The Thomas Barton Family
of Stafford and Prince William Co.
VA
a part of
Barton Lineage I
Posted 15 Feb. 2004, Editted 29 Aug 2005
I have compiled much of what I have learned
about the first four generations of the Thomas Barton family of Stafford County
and Prince William County, Virginia.
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Particularly
in the first three generations, I have tried to include only what I can
verify through documentation. I do try to comment on the various
speculations and possibilities that have surfaced over the years.
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With
the fourth generation, I increased my reliance on Family Lore and deduction.
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For
the fifth generation, I only provided the bare outline. To take the
family further, refer to:
This
is very much a work in progress, so please make your suggestions and challenge
me where you think something should be changed.
I
welcome the challenges, and believe that they can only make this a more accurate
resource for our family.
Terry
The Known Family of
Thomas(1) Barton
(The First 4 Generations)
16 Feb 2004
Some time ago, I prepared a migration history of the
family:
Thomas(1) and Thomas(2) Barton both lived in Overwharton
Parish between Aquia and Quantico Creeks, very near present-day Dumfries, in Stafford Co.
VA. This
area became Prince William Co in 1731 and is now a part of the Marine Corp Base
Quantico. It is near Washington DC.
Migration from Overwharton Parish to the Broad Run, Cedar Run &
Kettle Run area - roughly 15 miles
(both locations were then in Stafford Co; both became Prince William Co in
1731)
In 1725, Thomas(3) made his first of several property
acquisitions in the Broad Run area.
Valentine (probably a brother), Val’s son, Charles, and possibly other
family members followed.
Migration from Broad Run (now Prince William Co) area to Bull
Run Mountain area - roughly 25 miles (became Fauquier Co in 1759)
In 1740, Thomas(3) obtained a grant for land on Hunger (now
Hungry) Run in the Bull Run Mountain area.
Deeds show that Burr Barton (probably a brother) and Benjamin Drummond
(probably a brother-in-law) soon joined him.
David Barton (ca 1730-1775) was administrator of Thomas(3) Barton's
estate, who died before 24 June 1752. David is believed to be a son
of Thomas(3).
Doubts re
John Barton of Surry Co 1679 (see page 1 of
The Barton Book)
Sometime back, I asked my
colleagues at Barton Historical Society for documentation supporting John Barton
of Surry Co as the father of Thomas Barton(1) who purchased land in Stafford Co
in 1678. The people responsible for The Barton Book publication have passed on
and there is no documentation in the files to support John as father of Thomas.
Neither is there documentation supporting Barton-in-the-Beans or "stepped
of a ship in Newsport in 1632 with a servant". While any or all of these
pieces may be true, I cannot find the documentation. DOES ANYONE HAVE IT?
When I received a copy of the May 6 1679 estate document that is circulated on
John Barton in 2000, I shared it and my doubts with a researcher that I know who
specializes in this time and place in Virginia. Her comments are additional
discouragement to anyone thinking that this John may be the father of Thomas.
They follow as points 1 and 2.
1. “I agree with your assessment that this appears to be the inventory of a
man who died in Surry Co, VA owning little but the clothes on his back. I was
curious to know why Lawrence Baker, a bigwig in Surry at the time, was
administrator of John Barton's estate and did a little checking. As you know, I
have a good many Surry reference books. From Weynette Haun's transcriptions of
the Order Books it appears that this John Barton was a headright of Lawrence
Baker, who had received a patent for 365 acres in 1678 for the importation of 7
persons, including John Barton. It is likely that John Barton was a poor
relation or servant of Lawrence Baker's. It is very unlikely that he arrived in
the 1630s. I am mailing you copies of relevant pages from Haun (and some other
stuff). You will see that Baker got a Judgment on the Estate of John Barton, so
he was probably also a creditor. (Maybe he just paid for burial expenses.) The
only other Bartons mentioned in Surry records are William and Ann, who appears
to be the daughter of Henry Briggs.”
2. “I do not think the John Barton who died in Surry was the father of your
Thomas Barton, of Stafford County for the reason you gave, apparent economic
disparity. Another reason I don't think so is that that was not a usual
migration pattern at the time. Almost all travel was then by water, and it would
have been far more than 100 miles in a boat. It is much more likely that your
ancestor was one of the Bartons who came to the Northern Neck: Northumberland or
Westmoreland. Did you get the attachment I sent about research in some of the
Northern Neck Counties? It could be that John Barton is not the name you are
looking for if the book you mentioned is the only place you have seen John as
the immigrant. There were also Bartons early in Henrico Co, which is another
possibility, but not as likely. I am mailing some pages printed off of the CDs
that I told you about as an enticement to get you to order them. They will save
you hours of work, lots of shoe leather, and many dollars on travel expenses, as
you can get the basic work done before going off on a research trip.”
Cousins: I suggest that we search our files and any other place we have access
to information regarding John. If ANYONE can find some documentation supporting
John as the immigrant Barton who started our line, GREAT! Otherwise, it looks
like we need to begin our search from Thomas(1).
This information is compiled from original source material, abstracts,
records of a number of Barton researchers (with extensive reliance on family
historians: Clara Luther Barton and Cassie Marie Rosser) & several Books.
It almost certainly contains errors and incorrect intepretations.
Please let me know if you find or suspect an error.
Consider this is a “Work in Progress”.
Documentation is available. Terry
"This
information is for the private use of any Barton Researcher to
further their own knowledge. It is not to be shared or
reprinted in any form without written permission of the
author."
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