Hines Family - 17th Century Virginia

This is a short narrative on the Hines family early life in America. It is a culmination of about five years of reviewing the 17th and 18th century records that were also researched by four other family members at various times during the last hundred years. It is not intended to be a comprehensive work on our lineage; unfortunately there are irreconcilable gaps in the 17th Century records. Additionally I have attempted to keep the story of America the primary focus with all of the family names suppressed in the interest of clarity. Please enjoy!

On top of Marl Hill

About a week ago several friends and I visited Marl Hill (pictures attached) overlooking the Nottoway River on the border of Sussex/Southampton County in Virginia. This was the second visit to this Southside Virginia site which offered a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside unlike any location in the two counties. This is where the early members of the Hines family lived. Slightly rephrasing that last statement, it’s more accurate to indicate here that for the majority of us, our documented past begins here. From the top of Marl Hill, we viewed the vast tracks of woods and fields before us that make up this majestic forested Virginia countryside. Harkening back in time to the year 1735, we were inexplicitly replaced by two figures in 18th century clothing surveying the countryside. William Hines (1690-1760) and Samuel Blow (1710-1766) were both British Subjects with ancestral lines reflecting this. However, they each had an independent spirit instilled through over a century that their families have called this wilderness home. Viewing their five thousand acre plantations, the land was heavily forested with the exception of interspersed meadows cleared to make way for crops such as Tobacco, Virginia’s staple.

The Friendship arrives from London

Sam Blow recollected that his great grandfather arrived at Jamestown Island almost in their view some forty miles on the distant horizon on the ship Starr in 1610. Arriving on approximately the same spot nineteen years later, William recounted how his surname is an ancient one from 13th Century Suffolk, England. He mentions how his great grandfather was relieved to disembark from the ship Friendship, having a hull loaded full of sea water from the Atlantic Ocean as it docked just off Jamestown Island.

Eventually both families crossed the James River, weathering Indian attacks of 1622 and 1644 that killed substantial numbers of English settlers.

Bacon’s Rebellion, a two century friendship commences

In 1676 both families supported Nathaniel Bacon in his attempt to seize control of the Government led by Governor Sir William Berkeley. They burned Jamestown to the ground in September with Berkeley going into exile. Bacon died soon after and the rebellion was squelched.

Berkeley retaliated against the planters that joined Bacon by hanging the leaders, many of the planters moved farther inland to avoid Berkeley’s retribution. There are no indications when the Blow’s and Hines met, but it is likely occurred during this time period.

The Wilderness – the first documented generation

William Hines settled on the low land on the north side of the Nottoway River building the Poplar Grove Plantation, while Samuel planted Tobacco and other crops in the fields surrounding Marl Hill on land purchased by his ancestors from the London Company in the 17th Century. The plantation became known as Tower Hill. The British government restricted access to the Virginia Southside until 1705 when a treaty was signed with the Nottoway Indians. The Nottoway’s were situated below Marl Hill. It was an old and populous Indian village where the King of the great Nottoway Nation held its court, this is where his warriors tranquilly smoked their peace pipes, hunted the deer, while their squaws tilled the soft loam and raised tobacco and Indian corn.

When the Blow’s arrived, the Indians were forced onto two reservations known as the circle and the square. William and Sam would have a friendship that would last among the future generations of both families. William marries Elizabeth Gross about the year 1705; they went on to have at least eleven children, all receiving a portion of William’s vast plantation by 1760. William’s grandson William would eventually marry Blow’s granddaughter not far from this scenic spot. Their children would be educated at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. They would form relationships with such families as the Tyler’s with William’s great great granddaughter marrying the son of President John Tyler Jr. By 1735, the Nottoway’s were finding it hard to make a living hunting while restricted to the reservation lands. They petitioned the governor to allow them to start selling off portions of their land. William Hines was considered a respected member of the community; one of the Nottoway chiefs used his name on the deeds to consummate the sale of land to local planters including members of the Blow and Hines families.

Tobacco is King - the second generation

By the time of the birth of William’s first son John Hines (1712-1772), William had accumulated thousands of acres of land, mostly in Sussex County, used specifically for the highly successful cultivation of Tobacco. This land below Marl Hill would be the land that John would eventually inherit. John Hines married Elizabeth and like his parents they had a large family of at least nine children.

The Revolutionary War and the third generation

The second son of John, Joshua Hines (1750-1779) married Lucy Foster in 1775. They settled on land their father left him below Marl Hill. One year later, Lucy gives birth to the first of their two sons, Benjamin in the same year that the Declaration of Independence is proclaimed throughout the colonies. The slaves in their fields, the Nottoway’s, and other minorities would unfortunately have to wait Centuries to reap the benefits described in this historic document. As George Washington and the French tie the noose around the British hopes for victory at Yorktown, William and Martha Hines stored guns for his use in the cellar of their Poplar Grove Plantation. However, the price of freedom is high as they bury various family members and African Americans who participated in the war for independence. The Hines family cemetery, adjacent to their plantation, will be used for three Centuries with one of the last ones buried there, Mattie Tyler interred there in the 1920’s. A few years earlier Mattie described the fire that burned Poplar Grove Plantation to the ground. William Hines forms an alliance with Richard Blow, the grandson of Sam. Their ships seize British Merchant ships up and down the Atlantic Coast, providing the new nation with vital equipment and supplies, and themselves with substantial wealth. The Tower Hill plantation library is used by the children of Martha and William Hines. In the span of a generation, the Hines families evolve from illiterate planters. Samuel Blow, George, and William Hines become attorneys and judges. Their sister Martha and mother both teach in Williamsburg.

A new Nation is formed and a fourth generation begins

Joshua Hines died before reaching his 30th Birthday in 1779. His son Benjamin was only three years old at the time. Benjamin inherited Joshua’s land overlooking Marl Hill when he became of age. Benjamin Hines (1776-1829) married Elizabeth Simmons in 1797 and later Sarah Ann Simmons. They had seven children who also inherited land in this area.

A Constitution fitting for a fifth generation.

Benjamin Jr. (1807-1867) was born in Southampton near Marl Hill. He married Lucy Simmons in 1829. Soon after Nat Turner led a violent slave insurrection in Southampton County, they moved to North Carolina.