James Parrott
of Halifax Co., VA
Last update = 2 May, 2006
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James Parrott of Halifax Co., VA Last update = 2 May, 2006 |
James Parrott was a descendant of Richard Perrot of Middlesex Co., Virginia. He lived in Halifax and surrounding counties until his death in ~1778. He had several children (including sons Thomas, Lewis, Ledford, Joel, Reuben, Latney & John) and hence has descendants alive today. Yet, the identity of the parents of James has been the subject of much speculation. Four possibilities have been postulated:
Based on DNA and other evidence, it is pretty clear that option #1 above is the correct one.
The information below is given to provide historical context, and explain why the identity of James' parents was so elusive prior to the availability of DNA.
James of Lunenberg had a son Thomas, as determined by the list of people who received a financial settlement after his death. Therefore, it has been speculated that this Thomas is the Thomas, s/o James and Catherine Parrott, who was b 26 Sept 1744 in Middlesex Co, VA, and appears in the register for Christ Church Parish there. His father, James, would have had to be the s/o Robert Sr. and Catherine Daniell, also of Middlesex. This line of reasoning has given rise to the thought that James of Lunenberg was the same as James of Middlesex, s/o Robert and Catherine.
While there is merit to this line of reasoning, the limitations had been that it:
As background information, Nathaniel Sr. was at Bristol Parish, where his children were born. Originally, this parish was in Prince George county, now in Dimwiddle. Brunswick Co. was split off from Prince George in 1732. In turn, Lunenberg got split off from Brunswick in 1746. Halifax got split off from Brunswick in 1752 & Meckleberg in 1765. Finally, Pittsylvania was split from Halifax in 1767. This set of counties is in south-central Virginia, while Middlesex is in eastern-central Virginia, another part of the state. A good page to see these is the Virginia counties page. The point is that James did not always move-- rather, the county under him kept getting renamed. When he did move, he always stayed within the confines of the original Prince George Co.
The easiest of Nathaniel Sr’s children to trace is Nathaniel Jr., along with his son Thorpe, due to their unique names. It is clear they remained in the Halifax/Pittsylvania area. By 1790, Thorpe was in Fairfield Co, SC, along with a Thomas Sr and a Thomas Jr. Parrott. Also in the area and easily identifiable by their names were the children of James Parrott, namely Ledford, Joel and Lewis.
While in Meckleberg, James Parrott’s land was next to the Martin property. Nathaniel Jr. married a Martin. James bought land from Thomas Parrott in 1777. While it has been speculated this was the Thomas b. in Middlesex in 1744, it was just as likely this Thomas was James’ brother Thomas, born in Bristol Parish 3 December 1724 or a descendant of his. It could even have been James’ own son, Thomas.
Incidently, James s/o John and Ruth m Catherine/Katherine Stuart. They had a son John, b shortly before or in the year of his parents moved to Jackson Co Tennessee. Catherine died after the move there and James remarried. "Being dissatisfied with his father's new wife, John and William Stuart left to live in Mexico."
It really looks like there were 3 different James Parrotts who married women named Catherine, improbable as this may sound. In the end, however, the presence of James and Thomas in Lunenburg and its derived counties could be explained fully just based on the descendants of Nathaniel Sr staying near where they were born– there was no need to import them from Middlesex Co.
In addition, James keeps appearing with known descendants of Nathaniel Sr. They appear on the Oaths of Allegiance pledged in Pittsylvania county in 1777, along with a several Irbys. Tax records for the early to mid 1780's for the southern half of Halifax show Nathaniel Jr there, living 2 houses away from a Catherine who is with Ledford. Catherine later appears with son Joel. Son Lewis also appears near by. All in all, just based on the paper record, it seemed like James, son of Nathaniel and Penelope, was the most probable candidate to be James of Lunenburg.
