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John Stith

This article is about the Virginia colonist. For the science fiction writer, see John E. Stith.

John Stith (fl. 1631–1694)[1][2] was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses[3] and the progenitor of the Stith family, one of the first families of Virginia.[4][5]

Early life edit

 
Coat of Arms of John Stith

John Stith[6] was born in Kirkham in Lancashire, England in 1625.[1] Stith ancestors were likely from the Kirkham area.[7]

Colonial America edit

Stith, the first person in colony of Virginia with that surname,[8] received a land grant in 1652 with Samuel Eale for 500 acres in Charles City County, Virginia,[9] where he settled.[3][10] He also received 500 acres of land in 1663.[8]

He was a merchant, an attorney, and a justice of the peace, and served in the militia as a lieutenant (1656), a captain (1676), and a major (1680).[3] In 1676, he participated with Nathaniel Bacon during Bacon's Rebellion.[8][3] Stith was a supporter of Sir William Berkeley.[3] In 1691, Stith was the high sheriff of Charles City County.[8]

Marriage and children edit

In 1657, Stith married Jane Drury Mosby, the widow of Thomas Gregory and Joseph Parsons,[1] and had five children according to his will:[2]

  • John Stith[a] married Mary Randolph, the daughter of William Randolph, and had three children: William, John, and Mary.[4][b]
  • Drury Stith married Susannah Bathurst and had at least two children.[3][4][10] He was made a Lieutenant Colonel and died in 1741.[10]
  • Anne Stith married Robert Bolling[6][c] in 1681 and had at least seven children.[3][4][10]
  • Jane Stith wife of Capt. Daniel Luellin[2]
  • Agnes Stith wife of Mr. Thomas Wynn[2]

Death edit

Stith's final will was proved April 3, 1694. He had been living at Westover Parish, Charles City County, Virginia. His estate was divided between his wife, and sons John and Drury. He left money to his daughters Jane, Ann, and Agnes. Before Stith's death, Drury received his third of the estate, which included land on the eastern branch of Herring Creek. John was to receive the land Stith lived on and a mill.[2]

Notes edit

  1. ^ The father of William Stith, the 3rd president of the College of William & Mary has been identified as John[3][10][2][11] and William.[4]
  2. ^ William Stith married Judith Randolph, his first cousin and the daughter of Thomas Randolph (of Tuckahoe), and was the third president of the College of William & Mary.[3][4][10] John Stith3 was the great-great-grandfather of Brigadier General of the Confederate States Army Junius Daniel and the great-great-great-grandfather of Armistead C. Gordon.[10][12] Mary Stith married William Dawson, the second president of the College of William & Mary, and had two children including John Dawson, the father of Congressman William Johnston Dawson.[3][4][10]
  3. ^ Bolling's first wife, Jane Rolfe, was the granddaughter of Pocahontas and John Rolfe.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Saunders, Charles B. (2000). Four Centuries in America: The British Heritage of the Saunders/Carmichael and Shafer/MacIntire Families. Gateway Press. p. 68. John Stith, b. 1625 Kirkham, Lancashire, England, to Charles City Co. VA by 1656, m. Jane Mosby, widow of Thomas Gregory and Joseph Parsons, 1657, d. 1694.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Will of John Stith, Charles City Virginia Records 1737-1774, April 3, 1694, p. 185
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed. (1915). "Burgesses and Other Prominent Persons". Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. Vol. II. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. pp. 330–331. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Goode, George Brown (2009). Virginia Cousins: A Study of the Ancestry and Posterity of John Goode of Whitby. Genealogical Publishing Com. pp. 211–212. ISBN 978-0806351735.
  5. ^ "Questions and Answers". Notes and Queries. VI (2). Manchester, New Hampshire: S. C. & L. M Gould: 244–245. February 1989. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
  6. ^ a b c Hardy, Stella Pickett (1911). Colonial Families of the Southern States of America: A History and Genealogy of Colonial Families who Settled in the Colonies Prior to the Revolution. Wright. pp. 71, 76.
  7. ^ Johnston, Christopher (July 1912). "The Stith Family". In Tyler, Lyon G. (ed.). William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine. Vol. XXI. Richmond, Virginia: Whittet & Shepperson. pp. 181–193, 269–278. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
  8. ^ a b c d Goode, George Brown (1887). Virginia Cousins: A Study of the Ancestry and Posterity of John Goode of Whitby, a Virginia Colonist of the Seventeenth Century, with Notes Upon Related Families, a Key to Southern Genealogy and a History of the English Surname Gode, Goad, Goode Or Good from 1148 to 1887. J. W. Randolph & English. p. 211.
  9. ^ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 1884. p. 65.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Gordon, Armistead C (1914). "The Stith Family". In Tyler, Lyon G. (ed.). William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine. Vol. XXII. Richmond, Virginia: Whittet & Shepperson. pp. 44–51, 197–208. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
  11. ^ Tyler, Lyon Gardiner (1915). Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Under the Editorial Supervision of Lyon Gardiner Tyler. Lewis historical publishing Company. pp. 331.
  12. ^ Brown, John Howard (1900). "Armistead Churchill Gordon". Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States. Vol. III. Boston, Massachusetts: James H. Lamb Company. p. 331. Retrieved February 25, 2011.


 

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