Becoming Logan and Gard

---

Chapter Eight A: Becoming Elizabeth Jackson in Virginia

1625 – 1860

Brockmans:  Samuel, John, Stephen and Mary Ann Brockman;  Rebecca Graves

Embree: John, Joseph, Elizabeth and Mary Embree; Frances Woolfolk

Jacksons:  Congrave, James, Caleb, and Elizabeth Jackson

Bush:  Peggy, John and Abraham Bush

Burris:  Thomas and Mildred Burris

Coming to the Chesapeake

Like her husband, Daniel Logan, Elizabeth’s ancestors moved from Virginia to Kentucky and finally into Missouri.  However, their ancestors would not have had the same experiences.  Most notably, in Virginia, Elizabeth’s ancestors settled from the Chesapeake, out to Orange County.  Unlike the Shenandoah Valley, the people in this area were culturally English.  Specifically, most of the colonists were Royalists who supported King Charles during the English Civil War (1642-51).  Ultimately King Charles lost and was executed, leading to a time of insecurity for many of the Royalist landed gentry.[i]   This made the English Colony of Virginia attractive especially to the younger sons of the Royalist families who were not in line to inherit the family’s lands and fortune.[ii]

Another difference is that her ancestors arrived to a colony where a society was already in the process of being established.  This was not a frontier.  It was founded in 1607 when three ships, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed and the Discovery arrived in what is now Jamestown, Virginia (named after King James the First).  This first ever settlement, faced disease, famine, and interactions with the Powhatan tribe.[iii] Somehow, they managed to survive and over time Virginia also became one of the richest settlements in the “New World”.

This wealth came thanks to the ability to grow tobacco and the importation of African slaves.[iv] Over time Virginia began to coalesce around a small set of ruling families, referred to as “the first families”.[v] These families included the Carters, Morrisons, Harrisons, Masons, Madisons, and Washingtons, among others.  To demonstrate the power they held, of the 152 Virginians who held top office in the last half of 17^th century, 16 were from aristocratic families, 101 were sons of barons, knights and gentry, 7 held arms in the college of heraldry, leaving only 18 from the middle class.[vi]  Like in England, these families intermarried creating a web of kinship and a leadership class that was very difficult to break into.  In 1724 there were 12 members of the Virginia Royal Council, and all were related to each other either by blood or marriage.[vii] 

Like in England, they lived in Great Houses which were 1.5 to 2 stories high and very different from the Log Cabins that the Ulster Scots would build further west.[viii] This was also a very patriarchal society where the killing of a man by his wife, son or servant was not considered murder but treason.  At the same time the punishment for the murder of one’s wife, if there even was one, would be a symbolic brand (no burning involved).  The Virginia courts took a similar approach to rape which led to sexual predation, especially when it came to Servants and Slaves.  Bringing this to light, we turn to an account by Mary Boykin Chesnutt, “Like the patriarchs of old, our men live in one house with their wife and concubines and the Mulato one sees in every family exactly resembles the white children and every Lady tells you who is the father of every Mulato children in everybody’s household, but those in their own they seem to think they dropped from the clouds.”[ix]

In 1663 the man that may have been Elizabeth Jackson’s 4^th great grandfather is found living in Lancaster County when he purchased 200 acres from Richard Merryman.[x] Lancaster county was formed in 1651 by the Virginia General Assembly.  It lies just north of the Rappahannock River and west of the Chesapeake Bay.[xi] It is likely that Abraham Bush is the one that came to the Colonies from England.[1] 

To better understand his life, we must stitch a few facts together.  He was likely married twice, with the first marriage ending in divorce.  We don’t know the name of his first wife, but his second one was Ann Alexander.[xii] In Ann’s will, of which I could only find a transcribed version on the web, she names her Children, Charity, Elizabeth, Isaac, and Jacob.  However, in Abraham’s will, in addition to his wife Ann he names his children as follows, “Sonne Isack, Sonne Goerge Bush, Sonne Abraham Bush, Sonne John Bush, Sonne Thomas Bush, Daughter Charity Bush, Daughter Elizabeth Bush.”  This indicates that his sons George, Abraham, and Thomas may have had a different mother.  Note, my guess is that the Jacob in Ann’s will is John.  Indications of a wife prior to Ann is also found in Abraham’s will he says “my Sonne Abraham (and George), work for his mother three years then he shall be himself,” indicating that his first wife was still alive and that they maintained some sort of relationship.[xiii] 

Further reading of his will tells us that Abraham had a sizable estate.  He left “unto my loving wife, An Bush, this Plantacon I now live on and the Neck of Land thereto belonging for her life time and after her decease It fall ontu my youngest Sonne Isack.”[2]  If Isack passed before coming to age it goes to his daughter Charity.  His other three sons, Abraham, George and John received 75 acres.  Thomas recievd “one neck of land commonly called Peumen Neck”.  Regarding John Bush, he also received a cow called Mad Braines and “one black horse called Fanney.”  He passed in 1687.

Above I said that Abraham may have been Elizabeth Jackson’s 4^th great grandfather as the line from him to a clear ancestor does require some speculation.  We know for a fact that Elizabeth Jackson’s 3^rd great grandfather was John Bush (we will call him John Sr.) and that her 2^nd great grandfather was John’s son John Bush (we will refer to him as John Jr.).  The issue we face is that the first record we have of John Bush after Abraham’s will is a land grant in 1726.  John Sr. was living in Spotsylvania County which is on the south side of the Rappahannock River.  Though we also see, at the Library of Virginia, a land grant to John Sr. for the property he received from his father in the “Neck”.[xiv]  From this I consider it likely that these two Johns are descendants of Abraham, but I can’t say it with 100% certainty.  In fact, it even gets a bit murkier as I struggle to give a direct connection from John Sr. to John Jr. who is the father of Mary Margaret Bush.  I was not able to find any records of him from his (possible) father’s will in Orange County VA until his will in Bedford County VA.  Bolstering this speculation is that I could not find many records for any John Bush in the 1700s, though lack of data is not proof of lack of John Bush. Therefore, I have a medium level confidence that I have the proper line from Abraham to John Jr.

With that speculation aside let’s tell the story of John and his son in Virginia.  At an unknown date, John Sr. married Margaret whose last name is also unknown.[xv]  We do know that in 1726, John and Margaret received a land grant in Spotsylvania, described as follows: “800 acres on the north side of Bare Swamp adjoining land of Thomas Chew and extending.”[xvi]  It is difficult to pinpoint exactly where this property was, but it was in the part of Spotsylvania County that eventually became Orange County in 1734.[xvii] 

Shortly after this land grant, John Sr. began gifting land to his children.  The first one we find is in 1730 when “John X Bush of St. Geor Par. Spts. Co., to Philip Bush of the same Par. And County 200a”…“For and in consideration of fatherly love and affection to my son Philip Bush'”.[xviii] At some point after 1728, sadly, his wife Margaret passed, and he married Briget (last name unknown).  In the end he had 7 children between his two wives, though we don’t know which child goes to which mother.  They are Elizabeth, Martha, Philip, Mary, John (jr.), Thomas and Daniel.  On September 7^th, 1745, John Sr. wrote his last Will and Testament.  In it he gave to his “beloved wife, Bridget Bush, one bed and furniture”.  To Thomas and Daniel, who are likely his youngest children, he gave the “remainder of my estate, to be equally divided between them”.  The rest of his children received “five shillings sterling” having already been gifted land.[xix] 

John Jr. married Martha whose last name has been lost to time.  Between them they had 9 children.  At some point they moved to Bedford County Virginia.  Their children were Mary Margaret, Francis, Elizabeth, Miley, Philip, Darkish, Ann and Susanna.  Their daughter Mary Margaret eventually married Congrave Jackson, but before we look at their lives, let’s look at the other major branch(es) in Elizabeth’s tree.

The Brockman, Burris and Embree

Our story of the Brockman, Burris, Embree line(s) start on June 2^nd, 1732, when Samuel Brockman purchased 300 acres and 1200 pounds of Tabacco from John Henderson a large track of land in Spotsylvania County Virginia[xx].  Though over 100 miles northwest from the Chesapeake area, this also was a very English settlement.  This plantation only 16 miles from the Plantation of James Madison, father of James Madison, 4^th president of the future United States of America. 

The following is a family legend which adds color to the Brockmans.  I can’t prove it is accurate, but it gives us a glimpse into one way people arrived in the Virginia Colony: In 1674 Henry Brockman came to St. Marie County in Maryland from Barbados.  He was able to do so through indenturing himself to Captain John Jourdaine and when he completed his service, he proved his right to 50 acres of land “for the service to the captain.”  Despite the 4-1 men to woman ratio, he was able to marry Rebecca Salmon (or maybe Samuell) in 1675.   Still in St. Marie County, Rebecca gave birth to Samuel Brockman around 1690.  In 1700 Henry returned to England to claim an inheritance and sadly died enroute.   Likely in the early 1700s, Samuel purchased land in King and Queen County in Virginia.  It is likely in this area that he met his wife Mary (last name lost to time). This is where he and Mary started to build their family.  In 1728 he sold some of that land to the same John Henderson who sold him the land in 1732.

In 1734 Samuel’s plantation became part of Orange County when the Virginia House of Burgesses divided Spotsylvania.  Named after William, Prince of Orange it had no western border until 1738 when Augusta County was formed.[xxi] According to the Brockman Scrapbook[3] their “Great House” was named the “White House”, which appears to be a common name in this area and should not be confused the “White House” which was the scene of the wedding of Martha Dandridge Custis and George Washington. 

Samuel and Mary had at least 7 children, Sarah Elizabeth, Elizabeth Betty, John, Samuel (jr.), William, Mary M. and Rachel.  In support of this large family and their plantation they also had many slaves, though I don’t know exactly how many.

Around this time, a man by the name of Thomas Burrus was living in Orange County.  Virtually all that we know comes from his will.  From it we can confirm that he lived in St. Thomas Parish in Orange County and had a wife named Frances.  From his will, written in 1789 we also know that he had 11 children, Mildred “Millie” Elizabeth, Sally, Fanny, Frances Tandy, Jane Luise, Sarah, Morning, Roger, William Tandy and Thomas.[xxii] During his life he had at least 8 slaves, Absalom, Nan, Sukey, Bed, Duke, Agnes, Dinah, Violet.  Finally, his plantation was over 2000 acres. 

At some point in the 1740s John Embree was also a resident of Orange County.  John is also a mystery; we don’t even know the name of his wife.  What I know for sure is that he had at least 4 sons, Richard, Robert, William, Joseph, and based on the final settlement of his will maybe as many as 7 daughters.[xxiii] 

These three families were very close.  In his will, John Embree appoints his “trusty friend Samuel Brockman” as one of two executors.  Thomas Burrus had two daughters, Mildred, and Fanny, who married an Embree.  These families are also linked when Mildred Burrus (daughter of Thomas Burrus) married Joseph Joel Embree, likely in the 1760s. 

As John Embree and Thomas Burrus were building their families, Samuel Brockman Jr. got married and started having children of his own.  It is believed that he had two wives.  His first was likely Mary Woolfolk as Samuel had received a land transfer from a Richard Woolfolk (her father).[xxiv] The evidence for this is compelling, but circumstantial.  More directly we find Samuel and Rebecca Brockman (birth name unknown) selling 350 acres of land to his brother William, which they had jointly received from their father, Samuel (sr.).[xxv]  Over time, Samuel had 8 children, William, John, Jemima, Suckey, Sallie, Mary, William and John. 

Understanding that this encompasses a lot of names, it is worth summarizing.  There are three families that we are concerned with.  Our known progenitors are Samuel Brockman Sr., John Embree and Thomas Burrus.  The second generation of our ancestors include Samuel Jr., Joseph Joel Embree, and Mildred Burrus.  Samuel went on to marry Mary Woolfolk and later Rebecca.  In the 1760s Joseph Joel Embree and Mildred Burrus married each other. 

In 1766, we lost Samuel Brockman Sr. who left his wife Mary “all the land he now lives until she passes”.[xxvi]  It is also through the reading of this will that you clearly see how slaves were treated as property not people.  In one line he left to his wife Mary “all my negroes”.  We don’t know all their names, but the ones we know were named:  Dinah (who was given to Samuel Jr.), Phillis (given to William), George (given to Mary), Winnie (given to Elizabeth), Hercules (given to Sarah), Peter (given to William and Samuel Jr.), Ben (given to Samuel Jr.).  Finally, there were the recently born Judy, Davy and Sarah “that my said wife, Mary shall have use of during her Natural life”.

The other two progenitors, Thomas Burrus and John Embree lived until 1789 and 1790 respectively. [xxvii]

In the 1770s, Samuel Brockman Jr.[4] grew his estate through purchasing 400 acres of land that bordered his property, for 81 Pounds, 6 Shillings and 8 Pence. [xxviii]  His estate grew further when in November 1775 Mary Brockman died which then led to the final division of the estate.[xxix] 

I have found no hard evidence that he or anyone in this 2^nd generation were directly involved in the Revolutionary war.  Though I have found, for example a Samuel Brookman who was a Lt. in the Virginia Militia. It is during this time that Joseph Joel Embree and Mildred “Millie” Burrus started building their family. They had 9 children, Jacob, William Simpson, Nancy, Thomas Burris, Caleb, Mary Elizabeth “Polly”, Elizabeth, John, and Frances “Franky”. 

John Brockman in Virginia

As her Parents were first cousins, Elizabeth Jackson had only 6 great grandparents.  They are Congrave Jackson who married Mary Bush, Joseph Joel Embree who married Mildred Burrus and John Brockman who married Elizabeth Burrus (Mildred’s sister).  Only John and Elizabeth stayed in Virginia, the other four moved to the new colony of Kentucky.  For now, let’s stay in Virginia with John and Elizabeth. 

Elizabeth was the daughter of Thomas Burrus and John the son of Samuel Brockman Jr.  Both were likely born in the 1750s, though we can’t be sure.  It is likely in 1774 the two of them got married as this is when John was deeded 176 acres of land by his father Samuel.[xxx]  The property is described as located on the branches of the Pamunkey River which is on the lower end of Orange Co, between the North Fork and the South Fork of the North Anna River which unites and flows into the Pamunkey.  They named the property Mount Airy, and it is here that they had 11 children. [xxxi] They are Samuel Burrus, Eleanor, Elyjah, Molly “Polly”, Jacob Burrus, Stephen (Elizabeth’s Grandfather), John, Rebecca, Asa, Oswald and Thomas.  We don’t know the exact dates of birth, but we can narrow Stephen Brockman’s birth to sometime in the 1780s.[xxxii] 

It is difficult to say with certainty what John was doing during the Revolutionary war, but we do know that a John Brockman was made Lieutenant in 1777.[xxxiii]  In 1782, John appeared in the “Virginia Early Census Index” as living in Orange County, now part of the United States of America. 

My ~4^th cousin Brian Leslie

A couple of years ago I received a message from Brian Leslie asking me for information as he had been identified as a 2^nd to 4^th cousin of my father, Thomas Logan.  Curious about how we are related I asked him what he knew and got the following reply:

“Isaiah was my great-grandfather. He was born in Henrico County; Virginia while being enslaved by Thomas Burton. When in Virginia, the farm manager of the Burton farm was James Henry Mallory. At some point, the Burtons moved to my hometown of Madison County, Alabama. In 1870, Isaiah was listed as a Mallory. In 1880, he took on the Burton last name.”

As I have discussed, the record keeping for enslaved individuals was very poor, as they were considered property not people, they did not track surnames, keep birth records or other documents that Genealogists count on when tracing our roots.  That said we at least had one big hint which was the fact that Isaiah was born in Henrico County, Virginia, which as you can see on the map below, is not far from Orange, Spotsylvania, and Caroline County.  We also know that sexual predation especially from young men with slaves was common.  This clearly was a mystery that was worth trying to solve.

Given that there was no way to use conventional Genealogical tools, we turned to DNA. Specifically, autosomal DNA which allowed us to search for people who were cousins to both of us.  By comparing contacts, we were able to narrow the list of potential ancestors down to a small number of surnames. We then further reduced the list by looking for people who were in Virginia, as adults, between 1800 and 1856 (year of birth of Isaiah). 

In the end the surnames that came up the most were Embree, Brockman and Burrus.  Many of my Brockman and Burrus ancestors moved to Kentucky in the late 1700s to very early 1800s, further narrowing our search.  All Burrus ancestors were removed as they were not in Virginia at the right time.  Embree is possible, but unlikely as the only candidate is Joseph Joel’s son Caleb Embree who moved out of Virginia in 1803.  This left us with John Brockman who is the most likely common ancestor connecting Brian Leslie with myself.  Below you will find 6 scenarios that are the most likely to have occurred.  Personally, I believe scenario #1 is most likely because of the Mallory connection.

1. John Brockman’s daughter Molly Brockman married James Mallory.  We know that they got married in Virginia in 1801.  It is possible that they had a son who was the father or Grandfather of Isiah Burton.
   1. If true, this would make Brian and myself 3^rd cousins twice removed.
2. John Brockman’s son Oswald Brockman lived in VA from the 1790s until at least 1830.  Therefore, he could be Isaiah’s Grandfather. Interestingly he was married in Louisa County, which was formed out of Hanover County, which on the map borders with Henrico.
   1. If true, this would make Brian and myself 3^rd cousins twice removed.
3. John Brockman’s son, Samuel Burris Brockman Jr, was still in Orange Co in 1791 when he married Nancy Durrett.  Moved to KY, by or before 1810.
   1. If true, this would make Brian and myself 3^rd cousins twice removed.
4. John Brockman’s son, Asa Brockman was in Orange County VA from 1773 to 1861.  This means he could be Isaiah’s Father, Grandfather or Great Grandfather.
   1. If true, this would make Brian and myself anywhere from 2^nd cousin twice removed to 4^th cousin once removed.
5. John Brockman’s son Stephen Brockman (my direct ancestor) moved out of Virginia by 1800.  The only way it is him is if he is Isiah’s great Grandfather.
   1. If true, this would make Brian and myself 4^th cousins once removed and Stephen our closest common ancestor.
6. John Brockman could be the Great Grandfather of Isaiah.
   1. If true, this would make Brian and myself 5^th Cousins.

Open Questions

• Who was Abraham Bush’s first wife?
• When did Abraham Bush make it to the USA and where did he come from?
• Is Abraham’s son John the father of John Bush (who is the father of Margaret Bush)?
• Is the connection from John Bush, father of Mary Margaret Bush accurate? 
• Is Henry Brockman really the father of Samuel Brockman? 
• Is the story of Samuel Brockman prior to 1732 correct? 
• Do we have the correct wives for Samuel Brockman Jr.?

---

[1] There is no specific record of his arrival, so it is impossible to be certain exactly when, where or from where he arrived. 

[2] Note, spelling errors retained as it is a direct quote

[3] To date all my independent research has found the Brockman Scrapbook to be well researched, with no errors found; The Brockman Scrapbook by William Evertt Brockman, 1952.  Mentions of the White House is throughout the book.

[4] After his father passed, he stopped using Jr. but I will continue to use the name Samuel Jr. for continuities sake. 

---

[i] English Civil Wars – 1642-46, Parliament, King Charles | Britannica

[ii] The Cavalier flight to Virginia (britishheritage.com)

[iii] National Park Service: A Short History of Jamestown – Historic Jamestowne Part of Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

[iv] IBID

[v] Albions Seed Chapter 2

[vi] IBID

[vii] IBID

[viii] IBID

[ix] IBID

[x] Lancaster County Record book no 2 1654-1666 p. 347 held in Ancestry.

[xi] Lancaster County Virginia Lancaster County, Virginia (lancova.com)

[xii] Virginia, U.S, Marriages of the Norther Neck of Virgina, US 1649-1800 by Robert K. Headly Jr, pg 60 held in Ancestry

[xiii] Abraham Bush’s will in this document

[xiv] Land grant 23 December 1714. – Library of Virginia (exlibrisgroup.com)

[xv] Land sale referencing his wife’s name Margaret: Listed in Ancestry, from:  Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, 1745-1800. Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1965. Originally published in 1912.

[xvi] Land Office Patents No. 12, 1724-1726, p. 493 (Reel 11).

[xvii] Pg 22 of A History of Orange County, Virginia, from its formation in 1734 (o.s.) to the end of reconstruction in 1870 – held in the Library of Congress

[xviii] Virginia County Records, Spotsylvania County, 1721-1800; Deed Book B 1729-1734 pg 115

[xix] Will Book No. 2 pg 94 Court Record of Orange County, Virginia. 

[xx] Virginia, Spotsylvania County Records, Deed book B. 1729-1734

[xxi] A History of Orange County, Virginia, from its formation in 1734 (o.s.) to the end of reconstruction in 1870; Pg 22

[xxii] Index to Wills, 1734-1947 ; Will Books, 1735-1906; Author: Virginia. County Court (Orange County)

[xxiii] Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1900 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2021.  Original data:Virginia County, District, and Probate Courts.

[xxiv] Pg. 134 of The Brockman Scrapbook (note this is a secondary source, but I have been able to validate a good representative sampling of their data. 

[xxv] Pg 9 of The Brockman Scrapbook (note this is a secondary source, but I have been able to validate a good representative sampling of their data. 

[xxvi] Virginia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1900

[xxvii] John Embree and Tomas Burrus both from Will Book, Vol 3 in Orange County,

[xxviii] Orange County Virginai Deed Book No 15 1768 – 1773 pg 232

[xxix] Virginia Gazette pg 3 (Willinsburg)

[xxx] Pg 46a of The Brockman Scrapbook (note this is a secondary source, but I have been able to validate a good representative sampling of their data. 

[xxxi] IBID

[xxxii] 1830 United States Federal Census

[xxxiii] Minute book of Orange County (pg 61)