Edward Herndon I

The first Herndon in America, of whom we have authentic record , is William, who patented lands in New Kent County, Virginia, in Feb. 1674. He married in 1677, Catherine Digges, daughter of Edward Digges, Colonial Governor of Virginia 1656-1658. Through this Digges connection the Herndon family is eligible to many of the Patriotic Societies, among them:

• The Society of Daughters of the Barons of Runnemede--ancestor, Edward Digges.
• The Society of Colonial Governors--ancestor, Edward Digges.
• The Society of Daughters of the Crown--ancestor, Edward Digges to Alfred the Great.
• The Society of Founders and Patriots--ancestors, Edward Digges.
• The Society of Scions and Cavaliers--ancestor, Edward Digges, son of Sir Dudley Digges.
• The Society of The First Families of Virginia--ancestor, Sir Dudley Digges, father of Edward Digges, whose daughter, Catherine, married William Herndon.

Reference of the above is found--Virginia Historical Magazine, Vol. 9, pp. 318, 319; William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 1, pp. 87, 88, 140, 141; and in Herndon, Hunt and Allied Families, p. 55 , by Nesbit and Wood. _________________________________

c.1678 Birth, by estimation, of Edward Herndon, a possible son of William Herndon (a theory posited by John G. Herndon. Source: "The Herndon Family of Virginia, Volume One, The First Three Generations in America," by Dr. John Goodwin, Herndon, Fellow, American Society of Genealogists).

1691-1728 Edward’s home in St. Stephen’s Parish became from1691-1728, in King and Queen County, and thereafter in Caroline County, Virginia.

1691 ing & Queen County was created from New Kent County. The new county, which was named after the ruling English monarchs, King William III and Queen Mary II, encompassed lands lying north of the Pamunkey and York Rivers including Pamunkey Neck. The legislative enabling act that created the new county contained the first official reference to English town lands at West Point in Pamunkey Neck

1698 Parliament opens the slave trade to British merchants, and the number of Africans brought to the colony begins to increase dramatically. Sugar and molasses are shipped from the West Indies to New England where they are distilled into rum. In West Africa, rum is traded for slaves, who are taken usually to the West Indies. This triangular trade becomes a mainstay of the American colonies.

October 31. A fire destroys Jamestown. Thereafter, only a few people continue to live there and the town declines and eventually ceases to exist. In 1699, the seat of government is moved to Williamsburg, formerly called "Middle Plantation."

1698 Edward Herndon married a Mary Waller according to Waller historians some one hundred years ago. The question researchers today are asking (that my research cannot prove or disprove), “Was Edward Herndon’s wife, Mary Waller? Was she the same Mary, daughter of Dr. John Waller? Dr. Waller wrote several wills – which he referred to in his last will; neither Mary nor herMother were recognized in the will. (Note from the compiler: It is probable they were deceased but I maintain a questioning stance because I was not recognized in my mother’s will because she had previously provided for me and my children – not being named in a will proves nothing).

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jun 26 2018, 13:20:10 UTC