This is probably the first Newton immigrant, (in our line).
Will of Henry Newton of St. Anns Par., Essex Co. dated 15 October 1712. Probated 12 Feb. 1713/1714:To son Thomas Newton, 195 acres, the line beginning at a School house, running along the Church road and upon the Top of the brink of the hills at my son Henrys. He failing in heirs this land to "my Grandson the son of Henry Newton x x and if the said Henry Newton shall die without heirs to the Grandson David Falconer." To wife Elizabeth, plantation, 150 acres "whereon I now live as long as she keeps a widow." If she marries, to son Henry Newton, he failing in heirs to David Falconer. To son Henry Newton, 2 cows. To dau. Martha Newton, 3 ewes. Bal. of est. to wife Eliza Newton, to son Thomas Newton and dau. Martha
Newton to be equally divided. Wife exor. Signed Henry Newton his mark. Wit: Rich'd Wilton, Andrew Micall his mark.On the 15th of Dec., 1735, there was a court agreement in Essex Co. Deed Book #20, where Henry Newton sold land to William Beverley, and Samuel Pittard was a witness. The Beverley estate was Blandfield, just outside the town of Tappahannock, and it can be found on the map of Essex Co. at the beginning of this history. The Newtons' land must have adjoined Blandfield, because in July, 1734, John Newton also sold land to Beverley and it mentioned boundary lines of the properties of Beverley and Henry. The landmarks of the land description indicates the two parcels were adjoining, so they may
have been land willed to them at the death of their father,William Beverley was the father of Robert, who was concerned about his son, the younger William away at school in England when he wrote: "I have been led to apprehend that you must have spent the greater part of the last year in dissipation & idleness, a mode of life inconsistent with my view of your future happiness . . . In the course of conversation, I found you had kept for 12 months two horses & a servant. . . . I am as well acquainted with the practices of England as any man, & I know that a youth at 18 has no sort of occasion for servants or horses, if he means to acquire anything of literature." Could Samuel
have been the "prep" school teacher of the younger Beverley children???Then, on the 21st of Feb. 1737, Samuel Pittard was listed in the estate of Martha Newton. There seemed to be a pattern here of his involvement with the Newton family, so then further research on the Newton line was warranted.
The following
information was gleaned from the earliest mention of the Newtons in Essex Co.From VA Colonial Abstracts, Essex Co. Records 1703-1706:
p. 72 Inv of est of Eliz Jones decd. Totals L 4. 10. 1. Signed Rich Stokes, John (X) Mills, Henry (X) Newton. Presented by
Richd Covington admr and sworn before Ro Brooke 11 Jan 1704/5From VA Colonial Abstracts, Essex Co. Wills and Deeds, 1711-1714:
p. 202 Bond. L 200 Sterl. 12 Feb. 1713/14. Elizabeth Newton, Extrix., Henry Newton, deceased. Signed Eliz (X) Newton,
John Strang, Thomas (X) Davis. Wit: Ja Alderson, Robert Jones. Rec. 12 Feb. 1713/14.p. 216 Estate of Henry Newton, deceased. Inventory
p. 218 Will of Henry Newton of St. Anns Par., Essex Co. dated 15 October 1712. Probated 12 Feb. 1713/1714. To son
Thomas Newton, 195 acres, the line beginning at a School house, running along the Church road and upon the Top of the brink
of the hills at my son Henrys. He failing in heirs this land to "my Grandson the son of Henry Newton x x and if the said Henry
Newton shall die without heirs to the Grandson David ffalconer." To wife Elizabeth, plantation, 150 acres "whereon I now live
as long as she keeps a widow." If she marries, to son Henry Newton, he failing in heirs to David ffalconer. To son Henry
Newton, 2 cows. To dau. Martha Newton, 3 ewes. Bal. of est. to wife Eliza Newton, to son Thomas Newton and dau. Martha
Newton to be equally divided. Wife exor. Signed Henry Newton his mark. Wit: Rich'd Wilton, Andrew Micall his mark.Next, we learn that Elizabeth Newton has died in Essex Co. Order Book, 1716-1723, Part II, p. 245, Essex Co. Court 20th
of Nov. 1718:On motion of Henry Newton for ye Admon. with ye Will an next of Eliza. Newton deced, Its therefore considered by ye Court
& ordered sd Henry have not ye Admon &c. of ye sd deced Newtons Estate.Ordered John Mills, Nathall. Fogg, Cornelius Sale & Ephraim Paget or any three of them (being first sworn before a Justice of
ye peace for this County) appraise ye Estate of Eliza. Newton deced & return their proceedings to next court.Ordered yt. Richard Stokes & John Stokes take care of ye Estate of Eliza. Newton deced & also of ye sd Eliza Newtons two
young Children til they sd Richard & John return an Invry & Appraisement of sd decedents Estate.These Stokes were some relation of Elizabeth Newton, because the "Index to Marriages of Old Rappahannock and Essex Co.
VA, 1655-1900" by Eva Eubank Wilkerson lists the marriage, in 1701, of Henry Newton to Elizabeth, relict (widow) of John
Stoakes, Deeds & Will book 10, p. 88p. 249, Essex Co. Court 16th of December 1718
Ordered yt. Cornelius Sale, Thomas Davis & John Mills or any two of them set appart ye Estate of ye Orphans of Henry
Newton deced from ye Estate of Eliza Newton, deced, & deliver ye same to James Booth, guardian of sd Orphans, & also
return their proceedings thereto to ye next Court.This shows that Elizabeth had an estate in her own right, not just that of Henry Newton, her second husband, indicating her
previous marriage to John Stokes left her an estate. Essex Co. records continue with recording various motions and dispositions
of Henry and Elizabeth's estates.Fortunately, once I started looking for Newtons, it was easy enough to find abstracts of wills for 3 generations of them and
discovered one Newton was Mary. She was unmarried at the time of her father's will dated 14 Feb. 1732, St. Anne's Parish,
Essex Co. VA just one year and 5 days before Samuel Sr. was released from his indentureship. Up until 1752, the 25th of
March was the first day of the year, so these February dates could have actually been 1733, the same year. She was of the right
generation to be Mary, the wife of Samuel in Granville Co. NC, and I believe that she is, based on two things: Samuel's oldest
Grandchild, daughter of John, was named Sarah Newton Pittard, married in NC; and the Newton family moved to
Mecklenburg Co. VA, where John Pittard's son Thomas also moved, just across the VA/NC state line from Granville Co. NC
about the same time as Samuel Sr. & his wife moved. This also connects the Samuel in VA with Samuel, Sr. in NC, showing
they are one and the same.After so many years of research, and the lack of early records availability, there was not much probability of finding Samuel's
wife, so it was just luck that the Newton family was found. Perhaps the reason Samuel & Mary's marriage was not found in St.
Anne's Parish, Essex Co. records was because he was one of the English nonconformists, as previously discussed. There are
many churches on the old map of Essex in the front of this history, and more of them were Baptist, Presbyterian & Church of
Christ rather than Church of England. The Pittard family was associated with the Grassy Creek Baptist Church in Granville Co.
NC from its earliest days and it was started about 1754. Samuel and Mary seem to have married about 1734, shortly after her
father, Henry Newton, Jr. died.Another reason that their marriage records have not been found in Essex Co. could be the lack of records kept. The parish of
St. Anne's was established in 1692, the same year as the neighboring parish of South Farnham, which covered the southeastern
part of Essex Co. The first minister of which there was record was Rev. John Bagge, who spent a great deal of his time traveling
back and forth to England to secure the position. He first came as a deacon in 1709, but was driven away by an influential
layman. After he returned to England for Priest's Orders in 1717, he finally became the minister of St. Anne's in 1724, but
shortly thereafter, he passed away. In his last writings, he indicated there were only 4 inducted ministers in the whole Colony of
VA, so it was no wonder records were very scanty!Another reason for a lack of a written record is that there are two ways to get married by English law. One way was by license,
or 'dispensations' where you filled out much of the same information required today, although the farther back, the less
likelihood of finding this, and the other way was by bann. License was much more costly, though, because of the necessary
paper work, but more private, so banns were much more popular.The banns are the announcements of the intent to be married. This means that for the 3 Sundays prior to a couple being married,
an announcement is made during the Sunday morning worship service that the couple is intending to be betrothed. The intent
being that if anyone can show just cause why these two people should not be married, then they are to come forward. The
banns are recorded in the parish register or in a separate book, depending on the time period and minister.In my study of the time period, though, it seems as if the best-kept records of any marriage comes from some other record,
such as a will or a land transfer or other legal papers. And then the date of marriage can only be assumed to be prior to that
document date, not the date on which it occurred. Rev. Bagge was succeeded by Rev. Robert Rose, of Scotland, about
February, 1725. Then, we learn nothing about Rev. Rose's ministry until the year 1746, when he commenced his journal, which
he kept until 1751, shortly before he died. Rev. Rose was a man much admired in Essex Co., and was called upon to be the
administrator of many Essex Co. estates, including that of the Bagge family. In fact, in Essex Co. Will Book 5, pp. 354-359,
dated August 1735, we find an inventory of the Estate of Mr. Edmund Bagge, deceased, which was in the care of Rev. Rose.
In the disposition of the estate, it mentions who purchases what items, and among those are William Beverley, Major Thomas
Waring, and Samuel Pittard. Samuel purchased a "coate" so we know that he knew these people. If he were a teacher, you
would expect him to have purchased some books, although the books listed indicated a religious selections, which might have
been of little use to a teacher. William Beverley, though, did purchase books from the estate.Then, in Court 21 May 1740, Samuel was a witness for Benjamin Winslow, gentleman, against THOMAS WARING!! Do you
get the idea that Samuel didn't like his old boss? Benjamin had his case dismissed (the purpose of the lawsuit was impossible to
understand), and he had to pay all court costs, including 100 pounds of tobacco to Samuel for his "evidence" for 4 days.About March, 1745 Court record, p. 199, Samuel brought a claim against a ------ Pronza, Sr., which was dismissed. He also
filed a claim against Francis Gouldman for "3 pounds, 12 shillings & 2 pence current money", which Gouldman had to pay him,
and also had to pay court costs. The interesting part is that Thomas Waring's wife was a Gouldman before her marriage!!! In
November of the same year, p. 166, William Shot & Barbary his wife had to pay Samuel 50 pounds of tobacco for attending 2
days as an "evidence" for them against Nikolas Dawson. Twenty-five pounds of tobacco for one day's work: not too bad pay.
It must have been the prevailing currency.There were no deeds in any Pittard name in Essex County, and after 1745, there is no other mention of him in Essex County. A
Pittard also doesn't show up in NC until 1770. Each of the other VA and NC colonial county records in will be checked in the
future.Some other notes in researching Essex County may be of interest. Thomas Waring, at some point between 1727 and 1742,
became Sheriff of the area. The people who voted for him were listed by name: none of them were Samuel Pittard!!
p. 249, Essex Co. Court 16th of December 1718
Ordered yt. Cornelius Sale, Thomas Davis & John Mills or any two of them set appart ye Estate of ye Orphans of Henry Newton deced from ye Estate of Eliza Newton, deced, & deliver ye same to James Booth, guardian of sd Orphans, & also return their proceedings thereto to ye next Court.
This shows that Elizabeth had an estate in her own right, not just that of Henry Newton, her second husband, indicating her previous marriage to John Stokes left her an estate. Essex Co. records continue with recording various motions and dispositions of Henry and Elizabeth's estates.