Rice Curtis Jr. 1704-1763 My 6th Great Grandfather on My Father’s Side

St. George's Parish, Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The Po
River is on the border between St. George and Berkeley Parish

Rice Curtis Jr. was born in 1704 and baptized on September 30^th at Christchurch in Middlesex County, Virginia. He is the son Rice Curtis Sr. and Elizabeth Merry. Rice Jr. was married at least twice and possibly three times. His first wife was Martha Thacker born in 1701 daughter of Henry and Eliza Payne Thacker. Rice and Martha were married the day after Christmas in 1723.

Between January 1, 1728, and April 3, 1733, Rice was involved with seven land transactions. He leased 50 acres to Richard Kewan for £110. He purchased 500 acres from Richard Booker for £100. Edward Franklyn sold him 200 acres in St. George’s Parish for only £36 – sounds like a deal. On March 14, 1731, Rice was identified as a Planter when he sold 600 acres to John Minor, also a Planter from St. Mark’s Parish. On the same day, he sold 195 acres to John Douglas for £20 sterling. It is not unusual for multiple land transactions to take place on the same day. Courts were only held on specific days in each district so landowners would arrange for multiple transactions on that day. William Hutcherson sold Rice 100 acres for £22. Finally, Thomas Chew sold 611 acres to Rice for £20.  This all adds up to 1461 acres that Rice acquired and 795 acres sold. All these transactions took place in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.

This shows the location of Spotsylvania County in Virginia

During this same time period, Rice served as a vestryman of St. George’s Parish which means he was one of the citizen officials in his community. Vestrymen were church officials.

On September 28, 1733, Rice married Susanna “Ann” Brock daughter of Col. Joseph Brock and Mary Chew. Joseph was a large landowner and Sheriff in Spotsylvania County. A record of this marriage was found in the first County Order Book covering the period from the formation of the county, in 1722 to 1750. Their £1 marriage license fee was recorded in the Governor’s dues book which is how I confirmed this date. Susanna is my sixth great-grandmother. I don’t know what happened to his first wife Martha. I have not found any documentation showing they divorced; nor have I found a death record for Martha which is the more likely scenario.

Rice’s name appears on many documents as a witness to several different types of legal transaction. I found these in a collection of vital records for Spotsylvania County for the period 1721 to 1800 – a 583-page source available as a Google eBook.  I found thirty-nine additional records about various court transactions. On June 3, 1735, he sold three parcels to three different men totaling 508 acres, all in Spotsylvania. In October of that same year, he inherited 865 acres from his father-in-law. This parcel, as well as many other of the various land transactions, was part of a land grant to Larkin Chew dated June 4, 1722. 

A Spotsylvania home

Rice Jr. served as a Magistrate and Burgess in the Assembly. He served several terms including the sessions 1736-1740, 1748-1749, 1752-1755, and 1756-1758. A magistrate is someone who serves in the court system.  The principal function of the magistrate is to provide an independent, unbiased review of complaints of criminal conduct brought to the office by law enforcement or the general public. Duties include issuing arrest warrants, summonses, bonds, search warrants, subpoenas, and certain civil warrants.

The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first elected legislative body in colonial America. The house functioned from 1619-1776. They developed local laws, carried out the Governor's orders, regulated taxes and determined eligibility of its members. The House of Burgesses is important because the ideas and leaders from this group helped bring about the American Revolutionary War.

An image of a cavalryman from
 a UK military museum

In 1742, Rice and his brother-in-law Thomas Duerson inherited 4000 acres and several slaves from his father-in-law Joseph Brock. In 1749, Rice served as executor of his father’s will. At that time he received two slaves and the will stipulated that Rice would receive the remainder of his father’s estate when his mother died.

On April 3, 1750, Rice was commissioned to be a “Major of the Horse”. Google has failed to provide a succinct explanation of what this military rank meant. A major is a person who commands a company, squadron or battery normally of 150-200 men. Presumably, the “horse” refers to being part of the cavalry. When he was 51, Rice was made a Colonel by Governor Dinwiddie, on July 7, 1756.

In 1752, Rice bought 278 acres in St. George’s Parish from his father-in-law. In 1753, his mother gave him a water grist mill, the dam, and appurtenances that that had been owned by his father Rice Sr. the mill was built on the Po River. 

Rice resigned from the assembly in order to assume the position of Sheriff of Spotsylvania County on July 11, 1756. This was an appointed position with a two-year term. The duties of the Sheriff were to maintain law and order and to execute court orders. A list of the High Sheriffs of Spotsylvania County is included in the collections of the Spotsylvania Museum – Rice is included on this list.

This exhibit is in the Spotsylvania museum.
Rice Curtis Jr. is listed at the bottom right.

Rice was one of several Vestrymen of St. George’s Parish that made the decision to sell two parcels of glebe land (excess church-owned land) on October 2, 1759. 499 acres were sold to Erames Withers and 78 acres to Abraham Estes.

The exact date when Rice Jr. died is unknown but his will was probated on April 21, 1774. This suggests that he died near his 70^th birthday. His will appears in Will Book E of Spotsylvania County. In the will he names each of his children. His daughter Jane was given two parcels of land located in Louisa and King William Counties. He also left Jane one Negro girl named Jenny but the portion of the will, included in the Spotsylvania vital records and did not specify what his other children would receive.

I do not know where Rice Curtis Jr. is buried. If anyone reading this does please add a comment and let me know.

Sources For This Post: Descendants of Capt. Thomas Carter of Barford, Lancaster Co, VA by Joseph Lyon Miller, Effie Shelton Campbell; US and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, Yates Publishing; Virginia Births & Christenings, 1584-1917 database on FamilySearch; Virginia Genealogies A Genealogy of the Blassell Family of Scotland by Horace Edwin Hayden; Virginia County Records Spotsylvania Co. 1721-1800 Transcriptions from Original County Records Wills, Deeds, Admin & Guardian Bonds, Marriage Licenses and List of Rev. War Pensioners; History of St. George Parish In the County of Spotsylvania and Diocese of Virginia by Rev. Phillip Slaughter; Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia, Vol. 2 by William Meade; Virginia Magazine of History and Biography Vol. IV by Philip Alexander Bruce editor; Virginia Marriage Records, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, William and Mary College Quarterly 1984; Adventurers of Purse and Person Virginia by John Frederick Dorman; The Colonial Register by William Glover Stanard, Mary Newton Stanard; Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776 by Ediited by Wm. Armstrong Crozier JRS; Gleanings of Virginia History by W. Fletcher Boogher; Spotsylvania Museum in Virginia; A Crane's Foot (or Pedigree) Branches of the Gregg, Stuart, Robertson, Dobbs and Allied Families by E. Stuart Gregg, Jr.

Mary Pomfret ca. 1648-1738 My 8th Great Grandmother on My Father’s Side

This book by Cynthia Vold Forde and
Anne Curtis Terry includes a chapter
about Mary Pomfret, my 8th Great Grandmother

Mary Pomfret was the daughter of William Pomfret and Mary King – that is according to a short bio found on the FindAGrave site, which is to say it may not be reliable information. In researching Mary I found no other sources to support her parentage.

Records note that she was born about 1648 in a place called Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire, England. Newport Pagnell is about fifty miles north of London. Not surprisingly I have found very few records that prove what is known about Mary. One exception is the book The Spirit in The South, Stories of Our Grandmothers Spirits compiled by Reverend Dr. Cynthia Vold Forde and Anne Curtis Terry. This book includes an entire chapter on Mary Pomfret Waller written by Eugenia Waller. Eugenia’s relationship to Mary is not revealed. Presumably, she is a direct descendant so a reliable source. This source provides a lot of information about Mary’s husband Dr. John Waller and his ancestors but scant detail for Mary herself.

Historic building in Newport Pagnel where Mary
and her husband Dr. John Waller lived.

John and Mary were married on January 13, 1669, in the Church of St. Michael in Walton Parish in Newport Pagnell. The church register provides support for this fact. Some sources suggest that Mary may have been married before and was widowed. Between the ages of 23 and 36, Mary gave birth to eight children including William in 1671, John 1673, Mary Elizabeth 1674, Thomas 1675, Steven 1676, Benjamin 1678, Edmund 1680 and James in 1683. Seven sons and one daughter.

When Mary was about 75 her husband died. The essay by Eugenia Waller includes a description of Mary’s presence at John’s funeral – how she was dressed and what was said during the funeral service. What happened next is debatable. Sources provide two different stories and both present good arguments for their belief of what happened to Mary. Eugenia and others tell us that Mary left England shortly after her husband’s death and went to live in the Colony of Virginia where her sons William and John and daughter Mary were living. Eugenia provides a detailed description of the family mementos Mary packed to take on the trip to give to her children. One item is described as an antique bowl that was given to Mary and John as a wedding gift. 

The conflicting story argues that Mary Pomfret was not mentioned in her husband's will and that that suggests that she pre-deceased him. They also suggest that even if Mary was alive when her husband died she would have been quite old and that it was unlikely that she would choose to leave England and her children that were still in England.

Another view of Newport Pagnel found on Google

Supposedly, Mary died on September 9, 1738, in Virginia and may be buried in the family cemetery on her son Col. John Waller’s property in Spotsylvania. Again, the source of this information is FindAGrave and thus not wholly reliable. On the other hand, had Mary died in England she would have been buried with her husband. Since she is not there that suggests she may very well have gone to Virginia.

Note: As always I’ve tried to be accurate with the facts of Mary Pomfret’s life but when writing about events that occurred over 350 years ago it is not easy. If anyone reading this sees a false statement I welcome feedback with proof. 

Sources for this post: The Spirit of the South by Forde and Terry; Genealogies of Virginia Families from the William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine Vol. 5; Wikipedia; and FindAGrave.