Holbrook line: George Bussey 1622-1668

George Bussey is one of our earlier Virginia immigrants.  He arrived in Virginia in 1635, at the age of about 13.  He was counted as a headright for Richard Bennett, as was at least one other Bussey on the same ship, Elizabeth.  I haven't been able to trace information about Elizabeth but I am thinking she was likely a sister, perhaps an older sister.  (Of course, it's possible she was his mother, or an aunt, or cousin.)  At any rate, we know that George would have had to serve an indentureship for Richard or for someone else who paid Richard passage money.  As a minor, George probably had to serve until he was 21 years of age.  There is a possibility that Richard was some kind of relative to both George and Elizabeth but that has not yet been pin-pointed to my satisfaction.

The mere fact that George was alive to marry Anne Keene, daughter of Henry and Anne Halle Keene, in about 1649 shows that he was a special kind of man.  He likely worked in tobacco fields for much if not all of his indentureship, but somehow he managed to avoid attacks by the native Americans, diseases carried by both humans and insects (think malaria, for one), accidents, starvation, drownings, and all of the other causes of death that killed so many of the early arrivals in Virginia.  He was, as the phrase goes, of "hardy pioneer stock." 

We don't know anything for sure about George's early life.  The strongest family history I've found about him thinks he or his ancestors came from Heydour, a small village in Lincolnshire, England.  There were undoubtedly Busseys there up until 70 years or so before George was born, but there the trail goes cold.  It would be nice to be able to connect the missing generations, because the de Busseys were an old family, possibly having come over with the Norman Conquest of our ancestor William the Conqueror.  But we don't yet have the missing proof, so whether, or how, our George connects to this family is purely speculation right now. 

We also don't know what prompted George to leave Virginia and go to Maryland to live.  The move was apparently made about 1653, and his four sons were born in short succession, soon after.  There may also have been an infant, who died within a few weeks or months.  George purchased land in Maryland and probably started tobacco farming on his own.  Whether he left Virginia because land was cheaper in Maryland, or whether he left because of religious differences, we don't know. 

We also don't know why George died in 1688, at the age of approximately 46.  Did he die of overwork, or of one of the fevers that was so common, or from some other cause?  He lived on the "frontier" of the time so it could have been wild animals, or native Americans.  We know he lived long enough to write a will, but I've only seen an abstract of that.  

George is another ancestor that I'd love to spend more time investigating, simply because I don't know that much about life in Virginia and Maryland during that time period.  Why did George come to America?  What religion was he?  Why did he go to Maryland, and did he have friends or relatives there?  What were his dreams for his children?  Did he have unfulfilled dreams for himself?  Was he glad he came to America? 

I don't know whether George was glad he came to America, but I certainly am glad he did so!  He became our ancestor, and that's a reason to celebrate his life. 

The line of descent is:

George Bussey-Anne Keene
George Bussey-Anne Williams
Edward Bussey-Martha Evans
Edward Bussey-Mary widow of Edward Pendergrass
Sarah Bussey-Benjamin Amos
Elizabeth Amos-Robert Amos  (yes, cousins)
Martha Amos-Peter Black
Elizabeth Black-Isaac Hetrick
Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

A personal note:  This is blog post number 500.  Almost all of them have been about ancestors in the Allen, Holbrook, Beeks, or Harshbarger lines.  I haven't run out of ancestors to write about for the Holbrooks yet, and I sure haven't run out of brick walls on any of the lines.  So I hope to be writing more posts, but as of now I can't even speculate whether it will be 20 more, or 200 more, or even more than that.  I'm just along for the ride, in a way!  Hope you're enjoying the trip, too.