William Rountree (c1700-1765) of New Kent County

Early Rountrees of New Kent County

On 23 April 1681 Charles Turner received a patent for 2,400 acres in the part of New Kent that became Hanover County, for importation of 48 persons, among them Tho. Roundtree and Wm. Roundtree.1   New Kent records no longer exist, but 21 years later on 4 July 1702 perhaps the same William Roundtree appeared on a militia list for New Kent County in the “Lower Company of Foot:”2  As “William Round Tree” he also appears on the 1704 Quit Rent roll with 100 acres “in the Parish of St. Peters & St. Paul’s” of New Kent County.3  There are no land grants to this man, nor have I found any grants which mention him as an adjoining landowner.

Whether or how these men were related to “our” William Rountree is unknowable due to the malicious burning of the New Kent County courthouse in 1787 that destroyed all the early records of that county.  The result is that we have no public records that might allow us to determine the early genealogy of this family. The only New Kent records that remain are in the vestry books of two of New Kent’s six parishes, and they are little help to us, since they merely confirm that our William Rountree resided somewhere in old New Kent County.

Among those parish records is a record book for the period 1721-1786 of Blisland parish, which encompassed eastern New Kent County and part of adjacent James City County.  In that record book are three references to a John Rountree, who was delinquent in his parish tithable taxes in 1725 and who was appointed an inspector of tobacco in 1728 and 1729.4

The Blisland Parish vestry book, which does not record birth, death, marriages or land records, also contains an entry dated 15 October 1741 of an account due to “Mr. William Rountree Junr” for some unknown service to the parish.5  It is not clear whether this refers to our William Rountree or his son – if our William, then this record suggests that some other elder William Rountree was alive and living in Blisland.6  The records we have of his son William suggest that he was not yet an adult in 1741, so we might suppose that our William Rountree was the son of an earlier Rountree.

Earliest certain record is a single entry in the St. Peter’s parish records

The first certain mention of our William Rountree is in Saint Peter’s parish of New Kent County.  The vestry book of that parish contains an entry for the 2 March 1728/9 baptism of “Dudley son of Wm. & Dorcas Rowntree”, born on 4 January 1728/9.7   There are no other citations for any Rountree in the St. Peter’s records, despite many records of baptisms and births..

A Note on the Parish Records:  An interesting question is why only one Rountree birth is recorded in the St. Peter’s parish vestry book.  Although the register is known to be incomplete, births are recorded for many years  before and after 1729.  A 1663 Virginia law required parents of each newborn child to report the birth to the parish, which was then required to maintain a record of the birth or of a subsequent baptism.  (It is obvious that not all such births are actually recorded in the St. Peter’s vestry book, but there are numerous births recorded for each year for more than a decade on either side of 1729.  Almost no such records were preserved in the Blisland parish vestry book.)  The obvious answer, given the absence of earlier and later entries in either the St. Peter’s or St. Paul’s records, is that William Rountree may have lived in the eastern part of New Kent in the area covered by Blisland parish for several years prior to the first citation for him.  (Blisland parish covered roughly the eastern half of what was then New Kent County.  The eastern end of New Kent was added into James City County in 1767 to create the present boundaries.)   Although Blisland parish’s vestry books are partly preserved after 1721, there are almost no birth or baptismal records for the period when the Rountree children were born.

Another possibility is that he lived within the bounds of Wilmington parish, which included a large part of New Kent north of the Chickahominy River, and for which no records survive.  The part of Wilmington lying between the Chickahominy and the ridge crossing New Kent was added into St. Peter’s (on the west) and Blisland (to the east) when Wilmington parish was dissolved in 1725.  The inhabitants of the former Wilmington parish who had been annexed to Blisland parish petitioned the House of Burgesses on 8 February 1727/8 to be transferred from Blisland parish to St. Peter’s, owing to its convenience.8  If William Rountree lived in that area, it would explain why he might have found it convenient to baptize a son in St. Peter’s a year later, though his home parish would have been Blisland.

Living in Blisland parish in 1749 when he acquired land in Goochland County

On 25 March 1749, as William Rowntree of Blisland parish, New Kent County, he purchased 700 acres in St. James Northam parish of Goochland County.9    When his son Randall Rountree bought part of an adjacent patent of Charles Turner’s in 1753, it was described as cornering William Rountree.10  By locating Turner’s patent, we can place William Rountree’s purchase as being east of Genito Creek on the upper reaches of Mill Creek (now called Dover Creek) in northeastern Goochland County, about two miles south of the Hanover County line and perhaps five or six miles west of the Henrico county line.  Further clarification is found in a 1 January 1781 renewal of a 1718 patent to John Johnson which describes it as adjoining William Rountree on two sides.11

William Rountree apparently acquired the Goochland property for some of his sons, as he does not appear to have lived in Goochland County himself until more than ten years later.

Moved to Hanover County about 1750

About 1750 he acquired land in Hanover County, which had been carved out of western New Kent in 1720, essentially following the geography of St. Paul’s parish.  William Rountree had styled himself a resident of New Kent’s Blisland parish in March 1749 when he bought his tract in Goochland County, but by September 1751 his land was being processioned in Hanover County’s St. Paul’s parish.12  13. His Hanover County land was processioned every four years through 1759, but in 1763 the processioners informed the vestry that William Rountree’s land had been “transferred to Thomas Hooper”14

Unfortunately, an 1865 courthouse fire destroyed essentially all of the early records of Hanover County, so there are no deed or court records available for the period.  Thus we do not know where his parcel was located or how large it might have been. No Hanover land patents mention a Rountree (other than the 1686 patent to Charles Turner for land in what became Hanover, nor are any Rountrees mentioned in the single surviving book of court records, wills, and deeds covering the two years 1734-1735.  The only other surviving record of Hanover and western New Kent is a series of ledger books for a merchant named Thomas Partridge, which mention hundreds of residents for the periods 1736-1738 and 1756-1757, but no Rountrees. 

Purchased additional land in Goochland for his sons

On 14 November 1757 he was “William Rowntree Senr.” of St. Paul’s Parish of Hanover County when he purchased an additional 700 acres in Goochland County on Beaverdam Creek, just west of the Mill Creek land.15  The following day he gifted this second parcel in two equal parts of 350 acres to his sons William Rountree and Randall Rountree, describing the reason in each case as “especially for the father-like love which I bear to my son…”.16

William Rountree had apparently sold his Hanover County land to Hooper in late 1763 or early 1764.  The vestry record assigning the processioners precinct on 30 November 1763 refers to the land as William Rountree’s, but the processioner’s return of 29 February 1764 called it “the land of William Roundtree transferred to Thomas Hooper”.17   That he sold his entire holding is evident from his will a year later, when no Hanover county land was devised.

For more than a decade, William Rountree thus appears to have owned land in both Hanover and Goochland counties, though perhaps only a few miles apart.  Which county he may have lived in is uncertain, though his will implies that he lived in Hanover for at least the latter part of that period.   His ownership of the Goochland County parcel since 1749 suggests that one or more of his elder sons may have occupied it in the interim.

Moved to Goochland County, opens an Ordinary

It isn’t clear exactly when he moved into Goochland County, but it appears to have been in the early 1760s.  A William Rountree, probably his son, was appointed supervisor in a Goochland County road order in 1760 for a road that bordered the son’s property.  But William Rountree Sr. must have been in Goochland when his daughters Betty and Dorcas were married there in 1761 and 1763.

On 18 October 1763 he was granted a license to operate an Ordinary at his house in Goochland County.18  A list of bills due to the ordinary were among the items listed in the inventory of his estate.

Will and death in 1765

His will was written on 1 October 1765 and witnessed by an adjoining landowner.19  He apparently died soon after, for an inventory of his estate was dated in December 1765.20   The will itself was not proven until nine months later, on 16 September 1766, when both it and the inventory were recorded.  The will does not mention a wife, who evidently predeceased him, and is signed as William “Rowntree.”

Having already provided land to sons William and Randall, and apparently having provided for his son Dudley in some unrecorded fashion, he left his 700-acre parcel in Goochland to three,  presumably younger, sons.  The land is described as lying on Middle Creek, which was then the name of what had earlier been Mill Creek and is today Dove Creek, and was the same land he had purchased in 1749.  He left 200 acres, one slave and five cattle to his son Richardson Rountree, 250 acres and a slave to his son Thomas Rountree, and the manor plantation with 250 acres and a slave to his son Turner Rountree.  His sons “Randall”, William, and Dudley each received a slave.  His son William Rountree Jr. was also given £10 “as recompense for tending me in my sickness in Hanover Co.” and five cattle.  His daughter Molly also was given compensation “for her kindness during my sickness”.   Legacies were also given to a daughter named Betsey Bailey and her daughter Molley Bailey;  to Drury Murrell and grandson John Murrell; to daughter Isebell and her six Goldsmith daughters; to daughter Dorcas; and to daughter Drusiller Haden. William Rowntree, Turner Rowntree, Randall Rowntree and “my loving friend” Stoakes McCaul were named executors

The inventory of the estate included eleven slaves, a copper still, a parcel of books, 7 horses,  23 cattle, 17 sheep, 55 hogs, 60 geese, a variety of household and farm equipment and a list of accounts receivable by his Ordinary.21

Children of William Rountree

The will and subsequent estate records identify the following children.   I have assumed that the three younger sons to whom he devised land were named in birth order and that the three elder sons to whom he bequeathed slaves, were also named in birth order.  Other than Dudley, their birth years are guesses.  The five daughters birth years are simply wild guesses.

  1. Randol Rountree (c1725 – 1788)   His given name is uncertain, but he mainly styled himself as “Randol” or “Randal”.  He may have been the eldest child, though the evidence is flimsy.  He is the first of the children to appear as an adult in the records, and it seems likely that he occupied the land his father bought in 1749.  On 3 November 1753 he was already a resident of Goochland County, when he bought 50 acres adjoining his father’s 1749 purchase.22  The tract included a dwelling house, and can accurately be located on Genito Creek just south of the Hanover County line.23   On 14 November 1757, his father gifted him another 350 acres from his purchase the day before.24  Surely Randall was already married by this time, but his marriage apparently predated the arrival of Rev. William Douglass and is not recorded.  He received a “negro wench named Nan” in his father’s will. His daughter Rebecca, evidently of age, married Robert Wade in early 177125 and a few months later he gifted his son-in-law Robert Wade with 100 acres of the land he’d been given by his father.26 He may have had more than one wife for it was more than ten years later that he gave permission for the marriages of three minor children: his daughter Sarah’s marriage to John Dennis on a bond dated 9 January 1782, his daughter Mary’s marriage to John Gordon on a bond dated 17 August 1783, and his son John’s marriage to Lucy Gordon by bond dated 19 February 1786.

    His wife was named Elizabeth when, on 24 May 1785 he sold 53 acres of his land to his son-in-law’s father  John Gordon.27 In October 1786 he advertised in the Virginia Gazette that the “land whereon I live” consisting of 350 acres was for sale, describing it as 18 miles from Richmond with brown soil “very good for tobacco or wheat” with “1,000 fruit trees which will produce 3-4,000 gallons of cider.”28  He had already sold 100 of the 350 acres given to him by his father, so it isn’t clear exactly what this parcel was, but there is no deed of sale recorded in Goochland County.

    His own will in Goochland County was dated 15 September 1788 and proved on  20 October 1788.29   It provided a lifetime estate to his wife (who was not named but presumably was Elizabeth) and distributed his estate among two sons  John Rountree and Randal Richardson Rountree, three daughters Mary Gordon (wife of John Gordon), Elizabeth Curle (wife of John Curle), and Rebecca Wade (wife of Robert Wade) and two granddaughters Jenny Wade and Polly Dennis.  His daughter Sarah Dennis, who had married John Dennis in 1782, was apparently deceased.

  2. William Rountree (? – Aug/Sept 1775)  His birth year is uncertain.  He was not the same 34-year old William Rountree who served in 1757 in the French and Indian War, though some descendants insist on claiming so.30  However, it is conceivable (but unlikely) that he was the William Rountree “Junr.” mentioned in the Blisland parish record of 1741 cited above, placing his birth at 1720 or earlier.31  Other records of the son William are scarce, though it could be that some processioning records in Hanover County apply to him rather than to his father.  He first appears in Goochland County in 1757 when his father made the deeds of gift of 350 acres each to his sons Randall and William.32  He is apparently the William Rountree who married Jean Fenton in adjoining Henrico County on 4 November 1759.33   He received a slave in his father’s will, plus £10 “as a Recompence for his Tending me in my sickness in the County of Hanover,”   He died in Goochland County ten years after his father, leaving a will dated 18 August 1775 and proved on 16 September 1775 which named  five children, all of whom were evidently minors, but did not mention a wife.34  He left his plantation to son Thomas Rountree, and divided his other lands between sons Samuel Rountree and William Rountree but specified that “my Children shall be kept and live together on my plantation and as they come of age each one to have their legacy paid unto them but while they are under age my Estate to be kept together.”  The remainder of his estate was to be split among the three sons and “my two daughters” Jane Rountree and Nancy Rountree.  He named his “brother Randolph (sic) Rountree” one of the executors, but Randol died before completing the job; the estate  was finally settled in 1793 by Randol Rountree’s own executor.   Three of the five children were quite young, as an accounting of the estate mentions the expense of “boarding three small children” in 1776.  The son William Rountree was apparently the one who applied for a Revolutionary pension in 1833 from Henrico County, giving his birth date as 3 January 1763.35. The daughter Jane Rountree married John Brown in 1788.
  3. Dudley Rountree (4 January 1729 – 1812)  The only child whose birth was recorded at St. Peter’s parish, he also received one slave from his father’s will.  We have no record of his receiving land from his father, and it is unclear whether he lived n Hanover County, Goochland or elsewhere as we have no other record of him prior to his father’s will.  He is said to have married Susannah Roberts.  He appears in Bedford County, Virginia as early as 1771, but began acquiring land in Kentucky by 1793 when he received the first of several grants.  Descendants say he died in Hart County, Kentucky in 1812.  His children were Samuel, Nathaniel, Dudley, Henry, Susan, Nancy, and Mary.  According to descendants and pension applications, the children were born between 1756 and roughly 1770.
  4. Richardson Rountree (c1735 – March 1819)  See separate page.
  5. Isabella Rountree (c1736? – ?)  She was the wife of William Goldsmith, perhaps married prior to William Douglass’s 1750 arrival in the parish.36  William Rountree’s will made a bequest to “my daughter Isebell and her children” and separately left to granddaughters Martha, Massie, Lewsy, Eliza, Lewsender and Milley Goldsmith 15 shillings each to be made into rings and delivered to each of them when they reached the age of 15. The will does not give Isabella Rountree’s surname, but we assume that the Goldsmith grandchildren were hers.  It is clear that William Goldsmith was their father, as he claimed the legacy for his children.37

    Some descendants have assumed that her husband was Richard Goldsmith based on what seems flimsy evidence.  A grandson of the William Goldsmith who married Isabella’s niece Elizabeth Rountree reported in 1902 that his great-grandfather was Richard Goldsmith.38  He wrote that his grandfather William Goldsmith married his “cousin” Elizabeth Rountree.  That has led to the conclusion that Richard Goldsmith was the husband of Isabella, a conclusion clearly disproved by Goochland probate records.  It is not known how Isabella’s husband William Goldsmith might be related to the William Goldsmith who married her niece, but they may not have been father and son.

  6. Dorcus Rountree (c1740? — by1765) She married Drury Murrell 29 September 1763, in what might have been his second marriage.39 The marriage bond dated the preceding day identifies her as the daughter of William Rowntree.40. This was apparently her husband’s second marriage, for the Douglas Register contains a 1758 entry for his marriage to Judith Sampson.))   The marriage bond in Goochland County, dated the previous day, identifies her as the daughter of William Rountree.41   Her father’s will left a slave girl to be delivered to Drury Murrell and delivered to his son John Murrell, Rountree’s grandson, upon reaching the age of 21.  His daughter “Darcas”, not otherwise identified as Dorcas Murrell, also received a legacy, which was paid to Drury Murrell in 1768.42  Drury Murrell apparently joined several of the other children in South Carolina, appearing in the 1790 Union County census near Turner and Richardson Rountree.
  7. Elizabeth Rountree (c1740? – by1783)  Called “my daughter Betsey Bailey” in her father’s will, she had married Callum Bailey on 4 June 1761.43   The marriage bond dated the previous day, also identifies her as the daughter of William Rountree.44  William Rountree’s will left a negro girl to be brought up by Betsy Bailey and delivered to her daughter Molly Bailey when Molly either reached 18 or married.  John Bailey, another grandson, was to receive a bequest upon reaching the age of 21.  The 1768 estate accounting paid a child’s share of the estate to “John Bailey b his guardian”.45  Callum Bailey’s will, dated 9 August 1783 and proven 8 February 1787 in Albemarle County, mentions his son John Bailey and “thirty Pounds which was left to him by his grandfather Roundtree.”46  No wife is mentioned, Elizabeth evidently being dead.  The will names several children, some of whom appear to be by a wife previous to Elizabeth Rountree:  William, John, Charles, Callum, Ann Perkins, Ann, Mary, Nancy, and Fanny (the latter two the youngest).
  8. Thomas Rountree (c1740? – c1815)  We can infer from his father’s will that he was a younger son, but was of age in 1765.  He received a slave, land, a feather bed and furniture from his father’s will.  He married Letitia Barnard on 6 July 1767 in Albemarle County.47  They appear in Fluvanna County (formed from Albemarle) in the state census a few years later and, as  residents of Rutherford County, North Carolina, in 1791 they sold land in Fluvanna.48   According to descendants, they shortly thereafter moved to Kentucky where Thomas died about 1815 in Warren County.  Their children are said to have included John, Green F., Jesse, William, James, Holly, Susan, Elizabeth, Drucilla, and Sally.
  9. Turner Rountree (c1742? – 24 December 1797)  William Rountree’s will left “my manor plantation”, slaves and furniture to Turner, who was apparently of age but unmarried.  He married Sarah Woodson on 25 August 1766 in Goochland County.49  The births of two children in 1769 (Woodson) and 1771 (Molly) are recorded in the Douglas Register.  He sold most of his inherited land in 176950 and the rest in 177651 and joined his brother in South Carolina.  He and his brother Richardson appear on a jury list for what would later become Union District.52  On 6 March 1780 Turner purchased 200 acres and a dwelling house “whereon the said Turner Rountree now lives” on Fairforest Creek in Union District.53   Within a few months he was serving with his brother Richardson in Col. Thomas Brandon’s regiment.  He and his son Woodson are listed consecutively in the 1790 census, with Henry Birdsong nearby.  He bought nearby land from Thomas Brandon in 1795, which he gifted to his son Woodson Rountree in 1797.54   His will in Union County was dated 24 December 1797 (the date of his death according to testimony of the witnesses) and proved on 1 January 1798, and mentions his unnamed wife and four children.55  The children were “my two sons”  Woodson Rountree and William Rountree, and daughters Molly Blassingame (the wife of Thomas Blassingame) and Sally Birdsong (the wife of Henry Birdsong).  His widow Sarah was given a life interest in the eight slaves and plantation which was left at her death to William.  Although the will named the sons as executors and they were sworn, they must have resigned for Sarah provided an administrator’s bond on 3 September 1799 and recorded a sale of the residual property a month later.56. , they were not of age and Sarah was appointed administrator of the estate.57. She is in the 1800 census of Union District with three males (a mystery) and 8 slaves.  Woodson Rountree, who maintained his own household in 1800, had married Jane Brandon, daughter of Thomas Brandon, and apparently removed to Alabama about 1815, settling for a while in Madison County very near his cousin William, the son of Richardson Rountree.58  His brother William Rountree, apparently considerably younger, remained in South Carolina until 1830, then disappears.
  10. Mary (Molly) Rountree (c1745 –1813) was apparently unmarried when her father made his will, calling her simply “Molley”.  As Mary Roundtree she bought 150 acres in northern Goochland County from Thomas Whitlock on 17  November 1767.59. . She married William Whitlock a few weeks later on 22 December 1767.60  They also removed to South Carolina, where William Whitlock left a will in Union County dated 26 November 1804 and proved 23 May 1805.61 The will named Molly executrix and provided a dollar each to son John and daughters Nancy and Betsey.  Daughters Molly, Sally and Polly received more substantial legacies as did daughter Molly’s “three first children” William, Nancy, and Betsey.   No married names were given.  Mary Whitlock left her own will dated 26 April 1813 and proven a few weeks later on 5 July 1813.62  It made bequests to daughters Nancy Faucett, Betsy Long, Polly Bentley, and Sally Ray; to William and Nancy Long, children of Polly Bentley; granddaughter Sally Bentley; and Polly Faucett Bentley (relationship not stated).
  11. Drucilla Rountree (17 February 1748 – 17 February 1781) She was “Drusiller Haden” in her father’s will, having married Anthony Haden on 14 July 176563   Anthony Hayden either was living in adjacent Albemarle County at the time, or would shortly move there.  Druscilla died on the above date and Anthony Hayden remarried to Mary Ann Crenshaw a few months later, according to a Bible record.64  According to a book on the family, Anthony Hayden had six children by Drucilla:  Jane Haden (9 January 1768 – ?), Elizabeth Haden (4 December 1769 – ?), John Haden (25 January 1772 – 22 September 1842), Turner Richardson Hayden (13 November 1773 – 1 September 1812), Hendley Hayden (27 September 1776 – 1865), and Rebecca Hayden (1 December 1778 – 21 November 1838).65

 

  1. Virginia Patent Book 7, p80.  I should note that headlight certificates were routinely bought and sold, so we can’t know whether the Roundtrees were imported by Charles Turner or even if they were imported into New Kent County. []
  2. “County Militia records taken from Public Record office, London” Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck, Virginia’s Colonia Soldiers (Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988), p218. []
  3. British Records oFFice , transcibed in numerous publications. []
  4. The Vestry Book of Blisland Parish, New Kent and James City Counties, Virginia, 1721-1786, G. C. Chamberlayne, (1935), pages 21, 33, 37. []
  5. The Vestry Book of Blisland Parish, New Kent and James City Counties, Virginia, 1721-1786, G. C. Chamberlayne, (1935), p77. []
  6. A William Rountree used as a headright in 1684 may not have still been alive in 1741. []
  7. The Vestry Book and Registry of St. Peters Parish, New Kent and James City Counties, Virginia 1684-1786, G. C. Chamberlayne (1937), p489. []
  8. Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1727-1740, p13. []
  9. Goochland County Deed Book 5, p555. []
  10. Goochland County Deed Book 6, p342. []
  11. Virginia Grant Book E, p893.  This is a state grant renewal of a portion of a crown grant in 1718 to John Johnson.  It mentions the same “pine corner to Charles Johnson and William Rountree” which was described in the deed from Charles Johnson to Randall Rountree. []
  12. The (original) Vestry Book of St. Paul’s Parish 1706-1786, p250.  The precinct in question was comprised of the same list of landowners in 1739 and 1743, with William Rountree being added in 1751 and a man named John Garrat (Jarrett) disappearing — perhaps William Rountree had bought Garraet’s land. []
  13. “Processioning” was a peculiarity designed to avoid boundary disputes caused by faulty surveys and the removal of landmarks.  A Virginia law passed in 1662 required each parish to organize groups of local landowners into small precincts to “goe in procession”, or walk the property lines, to examine and renew the boundaries.  The law required this to be done every four years between September and March. []
  14. The (original) Vestry Book of St. Paul’s Parish 1706-1786, p276, p308, p337.  See also G. C. Chamberlayne,  The Vestry Book and Registry of St. Paul’s Parish, Hanover County, Virginia 1706-1786, p319, p350, p386, p423. []
  15. Goochland County Deed Book 7, p206. []
  16. Goochland County Deed Book 7, p202-6 []
  17. Original Vestry Book, p337, Chamberlayne p423. []
  18. Goochland County Order Book 9 1761-1765, p237. []
  19. Goochland County Deed Book 9, p38-39. []
  20. Goochland County Deed Book 9,p39-40. []
  21. Goochland County Deed Book 9, p39. []
  22. Goochland County Deed Book 6, p342. []
  23. The seller, Charles Johnson, described the land as a patent to him (Virginia Patent Book 14, page 466) and the land he then lived on.  The patent description locates the land fairly precisely. []
  24. Goochland County Deed Book 7, p202-6. []
  25. W. Mac Jones, ed., The Douglas Register, p85. []
  26. Goochland County Deed Book 10, p143. []
  27. Goochland County Deed Book 14, p183. []
  28. The Virginia Gazette, issue of 25 October 1786, p4. []
  29. Goochland County Deed Book 15, p166. []
  30. See separate page for more on this subject. []
  31. If “Junr” was our William Rountree, then some elder William Rountree “Senr.” must have still been alive.  A William Rountree used as a headright in 1684 who was a militia member in 1700 may not have still been alive in 1741.  Even if imported as a young teenager, he would have been in his mid seventies by 1741.  Thus we have to consider the possibility that the “Junr.” was not our William Rountree, but rather his son, though we have no other records suggesting that the son was old enough to be an adult in 1741. []
  32. Goochland County Deed Book 7, p202-6. []
  33. Jones, Douglas Register, p4. []
  34. Goochland County Deed Book 11, pp133. []
  35. Pension file #S6028. []
  36. The Rev. William Douglass did not become minister of St. James Northam parish in Goochland County until 1750. He did not begin recording marriages until 1753 and did not begin writing the “register” until 1756.  However, he inserted earlier marriages performed by him as well as births for parents who wanted them recorded. []
  37. Goochland County Deed Book 9, p154. []
  38. Historical Collections of the Joseph Habersham Chapter, D.A.R., (Blosser Printing Co., 1902), Vol. 2, p148-153.  William T. Goldsmith, the informant, called his grandfather “Daniel” rather than Richardson Rountree.  However, he seemed certain that his great-grandfather Goldsmith’s name was Richard and that he lived in or near Richmond, Virginia. []
  39. Jones, The Douglas Register, p7. []
  40. Goochland County Loose Marriage Bonds, also abstracted in The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 2, p104. []
  41. Goochland County Marriage Bonds, The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 2, p104. []
  42. Goochland County Deed Book 9, p154. []
  43. Douglas Register, p6. []
  44. Goochland County Marriage Bonds, also abstracted in The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 2, p101. []
  45. Goochland County Deed Book 9, p154. []
  46. Albemarle County Will Book 3, pp24. []
  47. Douglas Register, p9. []
  48. Fluvanna County Deed Book 2, p481.  The deed says the land was conveyed by Col. John Payne, who had died in 1784, so the purchase must have occurred before that date. []
  49. William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 15, No. 1, p29. []
  50. Goochland County Deed Book 9, p188 []
  51. Goochland County Deed Book 11, p139. []
  52. The Jury Lists of South Carolina 1778-1779, Hendrix & Lindsay, ed., (1975) p80, p102.  Turner and Richardson Rountree appear consecutively on both the grand jury list and the petit jury list, both dated sometime after February 1779, for the Spartan Division of 96 District which included what was later Union County []
  53. Union County Deed Book A, pp148. []
  54. Union County Deed Book D, p284 and  p553. []
  55. Union County Will Book A, p82-4. []
  56. Union County Probate Records, Box 2, File 45. []
  57. Union County Will Book A, pp97. []
  58. Woodson Rountree was still in South Carolina for the 1810 census, but obtained a grant in Madison County (now Alabama) on 22 February 1810.  He sold his land in Union County to his brother William on 10 September 1810. []
  59. Goochland County Deed Book 9, p113. []
  60. Jones, The Douglas Register, p85. []
  61. Union County Will Book A, p184. []
  62. Union County Will Book A, p289. []
  63. Jones,  The Douglas Register, p24 and p85. []
  64. Kentucky Ancestors, Vol. 3, No. 4, “Records from Family Bible of Captain Jack Jouett” []
  65. John Haden of Virginia: His Parents and Some of His Descendants, Dorothy Kabler Haden  (Adams Press, 1968). []