Posts
Image via WikipediaAdams Family of Virginia
As I had mentioned before, I have left the sad Cornelia Ward Dove’s family for a later date and now I will continue with another member of the family. I wrote before that Cornelia’s mother was Elizabeth Mumford Adams. I will be writing about this family connection and also trying to prove connections to a seafaring Adams that arrived on these shores in 1619 on the ship Bon Nova.
Before I begin with people I would like to start with land.
In 1634, by order of King Charles I of England eight shires were named by the House of Burgesses. Each shire had their own representatives and officers.
The Eight Shires were
· Accomac Shire (now Northampton County)
· Charles City Shire (now Charles City County)
· Charles River Shire (now York County) This was changed to York county during the English Civil War.
· Elizabeth City Shire (no longer exists as a county but is the City of Hampton)
· Henrico Shire (now Henrico County)
· James City Shire (now James City County) This includes the site of the original Jamestown
· Warwick River Shire (no longer exists now City of Newport News)
· Warrosquvoake Shire (now Isle of Wight County)
It is possible that our Robert Adams also spelled Addams, Addames, Adames, began in the Virginia colony of Martin’s Hundred which is not far from Henrico County. We will find in future dates that Robert Adams was in Goochland, Albemarle, Bedford, Campbell and Pittsylvania County.
Henrico County was one of the eight original shires. In 1728, Goochland County was formed from Henrico County. It was named after Sir William Gooch Royal Lieutenant Governor from 1727 to 1749. This area included all of the land from Tuckahoe Creek on both sides of the James River west to the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Albemarle County was formed from Goochland County in 1744. This county was named after Willem Anne Van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle, titular Governor of Virginia.
In 1761, the counties of Buckingham named after the Duke of Buckingham and Amherst named after Sir Jeffery Amherst were formed from Albemarle County.
This formation of counties may help us to understand why certain documents no longer have the same county. For instance, one of our Robert Adams has a will recorded in 1740 in Goochland and later on his wife records a deed in Albemarle County.
Also see Wikipedia for information of the above Virginia counties
No comments:
Post a Comment