Francis Poythress (1609-c. 1651), the emigrant, was undoubtedly the son of John Poythris, and was christened at Newent, in Gloucestershire, on July 12, 1609. John Poythris owned the nearby Ploddy House until 1648. Francis Poythress was in the Colony of Virginia by February 9, 1633, as he appeared in the Minutes of the Council of Virginia and at the General Court at James City where he received a letter of administration on the estates of Thomas Hall and Robert Kidd, deceased. Francis married Mary [Sloman?] (c. 1617-aft. 5/1677). Their children were (1) Francis (c. 1639-1688), who married Rebecca Coggin, daughter of Dr. John Coggin and Mrs. Joyce [------] Boyce Tye; (2) John (c. 1640-1712), who married Christian Peebles, daughter of David Peebles and Elizabeth Bishop; and (3) Thomas (c. 1641-aft. 1659), who was sent to England after November 30, 1659. Francis Poythress was last mentioned in the Virginia records in Northumberland Co., on September 20, 1651.
The Son in England: Thomas Poythress
To God-children, Francis Epps and William Ferrar, a silver spoon and my silver bowl and wine cup, to be divided between them; to Lieutenant Bishop, Sergeant Williams, and Ensign Page, 20 shillings.
To the Church of Westover, 10 acres, to lye forty pole square, now leased to Richard Hamlet, which ten acres are to be laid out for the best conveniency of the church.
To my loving friends, Mr. George Menefie and Mr. Walter Aston, 20 shillings apiece as poor token of my remembrance.
To Mr. George Menefie my sword and to Mr Walter Aston my gun.
To Captain Francis Eppes my drum, and to Mr. Richard Jones, minister, my cow called Cherry.
To Sir John Pawlett my ever loving brother the residue of my estate after satisfaction of legacies and debts; sir John, sole executor, Captain Francis Epps and Mr. Walter Aston overseers of his Will who are to bury him according to their own discretion; bequeathes to them £5 apiece sterling, but "withall desiring them that this and all other legacies mentioned in this Will may not be paid in money, but in some commodity naturally produced in this country that they may be no greater prejudice to the estate than the value of each legacy." In case of his brother's death before his enjoyment of this estate, "then my overseers to surrender it to Sir William Berklay, my much honored kinsman, who is then to be executor."
To Mrs. Epps 20 shillings for a ring and my Bible.
To Mrs. Menefie and Mrs. Aston, 40 shillings apiece.
To Mrs. Reynolds Evans one cow.
To Sam Salmon, 20 shillings.
"My two servants, John Clapton and John Bennett, if they shall do faithful service to within one years space of the end of their indentures, to have them delivered up, otherwise to be disposed of by the overseers of county court; my executors to pay William Mundy 30 shillings due from my Brother Chideck Pawlett; gives 40 shillings to John South." Dated January 12, 1644. The witnesses were John South, John Flud, Reynold Evans. Proved by the oath of Reynolds Evans before Francis Epps. [Thomas Boyce was the older half-brother of Elizabeth Tye, Frances Tye and Rebecca Coggin. Rebecca Coggin married Captain Francis Poythress' son, Major Francis Poythress. George Menefie’s second wife was Isabel Pace Perry. She died after 8/6/1637. George Menefie married his third wife, Mary, before 12/31/1645.] [Chas. Cty. Co., Va., Records, 1655-1665, Captain Thomas Pawlett’s Will dated 12 Jan 1643/4.] [Fleet II, p. 56.]
Other than the 1644 Will by his Godparent, Captain Thomas Pawlett, and the following Charles City Co. record, Thomas Poythress was never mentioned again in the records of the Virginia colony. "These presents oblige me Arther Graunt to carry Thomas Poythres in my ship this yeare for England and at his arrivall there in case Mr. George Laud shall not accomodate him w'th dyett and lodging, I do hereby oblige my selfe to do it untill the retorne of the next shipping to this country of Virginia, w'ch I am to do gratis w'thout expecting any pay, and the next yeare to bring him into this countrey againe he paying for his passaged inward as otheres doe. To the performance whereof I bind me my heires ex'rs and adm'rs and in testimony thereof put my hand this 30th of November 1659. Arthur Graunt. Wit: John Stith, Thomas Malory. Rec. 10'br 3, 1659." [Chas. Cty. Records 1655-1665, p. 213.]
Professional Life
A letter dated September 19, 1637, to the Governor and Council of Virginia, from Lawrence Evans, a merchant, stated that Evans had sent goods valued at £2,000, in three ships, during the previous year, to the Virginia Colony. His factors for these goods were William Smith and Francis Poythress. Smith died during the voyage and Francis Poythress had only returned a bill of £150. The three ships were the Rebecca, with master, Richard Buckham, the George, with master Robert Page, and the Hopewell, with master William Smith. In March, 1639, the Virginia Governor and Council directed four of the "ablest merchants in Virginia," John Chew, Thomas Stegg, Thomas Burbage and George Ludlow to arbitrate the suit. The merchants determined that the remainder of the goods had been carried away by the three masters and their crews. An order was given to try and trace the goods belonging to Lawrence Evans and Evan's latest factor, George Brookes, was to pay Francis Poythress £10 "in the hundred for goods sold and tobacco received."
In the years from 1626 to 1633, settlers began to repopulate the area near the Fall Line in Virginia. During this period and prior to 1643, Appamattucks Towne was built on the south side of the James River, near the mouth of the Old Towne Creek. About 1635, Captain Henry Fleet and Lieutenant Francis Poythress built a temporary defense at Fleet's Hill, the site of the present town of Ettricks, Virginia. Fleet's Hill overlooked Appamattocks Indian Towne, and was positioned across and up the James River from it.
On May 22, 1642, Robert Eyres, was granted 200 acres in Lower Norfolk Co., about eight miles up a southern branch of the Elizabeth River, for the transportation of four people, including Francis Poythress. The headright system used in colonial times was devised to populate the colony. Every person that paid an emigrant's transportation into the Colony, whether that emigrant was free or bonded, secured a claim to fifty acres if the emigrant, or headright, remained in Virginia for three years. Each headright could expect to be furnished with the necessities of life and a small tract of land at the end of his contracted indenture. The headright was free to acquire his own land at the end of the indenture. Many individuals paid their own way and secured fifty acres for their own transportation. [Lower Norfolk Co., Va., p. 780.]
Mr. Francis Poythress, of Charles City Co., was elected member of the Burgess during the Grand Assembly at James City, October 1, 1644, and elected again February 17, 1645, as Lieutenant Francis Poythress. His colleagues, from Charles City Co., were Mr. John Bishop and Captain Edward Hill, the Speaker of the House of Burgesses. [John Bishop was the grandfather of Christian Peebles who married Francis' son, John Poythress, about 1672. Captain Edward Hill, husband of Hannah Jordan, while a court justice for Charles City Co., in April, 1661, gave Francis' son, John Poythress, fifty acres at Jordans adjoining Captain Robert Wynne, John Poythress' step-father.] [Hening's Statutes Vol. 1, pp. 282-283 & 288-289.]
The Virginia Governor, his Council and the Burgess, met March 2, 1646, to consider the expenses necessary in pursuing the war against the Indians. The Indians had been dispersed from their towns and habitations by the militia and had since been seen lurking in the woods in small numbers. At this meeting, Lieutenant Francis Poythress was given command of sixty men from the north side of the James River, militia from the counties of Henrico, Charles City, James City, York, Warwick, Elizabeth City and Northampton, for a period of six weeks. He was to consult with Captain Henry Fleet who was to provide his barque, boat and shallop, victuals, and men to manage the vessels, on this mission. If Francis Poythress was unable to conclude a peace treaty with the Indians, he and Captain Fleet were to build a fort near the Rappahannock River or any suitable place. On April 20, 1646, sixteen men were assembled at York County as ordered by the Burgesses at James City. These men were placed under the command of Lieutenant Poythress and had been provided by the lieutenants and deputy lieutenants of York Co. Provision was made for the protection of the individual militia members' crops while they were gone and they were to be paid £100 of tobacco for every wasted day. [Hening's Statutes Vol. 1, pp. 317-318.]
The massacre of colonists, in 1644, by the Indians, was the greatest in Virginia since the 1622 massacre. In 1644, Lord Baltimore gave Henry Fleet the authority, as Captain General, to visit the Susquehanna Indians and to make a peace treaty with them. In 1646, he was appointed to organize and lead an expedition against the Indians and build a fort in the valley of Rappahannock River. This joint venture by Maryland and Virginia was necessary to set the boundaries between the Indians and the settlers in order to preserve some form of peace. Henry Fleet was a member of the Maryland legislature in 1638 and had been given permission by the Virginia assembly, in 1642, to explore Virginia for a period of fourteen years. In 1644, Chief Opechancanough was killed while in the custody of the militia and in 1646 and 1647, treaties were made with Opechancanough's successor that restricted the Powhatan Indians' territory and confined them to designated reservations. The Powhatan Indians agreed to give up all of their claims on the land below the Fall Line. They were forced to settle beyond the York River in the north and behind a line equally distant from the James River on the south side. According to the treaty, a tribute was ordered to be offered by the Indians to the English King requiring "twenty beaver skins att the going away of geese yearely." The Powhatan Indians were not only restricted as to what land they could occupy but were also limited in their actions in and around colonists' lands.
Captain Francis Poythress, of Charles City Co., was a member of the Burgess during the Grand Assembly at James City, November 3, 1647. On October 12, 1648, the Assembly enacted laws for Northumberland Co. in order to elect Burgesses, set procedures for issuing patents, and enact proportional tax rates with the authority to collect the taxes. Francis was authorized by the Assembly to collect the taxes and to "distreyn in case of refusall" the arrears and present taxes. Northumberland Co. came into existence after the Act of 1649 which designated "Chicacone and other parts of the neck of land between Rappahannock and Potomack Rivers" to be within the new county. After September 1, 1649, the inhabitants of this area, were allowed to move back to the north side of the Charles (York) and Rappahannock Rivers. The inhabitants had fled due to the Indian massacre of 1644. Northumberland Co. patents began in 1648 with Captain Francis Poythress collecting the taxes. He represented Northumberland Co., as a member of the Burgess, during the Assembly at James City, on October 10, 1649. [Hening's Statutes Vol. 1, pp. 337, 358-359.]
It was evidently during 1648 that Frances received land in Northumberland Co. for his service, as the senior Virginia militia officer, in the mission he led to build a fort and to conclude a treaty with the Powhatan Indians. On December 8, 1656, Sir Henry Chicheley patented 2,200 acres of land, on the north side of the Rappahannock River, opposite Port Tobacco, bounded on the east by a small creek, called Poythress Creek. This property overlooked Nanzatico Bay. In the undated records for 1650 to 1652, Francis approved assignments of land to the inhabitants of Northumberland Co. [Early Settlers of Alabama by Col. James Edmonds Saunders, p. 339. Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1969.]
The Northumberland Co. Deeds and Orders Book for the period 1650 to 1652 has been restored. Almost half of the pages of this book are missing. However, an Index was restored with the book that seems to belong to this particular book. A notation at the end of the Index states that the book to which this Index belongs is not to be found, but is supposed to be for the "Book of Orders by January 20, 1649." By using the Index, supported by the pages which are extant, effort was made to reconstruct the book as it was originally. Many pages have been torn and throughout the book the ink has bled from one side to the other. Under an entry without date, in the Northumberland Co. Deeds and Orders, 1650-1652, Records of Indentured Servants and of Certificates for land is an entry, "These are to certify that according to sufficient proof made before us there is due to Francis Gray 300 acres of land by assignment from Captain Francis Poythress for the transportation of these several persons into this Colony, Viz. John Tomlinson, Richard Miller, James Walrod, Daniel Moore, John Symson, Mary King. These are to Certify that according to sufficient proof made before us that there is due unto John Hillier by assignment from Captain Francis Poythress 200 acres of land for the transportation of these several persons into this Colony, Viz, Edward Coward (?); Elizabeth Bridges, Mary Boyes, Morris Ager (?) as also for his own adventure two persons, Edward Trowell, Robert Danes. [Hening's Statutes Vol. 1, pp. 352-353.] [Sparacio, Ruth and Sam, Virginia County Court Records, Deed & Will Abstracts of Northumberland Co., Va., 1650-1655, p. 1, 3.]
The Burgesses assembled in March, 1651, for Northumberland Co. were John Trussell, Thomas Baldridge, Mr. [William] Presley, "Mr. Lee" [probably Richard, though there were other Lees living in Northumberland at this time], Mr. Speke and Thomas Wilford. On September 20, 1651, in the account and inventory of Mr. Robert Sedgrave's estate in Northumberland Co., Mr. John Hollowes, the administrator, reported that he had paid debts due from Sedgrave's estate, in tobacco, to several individuals, including Francis Poythress. By March, 1652, Francis was not listed as a Burgess from Northumberland Co. It does not seem likely that he would have voluntarily relinquished his lucrative job as a tax collector and his position as a member of the Burgess or his role as a militia officer. However, he disappears from the records after this September 20, 1651, record. [Hening's Statutes Vol. 1, pp. 358-359.]
Civic Activities
July 31, 1648, in Northumberland Co., Francis Poythress, bound himself to Thomas Boyce, for forty pounds of beaver, to buy and precure a servant to serve by indenture to Thomas Boyce for four or five years and was to be delivered by February 1, 1649. [Thomas Boyce's father, Cheney Boyce, died in 1647, and Thomas’ mother, Mrs. Joyce Boyce, married Richard Tye in 1649. Thomas Boyce was about nine years old at the time. Rebecca Coggin Poythress was a much younger half-sister to Thomas Boyce. She was born in 1659 or 1660.] [Westmoreland Co. Deeds, Wills, Patents, etc., 1653-1659, p. 87; Fleet, Beverley, Virginia Colonial Abstracts, Volume I, p. 687].
Property: Land
To all to whom these presents shall come I Sr John Harvey Kt Governor &c sends &c whereas &c Now Know you that I the said Sr John Harvey Kt do with the consent of the Council of State accordingly give and grant unto ffrancis Poythers fower hundred acres of land situate lying and being in the County of Charles Citty lying north upon the heads of the land now in the possession of the said ffrancis Poythers south into the maine woods east upon the lands of Capt. Woodliffe and west on Baylyes Creeke the said fower hundred acres of land being due unto him the said ffrancis Poythers (vizt) fiftie acres for his owne personal adventure into this Colony and three hundred & fiftie acres by and for the transportation at his owne personal costs and charges of seven persons into this Colony whose names are in the records mentioned under this pattent. To have and to hold &c dated this 13th of July Anno Domini 1637 ——–. Francis Poythers, Richard Wells, Jane Lucas, Thos. Thompson, Richard Farmer, Bryan Raycock, Francis Howes, and Richard Whiting. [Pat Bk 1, 1623-43, vol. 1, p. 439.]
[May 8, 1648, he was granted 400 acres, adjoining his previous 350 acres. This 750 acres was the same land granted to him on February 27, 1637, and on July 13, 1637. The 400 acres was located near the mouth of Bayley's Creek and was bordered on the east by fifty acres belonging to Jenkins Osborne's orphans. On the west, his land was bordered by the land of Thomas Bayley, land that was in the possession of John Butler. On the north, his land was bordered by the mouth of Bayley's Creek, and on the south, it bordered his previous 350 acres, land that had been patented by Jenkins Osborne and was purchased from Jenkins Osborne, Mary Osborne and Captain Edward Hill. Bayley's Creek is located east of Petersburg and forms the southern border of the city of Hopewell, Virginia. At Francis' death, he had received grants totaling 750 acres.] [Dr. Claiborne T. Smith, Jr.: In 1658, Mary West, widow of John Butler, sold to Edward Ardington 150 acres in Charles City, formerly land of Thomas Baylie, bounded on the east by lands lately in the tenure of William Worsham. (Fleet 11-11). Referring to the patent to Francis Poythress in 1648, it will be noted that at least part of this grant was in 1658 in the possession of William Worsham.]
To all &c Whereas &c Now Know you that I the said Sr. Wm. Berkeley Knt do with the advice and consent of the Council of State accordingly give and grant unto Capt. ffrancis Poythres seven hundred and fifty acres of land within the County of Charles City being at or neare unto the mouth of the Creeke called Baylyes Creeke and abutting easterly upon fifty acres of land belonging unto ye orphants of Jenkins Osborne and thence extending westerly onto the land of Thomas Bayly now in the tenure of John Butler northerly upon the mouth of the said Baylyes Creeke and southerly into the woods three hundred and fifty acres of the said land formerly granted and being part of ye Patent of Jenkins Osborne dated July ye 9th 1635 and purchased by the said ffrancis Poythres from the said Jenkins Osborne Mary Osborne and Capt. Edward Hill by the right of Dictoris Christmas confirmed by order of court dated ye 27th day of February 1636 and purchased by the said Capt. ffrancis Poythres and the other four hundred acres being also granted formerly to the said Capt. ffrancis Poythres by patent bearing date ye 13th of July 1637 To have and to hold &c to be held &c yielding &c which payment is to begin seven years after the said 27th of Feby. 1636 and ye said 13th of July 1637dated the 8th of May 1648. [Pat Bk 2, p. 139.]
Adjacent Property
Francis Osbourne, Charles City Co., July 14, 1637, 1,300 acres. To all to whom these presents shall come I Sir John Harvey Knight Governor &c send &c whereas &c now know yee that I the said Sir John Harvey Knight do with the consent of the Councell of State accordingly give and grant unto ffrancis Osbourne thirteen hundred acres of land situate lying and being in Appomattock river and bounding north upon the river south into the woods west upon the land of Mr. William ffarrar butting easterly on Charles Citty now in the tenure of Capt. ffrancis Epes the said thirteen hundred acres of land being due unto him the said ffrancis Osborne in right of his late father Jenkin Osborne who transported at his own person costs and charges of six and twenty persons into this Colony whose names are in the records mentioned under this pattent. To have and to hold &c dated the 14th of July Anno Domini 1637. Ut in alys. Mary Volck, Wm. Brock, Tho: Asson, John Congly, Thomas Babinson, Thomas Tyler, Geo: Purser, Hannah May, Richard Gally, Samuell Rennsby, Rich. Aboge, Tho: Baylye, Wm. Waller, John Yeu, Joane Walters, John Tinwell, Wm. Wright, Symon Trouther, Wm. Lighthollier, Henry Ward, Thomas Lewis, Wm. Austen, two negroes, one negroe more, John Chunnoll. [Pat Bk 1, p. 439.]
John Woodliffe, Gent., Charles City Co., July 25, 1638, 200 acres. Chas. Cittie Co., neare unto a place called Jordan’s. Upon the head of his former Devident towards the river, S. into the woods, E. towards land called Beggars bush and W. upon land of Francis Poythres. Due for his own pers. adv. & trans. of 3 persons: (named). [note: this patent renewed & adj. to patt. of 750 acs. [John Woodlief (1614-1676) was the father of John Woodlief who married Mary Wynne, dau. of Col. Robt. Wynne & Mary (Sloman?) and grandfather of John Woodlief who married Mary Poythress, dau. of John Poythress & Christian Peebles.] [Will Bk 1, p. 580.]
John Woodliffe, Charles City Co., August 18, 1642, 750 acres. 530 acres Lyeing at a place called Jordens, bordering W. upon land of Wil: Jarrett, adj. Samuell Jorden. 20 acres part of a place now called Bermoodus hundred, bounding E. upon the great river & S. upon land of Samuell Jorden, running to land of William Julian; the other 200 acres adj. the above. 550 acres by patent to sd. Woodliffe dated Dec. 10, 1620, & the remainder by patent dated July 25, 1638. [Pat Bk 1, p. 788.]
David Peebles, Charles City Co., 833 acres, August 5, 1650, 833 acres. To all et whereas et now know yee that I the said Sir William Berkeley by et give and grant unto David Peoples eight hundred thirty three acres of land being up Powells Creeke at the head thereof in ye county of Charles City bounded viz: west upon Birchin Swamp south and west upon the land of Mr. Richard Tye south and east upon the woods north east upon the land of James Ward and north upon the Reedy Swamp the said land being due unto the said David Peebles by and for the transportation of seventeen persons into the Colony et to have and to hold et to be held et yielding et which payment is to be made seven years after the date hereof et dated ye 5th of August 1650. David Peebles, Tho: Liddle, Marg. Koth, William Smith, Tho: Milner, Antho: Wright, Marg. Chambers, Jane Heydon, Marg. D-------, Barbara Koth, Thomas Biggs, Mary Bayon, Aileo Berry, Wm. Peirce, Hugh Roger, Tho: Rayner, Jane Thompson. [Pat Bk 2, p. 297.]
Pertinent Information
22 May 1642 Robert Eyres 200 acs. about 8 mi. up a Southern br. of Elizabeth River. Trans. of 4 pers. Robert Eyres, Francis Poythres, William Brown, John Herring. [Low Norf. Co., p. 780.]
Bristol Parish was established by a 1643 Act of the Assembly to serve the inhabitants of the Appomattox River valley and was contained within the land that formed Prince George Co. in 1703.
Sarah Woodson, in the absence of her husband during the Indian uprising of April 18, 1644, aided by Robert Ligon, fought against an Indian attack, killing nine. She loaded the gun while Ligon fired, and hearing a noise up the chimney she threw the bed upon the coals, the stifling smoke bringing two Indians down, whom she dispatched. Her husband, John Woodson, was caught in the open on his way home from visiting a patient and was killed by the Indians.
In the uprising that began on April 18, 1644, with a sudden massacre along the whole border, the Indians were routed and Opechancanough was captured and brought to Jamestown where he was killed by an outraged colonist. In October, 1646, his successor made a treaty in which the Indians agreed to abandon everything below the falls of the James and Pamunkey Rivers and to restrict themselves on the north to the territory between the York and the Rappahannock.
After Francis Poythress' Death
Mrs. Mary Poythress, the widow of Francis, married, as her second husband, Colonel Robert Wynne, who was born about 1622. Mary and Robert Wynne married about 1654. Their children were (1) Mary Wynne, who married John Woodlief, son of John Woodlief; (2) Thomas Wynne, who married Agnes Stith, daughter of John Stith and Jane Mosbey; (3) Robert Wynne, who died in 1675; and, (4) Joshua Wynne, who married Mary Jones, the daughter of Major Peter Jones and Margaret Cruise. Major Jones was the Commander of the fort built at the falls near the present day Petersburg, Virginia. Margaret Cruse was the step-daughter of Major General Abraham Wood, the Commander of Ft. Henry. Mary Poythress Wynne's father may have been John Sloman who was deceased by December 3, 1658. Captain John Woodlief and Mr. George Potter were appointed by the court at Merchants Hope "to examine the difference between Captain Robert Wynne for the estate of Mr. John Sloeman, deceased, and Mr. Francis Epes and Mr. Thomas Epes and report to the next court." The Sloman surname became a given name within the Wynne family.
Captain Robert Wynne and Anthony White also "appraised the perishable estate of the orphans of Captain David Peebles," the father of John Poythress' wife, Christian Peebles. John Poythress was one of Captain Francis Poythress' sons. [R. Bolling Batte.] [Chas. Cty. Co. Ct Orders 3 Dec 1658, p. 162.]
First appearance in a document: 1633 (age ~24). Neighbors: Capt. John Woodlief, Thos. Bayley, Jenkins Osborne, Mary Osborne, Capt. Edward Hill, Wm. Worsham.
Capt. Fr. Poythress: 400 ac., bordered on s. by his 350 ac., btwn. Capt. John Woodlief on e. & Bayley’s cr. on w. Woodlief’s land located nr. place called Jordan’s & ran e. towards land called Beggars bush, Chas. Cty. Co., 1673 - located nr. Bayley’s cr., bordered e. on 50 ac. of Jenkins Osborne’s orphans, on w. by Thos. Bayley (in possession of John Butler), on n. by mouth of Bayley’s cr., on s. his 350 acres bought from Jenkins Osborne, Mary Osborne & Capt. Edward Hill. Total: 750 acres. [In 1658, Mary West, widow of John Butler, sold to Edward Ardington 150 ac. Chas. Cty., formerly land of Thomas Baylie, bounded on e. by lands lately in the tenure of Wm. Worsham. Referring to patent of Francis Poythress in 1648, it will be noted that at least part of this grant was in 1658 in the possession of William Worsham (1625-1661).]
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