John Echols, of Caroline County

Birth place seen as New Kent, VA, and Gravesend, Kent, England.

Source: http://www.armory.com/~vern/family/newsletter/echols.htm

From HISTORY OF ECHOLS FAMILY by MILNER ECHOLS 1850

John Echols an Englishman came to America about the end of the 16th or the beginning of the 17th Century and settled in Caroline County, Virginia, and married a tall redheaded woman named Mary Cave and by her had five sons and three daughters. I shall begin with his sons first and carry out their family as far as my knowledge extends.

(Other details set out in tree as applicable)

First Echols in Virginia

Name: John ECHOLS Sr.

Surname: ECHOLS

Given Name: John

Suffix: Sr.

Sex: M

Birth: 17 Feb 1650 in Wilmslow,Cheshire,England

Death: 1712 in Lunenburg, Virginia, USA

Ancestral File #: NNRL-3F

Note:

In 1850 Milner Echols wrote-The Short History of Our Family? beginning with his earliest known ancestor, John Echols Sr. who married Mary Cave about 1688. His grandson brought it to Texas and the Dallas Genealogical Society published it. Milner was not a genealogist and other historians have surpassed his work. Nevertheless, it is interesting because he wrote it so long ago. In this Family Topic, we will quote him periodically. Quotations in italics are Milner?s words.-John Echols an Englishman Came to America about the end of the 16th or the beginning of the 17th Century and Settled in Caro County Verginia and married a tall Redheaded woman named Mary Cave - & by her had 5 Sons & 3 Daughters. - Yet, some historians believe Echols was not English but Welsh and perhaps even Welsh Quaker. We do not know who John?s father was.

Three other Echols were in Virginia before John: Joyce Echoll in 1652 , Richard Eccles in 1653 , and Sylvester Echols in 1664 . The most likely of the three to be the father of John is Richard Eccles. They spelled the name-Echols? many ways in the records:-Eckles,?-Eckols,?-Eccles,?-Eckels,? etc. Some have speculated that John Echols wasidentical to the John Eccles who appeared near Herrin Creek in Charles City County 1677-94 . This John Echols married possibly a daughter of Thomas Harris and his wife, Yuet ?. On 13 September 1677 , administration of the estate of Thomas Harris was granted John Echols and John Hardaway. Thomas Harris, likely the son of the elder Thomas Harris and who had come of age, petitioned the court to summon Echols on 2 March 1690/1 . Charles City County awarded Echols 200 pounds of tobacco for two wolves heads in 1691 . We can find no evidence that John Echols of Charles City County was John Echols Indeed the former John Echols was killing wolves in Charles City County while the latter John Echols was living in New Kent. We do not know who Mary Cave?s father was but we presume he was one of a few men named Cave in early Virginia. The most likely candidate is John Cave [1678] who twice applied for a land patent with John Echols. Mary was said to be born about 1650 and died after 1712. On 20 April 1685, John Echols and William Morris received 350 acres-behind land formerly of Mr. Giles Moody? in New Kent County.

This was for the transportation of seven persons. Echols and Morris allowed their right to the land lapse and James Taylor obtained its patent in 1688 . On 23 April 1688, John alone was granted 321 acres next to land he already owned. John evidently prospered because fifteen years later he, Samuel Craddock, John Cave, and William Glover were granted 1,620 acres on the-branches of Tuckahoe Swamp and the freshes of Mattaponi River in King and Queen and Essex Counties.? John never lived in Caro County because they created it sixteen years after he died. Yet in 1685 the boundaries of New Kent County adjoined the present-day Caro County and part of John?s land may have been in what is now Caro County. On 23 October 1703, John Echols and John Cave secured a patent for 600 acres in St. Stephens Parish in King and Queen County. John Echols paid quit rents on 220 acres in 1704. John and Mary were the parents of five sons: John , Abraham , William , Joseph, and Richard Echols .

Their three daughters were Eleanor , Ann , and Elizabeth Echols.. The Echols sons were dependable Amelia County citizens and served on juries when called. Of twelve good men on the jury of Robert Vaughan vs. Richard Ward on 9 December 1737, three were Richard, William, and Abraham Echols . On historian reported that seven individuals, including four sons of John Echols Sr., were granted 6,000 acres of land in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, on 11 December 1728. Yet no such patent was ever issued. The Echols sons were Abraham , William, Joseph , and Richard Echols . Another participant was William Echols?s son-in-law, Richard Anderson Jr. We believe these four Echols sons lived in Amelia County, Virginia, until around 1750. They then resettled in what is now Halifax County and Pittsylvania County. The Gillintine, Marchbanks, Collins, Hendrick, and Hubbard families, who intermarried with the Echols, moved from Amelia County to Halifax around the same time.

After the Echols family moved from Amelia County, another Echols family arrived. Edward Echols, patented 400 acres in July 1738, 548 acres in April 1748, and 364 acres in September 1755. In 1755 as Edward Echols-of Albemarle Parish, Sussex County, Virginia,? he deeded land to his brother, Robert Echols of Nottoway Parish , and his son, Thomas Echols . This was perhaps the Edward Echols who secured a patent for 140 acres in Surry (later Sussex) County in 1727 to which he added 104 acres in 1743. Both Edward and Thomas Eccles were later in Albemarle Parish and the Albemarle Parish Register records the births of some of their children. Edward Echols died in Sussex County [27 Oct 1757 / 21 Apr 1758] leaving Amelia County land to several sons.

Other notes:

John Echols, according to the best history, migrated to the US during Oliver Cromwell's time, because of some differences between Cromwell and himself! He is reputed to have had large possessions in England, and to have sold same, turning the proceeds thereof into gold and brought with him. He settled in Virginia, becoming a large planter and slave owner.

• **************

Notes from http://www.virginians.com/redirect.htm?topics&838

Land patents for John Echols On 20 April 1685 John Echols and William Morris received 350 acres ?behind land formerly of Mr. Giles Moody? in New Kent County. This was for the transportation of seven persons. Echols and Morris allowed their right to the land lapse and James Taylor obtained its patent in 1688. On 23 April 1688, John alone was granted 321 acres next to land he already owned. Fifteen years later in 1703, he, Samuel Craddock, John Cave, and William Glover were granted 1,620 acres on the ?branches of Tuckahoe Swamp and the freshes of Mattaponi River? in King and Queen and Essex Counties. The tract began on the east side of Potobago Path. A patent for Francis Meriwether places Potobago Path on the branches of Hoskins Creek. Thus the tract was 2-3 miles south of present-day Beazley, Virginia. On 23 October 1703, John Echols and John Cave secured a patent for 600 acres in St. Stephen?s Parish in King and Queen County.

2

Change Date: 23 Apr 2008 at 15:50:50

Father: John ECHOLS OR EXOLL b: 1619 in Grovesend, Kent, England

Mother: Mrs John ECHOLS b: 1622 in Grovesend, Kent, England

Marriage 1 Mary CAVE b: 5 Jul 1661 in Misterton,Leicester,England

Married: ABT 1688 in Caroline, Burswick, Virginia, USA

Sealing Spouse: 16 Apr 2003 in SLAKE

Children

1. Mary Elenor ECHOLS b: ABT 1690 in , Amelia, Virginia, USA
2. Abraham ECHOLS b: ABT 1700 in Amelia, Virginia, USA
3. Elizabeth ECHOLS b: ABT 1708 in Amelia, Virginia, USA
4. John ECHOLS b: 1671 in Amelia, Virginia, USA
5. William ECHOLS b: ABT 1702 in Amelia, Virginia, USA
6. Joseph ECHOLS b: ABT 1704 in Amelia, Virginia, USA
7. Richard ECHOLS b: ABT 1706 in King Queen, Virginia, USA
8. Ann ECHOLS b: ABT 1692 in Amelia, Virginia, USA
9. Eleanor ECHOLS

Sources:

Repository:

Name: Family History Library

Salt Lake City, UT 84150 USA

Title: Ordinance Index (TM)

Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Repository:

Name: Family History Library

Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 USA

Title: Ancestral File (R)

Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Publication: Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998

John Echols an Englishman came to America about the end of the 16th or the beginning of the 17th Century and settled in Caroline County, Virginia, and married a tall redheaded woman named Mary Cave and by her had five sons and three daughters.

History of the Echols Family (by Milner Echols, 1850); Family Tree of John Echols and Mary Cave; History of the Echols Family.

Williams Family History Book, author Dona Vance (now Donw (Floyd) Kimmons, published in 1974, with all information coming from direct descendants of the Echols family. Coprited in Washington, D.C.