BEGATS AND BEQUEATHALS

The Case of the Ship’s Passenger List for Bridget Tobin Ryan and Her Children

This genealogical Murphy’s law goes something like this: Every new breakthrough on a genealogical puzzle that has long vexed you will come with a brand new puzzle to solve. So it was when, at long last, I found what I’m absolutely certain is the ship’s passenger list of my 2-g-grandmother Bridget Tobin Ryan as she brought her three children to New Orleans in March 1854 to join her husband Valentine Ryan, who had arrived from Ireland in New Orleans on Christmas day 1852. I discussed this exciting finding, the passenger list, in a previous posting.

As that posting says, I have “always” known that Valentine Ryan left County Kilkenny to come to America about two years earlier than his wife and children did. I knew this because my grandmother and her three brothers who were still living as I grew up told me this. Their mother Catherine was the youngest of the three children Bridget brought to New Orleans in March 1854, and she told them over and over the story of her coming to America with her mother Bridget and siblings Margaret and Patrick.

But for a long time I could not find a ship’s passenger list documenting the arrival of Bridget and the three children in America. I also do not have a ship’s list for Valentine. I know of his arrival in New Orleans on Christmas day 1852 since he states this on the declaration of intent to become an American citizen he filed in Clarke County, Mississippi, on 10 October 1854. In this declaration, he states that he had arrived in New Orleans on Christmas day 1852. The passenger lists for the port of New Orleans on that date are lost.

When at long last I discovered that the passenger list of the James Nesmith, which arrived in New Orleans on 21 March 1854, shows among passengers from Ireland who had boarded the ship in Liverpool a Bridget Ryan aged 35 with children Mary, 13, Patrick, 6, and Catherine, 4, I concluded that these Ryans are almost certainly my Bridget and her children Margaret, Patrick, and Catherine. The names, ages, and birth order of the children are very close to the information I have about these family members from other sources. And they arrived in New Orleans, where I knew my family first entered America, in exactly the right time frame to fit my family stories about the arrival of my Bridget and her children in America.

But there’s a wrinkle. Not only does this ship’s list give Margaret’s name as Mary, but it has Bridget arriving in New Orleans with a James Ryan who appears to be her husband. As the posting I linked above explains, I have no idea who this man is or why he’d appear as Bridget’s husband on this ship’s list. Yet for all kinds of compelling reasons, I’m very sure this ship’s list documents the arrival of my Bridget and her three children in New Orleans, where they rendezoused with Valentine Ryan. The stories I heard about this event as I was growing up said that Val didn’t know exactly when Biddie and the children were going to arrive in New Orleans, and as they disembarked and started walking down the street, there he was heading towards them. “The luck of the Irish,” my family said as they told this story.

So that genealogical Murphy’s law: a wonderful breakthrough in my research was complicated by new problems in the document that provided this breakthrough. And now I’m going to tell you about a similar recent discovery in which an exciting breakthrough re: a puzzle I’ve long tried to solve introduces a brand new problem.

The Case of the Will of James Brooks, 1779, Frederick County, Virginia

Recently, using FamilySearch’s new experimental full-text search feature, I found a document that bowled me over. In Frederick County, Virginia’s, Chancery Court Order Book 17 (1778-1781), p. 251, I find the following statement recorded for the court session of 2 November 1779:

The Last Will and Testament of James Brooks Deceas’d was proved by the oath of Meredith Helm one of the Witnesses thereto and Ordered to be for further proof. And on the motion of Mary Brooks Executrix and Thomas Brooks the Executor therein named who made oath thereto certificate is granted them for obtaining a probate therof in due form giveing security whereupon they with security entered into and acknowledged Bond conditioned as the law directs.

Ordered that Meredith Helm Francis McCormick Robert Black and John Lindsey or any three of them after being first sworn do appraise in current money the Slaves (if any) and personal Estate of James Brooks Deceased and make Report thereof to the Court.

This is an exciting find. James Brooks is my long-sought ancestor, the husband of Mary Brooks, who is the earliest ancestor I’ve been able to trace in my Brooks family line. As this previous posting states (and also see here), Mary made a will in Frederick County on 9 July 1786, which was proven 4 April 1787.[1] The will names Mary’s four daughters, all married, and her two sons: Mary Hollingsworth, Elizabeth Rice, Sarah Asdill/Ashdale, and Susanna Haynes; and Thomas and James Brooks. It’s clear that all these children were adults when the will was made. The will and Mary’s estate records make no mention of her husband, which suggests that he had predeceased Mary. The will names Mary’s son Thomas, the older of her two sons as other records show us, as her executor.

As the postings linked in the previous paragraph stated before I revised them in light of the new information I’m sharing here, I had previously been unable to trace this Brooks line further back than Mary Brooks, and had not identified Mary’s husband. For a long time now, in my FTM file for Mary and her family, I have recorded the name of Mary’s husband as (James?) Brooks. I thought it was likely that Mary’s husband was named James since that name was used to name one of her sons, and Mary’s son Thomas named his first son James.

As the November 1779 court record shows, a James Brooks died testate in Frederick County – the same county in which Mary Brooks died testate before 4 April 1787 – and his will was presented to court by his executrix Mary Brooks and executor Thomas Brooks. As I’ve just noted, Mary Brooks’ July 1786 Frederick County will named a Thomas Brooks as her older son and as her executor, and also named a son James.

Reasons to Conclude that James Brooks Was Husband of Mary Brooks, Who Died in Frederick County in 1787

Though the court record regarding the probating of James Brooks’ will does not tell us this, I think it’s reasonable for us to conjecture that the Mary named as James’ executrix is his wife and the Thomas named as his executor is his son. In other words, I think there’s strong reason to conclude that the James Brooks dying testate in Frederick County by 2 November 1779 is the husband of the Mary Brooks who died testate in the same county by 4 April 1787, with her will naming her son Thomas and making that older son her executor. And I think it’s reasonable to conclude that the Thomas Brooks named as son and executor in Mary’s will is also the executor named in James’ will.

There’s more: the November 1779 court record appointed as appraisers of James Brooks’ estate Meredith Helm, Francis McCormick, Robert Black, and John Lindsey. The court record also tells us that Meredith Helm witnessed James Brooks’ will and proved it in court. As this previous posting indicates, numerous indicators place the family of Mary Brooks in the Long Marsh section of Frederick County that fell into Clarke County at that county’s formation in 1836.

Moreover, the posting I’ve just linked states that Thomas Brooks – the same Thomas named as Mary Brooks’ son in her will – is enumerated on Frederick County tax lists from 1782 to 1791. The 1782 tax list shows Thomas in Captain William Nobles’ tax district.[2] Go to that 1782 tax list and then read through the names (arranged according to the first letter of the surname) of those taxed in this district in 1782, and you’ll find all the names of those appointed to appraise James Brooks’ estate in November 1779 except for Robert Black. Meredith Helm, Francis McCormick, and John Lindsey all lived in Captain Nobles’ tax district of Frederick County in 1782 along with Thomas Brooks.

As the posting I’ve linked above suggests, the reason Thomas Brooks shows up as the head of the Brooks family being taxed for his family’s property prior to the death of his mother Mary by 4 April 1787 is that the family’s property was in his hands as the male head of the household, and continued in his hands following his mother Mary’s death. If the James Brooks who died testate in Frederick County by early November 1779 is the father of the Thomas Brooks his will named as executor and if that Thomas is the son whom Mary Brooks named in her will and made her executor, then we can conclude, I think, that by 1782, Thomas Brooks’ father had died and Thomas was functioning as head of his family’s household, as the older male member of the household.

And there’s more to be said about the men the Frederick County court appointed in November 1779 to appraise James Brooks’ estate: as has previously been noted, the Francis McCormick (1734-1794) appointed as an appraiser had a son William McCormick (1768-1819) who married Elizabeth Rice (1775-1808). Elizabeth’s parents were George Rice (1735-1792) and Elizabeth Brooks (1747/1750 – 1816). Elizabeth Rice is named as a daughter in Mary Brooks’ 9 July 1786 will in Frederick County.

As has previously been discussed, when Francis McCormick’s father Dr. John McCormick (1698-1768) acquired a tract of 456 acres on Long Marsh Creek in Frederick County on 8 July 1760, the survey and grant records show this land adjoining George Rice’s father Patrick Rice (1691-1799) and Thomas Lindsey (1720-1769).[3] Thomas Lindsey was one of the Lindsey patriarchs of the Long Marsh settlement in Frederick County, according to Susan Grabek.[4] As Susan also shows, Thomas had a brother John Lindsey. I think this is likely the John Lindsey appointed to appraise James Brooks’ estate. John McCormick sold the 456 acres he acquired on Long Marsh next to Patrick Rice and Thomas Lindsey to his son Francis McCormick in 1763. A 2 April 1751 Northern Neck grant to John Lindsey for 750 acres in Long Marsh in Frederick County shows his tract adjoining Patrick Rice along with Col. George William Fairfax.[5]

These interlocking pieces of information about early Long Marsh settlers allow us to conclude with fairly good certainty, I think, that the James Brooks dying in Frederick County by early November 1779 lived in the Long Marsh portion of the county, and that the court appointed neighbors Francis McCormick, John Lindsey, and Meredith Helm appraisers of James’ estate for that reason – with Francis McCormick’s son William then marrying Elizabeth Rice, daughter of George Rice and Elizabeth Brooks, in Frederick County on 10 January 1795.

As to the Meredith Helm who witnessed James Brooks’ will and proved it in Frederick County court on 7 November 1779, I cannot tell you much with certainty, because of the welter of confusion I find in various accounts of this Frederick County family. The confusion exists in part because there were multiple men with the name Meredith Helm living in Frederick County in the mid-1700s and for some decades after that.[6] A number of accounts of the Helm family say that a Meredith Helm whose father was Leonard Helm died in Frederick County prior to June 1756, leaving a son Meredith who died in Frederick County in 1768 with sons named Thomas and Meredith. According to Thomas Kemp Cartmell, the Meredith Helm who died in 1768 was a justice of the county’s first court in 1743 and sheriff in 1753.[7] Cartmell says that this Meredith Helm owned plantations in what later became Clarke County. His sons Thomas and Meredith were of age in 1768 when they administered the estate of their father the elder Meredith, who died intestate. Cartmell says that Thomas married Elizabeth Neill and his brother Meredith married Margaret Neill.

If Cartmell’s information is correct, I’m inclined to think that the Meredith Helm witnessing James Brook’s will was the son of the Meredith Helm who died in 1768 owning land that later fell into Clarke County, as did land held by the McCormick and Rice families. As I say this, I want to underscore, though, that such research as I’ve been able to find on the Helm family offers conflicting accounts of this Frederick County and the men named Meredith in the family, and I may be making a wrong deduction about which Meredith Helm witnessed James Brooks’ will.

The Missing Will of James Brooks

All well and good: we know from the 7 November 1779 court record that a man named James Brooks died testate in Frederick County before that date and his will was brought to court for probating by his executrix Mary Brooks and executor Thomas Brooks. So our next step will be to turn to the will books of Frederick County to find that will. Right?

But when I take that step, I find that the will is not there. I can find it nowhere in Frederick County will and probate records. Nor do I find any further mention of this will, of its probate, or of James Brooks’ estate in any court or probate records following the 7 November 1779 court minutes telling us that Mary and Thomas Brooks brought James Brooks’ will to court to be probated and Meredith Helm proved it as a witness.

As strange as this may sound, I’ve had no choice except to conclude that the will of James Brooks, which we know existed since it was presented to court on 7 November 1779 by Mary and Thomas Brooks, was not ever fully probated or recorded in Frederick County. Note two critically important statements in the 7 November 1779 court record above:

1. After Mary and Thomas Brooks presented James Brooks’ will to court and Meredith Helm proved it as a witness, the will was “Ordered to be for further proof.”

2. And though Mary and Thomas Brooks made oath as executrix and executor and a certificate was granted them for obtaining probate of the will, that certificate was not finalized then and there, but they were to obtain probate of the will “in due form.”

The probate of James Brooks’ will was, in other words, not finalized at the court session on 7 November 1779 when the will was presented to court. The court ordered that further proof be made of the will than the testimony Meredith Helm offered as witness. And it granted probate to Mary and Thomas Brooks provisionally; the probate was to be finalized “in due form.” There was perhaps some question about the validity of this will, and it appears that its probate was never finalized and the will was never recorded. And this explains why I have not ever found any mention of this will in years of searching, as I tried to find the name of Mary Brooks’ husband. For whatever reason, the will seems not to have been recorded.

So a wonderful genealogical breakthrough: after many years of searching for the name of the husband of my proven ancestor Mary Brooks, who died in Frederick County, Virginia, by early April 1787, I have at long last found a court record stating that a James Brooks who is, I’m very sure, Mary’s husband, died testate in Frederick County before 7 November 1779, with Mary as his executrix and Thomas Brooks as his executor. Long missing pieces of the puzzle suddenly fall neatly into place in my family tree.

But the court record that allows me to put those puzzle pieces in place also introduces a huge new wrinkle, a brand new problem: no record of said will exists. And I have every reason to think the will was not fully probated and recorded.

So a cardinal rule of genealogical research: Every long-hoped-for breakthrough will come with a maddening new twist and puzzle. It’s maddening to know that this will existed – there’s clear proof of that – and that it named James’ wife Mary as executrix and their older son Thomas as executor. But also maddening that it appears never to have been recorded!

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[1] Frederick County, Virginia, Will Bk. 5, p. 158.

[2] Frederick County, Virginia, 1782 personal property tax list; original is in Library of Virginia, digitized copies are available at the Family Search site.

[3] Northern Neck (Virginia) Grant Bk. K, p. 177.

[4] Susan Grabek, “The Lindseys of the Long Marsh, Virginia: ‘The Patriarchs,’” at the Lindsay Surname DNA Project Group 2, “The Lindseys of the Long Marsh, Virginia” website. Susan is coordinator of the group of Lindseys classified as group 2 in the International Lindsay Surname DNA Project.

[5] Northern Neck (Virginia) Grant Bk. G, p. 477.

[6] On this, see Irene Helm, “Re: Meredith Helm Sr./Jr., Frederick Co., VA,” at the Helm Surname Forum of Genealogy.com, 23 May 2002.

[7] Thomas Kemp Cartmell, Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and Their Descendants: A History of Frederick County, Virginia (illustrated) from Its Formation in 1738 to 1908 (Winchester, Virginia: Eddy, 1909), pp. 470-1.