jamestown – Loganalogy- Your Family Historian

Surviving Shipwrecks and Enduring Captivity: A Family Legacy

When I watched an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featuring actress Allison Janney, I was captivated by her journey tracing her ancestor Stephen Hopkins. Hopkins survived a shipwreck on the Sea Venture in 1609 and found himself stranded in Bermuda. The ship’s name, Sea Venture, nagged at me as I watched. It sounded so familiar, as though I had encountered it before. Sure enough, a dive into my family history revealed an incredible connection. Here is the story of my ancestry and the Sea Venture!

“Historic Voyage, Sea Venture and Consorts at Sea 1609,” a 1984 oil painting by Deryck Foster

The Fateful Voyage of the Sea Venture

The Sea Venture, also known as the Third Supply, was the flagship of a fleet carrying six hundred passengers—including men, women, and livestock—to the struggling colony at Jamestowne. On July 23, 1609, a hurricane separated the Sea Venture from the rest of the fleet. After four harrowing days, the ship began to take on water. Miraculously, it wrecked between two reefs on the island of Bermuda, allowing all 140 passengers to disembark safely.

Among the passengers was Stephen Hopkins, Allison Janney’s ancestor. The Hopkins family’s survival story was remarkable, but my personal connection to the Sea Venture lay elsewhere.

My Ancestors and Jamestowne

Tracing my lineage through my great-grandmother Wescott’s line brought me back to Jamestowne. For historical context:

“In June 1606, King James I granted a charter to the Virginia Company to establish an English settlement in North America. By May 14, 1607, settlers landed on Jamestown Island to establish a colony 60 miles from the Chesapeake Bay.” (Source)

This leads us to Alice, my 11th great-grandmother, whose last name remains unknown. Alice’s first husband was Thomas Pierce, both born in England around 1585. Together, they had a daughter named Elizabeth. To understand Alice’s story, it is crucial to delve into Thomas Pierce’s history.

Thomas Pierce: A Life of Service and Tragedy

Thomas Pierce arrived in Virginia aboard the Margaret, which set sail in September 1619. He held a distinguished position as the Sergeant at Arms for the first legislative assembly in Virginia, which convened on July 30, 1619.

Pierce established a plantation south of Martin’s Hundred along the James River. On March 22, 1622, tragedy struck during the Indian Massacre of 1622. This violent conflict arose from tensions between colonists and the Powhatan people, exacerbated by the colony’s relentless expansion for tobacco cultivation.

Thomas, his wife, child, two other men, and a French boy were reported killed at the plantation. Thomas appears to have been a relative of Lt. William Pierce of the Sea Venture (1609), who served under George Yeardley, Captain of the Governor’s Company of soldiers. Williams’ daughter, Jane Pierce, was the third wife of John Rolfe (who was also on the Sea Venture), the guy who married Pocahontas.

Survival Against the Odds

Despite the devastation, Alice and her daughter Elizabeth somehow survived. It is believed they were among 20 captives taken by the Powhatan and later ransomed after about ten months in captivity. Identified survivors included Mrs. Boyce and Jane Dickenson, both widows of men killed at Martin’s Hundred.

The Bennett Connection

Alice later remarried Richard Bennett Sr. of Isle of Wight, VA, my 10th great-grandfather. It’s important to note that this Richard Bennett is often confused with another man of the same name, a governor of Virginia from 1652-55. The two Richards, while contemporaries, are from different lineages.

The internet is rife with misinformation about the Bennetts, often conflating the two families. However, careful research through sources like Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers: A Biographical Dictionary, 1607-1635 by Martha W. McCartney has helped clarify the facts.

The following is transcribed from Colonial Records of Virginia, R.F. Walker.

View the documents, “The Original Lists of Persons of Quality” edited by John Camden Hotten, 1874 at https://www.jamestowne.org/1623-lists-of-living–dead.html.

At Mr. Thomas Pierce’s House over against Mulberry Island.
Master Tho: Pierce,
his Wife,
his Childe,
John Hopkins, (could he be related to Ms. Janney’s Stephen?)
John Samon,
A French Boy.

Named by the first colonists for its dense population of wild mulberry trees, Mulberry Island shows up in some of the earliest maps of Virginia, as well as the writings of Capt. John Smith.

Related image — Courtesy National Park Service, Colonial National Historical Park

The following is a paragraph wildly spread on the internet but has been proven false by many history sites such as Chauco (Chanco) Virginia Indian.

In fact, it is more realistic to believe what is written on Historynet’s website:

These female colonists, perhaps 20 in all, were virtually the only captives taken by the Powhatans in the uprising. Few details of their ordeal have survived, and information about their lives is almost nonexistent. In fact, we may never know if they shared the fascinating, if often horrifying, adventures of more well-known Indian captives in American history. It is certain, however, that these women witnessed the violent deaths of neighbors and loved ones before being abducted; that they lived with their enemies while the English ruthlessly attacked Indian villages in retaliation; and that they received no heroes’ welcome upon their return to the colony.

From the Jamestowne Society’s website are names of “Qualifying Ancestors”.

The Richard Bennett above is not my Richard. Thomas Bennett is mine and the father of my Richard Bennett (not listed), the son of Alice and Thomas and half-brother to Elizabeth.

Records were destroyed in the Civil War, so nothing more is known about Thomas except what was found in the will of Anthony Barham, who was one of Elizabeth’s husbands. Because of this will, we can trace his descendants.

You can read more about their neighbors and relatives and how they all connect in the Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia: A History of the County … By John Bennett Boddie.

Richard Bennett, Jr., my 9th great-grandfather, was born June 1, 1644, in Isle of Wight, Virginia. He married Ann, last name unknown, and they had five children. Again, you can read about all five in the above link.

Will of Richard Bennett Jr. made on March 3, 1720

Isle Of Wight County, Virginia
March ye 3rd Day 1720 In the Name of God Amen. Rich’d Bennett in ye upper parish of Isle of Wight County in Virginia being sick & weak in body yet in perfect memory thanks be to God for it Do therefore do make this my Last Will & Testament as followith-first I Commit my soul to God our Heavenly Father trusting to be saved by Jesus Christ our only Saviour and my body on Earth to be Decently Buried & as for my worldly Goods I bestow as followith
I Give and bequeath unto my son Richd Bennett to him & his heirs lawfully begotten of his body two hundred acres of Land & over it being Land where on my Son Richard now lives
I give & bequeath unto my son James with ye other two hundred acres of Land where on he now lives. I lay to him & to his heirs lawfully begotton of his Body forever it is a Coveyance of four hundred acres of Land I bought of Mr John Coffers pattin of Land being fourteen hundred & fifty acres
1 Give & bequeath unto Jane Coffer & her two sons Rob Coffer & John Coffer to them & their heirs Lawfully of their body for ever my plantation and land whereon I now live I lay to them & to their heirs for ever it being part of Land Which was bought formerly of Mr Wm Miles
I Give and bequeath unto Jane Coffer a small trunk & a Gold Ring and a Great Iron pot
I Give & bequeath to Rich Coffer my Long Gun
I Give & bequeath to Magdalen Coffer one Great pewter Dish and one Great Basin
I Give and bequeath to Francis Manggum my Gran Daughter a feather Bed & all ye belongs to it 2
I Give and bequeath unto my Daughter Silvester a Couple of Dishes & a Couple of plates
furthermore I do appoint Jane Coffer & Wm Allen to be my full and whole Exct to pay my Debts & to Receive what is owing to me & when these my Debts being paid ye rest of my Goods within Doores and outDoores to be Equally Divided amongst my Children
Desiring this my trusty friends Jno & James Carter to See this my Last Will & testament fulfilled In Witness here of I sett my hand & Seal Rich’d R Bennett (Seal)

Richard Jr.’s daughter, Ann Bennett, married John Cofer circa 1699, my 8th great-grandparent. You can continue this line by reading my previous blog post, The Cofer Legacy: A Journey Through Generations.

Inside the fort at Jamestown, in the cellar seen just below the back wall of a stone foundation, archaeologists found a pendant that dates to the Virginia colony’s earliest years. A seventeenth-century church tower and the 1907 tercentenary obelisk are also seen. ~website at history.org

Reflecting on Family History

Discovering my connection to the Sea Venture and Jamestowne has been an exhilarating journey. It’s incredible to imagine the resilience of my ancestors, from surviving shipwrecks to enduring captivity, and their role in the early days of America. Their stories are not just tales of survival but of strength and determination, echoing across generations to inspire us today.

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Malebysse to Beckwith- 25 Generations (Logan Family)

UPDATED 3/2021: There is speculation about how our Beckwith line connects with the Yorkshire Beckwiths. More research is needed. Beware of “The Beckwiths,” Paul Edmond Beckwith, Albany, 1891. This genealogy, which contains a totally fabricated English lineage, is filled with errors, has a son Benjamin2, who never existed, and was thoroughly debunked in “The American Genealogist” articles by Simeon Fox. This genealogy is not recommended by the Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sir Hugh de Malebisse (Malbisse, Malebysse, Malbis), one of the Norman knights who accompanied the Conqueror to England and served in the Battle of Hastings, is my 25th great-grandfather. That’s right, 25th!

“Sir Hugh de Malbisse held lands (in Yorkshire), time of William the Conqueror” is all the Domesday Book says about him. (The Domesday Book or “Book of Winchester” is a manuscript record of the “Great Survey” of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror.) Since he was a Norman, he must have had a fair complexion and a tall height. When he fought in Hastings, he wore “a leather coat of tough bull hide.” According to the book “The Beckwiths” by Paul Beckwith, the leather coat would have had metal rings sown upon it, just touching each other. The coat and breeches would have been one piece with a casque of metal at the breast gilded and painted. He would have had gloves of leather and sheepskin covering his legs. He must have been a formidable figure in 1066 A.D.

He married Emma de Percy, daughter of Henry de Percy of Acaster. (There is a lot of confusing information in different books on who this Emma married. Some say she married Hugh’s son, Richard. Others say she married a William.) I am more inclined to believe the original writers of history, such as the Madox, Hist. of Exchequer, i. 316, which states that the first Hugh was married to the daughter of Henry de Percy.

Madox was a legal antiquary and historian known for his publication and discussion of medieval records and charters, particularly his History of the Exchequer, tracing the administration and records of that branch of the state from the Norman Conquest to the time of Edward II. It became a standard work for the study of English medieval history. He held the office of historiographer royal from 1708 until his death.

Hugh had three sons. Richard, Hugh (2), and Galfred. This Hugh (2) is our direct line. He married first, Emma de Bray. I am not finding much on this, Hugh. His brother, Richard, seems to take up much of the glory, or in this case, scandal. More on him later. Hugh’s (2) will be proven in the third year of the reign of King Stephen, 1138. Galfred gave all his land to God and became the first Prior at the monastery of Newbo of Lincolnshire in 1142.

By the way, Richard, whom I mentioned before, was an interesting, cruel fellow. He was a justiciar, held Acaster in 1176, and was a forester for Yorkshire (Madox, i. 316). But then things changed for dear ‘ole Richard.

He was one of the leaders in the savage attack on and massacre of the Jews at York in 1190 (Will. Newburgh, i. 321, Rolls Ser.) As a punishment for his share in this outrage his lands were seized by the king. Malebysse appears to have been a supporter of Earl John, and in consequence he was one of those who were excommunicated by William de Longchamp in December 1191 (Hoveden, iii. 153). In 1193 he paid a fine of twenty marks for the recovery of his lands till the king’s return, and eventually paid six hundred marks for full restoration (Madox, Hist. of Exchequer, i. 473, 483). Richard Malebysse

Evidently, he owed many debts to “the Jews” and was known as “the Evil Beast’. On hearing the news of the southern outbreaks, he and various members of the Percy, Faulconbridge, and Darrel families determined to seize the opportunity to wipe out their indebtedness. One hundred and fifty Jews were killed. The entire Jewish community was wiped out! More can be read in the Jewish Encyclopedia.

However, after about ten years, Richard is back.

After the accession of John, Malebysse comes into some prominence. In June 1199, he, or it may be his brother Hugh, was sent as an envoy to Scotland to William the Lion to demand homage. In July 1200, he had a license to fortify Wheldrake Castle, but the permission was withdrawn at the request of the citizens of York. In May 1201, he was sent on a mission to the king of Scots to ask him to defer his answer to Northumberland until Michaelmas (Hoveden, iv. 91, 117, 163–4). Malebysse was a justice itinerant for Yorkshire in 1201 and next year sat to acknowledge fines at Westminster. In 1204, he was employed to enforce the payment of aid. He was keeper of the forests of Galtres, Derwent, and Wernedale. He died in 1209.

We must take the bad with the good in our family history.

Back to my direct line. Hugh (2) and Emma had Simon. He was lord of Cowton in Craven, England, and married a daughter of John, Lord of Methley. I do not know much about Simon either. More research needs to be done.

Simon had Hercules de Malebysse. Hercules married Lady Beckwith Bruce, daughter of Sir William Bruce of Uglebarnby and heiress of an estate named Beckwith. He retained the Malbisse escutcheon (his coat of arms) and assumed Beckwith as a surname during the period when surnames were being adopted in England. Beckwith was the name of his wife’s estate. So, the Beckwith surname was passed down. At this time, they still use “de Beckwith”. Lady Beckwith and Hercules had Nicolas de Beckwith born in 1260. He married a woman by the last name of Chaworth, but nothing more is known.

Nicolas and his wife had Hamon in 1294. Hamon married a daughter of Sir Philip Sydney. He was the first of the family to drop the use of the particle “de” in the surname. Hamon and Anne had William in 1316. William and “unknown” Usfleet had Thomas. Thomas and “unknown” Sawley had Adam. He married (second) Elizabeth Malebisse, widow of John Heringe. His children were all by his first wife, name unknown. His first wife and he had William. William married a daughter of Sir John Baskerville, a descendant of English and French ancestry, who traced his lineage to the Emperor Charlemagne (don’t we all).

I’ll run through our line in this paragraph as I know the names; I just haven’t researched them. William and his wife had Thomas, who died in 1495. Thomas had Robert, who had John, who had Robert, who had Robert. This Robert made his will on October 6, 1536, and died before March following. Robert had Marmaduke Beckwith in 1567.

In 1597 he sold Clint and purchased Fetherstone and Aikton (or Acton). Among his numerous children was William Beckwith, the founder of the Virginia line of Beckwiths, who landed in America in 1607. He sailed from England in the ship “Phoenix” and arrived with Captain John Smith at Jamestown, Va. (I’ll be researching this little gem!)

This immigrant ancestor and progenitor of the Beckwiths of New England and those branches of the family, which are offshoots of the New England lines, was born in England about the year 1610. The history of his life from when he came to America is somewhat obscure.

He is found early in Hartford, Conn. Here, he bought the homestead of William Pratt, one of the original proprietors of Hartford, in 1645. About 1652, he was in the same colony at New London and Lyme, his land lying in both towns. It is judged from the size of his real estate holdings that he was a man of considerable wealth.

He was able to give land to his sons liberally, and it is recorded that in 1675, thirty acres of additional land were granted to him, all of which he gave to his son, Joseph Beckwith.

UPDATE March 2021: There is a question that the connection between Matthew 1 (b. 1610 or maybe 1612) and the Beckwiths of Yorkshire seems inaccurate/undocumented.

Matthew Beckwith occupied a prominent place in the community and was one of its most prominent citizens. He was killed on October 21, 1680, “by a fall in a dark night down a ledge of rocks.”

There are many books about the Malebisse family. You can research yourself at Google Books.

Sources:

(WordPress will not let me cite them properly without upgrading to the Business Plan!)

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/domesday/

“The Beckwit~~hs”: Beckwith, Paul (Paul Edmond), 1848-1907 ….” 3 Jun. 2009, https://archive.org/details/thebeckwiths00beck.~~

From https://www.foundersofhartford.org/the-founders/matthew-beckwith/ Genealogy not recommended: “The Beckwiths,” Paul Edmond Beckwith, Albany, 1891. This genealogy, which contains a totally fabricated English lineage, is filled with errors, has a son Benjamin², who never existed, and was thoroughly debunked in “The American Genealogist” articles by Simeon Fox.

There are several pamphlets entitled “Beckwith Notes,” intended to correct some of the “The Beckwiths” errors, but these only marginally help.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Madox

“Justiciar – Wikipedia.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justiciar

“Malebysse, Richard (DNB00) – Wikisource, the free online library.” 30 Jun. 2016, https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Malebysse,_Richard_(DNB00)

http://www.svsu.edu/library/archives/public/follett/documents/152_168/KFP152_08.pdf

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15122-york

“Malebysse, Richard (DNB00) – Wikisource, the free online library.” 30 Jun. 2016, https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Malebysse,_Richard_(DNB00)

“The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence ….” http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/thomas-williams-bicknell/the-history-of-the-state-of-rhode-island-and-providence-plantations-volume-8-kci/page-59-the-history-of-the-state-of-rhode-island-and-providence-plantations-volume-8-kci.shtml

Thank you for reading. As always, please let me know if you see any errors.

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