Sarah Blagdon
SERGEANT JOHN BLAGDON & FAMILY
By Mary Weeks Marshall
And Patricia Hennessy Weeks
Based on the fifty years of research done by Mary Marshall
© 1997
Our earliest known ancestor to settle in the New World was Sergeant John Blagdon. It is quite possible that Blagdon was living in Virginia as early as 1660.
The title of "Sergeant" tells us that he was probably part of the King’s Army. During Bacon’s Rebellion in 1667, John Blagdon was responsible for furnishing meat for the King’s troops. Since livestock of pigs and cows were scarce, Blagdon’s job was to hunt wild animals to provide necessary food supplies. On record is a bounty payment made to John Blagdon for the killing of 23 wild animals. Besides supplying food, he received payment for 12 wolf heads, wolves being a constant threat to both domestic livestock and settler.
John Blagdon owned land and a house on Mattox Creek situated in the Parish of Washington, Westmoreland County, Virginia. Impressions of him tend to display a forceful and rough, outspoken character; he is not the type one would describe as "gentleman".
John’s place of birth in England and parents, as well as the identity of his first wife, are not known. We do know that by his first wife John had two sons and two daughters. Both sons died in early adulthood. John Jr. was born around 1660 and died November 1681, for in the Order Book of Westmoreland Co on 30 November 1681 it was proved that John Jr. had verbally willed his estate to his younger brother, Thomas The father, John Blagdon, Sr., was made executor of the estate. Although he was only about 21 when he died, John Jr. had on record a betting loss of £500 tobacco on a horse race which had to be satisfied from his estate.The other son, Thomas, also died in his early twenties in 1691. It is possible that there were other children of John Blagdon. As for the daughters of this first marriage, there were two; Lydia and Elizabeth.
Lydia Blagdon, born around 1652, married Lawrence Abbington (or Abbingdon). They lived on land on the south side of Pope’s Creek in Westmoreland County. "Whitely" was the name given to their family home there. This land was sold in 1717 to Augustine Washington who built his own brick house on this land. It was here in 1732 that George Washington was born. Lydia and Lawrence had one known daughter, named Mary.
By 1681, John Blagdon’s daughters had married and he found himself alone with his two growing sons. He chose this time to marry, his bride being Sarah, widow of Samuel Griffin who, in 1677 during Bacon’s Rebellion, was referred to as Colonel Samuel Griffin. In 1680, Samuel Griffin and wife Sarah had filed suit against one Henry Kirk in Westmoreland County VA, but by July 1681, Samuel had died for Sarah was recorded as married to John Blagdon. It appears that no children were born from this first marriage of hers. By her marriage to Blagdon, Sarah had one daughter, born around 1682 or 1683, which they named "Sara", (the "h" being omitted).
Although blessed with this offspring, one wonders how blissful this marriage was. Both appeared to have been very strong characters, given to voicing their opinions too publicly, and both prone to taking advantage of situations. For instance, on January 28, 1679 a jury found that John Blagdon was guilty of a "high scandall" against a minister, Mr. William Butler, and his wife. For this Blagdon was fined £10,000 tobacco to be paid to Mr Butler for damages suffered. Furthermore, John Blagdon was ordered to "publicly acknowledge his error and ask forgiveness next churchday at Appomattox".
By July 1681 John Blagdon and Charles Porter quarrelled over ownership of a mare and her increase. The following October John was ordered to return this mare to Porter.
It was right around this time that John’s son, John Jr., died. Then another settler, a Darby McGrath, came forward to accuse John of stealing lands. The most curious happening of all in the fall of 1681 was when John Blagdon was summoned to court to testify to a letter written earlier, making his wife Sarah his power of attorney. He contended this was done without his consent, and this power of attorneyship was then nullified from the Order Book. It makes one wonder what Sarah, his wife, was attempting to accomplish.
In April 1684 William Hyatt brought suit against John Blagdon for work not performed, but the court ordered Hyatt to reimburse Blagdon for false accusations.
John Blagdon died sometime between April of 1684 and November 1685. On the 25th of November, 1685, Sarah Blagdon proved the will of her husband, John, by oaths of Caleb Butler and John Bennett. Sarah, made executrix of her husband’s estate, was kept busy defending the estate, running the plantation, and raising their daughter Sara, as well as her step-son, Thomas Blagdon. In February 1687, Sarah’s patience came to an end: she brought suit against one Symon Rutland for "injuries done to her of threatening language and endeavoring to kill her stock of hoggs". The court eventually dismissed the case.
In May 1688, Lawrence Washington, grandfather of George Washington, became angered with Sarah, claiming she ignored him to deal directly with a servant of his, a miller. Lawrence Washington had not opportunity to pursue this injustice further, for on July 26, 1688 is this entry into the Westmoreland County Order Book:
"The Court is credibly informed that Sarah Blagdon, widdow,
is missing and supposed by some accident dead, that her plantation
Is neglected, her corne spoiled, her servant run away. The Court
orders that Thomas Blagden, son of John Blagden, deceased, and
heir apparent to the estate of John Blagden, and William Booth, who
married one of the daughters of John Blagden, take upon them the
care and trust of Sarah Blagden’s estate and preserve it to their best
and utmost skill and if they bring in an inventory of her estate to the
next Court and Capt. John Lord is desired to have inspection into this
whole matter."
It was not until the September 1688 term that information was entered into the records providing us with more information concerning the "murther" of Sarah Blagdon:
"At the last court, the care of the estate of Sarah Blagden, who
is then missing, was committed to William Booth and John (sic)
Blagden, and now the Court being certainly informed that shee was
lately murthered and William Booth petitioning this Court that hee
might have the trust of the estate as alsoe of young Sarah Blagden,
the orphant, the Court grant the same provided he enter into bond.
Andrew Monrowe and Thomas Monjoy with William Booth doe assume
in £30,000 tobacco.
"By virtue of the Coroner’s inquest of July 29, 1688, Paul Williams,
Robert Palford and John Browne were supposed guiltie of the murther
of Sarah Blagden. The court order that the Sherriff or his deputies take
Paul Williams and Robert Palford (Browne being dead) and them safely
convey to James Cittie by the fourth day of the next Generall Court, alsoe
that you take the bodies of William Booth and Abraham Parker and convey
them down to the Generall Court is evidences concerning the murther of
Sarah Blagden."
Four horses were impressed to carry and guard the prisoners suspected guilty of Sarah Blagdon’s death, and the Court ordered that William Booth, trustee to the estate, pay Captain Lord £200 tobacco as salary for the inquest.
From all these various court records we can surmise that Sarah’s murder did not take place at her house, because it took a few days for her body to be found. The surrounding area was sparsely settled and heavily wooded, making her cries of help, if any, unsuccessful. If she fought with the men, was it possible that she killed John Browne? The missing servant also leads to the possibility that the servant was part of this evil plot.
The"orphant", Sara, age around five or six, was taken into the Booth household.
Her brother-in-law and guardian, William Booth, was made executor of the estate. William and Elizabeth had two daughters, probably much older than Sara.
On October 2, 1702 William Booth drew up his will. In this document Booth left his best featherbed and furniture, iron pots and best brass kettle as well as a 200 acre tract to his wife, Elizabeth. It was further stipulated that when Elizabeth died, this tract of land was to be given to their niece, Mary Abbington. To his friend, Alex Webster, he left a gold ring and silver box. To Webster’s wife he bequeathed three crownpieces containing five shillings sterling each. To another friend a small gun was given. And, "my sister-in-law Sara Blagdon, daughter of John Blagdon, deceased" was delegated to be the executrix of his estate. Also, she was to receive all his remaining goods. Sara was left the greater portion, leaving the wife Elizabeth the smaller part. The two daughters are not mentioned anywhere in the will. On December 9, 1702 on record is a mutual agreement between Mary (sic) Blagdon, executrix, and Elizabeth Booth that all goods, chattels, credits remain in partnership between Sara and Elizabeth with debts, legacies, maintenance of the houses and plantations etc, to be shared equally. An inventory was ordered on December 30, 1702 which amounted to £27,151 tobacco and the servant man, Robert Welch, mentioned earlier.
On October 28, 1708 Elizabeth Booth drew up her will naming her daughters Ann married to Thomas Grinstead and another daughter who had married Edward Mazingo. Nowhere in this will is mentioned her half-sister, Sara Blagdon. From this omission it is assumed that Sara and Elizabeth had a division of the estate of William Booth, probably when Sara married Joseph Weekes.
Sometime between December 1702 and December 1703 Sara Blagdon married Joseph Weekes. Sara and Joseph had two children: William, born around 1704, and Sarah, born around 1705. Sara (nee Blagdon) died very early, and Joseph Weeks married again, to Mary Pope, the daughter of an early established family in Virginia.
By Mary Pope Joseph Weeks had three more children; Benjamin, Jane and Mary. Joseph died in January 1716 in Westmoreland County VA leaving his two children of the first marriage, namely Sara and William, under the guardianship of his friends Mark Cullam and Nathaniel Pope. It is this son, William Weeks, that is the ancestor of our Weeks branch.
It is likely that Joseph Weekes was buried in the graveyard at Church Point, the "lower church" on the banks of the Potomac River. This area has since been washed away by the changing flow of the Potomac. As late as 1940 the bricks of the church as well as the gravestones and bones could be seen in the waters of the Potomac. It is quite likely that the graves of John and Sarah Blagdon were also at this place.