Edward Corder Sr. (bef. 1705 - aft. 1763)

Born before 1705 in Shoreditch, London, England [uncertain]

Husband of PossiblyElinor (Unknown) Corder — married 1736 in Frederick County, VA

Descendants

Died after 1763 after age 58 in Frederick County, Virginia [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Elizabeth Owens [send private message], Angelique Chamberlain [send private message], and Kassie Cassady [send private message]

Biography

Edward Corder Sr. was probably born shortly before 1705, likely in London or possibly somewhere in the southeastern counties of England. He was arrested several times for petty theft before finally being sentenced to transportation to the colonies. He arrived in Annapolis, Maryland in the summer of 1722 and disappeared from records (likely due to indentured servitude somewhere in Maryland, Virginia or Pennsylvania) until 1738, when he reappeared in Frederick County, Virginia. In Josiah Look Dickension's Fairfax Proprietary book, he is called one of the "original seven adventurers" (land speculators or investors) of the area, but Dickenson offers no supporting documents or information to justify the claim (nor did Dickenson specify the names of the other six).

Edward settled on land near present-day Stone Bridge on the Warren/Frederick County border, but his claim was upset by the arrival of Lord Fairfax, who appreciated the extraordinary beauty and fine situation of the acreage Edward had settled, and decided to build his manor in the vicinity. Fairfax offered Edward a lease for life of 200 acres a few miles south in exchange for vacating the land. In 1752 Edward received one of the first leases on record from Fairfax. The rental terms required that Edward provide the manor house with a fat Christmas turkey every year, and the property has therefore been referred to as "The Turkey Tract" since then.

Edward Corder's name is written in George Washington's own hand, identified as a chain carrier on 11 of the earliest surveys Washington conducted in the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge during the late 1740's. Lord Fairfax engaged the teen-aged Washington to map out the Fairfax Proprietary and divide it into parcels for lease and sale to an influx of settlers into the valley. As a result of these surveying trips with Washington, Edward's name appears on a historical marker in the Rappahannock County town of Little Washington. The monument commemorates the laying out of the town and declares it "the first Washington of them all".

We do not know who Edward married since his wife, although referred to, was unnamed in both the 1752 Turkey Tract lease, and in a Mar 1, 1799 deed which specified that she was to have her life on the (Turkey Tract) land, despite the sale of it to a Mr. Edmund Neuman. By this we know that she was still alive in March of 1799 and was therefore probably somewhat younger than Edward (unless she was just extraordinarily long-lived). Unfortunately in both documents there is literally a blank space where her given name should have appeared. It may have been Elinor since both sons' lines used the name.

Edward probably died sometime after 1763. His two known sons, Edward Jr. (m. Susannah Oney) and John (m. Elizabeth Branson), both moved south through the valley of Virginia, with Edward Jr. settling in Montgomery and then Tazewell Counties, and John in Fincastle and Montgomery, briefly, before heading to Greene Co TN and then on to Missouri. There may have been daughters, but if so, we have not been able to identify them either through records or DNA testing. It seems unlikely that two sons would have left an aging mother or step-mother alone in Frederick County, so possibly "Blank" Corder stayed behind with other children we have not identified.

View a collection of records, abstracts and contextual historical notes pertaining to the Life and History of Edward Corder Sr. of London ENG, Annapolis MD and Frederick Co VA. This is a living document and new records and comments are added as information is discovered. Please link back to this Wikitree so that other researchers can find the most recent information on this line.

HERE ARE A FEW IMPORTANT EVENTS FROM EDWARD SR.'S LIFE:

Birth: est 1703-1705, probably one of the less affluent boroughs of London (arrest records in boroughs of Shoreditch, Aldersgate and Holborn).

Arrest 1: 1719 Nov 18, accused of stealing a length of cloth; incident occurred in St. Leonard, Shoreditch.

Arrest 2: 1721 Jun 9, accused of "having pilfered a small quantity of thread" (apprehended in Aldersgate)

Arrest 3: 1721 Aug 3, accused of "having pilfered a small quantity of thread" (apprehended in Aldersgate - may be duplicate of earlier incident although different dates)

Arrest 4: 1721 Nov 2, "took out the [money] Drawer" from the shop of John and Elizabeth Jackson in St. Andrews, Holborn

Trial: 1721 Dec 6 trial at the Old Bailey "indicted for privately stealing out of the Shop of John Jackson a wooden Drawer, value 2d. and 19s. and three Half pence in Money, the Goods and Money of John Jackson." Pleaded defense of having been drunk and "knew not what he did." The Jury found him Guilty to the Value of 4s. and 10 l.

Transportation: 1721 Dec 6 sentenced to transportation; 31 Jan 1722 loaded aboard the convict ship Gilbert (Capt. Darby Lux) bound for Annapolis MD.

Arrival in America: Jul 1722, among those named on landing certificate at Annapolis MD.

Emancipation: 1729 is the earliest probable date of emancipation from indentured servitude, although it might have been as late as Feb 1736, depending on period of indenture, currently unknown.

Appears in Virginia: 1738 Feb 22 among the list of petitioners for a road to Jost Hite's Mill in Orange (now Frederick Co VA).

Surveys with Washington: 1749 Edward appears on at least 11 of Washington's early surveys in the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge. He served as a chain carrier on the survey team. There is a slim possibility that these surveys may be referring to Edward Corder Jr., but no distinction between junior or senior is made in Washington's drawings or notes. Washington's original surveying chains can be viewed at Mount Vernon.

Marriage and Children: Neither the name of Edward's wife nor the date of his marriage is currently known. His wife's name may possibly have been "Elinor" since the name appears among descendants of both of his sons, Edward Corder Jr. (m. Susannah Oney) and John Corder (m. Elizabeth Branson). The date of Edward's marriage would likely be dictated by the (unknown) date of his emancipation from indenture. Although we assume he was married by 1752 when he received the Turkey Tract lease, the name of his wife was left blank (literally a line: "________, his wife").

Turkey Tract Lease: 1752 receives a 200a lease for life from Lord Fairfax on "The Turkey Tract" (part of the Manor of Greenway Court) for an annual peppercorn rent of a "fat turkey ready for roasting" to be paid every Christmas. The property is located where the railroad tracks cross Fairground Road in Success, VA near Front Royal. The Turkey Tract was Edward's second property on Fairfax's manor of Greenway Court, his previous acreage having been located closer to the site of Lord Fairfax's manor house, slightly to the north and nearer to White Post.

Death: est aft 1763 when he disappears from Frederick Co VA records. His widow lived on the Turkey Tract (exercising survivor's rights in the lease) until just after 1800. Edward is probably buried on a knoll overlooking a small spring-fed pond on the property and facing the eastern ridge. The site is in a cow field and is marked only by a few up-ended field stones.

This page is maintained by Elizabeth Owens and L. K. Henderson. If you are a descendant of Edward Corder, please join us on the public Facebook group "Corder Genealogy."

Sources

• Chronology for Edward Corder of London ENG and Greenway Court (Frederick Co VA)
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/w/i/l/Robert-M-Williams-IL/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0733.html

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Angelique Chamberlain for starting this profile.