THE DESCENDANTS OF THOMAS LAMKIN THE DESCENDANTS OF THOMAS LAMKIN OF THE NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA Compiled by Dr. Harold E. Wilkins Edited by Barbara J. Mathews, CG 17^ r ^t? NEWBURY STREET PRESS Boston, Massachusetts 2001 Published and distributed by NEWBURY STREET PRESS 101 Newbury Street Boston, Massachusetts 02116-3007 special publications imprint of the New England Historic Genealogical Society All rights reserved Copyright © 2001 New England Historic Genealogical Society International Standard Book Number: 0-88082-116-7 Library of Congress Card Number: 00-108587 No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the copyright holder, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Printed in the United States of America TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface vii First Generation 1 Second Generation 11 Third Generation 25 Fourth Generation 47 Fifth Generation 103 Sixth Generation 173 Bibliography .231 Index 239 Preface My grandmother was Bertha Ella Lamkin (1873-1896) of Franklin County, Maine. Her great grandfather, Arial, arrived undocumented in the town of Jay just before the turn of the 18th century. He was traced up the Androscoggin River to Stratford, New Hampshire and thence to Stratford, Connecticut, the origin of the only Lamkin family at that time in New England. Arial's great grandfather, Thomas3, was seen in the vital records of Eastham, Massachusetts, where he married in 1719. He was similarly undocumented. No definitive monograph or book devoted to the Lamkin surname has been found. Research into 17th century court records of Virginia's Northern Neck, while studying the Southern Lamkins, led to the discovery of three individuals, all named Thomas Lamkin. They were a generation apart, seemingly father, son and grandson, residing near the head of the very short Yeocomico River which empties into the Potomac River a short distance from the Chesapeake Bay. This finding, nowhere published, led to this book which is devoted to the first six generations of this family. Lamkin has been used throughout as the spelling of the name despite many other variations; most commonly Lampkin, Lambkin and Lamkins. The surname is the same. From the very beginning different spellings are seen, with documents not uncommonly demonstrating two versions in the same archive. My research has led me to believe that perhaps the origin of more than 90% of persons in this country with this surname, regardless of spelling or race could possibly be traceable to Thomas Lamkin (c.1620-1665) of Northumberland County, Virginia. Thomas Saxe of Lancaster Co., Virginia, in a will dated 11 Jan 1654/551 names a Mr. Lamkin and his wife who are to receive cattle. Note, however, that, if this refers to our Thomas Lamkin, who is documented in this county at this time, it would be the only time in the records where he received the title "Mr." 'Beverly Fleet, Virginia Colonial Abstracts, Vol. I, 4, citing Lancaster Co., Va. Record Book 2, 1644-1656,11. vii No connection between Jeremiah Lampin of Surry County, Virginia and the Lamkin family was found. Lambdens also came to Virginia in the early 1600's and include a Robert Lambden who owned property in Westmoreland and Northumberland Counties. This is a separate unrelated surname as is Lumpkin, which is also at times confused with Lampkin. While I have had the good fortune to have capable, experienced, professional help in constructing this book, the responsibility for the amateurish flavor and the inevitable errors is mine. Many pardons for each. I am greatly indebted to the many Lamkin, Lampkin, Lambkin and Lamkins cousins who have made contributions and given assistance with this publication. Foremost are the following. John Frederick Dorman who edited an article in his The Virginia Genealogist7 for Barbara Mathews and me, revising and correcting citations to primary Virginia records. These have been utilized in Chapters 2-4, many identified with the initials, JFD. Secondly to the late Richard Henry Lampkin, Jr. (11 Jul 1911-23 Oct 1999) of Bradenton, FL who made his meticulous unpublished research into the fourth, fifth and sixth generations of his Northern Neck line available to me. His work is acknowledged by his initials in the citations. Thirdly to BettyJean Thomas of Bluffdale, Utah whose greatly admired mother in law was a California Lamkin with roots in the Culpeper County, Virginia branch for which, unfortunately, thus far, only onomastic connections to the Northumberland County Lamkins have been found. Betty Jean's research, which now may be found on the web in LDS's Ancestral File, also extends over decades and was kindly made available and utilized mainly for generations seven to twelve which are to be available in manuscript form at the NEHGS Library at 101 Newbury Street in Boston. It is anticipated that this MSS will eventually be posted on the NEHGS website. The many others who have provided information for this book have been recognized in a footnote at an appropriate place in the text to follow. Among those deserving special recognition are: Charles Putnam of Acton, Massachusetts who first postulated the occupation of mariner for Thomas3; Margaret F. Ernest of Seattle and Nancy French Dodge of Colebrook, N.H. 2Wilkins & Mathews, The Legatees of Hannah (Cox) [Lamkin] Demonville, 8 Sep 1744, Westmoreland Co., Va., The Virginia Genealogist, vol. 43, [1999], 83-101, 200-217. Vlll for help with Northern States and Canadian lines; Ella Henning for Michigan descendants; W. Preston Haynie for Northumberland Co., Va. court house records; Darlene Tallent for Westmoreland Co. court house records. Robert Rudolph, Deborah Mullins, Dorothy Groh, Cynthia Johnson, Dorothy Sudikas, Sybil K. Woods and Richard I. Luht, III are representatives of those who sent multiple contributions and are gratefully acknowledged. Sincere thanks to the staff at the Newbury Street Press, Thomas Kozachek, Jayna Stafford and Linda Austin, under the guidance and direction of D. Brenton Simons and to co-author Barbara Mathews who organized my genealogical notes and put them into manuscript form all the while supplementing the same with her own research. Truly a great effort and an invaluable key to this project. HaroldE. Wilkins, M.D. geneohal@aol. com Downey, California 21 June 2000 IX First Generation 1. THOMAS1 LAMKIN, b. prob. England, poss. Norwich, Norfolk, say 1610, if he can be identified with the Thomas Lamkin in the bill of complaint cited below, or at least bef. 1626, assuming he was 21 years old when he married; d. bef. 20 November 1665, when his orphan Mary was put out to John and Elizabeth Modey;'1' m. (1) bef. 1647, when their eldest son was bom, ELEANOR ,[21 emigrated to Virginia from England bef. 6 October 1653, when Thomas received land for having brought her over, d. bet. 14 November 1662 and 20 November 1665; m. (2) prob. in Northumberland County, Virginia, bef. 20 November 1665, CONNEGAN WALKER, dau. of John Walker; Thomas and Connegan (Walker) Lamkin had no known children. Little can be said for certain about Thomas1 Larrikin's origins.13' Nor is it known when or under what circumstances he came to the Virginia Colony. A bill of complaint by the Fellows and Scholars of Christ's College, Cambridge, against one William Armiger, dated 21 June 1634, mentions a Thomas Lamkin as a late renter of a three-quarter-acre croft near North Creek Priory, in Norwich, Norfolk.'4' If this is the same Thomas, then he emigrated to the Virginia Colony sometime after 1634, possibly as an indentured servant, a common means of paying one's passage. Learning the profitable but labor-intensive occupation of tobacco farming and, perhaps, working for his own freedom, he would have had to accumulate enough wealth to pay for Eleanor's passage. She must have arrived before 1647, when her eldest child, John, was born. The family located in Lancaster County in the recently opened Northern Neck, a peninsula jutting into the Chesapeake Bay between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. This area was known as •Northumberland Co., Va., Court Order, 1652-1678,213 (FHL 32,642). See also W Preston Haynie, Records of Indentured Servants and of Certificates of Land, Northumberland County, Virginia (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 1996), 81. "Her last name was abstracted as "?Lusher," but this may well have been Lamkin. On the surname Lamkin-Lambkin-Lampkin, Percy Hide Reaney notes that for "the suffix -kin ... a Flemish origin can confidently be ascribed to some of these names . Lambkin and Lampking are diminutives of Lambert, a name found in Flanders." He cites as examples the names "Lambekyn Flandrensis," "Lamkynus de Braban (of Brabant)" and "Lambert de Colom (of Bologne)." The Origin of English Surnames (New York: Barnes and Noble), 213-14. See also George Redmonds, Surnames and Genealogy (Boston: NEHGS, 1997). Today the surname is common in the counties from Lincoln to Kent on the east coast of England, as may be gleaned from a survey of names on pages 8,204 through 89,822 in the International Genealogical Index, 1992 Family History Library, hereafter (FHL). Noel Currier-Briggs, Virginia Settlers and English Adventurers, 3 vols, in 1 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1970), 617-19. On 21 June 1634, Thomas Lamkin was mentioned as a late renter of 1 V/t acres of land and a 3-rood (3A acre) croft ("Joy's Croft") near North Creek Priory. 2 The Descendants of Thomas Lamkin "Chicacoan" prior to 1648 and was set aside by the colonial government for the use of the native American tribes under the control of Powhatan. After settling down, Thomas accepted the responsibility of developing a plantation.