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King George I was the King of England when Edmund
was born |
Edmund is another intriguing ancestor about whom much has been written – including a mention of having been charged with manslaughter….. but there is more to tell before I get into that. He was the youngest of six children in the family of Col. John Waller and Dorothy King Waller. Edmund was born about 1718 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia before the American Revolution.
He had one older sister Mary and four older brothers Thomas, William, John, and Benjamin. All of these first names were used a lot in this branch of the family, so it gets confusing.
At the age of 24 Edmund was appointed as the second County Court Clerk of Spotsylvania, but long before assuming that title his name appeared on many documents as a witness. In fact, the earliest record I found of his being a witness was in July of 1735 when he witnessed a land deed where his father gave his brother William 274 ½ acres of land in Spotsylvania County "on a ridge between the Mattapony and Pamunkey Rivers." Edmund was seventeen at the time.
Between 1735 and 1741 Edmund appeared as a witness on thirty-five different documents. Most involved land transactions. For many, one of the parties to the deed was a family member or family acquaintance but others were simply members of the community. Not infrequently, one or more of his brothers were also listed as witnesses – it seems it was a family business. It is curious to me that Edmund spent as much time as he did at the courts, witnessing all these many documents. My theory of why it happened is that it had something to do with the fact that his father was the first County Clerk of Spotsylvania. Apparently, his father was grooming his son to take his place when he chose to step down.
A few of the transactions Edmund witnessed were between the Trustees of the Town of Fredricksburg and individuals who were buying parcels of land in the new community to establish homes or businesses. On November 6, 1739, Edmund witnessed a deed for Thomas Salmon who was identified as a Planter. This is a term that indicates Mr. Salmon owned 500 to 1000 acres of land and five to ten slaves. A Plantation owner would have had over 1000 acres and many more slaves.
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Map of Spotyslvania. The location of the
courthouse on the Po River is in the middle of
this map. It also shows the Waller Meeting Hall
and Waller's Tavern |
Thomas Salmon sold 100 acres in St. George's Parish on the south side of River Po to his son William Salmon. The price was 4500 pounds of tobacco. While most transactions during this time were paid in cash, it was not uncommon for tobacco to be used as the form of currency – bitcoin of the 1700s. Often these transactions included the provenance of the property. In this case, the previous owner was identified as Robert King who had purchased it from Abraham Brown. The document also noted that "Mary, wife of Thomas Salmon, acknowledged her dower, etc." Her dower refers to the portion of a deceased husband’s estate to which a widow is entitled to by law, for her lifetime.
On September 18, 1740, Edmund married Mary Pendleton in King William County, Virginia. Edmund was 22 and Mary was 20. She was the daughter of John Pendleton and Elizabeth Pollard. Mary was born in Spotsylvania in 1720 and died in the same county in 1808. She is buried in the Waller Family cemetery in what is now Partlow, Spotsylvania, Virginia.
Mary and Edmund had seven children – four boys John, William, Benjamin (there are those names again) and Leonard James Mourning Waller. I suspect the youngest son's names come from his mother's side of the family but need to track that down. They also had three daughters Mary, Dorothy and Nancy Ann Waller. Dorothy and Mary are two female names used repeatedly in this family line.
Now, here is a puzzle. I found two land transaction records from January and February of 1740 that state that Edmund and his wife Mary sold parcels of land to other parties. Now, if they were married in September of 1740 why did these 2 documents refer to Mary has Edmund's wife eight months prior to their marriage? The sources for both records are good sources but obviously, one, or maybe both are incorrect.
On October 6, 1741, Edmund and his brother William became the guardians of Isabella Roy, orphan of James Roy. Finding guardianship records is very common in genealogy research. The primary role of a guardian was to manage the property of the orphan’s estate and to use the profits the estate generated to maintain and educate the orphan.
Edmund assumed the position of Clerk of the Spotsylvania County Court on April 17, 1742, after taking the test and oath and being sworn in by the Honorable John Carter, Esquire, Secretary of the Colony of Virginia Commission. This was recorded in the County records, Order Book for 1728-1749. At the same time, his father John Waller was ordered to deliver all of the county records to Edmund. Edmund held the Clerk position for nearly ten years at which time he resigned and his brother William assumed the role. Edmund would have been 33 at the time. It is curious that he resigned from the position …. more on this below.
During the time that Edmund served as County Clerk, he witnessed at least another twenty-two documents – that is how many records are listed in a compilation of Spotsylvania vital records I found for the period 1721 – 1800.
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| Company of Foot Guard by John Collett |
According to Virginia Colonial Militia by William Crozier, published 1905, on December 8, 1742, Edmund was commissioned as a Captain of a “Company of Foot” along with several other men from his area.
Goode’s Company describes a Company of Foot as: “An English company of foot consists of between one hundred and two hundred men, commanded by a captain, a lieutenant, two sergeants, and five corporals. In this they are aided by an ensign and a pair of drummers. The company will likely also have a clerk, a surgeon, and other auxiliaries. A variable number of companies may be grouped into a
colony, commanded by a
colonel.” One year later on December 6, 1743, Henry Pendleton, Gentleman was commissioned as a Lieutenant under Captain Edmund Waller. Henry was no doubt related to Edmund's wife Mary.
In April of 1744, Edmund and Mary sold 200 acres on Devil's Ditch in Saint George's Parish, Spotsylvania to John Sartin for six pounds, which sounds like a fabulous bargain for Sartin. One year later they sold the land they were living on to Alexander Hume. Edmund had owned the land since 1728. Deed book D 1742-1751. Edmund was only 27 at the time. Why was he selling the land literally right from under himself?
The sell-off continued in October 1747 when Edmund and Mary sold 352 acres to Phillip Ballard for 13 pounds. This was part of the Devils Ditch land they'd owned since 1743. Two years later Edmund leased 150 acres on Hazel Run in St. George's Parish, from Benjamin Martin. Transitioning from a landowner to renter at the age of 31 does not seem like a good thing.
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Depiction of a Captain of a Company
of Foot from Goode's book |
Next, Edmund took out a mortgage from William Crawford for "whole of estate" for 10 pounds, on June 5, 1750. A property owner again – things are looking up. But then the most peculiar transaction of all - on May 21, 1751, Edmund sold back to his father the land his father had given him and stipulated that it was to be put in trust for his children John, Benjamin, Mary, and William. He sold his plantation to his father for 110 pounds when he was 33.
In a letter dated December 1751, Edmund's father John thanked his son Benjamin for doing what he could to advocate for William's appointment to succeed Edmund. Benjamin was a distinguished lawyer and apparently had clout with the court system. John wrote, "…. and especially for your kindness and trouble you had in making your interest with his Honor the Secretary about procuring the Clerks place for your Brother William on the resignation of your brother Edmund, which I am satisfied none other could have done to bring things so clear about, and with such dispatch to the disappointment of ends intended by the discontented who did not wish well to our family, and your Brothers are very much obliged to you for your great favors to them in that case and myself takes it extreme kindly for your favors done them and upholding the reputation of all our family." Clearly, something serious was amiss in the family but what it was is not clear from these accounts.
The book Genealogies of Virginia Families, William and Mary College, Vol. V, page 727 provides some clues but little detail about the mystery. In that book we learn, "At a court held for Spotsylvania County, July 16, 1753, Edmund Waller, Gent. "charged with manslaughter or felonious killing and slaying of Thomas Barnes, late of this County, deceased on the sixth day this present month [i.e. July 6, 1753] for which he had been committed to jail, was brought to the bar and examined, the Mittimus and coroner's inquest upon the deceased being read and witnesses examined and the prisoner heard in his defense. The Court found the said Edmund Waller guilty of manslaughter of said Thomas Barnes, and that he should be tried for the supposed fact at the next General Court... "The Court also were of opinion, "that the prisoner is bailable." John Waller and William Waller, Gentlemen, became securities with the said Edmund Waller, in the amount of £2000 (total) for the said Edmund Waller's appearance for trial at the General Court designated. The witnesses were also placed under bond for their appearances at the General Court to give evidence in the case. (Spotsylvania County court, Order Book 1749-1755, page 316). What the action of the General Court was, in this case, we do not know as the records of that Court have long since disappeared. From the fact that Edmund Waller is clearly traceable as continuing to reside in Spotsylvania County until his death in 1771 it seems likely that either he was cleared of the charge by the General Court or that only temporary punishment was given him. Nothing appears in the record as to the circumstances that led to Edmund Waller's being tried for manslaughter in the death of Thomas Barnes at his hands."
So, my ancestor killed Thomas Barnes and for a short time was jailed for the crime.
In July 1754 Edmund took on another mortgage from William Crawford for 10 pounds cash, "goods and chattels". Chattels means personal possessions.
Edmund's father Col. John Waller died in 1754. In his will he named his wife and his sons William, John and Benjamin as executors – Edmund was excluded. He left his sons John and William 400 acres each. His son Thomas received another parcel of land of unspecified acreage. Edmund and his brother Benjamin are both mentioned in the will as was their sister Mary but none were left any property. It is not clear if John left these three descendants anything at all. In a codicil to the original will Col. John did leave land to Edmund's son, Leonard James Mourning Waller.
Andrew Lewis Riffe published a two-part article titled "The Wallers of Endfield" in the Virginia Magazine of History and Genealogy, in October of 1951 that reveals a bit more. He wrote, "From this passage in Colonel John Waller's letter we certainly see how influential his son Benjamin Waller had become and how he exercised his influence in behalf of obtaining the appointment of his brother William to office. While we have not discovered in remaining records just why Edmund Waller resigned the office of clerk of Spotsylvania, Colonel John Waller's letter seems to indicate that there may have been local influence that brought about that resignation."
Riffe added, "William Waller continued to hold the office of clerk of Spotsylvania until his death in December 1760 when he was succeeded by his son John Waller. In the record of a court held for Spotsylvania County, February 4, 1760, appears this entry."
In 1756, Edmund's brother William wrote his last will. In it, he noted, "My brother Benjamin Waller to be guardian to my sons William and John, and to settle account of affairs with our brother Edmund Waller." In a separate document – a letter written by Benjamin, it is explained that William had covered a mortgage for Edmund that was still outstanding.
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This is the interpretive board about Edmund in the
Spotsylvania Museum |
A museum in Spotsylvania, that I found online, includes five exhibit boards about our Waller family. Edmund is featured on one of these boards. The narrative notes, "though raised in a wealthy family Edmund was deeply in debt at the end of his life but lived comfortably thanks to his brother Benjamin."
Dorothy King Waller, Edmund's mother wrote her last will and testament in October of 1758. She named her sons William, Thomas, and Benjamin and also mentioned Dorothy Jemima Waller, a daughter of Edmund Waller, but she made no other mention of her son Edmund in her will. Edmund was still living, so what had happened that caused his mother to ignore him entirely in her will?
All of these tidbits of information certainly make me curious as to what was the cause of my sixth great grandfather's difficulties. Did he suffer from depression, was he an alcoholic, or was he simply incompetent or unlucky as a planter? Nothing I've found has offered an explanation.
Edmund gave his son John 100 acres in St. George's Parish on December 19, 1760. About one month later he and Mary gave 200 acres to their daughter Mary and her husband William Wigglesworth.
In 1763, Edmund gave another 200 acres to his son John. That same year Edmund made a mortgage agreement with Hugh Lenox & Company for 136 pounds, 1 shilling, and 6 pence, plus slaves, goods, and chattels. This record is vague. I believe it indicates that the mortgage was owed to Edmund. In November of 1764, Edmund and Mary gave their son Benjamin 191 acres.
In 1810, Robert Baylor Semple wrote a biography of Edmund's father Col. John Waller, in his book History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia. In that bio, he sheds some light on Edmund's plight. It notes that Edmund and Mary sold the remaining land they and several of their children were living on. It explains that previously, Edmund had mortgaged this land to cover a debt owed to John Semple, the surviving partner of Robert Baylor. But the land had been left to Edmund and Mary's children. Edmund must have been very desperate to sell land that legally belonged to his children. "Edmund remains seized in fee simple (he still owned it) of the several parts allotted to each of his children that were entitled by the will or settlement heretofore made thereof by John Waller, Gent., Deed." The author of the book must have been a descendant of John Semple who was named after Semple's business partner Robert Baylor.
Even after he resigned as Clerk, Edmund continued to serve as a witness to court documents. I've found ten additional references to transactions he witnessed up until he died. The last document he witnessed was a deed on February 1, 1771, that had to do with a property his son John Waller and John's associate James Crawford owned.
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The steam engine was invented in 1765, shortly before
Edmund died. |
Edmund died in October of 1771. His estate was probated by his brother Benjamin. Edmund is buried in the Waller Family Cemetery in Partlow, Virginia along with his wife and other family members. He was 53 at the time of his death.
In part 2 of Riffe's Waller's of Endfield article, he included a biography of Edmund. It sheds little new light on the life and trials of Edmund. Riffe wrote, "While fortune smiled so generously on John and William and Thomas and Benjamin Waller, sons of Colonel John Waller, a contrasting cloud of misfortune finally enveloped the life of their brother Edmund Waller. Well enough the life of this Edmund Waller began. He, like the other sons of his father was financially well-conditioned - his was no mean estate in lands and servants; and certainly, he was considered well fitted to receive earthly honors."
Riffe continues, "Then in 1751 with his resignation (for which the cause has as yet not been discovered) from the clerkship of Spotsylvania County, Edmund Waller's affairs apparently reached a state of marked confusion. As early as May 21, 1751, Edmund Waller conveyed, for 110 pounds currency, to his father, John Waller, his home plantation to be held in trust for the said Edmund during his lifetime and after his death to be divided among his children.”
Riffe explains that Edmund mortgage to his brother William, five slaves and stock of horses, cattle, sheep, hogs; his household furniture and all other personal estate, to protect William who has served as his security when he took out a loan from their brother Benjamin for 150 pounds. Riffe further explains that William never intended to recover the loan but acted as if he did to "keep up appearances." When William died he wanted those monies to instead go toward the support of Edmunds younger children.
Though Edmund was deeply in debt and his property was held in trust, "he was not destitute for that property was a substantial one. He and his wife were given a home and servants during their lives …"
Riffe also addressed the manslaughter charge and confirmed that Edmund was found guilty by the initial court on July 16, 1753. He was jailed and the case was referred to the General Court. The lower court said that Edmund was "bailable" so his brothers John and William put up a 2000 pound bond as securities for their brother.
"What the action of the General Court was, in this case, we do not know as the records of that Court have long since disappeared. From the fact that Edmund Waller is clearly traceable as continuing to reside in Spotsylvania County until his death in 1771, it seems likely that either he was cleared of the charge by the General Court or that only temporary punishment was given him. Nothing appears in the record as to the circumstances that led to Edmund Waller's being tried for manslaughter in the death of Thomas Barnes at his hands." This article by Riffe was made available by JSTOR from the Virginia Historical Magazine.
Sources for this Post:
Spotsylvania Museum; Wallers of Endfield
by Louis Riffe; Phillips Family History;
FindAGrave website; 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; A
Crane's Foot (or Pedigree) Branches of the Gregg, Stuart, Robertson, Dobbs
and Allied Families; Descendants of Capt. Thomas Carter of Barford, Lancaster
Co, VA by Joseph Lyon Miller; Makers of
America Biographies of Leading Men of Thought and Action The Men who Constitute
the Bone and Sinew of American Prosperity and Life; A History of Caroline County, Virginia by Marshall Wingfield; Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776 by William Armstrong Crozier; this
father, mother and brother William’s wills; American
Ancestry before 1776 Americans Whose Ancestors Settled in the United States
Vol. XI, and as always Google search.
