Or, Subtitled: Drugget, Shalloon, and Hanks of Silk, Execution of an Enslaved Man, and a Father Disinheriting His Son
Having completed a series of postings discussing the children of James Whitlock (abt. 1718 – 1749) and Agnes Christmas of Hanover and Louisa Counties, Virginia — Charles, James, Mary (Jones), Ann (Austin), Thomas,[1] and Nathaniel — I’m moving back a generation to share my (sparse) information on their father James Whitlock (abt. 1718 – 1749).
Or Subtitled: “[My will] and desire is that the Estate above mentioned shall be Equally de[vided between] my loving Wife Agness Whitlock and her Six children”
Thomas Whitlock was born in St. Martin’s parish, Louisa County, Virginia, around 1745. Or so I have deduced by putting a number of pieces of information together and asking what they tell me about Thomas’s probable date of birth. Figuring out birthdates of people born in the Southern states (and colonies) prior to the 1850 federal census, which first began providing specific ages of those enumerated, is notoriously challenging. Good luck at finding a family bible or a church baptism or birth record in most cases. If you’re fortunate enough to know exactly where someone — this is usually a male, since women unfortunately often do not appear in official documents — was living when he came of age and began appearing on tax lists, that’s one good way to get a fairly accurate fix on a year of birth. Otherwise….
Begats and Bequeathals 