and to whose scholarship and patience X will long be indebted* for advice and coming to ray aid when running into several problems of Virginia history my thanks are preferred to Dr. Richard lee Horton, of Whom so many students have many happy memories! and to Mr. Herbert W» Ganter, archivist at tha library ef the Collage of William and Mary, who was always able, and what
/ is more important * willing * to help this, student in his quest for Burwell materials*
John I. Blair cj O c) d $ 25 ft s ,ri © Cf» M rd p p «P CD jd q © «t ft W *:fl a ^ 23 P* 1 £< Ei 1 * H cd ® S h d gijcd © I •H to ^ 5 ©. sn o f « I ,^-4 e rH O T* c o ft , 1 :q A \d Mvi (0 © ft ftftfrH CD t P ft rH . « v ,,. «.* ,d 0 5C ' ' ( ft. I ft ■ .,: d Co a t?s> « t» C) dft 0 ■ V.‘ © cl) d W *0 ® a ry r H ft V ci , ■& CS O rH (> dD ft ':•© ,.' . r"^ A .d WHCO O ft S^' ■1H •P *r-5 © css 0\ 4; ,m © Js; 5 H a fe ,'^-P s^vO •C! «r! © » H «■ ^ 0.-? s. m C- a h :i ;d •H * d '.I o ,.d — « C\f o fa « & 0 ft y a i^ O 1A tft. p— . O dj e s1 irH f- '•■'-•<:•ft m Hi 0 gg C\XI — \0 O ft «ri ©H O eft ft H ! •»■ S3 rH Xi *H ft* c4 ft rH £-4 -rfCB! vO o ft
Burvell of Barlington fa county Bedford. That the family was probably of A ;r -f- ■.?]■'. ‘ft .* <4 , •• , j yeoman statu* it indicated: 4in Edward * s will, which ft dated October :ii$<;|6£6. to hi® wife he left the estate "so long • **•• she doth kepe herself unmarried:.;"
His eldest daughter was ;w*Wigned to Edward0,* sister as a servant and' the. other daughter * Elizabeth® was commended to hi* "sitter Wingate in the ssif- manner*'* Both the economic and social position of the family seems to be emphasised in the fathersi requ«8t to "lord.Bruce to consider my faithful ■-. 1 .ft:--;4 AX y ; -.4 .4'’ ., . , j service and manner of my death and be a good lord to my wife and children,”
lewis1 mo thermos* the other hand0 cihie'froai;# family which appears to have been of'some prominence in its conmjunity^ ii!er father's will disposed;' ■4 ,4 l A 4 ' f t ;:4 444 f t ■; : , f t V ^ of a considerable amount of land and she herself received one hundred pounds.
These wills tend to show that any wealth lewis Burwe 11 might have at* cumulated in later years’ was.® in large put t» based upon his own efforts and not upon inheritance. They also contain names; which indicate that both faml** lies took more than a passing interest in;the Virginia Company of London. In the will of Dorothy's father there is a bequest to Gabrieli and John Bedell *
Both of these men * uncles, to lewis Burwell * were metbers of the Virginia 3 Company and came to Jamestown with the second supply in 1608. Their names are on the Second Charterr dated Hay 30® 1609 and Gabrieli is listed on a document of 1618/19 as one of the "Adventurers to Virginia." in 1620® the two names are recorded in "A Declaration of the State of the Colony and Af* fairs* in Virginia" as having each paid the company treasurer twelve pounds 6 ¥ ten. Their final appearance is in the Quo Warranto proceedings of 1623*24. «
The Second Chur tor of 1609 f beside# listing the names of the too Bedell brothers, also contains m Edward Burwell*^ Charles P* Keith, who did con* siderable work on tha family, suggest* that this Edward is lewis9 patents! grandfather, though t could not find upon what source Keith® s claim is based*
If ha is rlght8 however, m would have as early a* 1609, two of lewis9 uncles
(though he himself was net yet horn) and a grandfather as members of the
Virginia Company of London.
A further connection with the New World, though one which might possl- bly hare originated after lewis emigrated to Virginia, was provided when his sister Elisabeth married Robert Vaulx, a prominent merchant of London Who eventually came to own Vaulx Kali plantation on the west side of Queen9*
Creek.10
If, unlikely as 'it seems, Lewis Burwell did not come to know of the
Virginia colony by virtue of the earlier family links with it, the union of his mother with Roger Wingate must surely have brought the subject of colo nisation into the family circle. Extremely little is known about Wingate un til 1633 when he, with Edward Kingswsll, made m abortive attempt at settle ment in the Carolines. This rather interesting, but somewhat neglected expedition, can be traced to a grant of Charles II to Robert Heath in 1629 to lands now largely in North Carolina. The will of Ringswell, dated 1636, makes reference to a suit “deponing before the lords Commissioners for flanta il tions in my nmm against Samuel Vassal 1, merchant, and Veter Andrews,” and it is this legal squabble which has preserved information about the attempt at settlement that otherwise might have been lost* Vassal! had contracted with Kingswell to provide transportation to the proposed colony. He failed in this, though KingsweU and his little group managed to reach Virginia by 3
October 1633 ©a- the ahip li&rfiewer 'eowmaadid’by R##«al'l:*e brother- in* law; fetef'Mdtiwb; who the eoloiiist#: to lead' at
Finding hsi transportation t©! Carolina' they remained in dtoestowa through the winter till early spring/ at which time they apparently decided to giw«! wg> the'''irbie|tv :\$n ftarefc*; Wingate left firginia with M i wile and family. ’x'
Kfogewtll followed ’the* A littXe.wore fatlance end they sdght here succeeded8 f©r-a ship seat'by Vassal! arrived in Jiily with instruction* to transport mtig&mlt end'hi# group t© Carolina. *|JT
Thug Roger Wingate, ytepfdthef to U » l * 'foszmll, reaided in Virginia from October 1633 to tfesrch4634* the- diacoaaiOn'of Ringsweli** suit in th* 13 Calendar of State Papers, howevers refer# to '^4r* Wingat®. end. th^Uy,** which- raiaea the question of whether lamia accompanied hie stepfather to the 14. Hew World, Unfortunately, there ie no direct evidence to ©van ahow that ' •' ’ i * Dorothy Burweil Wee Wingate9 8 wife at the time of attested settlement. fh#
Visitations of Bedfordshire show t h a t Roger Wingate end h i e ' w i f e Hot©thy had
■• i | e daughter Lucy who wee a ,fyer« end a/half# M- in January 1637, that the two were married by October 1634 le indicated When one takes into considers- 4 4 ’ i tion this year and a half (for Xney) plm the mml nine months" for the birth cycle. Moreover, Dorothy oust have been acquainted with Roger Wingate as early as 1626 einee her fir at husband - idward inrwell * had m slater who 16 married Edward Wingatef mm of Roger*’# brother®. Since Dorothy Bnrweli already knew Roger Wingate at the time of her husband9® death, it ia not, 1 believe, raab to assume that' a-marriage'took place between the two after a relatively short time following the death of Edward Rnfwell. This being the case, thefe can be no doubt that the % & f «*’ with Roger Wingate In the expedi te tion of 1633 wet Dorothy Burweil Wingate. 4
.the "family** m tbf ©tharhapd included %ewie himself it, another, problesawhlchi* likely to remain ?ina©lw*i* Any eoocltieiom made can b« .. , ;■ ■■•/“, ,i ,--c' y _ ■ • ;■ ' ft ■'■ • / ■ .<• ,■ , . y haeed/oaly uptm ctrcimstmtM evidence.’, We night my,■ ip term®,©! age 'that
ImrfL&.Buvmll m e the 'feiddle member" of .y the. family fine®.he had two nldat/y aiagara and two younger brother®. At tb#.tin* of the expeditions lewia .hiiir m lt would hava beam twelve .years ©ld8 m age uhieh could provide the. parent* •.« i’ ", f jr. k’ ■ ► k 9 ( 5'i : ’•■,;! /.*.•'• y • * I * I ■-■' i..** ., > t> ‘ . ■ ■*: t oitfc. taict^lfwt rea*onit flor', either bringing &1» «loa| to_th* Hew HerId* ,:Oty for leaving hi® at boms * : ;3lace the WingBtm **ro planning permanent settle* ’ 1 ' - , **.'(' i~ y - * r‘ y/ ’ l: ■• . ■' ' V'v.'! mmt9 if would be, plauaibl* to asaum#., that * the .Calendar, of .ftttt when tuning reference to Wingate*a family 8 ward referring to.the entire fa®lly;im which eat#^ of ccprae* .looif B s s m U wa#, in ftrginia for six month* • ■-V:-■>■■;• .; • '•, ■ i ' . ’9. 'I ,9. ■' Ig lewi® BurwalV.eet&l^ permanently im ■Oirginia. about 1640. fie arrived lit an,opportune time* for the leadership which had been provided by the earlier , settler*'wa* crumbling, the leading’ families of. the first genera'* tion# ®u«h a» the Menaflgiy title*, Willoughby** end other® had failed t# carry their leadership me*' to the gwceetdifai generation f*nd the void .thne, created provided the newer nettle?* .with the chance to aeaert themselves*
And the newer settlers were not lackingd for in about 1640a a new emigration had begun which would’ leaf for nearly three d«cadei» and it wa* thit nm ami* gr«tions of which the Burwell* were a part8 which would give to Virginia the progenitor* of her great nlghteesi.i^*c®^ttKfy faailiei.
A more i#sa*di«t# advantage for .iewi* Surwell® however, .wa* the poaitlon hi* stepfather held in-, the' affair*. . thi;.«al^r« In 163ffr Hfngatg .bacaiBa, 19 Treaeurer of Virginia^ t a poet which0 along with that, of member of the Conn- cil3 h® wa* to hold until hi® death in 1641 * A* a result of Wingate** position it. is mi -unlikely that ftsttmli d m t© M m a number' of tha. leading: person*.
®%m, in the. c©l©ays. aal. tkehe ..with &a»® and n&tiuraiiaeae*.
^ Jusif as Mf, intr©ductl©r*; fc©; tha ■ upper et?el*e ft ■ firginia. life .-wa® - M m ^ :m
hi# stepfather9 *. position i*i ■ the oology* ,fcip -first, kn o w , «e«iulslt:ieB of ' %m&
was related, to M s stepfather® a ;esr I teir dealings. with - Kingswell*, ;, -.-*•.
iowis® - Mefimthm £h# reMdststy M$&tm Edward .Klngswally - whose^
M i l April'60 '1636.'?^ Wingats tbps inherited the keedrightS/ t which had be loved/to Mn$sweil * r the leader af‘ &he; expeditiontfkUto■.t®&i^
■ ■ ■■ > 1 ;•■•.■■ 1 ■.■■■■■■■•■ ' gS. v- ported i>%^ M a i ® tbr land rightfully and the 'went* i®., abeyance.- until 1648, fet- tbiirws# act m m m l* la -miy'eases»., a person would wait a nnobe? ol:v' years before filing for land do# him after the arrival o f ;the. headrlghts*. , The rights5 a«trh»dJ at -S'.'tifnM of -'the- Kinliiwell ^peditioa^wre finally . elated -la the^ spring of ;i<§48v - Tweaty thra^ hsinlred^ acres '-were • granted Jointly to lewis terwell and one’ Thomas tmm*- •' ■f’f m'■■■ the ■ "lower pare im forks klwv.ebt* 7 ®t« up the 'Harrow on the $» side thereof*.. The grant lists forty**!* persons, onoag them’Mw a r d - M ^ s M l l ^ / M s wife ./the 'lady Clifton# and their tea ’Anthony.'' AWlllte- Burwell'-.is listed, -a# is ftsge# Wingate*- It cannot he doubted- that the- persons-Mated in this patent, or certainly awae of th®m, w*** a n t e i of tha Klng*w*ll asperities flftsea y«ar» befota.24 In the summer of the same year , Burwell d a t e d the 'headrightg .inherited from M s stepfather,- fe® received, 2*%S®> acre® lying "upon the H. Side of fork liver upRosevell Cr« on the #sd* side thereof" -for tha transportation of forperson®, weoaig whom are- listed a francia and ■ *>fra" Burwell.*2^ fMe/wee; the'iargeso patent Issued in 164$«2* The M l o w h g month, Bor®**^f4. Wingate' ccinreyed to her "well^beloved ©o& l o M s hurwll" ell the * teats due it her husband's death*27 It seems porbable that Wingate1® developed estate went 6 to X*ewia Burwella in which event Burwell was provided with a firm foundation upon which to enlarge the family for tune. Nevertheless, the estate could not have been so large as to have guaranteed Burwell .and his descendants » position of undisputed eminence in the colony. Much would depend upon the business acumen of the young Burwell, and his ability to avoid the errors which could easily dash any chances the family might have in filling the void now being created through the decline of the older, powerful families* fhe family’s future was safe in Burwell’s hand., and while everything did not necessarily proceed smoothly, he appears to have been a hard worker who de* voted, most wisely, much of his efforts to the acquisition of land* Burwell9s landholdings expanded rapidly and in 1650, for the trans* portation of thirty*two persons, he received sixteen hundred acres in North* umber land County upon the ”S. side of Potoaieck Riv. & E* side of Macho tick River*.. fhe next day he was allotted five hundred acres; this time ■ 2# upon the "S. side of Potomeck Riv., upon W* side of Nomeny River...." Two years later, in October, two hundred acres, "100 acre® of which lyes within tha Pallisado at the Middle plantation..•& the other without the Pallisado" were granted to ‘Major Lewis Burwe 11 and Lucy, his w i f e . . . . "30 Lucy Bur we 11 was the daughter of Captain Robert Higginson who commanded at the Middle Plantation in 1645 and earlier* After the second Indian mas* sacre had occurred in 1644, Captain Higginson was ordered, in 1646, to run a new pale at Middle Plantation, since the old one was out of repair. Earlier that year, a dispute which had arisen between Higginson and John Wether ford was referred to the July court, since the "dangerousness of the tyrne will not penaltt (Higginson) to leave the Charge & Care of his undertakings at the Midle plantacon pale this prsent court.*^ In October of the same year, 7 several men who resided at the lever end of fork Pariah were ordered to pay Higginson thirty-five pounds of tobacco because 'they "wear®.delinquent in sending wpp a roan to the Middle Plantation for that genrail worke in setting upp a pale... .”32 fhe services rendered this year were to earn him land at Middle Plantation ’♦for some certain service by bias performed; to the Country anno. 1 6 4 6 . When lucy, his only child# married Burwell is not known# but as they had only one child it is probable they married not too many years before' Bur well's death* .fhe only issue froaa this' marriage was .Lewi# Burwell 11# and It was during his life# and through hi# efforts# that the position of the Burwell# a# one of the leading families would become assured. The on®' extant letter of the first-'Burwell indicates, he was in 111* health at the time the patent was issued to himself and his wife in 1652. Pour days after this grant was recorded# he wrote a letter to Walter Brod- hurst, who in the following year represented Northumberland County in the Assembly# mentioning hi# ’’long sickness w ’ch hat bene of a yeare’s contin uance” and expressing a sense of relief at having received some pork and corn. The1 letter convey# a feeling of urgency# end a# Burwell 'admit# to ’’some troubles X have undergone” it is a reminder that the rise of the Bur* wells was not accomplished without difficulties.^ Though the first generation remained aloof from politics# it found It self with several neighbor# who held important positions in the colonial government then located at Jamestown. The land patents to Burwell show that he possessed property in an area where other Influential families also held interests. The patent for 2,350 acres in 1648 gave Burwell property adjacent to land owned by George Kenefie who was Burgess for James City County in 1629 and a member of the Council from 1635 to 1646. The Menefies were one $ of the early leading families, ‘and'George W&mfie was one of the wealthiest persona in the colony. He maintained numerous orchards, featuring a variety of fruit trees ineluding the" first -peach arena. Cultivated in aimer ice* He • owned considerable property and died at hi* 8,000 acre estate '’Bucklami'* in , . , 3c Charles City County* A later'great ■gave Harwell property contiguous to- property held by, Milli-Sm Gonets and Richard lee, both of whom were politic cally active. Gooch represented York County in the Assembly in 1652. His rise was rapid, for while he 1* not listed as a Burgess in 1653* he is re* corded as ,,Captain,f in the 1654 setiibncsad in the following year he was on the Council. m 1650, Richard Lee was the Secretary of State and a member of the Council! previously he had held the post of Attorney-General. ^ ' there is no direct evidence to show that Burwell personally knew any of the colony’s leaders* though through his stepfather* he certainly must have been acquainted with some of them.^ With 'men like Lee and Gooch, it is not too much to surmise that their mutual interests in land brought them occasionally together with their fellow landholders. They might have met to discuss measures pending before the Assembly or devoted several days in the course of a'year to the- inspection of" their holding®' and looking over desir able lands yet unclaimed. Certain it is that the larger landholders were a closely knit group-. Hutual interests, with relations later cemented through H *1 marriage* kept them together. The marital alliances - -and- this word is em ployed with reservations - were yet to come, but the interests in land were probably enough to make men like Lee and Gooch at least business acquaintances of the first Burwell. Though Burwell himself apparently did not become a person of prestige in the colony^ he unquestionably occupied a position in the upper segment of f Virginia society. the first land patent issued to hi® in 1648, accord© hi® the/title of >fMr.M which one. author-, commenting on the use-of this title in Virginia prior to the Revolution, maintain© was often employed; that it could legitimately be applied-to-any.freeman in the colony, and that its usage His little, if any, evidence of social superiority on the then stand* ards'Of birth# fhe usage of < M0entle®enf H however, 5was a different -matter and in nearly allcases, Burwell is given this title* fhl© was probably due both to his stepfather and the fact that at this time the Burwell© appear to have possessed a coat~of~arms.3^ According to the original definition by Sir Edward Coke, any person who possessed a coat~of~arras was a gentleman, and lyon G . Tyler professed that no person in seventeenth century Virginia ’’assumed the name of 'gentleman* without a claim to arms.*..n3^ There are a- few exceptions to this, though on the whole, the assertion is an. accurate 40 one. With ’'nothing more worthy in his Birth than virtuous in his life,” lewis Burwell “exchanged This life- for a better on the 19th day of November- in the 33d year of his age A.IK 1653."^ In Virginia for less than fifteen years, Burwell-had successfully cemented the foundations upon which his son AO would build the superstructure# 10 CHAPTER 1 * £HK> NOTES 1. Virginia Cleanings in England," Virginia Hagasine of History and Biography, 23<19IS), 156-57. ** M & -> 3. ibid*, 265 4. Alexander Brown, Genesis -of 'the United States (Hew York*. 1890), X, 218. 5* Susan M. Kingsbury, ed.. 'fhe- Records...of the Virginia-Company of London (Washington, 1906^35), tttg 80. 6. JIM*, 318-19 *• Ibid., IV, 364 8, Brown, Genesis. I, -220* .■;•,■ 9. Charles P. Keith. The Ancestry of Beniamin Harrison (Philadelphia, 1893), 35. 10• , "Original letters*:-1* William and Mary,Quarterly. 1st seiN, 3(1894), 14. 11* lothrop Wi thing ton, comp., '’Virginia Cleanings in England," Vs* Mag, of Hist. & Blog.. 15 (1908), 297. 12 * W, Hoe 1 Sainsbury, ■■ -ed• Calendar of State Paper's* Colonial Series * America and West Indies. 1574-1660 (London. I860), 190-91, 197*99. See also, W. 1,. Grant. et al., eds** Acts of the Privy Connell .of .England,,.Colonial Series. 1613-1680 (Hereford* 1908)* entry nos. 339* 350. 352-54. 13; Cal* State faners, AWI. 1574-1660. 198* 14. One work claims unequivocally that Lewis Burwell accompanied his step father to Virginia, but the authors have regretfully neglected to note upon what their assertion is baaed* This same work also claims that it was Laris Burwell *s father who signed, the Second Charter and refers'the 'reader to Brown*a copy of the Charter. . Annie L. deafer and Martha W. Bidet*, comps.,; Adventurers' of Purse and- Per son,'"Virginia,1807*1625 (Princeton, 1956), 100*5 The authors appear to Have jumped to conclusions which are not warranted* There is no proof that Lewis accompanied his stepfather to Virginia, though with what little evidence there is, I have concluded that he did* Neither is it beyond any doubt that' the Burwell of'the Second Charter was Lewis Bur- well'*a father or grandfather, though if the signer was a Burwell of the same family we are interested in, both the genealogical and chronological factors would lend support to Keith1 a contention. 15, Frederic A. Blaydes, ed., The Visitations of Bedfordshire, vol. 19 of *the publications of the Sarleian Society {London 1884), 201.' 16. ibid*. 151 COLLEGE Of WILLIAM & MARf ■expedition in 1633, and like most of its members remained behind in■expedition Virginia behind its remained 1633,like of in members and most 'WhileKingswell,Wingate,, few returned* others a and s lg. 15(1908), ist 298.Blog.. & H this aver period largest of The grants 1664.in foracres recorded 9,000 was King accompanied Cooke swellhis on 15(1908), 297* of & Hist.Bios.* Has, Va. who arrived in Virginia sometime between 1616 and late 1638* As of of As April 1638*1616late and sometime between in arrived Virginia who to- married Wingate was widow*iurwell’s Edward will which has a reference to f,tayto reference a has which will 'Brother Roger and Sisterand Wingate Hr. brother-in-law it could only mean, quite obviously, that he had married one that had he obviously,married quite could itonly mean, brother-in-law thisarticle ’states'in Kingswell! was Wingate r e ^ s brother-in**f^t- l law, hut hms and dames*Thomas, 7 Lothrop Withlngton, 27. singlein patent a acres allotted of the number 1619-1666 greatest Prom 26. 184 Pioneers*and Cavaliers Nugent, 25. “mynow Cooke,toservantJames five left pounds Klngswell In his will 24. Borothie his wife...." iothrop Wi iothrop Wi thing his wife...." Borothie in ton, comp.,Gleanings 'Virginia according to the to Privy according 'Council contained-:,*.^referencepetition his to hi# January'on ^Historical Notes 6, -and.1939* -Queried.” Hag, of Va. .Hist. & Blog. * 3 Well 23. Robert Vaulx, •Burwell’# brother-in- brother* Robert VawX&’s Probably 22. age out toacres.3,000 about outage and Grantss Land Patents .1.62,3*1806 X, 1934), '171. (MchsKmd, 20. lothrop Wi lothrop of Hist Wi .thing Bloa.& * 2.5(1908),ton, comp.,20. Mag. 297.in “Virginia England,’* Gleanings Va. 99.2(1895), Sixteen;only stepfather that emigratedhis 1640,inwith he age of years England-.*1editorial note An Mag.Hist*.of Vs. 15(1908), 297*98. Biog.*& law, had three brothers who eventually case to Virginia. They were Humphrey, They were to case Virginia.three eventually brothers law, hadwho Papers. State Cal.AWL-- 197. 1574-1660. 21. in England. 1636 was 29, Wingate in Virginia... in England,“ . Gleanings Virginia comp.,’* Lothrop Withington, time during timehis-during stay US. a isattending' as meeting' 211. 1613*1680*noted the of of Council Virginia thereis Yet this claim*stantiate King of swell * totend sub certainly Kingsweil’s would will sand daughters, 1613-1680* 253-54. some At 1638*in of theTreasurer for position petitioned Wingate 19* 17* h dtrde o a hr eotie i nomto, if a Wingate was information, his obtained he say the not does where editor “lossesthere S Ti s h ergnrlygvn I smr iey since Lewis likely,is Itwas more thegiven* is generally Thisyear IS. This conclusion is unfortunately complicated by Edward Kingswell*s Edward by complicated isconclusion unfortunately This ft* Nugent* comp., Cavaliers comp.,Nugent*Cavaliers ami.■Pioneers. Virginia Abstracts of u t y e . Acts sustayned.»of-the . in the colony he must have suffered some reverses as somereverses suffered thehave colony he must comp"Virginia Acta-of m doubt that doubt when, the written,. will'was Gleanings in England,*1 Gleanings of Mag,Va. Privy Council* Privythe ColonialCouncil, Series, Colonial Seriesa Colonial n 12 28. Nugent, Cavalier a andPioneers. 19$ * 29, Ibid,, 208. 3®* iMS*, 268, 31. "Notes from the Records of York County,!5 Win* & Hary Qrtv.» let ser«, 22(1914) , 241. 32. Ibid., 23 (1914), W* 33. "Williamsburg * fhe Old Colonial Capital*1* Urn. & Marv Qrty.* 1st «er.fi 16(1907),$, 34. "Two Seventeenth Century Letters/{ Va» Hag, of Hist. & Biog., 9(1902)» 331-33. 35. Lothrop Withingtoiip comp. s Virginia Gleanings in England," Va. Mag, of Hist. & Biog.. 14(1907), 419-20. 36. At the meeting of the Grand Assembly in January 1639, those present in cluded Burwell1a stepfather Roger Wingate, and such leading figures as Wyatt, Harvey* Peirce, Yeardley, ffenefie, Willoughby, and others, 37. Charles E. Gilliam, ,MJSr9 in Virginia Records before 1776," Nai* & Marv Ortv., 2nd ser., 19(1939)u 144. Charles S, Sydnor In his Gentlemen free* holders (Chapel Hill, 1953), 61, writes whan commenting on the usage of "gentleman," that the "term #gentry* was usually applied to the upper segment of society, and the individual men of the Class were spoken of as ’gentlemen. *" 38. the author regrets that he is not able to give a description of the Burwell coat-of-anas. if 'the will of lewis Burwell*# father Is any indica tion it seems most improbable that the family received their, arms in the seventeenth century, nevertheless, even if the grant, were made centuries before, lewis Burwell. would still have had ' the legal right to display the coat-of-arms. I have run. across at ‘ least two. descriptions of the. Burwell arms, hut have been unable, to determine which is the legitimate one. ' See George H. Burwell, Record of the Burwell ..family (Richmonds n*d*)» 4-5 and E. Be V. Vermont, ed*, America.Heraldic# (Hew.."York, 1886),. 121. An .inventory of James Burwell*#.'estate'in '1718 shows that he possessed a coat-of-sms which was located in the Outward Chamber of the Old House* . York County Rec ords, No. 15, 1716-1720, II, 422 (photostat copy is Virginia .State library, Richmond)* 39. Lyon G» Tyler, "Coat* of-Arms in Virginia,1* Wm* & Mary Qrty. B 1st ser#, 1(1892), 112* 40. Nearly all the leading families possessed a coat-of-arms. The follow ing is a much abbreviated list of some of the families who could claim a right to anas: Ambler, Bacon, Berkeley, Bland, Byrd, Burwell, Carter, Cole, Digges, Harrison, Ludwell, Menefie, Page, Worms ley, Spotswood, Wingate, and Yeardley. 13 41. "Inscriptions on Old tombs in Gloucester* Co.* Virginia,M Wm. & Mary Qrty., 1st ®er.» 2(1694), 220. 42. After Bur well’s, deaths hi® widow married twice and in both instances provided the second tori® Burwell. with prominent stepfathers. She first married Colonel William Bernard* one of the early leader® of the colony add a member of the Council almost continually since 1641 till his death in 1665. Jus ter -and Widen* comps.» Adventurers-of Burse and Person. 93-94. Ifuch more ’important for future, relations was her ..second marriage to the first Philip Ludwell who was a recent arrival to Virginia* la. had already inherited- from his brother fhomaa the estate f,aicb Seek" near Williamsburg*, and in his life* time acquired large tracts of land on his own. they had one son Philip* who married into the garrison family* Lucy Burwell Bernard Indwell died in November 1425. "Ludwell Family,’* Wm. & Harv Ortr«« 1st ser.* 19(1911)* 210- 12 • cmms. t t EXPANSION AND CQHSOLIBATION Lewis Burwell's death at thirty-two left a young widow and an only son to manage an estate whose future was far fro® being decided. In these early years only death-stood between.Burwe 11*8 son and the-extinction of the family line, the--unfortunate destruction of the Gloucester, County records* as well as young Burwell*a tender age,, largely account for the lack of information about his activities in the first few-.decades following; 16-53. While Burwell was still a boy* his mother married Philip Indwell, - the first of many unions which were to unite the Burwells with moat of the- lead ing families of Virginia. Until this-'marriage, the Burwells had married Into families of littleinote and/or of the first generation, who, In most cases, were in decline for one reason or another. Lucy’s marriage with indwell 1® the turning, point in this respect, for the indwells were part of the new emi gration and were in unquestioned ascendancy not long after their arrival to i the colony. Lewis Burwell It married Abigail Smith, who was b o m in England in 1656. Keith suggests that the marriage did not take place before 1671, which with so little.evidence available, is from the genealogical viewpoint, as good a guess as any. this marriage produced ten children, most of whom later married into other leading families. But while the children were growing up * the girl® learning the responsibilities they would face as wives of mm of quality, and the boys familiarising themselves with the tasks and problems they would confront as politicians and planter® * their father was busy ex* pending and consolidating the family interests* Under him, the Burwell® reached a new high in influence and position, and While they would politically climb higher, succeeding generations would bold on firmly to the status which they had gained through early interest# in the colony, several for* tunate marriages, and the successful activities of the first two Sorwells* Burwell wa# in his mid*twenties when Virginia was rocked by Bacon’s Rebellion. It is regretable that any role Burwell may have played in this famous episode has successfully eluded all attempts at discovery. Until hi® mother1 a death in late 1675, Burwell lived at "Queen’s Creek** in York County, but following her death he returned to "fairfield" in Gloucester, the county which was the center of the rebellion* the house of Nathaniel Bacon, Sr., on King's Creek, which wa# soon to cone into the possession of the Burwell®, was occupied by the Insurgents under Major Thomas Whaley, and Bacon later claimed that he had lost 1,000 pounds sterling in stock and good# by Whaley'# occupation of hi# housed Undoubtedly some of Burwell1# friend# were involved in the uprising, but m for Burwell himself, the nature of their involvement ha# not come down to us. The silence of the record# would suggest that the young Burwell, while he may have had strong sympathies for one side or the other, refrained from taking part in the dis pute. Scattered reference# make it difficult to follow lewis Burwell II*# career before 1681. In that year, John Burnham died, 'unmarried, and left all his property to Lewi# Burwell and Leroy Griff in,* both of whom were ap~ pointed executors of the deceased. When the will was presented for probate Ralph Wormeley contended that since it had only two signature#, the will was void; hence, Burnham's lands were subject to escheat and Wormeley ac- c cordingly applied for a grant. Burwell and Griffin promptly challenged Wormeley'# claim, and the colony wa# treated to a legal tussle that spanned in a three-year period, involved at least three o£ the leading families* went through the lower courts to the General Court, gained the personal atten tion of the King’s Attorney-General> and engaged the wits of some of the colony's outstanding lawyers.®, , The opening shots of the legal dispute were fired through several petitions which all parties drew up to state and defend their positions* The first Burwel1-Gr1ffin traverse did little ante than state their disagree ment with Wormeley, and it is not surprising that three more petitions soon followed* . In -the first petition they .made- passing reference, to the Statute of 2nd and 3rd of Edward 6, Cap 8 - a reference which Wormeley completely ignored, bringing up in its stead an act of Parliament passed in 167?« Wormeley, in his short and only extant address to the Beputy-Governor, Sir 7 Henry Chicheley, argued that the will was ’‘invalid both in fact and law for want • of testimony according to. an Act entitled m Act to prevent frauds and perjuries made in the 29th Year of Charles 2d” and went further to pray that the petition of Burwell and Griffin be rejected and he be paid "Bamages for this unjust Holescation end Trouble#”® In light of the. pre-Revolutionary arguments over which act® of Parlia ment were valid and which ones were not, the position taken by the Burwell- Griffin faction is of interest. Both Burwell and Griffin realised that the outcome of the case rested entirely upon the Interpretation of the English law of 1677. therefore, their next three petitions constitute lengthy arguments against the validity of this law in Virginia. In their first replication, Burwell-Griffin claimed that: ”It is not by the said Act nor by any law or Authority yet declared or adjudged that the said Act shall be binding or observ'd by the Inhabitants of this Colony I? nor ore they so much m rationed nor is it possible it should he observed by the®'-before the said''inhabitants have notice*, .which m yet' hath not been made of the said Act.. . v" they argued that this "Act cannot he ed* nitted m a %m until it be published mi. m declared to he,” for if* they continued, the act was recognised as law, it could only bring ’’disorder confusion and Mischief*’ to ©any of the colony’s inhabitants as it would make void most of the wills and testaments which had been drawn up after the passage of the disputed act, and the said act could be pleaded against those who thought temselves in*safe ownership'of what they had inherited*- Further, judgments made on contracts, agreements, leases, and the like* in the' courts' of law and equity would be imperilled because most, persons, the petition went on, drew up their official papers according to the "common form and the Antient taw of the Colony" newer taking into consideration .this'"Act of which they newer had notice*"- Both Burwell and Griffin pre~ dieted that "not only our Estates but lives and liberties.. .would be in Banger’1 if all- the "Hew Acts of the ■parliament of England be of force ob liging and binding to the Inhabitants of Virginia before Publication or Hotice thereof given to them... A second replication discussed the circumstances under which the will was signed. Apparently there was a third witness present who refused to attach his. name to the document:, for the replicants suggest there "might be a fraud Intended in the Witness that refused to subscribe the Hill...he being a learned Man and whose profession is used to drawing of Wills and coming lately out of England might have knowledge of this Act which few if 1G any in the Colony could know." Their main arguments had been laid down in the first petition, however, and the replications which •followed were IS dgvo'ted largely to an elaboration' of the .mein- defense end-'the' tying op of loose ends. Unfortunefcely*the decision of the-Mddlesek Court is nO longer esc* tent. Nor is that of the General Court, where an appeal was carried* But there la good ground for believing that Burwell and Griffin carried the day. In the latter part of 1681 Sir William Jones* the * King fs Attorney- General, examined the will and pronounced it Undoubtedly a good Will, if not avoided by the Act of Parliament...against frauds, &c." To the Attorney- General it appeared that the ‘devisor was Compos Mentis and understood him- self well and did willingly and with a full Desire, both cause the some to be written, and did sign and publish the same#** The law of 1677, he held, was that "a new Law or Statute made In England* not naming Virginia# * * shall not take Effect in Virginia... * till received by the Attorney-General or 11 others who have the Legislative Power in Virginia.... ** Lord Culpeper* whose place in Virginia was being taken by Chicheley* was -in England at the time and discussed the case with Sir William Jones. ■ He discussed the Attorney-General3s opinion 'with ‘many judge© who concurred in it, and it seems doubtful that ■ Culpeper 1 took a'different stand when, in Virginia for the second time, he appeared before the General Court, probably in the win* ter of 1662*63• Though Sir William completely agreed with the Burwe 11-Griffin posi tion, the case apparently dragged on. In January of 1683, there was filed a ^Petition of Col# Leroy Griffin and Lewis Burwell, exctrs of John Burnham agnst Ralph Worraley, praying a writ of entrapment forbidding said Wormley from destroying timber, Not long after, Wormeley was informed of the Statute of Gloucester which "provided that after such time as a pica 19 shall be moved la my court by writ, the tenant shall have no power to make any waste or estrepement of the land in demand” and apparently with the purpose of insuring tiorweley1 & ■ compliance, -the Sheriff of Middlesex was ’’coaiaanded to., see the ©aid Statute -fully, observed* by going personally m 13 the messuages and tenements of which the ©aid John Burnham died' seised*” this is the last reference to the case which, on the basis: of the evidence, Wonaeley lost* Reflecting, it might appear rather odd that the three men involved- . would'Spend1 the time and' what must have been no snail sum of money to ob- tain the possession of the 2,239 acres which Burnham*s will bequeathed. Surely neither party were in absolute need of land, though the fact that the.Burnham acreage was already,developed probably gave Burwell, Griffin, and' Wormaley the incentive to continue the struggle to the end once it had started* It. is- unlikely that- Wormeley would have- challenged the validity of the will, and himself file grant for the land, if Burnham's will left undeveloped land- lying in some- remote area beyond the tidewater. But m the property was of fairly good sis© and located in the upper parts of Christ Church Parish, it was undoubtedly attractive' enough so that both parties were willing to fight for it. legal disputes, however, did not stand in the way of Burwell's civil responsibilities* During the first governorship of Francis Nicholson, a movement was under, way to found a college. At this time. In the summer of 1690, Nichol* son was on friendly, terms with all of hi© associates, and he authorised the "building & endowing of a free school & colledge,” appointing Major Lewis Burwell and .mmmhez of other gentlemen,::to "procure as many Subscrip tions gratuities & benevolences as you can wthia this Colony of Virginia 20 towards the defraying the charge of the «d building®. . . . Precisely what role Burwell played In the establishment of the college cannot he determined, hut he seems to have taken a genuine Interest in the project* later the same year, he and others were signators to a document pledging various sums towards the building of the college "for the good Example of 15 other#...."* One important Burwell acquisition came about several years later through the death of Nathaniel Bacon, Sr. * in 1692, whose uncle was the father of Nathaniel "The Rebel. " Bacon was b o m in 1620 and arrived in Virginia about 1650 where he established himself at "King's Creek" in York County. He was Burgess for that County in 1658 and 1659 and was a long* time member of the Council. Appointed Auditor-General in 1615 he resigned that post in 1687. two years later, he was President of the Council and Acting Governor. More important to the Burwell®s however, was the fact that Bacon was the sole heir to the Bacon estates and that he himself had . no issue. One of Bacon*© sisters» Martha by name, married, In Englandc Anthony Smith, whose daughter Abigail came to Virginia and married lewis Burwell# As she was Bacon's only living relative in Virginia, the Burwell 16 family received the bulk of Bacon's estate. After my just debts are paid I give to my loving Niece Abygall Burwell wife of lewis Burwell of Gloucester County.. .the Plantation whereon I now reside/17/ and all other lands in Hampton and Bruton parishes in York County*, .and after her death to her son lewis Burwell Junior/18/ and his heirs forever. Then I give to everyone of Major Lewis Burwell'# children now living Fifty Pounds sterling.... Item * 1 give mid bequeath all ray lands lying in Isle of Wight"and Nancyaond County#...to my nephew Lewi# Burwell Junior and his Wife Abigail Burwell and after their decease to Nathaniel and James Burwell.... Item- 2 give unto my Nephew Major Lewis Burwell all my lands lying and being in New Kent County/20/ to be managed, sold and disposed of to the advantage and the proper use and benefit of Lewis Burwell1# four daughters.... Item * I give unto...Major Lewis Bur- well and...Abygall Burwell.•.all my personal Estate and debts due me either in England or Virginia or elsewhere as also all my money. Ships or part# 21 of ships/21/ 'anil all my goods and Chattel© whatsoever to'me belonging..* mot already expressed in the Will to he disposed of by Lewis Burwell and Abygall his Wife to the real use and behoof of the children lawfully he* gotten.../22/ Bated March 1691-2 5 this will left to the Burwells the lands* estates and personal goods of a family whose prominence cannot be disputed. It is safe to say that by this will the material possessions of the Burwells were virtually doubled. In this period there were few fathers who could die with the sure knowledge that all of his male off-spring were provided with estates already well established. Yet this is just what happened with Lewis Burwell XX. He had assured the family position as far as the eldest son was concerned, and certainly the others would have been well provided for* but it was Nathaniel Bacon, Sr., who removed any doubt that the younger sons might enter adulthood without substantial holdings of their own. This seemed to assure that leading roles in the colony would be played by more than one branch of the Burwell family in years ahead. In effect, position and wealth were not to be limited to the one line descending from the eldest male, but were instead, to permeate the branches created by the three brothers. But the will also brought trouble from .an unexpected source. At a meeting held at '’King*# Creek” in March 1691, the Council noted that Bacon still possessed a large sum. received .in hi# position, as Auditor-General * It therefore requested' Lewis Burwell to attend a .future .meeting of the Coun cil, bringing with him. all of Bacon*© account#,, papers, voucher# and the like, for purpose of examination, thirteen stanth# later, Burwell appeared* the books were examined, and he was ordered to "appears at the Audite the 21th day of June next and to pay the balls nee of two Shillings per Head... also give bond and Security to pay all such Sum#...a# shall appear due their Mas for Quit Rents*..and the part of the Negroes Ac Seized in the n ' year# . 1687 that same summer the Council declared that ^ 258/15s/6d still.remained1 in Burwell*e hands.and he m$ toid to **psy the same to fcfc Honoble "Francis Nicholson Esqre their Mai leiut Govsr of this Colony who is pleased to accept thereof in part of his Salary.”2^ As late a® 1699* the issue was still unsettled. Burwell, who by this time must have bean tiring of the whole’matter* petitioned the’Connell to he discharged from, any further claims arising from the will. The past history of the case was discussed and-the Council ordered that an instrument he drawn up according to the '■ , -2S-. * prayer of Burwell'& petition. The Major-may have been caused several .in- conveniences, hut it was & small price to pay for the many gains,and oppor tunities for further gain which the Burwells reaped through Bacon's will* A year after the founding'of the college* .lewis Burwell built, a home on Carter's Creek* the home itself being assigned the same name* though present-day writers often refer to it as "Fairfield.882^ Fife has unfor tunately destroyed the old homestead* but pictures of it do exist as testi mony of the standard of living to which the Burwells were accustomed* The old view from the northwest shows that the home was planned or built as a "T”, but claims that it was originally * W shaped have been made* and such would be the actual case if another wing had been built at the other end. The home, unusual in several respects, possessed the first hip-roof in America. Devised to allow the classic cornice to carry around a building without interruption and at the same time to eliminate the gable ends of the Mediaevel period, the hip roof could be seen in the old wing which was only one story and which joined the two-story gable-roofed house. Both buildings possessed chimneys grouped in stacks, a style not unusual in Tudor England. On the wing there was a triple-stack chimney which penetrated the apex of the roof * With one possible exception existing it* Surry County, this style is unique in the United States. There are also good indications that Carter's'Greek was-the first complete building- to see the use-of flemish bond in the country* In spite-'of these "firsts*"' Carter*» Creek was rather an informal home. The wing was reputed to have contained a ball room, with a great marble mantel and carved panelling. No pictures of the Interior are known to this writer* though from the architectural viewpoint it can1 be - stated that lewis'Burwell enjoyed the best. - Carter's- Greek was located in Abingdon Parish and"its' first church was constructed about 1660 near the head of the northwest branch of the Severn River. Carter's Greek was only a short distance from the church* and the Burwell# were regular communicants from 1677 or earlier. The. ori ginal ■ church -was In use until 1751*. was highly praised* and considered to her of high architectural qualities. Francis Louis Michel* when 'touring parts of Virginia after the turn of the century, wrote that he "saw the Clooter Church* standing solitary in the forest, which I have already men tioned as one of the moat beautiful, built of bricks.” And William Byrd* in 1709, noted l» his diary that - it was the '"best church I have seen in the 28 country." Countless Sundays the Bassetts* Burwells, Byrds* and others would attend services here, following which they would frequently spend a leisurely afternoon together. Another dispute involving land, though on a much smaller scale than the'one with Sfomaeley* occurred in 1697. At a meeting of the Council in June, a petition from John Carrell was brought up for discussions The petitioner complained that Majr Lewis Burwell, and Majr Arthur Allen/29/ without any surveyor or patent to direct them came forceably upon the peer* land which he hath long and 24 peaceably enjoyed, and marked the tree© thereupon, and took the .same Into, the said Burwells possession, terrifying the petr being * peer maa...*/30/ On October 20, both Burwell and Allen appeared before the Council and after ' ; 1 * ' - . i "being fully heard, and it not appearing that the ad Major Allen ia authorized t i / 1 * > ' or qualified, to make Surveyes, or taken the Oaths appointed by Law*’ it was concluded that Allen* s surveys were "hot warrantable or of any Effect” and Carrel1 was "referred to hit further remedy at Law."^l Burwell*a legal batties suggest that he was a forceful character, far from lacking aggressiveness. Precisely how "terrifying" the Burwell-AlXeo . i : , > ,> v is it was to Carroll can only he guessed, but Burwell was by this time a » ; powerful person, as can be seen in the inferred comparison in Carrel!*® « i petition, and his attempt to infringe upon Carrell*s holdings might well have caused the poor man • who possessed only sixty-seven acres * much anx iety. Had he been living under any otherflag, Carrell's chances of success fully holding off the Burwell-Allen "combine" would have been practically i * nil. Be that as it may, the several disagreements over land show Burwell to have been a determined individual, and his ability to carry on litigation • .i for well over a year with Worraeley, is a sound, reminder of the. position which the Burwells had by this time reached. ( # .. . i . . The removal of the colonial capital to Williamsburg gives us a por trait of lewis Burwell the civic leader* After the State House at James town burned in 1498, the proposed change in the site of the capital gave rise to many problems, which Burwell and others attempted to solve- On October 20, shortly after the destruction of the State House, Governor Ed mund Andros, invited to a meeting of the Council "Such of the Noted Gentle- .*32 men of the Countrey as were present in Town.... Among the twelve men Who answered this invitation was Lewis Burwell. The only official papers 23 sawed from the fire'were, chose thrown; out in scattered heaps-and the Governor was emilom that they should he preserved, itepresenting Jamestown# the Clerks of the Court aad of; the House, Eoberfc and Feter Beverley, respectively# secured Mrs. Sherwood*S^3 jerraisston to store Khea to her porch chaafcee and the chamber adjoining, after she agreed, the meeting proceeded to other business. •' vi. It was suspected that the fire which destroyed the State House, was not of accidental origin, end, accordingly, a seven-man investigating com* mittee, which included Lewis Burwell, was set up to make ^Strict inquiry Into the beginning & Cause of the said fire & take what Order Shall be necessary therein.’’^ At this same meeting it was also decided that, un til further conveniences could be made, the Council would meet in the great hall at Mrs. Sherwood^* By the end of the year, Francis Nicholson had begun his second tenure as Governor of Virginia* A ©an with unbounded energy, he' did not spend it all in losing his temper* Earlier in the decade, he had been a vital factor in the founding of the College* andnov, with the destruction of the State House for the third time, he'was able to carry .-out what had long been a .pet project with him, namely, the-; removal of the seat of-the' government fro® Jamestown to Middle Plantation, or Williamsburg as it'later came to be cal led. It would require much work and cooperation* the new town had to be 1 . i * laid’out, committees established,, buildings.constructed, and legislation relating to the new town passed by the Assembly, the leading elements in the colony tackled their jobs with enthusiasm. While progress was of neces sity slow, it was nevertheless steady. The main thoroughfare, which would run east to west, was named for the Duke of Gloucester, and regulations 26 were established specifying that houses mast be at least, 'twenty, feet in width and thirty feet la.length*. lewis Burwell3 Philip bud well, Junior, Benjamin Harrison, Junior* and three, others -mm appointed. the feoffee# of the town, alto** these wm-mntG given nearly absolute authority over the sale of lands within the town limits. - Even if a person were .granted a lot, he was expected to construct a heme, according to vdnims*. specifications within twenty* four months; other*' wise the property would revert to the feoffees* In another provision of the. same legislation, lewis.Burwell.and nine others were "nominated* authorised, and impowered by the name of the directors...to make such rules and order, and to give such directions- in the building of said- city and ports.**as to them shall seem best and most convenient."33 -Burwell1# activ* ities did not pass unnoticed either fey the governor of the Board of trade* A seat on the Council represented the height of political success * the office was all but officially restricted to the prominent families, and Burwell*s appointment to this position la final evidence to. the wealth and- social station now held by the family* A? letter from the Board of trade and Plantations, dated August 21, 1700, to the governor brought the news of Burwell* s appointment* After disposing of several, items- of business, the Board at last concluded that, as Colonel lee had expressed a desire to be relieved of M s position on the Council, he should be '"discharged ac* cordingly, and that Hr lewis Burwell may be instituted as-a Member.**Ia hi# stead.*'3^ Burwell*a appointment did not turn out to be as easy as all this. Papers had to be drawn up, signed, and seat; and this took months; in some cases it could take a year or more* In Burwell*® case it took several years. zt Xu a letter of December 4, the Board mentioned fcfesir appointment and eg* pressed faith that *1ff» terry to whom wa gave Notice of it, will have taken out the Order of the. Connell for that purpose and teat it to hla***^ A letter of late August 1701 admitted that tan months had passed since perry was given notice of the King9a constituting Burmell a member of the Councils hut the Board laconically noted that they "find the order thereupon was duly taken out and we expected that it should hare been sent accordingly**1^ Another letter of the aaae date, signed by Willie* popple, informed the Governor that he understood the order constituting Burwell had been taken out not by Perry, hut by gir Jeffrey Jeffreys and promised to check with the latter and to remind him that **if it miscarried another may he aent**1^ Whether Burwell knew of the appointment before he received the order is not known* it m m * probable that he did, hut nearly a year passed after Popple9® letter, before the subject was again mentioned* Burwell had at last received, his order, or at least unofficial word of his appointment, but felt he could not accept* On Hay 14, 1702, Her Majesty in Council, having read the representation of the Board of trade which set forth Bur* well's request that he he relieved of his post **by reason of his age and infirmity'* was pleased to Order that the said lewis Burwell be discharged** and ordered the Sari of Nottingham to prepare a warrant for her signature Aft to be sent to the Governor* Seven days later, Nottingham drew up the necessary paper, but Burwell did not receive his discharge immediately A1 thereafter. A letter of the Board, dated November 4, 1702, suggests that Burwell did not receive word of his discharge until the last weeks of that year or the early weeks of 1703. In this letter of November 4, Her Majesty's Order in Council discharging Burwell was enclosed, as were 28 commission# appointing three new men to the Council in response to the Governor** "difficulty to gett together a Quorum* About a year after Jteweil9# dispute with Carroll» Nicholson succeeded Andros as Governor« Nicholson was not m tf a tssn of action* but he had a fiery reaper which would get him into trouble on. more than one occasion during the course of hie long service to the crown. As both Burwell aid the Governor "were active in the project to remove the capital, it can he assumed that the two mm $m one another frequently most of the time at the capital, and there m m undoubtedly instances When the Governor visited g w well at his home* OUf one of these occasions® Nicholson met Lucy Burwell and shortly thereafter proceeded to court her* Nicholson never married* hut it cannot he said he never tried* By 1702* word of Nicholson*g courtship of Lucy had reached Bug land* and it prompted one of his friends to write hi® a letter which teams with news of the reputation Nicholson was earning for himself in London* His friend, with obvious regrets, wrote of the charges which had been laid at the Governors door* first, it is here said & sneered at by the meanest of those who have lately come that you still prosecute your armours 'Without the least hopes of success *...Secondly, it is said that the slights that you have received on this ae« count have so enraged you towards the young lady9* friends that you swear you will cut their throats, not sparing her father9 s, and that you use such furious threatening* as render you odious & hatefull to all*/43/ the letter continued with eight more points on which the writer thought Nicholson had erred, and then offeree* advice* the writer blamed Nicholson1# "fire and fury" for having "conceived m aversion instead of m. esteem & Love for you* It is not here as in some barbarous countries where the tender tady is often drag9* into the Sultan*# anas just reeking in the blood of her nearest relations#**," He advised the Governor to submit to his fete sad the "natural Issue of «st unhappy conduct*" Nicholson9# friend continued by n suggesting chut It would he a "noble & g&rotek part in you" If in the fitter# hi# coquet showed itself "perfectly reconciled to hue Father heir family & ell other# with whom you Itare been et odd# on her account *H Finally he asked the Governor to "treat thee with the humanity* effabilityfl & courtesy which become# a Christian*"^ ## Nicholson was a religion# man* this last appeal might hie#' had a temporary effect* though it would have taken a man of courage to remain in hi# presence when the letter wan fir#t delivered* By thi# cime9 however* Nicholson had offended enough prominent cltitan© m . that m wmmmt for hi# recall we# under way* the Governor we# completely at odd# with hi# onetime friend, Commissary 3 mm Blair, who was president of the newly founded €ol« leg# of William and Mery, and a friend of th# Bishop of loadon* To the latter * Blair wrote a lengthy .manorial • against. the Governor*^ Not long afterf in May 1703* the Council drew up a document which complained to the Queen of the many great grievance# It pressures we lit under by reason of- the unusual 1* insolent & arbitrary method# of Government a# well a# wicked a •can&alou# examples of life which have been now for diver# year# past' put in practice by hi# Excellency Fraael® Nicholson, E#ifr#« %*/&#/ the Council requested theGovernor*# removal and it can be imagined that Blair permed M s name to the document with no little delight,4,7 For Burwell* Nicholson9# removal could not be soon enough. Several month# after the Council1 # memorial* on duly 23* Burwell wrote to Philip indwell* Gr»* who had since removed to England, that 1 m dally alarmed with threatening message# of rulite* for what 1 know not, unless it be becau#e I will not force my daughter to marry utterly against her will* which is a thing no Christian body can do. The other day 1 re* ceived a message that I must ride in one of our troops* and if 1 refused so to doe* 1 am to be fetcht out of my house by violence and compelled to ride* altho8 I have the Queen9# quietus for being one of the Council by reason 1 m disabled in my iia&s»/40/ 30 o» July ■ 26, Philip iu&H&U Jr., wrote m hie father* I suppose my brother Burwell tells you how true that part of the Col,8a letter £ i reference to one of Quarry's Ittterj/ is that the Governor is become so entire s convert, and hath 1*14 aside the amour* Ha: and hi* creatures have Industriously spread abroad, that the hucy would not accept hies, she- end her friends had taken presents to the value of 50O 1* All the things that, she had received were 3% yards of i!arty point lace 'and- a puree containing 8 stone rings and a small seal, which he put into her hand wrapt up in her hsndkarcher, and rid sway* She Sant then hack and he returned them, and we then left them again: at his house, whereat the Governor violently abused m.***/49/ Unfortunately for Burwell, the Governor mss a person to hold a grudge, and the distraught father found there was little to do hut hope that Nicholson might soon be compelled to resign* this "event did not conn about and Nicholson continued to annoy Lucy's father* On October 13, Burnell's eld** eit son, Nathaniel, wrote to ludwell and consented that the "Governor con* Hawes to rage against ay father*..*’'50 the following year, hwey Burwell '• * A married Col* Edmund Berkeley of “B a m Nfcas** a masher of the Council* In this sans year another complaint against the Governor was written by Stephen Fovece, a minister. He relates that one Sunday night when returning from a visit to Hajor lewis Burwell who was sick, he ran into the Governor Who, according to fovace'e letter,' told him 1st an angry voice "not to go to that house (pointing to Hajor Burwell** House) except you be sent for, nor to •P*«* *® the young Udy.,l5i The massed ainiater then found M m e l f tn a heated exchange which ended with Nicholson attempting to use his whip on Fovace, till the latter set spurs to his horse and fled into the night* With the Governor as m enemy, the minister found hie life in the Colony intolerable and fled Virginia for England, though Nicholson made every of** fort to stop him* Burwell also hod given thought to flight* As early as 1102, when he was still trying to avoid sitting on the Council, Burwell had written to 31 Indwell Sr., that he proposed "for England, for 1 shell not he able to live here... we weekly ley under heavy threats of ruin..».,l52 What in effect would have been exile did not come about. In April 1 7 0 5 Nicholson wee at last renewed, and the Burwells# the Ludwaila, the Blair®, and ether* could look forward to a more even-tempered Governor. Now In his final years, Burwell would be able to play the role of a retired gentleman though ho re* maimed active enough to supervise his tobacco crops end to occasionally en large upon hie landholdings. In land there was wealth, and the quitreat rolls of 1704 are further evidence of the status Which the Burwella had reached by this time# During the colonial period, all land owners had to pay to the King an annual quit rent amounting to one shilling for every fifty acres, the county sheriff prepared the list of landholders and noted the number of acres each owned, the list was then delivered to the Receiver-General who collected the quit rents and sent them, along with his accounts, to London. Whether all the persons listed possessed the land in fee staple is unlmown; but it can be assumed that the wealthy families did. Also, it cannot be established if Burwell paid quit rents on all his holdings, there are indications that persons who leased property were held responsible for the quit-rent pay ments. A landholder in Burveltfi* class might well have leased some of his holdings, and at the moment there is no way of telling whether Burwtil or the leasee paid the quit rents in these cases* Be that as it may, the quit rent rolls for 1704 show the rapidity of the Burwells* rise under the aegis of lewis Burwell 11, 32 BVEMBU. UMOaOlBDiGS AND THE QUIT KBSS! ROIXS OF 1704* Mo* of Mo* of .Persona Owning No. f^msd Persons 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 $,000 by Counties listed or more or mors or more or more or more Burwell Gloucester 383 33 10 4 0 0 3,300 King William 217 28 13 8 4 1 4,700 Charles City 38 13 5 3 '2 2 8,000 Hew Kent 432 28 11 5 2 1 200 James City 288 27 6 4 3 1 1,350 Tork 203 11 3 0 0 0 2*100 Isle of Wight 256 27 7 4 2 2 7,000 *Gognets» Jr., comp,, English Duplicates of Lost Virginia Records. 123*232* The chert it largely self-explanatory. Me can readily eee that ee the numbers of acres increase, the numbers of persons who possess these larger landholdings quickly decrease® With the exception of Hew Kent County, Burwell was among the leading landholders in all the counties where he has holdings* In Charles City County, he was the largest landowner, while he was the second largest in Gloucester, King -Willis% fork, and Isle of Wight Counties# He was fourteenth in James City County and in Hew Kent County, where he probably held only the. few acres bequeathed him by Bacon, lie is near the bottom of the list* 4 quick look at the chart shows his total ownership to hare been 26,650 acres, and a less hasty look at the quit rent rolls would prows beyond doubt that by 1704 Burwell was one of the largest landholders in the colony, firmly fixed at the apex of the social and pollt* ical pyramid® Byrd’s wonderful diary provides glimpses of Burwell in retirement# Burwell1 a last two years were spent in managing his plantation, friendly m visit* with tli* neighbors* and the leisurely lit* oft** 1*4 by the elderly planter* of colonial Virginia* 0* April 30, 1709, Byrd visited Sertoli at King4* Creek and noted that “the Major had the gout 1* one foot, very moderately because of his temperance*,?5^ Byrd remained the night at the Burwells and the following day endeavored to learn ell he could “from Major Bruwell oho is a sensible man skilled in matters relating to tobacco/4^ Byrd was a frequent visitor at the Burwell home and seemed to enjoy con* versing with the Major* 0* November 4# the diarist went to King4a Creek, 55 dined with the Major, and then sat and talked until about ten in the evening• Sometime late in the following year lewis Burwell1 a health began to decline rapidly* the nature of the final illness is unknown, but it does not appear at first to have been regarded as anything too serious, as there were some days in which definite improvement was noticed, end other* when his life was ebbing away. On November ft, Byrd and some others spend the evening with the Governor with whom they ate and later played cards* Byrd was desirous of visiting Burwell and the Governor said that he would loan him his coach for that purpose * the neat day at About 9 o'clock the Governor8* coach and six horse* came to ray lodgings to carry us to Major Burwell1 s and we went aeon after and got there about lit We found the Major very sick and despaired of by hr* Cocke. 1 ate some oysters there, there was a consultation between Dr# Blair and Dr* Cocke about him and they agreed on the method to treat him. We stayed here till 2 o'clock and before we came away Mat Burwell told us his wife was sick of the gripe**/56/ Seven days later, Byrd spent the evening at the coffeehouse where ho stayed till about ten with Nathaniel Burwell, the Major** eldest son, and several other gentlemen* Burwell was now feeling better according to his son, but there was a relapse not long after and on December 11, Byrd rode out to visit his sick friend. m About 10 o 8clock % borrowed.Hr* Clayton** horse to ride to Hejor Burwells md got there before 12. I found him with a fever on him but not violent, but he was apprettensiv« of dying end desired extremely to live a little longer* He begged of i»e to pray for him end if after hie deatl^there should happen to be e disagreement among hie children he conjured me /to/ make it up, which % promised him I would. X found there several of hie daughters* About 3 o'clock it begin to rain mid a little after we went to Aimmt and 1 ate some roeet pig* then about 4 o'clock f recojamended Major Burwell to the protection of the Almighty and took my lesve»/57/ 0a the afternoon of December 17, Byrd walked over to see Met* Harrison* hot she had gone to visit her father who was now failing rapidly, two days later, on December 191 1710* lewis Burwell X! died. On the twenty*third, CO an unseasonably wane day*. the patriarch was laid to rest. 35 CHAPTER II - END NOTES I. "The F.F.V.'* of Virginia." WllHemiand-lffiV, Quarterly, lot *er., 23(1915), 277* Thi* article list* fifty*seven families* Though first generation families are virtually excluded, the Bixrwell*, by 1881» could claim some relationship with nineteen of those listed. 2* Everard Kidder Heada, "The Children of Major Lewis Burwell II, " Proceeding* of the jfltedML j&wtfr Historical MmkisUm 4(1944), 9. 3* Charles M. Andrews, ed«, Narrative* of the Insurrections: 1675*1690 (New York, 1915), 83* 4. Griffin'a father, Thomas, la recorded first at having received land in 1651* His son, Colonel Leroy Griffin* was Justice of Rappahannock County in 1680 and married the daughter of Henry Corbin, who resided at "Buckiog- ham” in Middlesex County* ’’Letter* of 'William Pitahugh," Va. Mag* of Elat * ftJttfifc.. i (1884) ,254 3* Ralph Wonaelay's mother was Agatha Eltonhead. Her sister married Henry Corbin after the death of her first husband Rowland Burnham, father of John Burnham. Griffin's wife was thus Burnham's half-sister* "Letter® of William Fitshttgh," Va* Meg, of Hist* & Blog*. 1(1894), 254-58. Griffin's son Corbin married Judith Wormeiey* daughter of Christopher Wormeley of Middlesex, and lumber of the Council* The relationship be tween Christopher and Ralph Worm©ley has never been successfu ly worked out. See "The Wonaeley family." Vs. Mae, of Hlat. &Biog.» 36(1928), 98- 101$ 283-93$ 385-89* 6* William Pitzhugh and Robert Beverley war# counsels for Wormeley* For Hormeley'a position* see the "Letters of William Fitzhugh," Va. Mat* of Hist* & Blog.* 1(1893-94), 31-34$ 37-38$ 44$ 46-47$ 254-67. By the time the case reached the General Court *other lawyers included Thomas Clayton, a resident of Jamestown from which he was Surges* in 1683$ Arthur Spicer, prominent merchant., lawyer, and Burges* for Richmond County in 1696$ and William Sherwood, who had been appointed Attorney-General in 1678 but had since resigned. 7. The Deputy-Govewor was Wormeiey1# stepfather. Wormeley's father died in 1651 and shortly after the widow married Sir Henry Chlcheley, then a royalist refugee. 8. "The Randolph Manuscript," Va. Mag* of Hist.& Blog.* 18(1910), 132-33. 9. Ibid., 133-36. w * 136-37. II. R. T# Barton, ed.t Virginia Colonial Decisions: The Reports of Sir John Randolph and by Edward Barradall of Decisions of the General Court of Virginia. 1728-1741 (Boston, 1909), II, B1-B2 36 12. W. p* Palmer, gt j|J*» ads., Calendar of ..Virginia. State Paper* and Other .Manuscripts. * .Frescrved ..»* at Richmond. 1632*1869 (Richmond, 1875-93), X, 14. 13. W. W. Kening* *d«# The Statu tea-at-Large Being a Collect ion of all the baus of Virginia. 1619*1792 (ft* Yes*, 1623), XX* 363-64* 14. 'Paper* Relating to the Founding of the College/1 Wm» & Mary 15. 1616.. 160-61 16. O t t e r s of William Fitthugh*" Va. Maa. of Hist. & Blog,. 2(1894), 125-26, 17. "King*# Creek11 plantation. This lend va© originally patented by Captain John title olio arrived in Virginia about 1625, It was then named ”tltimarlaH acid was sold by title0# son to William Tayloe who had married Elizabeth. Kingsatll, daughter of Richard Kingsalll. Tiros, Tayloe re ceived 'Utimaria1* through purchase, while through his wife “KingsmiXX” came into the family. There was no issue from this union, and when Wil liam Tayloe died, his wife married Nathaniel Bacon. Eventually* "Kings8 Creek” went to James Burwell, while "JCingsmill" went to lewis, Burwell9# only son by his second wife. Not much later* the three Burwell brothers - Nathaniel, James, and lewis - successfully absorbed all the land between King*a Creek and Queen®s Creek on the fork River and Skiff5© Creek and Archer®a Hope Creek on the James. 16, lewis Burwell, Jr.* died in his teens* being bent on October 9, 1682, and having died on September 17, 1696* "King*® Creek” than want to the next eldest son who was James, b o m on feferwary 4, 1689, 19. On Kerch 23, 1692* Bacon obtained a patent to 1075 acres in Isle of Night County. Nugent* Cavaliers and Pioitcera. 273. The patent was re* mewed on February 16* 1663* ' Ibid.* 478 20. Bacon patented three hundred acres in'New lent County 'on June 9* 1658 and 2,000 acres on/Kerch 22, 1665-6. Ibid.* 381, 547. 21. Many planters might own a ketch, sloop* or briganteen. In 1701, lawls Burwell possessed the Martha of Virginia* a sloop which was con structed in 1699 and weighed twenty-five tons* touts dee Cognate, Jr., comp*, English Duplicates of lost Virginia Records (tt*p*, 1958), 292. 22o "letters of William Fitzhugh/' Va. Mag, of Hist. & Biog.. 2(1894), 127-29. 23. H. R. Mcllwaine, ad.* Executive Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia* 1680-1739 (Richmond. 1925-30), X, 240* 24. Ibid.. 261. 25. Ibid., 464-65 3? 20. Oa one of the chimneys. me cut the inscription ’’I.B.A.. .1694” ”Hotes and Queries.** Va. ttsa. of Hint. & BtQft.a 10(1902), 106**7. there ere some who feel that the Burwells were in residence here long before 1604*. George H. Burwell in his Record of the Burwell Family notes on the frontispiece that the-first lewis Burwell was in residence at Car ter fs Creek, and has read the date of the chissncy*inscription as 1634. This seems most improbable, since Lewis Burwell was only thirteen years old at-the time and had. presumably left for England la March of' that year, after the failure of the Kingswell expedition. After the first Burweifs arrival in c.1640, a homestead may have been built on carter’s Creek, destroyed, and replaced by the structure of 1694* That the Burwell* re* sided on Carter's Creek prior to 1694 semes certain, but the enact spot la unknown. Only some archaeological work could reveal if the 1694 home* stead was built on the site of an earlier structure. 27. Thomas T. Waterman and John A. Barrows, Domes tic ColonialArchl* tecture of Tidewater Virginia (Mew York, 1932), 30*35. 28. George C. Mason. Colonial Churches of Tidewater Virginia (Rich* mond, 1945), 255, By 1756 the nee church was in use. In 1841, it under* went heavy alterations. The old church possessed two tranacept galleries# The south gallery was occupied by the Thurston and Lewis families while the north gallery was occupied by the Burwells and the Pages. 29. Major Arthur Allen owned a sieeshle estate and was active in the af faire of the colony* Be represented Surry County In the Burgesses from 1682*1688, and was Speaker of the Bouse in 1686. In 1703, he was appointed Haval Officer and Collector of Virginia duties in the upper district of the James liver* The Quit Bent rolls for the following year show him to be the largest landholder in his county, possessing 6,788 acres* In the Randolph Manuscript it is remarked that hard Howard ’’suspends Major Arthur Allen for opposing the King’s Preorgative.” ’’Randolph Manuscript, n Va. Msg, of Hist. & Blog*. 19(1911),6. At this time * 1680 * he was a sur veyor (besides being Speaker) and this might have been the position he lost. Allen .appears to have been-somewhat touchy about taking oaths* He was elected a Burgess in 1691 but, as'he had Hscruple# about being sworn, he was ordered replaced m April 27, his place was taken by Benjamin'Har rison* ’’notes and Queries,'* Va* Men, of Hist. & Blog.. 13(1905)*95* Allen was not alone in his sensitivity to 'oaths. On May 22, 1702, Col. William Bassett, returned as a Burgess for Hew Kent County*refused to take the oath because of the reported death of ling William* On May 26, the Burgess for King and Queen County, William Byrd, refused to take the oath on the same grounds as Bassett. On May 29, new elections were requested to replace Bassett and Byrd* Palmer, at al., ads*, Calendar of Virginia State Papers, X, 79*80. 30. MCllwaine, ed«, Executive Journals of the Council. I, 366. 31. Ibid* 372 32. Mcllwaine, ed.» Executive Journals of the Council. X, 392. 38 33* Probably the wife of William Sherwood who had died the year before* He had been one of the lawyers in the Burwell-irlflln vs* Worraeley ease* 34* Mcllwaine, ad*» Executive Journals of..the. Council* I* .392* 35. Hening, ed*, gtatstes-at* large (Philadelphia, 1823), XII, 425*2$• 36* “Council Papers 1638-1700,“ Va. Has, of Hist* & Blog.* 21(1913)s 266-68* 32# Ibid,* 389# 38* JMd., 22(1914), 130 39* Ibid*. 244* 40* Palmer, et.al., eds*» Calendar of Virginia State Papers. X, 76# 41* “Council Papers, 1698-1701,“ Pa* Was* of Wist* & Blog*. 23(1915), 38-39# 42. Ibid*. 393* Getting a quorum together was made especially diffi cult due to the distances in Which the Councillors lived from Williamsburg. In about 1745, the Governor submitted a list of the members with the dis tances they lived from the capital as fellows? Hr. Diggs, 20; nr# Robinson, 45$ Hr# Gryaes, 30; Hr* Castle* in town; Mr* Light foot, 12; Mr# Taylor, 50; Hr* Lee, 54; Mr* Dunwlddle* 46; Hr* Burwell, 10; Mr# Pair fax, 150# Dogmata, Jr., «smp#t. English Duplicates of Lost Virginia Records. 244# 43. William S. Perry, ed*, Papers Relating to the History of the Church in Virginia* A*P« 1650*1776 (a*p*t 1878), 69. 44. Ibid.. 72-73 45. Ibid*. 75-80 46# Ibid.> 80. Of the six Councillors who signed this document, four were related to Burwell by blood or marriage* 47. It should not be thought that Nicholson was not without his defenders* Colonel Robert Quarry, member of the Council and later Surveyor-General of the Customs in America, wrote in the fall of 1703, a letter to the Bishop of London, vigorously defending the Governor# Perry, ed., Papers Relating to the Church**#. 82-87* Quarry writes of $lair*s “revenge & res e n S S t s “ and condemns his '’malicious attempts & designs against his Excellency Govr Nicholson.” Cal State ,w»#r», AWI. 1704-1705. 109. 49# Ibid.. 109. This letter settles once and for all the long-standing dispute of just which one of Burwell1 s daughters was the object of Nichol son's attention* Most of the Virginia genealogists have designated Martha. 39 50. Ibid., U0. 31. ferry, ed., faoara Relating...to the Church... 90* 5^. Cel State U 0 . 33. touia Wright end Marion Tinling, eds*» The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westower. 1709*1712 (Richmond, 1941), 28* 54. Ibid.* 29. 33* Ibid.* 102* 56* Ibid.. 263* 57* Ibid.* 270. 58. Ibid.. 273. An abbreviated copy of Burwell’« very long M i l may Ini ' found in folly C. Mason, comp.. Records of Colonial Gloucester County Virginia (Newport New®, 1946*1948), It, 43*44. While interesting, thi# will is devoted almost exclusively to the bequeathing of lands (whose acreage was not given) and personal possessions to various member* of the family. Burwell*3 complete will may be found in the Vork County Records, Wo. 14. 1709*1716, 1, 60*64 (photostat copy in Virginia State Uabrory, Richmond). CHAPTER III THE THIRD GENERATION When Lewis Burwell II died in 1710, the Burwell family was among the leaders of colonial Virginia, a position which was faithfully maintained by Burwell9a many children* No other prominent leader in this period had as many children as did Major Burwell, nor was any family more fortunate in making marriages among the leading families. By his first wife, Bur* well had ten children, four of whom we need not consider due to early deaths or the unavalability of information* His second wife bore him four known children, though only two are pertinent to this study** r The first daughter, Joanna, was. bora when Burwell was in his twen ties. She married Colonel William Bassett of "Elthaa” in New Rent County who served in the Assembly and was a long-time member of the Council* Like the Burwells, the Bassetts were part of the new emigration wave which be gan in about 1640* The second daughter, Elizabeth, married Benjamin 'Harrisonof “Berkeley” in Charles City County* At the time of his death in 1710, Harrison was Speaker of the House of Burgesses and Treasurer of Virginia* Earlier, he had served as Attorney-General• The quit rent rolls for 1704 show Harrison and Lewis Burwell to have been the two largest landholders in Charles City County, controlling between them 14,350 acres. Colonel Edmund Berkeley, a member of the Council and resident at “Bara Elms” in Middlesex County, married the object of Governor Nichol son* s affections, Lucy Burwell. Another daughter, Martha, married Henry Armistead of "Hesse” in Gloucester County* Although he was never on the Council, he came from one of the first families, and his daughter married 41 Thomas Kelson of Yorktown, who was not only m the Council s but served for over thirty years as Secretary of State. Burwell*» second wife, Martha lear Cole, had been previously married to William Cole, a Councillor and, for a short time, Secretary of State# She was the daughter of Colonel John tm t who arrived in Virginia with the new emigration, played a prominent role in Bacon*# rebellion, and was ap pointed to the Council in 1683. Aside from the male issue of Burwell9# second marriage, the only child of Interest is Her the* Junior, who married Colonel John Hart in of ''Clifton,* in Carolina County. Coming to Virginia about 1730 Martin never played a role in colonial affairs comparable to that of Burwell*a other sons**in-lew, although he served several years as a Burgess for Caroline County. Perhaps this service did not elevate him to the rank of a "colonial leader,’* but the four daughters of Burwell8s first marriage were unquestionably the wives of gentlemen of wealth and position. True, Henry Armistead never sat on the Council, but the Council is by no;,means the only standard available by which one may attempt to ee* curately judge the relative importance of a given person; and if it were, Henry Armistead came from an already wel l**est&bliahed family to whom a seat on the Council was not particularly new. By virtue of family eon* auctions, he could exert considerable influence while at the same time re* maining aloof from the politics of Virginia# Thus the four Burwell daughters by his first marriage3 brought the family into a more intimate, personal relationship with other distinguished families by taking for their husbands gentlemen from the Armistead, Bassett, Berkeley, and Harrison families. From this time, till the colonial Council ceased to exist with the outbreak of the revolution, not one year passed in which a Burwell, one married to a Burwell, or otherwise closely related to the Burwells, did not sit upon the Council# 42 Chart tiro is designed to show how thaaa marriage* affected Council membership. Meetings of the Council were picked at random from any day in the months of June end July at five year intervals- Upon looking at the chart, some might legitimately ask idiat the fuss is all about; after all9 if a Burwell is related to a Harrison then the reverse must also he true. Hfty then* the cautious reader continues* place the emphasis on the Burwell side of the relationship* the answer lies in the fact that while the Burwells were related to a large number of powerful families in this early period, it does not mean these families were related to one another* By 1250 inter-marriage had reached the point where this would no longer he true, but with so many eligible daughters, Burwell 11 managed to Bet* in effect, a head start in establishing relations with other families- In relation to the chart* it should be noted that there was seldom a full attendance at the Council meetings* thus at most if not at all of the meetings,selected, there are absent Councillors who were related to the Burwells and Councillors who were not* the item to keep in mind is that at most, of the Council meetings, fifty per cent or more of the members present were related to the Burwells* Though the Major may have looked upon the relations with other families as the happy results of possessing a bevy of charming daughters* it is inevitable that some will think in terms of family alliances* If the opportunity ever presented itself for the formation of such alliances the Major never took advantage of it. lewis Burwell II was no Maximilian 1, but even if he: were, such moves with the obvious goal of political power would have been extremely unwise In colonial Virginia. Burwell certainly knew this* but more important was the fact that he was strongly opposed to forcing any of his children into marriages against their will* 44 Too j, the nature of colonial society In this tits* ms such that he could rest reasonably assured that hie children would starry within their class. Finally, Burwell sorely tom the doubtful value of any alliance brought about through marriage* Politically the families were bound together by a closer tie than matrimony; namely, mutual interests* Related or not related, this group could form a solid phnlanx whan issues concerning their own welfare were up for discussion, in overall policy, the inter* eats of the BurwelXs were identical with those held - at nearly all times * by a majority of the Council membership. Thus, leading families who did not have relations on the Council were nevertheless well represented. Although colonial Virginia was not the place where any single family could rule, it is possible that the Burwalls* due to their relations cm the Council, found themselves in a favored position* ho specific example of this exists, but at least two Governors were concerned over the problem* Governor Nicholson, in a letter to the Board of Trade, dated March 3> 1105, expressed the fear that the- Burweils were aiming at outright control of the Council* It mist be kept in mind that there was no love lost between the Burwells and Nicholson, but the letter is interesting because it is the only 'known occasion where the Governor' thought that the Burwells m m seeking to enlarge their powers* Col* Biggs likewise told m that he would give Sir Jeffrey Jeffreys an m * count with orders to communicate it to your lordships, what discourse Mr* Benjamin Harrison had with him after that his father-in-law, Major Burwell, had oarryed Mr* Secretary Cole9* widow.**who was mother-in-law to Col. Biggs9s lady. 1 think it was to this effect, to psrswade Col, Biggs, now they were related and numerous family, to Joins with them, and they would carry everything./4/ Governor Spotswood, in 1713, was concerned over the number of relations on the Council, but he did not think that Burwell was deliberately aiming at control* In March, 1713, the Governor wrote that the "greater part of 45 the present Council are related to the Family of the Burweii*« ««.if Mr« Bassett end Mr* Berkeley should take their places* there will he no less then seven so near related that they will go off the Bench whenever a 5 Cense of the Burwels cone to he tryed*11 The following year he wrote to the lords Commissioners of Trade and noted that the People of Virginia are not well pleas *d when they see so many of the family on the Gen* I Court Bench* and t fear y #r to*ps saay he troubled with a Grievance from them on that Accft, if the Merchant8s Scheme, (Which 1 have seen,) should take place* it being proposed to add to the Council three more who ere nearly related to many of the same Family already on that Board«/6/ In this letter* Spotswood does not specify the Burwell* as the family he has in mind* hut in view of his letter of a year earlier* it seems likely it was the Burwell family Which caused M s concern* dust how displeased the people of the colony were at having to many Burwell relation© on the Council it unknown* but the point could not have been given too much thought as there Is no indication that the Burwell* ever found themselves in dif* flenities over their frequent predominance on the Council* The continued predominance of any family in this period rested el** most solely upon the mile heirs* Mismanagement of one®# estate could bring the family to ruin* and no mean, ability was required if a person aspired to a seat on the Council* Major lewis Burwell II hid three sons who lived to adulthood* two » Nathaniel and James * were by his first wife, while lewis is the only known son from his union with Martha (tear) Cole* Continuing where their father left off, these three sons furthered the Burwell position to one of undisputed eminence* Nathaniel Burwell 11680-17211 The first son was Nathaniel, who was baptised in Abingdon Parish in 1680. Information about him is fragmentary, with only the Journals of the 46 Assembly providing anything like a continuous source* Nevertheless* enough fragments do exist so to give a fairly good portrait of the man* Nathaniel Burwell nay veil have been the first Burwell to have returned to Eng land after the second and final - arrival of his grandfather*, Lewi* Burwell 1, James Blair* in a letter Iron tendon, dated January 6* 1704/5e urged the recipient to send along as many affidavits as possible concern ing the taaladainistrations of governor Nicholson. though the struggle with the Governor was uppermost In Blair*a mind* he managed to change the subject once* concluding with an assurance that hit wife and "all friends here are well except Hr* Nathaniel Burwell who was taken last Mon- 7 day night with a great cold." Petitions may he helpful in gaining a goal* but they become considerably more potent when they are accompanied with a personal representative of the petitioners* Blair was in London to defend the various affidavits which had been sent to the home authori ties concerning Nicholson. It now appears likely that Nathaniel Burwell was in England on the same mission* Blair1#, letter was followed the next day by a letter from the Reverend Stephen fovaoe to Philip tadwell* Fovace had fled Virginia not long tmfore to escape the Governor** vindictiveness* and the- minister ■wrote Indwell that he thought, the Governor would not be removed until he had time to .answer the accusations made against him. A* did Blair* fovace notes that "Mr* Nat Burwell hath been taken about seven days ago of a pleurlsie* for wch* he hath been blended twice#^ fovace also makes several references to James Blair* which show plainly that both men were well aware of one another*• activities* and were keeping in touch with each other. If it ware simply known that Nathaniel Burwell had been in London for some unspecified period* the reason for such a sojourn might fee found its any number of conclusions. But whets his, company includes 4m m Blair *»d Sfpfeen fovace, the «u»«r .ees, ohvioue. Both Bleir and Stephen Pomace, were actively. engaged in attempts 'to. oust -a Governor not* dially disliked fey feotfe, and while until recently there Sit# been *10 evi dence to indicate that the Burwelis did more than engage in passive dislike of Nicholson# it new oeems fair to bring forth the proposition that the Burrells played a more active role in Nicholson*® removal than was previously believed, and that Nathaniel was in London working in. con cert with two of the Governor’s arch-enemies* 1ft must not fee forgotten that all three men - Blair, fovace# and Burwell - had# as far a# they were concerned# good reasons for wanting to see the Governor removed. It will fee recalled that Nicholson* who apparently had anything hut a faint heart* had courted Lucy Burwell, hi® favorite girl# until It m e obvious that he did not have a chance# Lucy Burwell sees® to have been emotionally upset at the Governor’s aggressiveness and insistence, and the father received several threats of ruin from the disappointed Governor* Nathaniel Bur well may have gone to England with his father1® blessings to aid the ef forts of their two friend®# and to personally represent the. family in its 9 struggle with the **Virginia Hitler*” While in England# Burwell did not devote all his time to lobbying against the Governor* there is a petition# dated 1105# relating to the tobacco trade in Russia, which bears ever sixty signatures, and among them is Nathaniel Burwell*a * the document has 'never been given much atten tions^ it did not alter history# but it was representative of some of the troubles which often plagued the tobacco interests in both countries# and demonstrates how the London merchants and the Virginia plantar could act in unison when, their Interest® were threatened. Many of the leading m merchants of London signed the petition and a number of thorn ha* substan tial dealings tilth Virginia. Micajeh Perry* Richard ferry, and thou** lane ore throe signer* who may he mentioned together® these gentlemen <■ were the head*' of 3N«rfy* .tans- and Company*. an organization which derived much of its profit* fro© Virginia, and with whoa William Byrd and Robert Carter dealt almost exclusively* Mleajah ferry had a brother, fcter, who at this time was a merchant in York County*** another signer was Thomas Corbin, also a prominent london- merchants. He was a cousin to Ralph Worm** 'ley II and the two corresponded frequently and engaged in business tra«s« actions* With Nathaniel iurwell **• name among the sign* tor a, it cannot be doubted that he spent many an evening in the company of those merchant* with whom Burwell and M e friends, bach in Virginia* did so much business» though a merchant in Bristol or tendon and a planter in Virginia might never meet, the two would quite likely become fast friends* Many year* of correspondence helped this along, but the relations between the two would probably have been somewhat informal anyway* as the colonist was always- anxious for news from the mother country# just as the ©etchants were often anxious to have their - curiosity satisfied about a far-off land and to keep themselves well informed about the progress of tobacco crops* These factors* coupled with investments and relatives in the colonies* quickly brought about congenial relation© between the planter and the mer chant . Burwell and his laglish friends addressed a petition to the Queen* complaining that a number of merchants had entered into agreement with the Czar of Muscovy for importing tobacco which* as a result iesployed abundance of your Katies Subjects* But the Contractors not being contented with reasonable Gaines* and finding Tobacco planted there, south cheaper than can be sent from hence* procured here and sent■thither* Cutters m and Rollers with Engines and U m m ill® (m patterns for others to fee made fey) and other Materialls for Cutting Spinning awl tolling the Tobacco of the Growth of tussle md Its Bependeneyt# which tends to the utter- tela of many of your Katies Subjects, To the greet prejudice of your Katies Collonys of Virginia and Maryland, to the Diminution of -your Katies Ct*s« tomes, Trade, end Navigation, end prevents the supplying of Navail Stores with the produce of our mm mam£mzum&t which the Interuption of the trade to Narva rendred Difficult./12/ the petitioners enclosed a lengthy document which purports to substantiate their claims# They fear that to "teach the Russes how to manufacture end roll their own Circassian Tobacco.. .may prove an incouragement to the* to i j manufacture their own Tobacco.” The merchants observe that the traders in Russia "are now soliciting at the Court of Meseo" and are probably doing so in an attempt nm Secure & monopolise to themselves the in tire import aeon 14 of Tobacco Exclusive of all other subjects of England.” If such a course is allowed to continue these petitioners have little doubt that it would not fee too long before the Muscovites will **11000 great Quantities of their own growth and manufacturing & may in time Supply all the Northern and Eastern parts of the World much cheaper than England 4 then the C r o m of England will of necessity fey the decay of the Gustomet share with the. geo* era!I misfortune of the Subjects*###14■■'IS Burwell ■ * and the merchants» having shrewdly made their plight England1 s plight suggest that the problem may fee solved for both parties if the Queen would instruct her envoy in 'Moscow |£ 44to endeavor the .free, iwportacon of Tobacco Into the Gears Dominions” and if those persons who were sent to tussle with the utensils necessary for the manufacturing of tobacco were recalled* The merchants must have become increasingly concerned over the issue for they petitioned a second time to "humbly offer that the Company Tradeing in Tobacco to Russia may recall the persons by them sent thither to Manufacture the same and that the Tools and Dtensllls of the said persons may be brought over or totally so 17 destroyed.** The traderi to Russia submitted several documents to defend their position, and while their defense is in some ways impressive, it does not effectively challenge the salient points brought out by the user** chants* Whether Nathaniel Burwell end his friends won all their points this writer could not discover, but by summer at least one of the agents In Russia was recalled, and the order given that his "engines It Tool©®.* * be rendred unserviceable, *. It is unknown when Burwell returned to Virginia, but his arrival surely must have occasioned many a lengthy evening with the Bassetts, the Berkeleys, the Harrisons, and others who would be Interested in hearing from the young Burwell details of his louden visit* In 1700, not long after his return, Nathaniel Burwell was in the opinion of the Council, "a person 10 fitly qualifyed*1 to execute the position of Naval Officer of York River* less than a month later, on Hsrch 1st, he was sworn into office after giving bond with his father and father-in-law.^ He tsacsedlately ordered a vessel to be fitted out with ten guns and eighty men to guard the coast* That same evening, Nathaniel1# father, who Mlooked very well by the help of temperance," had sapper with the Byrds.2* Burwell*a father-In**lew was Robert Carter, a gentleman whose wealth aid landholdings were impressive enough to warrant his contemporariesto dub him ’’King/' R o m in 1663 in Lancaster County at "Corotonum,** his father9# country seat, Robert Carter served as a Burgess from his county for several years, and in the sessions of 1696 and 1699 he was Sepaker of the House, while from the latter year to 1705 ha was the Treasurer.22 He was appointed to the Council In 1699, a position which he held till his death, thirty-three years later. Burnell*a marriage to Carter*s eldest SOLLEQfOj-' WILLIAM & WARY dropped over to see Burwell-s tobacco '‘whichtobacco to see Burwell-s over dropped to be teemed heavy/* very would be delivered by the sheriff to Klquotan and thence to thethencetoto ship* theKlquotan and sheriff delivered by be would are-is task it the running a of plantation, coupled none*too*easy with the Byrd day nett In/*22to lady ready lie s cold & M and disposed with somethe 2,and afternoon of Byrd May On leisurely his moments. more m d would more than likely Invite a passing guest tofor than stay Invite days* guest a several likely passing more would d m m April 26, 1709* a Captain Holloway complained that It was impossibleIt 1709*that complained a 26,Captain was Holloway April m could become quite lonesome for the planters If **husigIf thetheysimplylonesomefor planters become quite could around to In see able toare thanks Burwell his vs end diary Byrd but William the e of Council meeting At the he County* Fence of Gloucester Justices daughter* Elisabeth* daughter* In the afternoon the visitor went to see his cousin Berkeley whom tofound see cousin he thehis Berkeley whom In theafternoon went visitor ”blg with ”blgchild,*9 with then, and the to hi' Burwell# where returned that noted the house/’ these colonials were always most hospitable towards another one colonials always hospitable most these were the house/’ it lifctls and that needed, Vet likelydiversion was hsd he time* spare tie melancholy* as he did likewise***26 tie as he did melancholy* ’Nvetifcfriends in*found Greek and Burwell she Carter#s Mr*river'to over to get enough men to sum the brigantine Seaflowsr2^ which had been hired Seaflowsr2^had to the been to brigantine which men get enough sum h w utcsi luetr eeIsrce oipesfv who n fivetoInstructed impress in twothe m were Justices Gloucester* "Mr®. Burwell is & very pretty, good*humored woman but seemed to be a lit*to a seemed be but is "Mr®.good*humored & woman pretty, Burwell very Vhsveissploymeat. or Estate Visible no specifiedto impressa theof who the in countiesFence number vagrants risethereuponthe of Justices for ordered Council purposes* defensive landholding families to thefamilies landholding colony.23 to Burwell#a civic duties probably kept Mai fairly busy, and when these fairly and busy,kept when Mai civic probably Burwell#a duties About the time thethe one Hetheniel His of of Burwell marriage,was About Burwell*s official activities for the remainder of 1709 are for1709the are of unknown* activities remainder official Burwell*s vm a union which togetherthetwo brought greatest union a which Burwell » * and Richard and Richard Baileys,26 SI 52 They liked to got together to talk, argue* and to amuse themselves with «• game of cricket or billierda* the. Byrd visits to the Burwells provide a typical exanple* About three in the afternoon of November 5, Byrd went across the river to visit the Burwell*#. Arriving about two hour* later? they had supper together and in the evening they talked'.over a couple of bottles of French claret* Byrd and hi* wife remained the evening at the Burwell* end in the morning they ell went to Abingdon Parish where they heard a sermon delivered by Parson Smith# After the church service, they met the Berkeleys and they all'retired-to Carterfs Creek# Hie family ate late, but in the evening they again set m I talked, on which occasion Byrd told an "abundance of lies by way of diversion*"29 The Byrds remained another night and arising early the neat day, they spent a good part of the morning strolling about, before joining the Burwell* at dinner. After the meal, Byrd write* that my slater asked me to j$ioy©7 her over the Bay and I said1 would if Hr# Burwell would# He Said he would if his wife would, sad she. agreed to go and drew us all into the frolic. In’ the afternoon we rode to my Cousin Berkeley1* with the design to tike him and his wife withus but he es caped by being from home. His wife was at home and gave us a good supper»/30/ They remained at the Berkeley1 s till morning and then went in s boat to York and later over the river to ©leoeeeter town and about noon sailed down‘the river in a shallop* There was a sloop in the- bay which came near the .group, but the men were so -rude that Burwell said Byrd kept them off "because we took that for privateers the two men ate roast beef for supper, though the episode with the sloop so frightened the women that they could not eat# The nest morning they anchored at Pigot#s Hols and the outing came to an end# The following year, in 1710, Hathnalsl Burwell was elected to the House of Burgesses*^2 On opening day the Burgesses were introduced to S3 Governor Spotswood in the Connell Chamber* Spotswood spoke a few word* and then asked ike Burgesses to ire turn that they night elect a Speaker* Upon returning, end Mias? sosaewrangliiig* Peter Beverley was chosen Speaker after -which twelve members, including -Burnell, were ordered to -,44ttend the Governor mid Acquaint him. that the House' have Hide -Choice of a Speaker-^11 the house then adjourned .until ten -the nm t day* At that tin®» Burwell and ten other Burgesses were appointed members of the Committee for Propo* 33 sit ions and Grievances* Most of the legislative work fell upon the committees which were usually appointed within the first few days of each session# By the time Burwell was a Burgess there were three eeamltteaaf the Cewesittce for Else* tions and Privileges, Coas&ittec for Public Claims,- and the for .Propositions and Grievances* Each conmittaa had' .its mm clerk, whose salary, frequently reaching four thousand pounds of tobacco and more, was often way out of proportion to the -work done, the Committee on Election was the first anointed at each .session, and it probably had the easiest task of the three# As indicated from its nmm* its job was to study the credentials of each parson elected and to decide whether he was "duly re* turned.” disputed elections also fell within their jurisdiction. Each county court during the year hold at least one tern to render decisions upon the claims made against the public for services performed, or against the county itself* If-the claim was deemed proper, the court* g decision authorised Its delivery to the Assembly through the county Bur* gaaa, the Commit tea m Claims then had to- decide if there were any rea* song why the claim should not ha presented to the House# Many members of the Burwell family gat on the Committee for Propose tions end Grievances* of the three committees, it was the largest. 34 consisting on the overage* in the time of Hatfeaniel Burwell and hie brothers* of about twelve Burgesses*, ft# job m i to inquire into and report on the grievances submitted to the House by my. resident of Vir ginia through M s Burgess* ft was. much like an investigating commit tee of today and could cell for witnesses and documentary evidence, the com mit tee had the additional task of examining material relating to proposed acts, and then sending its reeoaiaendation to the Assembly*3^ After .the cotesittee* were appointed in this first session which opened on.October 25* lass than a week passed before the House resolved that the accounts of the late treasurer * Benjamin Barr Ison (Burwell* s brother-in? lew)*. should be laid before the Bouse* This was followed by an order' that the administratrix of the estate lay the.accounts *%efor# the Bouse on ffrvdav Horning next, and .That Hr j^rwell Acquaint. Therewith*tt3s On the 16 the committee resolved that the Governor*# house should be finished.9 and another resolution appointed Burwell and seven others to a committee "to Inspect what progress is allready made upon the Governor*# house.... "36 Ten days later* Burwell*s committee mat and rejected three propositions, submitted by the people of acetic© County* A plan for erect ing a workhouse was thought to be “Impracticable m this time*** a plea to repeal the law declaring Hegross end Slaves to be real estate was turned down, and the committee would not agree that money debts should be paid in tobacco.33 The following week* Burwell said Byrd played a little prank which ap parently did not strike- all the Burgesses m funny* On. the twenty-fourth Byrd had "directed a letter to Bat Burwell with a lampoon in it and threw it Into the capitol and Hr. Simons found it and gave it him* which put the House of Burgesses into a ferment* but X discovered to nobody that I had 55 a hand in it-*'1®® The n m t day, a Saturday* it was 'Ordered “That.. a Scan dalous payer lately found* lie privately Rftpfc by The Clerk, and That the Author Thereof* ’if Biscbvered be Xyable to the Censure of This House*w3^ The two m u probably had' a .hearty laugh over this measure and the reaction .of some 'of • the Butgeseas to the"f,Scandalooe paper.” On the Monday following ‘this little episode* Burwell requested leave from the "Service of the House Upon Extraordinary Occasion leave is Ac cordingly given him. the occasion for the leaveis unknown* but it was fortunate that Burwell obtained the Assembly*s permission, for to do otherwise would hmm invoked a heavy fine if not arrest - as he would soon learn,. By this time tha session was'drawing to t close. On December 6* Burwell and several other Burgesses spent m m tine in friendly discussion at the coffee-house^* md three days later the first session ended. A little less- than a year later the second session commenced its work. Burwell was again back on the 'Committee for Proposition* and Grie vances. Early in the,session of Hovember 13* the louse ordered "That the tfsSftinger do take into hi# Custody Hr Burwell and that he be not admitted to take hisplace in the. louse til he has mpi#, his Excuse for absenting himself from the Service of it.”*2 - The louse was always strict la enforc ing day to day attendance* and Burwell quickly realised his error. On the Wednesday following* the House opened it# business by being Informed that Hr Burwell (who Is in the Custody of the Messinger) is ready to attend the Service of the House- Ordered that he be discharged out of the Custody paying Fees*and that he be admitted to take his place in the House-/43/ Two days after ha returneda Burwell was appointed to a special com mittee Whose Job it was to wait upon the governor so they might hear his suggestions relating to the alterations of the militia* and afterwards re- 44 port them to the House. 56 '‘-Waving .learned III# lesson mthmi&l Umtnll was careful in the future' to refneet the Asiicisblyft- permission before absenting himself. On iNK^eeher 'II# Burwell ipmpssted .and w^y $ j ^ t e d "leave-, to-be absent'-few the Service of the Bouse til .Thursday ns&fc upon occasions* *. On Ifcmday, Xfeceiabar 1?, the: Bouse was informed that the Council de sited a conference over their ■ itecsmbsr 13th message relating to a hill, the House.had passed levying.certain duties* the Council appointed three of It# members, end, after a debate * in the House, it ms agreed, to attend the proposed conference*' Burwell and four other Burgesses- were chosen to represent the Assembly* sad,it. was ordered, that the conferees discos® nothing, "relating to my alterations of tba.Ihsty® laid or the time for which they are Laid."^ Apparently, the ©eating was:held on the mxm day, since Hr* Holloway returned fro© the conference, .made a progress re port, which was followed by a -discussion of It# content#* Seven days later, Governor Spotswood, seeing that -the Burges### ware. "little dis posed In this cold Season- to dispatch Business, 'permitted the Assembly to adjourn itself til wmt month, at which time the Assembly was dissolved* hot until ten year# later did Bathsnlsl »uf®»l.l again ©it - in the House of Burgesses* It would appear that Burwell was not particularly .prominent in the Assembly of 1110-1111* fet what standard® are available by which we may judge one1© relative importance in the proceeding# of the Bouse? We feaow almost nothing of the worh done by the hundreds of Burgesses who sat m the various committee# over the decades* Aside from one single instance, Burwell9# activities on the Committee for Propositions and Grievances are yet to be discovered* Except fcnrenslcatly* very few Burgesses distin guished themselves in this period, though more complete record# might 57 reveal differently* there were certainly those who were more capable then others, but the opportunity for outstanding performance wet either missing, or such perforasnces have not been handed down to us# the chances for tasking history in the Assembly of Burnell8* time' were practi cally nil* 'Burwell9# activities m Burges# were not epoch-making, hut neither ware those of hie colleague#* Ho sat on, end spent many hours with,- the committee to which he was appointed, end occasionally was a member of special groups which were assigned specific duties* like his father» Nathaniel Burwell took a lively interest in the life and progress of the College of William and nary. On March 26, 1716s, there was a ’’Generali meeting of the Visitors & Governor* of the Coiledge of William & Mary held in the Convocation Roame"^8 and present were Spots- wood, who was the Rector, dames Blair, Philip Indwell* Nathaniel Burwell, and other#.49 The greater part of the *e*tlng was spent discussing the several problems arising from the Surveyor-General9a office* A successor was appointed to the deceased Beputy-Surveyor-General; it was announced that all surveyor# war# required to take out their new commission#! that all those surveyor* should be suspended who failed to give to the College the share due from the profits of their respective offices! that the Surveyor-General should he is# true ted not to issue new commissions to those whose dues were in arrears; and a number of decisions were reached relating to the petitions presented by those parsons desiring posts as county surveyor* Getting down to collage business, it was recommended that anyone of the clergy who might be in town neat Monday should "taka the trouble" of examining the scholars and to report whatever they think necessary at the next meeting. William Craig was appointed porter at the college and was ordered to "take care chat the Gates be safely locked & si flaeund each night**««nd chat the chimneys b* kept clean Swept*"5® After choosing Philip LudwaXl m fill the pom of aector for the following y«ar9 the meting adjourned* Burwell mss absent from the two meeting* in June of the elm* year* but at' one of these meetings they appointed as meter of tile Crmmm School j Mungo Ingles, who would before too long become one of Levi* Bur** well9* teachers* the Inst meting of the yens? m e e short session m October 24, devoted to several routine matters#5* In X?20,5^ after a lengthy abssac* M m the nonet of Burgesses, Burwell decided to return end wee duly elected* Hie duties in the ttm session, which opened on gevember 2, were about the same as those: tie pet*- formed a decade earlier* He was again appointed to accompany several others in acquainting the' Governor with the election of a Speaker* Be was also appointed to his old post m the Committee for Propositions and Grievances, about a week letet, the m u s e resolved that a free conference be held with the Council dealing with that "part of the Goveraours Speech which relates to the Security of the Frontier of this Colony «.,#55 After the Council appointed four of their members, the Bouse appointed Burwell and seven other Burgesses to "attend and manage the said Conference*’5^ On Saturday, the 19th, the House passed a bill giving a reward for killing wolves and repealing all other acts relating thereto, and ordered Burwell end two others to "carry the Bill to the Council and desire their Concur* ranee thereto*"55 Burwell9* m m doe* not appear again In any noteworthy circumstance until December 20* Big days earlier the Assembly resolved that it is necessary to appoint some proper person to Solicit* in Great Britain th* Subject matter of the Address of the Council and Burgesses 5 $ to Iii» Majestie* ..and all Such other matter ## may hereafter be agreed cm by this General Aa*eably./56/ Spofcewood opposed this measure, arguing that the instruction* given the solicitor should be signed by the chief executive and that the solicitor Should "enter into Bond to the Governour not to meddle in Great Britain with any other affair of this Government than, what shall be contain9d fa 37 his said Instruct ions*** .** the Burgesses did not particularly care for this qualification to their resolution and appointed seven members# among them Burwell, to draw up a message informing the Governor that the House could not agree to the aseendnentu^* Three days later, on the twenty- third, the Governor prorogued the Assembly* the following year, Nathaniel Burwell died in his forty*first year* The election of Nathaniel Burwell to the Bouse of Burgesses marked a new road in the rise of the Bur wells. In terns of landholding, the rise of the Burnells focus©* largely on the second lewis Burwell, hut the beginning of the family* s political activities can be traced to a Wednes day morning in October 1710, when the eldest grandson of Lewis Burwell I entered the House of Burgesses. Nathaniel Burwell was the first of the family to enter the political arena* Hie father and grandfather had held various county posts and had taken active interest in the affairs of the colony# but both sam had shied away frost elective positions® Nathaniel Burwell changed all this; aftar him few years passed in which at least one member of tha family did not sit in the Assembly* But a seat on the Council seai to escape them. Lewis Burwell i t m a offered one# but de clined on grounds of ill-health. Nad they lived longer, it is most prob- able that at least one of his sons would have been appointed to the Council* As it was# the only Councillors to bear the Burwell name were Nathaniel1s two sons# Lewis and Robert Carter. m Nathmiel ■ Burwell9a life-span was .short* but h* helped pave the way for hie family1® political future. the record# show him to hmu heen m active worker, a congenial friend, and mm l%ho by a well regulated Con- duct and firm Integrity Justly Established a good Reputation*...‘,59 Burwell Nathaniel Burwell had only one full brother who lived to adulthood* this we# James, who was b o m on February A, 1609. He lived at "King** which had co®e to the Burwell* through his mother* the material on Janes Burwell, like that 'On hie brother, is negligible at beat* Again m mist rely largely on the Journals of the- House of Burgesses, and Byrd1 a diary which la the only source that gives some picture of James during his early years. He is shown* in the diary, as a rather Jovial individual, full of energy, much of which he devoted to haring a good tim with his numerous friends. On July 20, 1709, several months after his twentieth birthday, James Burwell, his sister and brother*la* lav (the Harrisons) 60 dined with the Byrds, and in the afternoon flayed billiards, later in the year, this same group was together again around the billiard table at Mffisatower" where on this occasion. Byrd managed to win half a crown* In the afternoon they H#hot in the bow” but apparently did not do very well at it.6* In the first week of March 1710, Burwell met Byrd mad several others at church, where they all went home with Byrd and spend the remainder of the day enjoying his hospitality* X» the evening they f,drank a bottle of wine and were merry for about an hour. •. hater that month, on the twenty*seventh, Burwell, the two Harrison brothers, and several friends dropped in to see Byrd and apparently had a ,fgra»d old time*” in the mo m * ing they played billiard# and cricket. After dinner they shot arrows for 61 several hours end left «t about four to visit Benjarain BarrIson who was seriously ill* they returned several hours later and derided to play cricket until dark* the next day was Byrd* © birthday, and his close circle of friends dropped over to wish M m well and to resume where they had left off the day before* Byrd, Mr. boy ley Randolph teamed against the two Harr la w and James Burwell* Byrd writes that he "played with them three for a crows* We won one game, they won two. Then we played billiards till dinner, before which Colonel tudwell cmm on hie way to Mr* Harrison's*5 Two years later, on April 19, there was a riot at "A-t^R-s^n's" ordinary and the men involved m m brought before Mr* Bland* The short list reads like a Who's Who in Colo* niel Virginia* "The gentlemen included Mr, Page, Ralph Wormeley, John Gryates, Mr. Johnson, and Jimmy Burwell, though 1 understand the last was 64 not much in fault*" Byrd's diary is unquestionably accurate as far as it goes* However, it would not be accurate to assume that James Burwell spent all his time being a playboy. As a young man thsre'is no reason why Burwell'*a efforts to enjoy himself should be construed to indicate that he had lost all sense of responsibility* Burwell did seem to he less reserved than his brothers, but it does not mean he was less aware of the duties which were probably expected of him* Edmund Berkeley had enough confidence in young Burwell*s ability to make him an executor of his first will which was 65 drawn up in 1710. There are good indications that James Burwell also enjoyed the company of books. A catalog of books belonging to Godfrey Pole who, in later years, was a lawyer and the clerk of Northampton County, would suggest that "Jimmy" Burwell had a genuine Interest in the m scholastic world* the catalog* which is dated 1716* list# 115 works which Burwell had agreed to keep at hie place* pole had noted that one of the volumes* Mv Lord Coke*a Institutes* was lent to Burwell and the initials **J.b.h are penned beside the two listings of Viral1 in t3mm Belohial and Lord Chief Justice Hale8 a Life. It does not seem probable* considering that burwell was shortly to enter the Assembly, that he spent an abnormal amount of time in taking in all the pleasures of life* though it must be admitted that of all the books in foie4* collection* the one work which he gave to Burwell was Gentlemen4® Recreation.**^ Several entries In the York County records tend to further the as* sertion that Burwell spent ample time tending to plantation affairs* At a court held for fork County on September 209 1714 James^Burwell by his' petition set forth that hi® Servant W illia m Carting* ton /hath? lately runaway & was absent for the space of fourteen days 6 that he hath been at three pounds fifteen Shillings Charge in apprehending him &c & praying to be repaired by Service for the Same as the Law directs the matters alledged agst the sd William Carrington being fey him confessed* It Is therefore ordered that he Serve his sd master twelve months & ten days after his time by Indenture Custom® or former Order Is Expireda/67/ Two years later* at another meeting of the- court* Burwell promised to build "a good 6 Substantial bridge” for five hundred pounds of tobacco*-** Nathaniel Burwell left the louse of Burgess in 1712* and did not re turn until the Assembly of 1720-1722* in this interval it was James Who "represented” the family in the political life of the colony, serving in the Assemblies of 1715 and 1718. The Assembly of 1715 opened on Wednes day, August 3* and Burwell* a Burgess from York* became a member of the Committee for Propositions end Grievances the next day. It was not long before Burwell was ordered to accompany some other Burgesses to the Coun cil for the purpose of present the Assembly1* resolve on the petition of Sarah and Elisabeth Fenwick. The day before* a petition drawn up by these two women, who had fled from the Indian war then raging in South Carolina, was referred by the Council to the consideration of the House* fhe petitioners and other persons found that there wm a duty of 1*5 *P« for every Hegro imported into the colony* end since their owners had no intention of selling them or remaining permanently in Virginia, they asked that they he exempted from these duties* the House viewed the petition favorably and adjourned for the day In the latter pare of the week* the Council^ proposed' ’that the exemption be extended to all others fleeing from the present war in South Carolina* and the House agreed. On September 7, after a brief but stormy session* the Governor dis solved the Assembly. Burnell*s servlets were not outstanding* but it was his first term as a Burgess, and he was still a young man - only twenty- sis years old at the tine* His activities would have undoubtedly increased as he became more familiar with parliamentary procedure. Heverthcleas, Burwell may have found his first Assembly slightly erratic, the Assembly and the Governor found i t difficult to reach cmmm ground, while at the sane time the Council and the House were busy killing each others* legis lation. As a result, this Assembly passed only three acts, there were several incidents that occurred during the session to make it « lively one (Burwell probably hsd no regrets on this score) and It was not long before the Governor lost his patience and dissolved it. What Burwell may have thought When he stood in the Council Chamber with his fellow Burgesses before the irate Spotswood, can only be imagined, but it is not likely that he or the other Burgesses appreciated the Governor*# ref erence to their *Vild proceedings'* whose miscarriages could only be attri buted 64 to the Peoples Histaken Choice of a Set of Bepresentativea» whom Heaven hoe not generally endowed with the Ordinary Qualifications requisite to legislators; for X observe that the Grand ruling Party in your House* has not furnished for two of your Standing Committees /Privileges end Claims/ who can spell English or Write Common Senoei as the Grievances under their own hand writing will manifest* And to heap Such an Assembly on foot, would be discrediting a Country 'that has many able and' Worthy Gen**1 tlemen in it! and therefore X now Dissolve you./70/ With this, Burwell and the others took their leave. Burwell, however, wee not daunted by the Governor1* closing speech and was present at the first session of the 1718 Assembly, whose proceedings commenced on April 23, On opening day Burwell was chosen to sit on the Committee for Propositions and Grievances, end frequently he found himself on a committee which Had been ordered to carry sundry resolutions to the Council, One such reso lution resolved Neaiine Contra dicentc that the bill pass which granted nOne Thousand pounds out of the Pub lick fund for the maintaining and Edu- 71 eating Scholars at the College of William and Mary.. . ' Another reso lution carried to the Council by Burwell and others provided that the "Sume of One Hundred pounds*..be paid to the Speaker as a Token of the 72 Eespect this House bearea him,** Burwell continued to carry out his duties until July 10, when the Governor, still a little displeased with the Assembly’s seeming indifference to the M i a n problem, prorogued them* Burwell may have had no regrets at thlsf it certainly could not have been very comfortable meeting day after day in the midst of what are usually very hot summers. The second and final session opened on November 11. At the beat oc.-'V Mlif ’ of the third drum Burwell was not there, A month earlier, at the age of twenty-nine, he suddenly died* The **King#s Creek** branch continued through his only son, Nathaniel Bacon, but it never played the prominent role that seemed to be reserved for the other two branches,73 m Lewis Burwell III (c.1699-1744) Nathaniel and damn Burwell had a half-brother, Lewis, who was bom about 1699, and married Into the Araistead family* His wife bore him a number of children, though only two sons ere known* Through them? however, the "KltigsailX'’ line was perpetuated and a new line created* it must be noted, as in the previous cases, that little material relating' to Lewis Burwell 111 has come to light, but that which has is worthy of comment*. The earliest reference is a charming letter written by Nathaniel Burwell to James, which concerns Lewis* apparent obstinancy in going off to college. Where Lewis lived, following the death of his father, Is «a* known? he may hare gone to reside with either James or Nathaniel, though James was only twenty-one when, the Hajer died, and was still spending considerable time over at Byrd*a billiard table. When James Burwell re ceived his brother’s letter concerning the miscreant activities of their teen-age half-brother, he might easily have reflected upon his mm care free days and smiled. But Nathaniel, as James well knew, was justified in his concern over young Lewis* education* Eventually Lewis Burwell 111 went to College and later served hie colony long and well; so the letter, which deserves quotation in full, may have helped la persuading the young man that ha should pay more attention to his studies. BROTHER: I*a very much Concern’d for the occasion of your Sending & metre to see how insensible Lewis is of his owu ignorance, for he can filther read as he. aught to do, nor give one letter a true Shape when he writes nor spell one line of English & is altogether ignorant of Arithaetlck, so that he*! be noways capable of the management of his own affairs & unfit for any Gentleman's conversation, & therefore a Scandalous person & a Shame to his relations, not having one single qualification to recommend him; if he would but apply himself heartily one year, to write well, learn the Mathematics & consequently arithmetick of Mr. Jones, & to Translate Latin into English of Nr. Ingles to learn him to spell well, 1 would then take him home & imploy him till he comes of Age in my Office A Plantation 66 Affairs that he might the better he capable to manage hie own, & to my knowledge thir will be no disservice to him, & « greater than any other method he91 fell Into through his own Inclination; lor my part, tie no advantage to me whether he he a blockhead or a man of parts, ware he not my Brother, but when 1 have to do with him# to school# he shell go, & if he don9t go till I can go over, he then Shall be forced to go whether ha will or not & he made an example off (while X stand by) before the face of the whole CollegeJ as for the pretence of liveing in the College, the last meeting has taken such care as will effectually provide better eat* lug for the Boys, so that need not Scare him, & therefore he had better go by fare'means than fowl., for go he shall, & tend him forthwith# X am, tor Affectioj Brothr, Ho Burwell74 Abingtosi, June 13, 1718* Show him this letter# lewis Burwell9# activities* as they come down to us, were devoted largely to serving in the House of Burgesses, though in 1725 he was a vestryman at Bruton farish# a position which often gave considerable train- ixtg to its members, for the vestry was usually composed of younger members of prominent families who would meet with others from their own class and render decisions that were more often political than religious# Many of the colony’s leaders had at one time or other served on some vestry, and it constituted an important step in ones*' political training* the fourth and final session of the Assembly of 1727*1734 was pro rogued on October 4* Burwell was not a member* but he did pay some attest tion to its proceedings, since he is on record as having been firmly against one of the proposed measures* On September 19* this bill* which would have appointed several new ferries and altered some of the court days* was read for the second time# After this reading* a petition drawn up by lewis Burwell was read before the House, The ^several reasons Burwell gave for his opposition to the proposed measure are not recorded* but the peti- 76 tion was referred to a committee for examination* The bill was viewed favorably, but Burwell my have found some satisfaction with the amendments m attached to it* As Its last piece of legislation on the . twenty-seventh, the Bouse agreed to the hill as emended and ordered it engrossed* the «i«Kt Asaes&ly* that of 1736-1740* opened on Thursday, August 5* 1736# Burwell was the lone Burgess fro® Jamestown, which hy this late date had practically become a rotten borough. The colony's Governor was now Will im Gooch, whose administration was both successful and popular * Hie day after Gooch opened the proceeding#, cownittees were chosen# like M s half-brothers9 .lewis Burwell was appointed to the Committee for Propo sitions and Grievances* For the first time, a Burwell was also appointed to the Committee of Elections and Privileges# Holding two posts in this session was not unusual, however# The committee* had more member# than ordinarily, and most Burgesses were serving on more than one# This may have bean due, in part, to the revivals, of the Comal t tee for Courts of dust ice which, in this session, had seventeen members, many of whom served with Burwell upon one of the two committees on Which he sat# On August 16, a petition of lewis Burwell, Gent was presented to the Bouse, and read; setting forth, That he is seised, in Wm Tail, of 1440 Acres of Land, in the Counties of James-City* and fork* whore his Mansion-house i«i aid of 4800 Acres of land, in the County of Kirat William; and that he is also seised in Fes Simple, of 650 Acres of land, in the Counties of York# and James-City# (contiguous and adjoining to the said 1400 Acres}) and of 1800 Acres, In the County of Isle of Wight* of greater Value than the said 4800 Acres; and for settling the said Fee Simple lands, in lieu thereof, to the same Woes; Which will he for the.. Advantage of his eldest Son; and enable him better to provide for his Younger Children./77/ This was followed by an order that Mr. Robinson prepare a bill according to th e requests of th e petition# In the second week of September, Babin- •on presented to the House "a B U I J o dock Jhg Entetl of cejtsln Lends, whereof lewis Burwell> Bs^is Ig sslssa m i 1st ,i>.is.Ui8 a t e 3 a te ._ s $ .greater Value# to th e same Bsesi And the same was received, and read the 78 first time*** Hit next day* Just before they adjourned, the bill was read a second tins* sad it was ordered seat to a CoHffiitteet That/they do examine' the Allegations thereofs sad report the same, as it shall appear to them# to the House: and it is rafarrad to‘Mr. Robinson> end the Members for the Counties of King Wllliem, York* James-City. and .^ale of. Might*/79/ Two days later the remittee wade its reports the title of the bill was slightly altered, and several amendments sere added, but the allegations < were found to be true* the amendments were agreed to by the Houses and the bill was ordered engrossed. It was read for the third and final tine the next day# and Hr* William Acrill mm instructed to carry the hill' to the Council and request their concurrence * O r ths eighteenth# the last day of the week# Willis* Robertson# clerk of the Council# reported to the 80 Assembly that the upper body had ruled favorably upon the bill* In the middle of the following week the governor commanded the Bur gesses presence in the Council Chamber where he was pleased to give his assent1* to a number of public and private bills# including Burwell*s dock- ing measure* Gooch made a short speech# and wishing the Burgesses “an uninterrupted Enjoyment of Wealth and Happiness*”' he prorogued the Assembly* In 1737 the Assembly was not in session# but in December the Council appointed8 among others# lewis Burwell and Carter Burwell Justices of the feace in James City County.®2 lewis Burwell was Carter*a step-uncle# and it would not be long before both were to be serving together in the louse of Burgesses* The second session of the Assembly opened on November I# 1738. The next day# Burwell was appointed to the same two remittees upon Which he had served during the first session* A week later# Burwell and others were appointed to a committee Whose specific task was to “examine Mr Bray, m in the most solemn Meaner,-1 who had been charged with the failure to meet 83 obligations under which certain of'Ms lends w e r e entailed* '' S h e c o s t mittee, which found that Bray had not carried out. the entailing measure properly* rendered its report on December 20, the next day the Burgesses were stiaanoned into the Council Chamber where the Governor assented to various measures md afterwards praised the Burgesses for the "Prudence and Moderation of all your Proceedings'3 (a far cry from Spotswoodf» "wild .Proceedings!4') md prorogued the Assembly after wishing Its members wg merry Christmas, and happy new 1Tear* and mmy of them....1,84 the third session coassenced on May 22, 1740* Since the fourth see* slon was prorogued on August 20, it can be imagined Just how short the third and fourth' sessions were. On May 23$ Burwell was appointed to the sane committees he had served on since his career in the Assembly started* Ho is not mentioned in the records of these two sessions* During the Assembly' of 1742*1747*,.tbs Btsnrell* distinguished tb*a* selves by being the only family to have three of its members sitting simultaneously in the Mouse of Burgesses.85 Our bawls Burwell, who for the sake of distinction will now be referred to by his military rank of Colonel, and Carter Burwell his ste^oephew, were the two Burgesses from James City County* One of the representatives from Gloucester County was lewis Burwell*®^ Carter** brother, lewis Burwell vaa appointed to the Committee of Privileges and Elections os* May f$ while his brother and step-uncls were chosen the next day to serve on the Committee for: Propost* tions and Grievances. lewis and Carter Burwell were of the fourth genera* tion, while Colonel lewis Burwell was the last surviving male meaher of the third generation, the records of this first session are such as to render it impossible, with few exceptions, to distinguish between the n activities of the three Burwells. thtm mcepttm# are of m moment, and' since tlit session m% prorogued the. following month, the Somalia * two of whom were serving their first term ** had little time in Which to distinguish themselves* the 'second session^of this Assembly opened on September 4, 1744® Several changes took place in the opening days which altered the position of the three ■Burwells* Shortly before the house adjourned the first day* it was ordered- that an address be made .to. the governor requesting him to order new writs for electing Burgesses in place of those who had died or accepted posts of profit since the close of the lest session* Among the list of requested writs was one for electing a Burgess from Gloucester, "in' the loom of .Lewis - Burwell, Esq; who hath bmn promoted to be one-of His Majesty *s Honourable Council....f,S^ this Lewis was Nathaniel3* eldest son, and later became President of the Council* The um i day, a. *tew Bur* well was appointed to the Committee for prepositions and Grievances* This was probably Carter Burwell* The following day, a Thursday, Colonel Lewis Burwell III died* On Friday, the Assembly ordered that the Governor be addressed to issue a new writ for electing a Burgess to serve "in the go Room of Lewis Burwell* Gent* deceased*11*^ By fchs time of the death of Lewis Burwell ill, the social position of the Burnells was firmly fined* Politically they would climb higher, hut their wealth* position, and in* finance was secure* A revolution might change all this, but such m tip* heaval seemed most unlikely. n. mmm in - m mm l * For the salient facts surrounding the carters of the Burwell chii* dren and other material see Evexrard Kid to Meade, "The Children of Major feewi* Bunnell XI, ” ® ^ ^ | ^ s g 0 ^ wS l E J 6 i ^ U B S E Z J E § S S l £ S L A S I S E l i ,® tion 4(1944), 6-28* ' 2. Henry Arm!stead had too sisters, Judith and Elizabeth, end a brother, William. Judith married Robert “King” Carter oho one Speaker of the House of Burgesses, Treasurer of Virginia, Councillor for nearly thirty years, and acting governor during the Brysdale-Coooh interval, Elizabeth married Ralph Woraeley, Secretary of State. William married Armalee, daughter of Hancock bee who served as. a Burgess for several years, while a second wife was the. daughter of William Churchill, member of the Council* 3. there mm references In Burwell*# will which 'have' given rise to the contention that there was. one other daughter from his first marriage* and who married one Henry Seaton, i t such be the case, her name - is still ua* known, as are the dates of her birth* marriage* and death, the best die* cession of this genealogical problem is in Meads* ’’Children of Xewla Bur- well II»* Clarks CountvProceedings 13-13* 4# Cel* State Papers* Colonial Scries. 1704-1705. 414-15* 5. Keith, Ance.try *1. Beaiftnia Harrl.ou, 35*36. 6, R. A. Brock* ed., Official Letters of govemor Snotswood (Richmond* 1032-1035), II* 77-78* 7* "Colonial Imitate, &c»*" Va* Hag* of Hist* & Blog..5(1897), S3* 8* 'betters of let* Stephan Fouace*" Hm* .4 .Mary Qrtv,. 1st ser.* 12 (1903), 134-5* 9* thoiaas J* WerteatM&er, G&veMa l&bmrtty (Philadelphia, 1958)• this is the exaggerated heading assigned to chapter sight* 10* For this and related documents see "tobacco trade in Russia, 1705" Wm* 4 Mary Qrfcy.. 2nd ser*, 3(1923), 250-53. 11* "Mlcafah Perry*" Hhi,. & Mery Qrfcy** 1st ier#* 17(1909), 244-67» 1 2 "Tobacco Trade in Russia, 1705*" Us* li.ltov..0rtv** 2nd aer*, 10 (1923), 230* 13* Ibid** 252, 14* Ibid** 253. 15♦ Ibid*, 253* 16® Ibid** 254. n 17* jbida, 254* 18* Ibid.. 258, 19* Mcllwaine* ad*, Erseutfve Journals of the Council. 111, 207* 20. 212* 21s Wright and Tin! lag*ed#.* Secret Blarr ofWilliam Byrd, 11* 22* Carter was succeeded Inhi# post astreasurer by Benjamin Harrison who held this office until 1710* Thus* from 1699 to 1710 this office was In'the hands of persons closely related to Nathaniel Burnell* Carter nee hie father-Indian and Harrison was a brother-in-law. 23* Robert Carter1# death in the Ceatlamaxi*# Magasina for November 1732 (p. 1022) was noted a# follows* Hobart Carter §##} Aug« 4* in Virginia* He was president of the Council* and left among hie children above 300,000 Acres of land, about 1000 degrees* and 10*000 1.** 24* Named after a well-known ship of an earlier period* It made a number of trips to Virginia and brought to the colony many emigrants, among them the wife and son of John Vtie, much of whose property later came into pot- 4 session of the Burwell#® The last reference to the ship it in the summer of 1623* when a colonist9® letter speaks of the ship as being overdue® "Virginia in 1623*4®“ V*u Meg* of Hist. & Blog.. 6(18991, 373-4; “Minutes of the Council 6 general Court, use* .of.. (1911), 374; W* g* Standard, comp., “Abstract# of Virginia land patent#*“ Vs. Mae, o f Hist. 6 Blog., 1(1894), 443-4. On about Msr* 18th this ship blew up at Somers Islands® Kingsbury, ed«» Records of the Virginia Company. IV, 119-120} 525. 25® Mcllwaine* ed»» Executive Journals of the Council. Ill, 215® 26. A Richard Bailey is mentioned in Culpeper9# report on Virginia in 1683® 'Bailey had gotten himself into serious trouble, but “for Richer# Bailey, Me was Sstramsly young, not past 19, merely drawn in, and very penitent, and therefore hairing so# fully asserted the Dignity of the Gourveroment in the I&saplary punishment of the other two to Deterra others, I thought fit to mingle Mercy with Justice, end Bepreeved Him, promising to intercede with His Maty, not onely to pardon his life. But to restore the little Estate He had alsoe....1* “Culpeper*# Report on Virginia in 1 6 8 3 Va. Mae, of Hist. & Blog.® 3(1896), 231. At this point it might be well to recall that William Sherwood, who was appointed Attomey-dexieral in 1678, had been compelled to leave England because of an Indiscreet act during his youth, though he was forgiven by the man he offended. 27. The “ready to He fix pbr&flo Mky b . . refer(QCC to 8f tlx . Slur* w ell's firs t child who vfis born about Chi* tlm . Height and fin ling , eds., Secret D ia ry of H i l l U . Byrd. 2 9 . 28 . I b i d .. 30 . n 29* Ibid*. 103* 30* 103* 31* Ibid., 104* 3 2 * Justwhat county Eurweli represented in this Assembly is open to acme doubt* 0 m sourc* gives the county a* tileueeeter* William end Herf Staaard. coups♦ * Colonial Virginia Kwimtm (Albany* 1 9 0 2 ),-9 0 * Another source, in es^««*»nt with the SUsnards, has betide its listings the added comment that "Nathaniel Burwell was also amesiber lor Gloucester* m doubt filling a vacancy****** **Hotes end Queries,:” Va* Has, of Hist* & Bios** 18(1910), 102* A list of the members of the 1710-1712 Assembly is provided in the first pages -of the printed volume covering these years, end Nathaniel Burwell Is listed eg the Burgess from Jamestown* H* ft* Hcllvaine* ed., Journals of the Bouse of Burgesses of Virginia (Biehmoad# 1908- 19X5), 1702-1712, IX* Vet tEe election returns, which vote announced on October 27, show Burwell to hmm been iNiforuid from James City® Mc« llualae# ed** Journals of the House of lursaaaas* 1702*1712# 244* It is possible that the recording clerk could have written * end this would Solve the'problem - James Cl tv next to Burnell** acme* when he actually had In mind James town* As there sees&e to be no doubt who the Burgesses from' Gloucester and James City Counties were, the chances are in favor of a clerical error# and that Burwell was the only Burgess from Jamestown, Also# Jamestown and James City might have been the seme here m the two names were sometimes used interchangeably* 34* Philip A* Bruce# Institutional History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century (New York# 1910)* II# 477-80. 33* Mcliwaine, ed«* Joamala* 1702-1712* 253* the administratrix was Elisabeth Harrison* BurveiFs sister« Ibid*. 269* 37. • W# P. Palmer* j£ Jl## ads*. Calendar of Virginia State Papers. I# 144*45* 38*- Wright and TinXing, ads*# Secret Biarv of William Bvrd* 262® 39* Mellvaine# ad*# Journals. 1702-1712* 280* 40* Ibid.* 282* 41* Wright and finling* eds** Secret Diary of William Byrd. 258* 42 * McXiwatne# «d*» Journals* 1702-1712*306® 43* Ibid.* 307* Just what "fees” Burwell hit-'to pay is hard to determine® the motion placing Burwell in custody of the messenger was dealt with m Tuesday, November 13# so Burwell might have been Absent the day before! a Holiday* In this case he would have a rather stiff fee to pay* to make it a little more certain that the Burgesses would attend the first meeting n following the weekend it was, in 1663* “Ordered that whet member soever be absent at the beat of the third drum on Monday naming shall be fined a hogshead of tobacco/1 Setting* ed*# Statutesrat*large ( H w torfc, 1013)# lit 20$* For absentia® on any other day* a Imr of 1659-60 provided a member would have to pay three hundred pounds of tobacco unless he could produce m acceptable reason for his absence to the Souse* ibid** (Rich- raondi 1809), I, $32* 44* McXlwaine, ed*, Journals * 1702*1712* $10* 4$. Jbid*, 329* 40* Ibid*. 337. 47* Ibid** 349. i 4 , ; 48. “Proceedings of the Visitors of-William and Mary College, 1716*** Va. Mae* of Hist. & Biaa*. 4(1896), 161. 49. Of the twelve gentlemen present at this meeting, three were related to the Burwells, and one was a Burwell by name. $0. "Proceedings of the Visitors of William and Mary College* 1716/* Vs. Mac, of Hist. & Btosu* 4(1806), 169+ 51. Eleven were present at this-meeting. Of those present, one was H&thanisl Burwell art five were related to his family. 52 o A letter written by Robert Carter at about this time poses m inter* eating problem, the letter is to Micajah and Richard Ferry, two London merchants who knew Burrell and had signed the tobacco petition in 1705* Carter writes* **foor Mat Burwell hath left M i place and is like to stand concluded, for what -I see. *Ti« well he can live without it,- and may all honest men.be able:to.do so. tm 'have already had a full account of the steps of this reccmeiliatiott, I need .give you m further trouble about it/* Louis B« Wright, ed.# Letters of Robert Carter.. 1720*1727 (San Marino, 1940) 6* the author M s failed to turn up say material relating to whatever event Carter may be referring* though the mention of Reconciliation*1 might indi* cate there was some tremble in the family at this time* It will be recalled that Lewis Burwell II was. especially fearful of a squabble among his chit* dren after he died, and on M s death*bed requested his friend, William Byrd, to try to patch up spy troubles that might arise, the Major appeared to have been strongly of the opinion that there might be a dispute among his sons after his passing* In an .effort to prevent this his will stipulated that “each'of my Sens-do-quietly & peaceably enjoy...the Lands so given them*..but in case either of My Sons or Ion or their Miras doth endeavor to disturb M s sd Brother*..by any way or means*..directly or indirectly that then he or they so molesting or disturbing his sd Bro*. .shall forfeit to the molested all*..the Lands.• .given to hi*».«& I do give it to the mo* lasted under the same restrictions,../* Mason, Records of Colonial Gioecas” ter, XI, 43. In spite of this provision disputes did arise. In 1712* the Major* s daughters were not pleased with their brothers* administration of their father#e will and they brought suit against liathanlei and Jamas* 73 This m know me> m ttied* On June II, Byrd * m t to the eapitel "where Colonel Indwell and I were £0 determine the difference between the ten Burwelle and their sister* mid we had the goad fortune to do it to their entire satisfaction.1* bright mid Tinllng, eds.» Diary of William Byrd. 542-3* 53* Hcllweine, «d»* JoTOials. 1712-1724, 263* 54* Ibid * » 264* The result* of this conference are not known. 55. Ibid.. 272* 56. Ibid., 300* 57. Ibid.. 308. 58. Burwell eeee* to fcgm been heavily rolled upon by the House., when it cane to drafting .messages to the Governor or sitting in conference with Council sttemberso Any meeting with the Council (remembering that very few o f . the Burgesses had relations on this, body) most have been very similar to « telly reunion as far a*.Burwell was concerned# .Could i t he that Burwell9* fellow Burgesses had' this in *isd when they sent him to repre sent the Assesably*s viewpoint? 50* ^Inscriptions on 01d Tombs in Gloucester Co., Virginia,1* tea. & Mary Ortv., 1st ««r*t 2(1894)f 222. A typescript copy of Rathaaiel 'Burmll** will is deposited with the. Virginia historical Society* It has never been published* 60, Wright end Tinting, ed*#, Secret M a r y of William Byrd* 58# 61* ibid*. 114# 62* Ibid.. 140* 63* Ibid., 157-8. 64* Ibid.* 517. 65. ♦’Berkeley Manuscripts." Wm* & Hsrv Or tv*, let *er«, 7(1808), 86-88* 66* ’^iiacelianeou# Colonial Documents,” Va. Mae, of aiet. & Bloc., 17 (1009), 147-50. 67. Vork County Records, Bo. 14, 1709-1716, II* 355 (photostat copy in Virginia State library, Richmond). 68, Ibid.* 455. 69* MCllwaine, ed*, Journals, 1712-1726, 129-30, 7®* Ibid ** 170. n n* 210* 7 2 o ibid*. 2 1 4 * 73. This inventory of BOtwell9# possessions at “King9 a Creek” can ha found in the York County Records* Ho* 15, 2714*1720, 22, 421*26 {photostat copy in. Virginia State Mbrary, Richmond) * VnfOrtuaately* this particular volume is not fully indexed and 2 cone upon iwrwall9# inventory too lots to,make full use of it*' it hie death, IteHeell owned .forty-two slaves and two white servants* valued at £ 1,174.10* the- total estate cams to £ 2,38648.20*. 74* “letter of Col* Nathaniel Burwell *ft h%s*& Maa*v Qrty** 1st oer*, 7(1698)* 43-44* Hathaniel Burwell and his father-in-law see© to he. in* agreement on how the younger faulty members should he educated* Robert Carter9# view# of his son9# education are expressed in ■# latter, dated Jemiary 28, 1723-4 to William Dawkins* **The Will of Charles Carter of Cleve, '* Va* Hasu of Hist* & Bloa*B 31(1923)# 39-40. 75. Carl Brld 76. ed«, Journals* 1727-1740, 207* 77. Ibid.. 258. 78. Ibid*. 296. 79. Ibid.. 299. 80. Ibid.* 309. On this day, the Council, sitting in Its legislative capacity, had sin member# present - which was about average - at the meet ing. Three of these members m m related to the Burwell#. g. R. Hcllwiinea ed*, legislative Journal# of the Council* II* 834* 81* McXlwatne, ed*, Journals* 1727-1740, 316* 82. “Journals of the Council of Virginia in Executive Session, 1717-1763,“ Va. Mae* of Hist. 6 Bloa** 14(1906), II* The author most admit to soma guess work here* It is conceivable that the Council9# appointment of a Lewis Burwell referred to one of two others by the same .name* Carter Bur- well9 s eldest brother was twenty-seven years eld at the time, while the eldest son of Lewis Burwell 111 was twenty-one. Lewis Burwell is practi cally eliminated due to his young age, though Carter9# brother might have bean the Lewis appointed and not the one to Which the author has assigned the post. 83* Mcllwaine, ed*, Journals. 2727-2740, 330* 84* Ibid*» 388* 85* The Burwell# would par form this feat again* When the Assembly of 1752-1755 opened on fabruary 27, there mare three Burwell# in attendance. Career Burwell, still a Burgess from Jamas City Council, sat through all n eight session#, while Hi* fetmgftit brother* Beb#rt Carter Burwell, *»* serving his first term from Isis of Wight The other Burwall was Ansi stead, youngest soot of Lewis Harwell III* miI the lone Surges# fro* WiUiamaburg. He died in 1754 oof was succeeded by George Wythe* 86, t r e m o r Gooch thought highly of the young Burwell and his rapid advanceiaent is due in part to Gooch*# favor* Hot long after Burnell®# return from school in England, Gooch wrote to hi# brother, the Bishop of Harwich, in 1733, that ,8Sfc# Country doaft at all approve of hi* manner and way of Ufa, Which they think too much upon the reserve, end ere apt to construe it into ftidt, hut I think hi» * clover young mm and in tend to pronote hi* to military honour, if 1 find he deserve# favour fro® at,** let tare of Governor William Gooch, 1,727-1751 (typescript copy in the research library of Colonial Williawsburg), 36* 1» 1738, Gooch recocsaended Burwell (then only 29 year# old) as one of the ’•person# fitfc to Supply Vacancy®#1*' upon, the Council# Gooch Piters, It, 1732-174G (type- script' copies in possession of the Virginia Historical Society, -tUehMoad) 327“28* In 1742, in a letter to his brother, Gooch asked him to speak in favor of Bunrall* latter* of Governor Willis* Gooch* 1727-1751 (type* script copy In the research library of Colonial Williamsburg), 99 s 87, Hcllwaine, ad*, J w n a l s , 1742-1749, 77# 88, Ibid., 81# 76 S' $m M M The rise of the Burwells was morethan unique. Moot of the lending families came over at about the «i»» time as the ButveUs* sad shortly thereafter these families took away the sceptre which -had fallen from the hands of the first generation lenders* for over a hundred years the Blairs* Burnells* fagceB Randolphs* and others would successfully sustain their position at the top of the political and social ladder* Unlike members of the first generation* fcha status of the Burnells* once attained* was securely held. Had they coma to Virginia sixty years later than they did* the chances of their rising in the colonial society would have been practically nit. thus* it is seen that between 1640 and 1700 a major change took place; a change which made possible the rise of the Burwells While at the s a m time tasking certain that* short of « revolt*** tion, their position could be safely maintained. When the Burwells arrived about 1640 the society in Virginia was still fluid. The Burwells had the extra advantage of having had previous interests In the colony* but even if they had come over as tradesmen, there rise still would hove been possible. In the three decades following Burwell*9 arrival, there was no property qualification for the free white man, so nearly all the colonists could vote* A good part of the popula tion was composed of the small yeoman farm*?, who with a little business acumen could hope to enlarge his holdings* If there was not room for new leaders, then one could hope to replace those who were already successful* for in this period their leadership was by no means secure* In entering a society which was mobile, the Burwells were fortunate to: have enough capital with which to buy more lend t h m tould the average emigrant* lfe**» der the *ihefidrlghts*, system, the Burwells were able to obtain their first n land* of considerable sise, and i t wa@ under this system that many a leading family of fifty years later got its start* But these conducive I elements to settlement did not last long* By 1700 the good lands in the tidewater mere taken up* The smaller plantar was no longer encouraged# As early as 1660, the yeomen farmers m m being crowded out as the Navigation Act placed a premium upon mesa production of tobacco# glare labor now took the place of the White in* dcnttsred servant, who in earlier years had been the chief source of labor# In 1670, the Virginia Assembly established a property qualification for voting, and it was not long before the franchise was further limited# the society in Virginia was becoming static* aadsuch a turn of events provided the protective shield of preservation for the Burwells and other families Who had reached the top. the Burwells, however, did not take their position of leadership for granted* like most of their neighbors* they took politics seriously# After the family fortunes had been firmly established by the first two Burwells, their descendants undertook to serve the colony in the House of Burgesses and on the Council* Staunch supporters of the established church in Virginia, the Burwells never hesitated to challenge the Governor, or even Parliament, when they thought that the basic rights of the colony ware threatened, they ware, of course, not alone In this, but as one of the families which helped to make the Golden Age of Virginia possible, the Burwells contributed not only to a liberal spirit in religion, but to the atmosphere in which the leaders of the Rsvolutlon and the framers of the Constitution were raised# ^Daniel «?» Boorstin, The Americans* the Colonial Experience (New Turk, IV58H 100*2* 80 PRIMARY SOURCES .H^ficrJaSS t- \ l« Gooch, Willis** The letters of, 1727-1731. Typescript copy In the research library of Colonial William burg* 2* Gooch, William; t he papers of, 1727-1751. 3 vole# Typescript caplet in the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond® 3. York County Records, 1697-1702, Copy of the official records writtm in long hand. Virginia State library, Richmond* 4. York County Records, 1709*1716* 2 vols* Photostat ic copies in Virginia State library* 5# York County Records, 1726*1720# 2 vols. fhotoatatic copies in Virginia State library® B. Printed Sources - Books 1* dikdrsMS, Charles M., ed* Hsrratlvei of the Insurrections: 1675-1690. Hew York, 1913 2. Barton, it. T*, ed. Virginia Colonial Decisions: The Reports of Sir John Randolph and by Edward Barr ad all of Decisions of the general Court of Virginia. 1728-1741* ~ 2 vols* Boston, 1909. 3. Blaydes, traderic A., ed* The Visitations of Bedfordshire* Volume 19 of the Publications of the Harleiaa Society* London, 1884. 4* Brock, Robert A., ed* The Official Letters of Alexander Soots* isood* 2 vols* Richaond* 1882-85* 5. Cognate* Jr., Louis des, comp* English Duplicates of Lost Virginia Records* n.p«, 1958 ...... 6* Grant, W* L«, jgg g|, eds* Aets of the frivv Council of England® Colonial Series. 1613-1680* Hereford, 1908. 7* Headiest, Cecil, ed. Calendar of State Papers* Colonial Series* America and West Indies* 1704-1703* London, 1916 8. Honing, william V., ed* The Statutes-at-Larae* Being a Collec tion or ell the Lavs of A3 volss» Use York and Philadelphia, 2823$ Richmond, 1809-23* 01 9# Kingsbury, Susan M. , ed. The Record* of the Virginia Caemeny of louden* 4 vole* Washington, 1000** 1935* 10. Maaon, Polly C*t cowp. Records of Colonial Gloucester County* 2 vole* Seepere- He«S| 1946-1948# 11* Mcllvaine, H« 3U, ed. 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Mag* of Hist. 4 Blog.. 18(1910), 129*391 19(1911), 1-9* 17. Stanard, W* 0*, comp. %b»tzmt» of Virginia Land Patents,” Va. Mu r * of Hist* & Bioa.. 1(1894), 436*52* 18. “Tobacco trade in Russia, 1705,” tfta. Gr Mary Ofty., 2nd **t», 3(1923), 250*58. 19. *%m Seventeenth Century Letters.” Va. Hag. of Hist, a Slog*. 9(19823, 331*33. 28. ’Virginia in 1623*4,** Va. .Man,...of Hist. 6 glost*. 6(1839), 373*79, 21. “Virginia Cleanings in England,“ Va. Mag, of flint. & Blonu* 23(1915) 156*611 24(1916), 261*78* 22, Withingtoc, Lothrop, coop. ’’Virginia Gleanings in England.” Va. Mag, of mat, & Bloa*. 15(1898), 297-306. ummmm sources Printed Books 1* Boors tin, Baniel J. the Americans s The Colonial Experience * Ho®? fori* 1958* * i 2* Bridenbaugh, tori, Sent of Empire* Williamsburg, 1858* 3* Brows,. Alexander, Genesis of tho United States, 2 vole* Hew Totk, 2880* 4* Bruce, Philip A, Institutional History of Virginia In the Seventeenth Century* 2 vole* Hew York, 1810* S* Burwell, Georg© H*t. comp# Record of the Burwell family. Rich* mood, 1808* 6. Glllis®, Charles R.» ,r#Hr.f, to Virginia Records before 1776," Wa« & Hsrv Orfcy.. 2nd tor*, 18(1888), 142-45.* 7* Jester, Amato l»« and March Hidem, coops* Adventurers of and Person. Virginia 1607** 1625* Princeton, 1958* So Reich, Charles f* the Ancestry of Beni sain Harrison* Philadelphia, IS93, 9* Mason, George 0* Colonial. Churches of tidewater Virginia* Rich- aoidi 1945* 10. Sydnor, Charles S# Gentlemen freeholders. Chapel Hill, 1952* 11* Tyler, Igrea 6. “Coats^of-Armg to Virginia,1* Ifou & Mary Or tv* * 1st m t «» 1(1892), 112-81, 12. Valcourt-Vermont, Edgar de, soap, Merles. Herald ice. Hew Vork, 1886* 13* Waterman, Thomas and John A# Barrows* Bornestic Colonial Archi" tec tore of Tidewater Virginia. Has? tork, 1932* 14. Wertenbaker* Thomas J. Give me Liberty. Philadelphia, 1958* 15.. WertembAktr, Thomas J* The Planters of Colonial Virginia* Princeton, 1922* 1* ,fthe f.P.V**# of Virginia*” lha»..&l..Mary_..ltetv»» 1st ser«» 23(1915), 277* 84 2« “Historical Botas and Queries,{’ Vs* Mag* of Hist. & Blog*. 9(1902), 331-33. 3* "ludifsU Ite&lft” Ms- & Mteg» Orfev., life ««*»»< 19(1911), 199-214* 4* Msadf, Everard Kidder• “the Children of Major l^ewis Btintell' tt$n Proceedings ol the Clarks County Historical Association. 4(1944), 6-28. 5* “Micajati Barry#n Wbu.4 Mary Qr.ty»« 1st *t**« 17(1909)* 264-67* 6* “Notes sad Qnartas.** Vs. Msg* of Hist. & Blog** 10(1902), 102-111 13(1903), 91*99; 18(1910), 291*203* 7. “Some Virginian* Educated in Oraat Britain,Vs. Msg, oi Hist* AJMfii.* 21(1923), 196-99, 8. ’‘Williamatmrg * fhs Old Colonial Cspitsl,M Hbu, & Mary Qrty** 1st ser., 16(1907), l~6S, John h* Siair m i born on October 25* 1935* Educated in the imb^ lie school systea #1 Springfield* Massachusetts * He later attended American International College* where lie reeelved hie B*A* degree, in Jtme8 1957 o fhe following year he studied at the Bniversltaet dee Saarland** In $&mb*mckm9 Germany and In duly 195$ was awarded the Deutsches gsrtifftot* Be resides In Springfield# Massachusetts* at 79 Bridie Bath Road*