Gerrard Trammell I (1702 - 1786)

Born 1702 in Truro Parish, Stafford County, Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 23 Jun 1786 at about age 84 in Falls Church, Virginia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Christopher Parrish [send private message] and W Trammell [send private message]

Biography

Gerrard Trammell I performed Patriotic Service in Virginia in the American Revolution.

Gerrard Trammell I is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A212444.

Gerrard Trammell I was a Virginia colonist.

Gerrard or Garrard Trammell was born around 1701 in Stafford County in the Colony of Virginia. He is thought to have been named in honor of his mother Mary Garrard. He was a man of responsibility judging from his involvement in the church and the number of times he was witness to legal events. In recognition of this a good number of his descendants carry his name in various forms including Jarret.

We have two sources for his birth year: his tombstone indicates c. 1700, and a lawsuit involving land boundaries on Pimmett's Run in Fairfax County, Virginia, indicates c. 1702. The suit involved identifying the original starting point of an old property survey. The problem was resolved with the help of Gerrard Trammell, a witness to the original survey.

February 15, 1754 - Gerrard Trammell of Fairfax County aged 52 years "to prove a beginning tree of a tract of land formerly taken up and patented by John Hearle which is now the property of Benja. Sebastian, deposeth he well remembers a maple formerly standing on the side of great Pimmets Run but now down and decayed..."^[1] John Harle's patent survey does indeed begin at a maple at the head of Pimmetts Run.^[2][3]

Gerrard's wife's name was Mary, commonly said to be Javan. They lived on Pimmett's Run in Fairfax County near what is now called Falls Church, Virginia. He left a will, written in 1775 but not probated until 1786. The will names the following:^[4]

• son PHILIP TRAMMELL - ten shillings after his mother's death, he having his full part before
• daughter ANN THRIFT - ten shillings after her mother's death, she having her full part before
• daughter REBECKAH TRAMMELL - ten shillings after her mother's death
• grandson GERRARD TRAMMELL CONN - three negroes named Hagor, Ise & Jenney, my still and worm [sic, worm box] & one forth part of my stock & household furniture after his grandmother Mary Trammell's death. If he dies without heirs his part to be equally divided among my children Thomas, Gerrard, and MARY CONN.
• grandchildren MARY FIELDS DYAL and NIMROD TRAMMELL DYAL - feather bed and furniture called Priscilla Dyal's bed, 5 shillings per year to keep it in repair, each to have a heifer on their marriage day or age 21
• daughter MARGETT JENKINS - one negro wench Rachel and her increase
• son THOS. TRAMMELL - all my wearing apparel, my white horse
• son GERRARD TRAMMELL - the land whereon I now live, one negro man Doctor after his mother's death. I desire he take care of his sister Priscilla Dyal's two children
• wife MARY TRAMMELL - my whole Estate, real and personal during her natural life. After her death the stock and household furniture to be divided between Gerrard, Thomas, and Mary Conn.

He passed away on Jun 23, 1786.^[5]

The birth order and ages of the children are worthy of discussion. Gottschalk makes much of the fact that Gerard Trammel had a lease of land from Alexander Scott in 1733. The lease appears to be a "three lifetime" lease, one that typically extends for the lifetimes of the parents and one of their children and was commonly used for land in the Northern Neck of Virginia. In this case the lease was for the lives of Gerrard, Mary, and son Phillip. Gottschalk supposes Phillip was a newborn as no other children were named but this interpretation is not correct-- the leases simply named three people. The general custom was to name the youngest son but there were many exceptions including the naming of daughters. The will appears to name the children in birth order. Phillip was thus eldest, but given his father's birth around 1701 Phillip may have been born prior to the 1732 commonly given. We might guess the children were born 1725-1745 or so.

11 Jul 1733 - Alexander Scott leases "to Gerrard Trammell of Truro Parish, planter, and to Mary his wife and to Phillip Trammell their son 200 acres whereon the said Gerrard Trammell now lives."^[6]

17 Mar 1735 - Gerrard Trammill and John Gladden co-sign the bond posted by Richard Rutter as administrator of the estate of George Goodin, dec'd.^[7]

18 Jun 1735 - Gerard Trammel witnesses the inventory taken by William Harl of the estate of John Rhodery, dec'd. Prince William County.^[7]

13 Mar 1740 - Richard Drakefoot writes his will. Gerrard Tramel is a witness and also signs bond for the executrix.^[7]

22 Jun 1741 - Gerard Trammel and John Murphy post bond for Hannah Williams, admx. of William Williams.^[7]

1741 - Garret and William Trammel are on a voter poll list in Prince William County.

1742 - Fairfax County is created.

17 Jul 1742 - Gerrard Tramel and William Harle are granted 547 acres in Prince William County on the branches of Accotink Run, adjacent Col. Mason, dec'd, and Messrs. Watts and Harrison.^[8]

1754 - He is Constable and Surveyor of Roads in Fairfax County.^[9]

11 Dec 1755 - Gerrard Trammell and Phill Trammel are on the Fairfax list of voters who polled for Capt. John West.^[10]

1756 - Gerard signs bond for Mary Javan, adm'x of Nicholas Javan.^[11]

1760 - Gerrard Trammell is a leaseholder in Fairfax County, working 200 acres of land belonging to James Scott at the head of Pimmit Run. He owns one slave.^[12][13]

1 Jul 1767 - Gerrard Trammell is one of a number people deposed in a land cause of Nathaniel Pendleton vs. the estate of Charles Alexander. His age is given as 56 instead of 66.^[14]

1767 to 1776 - He serves as Sexton of the church.^[15]

16 Nov 1775 - Gerrard Tramel writes his will. Fairfax County, Virginia. Wife Mary and son Gerrard are named executors.^[16] Gerrard willed to his grandson, Gerrard, a "still and worm". Apparently he supplied liquor to Lindsay's old Tavern.^[17]

1782 - Gerrard Trammell and Gerrard Trammell Jr. are the sole members of the family on the tax list of Fairfax County. The elder man is taxed for one white poll, three black polls, two horses and eight cattle.^[18]

23 Jun 1786 - He dies and is buried at Falls Church Episcopal Church Cemetery in Falls Church, Virginia. The tombstone gives his age as 86 years.^[5]

Jul 1786 - The will is probated.^[16]

Dec 1786 - Inventory of the estate is taken.^[19] The sale occurred in July 1787.^[20]

Sources

1. ↑ Fairfax County Deed Book C:654. Gottschalk incorrectly cites page 115.
2. ↑ Northern Neck Grants C:196, but see John Edy's grant B:210 for a legible survey.
3. ↑ Some have thought this tract belonged to Gerrard's father but it was actually his brother John who bought the land from Harle. John was on his deathbed at the time of the lawsuit and was unable to depose.
4. ↑ Fairfax Will Book E1:148. See attached PDF
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 11 December 2019), memorial page for Garrard Trammell (1702–23 Jun 1786), Find A Grave: Memorial #11185310, citing Falls Church Episcopal Church Cemetery, Falls Church, Falls Church City, Virginia, USA ; Maintained by Karlene Kost (contributor 46552432) Gravestone picture
6. ↑ Prince William Deed Book B, p. 130. Gottschalk incorrectly cites Book C.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3} John Frederick Dorman, Prince William County, Virginia, Will Book C, 1734-1744, 1956
8. ↑ Northern Neck Grant Book E, p471
9. ↑ Source: 2/8/1997 e-mail Quality or Certainty of Data: 0 Data: Text: constable and surveyor of road in 1754 for Fairfax County, Virginia
10. ↑ Murtie June Clark, Colonial Soldiers of the South, 1732-1784, 1983, p334. Available at Ancestry.com
11. ↑ Fairfax Court Order Book, 1754-56, p337, cited in Gottschalk, p16.
12. ↑ Mitchell, Beth, Fairfax County Virginia in 1760, an Interpretive Historical Map, 1987, p30.
13. ↑ 1760 map of Fairfax County
14. ↑ Virginia Chancery Index No. 1811-021, page 68 of 237
15. ↑ Melvin Lee Steadman, Falls Church, by Fence and Fireside, 1964, page 42.
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1} Fairfax County Will Book E, pp148-150. See attached PDF.
17. ↑ Steadman, page 42. Text: indicates that he operated a still, which he willed to his grandson, Gerrard Conn.
18. ↑ Prince William 1782 tax list, p13
19. ↑ Book E, p186
20. ↑ Book K, p220

• Kathrine Cox Gottschalk, Trammell family of Virginia : also of Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, ..., 1948. This important research report lays out the early years of the family in America.
• Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 29 Jan 2018), "Record of Gerrard Trammell", Ancestor # A212444.