Line 16.1 John West, Southern Friends and Loved Ones

John was squarely, firmly Church of England. Yet he married a woman who became a Quaker, in spite of her father’s destine for that church. How this affected John is not recorded but he must have struggled in some way with the differences in his own and his wife’s faiths.

John West was born 08 April 1638 St. Dunstan, Stepney, London, England, son of Anthony and Anne West.

Married Matilda Scarborough was born about 1643 in Accomac, Accomack Co., Virginia the daughter of Edmund Henry Scarborough and his wife Mary Littleton (see line 15.2 for children)

Died May 27, 1703 in Accomac, Accomack Co., Virginia

John West began to collect land at the young age of 18. On 23 Dec 1650 he required 1600 acres in Northampton, Virigina. Ten years later on 3 Nov 1660 he gain 800 acres of land. His wife, Matilda was “granted” 250 acres which became John’s because of “marrying with the said Scarburgh”. By 1663, he moved his family to Accomck County, Virginia where in 1670, he and his brother-in-law Charles Scarborough were granted land on an island in Chesapeake Bay. From a 1713 patent issued years after the deaths of  Charles who died in 1702, and John who died in 1703, we can guess that the island was Tangier.

John West was a busy man. He farmed his island land. He was a carpenter and shipbuilder. He was a commissioner for Accomack County, Virginia in 1662, Justice of the Peace from 1663 to 1702, High Sheriff of Accomack Co. in 1664 and 1667 and a member of the House of Burgess in 1680. From 1665-1703 he was a Captain then a Major and finally a Lieutenant Colonel in the state militia. John may have been  the John West Major serving under General Berkely during the Bacon rebellion and suffered great losses in property. If so he was captured and imprisoned for a while as well. The Bacon Rebellion started when a group of settlers, lead by a wealthy planter named Nathnaiel Bacon, protested against the Indian raids. Governor Berkely allowed the Indians to remain enraging the settlers. Both poor white and poor black farmers united to fight against what they felt threat they felt from both the native population and Governor Berkely. The Indians, at least for a time, were allowed to remember but poor old Berkely was recalled to England.

John West wrote his will 3 Februaty 1702/3. It was proved 2 August 1703. The Snead Bible records " Lieut. Coll. John West died May 27, 1703" John’s will named his wife Mathilda and their six sons (Anthony, Alexander, Jonathan, Bennony, John the elder and John the younger) and seven daughters (Catherine, Anne, Mary, Scarburgh, Mathilda, Frances and Sarah) as well as other relatives, included grandchildren.

A busy man indeed was my ancestor John West. He fought rebellions, claimed large portions of land, built ships and raised a large family. On top of all that, he worshiped in the Church of England while his rebellious wife became a Quaker. I can feel assured that their relationship, while certainly differing on theology, remained warm in that they had a large family over nearly twenty-seven years. John left Matilda well off and well provided for. She survived him by over sixteen years, probably being cared for by her children and her “friends” in the Quaker Church.

***SOURCES***

1. [CR] http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~genea/westant2.html "Descendants of Anthony West" by Carolyn Rozelle

2. [AWJV] http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~genea/westant.htm "Anthony West, James city, Virginia" from Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia 1607-1625

3. [WFCF] http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~genea/westberry.html "West Families from Colonial Families of U.S."

4. [PSA] RootsWeb.com "Pam Shelton-Anderson Gedcom"

5.  [CMG]  http://www.esva.net/ghotes/scarb "Descendants of Edmund Scarborough" from Cynthia McDaniel, Ghote

6. [JWW] Will of John West, 1703

7. [RB] http://freepages.genalogy.rootsweb.com/~barlow/west.html West family lineage, Ralph Barlow, Northampton Virginia

8. [LCJW] "Ancestors of Lt. Col. John West" Internet, http://www.freepages.family.rootwebs.ancestry.com/~streetancestors/290.html

Line 16, Anthony West, Church of England Royalty?

Many genealogists have tried to connect Anthony West to Thomas West, 2nd Baron De La Warr or Lord Baltimore for whom the city of Baltimore is named, although I haven’t found a firm connection, the possibility is very promising. The connection, if true, may also lead back to Henry VIII through his supposed illegitimate daughter, Catherine Cary, who was the daughter of Mary Boleyn, sister to Henry’s second wife the Anne Boleyn who was the mother of Queen Elizabeth II.

Anthony West was born about 1605 somewhere in England

Married the widow Anne Huffe (possibly of Anthony Huffe) who married 3. Stephen Charlton. Anthony West and Anne Huffe were married 11 March 1632/33 at St. Dunstan, Stepney, Middlesex, England.

Their children were:

1.      Katherine West born 09 January 1634/35 in Stepney, Middlesex, England. She died 1700 in Accomac, Accomack Co., VA. She married Ralph Barlowe, the son of Edward and Joan Barlowe.

2.      Anne West born about 1636  in Stepney, Middlesex, England and died 1684 in Accomac, Accomack Co., VA. She may have married Charles Scarbough, brother of Matilda who married Anne’s brother John.

3.      John West born 27 May 1703 in Stepney, Middlesex, England and died May 27, 1703 in Accomac, Accomack Co., VA

4.      Anthony West born and died November 1641 in Stepney, Middlesex, England.

Died 25 May 1652 in Northampton Co., Virginia

Anthony West was probably a younger son who lacked money and came to Virginia seeking a better and wealthier life for himself and his future family. If he was a part of the De la Warr family, he more likely a cousin then a child of the Baron, as none of the lists of children I have found include an “Anthony”. The evidence that Anthony was related to the De la Warrs includes the fact that he used the similar coat-of-arms as Lord Delaware’s, a coat of arms. A copy of the family coat-of-arms can be found on the gravestone of Anthony’s great-grandson, Charles. The arms are quartered with his wife’s. In English records dated around 1622 there is a record of an Anthony West receiving a coat of arms. Many young noblemen seeking adventure or riches in the New World wanted a recorded coat-of-arms when they left England. Since 1622ish fits into the timeline of our Anthony coming to the New World, and the coat-of-arms recorded is similar to the one on Charles West’s gravestone, there is a very strong possibility these are the same Anthony West. At this point the records haven’t revealed a positive connection between my Anthony and the Lord Delaware. Both coat-of-arms picture a "fesse dancettee, and the the three leopard's faces" and the only difference is a "martlet" in the cneter of the fesse on the English one but a star point above the fesse on Charles West's arms. The fact that Anthony came to early Jamestown where his supposed West relations also came and the noted coat-of-arms, does point strongly to some kind of family connection.

The adventurous Anthony West came to Virginia as a very young man in 1622 arriving on The James, living first at West and Sherlowe Hundred and then at “Mr. Treasurer’s Plantation” across the river from Jamestown. He settled in Northampton County and became a Lieutenant Colonel in the local militia. He returned to England before 1632 when he married Anne Huffe. Dated 10 March 1633/4, a marriage license signed by the Bishop of London reads: “Anthony West of ye parish of Stepney in the County of Midd[lesex] Surgeon and a batchr aged 28 years ... alledged that he intented to marry wth Anne Huffe of the fr said parish widowe aged 26 yeares the relict of Anthony Huffe.”

Anthony and Anne stayed in London long enough to have four children. Sometime before 1649, Anthony, with his family, returned to Virginia where 'Anthony West, Ann his wife, John West and Kath: West' were given a patent to settle on the “Great Nusewattock River.”

As noted on his daughter-in-law, Matilda Scarborough West’s story, John West followed the Church of England, so it is most likely that Anthony West did too. Unlike the New England settlers who did immigrate in order to practice their faith, the men and women who came to Virginia did so for economic reasons or for the adventure. They tended to be “good” Englishmen and woman who followed the King’s religion. I tend toward feeling that since his son married the daughter of a man who was rather a zealot for keeping the “King’s Church” as the Church of Virginia, that he must have been at the least a frequent attendee of that church.

He died 25 May 1652 [CR / RBNV] His will was written 12 Oct 1651 [AWJV] and proved 25 May 1652 Northampton, E names his wife Ann and issue, John and Katherine [RBNV] Anthony made a will 12 October 1651 in Accomack/Northampton. It was recorded 25 May 1652 (Marshall Wills: 31). An abstract of his will reads: WEST, ANTHONY - 12 October 1651 / 25 May 1652 - My son John West extr. And my wife [no name] and daughter Barloe to have their thirds out of my estate, and my son John to have the rest. And his mother to have the managing of it during her widowhood, but if she married then my son John to enjoy his estate (if it be before he comes of age). No administrator nor overseer to have anything to do with my estate. [GMW]

My West line

Supposed ancestors in parentheses:

[Sir William Boleyn m. Lady Margaret Butler, daughter of Thomas Butler 7^th Earl of Ormond]

[Thomas Boleyn m. Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 2^nd Duke of Norfolk]

[Mary Boleyn m. William Carey and was mistress of Henry VIII, King of England]

[Catherine Carey (possibly the daughter of Henry VIII) m. Sir Francis Knollys]

[Anne Knollys m. Thomas West, 2^nd  Baron De La Warr]

[Sons were Robert, Thomas, Francis and John West, 3^rd  Baron De La Warr]

Anthony West married Mrs. Anne Huffe

John West m. Matilda Scarborough

Anne West m. William Sellman

Charles Sellman m. Elizabeth Gassaway

Margaret Sellman m. Joshua Hobbs

Anna “Nancy” Hobbs m. George Burkheart

Mary “Polly” Burkheart m. William Hopkins

Cynthia Hopkins m. Samuel Thomas Miller

Eliza Jane Miller m. Josiah Maltby

***SOURCES***

1. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~genea/westant2.html "Descendants of Anthony West" by Carolyn Rozelle

2. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~genea/westant.htm "Anthony West, James city, Virginia" from Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia 1607-1625

3.   http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~genea/westberry.html "West Families from Colonial Families of U.S."

4. http://freepages.genalogy.rootsweb.com/~barlow/west.html West family lineage, Ralph Barlow, Northampton Virginia

6.   cbrown@swko.net, Liberal, KS (per Diane Powers)

7.   Gail M. Walczyk, "Anthony West" http://www.easternshoreheritage.com/descendants/descendants_jamestowne_West_anthony.htm

8.      Marriage license signed by the Bishop of London, Dated 10 March 1633/4

9.    Rootweb WEST-L Archives EileenGen@aol.com Subject: More on Anthony West 

  Date: Sat, 3 Jan 1998