Katherine Frances (UNKNOWN) Debnam Grymes (abt. 1610 - abt. 1683)

Born about 1610 in Ightham, Kent, England

Wife of William Debnam — married 1640 in England

Wife of Charles Grymes — married 1658 in Virginia

Descendants

Died about 26 Aug 1683 at about age 73 in Gloucester, Virginia Colony

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Biography

Katherine (UNKNOWN) Debnam Grymes was born in Ightham, Kent, England.

The story for Katherine _______ Debham Grymes has been hard to find. It has been thought that she must have come from Ightham, near Seven Oaks in Kent, England, supposed to be the birth place of her second husband, Charles Grymes. Various dates have been found for her and published in many on-line genealogies, most from the familysearch old IGI Index. John Newport's well sourced page in Rootsweb [1] provides a good starting place for those interested in checking the original sources of published birthdates for Katherine.

However, the truth is that no one knows what her family name really was or where she was born, no evidence has been found to establish what her name could have been. Joseph Henry Hightower Moore in his assessment of the problem has this to say in his discussion of the THE DEBNAM AND GRYMES-LEE FAMILY LINES OF VIRGINIA in Genealogy.com [2] Few matriarchs in Virginia history produced so notable a progeny as Katherine (Unknown) Debnam Grymes, and one cannot help wondering at the mystery of her own name and origin. It is likely that she belonged to a gentry family in England, one already well known to the families among whom her children and descendants married in Virginia. While it has been supposed that she came to Virginia with her parents, or was born in Virginia, the possibility must be considered that she may have arrived from England with a husband prior to William Debnam. Until further facts are obtained, her early life remains a matter of conjecture. (Her identity was likely recorded with her marriage in the earliest and now evidently lost records of New Poquoson Parish, Charles River/York County.) William Debnam is known to have been in Virginia by 1636 and to have land in Charles River/York County, in New Poquoson Parish.

We know at least, that her name was Katherine, because following the death of her husband William Debnam in 1657, she married Charles Grymes and he became the guardian of her children, an issue discussed by J.J. Burks in his Our Family Tree entry for William Debnam and Katherine Jennings. [3]

Katherine's place of burial is not known. A final word from Dee Winter and Elreeta Weathers in their FindaGrave memorial for Katherine who record that, through her marriage to William Debnam, Katherine became the ancestor of many who would later marry into the families of Ball, Bankhead, Byrd, Carter, Fitzhugh, Grymes, Lee, Lewis, Lightfoot, Mann, Marshall, Nelwon, Peyton, Randolph, Smith, Stribling, Taylor, Warner, Washington, and Wormeley. ^[1]

First Marriage

The first husband of Katharine ______ Debham Grymes was Wiiliam Debnam.

William first appears in Virginia records in a land patent recorded on 6 May 1636 for Christopher Calthorpe, In the fall of 1648 he was one of four men ordered to appraise the estate of his neighbor Abraham Turner. Dednam had acquired land on Ware River in;Mojack; Bay, Charles River.

Dednam had acquired land on Ware River in;Mojack; Bay, Charles River (later Gloucester) County by 10 Oct 1642, when his property is mentioned as abutting a patent granted to Abraham Turner.

William Debnam of Charles River/York and Gloucester Counties, Virginia. He is known to have been in Virginia by 1636, when Captain Christopher Calthorpe [4] claimed a "headright", a legal grant of land as repayment for bringing William Debnam to the colony. [5]

Married: probably before 1640, Katherine [LNAB Unknown]^[2]

They had four children:

Katherine: married about 1654, Robert Taliaferro [1626 - 1670 or 1671]^{[3] [4]}

William: born after 1637^[2]

Anne: married Edward Hoyle^[5]

Mary: married Lawrence Smith^[6]

"William Debham died 1658; Will probated by his widow Catherine, in Gloucester County, Va.,1658; she married second, Rev. Charles Grymes, who died 1662, in Gloucester County, VA. She was his executrix, in Gloucester County"^[7]

Second Marriage

Married second: in 1658, Rev. Charles Grymes (1612-1661) ^[8]

Death

Katherine died on 26 Aug 1678 (aged 72–73) Gloucester, Gloucester County, Virginia; Burial: Unknown.

Sources

1. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #87399189
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Pettigrew Page 166
3. ↑ Pettigrew page 167
4. ↑ John Taliaferro of the Mount, page 87
5. ↑ Pettigrew page 167
6. ↑ Pettigrew page 168
7. ↑ Pettigrew, Marion Dewoody, 1876-: Marks-Barnett Families and Their Kin (Macon, GA: J. W. Burke Co., 1939) (page images at HathiTrust)
8. ↑ Katherine (____) (Debnam) Grymes and some Relatives page 164

• The Virginia Genealogist. Washington, DC: J. F. Dorman, 1957 - 2006. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.) vol. 41 (1997), page 163 - 171, Katherine (____) (Debnam) Grymes and some Relatives, by Rudolf Loeser, Concord, Massachusetts. [This paper sorts out the identity of Katherine and her spouses.]
• The Virginia Genealogist. Washington, DC: J. F. Dorman, 1957 - 2006. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.), Vol. 48, pages 83 - 112 John Taliaferro of the Mount, page 87 by Henry G. Taliaferro, New York, N.Y.
• The Virginia Genealogist. Washington, DC: J. F. Dorman, 1957 - 2006. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.) Vol. 38, page 168, Who Was Catherine, the wife of Cadwallader Jones of Virginia?, by Henry G. Taliaferro, New York, N.Y.
• Source: S42 Author: Gale Research Title: Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010.Original data - Filby, P. William, ed.. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2010.Original data: Filby, P. William, ed.. Passen Repository: #R1 Record ID Number: MH:S42 User ID: 0BC294B4-E216-4B2B-8E53-D4E31910CFAA
• from T. W. Sosebee at Taliaferro genforum post #142: rootsweb

The early researchers believed that Katherine, who married Robert Taliaferro, was a daughter of the Rev. Charles Grymes,"the immigrant". Later research revealed that Rev. Grymes married Katherine's mother, a widow. Katherine's mother was also name d "Katherine".

An early researcher published the fact that Rev. Grymes married the widow of Henry Debman.

Katherine , who married Robert Taliaferro, was actually a step-daughter of Rev. Charles Grymes. The name "Sarah" came about, some recent researchers believe, because Robert, "the immigrant" was confused with either his son or grandson, also named Robert, who married a Sarah

Some researchers believe that Katherine, who married Robert Taliaferro, was a daughter of William Debnam and not Henry Debman, and that she was a stepdaughter of Rev. Charles Grymes who married the widow, Katherine Debnam.

• Title: The Virginia Genealogist. Text: "Katherine (___) (Debnam) Grymes and Some relatives," Vol. 41, No. 3 (July-Sept. 1997), pp. 163-171, and "Margaret (Dedman) Perrott and Some Relatives," by Rudolf Loeser, Vol. 42 No. 1, pp. 3-17.
• Joseph Henry Hightower Moore http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/debnam/137/
• John D. Newport rootsweb
• J. J. Burks ourfamtree.org
• THE VIRGINIA GENEALOGIST, Vol. 41, No. 3, No. 163, July-September, 1997. The article is continued in Vol. 41, No. 4, No. 160, October-December, 1997. Katherine (____) (Debnam) Grymes and some Relatives, by Rudolf Loeser; providing evidence for the identity of Katherine and her spouses "Katherine (____) (Debnam) Grymes and some Relatives." (membership required)
• Tom Hamm, Jr Rootsweb
• The Virginia Genealogist. Washington, DC: J. F. Dorman, 1957 - 2006. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.) vol. 41 (1997), page 163 - 171, Katherine (____) (Debnam) Grymes and some Relatives, by Rudolf Loeser, Concord, Massachusetts. [This paper sorts out the identity of Katherine and her spouses.]
• The Virginia Genealogist. Washington, DC: J. F. Dorman, 1957 - 2006. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.), Vol. 48, pages 83 - 112 John Taliaferro of the Mount, page 87 by Henry G. Taliaferro, New York, N.Y.
• The Virginia Genealogist. Washington, DC: J. F. Dorman, 1957 - 2006. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.) Vol. 38, page 168, Who Was Catherine, the wife of Cadwallader Jones of Virginia?, by Henry G. Taliaferro, New York, N.Y.
• Loeser, Rudolf, 1998 "Katherine (____) (Debnam) Grymes and some Relatives." The Virginia Genealogist. (Vol 42, Page 3) , DC: J. F. Dorman, 1957 - 2006. (Online database accessed 14 February 2016. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.)
• THE VIRGINIA GENEALOGIST, Vol. 41 , No. 3, Whole No. 163, July- September, 1997 - this article is continued in Vol. 41, No. 4, Whole No. 160, October-December, 1997.
• dcodriscoll.pbworks.com
• ourfamtree.org
• rootsweb ( note: J.J. Burks writes ourfamtree "John Bailey Calvin Nicklin was mistaken about the husband of Katherine Debnam Grymes being Henry Deadman. The records of York Co VA, which he did not consult, prove his error. William Debnam and the marriage of his widow Katherine to Charles Grymes who was also the guardian of her children make it clear. I made the same mistake in "Gone to Texas" - as will anyone else who fails to check ALL the primary records." etc.
• ourfamtree.org
• Source: S1 Title: William and Mary Quarterly Abbreviation: William & Mary Quarterly