More Rebecca Poythress Pace Relationships - Henry, Lee, Goodrich, Durham

The Poythress – Henry Family Connection

Major Francis Poythress and John Poythress were brothers whose descendants included a number of influential leaders in colonial Virginia. Rebecca Poythress, daughter of Major Francis Poythress, and Robert Poythress, son of John, were first cousins. Robert’s daughter Elizabeth Poythress, Rebecca’s first cousin once removed, married John Gilliam. Their son, John Gilliam, Jr., married Jane Henry, who was first cousin twice removed to Rebecca Poythress.

Jane Henry Gilliam and Patrick Henry, the famed orator, were first cousins. Jane was the daughter of Reverend Patrick Henry, who was the orator’s uncle. This marriage connected the Poythress family with the Henry family, two of the most prominent of Virginia’s most colonial families.

The Lee – Poythress Connection

Richard “Squire” Lee of Lee Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia, married Sally Bland Poythress, daughter of Peter Poythress of “Branchester.” Richard was the son of Henry Lee I and Mary Bland. The Lee family was one of Virginia's most powerful dynastic lineages.

Richard’s brother, Henry Lee II, married Lucy Grymes and were the parents of Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee III, the Revolutionary War general and Virginia governor. Henry Lee III’s first marriage was to his second cousin Matilda Lee, daughter of Philip Ludwell Lee. This united two major branches of the Lee family, both descending from Richard Lee I, the immigrant ancestor. Matilda’s line came through Philip Ludwell Lee, Thomas Lee, and ultimately Richard Lee I. Henry Lee III’s second marriage was to Anne Hill Carter and produced Robert E. Lee, the famed Confederate general. Richard “Squire” Lee and Sally Bland Poythress, were the great-uncle and aunt of Robert E. Lee.

On the Poythress side, Sally Bland Poythress was descended through Peter Poythress, Robert Poythress, John Poythress, and Captain Francis Poythress, one of the early settlers and the patriarch of the family in colonial Virginia. Rebecca Poythress, daughter of Major Francis Poythress, descended from Captain Francis Poythress as well, through a different son, making Sally Bland Poythress and Rebecca Poythress first cousins once removed.

The marriage of Sally to Richard Lee tied the Poythress and Lee families together. Through their shared descent from Captain Francis Poythress, Sally and Rebecca were blood relatives. And through the Lee brothers Henry and Richard, both were connected to the lineage that produced Robert E. Lee.

The Goodrich – Poythress Family Connection

The Goodrich family of colonial Virginia and early Texas history were connected through marriage to the Wynne and Poythress families. Descendants of the Goodrich family were Benjamin Briggs Goodrich, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, and his brother John C. Goodrich, who fought and died at the Alamo. Benjamin Briggs Goodrich was the son of John Goodrich, Sr., who was the son of Briggs Goodrich and Mary Camp. Briggs Goodrich was the son of Edward Goodrich, Jr., and Anne Briggs and Edward was the son of Edward Goodrich, Sr., and Margaret Wynne.

Margaret Wynne was the daughter of Joshua Wynne, who was the son of Robert Wynne, a prominent figure who served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses. Margaret’s mother, Mrs. Mary Poythress, first married Captain Francis Poythress, with whom she had Major Francis Poythress, the father of Rebecca Poythress. After Captain Poythress’ death, Mary married Robert Wynne and had Joshua Wynne, thereby making Major Francis Poythress and Joshua Wynne half-brothers.

This lineage means that Margaret Wynne Goodrich and Rebecca Poythress were half first cousins, sharing their grandmother Mary Poythress but descended from different paternal lines. The Goodrich brothers, Benjamin Briggs and John C. were related, albeit somewhat distantly, to Rebecca Poythress Pace through this familial connection, first cousins four times removed.

Benjamin Briggs Goodrich and his brother, John C., left Virginia for Texas, where Benjamin signed the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 3rd, 1836, while John had gone to the Alamo where he fought Santa Anna’s army under Colonel William Barrett Travis until the fall of the Alamo on March 6th, both of the brothers having played pivotal roles in early Texas history.

Matthew Durham and George Washington

Matthew Durham married Susannah Lindsey on November 21, 1752, in Granville County, North Carolina. He was a soldier under 22 year old, Lt. Colonel George Washington, who was the commander of the regiment of 293 officers & men at the Battle of Fort Necessity, otherwise known as the Battle of the Great Meadows, in present day Fayette County, Pennsylvania, that took place on July 3, 1754. On May 28, six days earlier, they were involved in a skirmish at the Battle of Jumonville Glen. 

The Battle at Fort Necessity began the French and Indian War. Matthew was wounded during the battle. John Durham was also in the Virginia Regiment. It is unknown at present how John and Matthew were related. This is the only battle in which Washington ever surrendered. The French and Indians numbered 800 and Washington’s force had no shelter from the pouring rain, making it impossible to load their weapons with dry powder. The French were able to use the forestation of the nearby woods to keep their powder dry.

Annie Jane Durham, Matthew’s 3rd great granddaughter, was a 5th great granddaughter of Rebecca Poythress Pace.

The Legacy of Bartlett Leonidas Durham and the City of Durham, North Carolina

Bartlett Leonidas Durham (1824–1859), was a physician and landowner best remembered as the namesake of Durham, North Carolina. He contributed four acres of his land for the expansion of the railroad transportation infrastructure, a pivotal role in the birth and growth of the city that bears his name.

His great-grandparents, Matthew Durham and Susannah Lindsey, established the family’s roots in the Piedmont region. Their son, William Lindsey Durham, married Nancy Ann Cates, and their son, William Lindsey Durham, Jr., and wife, Mary Snipes had son, Bartlett Leonidas Durham, a doctor and land owner in eastern Orange County, now Durham County, in North Carolina.

In 1847 or 1848, Bartlett Durham bought approximately 100 acres of land between the communities of Prattsburg and Pinhook along the proposed route of the North Carolina Railroad. The property included part of his estate that he named “Pandora’s Box.” He donated four acres of his land in 1849 to the railroad company. This land became the site of a small depot that was named “Durham’s Station” in his honor.

Bartlett Durham died in 1859, a full decade before the city was officially incorporated in 1869. As the area grew, the name, "Durham," came to represent not only a train stop but an entire community. He was buried in Wake County but was later reinterred in Maplewood Cemetery in Durham with honors, in recognition of his foundational contribution to the city’s history.