Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from LYRASIS members and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/southsidevirgini151997 THE SOUTHSIDE VIRGINIAN A JOURNAL OF GENEALOGY AND HISTORY VrBaoch Public Ubraiy C»ntr*l Library ^ <100Va.BeacbBlvd Va. Beach. VA 23452-1767 Vol. XV No. 1 Winter 1997 The Southside Virginian The Southside Virginian, published since 1983, is owned by Kathryn Sawyer Hooper and Christopher M. Hooper, PO Box 3684, Richmond, VA 23235-7684. It is published quarterly, with issues appearing in Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall of each year. Subscriptions are $22.00 per year, postage included, and are on a calendar year basis, with subscribers receiving all issues for the year in which they subscribe. Back issues, where available, are $25.00 per volume (4 issues). Reprints of back issues are $40.00 per volume (4 issues). Please inform the publishers, at the above address, of any change in address. The Southside Virginian, solicits unpublished source material of genealogical and historical significance to researchers of Southside Virginia which includes the counties of Amelia, Appomattox, Bedford, Brunswick, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Franklin, Greensville, Halifax, Henry, Isle of Wight, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nansemond, Norfolk, Nottoway, Pittsylvania, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Prince George, Princess Anne, Southampton, Surry, and Sussex. Efforts are made to balance the material published so that the greatest coverage of the geographical area can be achieved. All materials submitted for publication should be well documented and be factually accurate. Every effort is made to check submitted materials for accuracy and originality, but neither the owners nor staff of The Southside Virginian can assume responsibility for errors on the part of its contributors. Corrections of proven errors will appear in subsequent issues of the magazine. All material appearing in The Southside Virginian is copyrighted in the name of The Southside Virginian. This copyright protects all original materials published, and is not intended to interfere with the copyright of any materials quoted or cited by our authors. It is understood that records in the public domain cannot be copyrighted. Transcriptions and abstracts of such records as deeds, probated wills, tax records, tombstone inscriptions, etc., can be protected in the form in which they are submitted. The form this material takes in The Southside Virginian is covered by the general copyright of the magazine. Contributors should use extreme care not to infringe on the copyright of others. Neither the owners nor staff of The Southside Virginian are responsible for any infringement of copyrights by its contributors. Written permission must be granted by the owners of this magazine for the reproduction, in any form, of any material contained herein. This magazine is produced on Packard-Bell Pentium 120mhz and Positive 80486 25mhz computers utilizing WordPerfect 6. 1 . Camera- ready typeset output is provided on a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 4, 600 DPI laser printer. Scanning and optical character recognition are performed on a Microtek Scanmaker E6 with Ulead PhotoImpact and Caere Omni-Page Pro software. Camera-ready copy is produced on Hammermill Papers Laser-Plus paper. The Southside Virginian is printed on Hammermill acid-free stock. THE SOUTHS1DE VIRGINIAN A JOURNAL OF GENEALOGY AND HISTORY PO Box 3684, Richmond, VA 23235-7684 ISSN 0736-5683 FAX: 804-272-4875 eMail: [email protected] CONTENTS Vol. XV No. 1 • Winter 1997 Editorial 2 Book Reviews And Announcements 3 Pittsylvania County Court — The First Year 8 Dennis Hudgins Clarke, Scott, Meade, Smith-Love, and Chambers Bibles 21 [Dinwiddie County] Christopher M. Hooper The Avary Family of Amelia County 26 Craig M. Kilby Records of Bath Parish [Dinwiddie County] 33 Kathryn Sawyer Hooper The Will - of Edward Capps, Sr. 1801 [Princess Anne County] 36 Christopher M. Hooper The Presbyterian Cemetery [City ofLynchburg] 38 Kathryn Sawyer Hooper List of the First Public Schools in Appomattox County 40 Harriet A. Chilton Legal Terms and Law 42 Doris Y. Stone Queries 44 copyright ® 1997 - The Southside Virginian EDITORIAL Welcome to the 15th year of publication of The Southside Virginian. We hope that you agree that our magazine has improved over the years both in content and execution. We definitely try to make each issue as interesting and varied as possible, so that we can provide a research tool that is not only helpful but enjoyable to read as well. That has been, and will continue to be, our goal. Speaking of research tools - we continually hear from readers who tell us how useful the query section has been in their search. We also receive, quite often, letters stating that the queries that were printed did not include the pertinent, or correct, information which was requested. We realize how important that queries can be in one's research, and therefore, we take great pains to publish them in the manner intended. Unfortunately, we must limit the queries to 50 words, excluding name and address of submitter. To be fair to all submitters, when we receive longer queries, we must shorten them. When this happens, we may not include THE most important question the submitter is asking. So, to insure that your query asks for the information you really need, make sure that they do not exceed the limit. Also, please do not include abbreviations in your submittal. We will use our standard abbreviations at the time the query is prepared for publication. This insures that there are no misunderstandings about what is meant. Additionally, please read your queries over carefully before dropping them in the mail. It is very hard to proof read one's own work (believe us, we know). So, take a minute or two and make sure that the relationships and names are correct. We proofread each query against your original submittal at least twice, but WE do not know YOUR family and no amount of proofreading on our part can correct these kinds of errors in your submittal. Your queries are important to your research, so take a little extra time to make sure that they convey the information you need. We have had some difficulty lately with the postal service in getting your magazines to you in a timely manner. We are utilizing the latest computer generated mailing lists from postal service approved listings, but apparently the postal service is not consistent in its own listings. Please be sure that the address you have provided to us is the "official" postal service address for your location. All we can do is try to comply with their requirements, and use the latest available technology. Please bear with us and hope that they work the bugs from their system. Thank you once again for subscribing to The Southside Virginian. We hope that all of your research in this coming year will be fruitful. Chris Hooper, Publication Manager Page 2 The Southside Virginian, Vol. XV No. I BOOK REVIEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Thomas J. Wertenbaker, Tlie Planters of Colonial Virginia, 260 pp; index; perfect-bound; softcover (6x9); 1922 rprt 1997. $24.50 plus $3.50 postage (MD residents add 5% sales tax, MI residents add 6%). Have you ever wondered what it was really like to live in the times of our ancestors? We all have. That's why most of us undertake the research of our families. This reprint of a work originally published in the early 1920s provides us with a glimpse of the day- to-day life on Colonial era farms and plantations. It also provides an in-depth look at the status of the agrarian household in the society of the period. As with any work, the reader must weigh the statements and conclusions of the author against the common practices of the period. This is a well written and documented work and provides the reader with insight into the problems and practices of the Colonial times. The appendix presents the Rent Rolls of Virginia for 1704-1705, and the notes section provides numerous sources for further research. For those of us who search and try to understand the lifestyle of our ancestors, this book provides a unique vision. Order from Clearfield Company, Inc., 200 Eager St., Baltimore, MD 21202; (410) 625-9004. The following books may be purchased from Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202-3897; (800) 296-6687. Please include $3.50 postage for the first book and $1 .25 for each additional book; MD residents add 5% sales tax; MI residents add 6%. Susan Provost Beller, Roots for Kids: A Genealogy Guide for Young People, 128 pp; illus.; forms; index; perfect-bound; softcover (81/2x1 1); 1989 rprt. 1997. $16.95. All of us have lamented at one time or another at the lack of interest our children and grand-children typically have in our genealogical research projects. Susan Beller has developed a curriculum for young children (4th grade and up) which may help ignite that interest. This book, which was inspired by the authors 12-week course for 4th graders, is written at a level appropriate for a young reader. It may be utilized as 1) the twelve week enrichment class, 2) a four to five week mini-course, or 3) a self-taught genealogy course for 6th grade and up. The book deals with proper research methodology and precise record-keeping techniques, so that children can acquire at an early stage, the good habits necessary for thorough investigation. Ms. Beller presents the material in a straight-forward manner that is quite understandable. This book is a good starting tool for a lifelong interest in family research. It is an elementary level genealogical how-to that even an The Southside Virginian, Vol. XV No.