Jane (Drury) Stith (abt. 1625 - aft. 1694)

Wife of Thomas Gregory — married 1650 in Colony of Virginia [uncertain]

Wife of Joseph Parsons — married 1654 in Colony of Virginia

Wife of John Stith — married 1656 in Charles City County, Colony of Virginia

Descendants

Died after 3 Apr 1694 after about age 69 in Charles City County, Colony of Virginia

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Jane (Drury) Stith resided in the Southern Colonies in North America before 1776. Join: US Southern Colonies Project Discuss: southern_colonies

Biography

Jane (Drury) Stith migrated from England to Virginia.

Jane was a Virginia colonist.

Jane Drury was probably born around 1625 in England, where she married Thomas Gregory.^[1] Sometime in the late 1640s or around 1650, the Gregorys immigrated to Charles City County, Virginia, following, or accompanied by, Thomas Drury^{[citation needed]} (Jane's brother or uncle; not her father). Thomas and Jane had a son, Thomas Gregory, Jr.^[2]

After Thomas died in 1655,^[3] Jane married Joseph Parsons, whose wife, thought to have been a daughter of Edward Mosby, had recently died. Jane and Joseph had one daughter, Judith Parsons. [Note: Probably Judith was the daughter of his previous wife, not Jane.^[4]] Then Joseph died, in 1656. Later that year (1656) Jane married her third husband, Maj. John Stith.^[5]

Jane had no money for his [Joseph Parson's] funeral, so the county court ordered Thomas Drury (presumably Jane's brother) and Edward Mosby to split the charges. Edward Mosby was named the guardian of Judith Parsons. Twice widowed now, Jane was still very early in her thirties. She took a third husband, John Stith. He had money, so Thomas Drury asked for and got a court order transferring his share of the funeral expenses to John Stith. However, Edward Mosby remained the guardian of Judith Parsons until Mosby died in 1663; then Stith took over the guardianship. He also struck a deal with Richard Mosby, who was evidently Edward Mosby's son and heir, providing that Richard Mosby was to pay half of Judith's inheritance in 1665 and the other half in 1666.^[6]

Mosby and Drury have been the two most popular choices for Jane's maiden name. Drury is the obvious choice, because she named a son Drury and that name became traditional for males in the Stith family. No Stith was ever named Mosby. The objection of Mosby partisans has been that Jane cannot be a daughter of Thomas Drury, because there is a 1665 deed of gift in which Thomas Drury gave six slaves to his "dear and onely child" Dorothy. But there is no reason to think Jane was a daughter of Thomas Drury. Thomas Gregory and "Ja. Gregory" are mentioned as headrights in the same 1653 land patent, so there is good reason to think Jane was married for the first time in England. That's where her father was; Thomas is much more likely to have been her brother.

Birth

about 1625, England^{[citation needed]}

about 02 JUN 1624, Prince William County, Virginia, USA^{[citation needed][7][8]}

Marriage

John Stith and Jane Gregory or Jane Parsons married December 1656, Henrico, Virginia, USA^{[citation needed][7][9]}

Children

Jane had a son by Thomas Gregory:

• Thomas Gregory Jr., said to have been born about 1650 in Virginia, died 1720 in Charles City County.^[10]

Circumstantial evidence shows that Judith Parsons is the daughter of Joseph Parson's first wife, not Jane Drury.^[4]

John and Jane (Drury) Stith had the following children:^{[5][11][12][13][14]}

• Drury Stith^[14]
  • married Susannah Bathurst, a daughter of Launcelot Bathurst of New Kent County, Virginia^[11]
  • Lieutenant Colonel Drury Stith, died 1741^[12]
• William Stith
  • married Mary Randolph, eldest daughter of William Randolph of Turkey Island^[11]
• John Stith^[14]
  • of Charles City County, Virgina who was a Burgess 1718-1723^[11]
  • Captain John Stith married Mary Randolph^[12]
• Anne Stith (Ann Boiling^[14])
  • second wife of Colonel Robert Bolling of Kippax; his first wife being Jane Rolfe, granddaughter of Pocahontas.^[11]
  • married 1681, Colonel Robert Bolling^[12]
• Jane Luellin^[13] (Llewellyn^[14])
• Agnes Wynn^[13][14]

Death

Jane (Drury) Stith was living at the time of John Stith's will (codicil dated 3 Oct. 1693). His will was recorded in Charles City county, Virginia on April 3, 1694.^[5]

A Court Holden at Westover 3rd April 1694 - "John Stith, Sen'r. of Westover Parish, his will dated Nov. 13, 1690 and codicil dated 3 Oct. 1693 proved by oaths of James Batty and Frances his wife and codicil by oaths of John Jones and Thomas Grig and recorded. Probate granted to Jane, his relict, and to John and Drury Stith, sons of the dec'd."^[15]

Research Notes

Vital Statistics

Maiden Name - Many Stith researchers have concluded that Jane's maiden name was most likely Drury (see Drury as Maiden Name below), and was the sister (or niece^[16]) of Thomas Drury. There is an excellent anlysis by Karen Cotter on GenForum of Jane and her three husbands: Thomas Gregory, Joseph Parsons, and John Stith (see message 370).

Dates and Locations - Jane's birth has also been given as Prince William County, Virginia and as 1624. Her death location has been given Henrico County instead of Charles City County, and dates of 1686, 1694, and April 3, 1694 have been listed as her death date.

Birth - The rationale for birth in England rather than Virginia appears to be based on Firdinando Austin's 25 Feb 1653 claim for headrights, which listed the transportation of "Ja. Gregory" and Thomas Gregory.

Death date - Jane Drury, wife of John Stith, was named in his 1693 will, which rules out 1686.

Locations - Henrico County/Charles City County needs to be looked at - her marriage to John has been given the same date (1656) in both counties (with the month [December] in Henrico County^[17]).

Drury as Maiden Name

"THE CASE FOR JANE DRURY"
By Harriet Fast Scott (posted on the Stith Valley website)

Major John's wife, Jane, was first documented as "Ja. Gregory" with her husband Thomas Gregory, by Firdinando Austin in 25 Feb 1653, when he claimed headrights for paying their transportation. This entitled Mr. Austin to 50 acres for each such person.

The date of claiming headrights might be years after the people actually arrived. At any rate, Thomas Gregory soon died (1655), leaving Jane with a son, Thomas Gregory Jr., and Jane soon became the (second?) wife of Joseph Parsons. Parsons also died shortly after (1656) and Jane married John Stith around 1656. This union lasted until his death in about 1694.

There are several books of court records of the 1650's mentioning John Stith. One has to do with Judith Parsons, Joseph Parson's daughter by a previous wife.

The maiden name of Major John Stith's wife, Jane, has puzzled family genealogists for years. Randolph, Mosby, Gregory and others have been suggested. I would like to suggest that the pattern of naming sons in the 1600's indicates that at least one son was given the mother's maiden name.

It is clearly a tradition in the Stith family, but occurs frequently in unrelated families. Hence, Jane DRURY is the most obvious choice for her maiden name.

John Stith and Elizabeth Anderson name their son Anderson Stith. Anderson married Joanna Bassett and names a son Bassett Stith.

Robert Bolling and Anne Stith name a son Stith Bolling.

Jane Stith and Daniel Llewellyn's daughter (name not known) marries an Epes and she names her son Llewellyn Epes.

Jane Stith that married Thomas Hardaway named her son Stith Hardaway.

Elizabeth Buckner married Drury Stith Jr and had a son Buckner Stith and even a Bathurst Stith for Drury's mother Susannah Bathurst.

In other non-Stith families:

Mary Beheathland married Capt Thomas Bernard and named a DAUGHTER Beheathland Bernard.

Beheathland Bernard married Francis Dade and had a daughter Mary Dade who married Robert Massey. They were the parents of Dade Massey.

Barbara Calthorpe married Henry Freeman and produced Calthorpe Freeman.

Some researchers have mistakenly, in my opinion, thought that the use of the last name was as a MIDDLE name, not a first name. Thus Anderson Stith might be regarded as really Charles Anderson Stith for his grandfather. This has been proven wrong in several cases. for example William Stark married Mary Bolling (daughter of Robert Bolling and Anne Stith) and fathered BOLLING Stark. But they also had a son named ROBERT. This would exclude the notion that he was really ROBERT BOLLING Stark. So Bolling was a first name not a middle name.

Later in the 18th century middle names became more common, but in some families the custom of using the wife's maiden name as a first name continued for many generations, especially when the wife's maiden name went well with her married name.

Take the Randolph family. William Randolph (1651-1711) married Mary Isham and named his third son Isham Randolph.

It may well have been that the Randolphs, as one of the first families of Virginia, spread the idea of maiden names as first names by example. We find William and Anne (Harrison) naming a son Harrison Randolph. There is also a Peyton Randolph.

The reason for this custom was probably the high mortality rate of the early colonists. Major John Stith's wife, Jane Drury, was twice a widow when he married her. Her first husband was Thomas Gregory by whom she had a son Thomas and her second husband was Joseph Parsons. He had already been married and had a daughter Judith. Early records of 1656 indicate Edward Moseby paid for Parsons' funeral. But there was a Thomas Drewe on the document who could have been Thomas Drewery or Drury, perhaps related to Jane. There was a shortage of women in the colonies to boot so that widows often remarried before a year passed. This encouraged them to give their family name to a son that might be raised by another woman and not even know who his mother was.

By the mid-1700s life in Virginia was more settled and women often had ten or twelve children by the same man so that preserving her maiden name was not so urgent. The custom gradually shifted to first son being named for the husband's father, second son for the wife's father, first daughter for the husband's mother, second daughter for the wife's mother, then the husband's name was used and the wife's name. By the 1800's, patriotism was dominant and every family had a George Washington, a Thomas Jefferson, and an Andrew Jackson! By the end of the Civil War, names were selected from thin air it would appear.

I vote for Jane Drury.

Sources

1. ↑ Birth also given as Virginia (see Vital Statistics).
2. ↑ See The Case for Jane Drury by Harriet Fast Scott (see Drury as Maiden Name) and More on the Case... by Wanda Stith Hagen, also posted by Jess B. Scott on his Stith Valley website.
3. ↑ The Case for Jane Drury by Harriet Fast Scott (see Drury as Maiden Name).
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} See, for example, The Case for Jane Drury by Harriet Fast Scott
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Genforum Post by Vera Cotter, July 30, 2005
6. ↑ GenForum post by Karen Cotter, message 370
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Source: #S258 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for John Drury Stith Sr., Major
8. ↑ Source: #S258 Page: Database online. Data: Text: Record for Anne STITH
9. ↑ Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 (Ancestry online publication, 2004). Text: Submitter Code: HJM, Record for John Stith
10. ↑ Entered by Valentine Van Zee, Jan 2, 2012 for Gregory-906
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4} Supplement to Tuckahoe and the Tuckahoe Randolphs, Note E, published in Genealogies of Virginia Families from Virginia Magazine of History and Biography (citation given by Vera Cotta for their children Drury, William, John & Anne in her Genforum Post, July 30, 2005
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3} "The Stith Family" by Armistead C. Gordon published in William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 22, No. 1, transcribed on Rootsweb.com archives by Kathy Merrill (citation given by Vera Cotta for their children John, Drury, and Ann in her Genforum Post, July 30, 2005
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2} Jane and Agnes listed by Jess B. Scott (Stith Family Page), details on this page
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5} wife Jane; daughters Jane Llewellyn, Agnes Wynn, Ann Boiling; sons John Stith and Drury Stith named in will (from Wanda's post, Stith Valley website)
15. ↑ pdf - page 174 (180 of 255).
16. ↑ More on the Case... by Wanda Stith Hagen
17. ↑ source, however, is Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 and text with source as "Submitter Code: HJM", indicating it was from a family group sheet instead of a primary or secondary source; Ancestry link is behind a pay wall.

See also:

• Jess B. Scott's Stith Valley website, especially
  • The Stiths
  • Stith Family Page
• Link to story on Ancestry
• S258: Ancestry Family Trees. [lacks sufficient detail to find reliable source]

• Space: Research Notes about Jane Drury (more of a workspace for source notes - created for the hidden text in this profile prior to 7 October 2023)