Nancy Elizabeth Cooper

Nancy Elizabeth Cooper is the 5th generation, from the Virginia colony settlement.

Nancy Elizabeth Cooper  →  Basil William Prather her father → Aaron Allen Prather his father →  Thomas Mackay Prather his father →  Lyle Jane Prather his mother who was the wife of Jonathan Smith Prather, no doubt named after Jonathan Smith the explorer, and considered one of the prominent founders of the Jamestown settlement of the Virginia colony.  Jonathan was born in the Virginia colony.  His father born in England came to the colony at the age of 18, year 1622.

".... Thomas Prater was only 18 years old when he came to the Colonies. It must have been a major adventure for such a young man born and raised on a manorial estate in Northern Wiltshire to board a ship to a new land.

He must have experienced many hardships. It could be compared today with boarding a rocket ship to fly to a new settlement on the Moon.

He came on board the ship Marie Providence which landed at Elizabeth Citties, Virginia (near what is now Newport News). His name is recorded in various spellings (Prater, Prether, Prator, Prather), but Prather is used more often in the Colonies, while Prater was used in England. He came to the Colonies in 1622 from the Latton / Eaton Water Estates, on the Cricklade, Wiltshire, England. Thomas was one of three brothers who came to the Colonies between 1620 and 1623.

On Nov 18, 1860, there were an estimated 1200 settlers in Virginia, until 22 March, 1621 when the indians massacred 347 white settlers. Thomas arrived only a few months after this event. He is enumerated in a muster role ordered by King James I, which was conducted between 20 Jan 1624 and 7 Feb 1624. He was recorded at age 20 years, arriving Elizabeth Citties, Va., on the Ship Marie Providence in 1622...."

Also--- Her grandfather Aaron Prather, was the grandson of captain thomas Sprigg Jr., Came to Virginia colony in 1669, but may have been in America by 1650. "... Emigrated from England to Virginia, arriving around 1669, and resided in Northampton County, removed to Maryland; served against Nanticoke Indians before 1678; commander, for Calvert Co,. 1661; justice, 1667-1674;presiding justice, 1674; high sheriff 1663-64. Thomas Sprigg's biographers said he was "an officer in the Royal Lancers." Sharon Doliante's book (cited before) says they are unable to confirm this, but that in 1653, in Virginia, he "signed himself as 'Leift. Sprigge,' meaning he was an officer in the military. He came to Virginia as a "Cavalier" and left England "immediately after the execution of Charles I in 1649 . . . " Burke’s Landed Gentry says this for the lineage of a James Cresap Sprigg: "Lieut. Thomas Sprigg of Kettering, Northamptonshire England, b. 1630, officer with Royal army, left Great Britain to settle in America before 1650 . . . .”

His wife was Katherine Sprigg (Graves), born in the Virginia colony, 1621. daughter of capt. Thomas Graves. "Not only is Capt. Thomas Graves of VA the first settler with the Graves surname in America, but he is also believed to be the immigrant ancestor of many Graves descendants in America. Capt. Thomas Graves was probably born about 1580, in England or Ireland, and arrived in Jamestown, VA in 1608. He was recorded as from Dublin, Ireland, in 1608, but was perhaps originally from the vicinity of London, England. His wife is believed to have been Katherine Croshaw (or Crosher), possibly daughter or sister of Raleigh Croshaw."

• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Apr 26 2019, 21:38:09 UTC