Coleman notes
I am an ANDERSON researcher… therefore I do not have a dog in this fight. I can be ruthlessly objective. So… starting from scratch…
This is my supposition for the arrival of the “immigrant” Robert Coleman Sr. of Isle of Wight, Nansemond and Bath County, North Carolina: (also John Sellaway of IOW)
This patent date of 1670 does not verify the date of the arrival of Robert Coleman… it merely establishes that he did arrive… he was noted in IOW at least as early as 1665. Since this is noted as Surry, I feel confident this is not a Coleman of later Prince George county… a little devious skullduggery may be involved if Robert Sr claimed himself in 1667 and this character John Kindred used him also in 1670… it happened often. Bottom line… this proves that there WAS a headright. The mention of John Sellaway strengthens my supposition as Sellaway settled in IOW along with Robert Coleman.
Kindred, John. grantee.
Land grant 19 October 1670.
Summary Location: Surry County.
Description: 554 acres beginning and extending standing in Captain Coskerhams line.
Source: Land Office Patents No. 6, 1666-1679 (pt.1 & 2 p.1-692), p. 317 (Reel 6).
Abstract
Compare the headright list of Robert Coleman’s patent of 25 Sept, 1667:
David Jones, Saml. Ffuller, Robt. Coleman, Pete Ffrenchman, Rich Atkins, Jno. Sellaway and Saml. Dutton
This is “smoking gun” proof that Robert Coleman had the first headright and it is almost certain it was himself.
Who the hell was the frenchman? (just kidding). This is a clear example of what could be considered “fraud” of the headright system since the same people were claimed at least twice.
My guess is that Robert Coleman arrived in IOW about 1665 or a bit earlier. He was undoubtedly a young man considering his death date of 1722.
Below is the 1667 patent… a question is raised about the Robert Coleman listed in the headright list… my opinion is that he is simply listing himself. Hell… these olde pharts would claim a headright if they tripped and fell into a creek and had to swim to the other side and back. I think this was not an uncommon occurrence but am open to any proof otherwise. More to the point… this appears to be his first patent.. so it would be logical to claim himself even if he came from, say, Surry County.
1667 Robert Coleman patent
Coleman 634
To all… whereas… grant to Robert Coleman 630 and 4 acres… Isle of Wight… branch ahead? ye Cypress and running up to and across New Land south south East 330 poles, then by his? New Land west 364 1/2 poles (or 564?) and south by East 60 pole to Ruttd Land then West by south Ruttds L(?) 120 pole to a pine one of his Corner trees by a Pocoson then still by Ruttor and by the Pocoson south by East ??0 poles to a red oak then into yt pocoson west by south 216 pole then No: by west 104 pole In sd? Ruffons Land then by Ruffon’s Land East by N: 160 pole to a white oake in ye pocoson, then No: East 26 pole to a red oake (?) then No: 60 pole to a small red oake then 245 pole upon ye Miles End line of Bennetts and Smiths Land to a _ _ _e Oake in a Pond then down by Smiths Land No: No: west 320 pole to a _ Great Cypress swamp in ye Cyprus branch and soe downe ye Cyprus branch to ye first station. The said Land being due to ye said Coleman a_ full 300 acres by purchase from Ambrose Bennett and 334 acres ye residue [for] transportation of 7 persons
… dated the 25 of Sept 1667
David Jones, Saml. Ffuller, Robt. Coleman, Pete Ffrenchman, Rich Atkins, Jno. Sellaway and Saml. Dutton
Transcribed… Marc Anderson 2016
1665 mention…
Source: 17th Century, Isle of Wight County, VA., by John Bennett Boddie
MR. WILLIAM BODDIE, 3350 ACRES, 12 July 1665. At the head of the Cypress and Western Branches, beg. by the Beaver Dam, running N.E. to the meadow which makes the head of the Western Branch and to Coleman’s corner, E. by N. Nly to corner of Thomas Joyner near the head of the Elm Swamp. 550 acres by pat. dated 20 Oct. 1661, and 2800 for trans. of 56 pers. including himself, Mary Boddie, Ann Boddie and John Browne twice.
William Ruffin and Robert Coleman patent 938 acres, 1666… this land was in Isle of Wight on the Western Branch of the Nansemond River
About midway of this grouping… I see no way this can be disputed… (Ruffin sold his 1/2 interest in this patent)…
Below is in answer to a question ‘was this a distinctly “Nansemond” land patent’? It appears to be so… it seems to be directly on the boundary line. Remember that Robert Coleman is noted as having 1500 acres in the IOW 1704 Rent Roll. That Coleman died 1716. He had no sons. He did have nephews from his deceased brother Stephen mentioned in the will abstract.
ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY, VA – DEEDS – Miles LEWIS to Robert COLEMAN
12 Sep 1678
Assignment of Patent
Miles LEWIS to William THOMPSON
12 Sep 1678
Power of Attorney
—-¤¤¤—-
[p.] 388 […]
On the Backside of A Pattent granted to Miles LEWIS by S.r William BERKLEY K.t
late Gov’n.r of Virginia for four hundred Acres of Land lyeing in Nanzmond
County is this following surrender Vizt
Know all men by these p’sents that I Miles LEWIS Sonne & heir of Richard LEWIS
formerly of Chuckatuck deceast for A valluable consideraçon to me in hand p.d
have & doe by these p’sents Assigne & make over unto M.r Rob.t COLEMAN of the
Isle of Wight County & his heires for ever all my right Title & interest w.ch
is due to me in the Land within this Pattent specified
giveing & by these p’sents granting unto him the s’d COLEMAN A gen’all
warranty from me & my heires in Confirmaçon of w.ch I have hereunto subscribed
my hand & fixt my seal this 12.th day of Sept.r 1678
Signed
Miles M LEWIS Sigill
Signed Sealed & deliv’ed in
y.e p’sence of us Acknowledged in Open Co.rt y.e 9.th day of October
W.m THOMPSON 1678
James TULLAGH Test Jn.o BROMFEILD Cler Cur
[page end]
[p.] 389
Memd. underneath the afores’d Assignment from Miles LEWIS to
M.r Rob.t COLEMAN is this following Lre of Attorney vizt
Know all men by these p’sents that I Miles LEWIS doe nominate & appoint W.m
THOMPSON of Chuckatuck to be my true & lawfull attorney for for me & in my
place & stead [“put” struck through] to Acknowledge the above Assignem.t att
the next Co.rt held for the Isle of Wight County to the above mençoned m.r
Rob.t COLEMAN, according to the true intent of the same
giving & by these p’sents granting to my s’d Attorney full power & Authority
for the Executing y.e same as if I my selfe were P/sonally p’sent
In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed My hand & fixt my seal this
12.th day of September 1678 Signed
Miles M LEWIS Sigill
Signed Sealed & deliv’ed in
y.e p’sence of us
James TULLAGH Proved in Co.rt the 9.th day of October 1678,
Benja: BEAL by y.e Witnesses Oaths
Test Jn.o BROMFEILD Cler Cur
[The 400-acre tract conveyed above was patented 29 Jan 1667/8 by Miles &
Richard LEWIS, “orphants of Richard LEWIS dec’ed.” Two copies appear-
PB6:105, extremely faint in online image, with right margin obscure, &
PB7:629, which has several blank gaps in the text.
Both patents describe the land as lying in Nansemond Co., so it is unclear
why this transaction was recorded in Isle of Wight Co.
This tract & adjoining waste land were included in a 530-acre patent granted
to Robert COLEMAN, 20 Apr 1684 (PB7:378); no county was given there.]
Isle of Wight Co., VA, Record of Wills, Deeds, Etc., Vol. 1 (1662-1715),
pp. 388-89
The Library of Virginia, Isle of Wight Co. Microfilm Reel 22
abstracted by Matt HARRIS [surname capitalization, line breaks & brackets mine]
see also
Virginia Land Office, Patent Book 6 (1666-1679), p. 105
The Library of Virginia, Virginia Land Office Patent and Grant Database,
Image 006_0107.tif
Virginia Land Office, Patent Book 7 (1679-1689), pp. 384, 629
The Library of Virginia, Virginia Land Office Patent and Grant Database,
Images 007_0385.tif & 007_0635.tif
___________________________________________________________________
Copyright. All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives
by: Matthew W. Harris Zoobug64@aol.com
___________________________________________________________________
MicroFiche
MicroFiche
MicroFiche
The above 530 acres plots out as this… (the boundary line between points 3 and 4 may be the Nansemond County line)
It is on my Isle of Wight map (and obviously needs to be adjusted to the East and probably North some what) After all the sparks have settled it probably straddles the IOW and Nansemond county line… (which causes all the confusion). Refer to the IOW base map… there are two branches off of Chuckatuck Creek… see map
https://andersonnc.wordpress.com/isle-of-wight-map/
Note in that area two patents… one for J.Neville and another for Christopher Wade… each adjoins a Robert Coleman. This patent likely is the one.
And one last gasp of a record for this property which references Robert Coleman in 1716…
IOW Will Book II
(pg.46 26 Jan— Alexander Campbell of Chuckatuck Parish in Nansemond County to Robert Driver of Isle of Wight County…. 100 acres or 200 acres (?) (being 1/2 of the tract granted Miles Lewis and Richard Lewis on 29 Jan 1667) and bounded by Robert Coleman.
Wit: William Wiggs and Samuel Seldon
Rec: 28 Jan 1716 Alexander Campbell
Apparently Alexander Campbell had acquired half of the original patent from the Lewis brothers… note above that it was “bounded” by Coleman.
ahhh… here:
Oct. 19, 1687. Richard Lewis now of Lower Norfolk [Nansemond after all the dust settles] sells to John Campbell of Nansemond his share of said patent. 17 Feb. 1687-88. John Campbell sells same to his brother Wm. Campbell April 9, 1689.
===============================================
IOW land
May 1666, William Ruffin and Robert Coleman [450 acres] patented 938 acres of land in Isle of Wight County adjacent to Thomas Harris. 1668, William Ruffin sold to Thomas POPE 450 acres out of the 900 acres patented by him and Robert Coleman.
Ruffin article from 1910… (was there a connection to Ruffin or was this purely a business deal?)
https://archive.org/details/jstor-1922552
Coleman, Robert. grantee.
Land grant 25 September 1667.
Summary Location: Isle of Wight County.
Description: 634 acres beg.g &c. in a branch called the Cyprus.
3 Nov 1677. John Smyth and Anne his wife sold 500 acres land adj. Robert Coleman and Thomas Smith to Robert Coleman. [From Boddie’s Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight VA:
Page 573: John Smyth, planter, and wife Anne sell to Peter Best his plantation that he lives on 100 acres adj. Robert Coleman and his brother Thomas Smyth from the Cypress for a mile into the woods.July 31, 1675. ] So this seems to be IOW.
A 1679 purchase that I have not verified…
09 Nov 1679 (Isle of Wight W&DI) Geo. EDSON son of Geo. EDSON, dec., whereas Col. John UPTON with consent of wife Margaret by deed 13 Aug. 1647, did sell to John MASON a certain parcel of land between Wm. WRIGHT, George LEVERING and John HERRING, and it was by John MASON conveyed to Robert DUSTER, and when he died he left it in fee to his wife Alcewho married Edward PALMER and they sold to Thomas EDSON and now Geo. EDSON, son of Thomas, sells to Robert COLEMAN. 9 Nov. 1679.
Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight Will and Deed Book I by Boddie
Coleman, Robert. grantee.
Land grant 20 April 1684.
Summary Location: County location not given.
Description: 530 acres on the west side of Reedy Marsh, being a branch of Chuckatuck. 400 acres part there of formerly gtd. to Richd. and Miles Lewis, Jany. 29. 1667.
Coleman, Robert. grantee.
Land grant 21 April 1695.
Summary Location: Isle of Wight County.
Description: 80 acres in the lower parish. Adjoining land of Thomas Jordan, and Giles Driver.
To be truthful… every time I try to grasp this upper/lower parish gibberish it makes my head hurt. I think the upper/lower business was reversed in Nansemond… you figure it out… I have given up. I’m pretty sure Jordan and Driver were firmly in IOW.
===============================================
Nansemond Land
Coleman, Robert. grantee.
Land grant 28 October 1697.
Summary Location: Nansemond County.
Description: 450 acres near Wickham swamp, adjoining the land of Thomas and John Milner.
Odier, Dennis. grantee.
Land grant 23 October 1703.
Summary Location: Nansemond County.
Description: 119 acres near a place called the South key, adjoining the land of Robert Coleman.
From Boddie’s Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight VA: pg.593
John Marshall with consent of wife Susanna sells to Robert Coleman 250 acres at Strickland’s Bridge on Beaver Dam, etc. (no date). Wm. Bressie This is tricky… my first guess is this is near Kingsale Swamp… there is a Beaver Dam branch nearby… also William Strickland had land adjoining the Beaver Dam. Hence a possible “Strickland’s Bridge”.
Marshall had 4 patents: one is designated “IOW”… another “Lower Norfolk”…… So my assumption is this is Nansemond, but if I am correct that it was near the Strickland patent then it is several miles into IOW???
Marshall, John.
Land grant 28 January 1662.
1662
Marshall, John.
Land grant 8 June 1655.
1655
Marshall, John.
Land grant 16 April 1653.
1653
Marshall, John.
Land grant 4 May 1652.
Marshall also made several “purchase” patents … so he was all over the map… aside from being a “notorious rebel” in Bacon’s Rebellion. My kind of guy!
My hunch is the property was near the Orange area… perhaps between J Allen and Wm Mayo? Or not… I don’t know.
So… considering the 1704 Rent Rolls
1500 acres Rob Coleman in IOW
1400 acres Rob Coleman in Nansemond
If you take the 1684 “Chuckatuck” patent 530 acres and consider it Nansemond then the math almost works out. Since it may be that that patent “straddled” the county line then it makes sense.
_________
With that nifty and “somewhat” objective analysis being stated, I pretty much consider it bunk. I think the “Chuckatuck” and the John Marshall property were each in IOW. That gives well over 2,000 acres during the 1704 IOW Rent Roll. I think all these men simply lied (well, let’s say “understated” to be nice) about their holdings. The going rate for taxes was about 2 shillings for every 50 acres. It was in each man’s financial interest to claim as little land as possible. Add to that that many areas of these tracts were unusable swamp land and everyone knew that. I think there was a wink and a nod among these gents come Quitrent time. Tally up some other folks actual holdings and compare it to the Rent Roll and judge for yourself. Most of these men were illiterate but they were no stupid.
I think it highly likely that the other land records of Robert Coleman of Nansemond burned with the various fires and the records are lost.
To further complicate the 1704 Rent Roll totals Robert Coleman “deserted” his 1667 patent of 634 acres by 1698 when it was re-granted to Hugh Campbell…
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Below are two 1706 references of interest… one is for who I think is the Dennis Odien/Odier who later wound up adjoining a Robert Coleman near South Key in Nansemond proper near the Blackwater River.
Dennis “Obryon” in IOW… his name is butchered every time it is written… must have been a hairlipped Frenchman… (just kidding!) Of course, we have to wonder if he actually signed his name… but I seriously doubt it. In my rummaging thru several hundred of the early patents, I cannot recall the first name “Dennis”… please correct my aging memory if I am making an ass of myself…particularly after the very un-politically correct hairlip joke. Apologies to any Frenchmen also. And any French ladies of course. [my point is he may have had an accent] Was Odien pronounced Oh-Dye-en?
[oops… there was a Dennis WILLIAMS in IOW … I am ashamed of myself and stand corrected]
the Bath will… (I note he signed with a mark so any thoughts of comparing signatures are out… the “marks” are open to compare though).
I checked Wills and Administrations of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, 1647 …, Books 1-3 By Blanche Adams Chapman for John Butler and my computer almost blew up from the hits for him in Isle of Wight…. I can take a hint, Mr. Butler was from IOW… (Mr. Butler also was on the will of Robert Coleman d.1716, per the abstract)
Likewise for Peter Green… Sheesh…
Per Bob Baird’s “Reynolds” research… “Note that Richard Casey witnessed this entry. He was presumably the same Richard Casey who married Jane Reynolds, daughter of Richard and Joyce Reynolds.”
Course.. the question is what was the old man Coleman doing in IOW writing his will, nearing his deathbed?
Some bullet points concerning the will:
- His wife was the mother of Dennis Odier/Odien/Obryon
- A daughter married Christopher Reynolds
- A daughter married a Dupuise
- A daughter married a White
- A daughter married a Isler
This is getting interesting and I can see that some map work needs to be done…Again, reading Bob Baird’s site, he mentions a couple of patents to a Christopher Reynolds which just happen to be within a few miles of the Coleman patents near South Key in Nansemond. Which leaves obvious questions of where Coleman’s land at South Key wound up after his death. Since Nansemond is a burned records county there may be no answers. But then IOW is a wealth of information…. you just have to put the pieces together.
25 Aug 1731 Land Patent: Christopher Reynolds, 15s, 105 acres in the upper parish of Nansemond County, on the north side of the Nottoway River “…beginning at a holley on the river side… a corner tree of William Fowler’s patent thence due south 98 poles bounding upon the said patent… to Nottoway River thence down the said River and bounding thereon to the first station” [Virginia Patent Book 14, p297]
Note that “the upper parish of Nansemond” is, well, not upper…it is LOWER dammit… but hey, we go with the flow… right? Isle of Wighters looked UP and Nansemonders looked DOWN… or something… I dunno.
17 Sep 1731 Land Patent: Thomas Woodley, Richard Williams, Christopher Reynolds, and Francis Woodley of Isle of Wight County, 30s, 272 acres “in the uper (sic) parish of Nansemond County and in the fork of the Nottoway & Blackwater Rivers and bounded as followeth…beginning at a hickory on the north side of Nottoway River thence down the said River the several courses thereof and bounding thereon to the mouth thereof, thence up the Blackwater River the several courses thereof and bounding thereon to a white oak standing on the south side thereof thence bounding upon a patent granted Andrew Woodley and Thomas Woodley 15 poles to the first station [Virginia Patent Book 14, p351-2]
Mr. Baird is of the opinion the “Christifer Runnills” of the Bath will remained in IOW. I concur. This reference from Mr. Baird sums it up and I see no reason to re-invent the wheel… his research is spot on. This is 20 years after the death of Christifer Runnills….
“””””””””5 Jul 1753 Deed:
Christopher Reynolds, his wife Mary Reynolds and Ann Hunt to John Marshall, Jr., 250 acres (being part of the land willed by Robert Coleman) adjoining the main swamp, Stricklins Bridge and the Beaverdam Swamp. Signed: Christopher Reynolds, Mary (x) Reynolds and Ann (x) Hunt. Witnesses: Thomas Gale and Christopher Reynolds. Recorded same date. [Isle of Wight Deed Book 9, p156 abstracted by Hopkins]
Christopher Reynolds, husband of Ann Coleman, who was willed this land, died in 1732. This is his son Christopher Reynolds, married to Mary, who is selling both parcels. He had inherited the land because he was the eldst son of an intestate father. Ann Hunt has to be his widowed mother, releasing her dower interest in the land of her deceased husband. (She has obviously remarried to a Hunt then been widowed again.) The Christopher Reynolds who witnessed the deed is probably his first cousin.“”””””””””””
This 250 acres “adjoining the main swamp, Stricklins Bridge and the Beaverdam Swamp” is no doubt the same land purchased by Robert Coleman from John Marshall Sr.. The Ann Hunt mentioned above is the daughter of Robert Coleman d.1722 in Bath… after the death of “Christifer Runnills” in 1732 she re-married to Hunt. This essentially proves that the property mentioned was in IOW… also proving Ann as the daughter of Coleman.
This also leads me to assume that Robert Coleman seems to have returned to IOW and Nansemond to settle his property prior to his death. My hunch is that there were separate Nansemond settlement records which are lost… up in smoke.
If you add two sons to the above bullet points of the Bath Will then I think it sums up the IOW and Nansemond Robert Colemans. The old man was both.
Robert Coleman Sr d.1722
- Robert Jr d.1716
- Stephen d.1691
- A daughter married Christopher Reynolds (Ann)
- A daughter married a Dupuise
- A daughter married a White
- A daughter married a Isler
If you consider the date of his first patent, 1667, and assume he was 21 or so then his birth would be perhaps 1646. All of which adds up to a plausible lifespan (76 yrs).
This explains the sparse records for Stephen Coleman (he did not have time to leave any records)… he must have been in his early twenties when he died in 1691 (if born 1668). His sons were infants at his death. Robert Jr would have been perhaps 48 or 49 at his death in 1716 (if born 1667).
Here I go speculating again… if son Stephen was born prior to 1667 then his father would most likely have named him as a headright along with his brother Robert Jr. on his 1667 patent.
_____________________________________________
1716 Will of Robert Coleman Jr. in IOW (sent by friend Jerry Jolly… not sure of the source?)
Below, in my humble opinion, is irrefutable proof that Robert Coleman Jr was the brother in law of Christopher Reynolds who married Ann Coleman, daughter of Robert Coleman Sr. Robert Coleman Sr designated Christopher Reynolds as his son in law in his Bath Will of 1722. The date of “1615/1616(?)” below is clearly a mistake as the abstractor (Hopkins) notes with the question mark. This is without a doubt referring to the record of the will of Robert Coleman Jr in 1716. I very seldom use the word “irrefutable”… this simply cannot be disputed.
—————————————
It is not my want or desire to criticize other researchers… particularly if I find it a harmless misinterpretation. But when a misinterpretation spreads, it causes confusion. Such as this:
In her book The Coleman Family of Mobjack Bay Virginia, Nicol, 1998, p. 43 records the fact another Robert Coleman, of Isle of Wight County, Virginia transported a headright Robert Coleman receiving land 29 Sep 1667 for the fact.
This misinterpretation has led to a “phantom” Robert Coleman conjured up out of thin air. I suppose the theory is supported by the possibility of missing records burned in Nansemond. But a theory needs to be supported by evidence… otherwise it just hangs around like a single sock left from the laundry.
I am not an expert and it is still open to debate whether or not another Robert Coleman was imported. I strongly disagree with the above statement and further state that it is not a “fact”. My opinion is that Robert Coleman either 1, claimed himself, or 2, claimed his son Robert who, again in my opinion, was an infant.
Once again I defer to Bob Baird:
” There were no restrictions on age or gender. Headrights could be, and often were, children. Indeed, many if not most imported indentured servants were teenagers.”
Below is a sample headright from Chowan “precinct” in NC… it is just coincidence that this Francis Rountree later is associated with Colemans in 1739…
You jst have to chukkle at the speling…
Another random headright showing “children” to reinforce my point… this is from 1698… this is Chowan but the rules were similar to IOW and Nansemond…
Some of these humbell petisions…… almost……..involved……… bribery…
All of which explains my interest in the sons of Stephen Coleman (mentioned in the will of Robert Coleman Jr d.1716) possibly being the progenitor(s) of the Colemans who hailed from east of the Chowan River in North Carolina. Well into the period even after the 1728 boundary expedition of William Byrd II… the area of Chowan “Precinct” was referred to as “Nansemond”. And as I tirelessly reiterate… most of those records are up in smoke. We are left grasping at straws… which is why I MAP to expose lost relationships.
The death of Robert Coleman Jr in 1716 and the death of Robert Coleman Sr in 1722 was the “end of the line” for male descendants … with only one possible exception… the “possibility” that the noted sons of Stephen Coleman lived on and had sons of their own.
For that reason, I find it perplexing why anyone would claim a relationship to either of the Robert Colemans of IOW. How can a DNA claim be made? At this time I have seen no proof whatsoever connecting any NC Coleman to those mystery sons of Stephen. Prove me wrong with a linkage.
Stephen Coleman… not much to go on…
7 Aug 1671, Stephen witnessed a deed(Charles City Co. Court Orders, p. 534)
The 1671 date removes this guy from my consideration… Charles Cittie at this time was being carved up into separate counties…
Surry County [Virginia] Tithables, 1668-1703 By Edgar MacDonald, Richard Slatten
1689…from Sunken marsh upwards
Stephen Coleman… 1
(listed between Henry Hollinsworth, 1 and Jno: Wilkisson, 3)
I re-checked the “tithables” back to 1686 and up to 1691… this is the only mention of Stephen Coleman in those records.
27 Jan 1691, the Surry Co. Records 1687-1694, p. 291 list an inventory of Stephen’s estate
Below is a partial map of some Nansemond patents. Several relate to Coleman and Reynolds (both father and son). As I continue developing these maps, particularly these Nansemond patents, the neighbors are often mentioned in the details. Something may turn up…
Bob Baird makes a plausible case that the “Cabbin Swamp” or “branch” noted in the Robert Reynolds patent is further south… below Summerton Creek. I too have seen references in that area (I just can’t remember the specifics… I think they are in some Chowan patents in NC). The reason I have Reynolds where he is is because of the Dr. Henry Jenkins patent… note the “Back Swamp” and the “Cabbin Branch” in his patent. I am quite prepared to move him if it turns out there is a Cabbin Swamp which indeed “issues out of Chowan River”.
I have also seen references to a Cabbin Swamp in Southampton County… this stuff gets tedious.
An interesting history of South Quay shown on the map above…
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Desperation sources…
Whenever I have to venture into the desolate ashes of the records for Nansemond I have a few sources… this is one:
I found NOTHING for a Coleman .. darnnit! But, who knows, as this search continues a neighbor might become important…
source: http://archive.org/stream/southsidevirgini219834/southsidevirgini219834_djvu.txt
The title of the article is “Losses To The British in Nansemond County, 1782” page 104 or so…
I also checked the Chancery records for Isle of Wight … found nothing of relevance to these Colemans… (much older records are sometimes cited)
There is however a court case from 1904 that mentions a Henry Coleman from 1870 or so… it may be of interest to someone… you never know where a record might pop up…
http://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/case_detail.asp?CFN=093-1904-006
Likewise a Nansemond case of 1909… mentions Colemans from mid 1800s… but, as I see it, these folks had to have a daddy…
http://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/case_detail.asp?CFN=901-1909-026
I have not exhausted the Chancery records… do some digging…
Andersons of Colonial N. Carolina 