The Skaggs-Files

[Michele Lee Grant.ged]

Although no official record has been found which names the parents of Hannah, wife of Giles Carter, a convincing accumulation of evidence indicates that Hannah was a daughter of James Crewes and a Native American woman. This conclusion is supported by the following evidence.

1. Contemporaneous records indicate that Hannah, wife of Giles Carter, was a daughter of James Crewes.

(a) The ages of James Crewes (born about 1623) and Hannah (born about 1652) are consistent with a father-daughter relationship.

(b) James Crewes was present in the vicinity of Turkey Island, Henrico Co., Virginia, during 1651--the probable location of, and year before, Hannah's birth.

(c) When Giles Carter exhibited James Crewes' will in court, he was exercising the traditional responsibility of a testator's next-of-kin.

(d) James Crewes' bequest of a plantation for life to both Giles Carter and Hannah, considered in the context of an era of limited female property rights, indicates the connection between James Crewes and the Carters centered upon a special relationship between James Crewes and Hannah.

(e) James Crewes provided in his will for the Carter family as a father provided for his children and grandchildren, naming and leaving large bequests to each member of the Carter family.

(f) The featherbeds and blankets, which James Crewes bequeathed to the Carter daughters, were personal gifts traditionally reserved for immediate family members.

(g) Since James Crewes chose not to openly state in his will that Hannah was his daughter, for the same reason, he also would not openly state in his will that Giles Carter was his son-in-law. Therefore, James Crewes' reference in his will to Giles Carter as "my loving friend" does not contradict the evidence that Giles Carter was James Crewes' son-in-law.

(h) No contemporaneous records indicate a master-servant relationship between James Crewes and the Carters, so James Crewes did not provide for the Carters because of an indenture.

(i) No contemporaneous records indicate a business alliance between James Crewes and the Carters, so James Crewes did not provide for the Carters because of a business agreement.

(j) When James Crewes wrote his will, he was a newly elected representative of the county of Henrico--together with Nathaniel Bacon--in the Virginia House of Burgesses; and he also was embarking upon a life and death struggle against the policies of Governor Sir William Berkeley. The absence of any provision for James Crewes' friends and compatriots in "Bacon's Rebellion" indicates that James Crewes did not provide for the Carters because of mere friendship.

(k) A convincing accumulation of evidence, cited above, indicates that James Crewes was Hannah's father. James Crewes' reluctance to openly state in his will that Hannah was his daughter indicates an unusual aspect to their relationship, which is better understood in light of the following additional evidence.

2. James Crewes may have married Margaret Llewellyn after August 10, 1654, when Margaret witnessed a deed signing her maiden name, and before May 1, 1662, when Margaret witnessed a will signing her married name, "Margaret Crewes." If so, then Margaret must have died before James wrote his will on July 23, 1676. But, such a marriage would have occurred too late for Margaret to have become Hannah's mother in 1652.

3. The attorney for the executor of James Crewes' estate testified that James Crewes "left no widow or lawful child." The attorney's inclusion of the word "lawful" implies that James Crewes left an "unlawful" child--one who was born outside of wedlock. This, in part, explains why James Crewes was reluctant to openly state in his will that Hannah was his daughter. The other part of the explanation comes from general information about white/non-white relations in Colonial Virginia as well as from specific information about James Crewes' associations.

4. The social consequences in Colonial Virginia for a white man having a child outside of wedlock depended upon the mother's heritage and status. Fines and corporal punishment were clearly defined and strictly enforced for free white men and white women--whether servant or free, who had a child together outside of wedlock. However, fines and punishment were virtually non-existent for free white men and non-white women--if the woman was not the wife or servant of another, who had a child together outside of wedlock. So, since contemporaneous evidence indicates that Hannah was James Crewes' "unlawful" daughter, yet no court records document the conviction and punishment of James Crewes and Hannah's mother for this transgression, Hannah's mother must have been a non-white servant of James Crewes.

5. Since the daughter of an African American slave in Colonial Virginia probably would not own an African American slave, and James Crewes willed a "Negro maid" to Hannah, it is unlikely that Hannah's mother was African American.

6. Since James Crewes "kept Indian servants," Hannah's mother could have been Native American. With other alternatives eliminated this mere possibility becomes a virtual certainty.

7. James Crewes acted kindly in his will toward his Native American servant, Tero, by giving him, beginning three years after Crewes' decease, his freedom, one cow, one sow, and "as much land as he shall tend for him and another during life." When compared with the absence of a similar provision for James Crewes' English indentured maid, who owed James Crewes or his heirs three more years of service, this act of kindness toward Tero demonstrates a disposition toward Native Americans which is consistent with the evidence that Hannah's mother was Native American.

...x
July 23rd, 1676............... In the name of God Amen, I James CREWS of Lucky Island, planter in Henrico Co., being of sound and perfect memory , praised be God , do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following. First and principle I committ my soule unto the hands of almightsy God, my creator, hoping and assuredly beleiving through the merrits, death , and -------of Jesus Christ , my only savior and redeemer to have and obtain free and full remission and pardon for all my sins,(next 2 sentences unreadable)... All my worldly estate; either here in Virginia or in England...........dew either by bill bond or account. First Item: I give and bequeath unto Mary CARTER, daugahter to Jules CARTER, 10,000 pounds of tobacco , one feather bed, two blanketts and one good rug, this to be payed in three years after my decease. The interst hereof to be towards her clothings. Item: I give unto Susan CARTER, ten thousand pounds of tobacco, one feather bed , two blanketts and one rug to be payed as above said. Item: I give unto my man Lewis his freedom he serving three years after my decease and at the expiration of the said time I give unto him one cow and sow if I have any left and as much land and ______________ Item: I give unto Hannah CARTER wife to Giles CARTER my negro maid Keate forever and her increase. Item: I give unto Daniel PRICE my best suit and coat. Item: I give unto Giles CARTER, what he owes me by bill or ........Unreadable and further it is my will that what I have given to the said Giles CARTER'S chldren that if eeither of them should die that it should come to the rest of his chldren. It is futher my will that when the said Hannah CARTER, wife to the said Giles CARTER shall die, then the said negroe wench return to Theodericke CARTER, her son, and if she hath any children, them to be at her disposing who she will give them to. Item" I make my loving cousin, Mr. Matthew CREWS , my sole excecutor of all my lands here in Virginia or elsewhere and all the rest of my estate to him or his heirs forever. My just debts being payed. Item: It is my desire that my loving friend, Giles CARTER shall live here in my said house and command my servants and make crops or any other thing as shall be convenient and necessary for the said plantation, and see to give an account yearly to my said executor James Crews Witnessed in the Presence of:

HENRICO COUNTY, VIRGINIA - WILLS James CREWS, 1676
Curles Neck (modern dairy farm) was patented in 1617 by Edward Gurgany. Later it was acquired by Nathaniel Bacon, who, campaigning without authority against the Indians in June 1676, offended Governor Berkeley, was arrested, brought to trial, acquitted and 'forgiven.' When the governor attempted his arrest for a second trial, 500 Virginia farmers, who had resented the governor's failure to give them protection from the aborigines, gathered here and began a civil war.
Note: He was hanged for his part in Bacon's Rebellion. Virginia Historical Magazine, Vol. IV, pp 122 and 123 says he was tried on 4 Jan 1676/77 and sentenced to death.
Brick gateposts (R), 13.7 m., are at the entrance to TURKEY ISLAND, ancestral seat of the Randolph family. The present house, near the James, is relatively modem. Within a walled enclosure are ironstone table tombs, that of the immigrant bearing the Randolph arms. The plantation, so named for an island near by where the first explorers of the river found many wild turkeys, was owned in 1676 by Colonel James Crews, who was hanged for participating with his neighbor, Bacon, in the rebellion. In 1684 the land was sold to William Randolph (1657-1711).
James Crews' will was dated 23 July 1676 and was entered into probate on 2 Aug 1680. Will of James CREWS of Turkey Island, planter. To Mary CARTER, daughter of Giles CARTER, 1000 lbs tobacco, a bed and bedding. To Susan CARTER, 10,000 lbs tobacco and a bed and bedding. To my man Tom, his freedom, he serving 3 years after my death and him to have one cow, one sow and as much land as he shall tend for him and his mother during his life. To Hannah CARTER, wife of Giles, my negro maid Kate. To Daniel PRICE, my best suit and coat. To Giles CARTER, what he owes me, and he to hold plantation I let him have for life. If Hannah CARTER dies, the negro wench returns to Theodorick CARTER, her son. Loving cousin Mr. Matthew CREWS to be sole executor, Loving friend, Giles CARTER to live on my plantation, command my servants, make crops and give an account yearly to my executor. Wit: Thomas Forkland, Derby Enroughty ===
Submitter: Mildred Wright Fournier PO Box 1967 Lake City, FL 32056-1967 fournier@hankins.com

In December 1680, a niece Sarah WHITTINGTON, daughter of James' brother Edward CREWS and Matthew CREWS, son of James' brother Francis CREWs, stating that James CREWS left no widow or "lawful" child, filed for and apparently received the residue of his estate. Both lived in England.
Source:Mildred Fournier
Hannah is believed by many researchers to have been an illegitimate daughter. Her mother was possibly an Indian since there are notes in the court records pertaining to James CREWS "keeping an Indian woman". As such, she and her children could not inherit CREWS' land outright.

...x
[Mildred Fournier.ged]

He was hanged for his part in Bacon's Rebellion. <i>Att a Court Marshall held at Green Spring the </i>24<i>th day of January </i>1676-7.

Present, Sir William Berkeley Knt. Governor and capt. genl. of Virginia.
Co'll. Bacon, Co'll. Ballard, Co'll. Ludwell, Co'll. Claiborne, Co'll. West, Co'll. Hill, Co'll. Ramsey, Major Page.
<i>James Crewes being brought before the court for treason and rebellion against his most sacred majestie, and pleading nothing in his defence, and the court being very sencible that the said Crewes was a most notorious actor, aydor and assistor in the rebellion; therefore the court are unanimously of opinion, and doe adjudge him guilty of the accusation: Sentence of death therefore past upon him to returne to the prison from whence he came, and from thence (on Friday next) to be carryed to the gallowes, there to be hanged by the neck untill he be dead.
</i>
James Crews' will was dated 23 July 1676 and was entered into probate on 2 Aug 1680.
<i>Will of James CREWS of Turkey Island, planter. To Mary CARTER, daughter of Giles CARTER, 1000 lbs tobacco, a bed and bedding. To Susan CARTER, 10,000 lbs tobacco and a bed and bedding. To my man Tom, his freedom, he serving 3 years after my death and him to have one cow, one sow and as much land as he shall tend for him and his mother during his life. To Hannah CARTER, wife of Giles, my negro maid Kate. To Daniel PRICE, my best suit and coat. To Giles CARTER, what he owes me, and he to hold plantation I let him have for life. If Hannah CARTER dies, the negro wench returns to Theodorick CARTER, her son. Loving cousin Mr. Matthew CREWS to be sole executor, Loving friend, Giles CARTER to live on my plantation, command my servants, make crops and give an account yearly to my executor.
</i>Wit: Thomas Forkland, Derby Enroughty

In December 1680, a niece Sarah WHITTINGTON, daughter of James' brother Edward CREWS and Matthew CREWS, son of James' brother Francis CREWs, stating that James CREWS left no widow or "lawful" child, filed for and apparently received the residue of his estate. Both lived in England.

Hannah is believed by many researchers to have been an illegitimate daughter. Her mother was possibly an Indian since there are notes in the court records pertaining to James CREWS "keeping an Indian woman". As such, she and her children could not inherit CREWS' land outright.

...