General Notes

[James H. Maloney.ged]

[Ancestors of Rachel & Eric Porter.FTW]

Although no official record has been found which names the parents of Hannah, wife of Giles Carter, a convincing accumulation of evidence indicates that Hannah was a daughter of James Crewes and a Native American woman.  This conclusion is supported by the following evidence.

1.  Contemporaneous records indicate that Hannah, wife of Giles Carter, was a daughter of James Crewes.
(a)  The ages of James Crewes (born about 1623) and Hannah (born about 1652) are consistent with a father-daughter relationship.
(b)  James Crewes was present in the vicinity of Turkey Island, Henrico Co., Virginia, during 1651--the probable location of, and year before, Hannah's birth.
(c)  When Giles Carter exhibited James Crewes' will in court, he was exercising the traditional responsibility of a testator's next-of-kin.
(d)  James Crewes' bequest of a plantation for life to both Giles Carter and Hannah, considered in the context of an era of limited female property rights, indicates the connection between James Crewes and the Carters centered upon a special relationship between James Crewes and Hannah.
(e)  James Crewes provided in his will for the Carter family as a father provided for his children and grandchildren, naming and leaving large bequests to each member of the Carter family.
(f)  The featherbeds and blankets, which James Crewes bequeathed to the Carter daughters, were personal gifts traditionally reserved for immediate family members.
(g)  Since James Crewes chose not to openly state in his will that Hannah was his daughter, for the same reason, he also would not openly state in his will that Giles Carter was his son-in-law.  Therefore, James Crewes' reference in his will to Giles Carter as "my loving friend" does not contradict the evidence that Giles Carter was James Crewes' son-in-law.
(h)  No contemporaneous records indicate a master-servant relationship between James Crewes and the Carters, so James Crewes did not provide for the Carters because of an indenture.
(i)  No contemporaneous records indicate a business alliance between James Crewes and the Carters, so James Crewes did not provide for the Carters because of a business agreement.
(j)  When James Crewes wrote his will, he was a newly elected representative of the county of Henrico--together with Nathaniel Bacon--in the Virginia House of Burgesses; and he also was embarking upon a life and death struggle against the policies of Governor Sir William Berkeley.  The absence of any provision for James Crewes' friends and compatriots in "Bacon's Rebellion" indicates that James Crewes did not provide for the Carters because of mere friendship.
(k)  A convincing accumulation of evidence, cited above, indicates that James Crewes was Hannah's father.  James Crewes' reluctance to openly state in his will that Hannah was his daughter indicates an unusual aspect to their relationship, which is better understood in light of the following additional evidence.
2.  James Crewes may have married Margaret Llewellyn after August 10, 1654, when Margaret witnessed a deed signing her maiden name, and before May 1, 1662, when Margaret witnessed a will signing her married name, "Margaret Crewes."  If so, then Margaret must have died before James wrote his will on July 23, 1676.  But, such a marriage would have occurred too late for Margaret to have become Hannah's mother in 1652.
3.  The attorney for the executor of James Crewes' estate testified that James Crewes "left no widow or lawful child."  The attorney's inclusion of the word "lawful" implies that James Crewes left an "unlawful" child--one who was born outside of wedlock.  This, in part, explains why James Crewes was reluctant to openly state in his will that Hannah was his daughter.  The other part of the explanation comes from general information about white/non-white relations in Colonial Virginia as well as from specific information about James Crewes' associations.
4.  The social consequences in Colonial Virginia for a white man having a child outside of wedlock depended upon the mother's heritage and status. Fines and corporal punishment were clearly defined and strictly enforced for free white men and white women--whether servant or free, who had a child together outside of wedlock.  However, fines and punishment were virtually non-existent for free white men and non-white women--if the woman was not the wife or servant of another, who had a child together outside of wedlock.  So, since contemporaneous evidence indicates that Hannah was James Crewes' "unlawful" daughter, yet no court records document the conviction and punishment of James Crewes and Hannah's mother for this transgression, Hannah's mother must have been a non-white servant of James Crewes.
5.  Since the daughter of an African American slave in Colonial Virginia probably would not own an African American slave, and James Crewes willed a "Negro maid" to Hannah, it is unlikely that Hannah's mother was African American.
6.  Since James Crewes "kept Indian servants," Hannah's mother could have been Native American.  With other alternatives eliminated this mere possibility becomes a virtual certainty.
7.  James Crewes acted kindly in his will toward his Native American servant, Tero, by giving him, beginning three years after Crewes' decease, his freedom, one cow, one sow, and "as much land as he shall tend for him and another during life."  When compared with the absence of a similar provision for James Crewes' English indentured maid, who owed James Crewes or his heirs three more years of service, this act of kindness toward Tero demonstrates a disposition toward Native Americans which is consistent with the evidence that Hannah's mother was Native American.     Many, many sources indicate that Hannah was Hannah Crewes, daughter of James Crewes (see entry for him). This is incorrect. "Giles Carter of Virginia a Genealogical Memoir" by General William Giles Harding Carter, Lord Baltimore Press, Baltimore MD, 1909. NO where in the book does it state that Giles' wife "Hannah" was nee CREWE.  Giles and James CREWE were just very good "friends." p. 7:161   James Crewes was a participant in Bacon's Rebellion, against the colonial government, which had failed to protect the settlers on the Potomas and the Rappahanock from the marauding Indians, which had terriorized the plantations of Henrico Co., for several years. He was tried during the court martial at Green Spring, and sentenced to death.
Source not stated:  Petiton to Court: That Capt. James CREWES, late of this county, dec'd, left no widow or lawful child. Whereas Mr. William SHERWOOD, attorney of Rowland Place, Esq., attorney of Matthew CREWES, Gent., nephew of said James, and son of Francis CREWS, one of the brothers of said dec'd, and Lt. Col. Thomas GRENDON, as attorney of Sarah WHITTINGHAM (als. CREWS, and niece of said James CREWS and sole daughter of Edward CREWS, older brother of James CREWES) did at Court at Varina 1 Dec. 1680 make suit that a commission of administration might be jointly granted to them. The court appoints said SHERWOOD and GRENDON administration of the estate, and they are to produce an inventory. Recorded 21 Dec. 1680

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