John Cary Ambler (1762 - 1836)

Born 25 Sep 1762 in Jamestown, James City, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Frances (Armistead) Ambler — married 1782 (to after May 1787) in Henrico, Virginia

Husband of Katherine Bush — married 21 Nov 1799 in Henrico, Virginia

Descendants

Died 8 Apr 1836 at age 73 in Richmond, Virginia, United States

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Biography

John was born in 1762 in Jamestown, Virginia. Col. John Ambler was the son of Edward and Mary Cary Ambler (Mary was the daughter of Wilson Cary and his wife Sarah) and he was the first cousin of Mary "Polly" Willis Ambler, wife of Chief Justice John Marshall. He passed away in 1836.

Ambler family (of Jamestown, Richmond, Williamsburg, and Amherst County), papers, 1772–1852. 159 items. Mss1Am167c.

John Ambler (1762–1830) was a lawyer, planter, and lieutenant colonel in the Virginia militia. His correspondence (section 3) includes varied references to slaves, in particular, in letters from Samuel Coleman of Richmond (military orders to prevent an illegal assemblage of slaves), Rawleigh Colston (about a deed of trust concerning slaves), James Semple (discussing a dispute over the hiring out of four slaves), Littleton Waller Tazewell (about a deed of trust concerning slaves), and Spencer Watkins (describing an occurrence of measles and mumps among slaves on an Amherst County plantation).

Ambler’s legal papers include a conveyance (section 5) of land and eleven slaves to Edward and Thomas Ambler for the benefit of the children of Mary C. Smith, daughter of John Ambler; an affidavit (section 6) of Charles McCook concerning two escaped slaves; and an affidavit of Charles Parke Goodall (section 7) stating that the escaped slave Sam belonged to John Ambler. John Ambler’s estate papers, 1837 (also section 7), include a list of slaves at Westham in Henrico County, which provides the slaves’ ages and values. Papers from the estate of Catherine C. (Ambler) Moncure, wife of Henry W. Moncure, include a list of slaves at Mill Farm in Louisa County, also with ages and values. https://www.virginiahistory.org/sites/default/files/uploads/AAG.pdf

"Son of Edward Ambler, of Jamestown, Virginia, went to Philadelphia to school, and in 1782 fell heir to Jamestown Island and all the other great estates of his parents. He served in the legislature at twenty-one and was the captain of a cavalry troop of James City County. He removed to Richmond in 1807 and was made major of the Nineteenth Regiment of Virginia Militia, commanding the troops which were sent to Norfolk at the time of the attack on the Chesapeake; afterwards was made colonel of the Nineteenth Regiment of state troops and served in the war of 1812. He was one of the jury that tried Aaron Burr for treason. He died April 8, 1836, and was buried in Shockoe Cemetery, Richmond."

Sources

• 1810 Census: "1810 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1810; Census Place: Henrico, Virginia; Roll: 69; Page: 987; Image: 00243; Family History Library Film: 0181429
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 7613 #669847 (accessed 7 July 2022)
  John Ambler. (53 enslaved)
• 1810 Census: "1810 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1810; Census Place: Richmond, Richmond (Independent City), Virginia; Roll: 70; Page: 383; Image: 00726; Family History Library Film: 0181430
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 7613 #711367 (accessed 7 July 2022)
  Jno Ambler. (10 enslaved)
• 1820 Census: "1820 United States Federal Census"
  1820 U S Census; Census Place: Richmond, Richmond (Independent City), Virginia; Page: 167; NARA Roll: M33_131; Image: 184
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 7734 #142838 (accessed 7 July 2022)
  John Ambler. (11 enslaved)
• 1820 Census: "1820 United States Federal Census"
  1820 U S Census; Census Place: Louisa, Virginia; Page: 43; NARA Roll: M33_139; Image: 55
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 7734 #1100248 (accessed 7 July 2022)
  John Ambler. (120 enslaved in Louisa, VA)
• 1830 Census: "1830 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1830; Census Place: Henrico, Virginia; Series: M19; Roll: 195; Page: 315; Family History Library Film: 0029674
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8058 #2243971 (accessed 7 July 2022)
  John Ambler. (63 enslaved in Henrico, VA)
• 1830 Census: "1830 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1830; Census Place: Richmond Madison Ward, Richmond (independent City), Virginia; Series: M19; Roll: 195; Page: 407; Family History Library Film: 0029674
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8058 #2246284 (accessed 7 July 2022)
  Cos John Ambler. (14 enslaved)

1803 Virginia Court Reports

Cary & C. Executors of Ambler, & C. v. Macon & al.

EDWARD AMBLER, died in 1768, seized in fee of an estate in Jamestown, a plantation not far from thence, on Powhatan swamp, an estate in Hanover called the Cottage, a plantation in Louisa, and a moiety of an estate at Westham, (the other moiety of which belonged to Robert Carter Nicholas) and possessed of a lease for years from the governor, of a farm on the mail land near Jamestown. He left a Will.

Widow, Mary, who took possession of the Jamestown estate, and removed about the year 1777 to the Cottage in Hanover, where she lived until her death in May 1781.

The estate suffered greatly during the war. The British army, under Lord Cornwallis, committed great ravages at Jamestown, the main, and Powhatan, destoying among other things, all the stocks of cattle, etc. belonging to those places.

They had:

Issue: John Ambler (a party to this suit), born circa 1762, became of age in 1783

Issue: Edward Cary Ambler, died at age of 16, before 11 September 1775. Will dated 5 March 1775.

Issue: Sarah, married on 25 March 1779, William H Macon, and died prior to 26 August 1789, leaving one daughter.

Issue: Mary Ambler, died an infant, unmarried, on 31 October 1768, about a month after her father's death.

Executors: Jacquelin Ambler, Robert Carter Nicholas, John Blair, Jr, and Wilson Miles Cary.

Virginia Wills

.........

Col John Ambler

BIRTH 25 Sep 1762 Jamestown, James City County, Virginia, USA

DEATH 8 Apr 1836 USA

BURIAL Shockoe Hill Cemetery Richmond, Richmond City, Virginia, USA

MEMORIAL ID 57091683

AMBLER, JOHN Ancestor #: A002166

Service: VIRGINIA Rank(s): PATRIOTIC SERVICE

Birth: 9-25-1762 YORKTOWN YORK CO VIRGINIA

Death: 4-8-1836 RICHMOND HENRICO CO VIRGINIA

Service Source: ABERCROMBIE & SLATTEN, VA REV PUB CLAIMS, VOL 2, 472

Service Description: 1) FURNISHED SUPPLIES, HANOVER CO

RESIDENCE

Created: 2002-03-27 23:23:55.3, Updated: 2010-06-29 17:32:24.0, By: 1) : City: THE COTTAGE - County: HANOVER CO - State: VIRGINIA

Created: 2002-03-27 23:17:13.16, Updated: 2002-03-27 23:17:13.16, By: Conversion 1) FRANCES ARMISTEAD

Created: 2002-03-27 23:17:13.16, Updated: 2002-03-27 23:17:13.16, By: Conversion 2) LUCY MARSHALL

Created: 2002-03-27 23:17:13.16, Updated: 2002-03-27 23:17:13.16, By: Conversion 3) KATHERINE BUSH NORTON

Virginia, Compiled Marriages, 1740-1850

NAME: John Ambler

SPOUSE: Frances Armistead

MARRIAGE: date - Henrico, Virginia

Married 3 times:

1. Frances Armistead in 1782, two chidlren:

a. Edward Ambler

b. Mary Cary Ambler

2. Lucy Marshall in 1792, one child:

a. Thomas Marshall Ambler

3. Katherine Bush on Nov. 21, 1799, three children:

a. John Jaquelin Ambler marr. Elizabeth Barbour

b. Catherine Cary Ambler

c. Elizabeth Byrd? Bush? Ambler