Holbrook line: Francis Garrett 1610-1691, Immigrant

Francis Garrett is a fun ancestor because he came to Virginia early, in 1635 in the "Thomas and John".  He apparently was the son of John Garrett, and possibly Bridget unknown, but documentation is lacking.  Some have tied him to the Gerard line that goes back decades is not centuries further, but I wonder if that is just wishful thinking.  I consider that unproven at this point-but wouldn't it be fun if it were true?  Francis's birthplace is listed as Graesend, Kent, England, and there is a John Garrett who died at Deptford, Kent in 1655, who may be Francis's father, but that is as far as I'm willing to go at this point.

So Francis arrived in 1635 in Virginia and may have married Mary in Northumberland County, Virginia in 1649.  His two sons, William and Dennis, were born 1650-1652.  Mary's maiden name is often given as Dennis but there is some question, since a single Mary Dennis gave livestock to her daughter in 1664.  If this was the same Mary, then she couldn't have been married to Francis since approximately 1668.  If there was a divorce and that is why she was single in 1664, no one seems to have found records for that yet.  Since some give the birthplace of their children as Baltimore County, Md, maybe they married and went "north" soon after, and the Mary Dennis who gave livestock to her daughter is someone else entirely. 

I'm still looking for documentation about his life in either Virginia or Maryland.  He seems to have died in 1691, about the time his son Dennis was killed by a neighbor.  (Lots of websites call this a murder but it may have been an accident, manslaughter, in our legal terms, but not murder). I hope Francis wasn't alive to see his son wounded and then die a month later from his injuries. 

I hope to locate land and probate records for Francis.  Perhaps he owned no land and was a merchant, tradesman or sailor, since he's not listed in Peter Wilson Coldham's "Settlers of Maryland 1679-1783.  Or perhaps he acquired land earlier than that.  I will keep looking for these records, because we have two or three lines of descent from this ancestor.  I guess what we know now is that his life was probably different than our New England ancestors, in economics, military history, religion, and government.  That's enough to make me want to learn more! 

The line of descent is

Francis Garrett-Mary possibly Dennis
Dennis Garrett-Barbara Stone
Joanna Garrett-John Cole
Sarah Cole-Charles Gorsuch
Hannah Gorsuch-Thomas Stansbury
Rachel Stansbury-Alexis Lemmon
Sarah Lemmon-Abraham Hetrick
Isaac Hetrick-Elizabeth Black
Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

Holbrook line: John Dennis 1587-1679 or 1652, Immigrant

It's going to be fun to write about a Virginia ancestor in the Holbrook line.  So many of this line were New England people that it's interesting when someone outside that geographic area pops up.  Of course, it's difficult, too, because I know far less about early Virginia history.  But I love a challenge, and good people who are also part of this family have done so much research it's almost a matter of just putting my slant on his life.

Just knowing that John Dennis went to Virginia instead of New England tells us a couple of things.  He was not a Puritan, and he may very well have come to Virginia for economic reasons.  He came here prior to 1634, for records are found in 1634 in which he was ordered to pay Mr. Obedience Robins 24 lbs tobacco, and Goodwife Haynie 166 pounds tobacco.  There was a John Dennis who was admitted to the Shareholders of the Virginia Company in 1621-22,  but we don't know that it was this John Dennis, or even a relation.  A John Dennis was transported in 1635 on the "Merchant's Hope" but it is unclear whether this was John Dennis son of the first immigrant, or whether the immigrant had returned to England for some reason and was now on his second voyage to the colony.  .

We don't know for sure who John Dennis Junior was, either.  It is believed that he was not the child of John Sr and his second wife, Barbary, but he may have been John Sr's son by an earlier wife, or possibly the result of an "indiscretion."

John Jr. died in 1652 and we find varying dates of John Sr's death, either in 1652, after John Jr.s death, or in 1678-79.  If John Senior died in 1652 then he was 65 when he died, which was a reasonable age to die in Virginia at that time period (many, many men died much younger than 65).  If he lived till 1678-1679, then he was over 90 years old, a venerable age indeed considering all the hardships that he would have endured.

It's not know how many children John Senior may have had, or whether John Junior may have been an only child.  We do know that he had land, 350 acres, on a branch of the great Wicocomoco River called Dennis Creek, bordering land of Thomas Gascoigne and William Spicer in Northumbrland County.  We can wonder if he had slaves, since, he was ordered to pay fines in tobacco.  We can wonder how he felt about the Lord, since not all Virginians worshipped on a regular basis.  And we can certainly wonder who his parents were, and what connection, if any, he had with "Sir Thomas Dennis", who was a member of the Virginia Company of Bicton and Holcombe.  We can also wonder what sort of relationship he had with the native Americans, and whether he was called upon to fight at any time.

I know there are Dennis researchers because I've found these bits and pieces on line, but I am responsible for the conclusions and questions I've written.  I'd love to hear from these folks, our distant cousins, about our common ancestor and their search for the details of his life.

Our line of descent is:

John Dennis-
John Dennis Jr-Barbary
Mary Dennis-Frances Garrett
Dennis Garrett-Barbara Stone
Johanna Garrett-John Cole
Sarah Cole-Charles Gorsuch
Hannah Gorsuch-Thomas Stansbury
Rachel Stansbury-Alexis Lemmon
Sarah Lemmon-Abraham Hetrick
Isaac Hetrick-Elizabeth Black
Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

Updated to correct date in title, and a spelling error

Allen line: James Allen Sr.

James Allen, whom I have designated as "senior" to distinguish him from his son James Allen, and his grandson James Allen, is pretty much a mystery.

He was born about 1735, (I suspect closer to 1733, perhaps even 1730) according to undocumented internet sources, in Goochland County, Va. I haven't found any records to support either the year or the location, but it's as good a guess as any, so I've tentatively put that information in our tree.  I've found four different sets of parents for James, but no documentation for any of them.  He could be the son of William Allen and Mary Ann Owen, or the son of James Allen and Anne Anderson, or the son  of James Allen and Mary Dennis, or the son of James Allen and Lucy Hobson.  All these families have sons named James, in the approximate area of our James, and born in the correct time frame. 

The first thing we know for sure about James is that he was married sometime before December 14, 1755.  That is the date his first (presumably) son was born as noted in the Douglas Register.  His wife was Sarah Crowdas/Cloudas/Crowder (various spellings!), daughter of George Crowdas and Susannah.  George and Susannah lived on the Little Byrd Creek in Goochland County, and James apparently lived in the same general area.

James and Sarah had several children, all born in Goochland County.  Richard was born December 14, 1755; Elizabeth January 6, 1759; Susannah June 4, 1761; Mary May October 16, 1763; George November 29, 1766; James March 28, 1769; William 1772; Martha January 22, 1775; and Sally April 4, 1777.

There are several James Allen's from Goochland County who served in the Revolutionary War. It is possible that one of them was "ours", but not yet proven.

The next real information we have about James is his death. He died in 1801 in Goochland County, having left everything to his widow, Sarah. She died in 1825 and only then was James's will probated.  The actual process took several years due to dealing with heirs in Kentucky (the heirs of James Jr, who had already died but were given James's share).  The chancery court case is 45 pages long and is found on the Library of Virginia website (www.lva.viringia.gov/chancery/case_detail.asp?CFN=075-1834-026).

The body of the will states "My will is that my wife Sarah do possess and enjoy my whole estate furing her natural life or widowhood and after her death or marriage my desire is that my whole estate to be equally divided amonst my children, to wit: Richard Allen, Mary Glass, George Allen, James Allen, William Allen, and Martha Carroll, to them and their heirs forever."  Elizabeth, Sally, and Susannah are not mentioned in the will. I have not tried to trace them but presumably they had already died when the will was written. It was written on July 6, but I can't make out the year (it's either 1800 or 1801).

I have seen references to James described as "planter" so presumably he owned land at the time of his death.  The inventory of his personal property was fairly substantial, but sadly much of the value was due to his owning 5 slaves, each of whom had a high value. They were named Davy, Buck, Gib, Patty and child, and Charlotte.  The estate value was $1925.10, leaving three hundred and twenty dollars and eight five cents for each of the six legatees. 

That is what is known or guessed about James Allen, our ancestor.  I'd love to connect with other people who are researching this man, to talk about the documentation they have that makes them think one of the couples mentioned above is our family,  

Here's our line:

James Allen-Sarah Croudas
James Allen-Tabitha Parrish
Archibald Allen-Margaret Dunn
George Allen-Nancy McCoy
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen(Vernon, Tessora, Corinne, Edith)-Gladys Holbrook