Maj. William Ligon

Major William Ligon

• Birth: say 1653 in Malvern Hill, Charles City County, Virginia
• Death: between January 21, 1688-9 (Will written) and August 1, 1689 (Will probated) at about age 36 in Henrico, Virginia
• Parents: Thomas Ligon and Mary Harris
• Wife: Mary Tanner - married about 1 Apr 1679 in Virginia.

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Biography

William Ligon was born 1653 in Malvern Hills, Henrico County, Virginia., and died 1689 in Henrico, Virginia. He was the son of Col. Thomas Ligon and Mary Harris.

He married Mary Tanner on 1 April 1679; they had 8 children. She was born at Henrico County, Virginia about 1663, daughter of Joseph Tanner and Mary. She died after 3 Apr 1721.

Her second husband was William Farrar III b: ABT 1660 Married: ABT 1707 in Virginia.

The children of Mary Tanner and William Ligon, birth dates estimated, born at Henrico County, were:

1. Mary3 Ligon born about 1677. Mentioned in her father William Ligon’s will dated 21 January 1688/9. Mentioned in her grandmother Mary Platt’s will dated 10 March 1699/1700. m. 1st, William Anderson. A license was granted them July 15, 1698, Henrico Co.a She m. 2nd, Peter Rowlett. Court at Varina January 1716/17 : Statement that Wm. Ligon, deed, left certain land to be divided between his daughter Mary (now married to Peter Rowlett) & an unborn child, now 21 years old, & named Lucretia. b
2. Thomas Ligon, born about 1677, died May 1705. Mentioned in his father William Ligon’s will dated 21 January 1688/9. Mentioned in his grandmother Mary Platt’s will dated 10 March 1699/1700. Married Elizabeth Worsham.
3. William3 Ligon ll, born about 1682, died 25 Sep 1764. Mentioned in his father William Ligon’s will dated 21 January 1688/9. Mentioned in his grandmother Mary Platt’s will dated 10 March 1699/1700. Married Elizabeth Batte.
4. John3 Ligon, born about 1682, died about 1770. Mentioned in his father William Ligon’s will dated 21 January 1688/9. Mentioned in his grandmother Mary Platt’s will dated 10 March 1699/1700. Cared for by Henrico Parish, 1758-1770. No issue.
5. Joseph3 Ligon, born about 1683. Mentioned in his father William Ligon’s will dated 21 January 1688/9. Mentioned in his grandmother Mary Platt’s will dated 10 March 1699/1700.
6. Sarah3 Ligon, born about 1685, m. Henry3 Ligon (11). (According to “Ligon Family and Connections”.) Not mentioned in her father William Ligon’s will dated 21 January 1688/9. Not mentioned in her grandmother Mary Platt’s will dated 10 March 1699/1700. According to Dorman, Sarah who married Henry Ligon was the daughter of William and Mary (Tanner) Ligon's son William and his wife Elizabeth Batte.
7. Phebe3 Ligon, born about 1686. Not mentioned in her father William Ligon’s will dated 21 January 1688/9. Mentioned in her grandmother Mary Platt’s will dated 10 March 1699/1700. (?)
8. vii. Lucretia3 Ligon, born 1689 posthumously, died after 1717. Mentioned in her father William Ligon’s will dated 21 January 1688/9 as “the child my wife now goes with.” Mentioned in her grandmother Mary Platt’s will dated 10 March 1699/1700. Court at Varina January 1716/17 : Statement that Wm. Ligon, deed, left certain land to be divided between his daughter Mary (now married to Peter Rowlett) & an unborn child, now 21 years old, & named Lucretia. b

Sources: Source: Ligon, William D. (William Daniel). The Ligon family and connections. Volume l. (1947). Page 326. < Archive.Org > (No birth dates listed for the children.) & https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ligon-77 & Dorman, John Frederick (2004). Chapter "Thomas Harris", in Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5: Families G-P. Genealogical Press, p. 268. < GoogleBooks >

Will of William Ligon (1688/9)

Will of "William Ligon of Henrico County, dated January 21, 1688-9, probated August 1, 1689"[1]

1. Son Thomas
2. Son William
3. Son John
4. Son Joseph
5. Thomas Farrar, Jr.
6. Daughter Mary
7. "child my wife now goes with"

The transcript of the will does not include his wife's name, although she is provided for in the will.[1]

Source: William Clayton Torrence, "Early Generations of the Tanner Family of Henrico County, Virginia," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Jan., 1917), pp. 198-205 (Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture; DOI: 10.2307/1915026). Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1915026

Bold names and line breaks added to the transcription copy. (eh)

• Colonial Records of Henrico Co., Book 5, pp. 75-76: AT A COURT HELD AT VARINA, for Henrico County by their Ma:tie« Justices of ye peace for ye sd County on ye first day of our Sovereign Lord & Lady Will:m & Mary bye ye Grace of God of England, France & Ireland King & Queen Defenders of ye faith &c. & in ye year our Lord Xt 1689.:
• In the name of God Amen. I Will:m Ligon being in a Sick condition doe make & ordain this my last will & testam:t in manner & form as followeth.
• I give & bequeath my Soul to Almighty God who gave it hopeing in his mercy to receive full & free pardon for all my sins.
• As for my estate I give as followeth.
• Imps: I give to my sons Thomas & William the plantation I now dwell on to be equally divided between them & to their heirs for ever.
• My part of ye Ashen Swamp that is that lyes about it I Give to my son John & his heirs for ever,
• I give my land that Joyns M.r Hancock’s line to be equally divided between my son Joseph Ligon and Tho. Farrar, Jun. and to their heirs forever.
• My land that lyes on the back of Curles Joyning on ye land wch formerly belonged to Solomon Knibb I give to be equally divided between my daughter Mary & ye Child my wife now goes with to them & their heirs for ever.
• My desire is that my wife lives a widow till my Children comes to ye age of twenty one years they are to continue with her but if she marryes then they are to be at their own disposeing at sixteen years of age.
• I give to my sons each of them a gun to take their choice of them as they come of age.
• All the rest of my estate I give to my dear & loving wife dureing her widowhood; But if she marryes, I give to half of it to be equally divided between my children. My wife to have the other half.
• I desire Capt. Fran: Epes, Mr. Rob:t Hancock and John Worsham to see this my last will peformed.

Source: Ligon, William D. (William Daniel). “The Ligon family and connections. Volume l.” (1947). Page 321-322. < Archive.Org >

Notes

http://www.virginians.com/t.htm?1760

Maj. William Ligon I, in his own words.

If he could speak to us today, Maj. William Ligon I might describe his life as follows.

I was born in Henrico County about 1650 and was married to Mary Tanner by about 1675. I have to confess that I was very difficult. After my father died, Mother let me live on part of her land. Yet because I “acted to her prejudice,” as she called it, in 1684 she tried to evict me. The justices examined Father’s will and concluded that we were joint tenants during her lifetime. If we could not peaceably divide the land, the court would. Court records also reveal that I was accused of arranging the theft of a cow in 1678 and that I paid fines for “obstinately and violently” resisting arrest, for contempt of court, and for evading taxes by not mentioning I had 2 Indian servants. I had to put up a peace bond after that arrest episode.

I died in 1689 after helping Mary rear 7 children, and for nearly 20 years, she remained a widow. She acquired land grants in her own name, bought and sold plantations, purchased a ½-acre lot in town, and sued my brother Hugh Ligon over some fine print in our father’s will.

In 1707 Mary married William Farrar who had just lost his wife, Priscilla Baugh. Just to show you how Mary could pick a husband, the record of her second marriage is revealed in a lawsuit Rev. George Robertson brought against Farrar for refusing to pay the 20-shilling fee for the wedding.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ligon-77

Major in the militia.

Court records : Several court records do confirm that William Ligon was independent and strong willed. About 1678 he was fined 400 pounds of tobacco and jailed because he did “obstinately & violently, resist & withstand, the Sheriff, & his deputy... to the great breach of his Majestyes peace.” A Bond for his release was posted by his brother Richard Ligon and by his brother-in-law Robert Hancock.

On 18 Nov. 1678 Edward Hatcher told the Henrico County Court that Major Ligon had told him to steal a cow from a Mr. Tibbald and butcher it. Edward could not find the cow but heard later that Thomas Perrin and some others had taken the cow and butchered it, although he did not see it happen. They did not show the consequences of this deposition.

Henrico County charged Ligon on 3 tithables in 1679.

On 1 Feb. 1682/3 William Ligon was fined 200 pounds of tobacco for contempt of court by refusing to serve on a jury, 8 and on 18 Oct. 1685 Thomas Cocke was granted a judgment against William for 616 pounds of tobacco due him. Four days later, on 22 Oct. 1685, they brought William into court for failing to list 2 Indian servants on the tax rolls. He pretended he was not aware of their ages and argued that he should not be fined. On 1 April 1679 William Ligon’s mother-in-law conveyed property to her daughter and William that was to be disbursed for an Indian woman named Moll Waters, and 1 April 1680 William gave his orphaned sister-in-law, Mary Tanner, the use of a mouse-colored mare with a foal. 
Although William posted on the courthouse door, according to law, his intention of going to England 2 April 1683, We do not know if he made the trip. He was dead by 1 Aug. 1689.

William Ligon in Dorman’s Adventurers of Purse and Person

Source: Dorman, John Frederick (2004). Chapter "Thomas Harris", in Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5: Families G-P. Genealogical Press, p. 268. < GoogleBooks >

References

1. Ligon, William D. (William Daniel). The Ligon family and connections. Volume l. (1947). Chapter XV. Colonel Thomas Ligon’s Children. Person # l. Page 319 - 316. < Archive.Org >.
2. Tuttle Dorothy G and Larry E Washam. Worsham & Washam Family History. Tuttle and Washam (2000). 869 pages. FamilySearch Books (free membership needed). Book ID: http://www.familysearch.org/library/books/idurl/1/585974
3. https://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I2244...
4. https://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I1076...
5. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Tanner-922 cites
   1. Torrence, William Clayton. "Early Generations of the Tanner Family of Henrico County, Virginia." The William and Mary Quarterly 25, no. 3 (1917): 198-205. doi:10.2307/1915026. (http://www.jstor.org/stable/1915026)
   2. John Frederick Dorman. Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5: Families G-P. Genealogical Publishing Com; 2004. ISBN 978-0-8063-1763-2. p. 268–. < GoogleBooks >
   3. Alvahn Holmes. The Farrar's Island Family and Its English Ancestry. Gateway Press; 1977. p. 147.
6. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ligon-77
7. https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/t/u/r/James-M-Turner-VA/WEBSITE-0001/...
8. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/family/LTDM-7LB does not list a daughter Sarah.