| Name |
Edward Byrd |
| Birth |
Abt 1642 |
Shafston, County Dorset, England  [1] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Anecdote |
1664 [1] |
- Edward sailed for Virginia, apparently leaving his family, a wife, young son (perhaps age 1-2) behind in England.
|
| Headright - Named as a headright |
10 May 1664 |
Accomack County, Virginia, USA |
- It was on this date that Edward Bird was given as a headright by Richard Kellam, when the latter was granted 900 acres in Accomack County "at head of Mathepungo Creek, beginning on the north side of his former divident" (Nugent, p. 454). Richard Kellam had patented 100 acres in 1662, "near Matchepungo Creek, bordered on the east by the seaboard" (p. 419). The location of Richard Kellam's land between present-day Kller and Painter, extending eastward toward the barrier islands (Whitelaw, p. 763), places Edward Bird in the lower part of Accomack County in 1664. He likely had bound himself, for a few years, as an indentured servant to Richard Kellam, to pay back his transportation costs from England. Edward Bird's name appears as an Accomack County tithable (on the tax lists) from 1676, showing he owned property with a value to be taxed from that date. Robert Taylor and wife Hannah sold 100 acres to Edward Bird on 20 December 1692 for 3000 pounds of tobacco (Wills & C Orders 1682-1697, p. 263).This land was located near present-day Locustville (Whitelaw, p. 850).
|
| Will |
12 Apr 1697 |
Accomack County, Virginia, USA [2] |
- In the name of God Amen ye Edward Bird of Accomack County in the Colony of Virginia being of imperfect health but of perfect memory praised be the Lord Imprimis doe Comit my Soule into the hands of my heavenly father hopeing to receive free pardon & forgiveness of all my Sinns and my body to be buried in Christian manner as my Exectr hereafter nominated Shall think fitt & Convenient Item I make my Sonn in Law William Rodgers Sole & whole Execetr of this my Last Will & Testament revokeing all other wills or deeds of Sale formerly by me made to be null & void. Item I doe give & bequeath unto my aforesd Sonn in Law William Rodgers all my houses Lands, Chattells at moveables of what nature soever to him & his Lawfully begotten heirs for ever; he my aforesd Sonn in Law maintaining me & my now wife Jane Bird in sufficient victualls & Cloths during our naturall Lives.
Item I give. bequeath unto my sonn John Bird one yearling heifer to him & the Lawfully begotten heirs of his body for ever. Signed Sealed & delivered Edward Bird in the presence of us Edmund Allen, William Dennison, and Tho: Agen. (Acc Wills & Etc 1692-1715, part 1, p. 166). In recape, he named his "son in law" William Rodgers as executor and left him "all my houses, Lands, Chattells and moveables of what nature soever" provided he maintain him and his "now wife Jane in sufficient victualls and cloths during our naturall Lives". He bequeathed one yearling heifer to his son John Bird. (Wills & Etc 1692-1715, part 1, p. 166).
|
| Death |
Bef 3 Aug 1697 |
Accomack County, Virginia, USA [2] |
- It was on this date that his will was probated.
|
| Anecdote |
1698 |
- At the time Edward Bird wrote his will, "sons in law" were usually step sons. Edward Bird had likely married William Rodgers' widowed mother as his second wife. However, William Rodgers could have been his actual son-in-law also. Jane Bird and Bridget Bird both proved the will of John Spiers in 1693 (Wills. C 1692-1715, p 36). Bridget Bird could have been Edward Bird's daughter, who later married William Rodgers. William Rogers wrote his will in 1724 (Deeds Wills 1729-1737, p. 154). He named no wife, but made his only daughter, Bridget Rogers, the executrix of his estate. Bridget Bird could also have been Edward Bird's daughter-in-law, the wife of his son, John Bird. The records suggest, without proof, that either Edward Bird's first wife or his son John's wife, was a daughter of William Ebourne. William Ebourne was named as a headright for Mr. John Browne, when he patented land in upper Northampton County in 1652 (Nugent, p. 267). William Ebourne and Margaret Ebourne (apparently a first wife) gave depositions in Accomack County on 17 April 1665 (Deeds & Wills 1663-1666, p. 96). At this time William Ebourne gave his age as "thirty-two years or thereabouts". Margaret was twenty-five. William Ebourne had died intestate in Accomack County, by 14 September 1677, when Thomas Chapwell was named to administer his estate (Orders 1616-1678, p. 63). On the same date, Mary Chapwell, wife of Thomas Chapwell, asked the Court for guardianship of Sara Ebourne, the daughter of her former husband, William Ebourne, who was under eighteen years of age (p. 62). William Ebourne and his wife Mary had given depositions on 13 February 1672/3 (Orders Wills & C 1671-1673, p. 163). Sara Ebourne likely married John Spiers, since he named Sarah as his wife in his will, and Jane Bird and Bridget Bird (who proved the will) would have been Sarah's sister's husband's second wife and her niece or her nephew's wife, respectively. With the death of William Ebourne in 1677, the Ebourne name disappeared from Accomack County records, except as a given name in the Bird line.
|
| Anecdote |
1708 |
- On 4 May 1708, a Margrett Bird, "late servant to William Boggs", brought a suit against Boggs for refusing "to pay her or give her corn or money as ye law directs (Acc Co Orders 1703-1709, p.114). On 8 June 1708, William Boggs was directed by the Court to pay Margrett Bird 15 bushels of Indian Corn and 40 shillings (p. 118). Margrett Bird could have been a daughter of Edward Bird. The only known son of Edward Bird and his first wife, who was likely a daughter of William Ebourne, was John Bird, born circa 1673. The birth date of John Bird has been estimated from tax lists. From 1676 to 1688, Edward Bird had only one tithable. In 1689, he had two. The second male would have been son John Bird, who had passed his sixteenth birthday.
|
| Biography |
- Early theory was that this Accomack Co, VA, Byrd family came from the Western Shore of Virginia to settle at Muddy Creek in the early part of the eighteenth century and that there were a lineal descendant of William Byrd, who settled on the James River in 1610. Accomack County records prove conclusively that this is not the case. The James River Byrd family started with William Byrd I, who died there in 1704, leaving only one surviving son, William Byrd II, of Westover. He died in 1744, with only one son, William Byrd III. It appears there could have been no relationship between the two families in this country. It is interesting that the father of William Byrd I was a John Bird of London, goldsmith. There could have been a family connection in England. The Byrds of Westover and the Birds of Muddy Creek were not the only families to bear the name in early Virginia records. The names of Richard Bird, John Bird, James Bird and Robert Bird appeared between 1635 and 1658. A Thomas Byrd was in Northampton County by 1658. There was a Joseph Bird who gave a deposition in Northampton County in September of 1680, giving his age as 16 years (N'hamp Orders &, Wills 1678 - 1683, p. 90). His name was among Accomack County tithables in 1692, 1693, 1694, and 1695, but did not appear again in local records. Tracing this Bird line has been complicated in only two places. The first was solved when it was found that Whitelaw (p. 1201) was mistaken when he stated Solomon Bird did not mention land in his will and the finding of a survey record proving John Bird inherited Solomon's land. It took a while longer to find what next happened to Solomon's land. Son John left it to his son Ebourn, but Ebourn Bird did not inherit it. A chancery record cleared up this point. The Bird name in Accomack County started to change to Byrd circa 1855. The 1860 census shows approximately two-third Byrds and one-third Birds.
|
| Reference Identifier |
#@ |
| Record ID |
5290 |
Origins  |
|
| Person ID |
I5290 |
MilesFiles23 |
| Last Modified |
13 Oct 2020 |
Abt 1642 - Bef 1697 (< 55 years)
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
