Burton Chronicles of Colonial Virginia being excerpts from the existing records, particularly relating to the Buttons of the valley of the JamesandAppomattox;withespe­ cial reference to the ancestry of Jesse Burton of Lynchburg (I750?-I795) by Francis· Burton Harrison P-RIVATELY PRINTED z933 Burton Chronicles of Colonial Virginia CONTENTS Chapter I The Buttons in V.irginia - Chapter II The F,adi.-st Buttons on the James Chapter III Thomas1 Burton of Cobbs and his Eldest Son 33 Chapter IV John Burton, the son ofThomas1 of Cobbs - - 45 ChapterV The Children of John Burton of Cobbs (Son of Thomas1). Chesterfield Burtons - s,; Chapter VJ Charles Burton of Swift Creek; William City; Chesterfield Burtons - - Chapter VII Isaac Burton of Cobbs Chapter VIII Al,rnbarn Burton of Cobbs and his Descendants in Amelia - - - - - 107 Chapter IX John1 Burton of Longfield - - - 1:z.7 ChapterX William1 Burton of the Level (Son of John1) - 137 Chapter XI Descendants of Wi1Iiarn1 'Sutton of the Level - 151 Chapter XII Robcrt1 Burton of Longfield, son of JohnI Chapter XIII Robcrt11 Burton of Gooc:hland - - 177 Chapter XIV The Children of Robert11 Burton of Goochland 187 1 Chapter XV Nowell Burton - - 197 .Chapter XVI The Children ofNowell1 Burton - :z.13 Chapter XVII HPtcbins1 13urton of Henrico - :z.:z.7 ChapterXVIII The Children of Hutcbios1 Burton of Henrico - :z.37 Chapter XIX Benjarninll Burton of Henrico - - :z.5 3 Chapter XX John11 Burton, last of Longfield, and of Amelia County - - 267 Chapter XXI Captain William Burton of Albcmarl" County and his Children - - 281 Chapter XXII Jesse Burton of Lynchburg Chapter XXIII The Descendants of Jesse Burton of Lynchburg - ;07 Appendix/ Virginia Buttons in English Records - Appendix II Nowell, Norvell Family in Seventeenth Century Virginia - - ;;9 Appendix Ill Parker Family in Henrico - - ;5; Appendix IV Family of John Cobbs of Goochland and Bucking- ham Counties - - - 357 Appendix V Burton Land Records in Eighteenth Century in Mecklenburg County - - ;67 Appendix VI Buttons-Heads of Families-in Vuginia Census of 178::.-5 - - - - - ;71 Appendix Vil Some Nineteenth Century Henrico Buttons - 315 AppendixVIII Buttons ofRappahanock and Orange Counties - 379 Appendix IX Burtons of the Eastern Shore - - 381 lmkx - - - ABBREVIATIONS Bruce Inst. Hist.=Institutional History of Virginia in the seventeenth Century by Philip Alexander Bruce, LL. D.; as also his "Economic History" and "Social History". Co. C't. Note B'k= The County Court Note Book published by Milnor Ljungstedt. Doug. Reg.=The Douglas Register as kept by the Rev. WiUiarn Oou­ glas frorn 1750-1797 edited by W. MacJones. Habcrsham=Historical Collection, Joseph Habersham Chapter Daugh­ teIS' of the American Revolution. Hcning=The statutes at Large being a collection of all the Laws of V1rginia by Wiiliarn Waller Hcning. Hotten=The Original Lists &c. of Emigrants &c. by John Camden Hotten. Tyler's Encyc.=Encyclopedia of VJ.rginia Biography edited by Lyon G.irdiner Tyler, LL. D. Tyler's Q. = Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine. Va. Co. Rec.= VJ.rginia County Records Quarterly Magazine. Va. Mag. Hist. or Va. Mag.= The Virginia Magazine of History & Biography. Val. Pap.=The Edward Pleasants Valentine Papers. W. & M.= Wiiliarn & Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine. PREFACE It is still fashionable to preface a work on genealogy with an apology-not it is true, if the pedigree is that of a horse or a dog-but of a human being. Perhaps this proceeds from a hoeral indulgence in the most intoxicating phrase in the De­ claration ofIndependence, that "all men are created equal". To avoid being drawn into a discu_ssion of that white-hot topic, I hasten to state that I make no apology whatever for the Chronicles I now offer to my kinsmen-except indeed for such skids as I have made, pardonable, I trust in w amateur who treads for the :first time the slippery path of genealogy. The text of the narrative which follows will show that this essay in Virginian family history is not inspired by any vain­ glorious hope of shining in the reflected glory of a great an­ cestor-if any truly remarkable man existed among the very numerous Buttons in Virginia, a microscope bas failed to discover him. Jesse Burton of the Oaks, near Lynchburg, Campbell county, Virginia, is the :first of the Burton line to whom, until very recently, any of his descendants have been able to trace. He died in 1795 and his name has been perpetuated in several branches of bis descendants. When his grandson and name­ sake, Jesse Burton Harrison of Lynchburg was presented at the university of Gottingen in 182.9 to the renowned Professor Blumenbach, 'the aged Professor opened his letter of introduction and read his name. "Burton is your Christian name?" I told him my mother's name. "Well, there is a book-oh! very singularbook-pooh!Anatomy of Melancholy-by Burton, descended from him perhaps?" 9 PREFACE I disclaimed the honor'. (H:irrisons of Skiroinoe.) It was dis­ creet as well as honest to make the disclaimer, but we surmise that if he had been asked to name bis Burton ancestors for a century back, he would have ".flunked" the examination. Two years ago my distant kinsman 11r. \Villiam B. Marye of Baltimore sent me a Burton pedigree starting with Jobn1 who patented Longfield, Henrico county, in 1665, and des­ cending to the children of Jesse Burton of Lynchburg. This he had constructed through bis own investigations of original records, and it stands unshaken after intensive research made continuously ever since. Upon this, with Mr. Marye's per­ mission, I have endeavored to embroider a narrative covering not only the ancestry of Jesse, but also the parallel line of the Burtons of Cobbs. In the work of research I have enjoyed the invaluable co-operation of Dr. Robert Armisted Stewart of Richmond. The appeodi.-.: dealing with the Buttons of the Eastern Shore is just as it came to me from the pen of the late 1-Ir. Stratton Nottingham of Onancock, Virginia. Having thus fortified my position by citing the names of three competent genealogists of accepted standing, I must add that the piecing together of the records given me is entirely of my own creation. Except for a chapter which concludes the narrative, detailing the descendants of Jesse Burton of Lynchburg down to those living today, so far as is known, the chronicles are those from the records of Colonial days, and cease with the founding of the United States. The successive waves of invasion which have swept across Virginia have destroyed a large part of the old church and county records. The later wide-spread scattering of the Bur­ ton clan has further increased the difficulty of completing a pedigree. In several important features, primary proof of relationship is lacking, and secondary or circumstantial IO PREFACE evidence is offered instead. \'vhere resort has been had to mere speculation, this .is clearly stated. The phraseology and spelling of the old records has been reproduced, to preserve the atmosphere of those by-gone days, with the vocabulary and pronunciation then in use. The items we nod referring to these ancestors do not evoke flights of romance nor of fancy; if, however, we have achieved a composite picture of a segment of our forbears, we have made a contribution, however modest, to the social history of Virginia. Thanks are due my remote cousins Judge Frank D. Christian of Lynchburg and the Revd. Arthur P. Gray of \Vest Point, Virginia, for aid given in the preparation of material. The audience to which I address this work is restricted; if I were not blessed with a generous daughter who .is a publisher, this narrative would never have seen the light of day. In o.-planation of the title selected for this book, the fol­ lowing definition from the Oxford English Dictionary will suffice: Chronkle: "A detailed and continuous register of events in order of time; a historical record, esp. one in which the facts are narrated without philosophic treatment, or any attempt at literary style.» II Chapter I The .Bll11ons in Virginia The first Beoril".O Buttons cime from England during the troubled times of Charles the First. The name of Burton .is ubiquitous in England. It .is by origin, a place name, signify­ ing ''burgtun'' or ''boroughtown.'' The name Barton, some­ times confused by clerks of record w.ith Burton, is in reality quite cillfereot, nieaning originally a "barley town" ("Sur­ names'' and "The Romance of Names" by \Veekley, and "British Family Names'' by H. ·Barber). Families of Burton are found in the records of nearly all the English counties; in 1638, in Suffolk for example, there were eight Burtons and twenty Bartons listed as ''able men" available for mili­ tia service. As a place name, we fif"!d in the Times Atlas of present day England under the index of Burton alone or in combination with other words twenty-one towns-and three in Ireland. The archives of London du.ring Tudor and Stuart times coritain numerous Burtons, and it seems probable that those of the name who are found in Virginia du.ring the early period came from the London stock. No attempt has yet been made by the compiler of these notes to trace any of the Virginia Buttons back to their English orlgin. The records of eighteenth century Virginia contain the names of various Burtons who emigrated to the colony. In h.is History of Virginia Captain John Smith mentioned the arrival of 'George Burton, Gent.: in the "second supply" in 1608. He was in the pinnace on Smith's famous trip to Pamun­ key. Hotten gives the following as having embarked from the port of London for Virginia: Richard Burton, aged .zS in the BURTON CHRONICLES "Swan" in 1624; Thomas Button, aged 19 in the "Ann and · Elizabeth" in 1635; \XliUiam Burton, aged 2.4in the "Thomas" in 1635.