Quaker Myth
The early Womack were not Quakers
Actual American Womack Quaker records are here.
The notion that early Virginia Womacks in the late 1600s were Quakers likely comes from a misreading of this quote describing the early Quakers, circa 1757, of South River Monthly Meeting, in Halifax County, Virginia:
"The first members of the [South River] monthly meeting were old stock Quakers for the large part, of English extraction from the tidewater section of Virginia, especially Cedar Creek and Henrico Monthly Meetings. Among the first names appearing in the books are: Hendrake, Johnson, Kirby, Neal, Candler, Lynch, Terrell, Clark, Moorman, Echols, Payne, Collins, Farmer, Roberts, Womack, Caldwell and Ayrs."
Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, by William Wade Hinshaw, 1950, Volume 6 - Virginia, p.293.
People have assumed that because the first sentence in the quote mentions that some of the first member of South River Monthly Meeting originated from Henrico Meeting House, in Henrico County, Virginia, and the second sentence mentions the Womack name, that the Womacks of early Henrico Co, VA were Quakers. Note that the author says "for the large part", which means most, but not all. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Volume 6 - Virginia abstracts all extant early Quaker records from Virginia. Of the surnames the author lists at the South River Monthly Meeting, many, but not all, can be found in the abstracted records of Cedar Creek and Henrico Monthly Meetings, which are in the same volume. However, Womack does not appear in the abstracted records of either Cedar Creek or Henrico.
In my opinion, the two sentences are unrelated. The first sentence mentions that a portion of the first members of South River were from older congregations in the Tidewater region, and the second sentence lists the surnames of some of the early members.
The only Womack associated with the Quakers in colonial times was Isham Womack, who joined South River Monthly Meeting in Halifax Co, VA in 1758, along with his niece, Elizabeth Womack Cawthon (Cothran or Cothron in the Quaker records). Isham subsequently left the Quaker in 1763 for marrying a non-Quaker woman.
The only other mentions of the Womack name in Virginia Quaker records are:
1816, Upper Monthly Meeting - 1816 Paul Sears fined by Peyton A Womack constable. Upper Monthly Meeting included the area of Prince George Co, VA, where Peyton A Womack lived; however, Peyton A Womack was not a Quaker, rather he was a constable who fined a Quaker in 1816. Quakers were often fined for offfenses like not attending mandatory militia meetings, which Quakers objected to, being pacifists.
A few Womack marriages records from Bedford Co, VA and Campbell Co, VA in the late 1700s and early 1800s. These marriage records were included because they did not list a pastor or reverend, so they might be Quakers, but probably were not.
The extant records of Henrico Monthly Meeting House begin on p.145 of Volume 6, and the author mentions this congregation covered the area of Henrico Co, VA where the Womacks lived, now Chesterfield Co, VA. Also, it mentions that the Quaker Meeting in Henrico was established before 1699, but that extant records exist only from 6 June 1699 (p.148). This was long after the time of the first William Womack, who died prior to Oct 1677. Still, from the the extant records of Henrico Monthly Meeting House, no Womacks are mentioned.
Furthermore, Henrico Co, VA Court records from the 1680s and 1690s do mention Quakers who were persecuted for their beliefs; the Womacks were not among them. Rather, Womacks were mentioned for behavior that would be considered disqualifying for the Quakers, including drunkenness, swearing and gambling.
Thus the early Womack were not Quakers.
Note that this myth has been combined with the myth that Womacks of Virginia descend from, or are related to, the ecclesiastical family of Womacks related to Bishop Lawrence Womack. In this fantasy, the progenitor of the Virginia Womacks became a Quaker, thus breaking with his family who were clergymen of the Church of England; he subsequently emigrated to America for religious freedom (which did not really exist, since the Quakers of colonial Virginia were also persecuted). This is all utter nonsense