John Humphries, Sr

John Humphries (son of Robert Humphrey and Mary ?) was born Bet. 1690 - 1695 in Surry County, Virginia, and died 1738 in Parish/St. Andrews, Brunswick Co., VA.

He married Mary White..

Children of John Humphries and Mary White are:

1. +William Humphrey, b. Mar 08, 1723/24, Virginia463, d. Aft. 1793, Onslow County, NC464.
2. +John Humphrey, d. Abt. 1789.
3. Thomas Humphrey.
4. Charles Humphrey.

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Notes for John Humphreys:

" ... John Humphries. He left a will dated 19 April 1738, in which he left an entry on Allen's Creek of 400 acres to his four sons William, John, Thomas, and Charles, to be equally divided, reserving 100 acres to his wife Mary; he left to his son Richard Humphries a young grey mare. Also the will states that his children may live with his loving wife until they arrive at the age of eighteen years. Mary is named execu-trix, and the will is signed by mark. The witnesses were Wm. Hagood, Mary Hagood, and Clemt. Read. The will was proved 1 March 1738/9. "[Comment: It is very easy to become confused by the counties of residence of our ancestors in southern Virginia. Allens Creek, e.g., in what is now Mecklenburg County, was earlier a part of Lunenburg County, which was created from Brunswick, which was created from Prince George, which was created from Charles City County. Thus, an apparent change of residencies (i.e., county) does not necessarily mean a move - just that the original county was carved up again.]

"If if can be assumed that the oldest of the five named sons was approaching the age of eighteen at the time of the writing of the will, John Humphries may have been about thirty-eight years old at the time of the will. If we assume that the oldest child was only ten, John Humphries may have been about thirty-one at the time he wrote the will. Of course, this assumes that John married and fathered the first child at age twenty-one. He may have been quite a bit older. From the tithable lists mentioned above, John does not appear as a tithable on any of the lists. He would probably be in the household of his father and still under age sixteen as late as 1703. The point of this exercise is to determine if there could be a generation between John Humphries and Evan Humphrey. There was a Robert Humphreys, who died by 1714 in this area, and was probably a son of Evan Humphrey, as stated above. The inventory of Robert Humphreys was made 17 June 1714. However, since Robert Humphries died intestate, no real property is listed. Primogeniture was in effect in Virginia at this time: that is, the eldest son inherited all real property in the case of intestacy. Nothing in the inventory gives any clues about heirs. If Robert were the father of John, several things must have happened: (1) Evan Humphrey married the widow Jane Stringfellow in 1679 or 1680 and had a child (Robert) immediately. (2) Robert married at a young age and had a child (John) immediately. The implications of the tithable lists, as stated above, make this scenario impossible.

"No land descended from Robert Humphries to John Humphries, nor are both names found on any one document. Since there is no proof at all that Robert Humphries was closely connected with John Humphries, and the given name Robert is not used among the descendants of Charles Humphries with any great degree, this writer is forced to assume that John was a son of Evan Humphries and wife Jane, rather than a grandson through Robert Humphries.

"John Humphries (d. 1738/9) married Mary White. The will of John White, dated 14 March 1727/8, names his 'cozen John Humphry son of sister Mary.' Also, this would lead us to believe that John Humphries was the oldest son of John and Mary Humphries, and therefore, John Humphries (d. 1738/9) was probably born 1700 or before. After the death of John Humphries in 1738/9, Mary married William White [no! Wood - see below], as they conveyed land to Charles 'Humphreyes' of Brunswick County, 26 March 1751, one hundred and twenty-four acres of land patented to John Humphreys decd., in 1736, and devised to said Mary relict of John Humphries by will."

An abstract of the will of John Humphreys, dated 19 April 1738, and filed in Brunswick County, is as follows:

• "I, John Humphries, of SA in B, sick and weak of body but of sound and perfect sense and memory.
• "To my wife Mary Humphries - the tract of land and plantation whereon I now live.
• "To my 4 sons, to wit, William, John, Thomas, and Charles Humphries - an entry of land which I have on Allen's Cr containing 400 acres, to be equally divided between them. The 100 acre part of the tract whereon I am no settling shall be for the use of my wife during her natural life, and after her death, I want this 100 acres be & remain to my son, Charles Humphries, as his part of the 400 acres. I wish my son Wil-liam to have his 1st choice of the remaining 300 acres, and the others, according to their seniority.
• "To my son William Humphries - my horse colt.
• "To my son Richard Humphries - a young gray mare.
• "To my son John Humphries - a gun that is now in his possession. "It is my desire that my children m[a]y live and remain with my wife until they arrive at lawful age, provided she remains a widow. If she remarried, it is my desire that they be for themselves and go free from her at the age of 18 years each.
• "It is agreed between me and my wife that she shall sell the land whereon I now live, that I have before this will devised to her, to raise money to pay my debts if she can't pay them without. After paying my debts, the rest of my estate remain hers absolutely to the end she may be the better enabled to support, raise, & maintain herself and children during her life or living single. But if she marries, it is my desire that each child or children have and equal part of such share of such remaining part. "If my wife remarries, that my son William take care of and see that such parts of my estate as I have in this will devised to my children, be justly rendered to them.
• "Executrix: my wife Mary. "Signed Apr 19, 1738 - Jno (x his mark) Humphries. Wit - Wm Hagood, Mary (x her mark) Hagood, Clement Read. OR."
• "Account Current of the estate of John Humphries deced. Apr 26, 1744. Debits include mention of : Mr. Theophilus Feild as per acct, the quitrents of 324 acres for the year 1738, Dr. John Irby as per bill, the levy for the year 1738, Anthony Haynes, Drury Stith, Capt Richard Burch, Colo Drury Stith, Robert Hum-phries, Mr. Leatherdale as per judgment, Moses Dunkley on acct Fitts' execution, Mr. George Wallton, John Scott, Mr. William Gray. Total debits: 38 £ 3 shillings. Credits: inventory and appraisement of the estate, cash received of Richard Tomson, 140 pounds tobacco paid Colo Stith by George Dearden. Total credits: 38 £ 11 shillings 6 pence. Balance due to the estate: 1 £ 8 shillings 6 pence. Signed - Mary (W her mark) Wood, Executrix, Richard (R his mark) Wood. Per court order of Jul 8, 1743, we settled the ac-count of Richard Wood and Mary, his wife, Ex'x of John Humphries deced. Signed - Nicholas Edmunds, James Parrish. At a court held for B Jul 6, 1744, Richard Wood and Mary, his wife, executrix of the will of John Humphries deced, returned this accout, which is OR."

References

• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/w/e/i/James-H-Weiss/WEBS... cites
• 464. Blanche Humphrey Abee, Colonists of Carolina in the lineage of Hon. W. D. Humphrey,(The William Byrd Press, Inc., Richmond, Virginia), 27.