Elizabeth (Bennett) Dew (abt. 1603)

Born about 1603 in England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died [date unknown] in Surry, Surry County, Virginia,

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Biography

Elizabeth Bennett was born in 1603 in England, the older of two known children, both daughters of Robert Bennett and an unknown mother.

Before 1625, when she was in her late teens or early twenties, she married Thomas Dew. She bore him two known children, both sons:

1. Andrew Dew
2. John Dew.
3. Ann Dew, born c1634

At an unknown date, she died of unknown causes in Surry, Surry County, Virginia],

As a young woman, Elizabeth married one Thomas Dew. A thirty-two year-old Elizabeth Dew sailed with nine month-old Ann in 1635 on the Alice.^[1]

Dew of England and Virginia The following is based on extractions from the book "Genealogy of Thomas Dew" by Ernestine Dew White, published in 1937:^[2]

Prior to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, Englishmen had no surnames. People were called by their occupations, places of birth, or from a personal peculiarity. Some examples: Tom the Miller; James the Smith; and Carpenter, Painter, White, Black, Brown, etc. The name Dew is thought to be of Celt origin, with a meaning of black or dark complexion.

The name in old records has been spelled in different ways. Sometimes it is spelled in two or more ways in the same document. The name has been spelled Dewe, Dew, Due, Dhu, Deu, Deugh.

It is assumed that the family is of very ancient Celtic origin, and that the name was originally Dhu. It is probable that the family descended from Roderick the Great, King of all Wales, and his son Howell Dhu, the Good, who died in 947. Dhu in Celtic, Gaelic and Welsh means black or of a dark complexion. It is assumed that Howell Dhu, the Good, had a dark complexion which, no doubt he inherited from the dark-skinned Romans who invaded Britain about 43 AD.

The progenitor of the Dew family in the Virginia Colony was Thomas Dew of England. He was an investor and subscriber to stock in "The Virginia Company of London." Many of the subscribers in the colonization projects eventually came to Virginia to live.

Thomas Dew, the immigrant and colonial ancestor of the Dew family, was a son of Thomas Dew, the London stationer. Thomas Dew, of London, was a brother of Richard Dew, of Abingdon, who married Elizabeth Bennett. Many members of the Dew, Bennett and Cromwell families migrated to the Virginia Colony.

Migration to Virginia

There exists evidence that Col. Thomas & Elizabeth Dewes had six surviving children that were old enough to travel with their father on a long sea voyage during the years of 1631, and 1632.

They were called his “servants” on the ship's manifest. This designation enabled them to travel with their father without any additional fee, but they needed to be old enough to travel with paternal supervision alone.

Two of these children are thought to be Andrew Dewes (b. ca. 1625,) and Thomas Dewes (b. ca. 1626,) but it seems that there were four other older children whose identities, and ultimate fate are unknown. Perhaps they perished before becoming adults, or remained in England after getting an education there. All of the Colonel’s sons perished before his own death in 1691.

Robert Bennett & family arrived in Virginia with Thomas Dewe & wife Elizabeth in February 1622 on the Seaflower. On Mar. 22nd 1622 there was an Indian attack at Bennett’s Welcome, the Warraskoyak plantation of his wealthy & influential brother Edward Bennett a London Merchant who was the first Treasurer of the Virginia Company of London.

Col. Thomas Dewes [ca.1601/02, Berkshire, England – ca. 1691, York, Va., about 89 or 90 years of age.]

Positions and Property

Thomas Dew served as burgess from 1623 for "Henricus," in 1629 for Archer's Hope, in 1642, 1652, 1652 for Nansemond Counties.^[3] He also served, beginning on 31 March 1555, as member of the Council (p xlvii).^[3]

Indian attack

This plantation had been occupied for less than a month, and was still under development. Being virtually destroyed in the attack, it was abandoned and the survivors were removed to Jamestown. On Feb. 16th 1623, Thomas Doe ux Doe (sic) Dewe were counted living in the Maine River District of James City.

Robert Bennett & all in his household perished in about August of 1623. Conditions were so bad that Thomas Doe (sic.) and his family departed for England on the Ann that arrived in Virginia on August 7th 1623.^[4]

He owned over 60,000 acres of land in Virginia and lived in Nansemond County, 1642-1660.

Children

1. Ann Dewe, born 1634.
2. Andrew Dewe went to Essex County, Virginia.
3. John Dewe^[5]

Death and will

Elizabeth died in Virginia in 1672 when she was about sixty-nine years old, ^[6] but her estate was not presented before Court until 10 October 1691.

Citations

1. ↑ John Camden Hotten. The Original Lists of Persons of Quality, Emigrants, Religious Exiles, Political Rebels, Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years, Apprentices, Children Stolen, Maidens Pressed, and Others who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700: With Their Ages, the Localities where They Formerly Lived in the Mother Country, the Names of the Ships in which They Embarked, and Other Interesting Particulars, from Mss. Preserved in the State Paper Department of Her Majesty's Public Record Office, England. Chatto and Windus; 1874. p. 109.
2. ↑ White
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} McIlwaine, Henry Read, and Virginia. House of Burgesses, (1915) Journals of the House of Burgesses of VA, 1659/60-1963, Vol 1 1619-1658/1659.] Richmond, VA: [Library Board, Virginia State Library]Archive.org (Vol 1, Pages x, xvi, xx, xxi, xxii, xlvii, 69, 91, 93).
4. ↑ Entered by Michelle Brooks. ( from "James Dew, AKA: Due [ca. bet. 1747 – 1752, SC/Ga. – ca. 1809, Darlington, South Carolina]" by Steven W. Due, Sept. 23rd 2006, at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnalhn/jamesdew.htm.).
5. ↑ White, p. 169
6. ↑ Unknown, "Isaac White ," Ancestry.com URL: http://records.ancestry.com/isaac_white_records.ashx?pid=20606044. Unable to access on13 Jan 2019. Mary Dew, 1700-1768

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Bennett-2369 was created through the import of YOUNG.ged on Jul 12, 2011 by Zak Young.

• Barber-2920 was created by Patricia Prickett Hickin through the import of P_McC_B_WHITE-Paulina ancestors 20140413.ged on Apr 13, 2014.

• Ken Wise created Elizabeth (Bennett) Dew.on 8 Oct 2016.

Sources

• White, Ernestine Dew. 1937. Genealogy of some of the descendants of Thomas Dew, colonial Virginia pioneer immigrant, together with genealogical records and biographical sketches of families in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Tennessee.

• Allen Dew Genealogy Pages- http://apdew.com/ Caution: no sources.

• RootsWeb World Connect- {http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=

• RootsWeb World Connect- {http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=apdew&id=I10605}

• Familysearch

• Paige Ramsey Family Tree- Thank You!

• Personal Research- Ken Wise [1]

• Unknown, "Isaac White ," Ancestry.com URL: http://records.ancestry.com/isaac_white_records.ashx?pid=20606044. Unable to access on13 Jan 2019.

• Dye, Steven W. "James Dew, AKA: Due[ca. bet. 1747 – 1752, SC/Ga. – ca. 1809, Darlington, South Carolina]" URL: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnalhn/jamesdew.htm James Dew. Sept. 23rd 2006. Caution: no sources.