Jacob Vick

From Joseph Vick of Lower Parish, Isle of Wight County, Virginia and His Descendants, vol. I:

pp 36-38

Jacob wrote his will on 20 October 1784. His daughter Mourning was given a 480-acre plantation - the tract he was granted in 1750. However, his widow Patience retained the use ofthat plantation during the course ofher widowhood. Son Jacob received the 745-acre plantation on which his father lived. Daughter Lydda or Lydia received £30. Should Patience remarry, the remainder ofthe estate was to be divided among the children. Jacob named his wife Patience and son Jesse co-executors; witnesses included Benjamin Whitfteld and Trial and Martha Bailey. The will was probated on 11 September 1789.11

Children, proved by his will, born in Isle of Wight/Southampton County:
North Carolina. She m. BENJAMIN JORDAN in 1781 and eight years later inherited a substantial plantation from her father. In 1805, she received a $100 bequest in the will of her sister-in- law, Christian (Knox) Vick. This Mourning should not be confused with Mourning Jordan, wife of Josiah Jordan, who lived in Southampton County at the same time. Although all were Quakers, Benjamin and Mourning (Vick) Jordan were members o f the Rich Square Monthly Meeting in Northampton County, while Josiah and Mourning Jordan were members ofthe Western Branch Monthly Meeting. Children, most of whom were born in North Carolina, surnamed JORDAN: 1. Christian, b. ca. 1781, d. 16 August 1853; 2. Jacob, b. 21, 10th month 1783; 3. Matthew, b. 2, 10th month 1784; 4. Patience, b. 20, 11 th month 1786, d. 7 December 1866 (m .John Vick #154); 5. Mary, b. 23, 12th month 1787; 6.Sitnah, b. ca. 2, 4th month 1792; 7. Joseph, b. 17, 2nd month 1795, d. 12, 9th month 1871; 8. Richard, b. 5, 1sl month 1797. Christian and Richard were

JACOB 4, b. ca. 1743; m. MARY KNOX.
MOURNING m. BENJAMIN JORDAN
JESSE M. CHRISTIAN KNOX
LYDIA M. PILGRIM VICK

pp. 103-104

27. JACOB4 VICK (Jacob3, Richart!, Josephl ) was born about 1743 in Isle of Wight, subsequently Southampton County, Virginia. He died after 1813, probably in Southampton County.
Jacob first appears in the records of Southampton County on 12 March 1744, when he was named in the will of his maternal grandfather, Arthur Whitehead. He was an infant and received a nominal bequest.'
Not until twenty-two years later, on 15, 2nd month 1766, do we find another record of him. Then, styled as Jacob Vick Jr., he appears in the minutes of the Rich Square Monthly Meeting in Northampton County, North Carolina.

He presented a certificate from the Western Branch Monthly Meeting that verified his marriageability. A month later on 15, 3rd month, he was reported as having married MARY KNOX.2 She was a sister of Christian Knox, who married Jacob's brother Jesse. Her parentage has not been traced.

After their marriage the couple returned to Virginia. On 25, 7th month 1767, the Western Branch Meeting granted Jacob, his father and his brother Jesse certificates of exemption from military service.3 The French-Indian War had begun and Britain was mustering colonials to serve with the Regulars. The Quakers were recognized to be conscientious objectors, but, to weed out malingerers, each objector had to supply proof of affiliation with the Society ofFriends.

On 26, 8th month 1769, the meeting reported that "the Fathers over Notway [River] have fixed on Jacob Vick's Jr. for the holding of their meeting usually held at Ann West's".4The records show that the members consented to this request, and a Friends Meeting known as Vick's was established as an adjunct to the Western Branch Meeting.5 This is his last recorded appearance in extant Quaker records.

Did he remain a Quaker? There is no conclusive proof, but there are indications that he may have fallen out of union. Since Quakers were unwilling to swear oaths, they seldom resorted to litigation and would not accept political appointments. However, on 13 April 1769, Jacob and his father sued Joseph Cobb and won the decision.6 And he was willing to accept a political appointment: In August of 1776, he was named surveyor ofthe highway by the Committee ofSafety.7 Yet on 14 November 1782, he freed all ofhis slaves, strongly suggesting Quaker sympathies.8 His attitude toward slavery changed rather quickly. Between 1782 and 1787, as Jacob Vick Jr., he was taxed on one poll and one slave and in the 1810 federal census he reported owning twenty slaves.9

On 10 October 1782 Jacob was forced to answer a complaint filed by Milly Faircloth that he was responsible "for begetting a bastard child on the body of said Milly." He appeared in court with Jesse Vick as his security and was filled £50 to be levied from his goods and chattels.10

Jacob appears infrequently in Southampton records. In 1784 he inherited a 745 acre plantation from his father.!! On 12 June 1794, he and his wife Mary sold a tract to John Jackson.!2 They witnessed the nuncupative will ofHenry Ellis, who died in their home, which was filed for probate on 14 April 1797.13 (This is the last time Mary appears in any record, which probably indicates she died about this time.)

On 18 May 1801, Jacob gave a slave to his sister-in-law Christian (Knox) Vick, widow of his brother Jesse.!4 He sold land to William Furgason on 18 May 1807; to Ann Pope on 17 December 1810, and finally to James Barnes in October 1813. He seems to have been deliberately settling his affairs and it is interesting that these last transactions are with families that have earlier associations with the Vick family: Furgason, Pope and Barnes.

The question of Jacob and Mary's children is one of the continuing controversies in Vick research. Since there are no federal census records for Virginia in 1790 and 1800 (substitute counts have been created from state tax records) and since Jacob died intestate, those records are not available to help resolve the issue. In the 1810 census, Jacob was living alone. It has been suggested that Jacob and Mary were the parents of Stephen Vick [#176] ofMuhlenberg County, Kentucky, since his tombstone states that he was the son ofa Jacob and Mary Vick. However, that tombstone also states that Stephen was born in Dobbs County, North Carolina in 1786. It would appear then that Jacob had no legitimate children.

Notes

• I Arthur Whitehead will (1744), Southampton Co. Will Book I:26, County Clerk's Office,
• Courtland, VA.
• 2 William Wade Hinshaw, Encyclopedia ofAmerican Quaker Genealogy [Ann Arbor, MI: Edwards Brothers, 1936] 1:259.
• 3 Ibid., 6:88.
• 4 Ibid.
• 5 Ibid. 6:48.
• 6 Southampton Co. Order Book 5:136, 141, County Clerk's Office, Courtland, VA.
• 7 Proceedings ofthe Committee ofSafety for Southampton County, 1775-1776, 16, County Clerk's Office, Courtland, VA.
• g Southampton Co. Deed Book 6:87, County Clerk's Office, Courtland, VA.
• 9 Augusta B. Fothergill and John Mack Naugle, Virginia TaxPayers, 1782-1787 [Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1978], 130; Jacob Vick household, 1810 U.S.
• Census, Southampton Co., V A, page 86B, line 12, National Archives micro publication M- 252, roll 71.
• IO Southampton Co. Order Book 7:244.
• II Jacob Vick will (1784), Southampton Co. Will Book 4:329.
• 12 Southampton Co. Deed Book 8:83.
• 13 Henry Ellis will (1797), Southampton Co. Will Book 5:12. 14 Southampton Co. Deed Book 9:395.