Capt. Robert Higginson

Biography

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LHKB-ZY5

From Clifford L. Stott, "The Higginson Family of Berkeswell, Warwickshire, and Its American Descendants (part 3)," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 172 (Winter 2018): 81-96.

Robert1 Higginson (ThomasA, RobertB/C, ThomasC/D, JohnD/E) was baptized in Solihull on 2 April 1601. He died in Virginia in or about August 1649,[148] and was buried on Lewis Burwell’s plantation “Fairfield” at Carter’s Creek in what would become Gloucester County, Virginia. A fragment of his gravestone was visible in 1893

Robert and his wife apparently removed to London, where he was a citizen and printer-stainer. About 1643 they settled in Virginia.[152] Robert became a captain and commander of Middle Plantation in 1645, then a palisaded settlement.[153] This frontier settlement would become the town of Williamsburg in 1699.

Child of Robert and Joanna (Torksey) Higginson:

i. Lucy Higginson, d. 6 Nov. 1675 and was bur. in the Burwell graveyard, Carter’s Creek, Gloucester Co.[157] She m. (1) after Aug. 1650 Maj. Lewis Burwell, merchant, bp. Ampthill, Beds., 5 March 1621/2, son of Edward and Dorothy (Bedell) Burwell. About the time of their marriage, Lewis took up land on Carter’s Creek, but he d. probably on 19 Nov. 1652.158] She m. (2) before 2 Aug. 1653, Col. William Bernard, son of Sir Francis and Mary (Woolhouse) Bernard/Barnard. William was a member of the Virginia Council, and d. 31 March 1665.[159] She m. (3) by 1667 Col. Philip Ludwell, son of Thomas Ludwell of Bruton, Somerset. Philip came to Virginia about 1660, and was a member of the Virginia Council and governor of North and South Carolina.

Thomas Higginson, of Berkeswell, born 24 January 1570-73. Married Ann.

Their children included:

• Captain Robert Higginson, born c 1597, died in Virginia about August 1649. Said to have come to Virginia c 1643. Married Joanna Tokesey, born 1610, who returned to England after his death.

Their child was:

• Lucy Higginson, born c 1626, died 6 November 1675. Married several times: (1) Major Lewis Burwell of Carter's Creek, issue, (2) Colonel William Bernard, issue, (3) Colonel Philip Ludwell, issue, including great-grandson Robert E. Lee.

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From http://www.glenncourt.com/genealogy/fam_higginson.php

Captain and Commander in Virginia 1646. Married Joanna Tokesey before 1626.

Captain Robert Higginson, born c 1597, died in Virginia about August 1649. Said to have come to Virginia c 1643. Married Joanna Tokesey, born 1610, who returned to England after his death. Sources: Virginia Historical Magazine, vol. 25, p. 316-23. vol. 6, p. 198; McGhan, Virginia Vital Records; p. 71; York Co. VA records.

Higginson

A family from Shropshire then Warwick, who spelled the name also Hykynson and Higinson, and pronounced it Hickerson. Captain Robert seems to have been prominent as an Indian fighter. In 1646 and earlier, he commanded the palisaded settlement at the Middle Plantation, later Williamsburg. A deed, recorded in York on 24 August 1682, states that for his services he was given 100 acres at Middle Plantation. He seems also to have owned land in Martin's Hundred. The epitaph of his daughter Lucy, who died 6 November 1675, on her tomb formerly in the Burwell graveyard at Carter's Creek, now at Abingdon Parish, Gloucester, states only that she was the widow of Major Lewis Burwell, and that "she was descended from the ancient family of the Higginsons. She was the only daughter of the valiant Capt. Robert Higginson, one of the first commanders that subdued the County of Virginia from the power of the heathen." Heathen?

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Birth: 1597
Berkswell Warwickshire, England Death: Aug. 15, 1649 Gloucester County Virginia, USA

Married abt. 1620 in Berkswell, Warwickshire, England to Joanna Tokesay.

They had one daughter, Lucy, who married Maj. Lewis I Fairfield Burwell.

Was a prominent Indian fighter, who commanded at Middle Plantation, (later Williamsburg) in 1644-45.

"Colonial Families of the United States of America: A History and Genealogy of Colonial Families who Settled in the Colonies Prior to the Revolution" by Stella Pickett Hardy, 1911, Tobias A. Wright, Pub., New York

Transcribed by a double descendant of the Burwell family, Hank Rogers, 09/01/2009.

Burwell Genealogy:

Pages 94-103

Page 95 -

"One of the first valiant commanders who subdued the Colony of Virginia from the heathen."

The English ancestry of the Higginsons is elaborated in Eben Putnam's 'Higginsons of New England in Virginia.'

Family links:

Spouse:

 Joanna Tokesay Higginson (1600 - ____)

Children:

 Lucy Tokesay Higginson Burwel Ludwell (1626 - 1675)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial: Abingdon Episcopal Church Cemetery White Marsh Gloucester County Virginia, USA

Edit Virtual Cemetery info [?]

Created by: Hank Rogers Record added: Oct 07, 2011 Find A Grave Memorial# 77786558 http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=77786558

References

1. Happy Valley, History and Genealogy, Thomas Felix Hickerson The author, 1940 - Yadkin River Valley (N.C.) - 244 pages. (document attached) (1st 50 pages.) “Joan Tokesay” appears on book page 22, pdf page 56.