Robert Nettles, Sr.

It appears that ROBERT was our immigrating ancestor, therefore, he would be the founding father of our American branch of the Nettles family. ROBERT NETTLES came to Gloucester County, Virginia in the l690's or earlier. He was a member of Petsworth Episcopal Parish and he married the daughter of the rector of that parish, MARY VICARIS. We can only guess that ROBERT NETTLES and MARY VICARIS were married sometime around 1700. ROBERT NETTLES was an educated man and apparently intelligent and personable, but with a certain weakness of character. He was a surveyor, a profession to be followed honorably later on by George Washington. ROBERT was a surveyor for the County of Gloucester and later was Road Commissioner. However, he took to hard drinking and the records show that he was dismissed as County Surveyor. On Oct. 2, 1700, Robert was elected as Road Commissioner and on Oct. 4, 1704 he was dismissed for his heavy drinking and being drunk on the job. ROBERT continued to live in the Parish and in adjoining counties, where he was a surveyor. He died around 1725, leaving his widow, MARY NETTLES, with seven children and very little money. Due to Mary's straightened circumstances, the Parish had to bind out her youngest children. All of the children under the age of 14 were bound out. Apparently this "bondage" was more in the form of an apprenticeship, and not a lifetime bondage, for we find that all of the children kept their own family name and when they were grown they married and became farmers in their own right. It is likely that all of the families which took the children were members of Petsworth Parish at that time, but as they moved away from Gloucester County they took the Nettles children with them. This had the effect of scattering the Nettles family throughout the South.