Charity - Was Charity the daughter of Col George Jordan of Jamestown?

Tagging profiles:
Colonel George Jordan
Arthur Jordan, I, of Surry
Colonel George Jordan
Judith
Jane Mingo

Charity

Paul Heinegg

Tagging because I think you may have some info on the matter :)

To help ensure the Jordan tree is well sourced, this resource looks good:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sassytazzy/family...

In regards to Col George, they note:

George Jordan made his will in 1678. In 1682, when he died, the most extensive estate yet recorded in Surry County appeared.  In the first 30 years of Surry County's history, no person is mentioned more frequently in the records than George Jordan.

There were more than 100 persons involved in the settlement of George Jordan's will in 1682.  Among these was his friend, William Thompson, former minister of the nearby Southward {? s/b Southwark ?} Church.  For more on this Thompson line, see the related histories of Thompson, Swann, Dabney, and Anderson.

The will of George Jordan was made on 28 May 1678 and witnessed by Will Brown and Will Thompson.  The will was recorded that same year.  Probate was granted to Thomas Jordan, his nephew and son of Arthur Jordan, I.  Witnessed and signed by Col. William Brown and Capt. Robert Spencer. [DB 1, pp 192]

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So let's try and find that will.

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The language of his brother Arthur's will, in regards to Charity, seems to suggest that the Virginia law, at that time, did not allow for Free Persons of Color to remain in the colony. (Specifics of this statute in 1698 welcome).

He wrote: "whereas there being ye such act of Assembly that has obligated all negroes injoying their freedom to be transported out of the Country before they ran her freed ..."

So to work around this, Arthur tasked his heirs to transport her "back" into Virginia and safeguard her continuing freedom.

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Now it could be this freedom was Arthur meeting the terms of his brother Col George's will, which said that Charity's mother Judith was to be made free 7 years after his demise (in this case, in 1678 -- meaning Judith was free in 1685, assuming she was living then, which I think she was -- she was a taxable person in Thomas Jordan's household, 1679-1785).

I presume Charity was also in Thomas Jordan's household during those years, and it was this Thomas Jordan, of Surry -- the Col's heir & estate executor.

Died in 1685; who did the property go to?

There is no evidence that Charity was George Jordan's daughter. And she was clearly called a "Negroe woman" in the will -- not a "Mulatto woman." Why would anyone even think she was mixed-race, never mind try to imagine a father for her?
Paul

True, maybe we have been overthinking it.

Hi Ralib.
During colonial times some white women had children by slaves. The status of a child-- free or slave--depended on the status of the child's mother. If the mother was free, her child was free. If the mother was a slave, the child was a slave.
I found over 1,000 such cases in Virginia and Maryland court records in which a white woman had a mixed-race child by a slave.
The Banks family was one such family. Elizabeth Banks was a white servant woman (servant of Major Goodwin) who had at least one, probably two, children by a slave. There is no indication that she had any relationship with any member of the Goodwin family. If she had, her children would have been white.
One of her descendants is one of my favorite comedians: Wanda Sykes!
Paul

Paul Heinegg

Yes I know! Ive managed to connect my tree with hers. She is my 7th Cousin. That was really interesting to see. The Only free family I've been having trouble with is the Baileys. There were so many of them in Surry County Virginia, but not much records of their origin. I know you have a bailey section in yout book, but It list a family from a different county. Also some people don't have surnames. Like Joseph Byrd & Nelly. I just wish there was more cohesive records. Do you think there still may be more records on these free families. Or is that all there is to it?

I concentrate on the colonial period, so I don't have much on the Baileys in Surry after about 1820. Here is a link to the part of my site which has the tax lists for Surry that include Baileys in 1813 and later:
http://freeafricanamericans.com/surry_county_taxables.htm
I have the Register of Free Negroes for Surry County from 1794-1861. I can lookup names if you like. there are probably 60 or more members of the Bailey family in the register.
Paul

Paul Heinegg

Well my third great grandfather Mondoza Bailey was born about 1850.His father was Elridge Bailey I born 1825.His father was Robert Bailey II born approx 1775.His father was Robert I born approx. in the 1740's and his father was Walter(Watt) Bailey born approx. in the early 1700's.Watt was one of the chief men of the Nottoway Indians listed deed book 1 , 2, 1749 and 1754 of Southampton Co. I have information on this line, but very little records on the baileys. Their information in census records were listed as "not stated"

None of those men appear in the Surry County register.
Paul