Ann Whitecotton

Disputed mother

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Axton-6

"John Axoll (Axton), 600 acres, Stafford Co., south side of Potomack Creek, 23 Sept. 1668, p. 174. On westward side of Weepsiwasson Creek adjoining Mr. Henry Meese, Mr. Wm. Horton, Mr. Wllm. Haberd, &c. Granted unto Capt. David Mansfield [also know n as David Mansell], who assigned & made over in marriage unto Mr. Henry Blagrave and Mary his wife, daughter of said David, who sold to Edward Carey,decd., and Axton, and now due said Axton by survivorship."

What this means is that David Mansfield received a grant of 600 acres, which then passed to his daughter Mary and her husband Henry Blagrave. John Axton with Edward Carey purchased the land from Blagrave and his wife. Edward Carey died, so the prop erty passed to John Axton as the surviving partner.

This entry is also important for another reason. Many researchers have claimed that John Axton was married to Mary Mansell (Mansfield), daughter of Capt. David Mansell. This record would seemingly end that speculation. Mary Mansell is obviously ma rried to Henry Blagrave, which would make it extremely unlikely she gave birth to Ann Axton two years earlier.

Checking a VA atlas and gazateer I located Potomac Creek, still in modern Stafford Co. It runs west to east, about half way between Quantico Marine Reserve and Fredricksburg, and empties into the Potomac River.

This 600-acre property appears many times in the records of early Stafford Co., much of it occurring after John Axton's death and concerning his daughter (Ann Axton) and grandson (Mealy Whitecotton). But to follow the story was best as I can discern i t I have included most of those records here as follows. To set the stage, John Axton owns this 600 acres, but sometime in the ensuing two decades he dies and the land passes to his son, John Axton, Jr. But John, Jr. dies as well, making his young siste r, Ann, the heir to the family's possessions.