John George (Virginia colonist)

John George (1603–1679) was an early Virginia colonist, landowner, soldier, county court justice and legislative representative (politician). He served at least two terms as a burgess in the Virginia House of Burgesses in the 1640s and 1650s representing Isle of Wight County, Virginia.

John George
Member Virginia House of Burgesses
In office
1647–1652
Personal details
Born1603
England
Died1679 (Aged about 76)
Isle of Wight County, Virginia
Spouse(s)Jane, Ann
ChildrenIsaac, Sarah, Rebecca
ResidenceIsle of Wight County, Virginia
OccupationPlanter, Burgess,
County Justice, Militia Officer
Military service
Branch/serviceIsle of Wight County, Virginia militia
Years of servicebefore 1654–1678
RankColonel

Early life, family, settlement

John George gave his age as 50 in a 1653 deposition. Therefore, he was born in England, probably in 1603.[1] His wife was named Jane.[1] Although some sources cite circumstantial evidence that her maiden name was Cole, no definitive evidence of her maiden name has been found.[1] John and Jane had three children, Isaac, Sarah and Rebecca.[1] John George had a second wife named Ann but there is no record of when his first wife died and when the second marriage occurred.[1] There is also no record of any children of this second marriage. Several sources state that Hester Fawdon, daughter of George Fawdon, also a member of the House of Burgesses from Isle of Wight County and a militia officer, married John George's son, Isaac.[2]

On November 7, 1634, John George received a patent for 900 acres of land on Bailey Creek, also spelled Bayles Creek, in what was then Charles City County, Virginia but is now Prince George County, Virginia bordering Hopewell, Virginia.[3][4] The George family moved to Isle of Wight County, Virginia in about 1642.[1][5][6] When the George family moved to Isle of Wight County, they lived near Cypress Swamp and Creek and Castle Creek, near the present town of Smithfield, Virginia.[1] Other records show that John George added 350 acres to his property on April 17, 1667.[7][8]

Virginia burgess and court justice

In 1647 and in 1652,[1][9] John George was listed as a representative of Isle of Wight County in the Virginia House of Burgesses, the lower house of the colonial Virginia legislature. Since the records show that the 1648 session was a reconvened session of the 1647 assembly and list only two new members, John George likely served in that session. John George is not on the list of burgesses for the 1649 assembly and there is no record for a 1650 assembly. The list of burgesses for the 1651 assembly does not include members from Isle of Wight County so John George's participation in that assembly can not be verified, but he is listed as a member for the first 1652 assembly. Only one member for Isle of Wight County, not John George, is listed for a second assembly in 1652.[10]

John George is listed as a justice of the local court in the Isle of Wight County Records for 1646, 1666, 1667 and 1677.[11][12] Since no names are listed between 1646 and 1666, John George may have served on the court during some or all of those years.

Militia and Bacon's Rebellion

Isle of Wight County records identify John George as a militia major in 1654, lieutenant colonel in 1666 and colonel in 1677, although the act of March 1676 below identifies John George as a colonel while identifying other officers named in other counties as lieutenant colonels.[1][12] Since the distinction in the two grades of colonel was recognized in the act, George may have been a full colonel by 1676.

An act of the Virginia General Assembly in March 1676 called out the militia to guard certain locations "against Indians" and authorized Colonel John George or Major James Powell to impress the number of men and horses needed from Isle of Wight County in accordance with the allocations to city and county militias made in the law.[13] Forts were to be built on the frontiers under the law and garrisoned, but only the Governor could order action against the Indians. The colonists who were or felt threatened were not satisfied with this modest, and expensive, action and were wary of the governor who had a thriving trade with the Indians.[14] The action of the governor was ultimately significant in marshalling forces in opposition to Bacon's Rebellion since some historians think the stated reason, despite Indian raids, was mostly a pretext so that forces would be ready to oppose any rebellion.[15]

Colonial Virginia Governor Sir William Berkeley called a new assembly in June, 1676 while Bacon was in the field with volunteers to fight the Indians, and had the forts dismantled.[16] As Bacon's Rebellion took shape, Colonel George sided with Governor Berkeley.[17][18][19]

In March 1677, certain residents of Isle of Wight County petitioned the King's Commissioners for Virginia for excuse from having taken up arms in the rebellion. Colonel George and 71 others sent a reply in opposition to this petition with a further defense of the propriety of their own actions during the rebellion.[20] The signers of the original petition fully recanted their support for Bacon in the Court of Isle of Wight County about a month later.[21] John Jennings, clerk of the court of Isle of Wight County, was sentenced to banishment for his support of Bacon. As an elderly and sick man, Jennings asked for a reprieve in order to present an appeal. He was required to "put in good security for his behavior before Col. John George and the Isle of Wight Court."[22] Jennings in fact died later that year. His case had not come up for further hearing.[21]

Death

Despite his advanced age and the risk to his health, Colonel George[23] took the field with part of the Isle of Wight County militia in support of Governor Berkeley and to defend against Native American (Indian) attacks during Bacon's Rebellion, although there is no record that the unit did any fighting. Colonel George did die within the next one to two years. Since John George's will was recorded on January 9, 1679, George Family biographer Marty Grant (Marvin A. Grant Jr.)[24] has concluded that Virginia burgess and militia Colonel John George must have died between August 1678 and January 1679.[1]

See also

Notes
  1. Grant, Marty. Col. John George (c1603-1679) and Jane (---) & Ann (---) of England; Charles City County ref> ( Archived 2015-02-14 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
  2. Grant, Marty. (Marvin A. Grant, Jr.) Major George Fawdon (d 1655) and Ann Smith of Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  3. Virginia Historical Society. Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents in The Virginia magazine of history and biography, Volume 4. Richmond, VA: House of the Society, 1897. OCLC 1642879. Retrieved July 15, 2011. p. 77
  4. The 900–acre grant was based on transportation of John George and 17 others, including his wife, to the colony at 50 acres for each.
  5. The Isle of Wight County Records shown in the William and Mary Quarterly show that Justinian Cooper and Ann his wife conveyed to John George the Robert Bennett tract and the Quarter tract of 200 acres, part of a patent of 2000, March 16, 1642, by deed dated April 25, 1642.
  6. Isle of Wight County Records in William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 7, No. 4 Apr., 1899). Retrieved July 15, 2011. p. 234
  7. Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. OCLC 5823919. Retrieved July 15, 2011. p. 687
  8. A second reference related to a deed on the same date for a separate, adjacent 350 acres apparently for the benefit of John George's son, Isaac, also appears in these records.
  9. Tyler, Lyon Gardiner. Encyclopedia of Virginia biography". Volume 1. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915. OCLC 2576742. Retrieved July 15, 2011. p. 241
  10. Stanard, William G. and Mary Newton Stanard. The Virginia Colonial Register. Albany, NY: Joel Munsell's Sons Publishers, 1902. OCLC 253261475. Retrieved July 15, 2011. pp. 66–70
  11. Isle of Wight County Records, 1899, p. 235
  12. Boddie, 1938, p. 704
  13. Henings, Statutes at Large, shown as Virginia, William Waller Hening, Virginia (Colony). The statutes at large: being a collection of all the laws of Virginia. Richmond, VA: Printed by and for Samuel Pleasants, Junior, printer to the Commonwealth, 1809-1823. OCLC 15444366. Retrieved July 15, 2911. p. 330
  14. Stanard, Mary Newton. The Story of Bacon's Rebellion. New York and Washington: The Neale Publishing Company, 1907. OCLC 1942743. Retrieved July 16, 2011. pp. 35–38
  15. Stanard, 1907, p. 86
  16. Stanard, 1907, p. 58
  17. Grant, Marty. Col. John George (c1603-1679) and Jane (---) & Ann (---) of England; Charles City County and Isle of Wight County, Virginia Archived 2015-02-14 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 15, 2011, citing Boddie, John Bennett. Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Chicago: Chicago Law Print. Co., 1938. OCLC 5823919. p. 161
  18. See also Boddie, 1938, p. 99 where Boddie states that Colonel George was "a strong adherent of Governor Berkeley."
  19. Although the rebels gained temporary hold of much of the colony, Governor Berkeley soon retook the capital at Jamestown, Virginia. In turn, Nathaniel Bacon promptly returned to the area and his force burned Jamestown to the ground in September 1676, sending the governor into retreat again. On October 1, 1676, Bacon suddenly died of malaria, or possibly dysentery, and no strong leader emerged to take his place. With further pressure from the governor's forces, the rebellion collapsed.
  20. Sainsbury, W. Noel and J. W. Fortescue, eds. Great Britain. Public Record Office. Calendar of state papers, Colonial series, American and West Indies, 1677–1680. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1896. OCLC 484443129. Retrieved July 15, 2011. pp. 47–48
  21. Boddie, 1938, p. 164
  22. Boddie, 1938, p. 576
  23. Colonel Joseph Bridger, also a strong supporter of Governor Berkeley, seems to have been in overall command of the Isle of Wight County militia when the rebellion began. Boddie, 1938, pp. 424–425 notes that Bridger was personally named in Bacon's written attack on Governor Berkeley and fled with him to the Eastern Shore of Virginia at the start of the rebellion. In some counties, the militia had at least two colonels, with one often in charge of the infantry ("the foot") and one in charge of the cavalry ("the horse").
  24. Grant, Marty. Marty and Karla Grant Retrieved July 15, 2011.

References

Further reading
  • Grant Jr., Marvin A. George Family History. Descendants of Col. John George (1603-1679) of England and Virginia (Two Vols.) Vol. I: Second (12 Nov 2006); Vol II: First (28 Aug 2006). Kinston, NC: Marvin A. Grant Jr., 2006. OCLC 242578588. See George Family History. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
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