Francis West II (1726 - 1794)

Born 1726 in Bristol Parish, Prince George Co, Virginia

Husband of Elizabeth (Bransford) West — married 1753 in Chesterfield, Virginia

Descendants

Died Jun 1794 at about age 68 in Chesterfield Co Virginia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Bryan Miller [send private message]

Biography

FRANCIS WEST was born on 9 February 1726, in Bristol Parish, New Kent Co., Virginia.^[1] He was the son of Francis West and Elizabeth Simmons. Francis died in Amherst Co. in 1794 at the age of 67.^[2] Francis married Elizabeth Bransford in 1753 in Chesterfield Co.^[3] They had six sons: Bransford, Peter, Nicholas, William, Jesse and John.

The challenge with researching the name Francis West in early Virginia is that there were so many of them, that it’s hard to ensure that a record attaches to the correct person. It may be that this Francis West can trace his ancestry to the original immigrant Francis West, who arrived in the American colonies in 1608, but I can’t get there without guessing. The Francis West of this profile was the second of four children of another Francis West, and grew up in New Kent County, just east of Richmond, Virginia.

Around 1753, Francis married Elizabeth Bransford, daughter of John and Mary or Martha (Kingsford) Bransford. Francis and Elizabeth would have several children together. Although the names are generally agreed upon, the years of birth are not. In fact, most Ancestry users entered multiple children with birth years after Elizabeth died. I changed her death date, for three reasons: (1) most of the researchers have Elizabeth dying in 1768 in Rochester, New York, which makes no sense at all; (2) the birth dates of the later children; and, as will be shown below, (3) her mention in land transactions through the year 1790.

Another example of the confusion is various listings of the Virginia Assembly. A Francis West was mentioned as serving from King William County in sessions of 1748-1758, but this was a different person. The elder sons of our Francis, born in that same time frame, were said to be from Chesterfield County. It could be that the family moved to Amherst County around 1758.

From the Deeds of Amherst County, Francis West appeared as a witness as early as 4 July 1764. Multiple land records in Amherst County in later years survive. A report dated 19 December 1768 showed Francis with 80 acres, an another on 6 May 1773 reported a holding of 110 acres.

There is no reference to any Revolutionary War service by Francis West, but his son Bransford did serve in the Continental Line. In 1782, Francis “& wife Eliz.” sold 110 acres on Mayo Creek for £15 to William Cabell. In April of 1789 and 1790, Francis and Elizabeth transferred 107 acres to each of four sons – Francis Jr. in 1789, and John, Nicholas and Bransford the following year. The price of each sale was “love and five shillings.”^[4] Since Elizabeth was mentioned in each of these records, she either was still very much alive, or Francis married another woman by that name. I think the former is correct.

There are a few genealogy books that refer to Francis and Elizabeth West. At least one, Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and their Connections, states that only two of the West’s nine children lived to maturity: Bransford and Francis. That would not only deny my ancestor Nicholas (mentioned in Amherst County records at age sixty in 1818), but brothers William, Jesse and John. Some other researchers assume that Elizabeth died in 1768, and that widower Francis married Ruth Becknall in 1790. It’s almost certain that Ruth’s actual spouse was the son Francis and not the father.

Francis West died in early 1794. His son Francis and Josiah Jopling were the administrators of the estate, since there was no will. Three pages of the deceased’s inventory were itemized and appraised. The thoroughness of this listing should confirm that Elizabeth was also deceased, as there would appear to be nothing left behind if she were alive. That puts the range of her death between April 1790 and February 1794.

In addition to being a large landowner, it is possible that Francis was also a woodworker. Several woodworking tools were listed in his death inventory. A Francis West was noted as building a coffin in 1785; this could have been the father or the son. The son Francis was a cabinetmaker, as shown in a death record for him in Tennessee some forty years later.

Sources

1. ↑ Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, The Vestry Book of Bristol Parish, Virginia, 1720-1789 (Richmond, VA, Private printing, 1898), page 385.
2. ↑ Entered by Travis Wagner, Apr 23, 2012
3. ↑ Henry Morton Woodson,Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and their Connections (Memphis, TN, Published by the author, 1915), page 674.
4. ↑ Davis, Bailey Fulton. The Deeds of Amherst County, Virginia – 1761-1807, Southern Historical Press, 1979, pages 334, 461, 536-538.