John Eppes, Sr.

John Eppes, Sr. was the eldest son of Francis Eppes, Sr. and his wife Mary Pawlette. He was born in 1626 in Virginia. He married Mary Kent about 1645. Mary was the daughter of Humphrey Kent and his wife Joane. John and Mary had a son, John Eppes, Jr., who was born in 1648.

John Eppes, Sr. made his home at Shirley Hundred. He served in the Charles City County Militia. eventually rising to the rank of Lt. Col. He served as Sheriff of that same county in 1676, from February 1675/6 to 1677. On 26 May 1677 he was appointed one of the four officials in Charles City County to examine witnesses concerning grievances in the aftermath of Bacon’s Rebellion. He was a justice as early as 1655 and was appointed one of the justices of the quorum by Lieutenant Governor Herbert Jeffreys on 5 November 1677. He was alive 4 August 1679 but died by 16 October 1679 when John Eppes was mentioned as administrator of his father’s estate."

John inherited his father’s land when Francis Sr. died. On September 30, 1674 he repatented his land on the south side of James River between Gravelly Creek, the city landing and Causin’s Creek, adding 572 acres of new land to his father’s former patents of 1700 and 280 acres. The land passed to his son, John Jr.

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Children of John Eppes and Mary Kent

"Issue:.

"1. John Epes, married Mary Kent..

"John Epes, born about 1626, was the eldest son of his father. He married about 1645, Mary Kent, daughter of Humphrey Kent and his wife Joane. On 3 August 1653 they sold 60 acres at Weyanoke where Humphrey Kent had resided. By 1657 John Epes was living on Shirley Hundred Island, now known as Eppes Island..

"In 1661 he was captain of the company from Swinhouse Creek to Capt. Stegge’s Creek, all of Shirley Hundred Island and from Bykor’s Creek to Powell’s Creek on the south side of the river, by 1671 was major and in 1673 was lieutenant colonel. The General Assembly which met 23 March 1661/2 ordered Capt. Robert Wynne and Capt. John Eps to summon some of the neighbors with them to settle the boundary between Westover and Martin’s Brandon Parish..

"On 30 September 1674 he repatented his land on the south side of James River between Gravelly Creek, the city landing and Causin’s Creek, adding 572 acres of new land to his father’s former patents of 1700 and 280 acres..

"Col. John Epes was sheriff of Charles City County, February 1675/6 and on 26 May 1677 was appointed one of the four officials in Charles City County to examine witnesses concerning grievances in the aftermath of Bacon’s Rebellion. He was a justice as early as 1655 and was appointed one of the justices of the quorum by Lieutenant Governor Herbert Jeffreys on 5 November 1677. He was alive 4 August 1679 but died by 16 October 1679 when John Epes was mentioned as administrator of his father’s estate.".

"2. Francis Epes, married (1) _____, (2) Elizabeth Worsham..

"3. Thomas Epes, married Elizabeth _____.".

"Thomas Epes was baptized 8 Sep 1630 at St. Olave, Hart Street, London. Mr. Thomas Epes was referred to, 27 Aug 1656, and on 3 Aug 1658 a suit between John Sloman, Gent., and Capt John Epes, Mr. Francis Epes and Mr. Thomas Epes is mentioned. Mr. Thomas Epes was listed as a justice, 4 Aug 1673, along with his brother Lt. Col. John Epes. He witnessed an instrument of Mrs. Jane Osborne 1 Nov 1676 but died before 4 June 1679 when the petition of Elizabeth Epps, widow of Thomas Epps, was answered in Charles City court. It was ordered that she remain in possession of Epes’ estate until the next court, at which she was ordered to appear and make her further claims.".

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 At this point we will inject two excerpts from other sources which provide us with substantiating information..

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" Francis Epes #1, baptized 14 May 1597 at Ashford, Kent, England, died in Charles City County after 1668 and before 30 September 1674. He married Mary _____ and had issue: John Epes, Francis Epes Jr. and Thomas Epes..

"Captain Francis Epes was granted 1700 acres in the County of Charles City 26 August 1655: ‘E. upon Bayley his Crk., S, into the maine land, W. upon Cason his Cr., up Appamatuck Riv. & N. upon the maine (James) River. 50 ac. For his per. adv(enture), & 1650 acs. For trans. Of 3 sons, Joh. Epes, Fr. Epes & 30 servants (named).’.

"Captain Francis Epes came to Virginia in the Hopewell, and named his plantation ‘Hopewell Farms,’ later known as City Point, the James River port at the confluence of the Appomattox; the modern city of Hopewell now occupies all of the 1655 grant, with the exception of ‘Appomattox Manor,’ the house and dependencies of five acres, still owned by a direct descendant of Capt. Francis Epes, the earliest piece of property in America still owned by a descendant of the original patentee..

"Captain Epes was a member of the Governor’s Council in 1637, and a Burgess for Charles City County 1631-32, 1639 and 1645. He was an ensign in 1623 when the effects of the 1622 Indian massacre were deeply felt; later captain and then a Colonel in the Militia.".

–w—. " Arms — Per fesse gules and or, a pale counterchanged, three eagles displayed of the last. "Crest — On a chaplet vert flowered or, a falcon rising of the last. .

"The surname Eppes, with its variants Ebbs, Epps, Eppson, Epperson and Epp, is of baptismal origin, meaning ‘the son of Ebb.’ The parent of this surname was ‘Ebb,’ which was the nickname for Isabella. This was very popular in its day. .

" Lieutenant-Colonel Francis (I) Eppes, in early records often referred to as Captain Eppes or Epes, came to America, evidently about 1623-24. Hotten’s list of the living and the dead in Virginia as of 13 February 1623, which list purports to include all settlers in Virginia in the latter year, does not include the name of Francis Eppes. Had he been in the colony at that time his name would have been included, expecially as he was prominent enough to become a member of the House of Burgesses in 1625. The logical inference, therefore, is that he came some time in the latter part of 1623 or 1624, as he must have been a resident some while before entering office. Circumstances indicate that he returned to Virginia in 1631, when he was again made a member of the Assembly. The ‘Sainsbury Papers,’ composed of various records relating to the early colonial history of Virginia, compiled in the London office by William Noel Sainsbury, show that Francis Eppes was a member of the House of Burgesses in 1625 only, and not again until the year 1631-32. He settled on the south shore of the James River near the mouth of the Appomattox. Henrico and Charles City counties were on both sides of the James River, and Colonel Eppes acquired extensive estates in each county. On 26 August 1636, he obtained a grant of land in Charles City County, Virginia, for the transportation of himself, his three sons, John, Francis and Thomas, and some thirty servants into the Virginia Colony. On 30 April 1652, he became a member of the Colonial Council, and died in 1655..

"Mr. Stanard, in his ‘Virginia Magazine of History and Biography,’ states that Francis Eppes, son of Francis, the immigrant, was born about 1628. He, too, must have been an immigrant, else he could not have land claimed for him, as above stated. Thomas, son of Francis Eppes, is listed as probably the youngest son, therefore, born after 1628. The following, which is the result of an exhaustive search among the English vital records, gives the date of his birth, as well as the first name of his mother: ‘Thomas, son of Francis and Marie Eps, born 18 September 1630.’ County Kent, England, where the Eppes family had been long domiciled, lies directly adjacent to Middlesex, which includes London. Francis Eppes, therefore, was evidently temporarily living in London, just prior to his second venture to Virginia. It is evident, too, from the fact that no land was applied for in her name, that Marie, his wife, died in London soon after the birth of Thomas..

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Links for additional material:

• http://books.google.com/books?id=orDbMGpInaQC&pg=PA281&lpg=PA281&dq...
• http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/pete/butowsky.pdf Pg.15
• http://www.tc.umn.edu/~timsx001/Epes.html

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John Eppes, Sr. made his home at Shirley Hundred. He served in the Charles City County Militia. eventually rising to the rank of Lt. Col. He served as Sheriff of that same county in 1676, from February 1675/6 to 1677. On 26 May 1677 he was appointed one of the four officials in Charles City County to examine witnesses concerning grievances in the aftermath of Bacon’s Rebellion. He was a justice as early as 1655 and was appointed one of the justices of the quorum by Lieutenant Governor Herbert Jeffreys on 5 November 1677. He was alive 4 August 1679 but died by 16 October 1679 when John Eppes was mentioned as administrator of his father’s estate."