John Gresham (abt. 1613 - bef. 1656)

Born about 1613 in England

Descendants

Died before 14 Feb 1656 before about age 43 in Northumberland, Virginia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Rick Saunders [send private message]

Note: DISPUTED PROFILE;

• The old genealogies that placed Edward and John as the disowned sons of Sir Edward of Titsey are believed now to be incorrect. Much of it was based on one note scribbled in the margin of the Tandridge 100 Chart of 13 Nov 1630, page 493 in Surrey, England that said "2nd and 3rd sons". It is now believed that note was written about Sir John and his sons, not Sir Edward.

Parents

• The theory that John the Immigrant is the son of Richard Gressam of Braceborough, Lincolnshire has not been proven. DNA studies are underway both in the US and UK
• THEORIZED Baptism (possible baptism, possible father Richard Gresham) 24 Mar 1613 • Braceborough, Lincolnshire, England
• 1 Source

== Biography Timeline ==

• THEORIZED BIRTH 24 MAR 1613 ??? • Braceborough, Lincolnshire, England ????
• DEATH 14 FEB 1656 • Northumberland. Virginia

• Birth of Daughter Mary Gresham (1635–1656)
• 1635 • Kent, Maryland

• Marriage
• First Wife of John Gresham
• Mary Unknown (–1640)

• Arrival
• 1635 • Virginia on Ship Thomas
• 1 Source

• Tax Assessment House Assembly made by Lt. Grall and Counsel to b
• 13 Sept 1636 • Kent County, Maryland
• Pg 121 Liber P.R. Pg #56, John Gresham 010 signed by Leonard Calvert

• Tax Assessment
• 1636 • Another assessment of 400 John Gresham

• Tax Assessment Kent County
• 1636 • Pg #124 Liber P.R. Pg 66 for 2000 wt tobacco
• John Gresham

• Possible Birth of Son John Gresham, Gent of Maryland (1640–1713)
• Abt 1640 • Northumberland, Virginia

• Birth of Daughter Katherine Gresham (1640–1711)
• Abt 1640 • Northumberland, Virginia

• Property
• 7 Sept 1640 • Isle of Kent
• Liber ABH Folio #48, Planter demanded the one hundred acres of land by condition of Plantation for Transporting himself into the Province at his own expense. 8 Sept 1640, I would have you lay out one hundred acres of land to John Gresham in Isle of Kent

• Arrival
• 1640 • Maryland
• Not the actual date he arrived, this is the land patent date.
• 1 Source

• Death of first Wife of John Gresham
• Mary Unknown (–1640)
• Bet 1640 and 1650 • Maryland

• Property
• 1641 • Member of General Assembly of Maryland, which met at St Mary's under Gov. Leonard Calvert.

• 1648, he with other Protestants were severely persecuted by Gov Thomas Greene, a Catholic. His home on Kent Island was seized and he was forced to remove to Virginia. The land on Kent Island had been given to John Gresham & Col Claiborne by King Charles.

• Marriage
• Bef 1645 • Virginia Or Maryland
• Mary "Widow Playce" (1615–1654)

• Birth of Daughter Martha Gresham (1648–1705)
• Abt 1648 • Kent, Maryland or Northumberland, Virginia
• Birth of Son Justinian Gresham (1651–1658)
• About 1651 • Northumberland, Virginia

• Property
• 13 Apr 1652 • Northumberland County, Virginia
• Signed Oath to Commonwealth of England.

• Arrival
• 1652 • Virginia
• 2 Sources

• Death of Wife Mary Playce (1615–1654)
• 20 July 1654 • Maryland

• Death of Daughter Mary Gresham (1633–1656)
• 1656 • Maryland

• Death
• Probate 14 Feb 1656 • Northumberland. Virginia

Research Notes

• Property
• 1723 • John, Gent's son was John Gresham, Jr High Sheriff of Annapolis, Maryland. Both John Jr and his wife Sarah Webb left certain lands in Gravesend, England to their son Richard in their wills.

• information found in Will:
• 1723 • Ref. Kent County Wills No. 480, Box g Folder 71
• P. 80, GRESHAM, Shield, Crest, Helmet and Mantling on the will of John Gresham, Anne Arundel County, 1723, showing a distinct chevron and three mullets. Shield with helmet, a broken crest, but perfect mantling is on the will of John Gresham, Kent 1752

• Alternate Bio
• JOHN GRESHAM “GRESSAM” was born around 1613 in England. His parents are unknown, but some information incorrectly notes him as the son of Sir Edward Gresham He arrived in America 1635 and came on the ship “Thomas” to Virginia.
• He first settled on the Isle of Kent (which at the time was being controlled by Maryland but claimed by Virginia) as he was noted as a witness to a document in February, 1639. Around this time he is thought to have married, wife’s name is unknown). He had at least 3 children with her: Katherine (~1640-Aft. 1711); Mary; and Martha.
• In September, 1640 he requested 100 acres of land on the Island, which was ordered to be surveyed, which he called “Beaver Neck.” We know he was an inhabitant of Isle of Kent, as the inhabitants sent their proxy, Giles Brent, to mark their residence and John’s name was listed.
• In 1647 he was again noted as a witness. In the dispute between Maryland and Virginia restarted. John sided with William Claiborne in his attempts to retake control of the Isle of Kent from the Maryland Colony. The rebellion failed and John Gressam was arrested in 1648 for partaking in rebellion. His land grant in Maryland was given to Francis Brook, who fought on the side of Maryland. John then settled on the south side of the Potomac River in Northumberland Co., Virginia for a period of time.
• In 1650 he received a land grant for a few large tracts of land, near Rechams Creek and the Main Bay and next to Waddis’ Creek. The land must have been near Chickecon, as he was at the Court and entered into an agreement with William Vinsent.
• In 1652 he signed a document which the signers agreed to be faithful to the Commonwealth of England without a King or House of Lords. This was during the English Civil War where Oliver Cromwell was in control of the government. That same year he handled the estate of John Abbott and received some money from the estate.
• After his first wife died, he married Mary (unknown), widow of John Playce, and they had another child: Justinian Gresham. He died in 1655 in Northumberland Co., Virginia. He did not leave a Will and was indebted to a few individuals. His largest debt was owed to Thomas Hopkins, who was granted the right to administer the estate first in order to collect the debt owed from the tobacco grown by John. The Court also ordered that he then remove himself from the estate and allow Henry Hurst and Justinian “Tennis” to take over the estate. Another record showed John also owed Hugh Lee 252 pounds of tobacco.
• John’s estate had two inventories taken, the first consisted of his personal property and debts, while the second showed he had a considerable amount of tobacco and livestock, which included cows, hogs, and a bull.
• John’s young son Justinian was eventually put under guardianship with Cathrine and Justinian Tenison in 1657, but the child died by the following year. His other minor daughter, Martha, was put in the care of John Waddy.

Research Notes

So after working on the timeline for John Gresham the Immigrant I wanted to research the Oath of Allegiance to understand what it was actually for. So as it turns out it had nothing to do with the former inhabitants of Kent Island Maryland perse. It was basically the Virginia Colonists giving their oath to the new government formed after the King Charles I was executed and a new government was formed called the Commonwealth, ruled by Parliament.

The English Civil Wars (1642–1648) were a pair of civil wars fought in England that set King Charles I and his supporters against supporters of the English parliament, which opposed his policies. These wars and the resulting changes to English and colonial government affected Virginia in a number of ways. As a royal colony, Virginia was expected to support the king in wartime; while Virginia governor Sir William Berkeley enforced Charles I's views on religious conformity to the Church of England, he took a more relaxed approach to colonial commerce, declaring neutrality in order to maintain a robust trade. In 1648, Parliamentarian forces under the command of Oliver Cromwell prevailed. In 1649, Charles I was executed and a republican government called the Commonwealth, ruled by Parliament, replaced the monarchy. The Commonwealth pursued economic and imperial policies that linked its colonies more closely to England. Virginia initially resisted this regime, proclaiming Charles II king, but was forced to surrender to Parliament on March 12, 1652. In May 1660, Charles II was restored to the throne, and Virginians pointed toward their initial resistance to the Commonwealth as evidence of the colony's loyalty, cultivating an enduring image of Virginia as a royalist stronghold.

Between 1638 and 1648, a series of conflicts pitted King Charles I and his supporters (called Cavaliers) against groups who opposed his rule—the Covenanters in Scotland and the Parliamentarians (or Roundheads) in England. Charles I's armies were defeated by Parliamentarian troops in 1645 and again in 1648. The king was taken prisoner in 1648 and in January 1649 stood trial before a court established by the Rump Parliament. (The Rump, as it is often called, consisted of those members of the Long Parliament, assembled in 1640, who remained after troops under Colonel Thomas Pride purged that legislative body of men who supported signing a peace treaty with the king.) After being found guilty of high treason, Charles I was executed on January 30, 1649.

The English government was reorganized as a republic, without a monarch or House of Lords. Under this new government, called the Commonwealth, Parliament acted as both executive and legislative branch. The Commonwealth oversaw the conquest of Ireland and Scotland; it also forced the colonies such as Virginia that opposed regicide and republicanism to accept its authority. This government endured until 1653, when Oliver Cromwell, the Puritan statesman who had led the Parliamentarians to victory, forcibly dissolved a conflicted Parliament. Cromwell helped assemble another legal body called the Barebones Parliament (so named for one of its members, lay preacher Praise-God Barebone), composed of his political allies who were often his fellow religious radicals. But when the Barebones Parliament was unable to govern effectively, Cromwell was made Lord Protector of England. After Cromwell died in September 1658, his son Richard Cromwell succeeded him, but stepped down just nine months later. The republic resumed, but infighting among members of Parliament created an opening for forces under George Monck, the English governor of Scotland, to march to London and restore the Long Parliament. In May 1660, Charles II, son of the executed monarch, was recognized by Parliament as the King of England.

From the outbreak of civil war in 1642 until the regicide in 1649, the political upheaval in England affected Virginia trade and raised questions of allegiance. The war had stymied English shipping: ships that were not diverted to military purposes were seized, along with their cargos, as an act of war, which disrupted Virginia's tobacco sales to its chief market and its supply of servants and trade goods. As a result, the colony's economic survival depended on a diverse and vigorous trade. Virginia's trade with the Dutch, New England, and the West Indies increased dramatically throughout the 1640s. As the only colony run by the Crown and not by a company of investors, Virginia had a particular responsibility for avoiding the king's enemies, and, in some cases, for punishing them. But Virginia governor Sir William Berkeley declared a policy of neutrality, allowing Virginians to trade with any merchants who came to the colony, regardless of their affiliation. While profitable, neutrality still had its risks: in 1644, two English ships—one Royalist, one Parliamentarian—fired on each other in the James River, killing a planter who was on board one of the vessels.

Berkeley was more inclined to support his king in religious matters, introducing and supporting legislation that targeted religious nonconformists, particularly ministers. The laws were an attempt to avoid the same kind of political unrest that raged in England, where Puritans, religious dissenters who believed that the Anglican church retained too many "popish," or Catholic, elements, usually sided with and fought for the Parliamentarians. These harsh conformity laws added to the tension that had sprung up between Anglicans and Puritans in Virginia as news of the English Civil Wars trickled overseas; by 1650, most Virginia Puritans had left the colony for Maryland or Massachusetts.

The establishment of England's new Commonwealth government would have ended Virginia's status as a royal colony, except that Virginia resisted this change. Rather than remain tied to England under the circumstances, Virginia was one of a number of colonies to proclaim Charles II king in 1649. In part as a response to Virginia's intransigence, the Commonwealth enacted a set of uniform policies for all colonies with the intention of linking them more closely to England. One such policy was the Navigation Act (1651), which limited colonial trade to English merchants and vessels in the hope that the wealth produced by the colonies would benefit England alone. When Virginians resisted, Parliament blockaded the colony, forcing Governor Berkeley to surrender on March 12, 1652. Still, the General Assembly managed to negotiate free trade as one of its terms, circumventing the Navigation Act. Ironically, the law was later revived under Charles II.

After surrendering 1652, Virginia was ruled directly by the English government until the Restoration of 1660. Though Parliament forced Berkeley to step down as governor after the surrender, the colony was able to elect its own governor and Council—officeholders who had previously been appointed by the king. In a lucky if not prescient move, the governor's Council elected Berkeley to another term as governor in March 1660, just two months before Charles II was restored to the throne. (News of the event likely did not reach the colonies until the summer of 1660.)

Having initially resisted England's Commonwealth regime and having reinstalled a former royal governor of its own accord, Virginia was in an excellent position to plead its loyalty to the king after the Restoration. Indeed, the colony even gained a reputation as a Royalist stronghold—a reputation some Virginians cultivated by exaggerating the number of Royalist officers, or Cavaliers, who migrated to the colony after 1648, and claiming that most Virginians were descended from the English aristocracy. While a number of Royalists—including members of the Washington, Randolph, Carter, and Lee families—sought refuge in Virginia, most remained in England or settled in Europe. And most immigrants to Virginia in the seventeenth century were indentured servants, not English gentry. Regardless, the Cavalier myth—perpetuated by romantic, nostalgic depictions of Virginia plantation life in literature and historical studies—took hold in Virginia and persisted throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Some scholars view the Lost Cause interpretation of the American Civil War (1861–1865) as an extension of the Cavalier myth.

In creating this enduring image, Virginia's complicity with Parliament and the Commonwealth government of England was erased from memory—although colonial Virginians remained happy to acknowledge their desire for free trade, first expressed in opposition to imperial policies during these years. by Woody Hewitt 2020

Sources

• Maryland Archives, Judicial … Business of the … Court, Vol. 4, Pg. 131, 334, 441-42
• Sparacio, Northumberland County, Virginia Order Book Abstracts, 1652-1657, Pg. 57-58
• Sparacio, Deed and Will Abstracts of Northumberland County, Virginia, 1655-1658, Pg. 72
• Northumberland Co., VA, 1650-1652, Will & Deed Book, Pg. 45, 74
• Northumberland Co., VA, 1657-1661, Order Book, Pg. 168
• Northumberland Co., VA, 1652-1657, Order Book, Pg. 126
• Virginia State Land Office, Northumberland Co., Patent 3, 1652-1655, Pg. 92 (Reel 2)
• Gresham AWYSI Newsletter: Emigrated to America August 21, 1635.
• Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, First Edition: Gressam, Jo, 22, Virginia, 1635.
• http://www.geni.com/people/John-Gresham/6000000008640709502
• Ancestry Family Trees https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/6989691/person/-1150255100/facts
• Cavaliers and Pioneers. Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1666, Vol. I https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/48408/images/CavaliersPioneers-004745-258?ssrc=pt&treeid=6989691&personid=-1150255100&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=334398
• Early Virginia Immigrants, 1623-1666 https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/48437/images/VAImmigrants-000427-202?ssrc=pt&treeid=6989691&personid=-1150255100&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=345330
• England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 Possible Father https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/6989691/person/-1150255100/facts
• Maryland Archives, 1658-1783 https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6889/images/6889-25-1-3-0125?ssrc=pt&treeid=6989691&personid=-1150255100&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=13752
• Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=7486&h=4116580&ssrc=pt&tid=6989691&pid=-1150255100&usePUB=true
• Seventeenth Century Colonial Ancestors, Vol. III https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/48057/images/17thCentColAncIII-007248-26?ssrc=pt&treeid=6989691&personid=-1150255100&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=177001
• The Gresham family: from Edward Gresham, England, 1312-1400 to Thomas Gresham, Virginia, 1923.
• Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly
• Virginia Immigrants, 1623-1666
• Virginia, Marriages of the Northern Neck of Virginia, 1649-1800
• Maryland, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1777 for John Gresham
• https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9068/images/007737519_00294