Descent from Col. William Claiborne (1587-1677)
Colonist Became Virginia Secretary of State and Treasurer
Apr 10, 2009
Claiborne was from Kent County, England, where his father and grandfather had been King’s Lynn mayor. He arrived with Sir Francis Wyatt, newly appointed Virginia governor. Claiborne was provided 20 pounds to fund purchase of his instruments and books (which he was to pass on to his successor), was to have a house provided for him by the Virginia Company and was to be paid 30 pounds per annum “in two hundred waight of Tobacco or any other valuable Comoditie growinge in that Country…”
Claiborne Becomes Influential Virginian
This young man was to have a long, important and productive life in Virginia. In 1625, Claiborne was named to the Governor’s Council and in 1626 was elevated to Secretary of State. He held the position until 1637, then again between 1652 and 1660. He was named the colony’s treasurer in 1642.
Claiborne’s success in fighting hostile Indians earned him the rank of colonel. In 1625, he was granted 150 acres in Elizabeth City (later Hampton), where he established the post used as a base for fur trading with the Indians. He also purchased Kent Island from the Indians to establish another trading post, but England’s king included it in the Calvert land grant for Maryland.
Claiborne lived to age 90 and probably had three wives; documentation is incomplete. It is generally agreed that he was married to Elizabeth Butler. Persons seeking details about his wives and children are advised to contact the National Society of Claiborne Family Descendants.
Descent from Col. William Claiborne
Here is one line of descent which begins in the second generation with his daughter, Mary.
- Mary Claiborne (1649-1710) of Virginia married 1) Edward Rice and, before 1672, her second husband, Major Robert Harris (1635-1701). (Some researchers believe she may have been born earlier; otherwise, she was born when her father was age 62, and also would not have been married long to Rice.)
- William Harris, born 1672, Virginia, married about 1696-1698, Temperance Overton, born 1679. They lived in Hanover Co., VA.
- Maj. Robert Harris (ca. 1698-1765) and his wife, Mourning Glen (ca. 1702-1776), were raised in Hanover Co; he died in Albemarle Co., VA.
- Christopher Harris Sr. (1725-1794) in 1745 married Mary Dabney; both were born in Hanover Co., VA, she in 1726.
- Sarah Harris, born 1747, Albemarle Co., VA, married James Martin (ca. 1742-1799). They moved to Madison Co., KY.
- James Martin (1802-1878) was born in Kentucky and died in Boone Co., MO; he married Rachel Davis. (Question: Was he born when his mother was 55?)
- Martha Ann Martin, born 1838 in Kentucky, in 1861, in Boone Co., MO, became the second wife of Daniel Blythe (1812-1891).
- Annie Elizabeth Blythe was born in 1864 in Callaway Co., MO and died in 1953 in Denver, CO; she married Marcus Beauregard Bullard (1863-1915) in 1893.
- Roy Edgar Bullard (1894-1975) married Edith Pearl Thomason (1897-1969) in 1918 in Boone Co., MO.
- Virginia Pearl Bullard, born 1919, in 1943 married Isaac Lawson Nichols, born 1920. Both were born in Boone Co.; they were wed in Miller Co., MO.
It is Virginia (Bullard) Nichols who furnished this lineage to the author in 1992.
Descendants of William Claiborne are eligible for membership in The Order of Descendants of Ancient Planters. There is a second line back to the original “planters” of Virginia if Maj. Robert Harris (1635-1701) is either a son or nephew of Capt. Thomas Harris (1587-1682).
Sources:
“Direct Line Lineage: Col. William Claiborne of New Kent Co., VA,” The Dinghy, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1993-1994); website of the National Society of Claiborne Family Descendants.
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