Mary (Dabney) Meacham (1657 - 1746)

Born 1657 in Ireland or England

Wife of John Brim — married 15 Nov 1674 in Christ Church, Middlesex, Colony of Virginia

Wife of John Meacham — married 1 Feb 1711 in Christchurch Parish, Middlesex, Colony of Virginia

Descendants

Died 16 Jan 1746 at about age 89 in Middlesex, Colony of Virginia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: John Hoyler [send private message]

Biography

Mary Dabney was married to John Brim [variously spelled] on 15 November 1674 in Christ Church Parish of Middlesex County, Virginia. Children she had from her marriage to Brim were recorded in the Christ Church Parish Register as early as 1682. Her birth year is estimated by these. She was widowed about 1709.

She again married 1 Feb 1710/11, as the recent widow of John Brime, to John Meacham at Christ Church Parish of Middlesex County.

As the widow of John Brime, she and John Meacham administered upon the estate of her deceased husband, as evidenced by their presentment of the latter's estate inventory on 3 July 1711 and a Court Order issued 1 May 1711 to further inventory the deceased's estate.^[1]

Mary was again widowed in a short time when John Meacham died 20 May 1712. Prior to his death, John Meacham had made a will leaving his estate to his children by his fist wife Michall Blake. There were no children born by his marriage to Mary. Court records show John's will had disappeared and could not be produced to the Court. Depositions were taken from William Daniell, who had written the will, and others who had likely been the subscribing witnesses.

She became guardian to her still minor sons, Thomas and James Brame, after the death of John Meacham.^[2]

Depositions for will of John Meacham recorded 2 Sep 1712.^[3]

• William Daniell states that he wrote the will of Mr. John Mitchan a little before he married the widow Brime and that he left his son James Meacham as executor and divided the land he lived on between James Meacham and his brother Daniel Meacham and a parcel of land to his youngest son joining upon his son Joseph Mitcham (Meacham) and negroes to his three sons.
• Richard Atwood states that he read Mr. John Meacham's will in 1710 before he married the Widow Brime and he left the land where he lived to his sons James Meacham and Daniel Meacham and to Henry Meacham a tract part of he'd given to son Joseph Meacham. Negroes Jack to James Meacham, Ned to Daniel Meacham and Peter to Henry Meacham, the three brothers.
• Jonathan Johnson deposes that John Meacham in December 1710 being sick & weak in body but in perfect sense made his last will giving land on which he lived to sons James and Daniell Meacham & their heirs forever to be equally divided in quantity and quality. The lands by green branch he gave to son Henry Meacham and to his heirs of body lawfully begotten. His negroes he divided between his three sons James, Daniel, & Henry Meacham and lastly made his son James executor. Wit: George Gest and Edward Rolfe.

Children of John Brim & Mary gleaned from Christ Church Parish Register.

Mary Brim Daughter of Jno. & Mary Brim was borne 7th of Jan last and baptized the 16th of Aprill 1682.

Elizabeth Brim Daughter of Jno. & Mary Brim was borne 7th of Jan and baptized 16th of Aprill 1682.

Mary Breame ye Daughter of John & Mary Braeme was Bapt 27th of July 1684.

Ann Breame the Daughter of John & Mary Breame was bap't 11th of January 1684/5.

John Brim ye sone of John & Mary Brim was bap 14th of ffebruary 1685/6.

Alice ye Daughter of Jno & Mary Brim borne l0th ffeb bap't 16th June 1688.

Richans ye Sone of John & Mary Brim bapt 23th ffeb'ry 1689/90

Johannah the Daughter of John & Mary Brim baptized 12th of June 1692.

Peter Brim the Sone of Jno & Mary Brim was borne 6th of Aprill and Baptized the 12th of May 1702. Middlesex Christ Church Parish Register.

Name

Name: Mary /Dabney/^[4][5][6]

Residence

Residence:

Date: 1698

Place: Middlesex, Virginia Colony^[7]

Marriage

Husband: John Brim

Wife: Mary Dabney

Child: Richins Brame

Relationship to Father: Natural

Relationship to Mother: Natural

Child: Alice Brim

Relationship to Father: Natural

Relationship to Mother: Natural

Child: Johannah Brame

Relationship to Father: Natural

Relationship to Mother: Natural

Child: Nicholas Brim

Relationship to Father: Natural

Relationship to Mother: Natural

Child: James Brim

Relationship to Father: Natural

Relationship to Mother: Natural

Child: Mary Brame

Relationship to Father: Natural

Relationship to Mother: Natural

Child: Thomas Brim

Relationship to Father: Natural

Relationship to Mother: Natural

Child: Peter Brame

Relationship to Father: Natural

Relationship to Mother: Natural

Child: Ann Brim

Relationship to Father: Natural

Relationship to Mother: Natural

Child: John Brim

Relationship to Father: Natural

Relationship to Mother: Natural

Child: Mary Breame

Relationship to Father: Natural

Relationship to Mother: Natural

Marriage:

Date: 15 NOV 1674

Place: Christ Church, Middlesex, Virginia Colony^[8][9][10]

Research Notes

2017 add: From 2005 paper by Robert Ellis on the ancestors of Hallie Dell Williams:

"John Brim was born in about 1644 in Stoke Gabriel, Devonshire, England to Nicholas Brend and Ann Bogin. Just when he immigrated is not clear, but he was living in Middlesex County, Virginia by 1674 when he married Mary Dabney.

"There (were in 2005) two Mary Dabneys in the data available to me, both of whom were granddaughters of Theodore Dabney. Theodore was among the first groups of Huguenots who came to Virginia. He had a son named Cornelius and a son named John, both of whom had daughters named Mary.

"The Huguenots were French Protestants, members of the Reformed Church established in about 1555 by John Calvin. The growing popularity of the church quickly led to hostility and repression by the Catholic dominated French government. In 1562, some 1,200 Huguenots were killed at Vassey, France. This began the French Wars of Religion which lasted for about 35 years. King Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes in 1598, giving the Huguenots some limited rights. After Henry died in 1610, the persecutions resumed, and by 1685, King Louis XIV revoked the Edict. Hundreds of thousands of Huguenots fled to friendly European countries and to the English Colonies, particularly Virginia, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, and New York. The Huguenots tended to be welcomed wherever they fled because they were primarily artisans, craftsmen, and professionals.

"In about 1620, three Huguenot men arrived at Jamestown and settled in Elizabeth City County. In the 1630s, several Huguenots, including an ancestor in a branch I have not yet reported on here, arrived and settled in York County. At about the same time, other Huguenots settled in upper Norfolk County.

"John Brim married Mary Dabney on 15 November 1674 in Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County, Virginia. (Christ Church Parish and Middlesex County were one in the same.)...

"John and Mary were noted in an essay about the hard life in Middlesex County in the 17th Century because they were an exception to the rule-they survived long enough to see all their children reach majority. Darrett B. and Anita H. Rutman wrote in their essay “Now-Wives and Sons-in-Law”: Parental Death in a Seventeenth-Century Virginia Count:

“A traveler to Virginia in the late 1680s noted that he had ‘met few old people’; in the same decade John Clayton, Virginia’s scientific parson, wrote that ‘if the English live past 33 they generally live to a good age’ but ‘many die between 30 and 33;’ and William Fitzhugh, writing in 1687, when he was thirty-six, looked upon himself as in his ‘declining age.”

“Middlesex’s first generation was an immigrant generation; evidence of birth dates…is scattered though the records of older counties and in England… yet enough material on the first and second generations (those born through 1710) has been gathered… We can hypothesize Middlesex’s median couple, a highly idealized concept, we stress… Presuming that, both husband and wife, the marriage was a first marriage, he would have just turned 24, she just 20….they would have between four and six children, perhaps one of which would die in infancy… Four or five would survive, however…The wife of this median marriage could be expected to die at 39… The husband, 43 at the death of his first wife, would probably remarry almost immediately and have still other children. But he could be expected to die in turn at 48.”

Sources

1. ↑ [1]Appraisal of Estate of John Brim, decd. & Order for further appraisal. Names John Meacham and wife Mary Meacham, administrators of John Brim. 3 Jul 1711. Middlesex Wills Book A, p. 251-252.
2. ↑ [2]7 April 1713 Bond of Mary Meacham, John Clarke, Henry Goodloe, Mary's guardianship of Thomas & James Brame, orphans of John Brame. Middlesex Deed Book 1703-172?, p. 312
3. ↑ [3] Depositions for will of John Meacham. Middlesex Wills Book A, pgs. 9 & 10.
4. ↑ Source: #S189 Page: See entry
5. ↑ Source: #S429 Page: See entry
6. ↑ Source: #S186 Page: Source number: 23964.002; Source type: Pedigree chart; Number of Pages: 2
7. ↑ Source: #S189 Page: See entry
8. ↑ Source: #S189 Page: See entry
9. ↑ Source: #S429 Page: See entry
10. ↑ Source: #S186 Page: Source number: 23964.002; Source type: Pedigree chart; Number of Pages: 2

See also:

• Source: S186 Author: Yates Publishing Title: U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.Original data - This unique collection of records was extracted from a variety of sources including family group sheets and electronic databases. Originally, the information was derived; Repository: Ancestry.com
• Source: S189 Author: Edmund West, comp. Title: Family Data Collection - Births Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001.; Repository: Ancestry.com
• Source: S429 Author: Ancestry.com Title: Christ Church Parish, Virginia Births, 1653-1812 Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2000; Repository: Ancetsry.com
• 2017 add: Sources for 2005 data:
  1. Eng Gen: VI., 2:
     • Married John Brim on 15 Nov 1674 in Middlesex Co., VA. Died 16 Jan 1745/7, at which time she was married to her third husband.
  2. http://www.ancestry.com Gene Pool
     • John Brim and Mary Dabney were listed as the parent of several children born in Middlesex County: Nicholas, born 1677, died in Apr 1720 in Essex Co; Elizabeth and Mary, DOB: 7 Jan 1682; Alice, 10 Feb 1688; Thomas, 1698; James, 1700, died 12 Sep 1722 in Middlesex Co; & Peter, 6 April 1702, died 1718 in Middlesex Co.
  3. http://www.ancestry.com Church Records, Christ Church Parish, Virginia Births, 1653-1812
     • John and Mary Brim were listed as parents of: John, baptized 14 Feb 1685/6; Richans, bapt. 3 Feb 1689/90; and Johannah, bapt 12 Jun 1692
  4. FTM/WFT # 2-699:
     • John Brim married Mary Dabney 15 Nov 1674 in Middlesex, VA.
     • Children: John; Mary (1); Ann; Richins; Johanna; Nicholas; Mary (2); Elizabeth; Alice; Thomas; James; and Peter.
  5. FTM/WFT 17-462 (quotes a lot from 2-699 above)
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20050324010838/http://huguenot-manakin.org/lineage.html Lineages--First Three Generations

     The Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakin, In the Colony of Virginia; found March 2005:

     Ancestor 2nd Generation 3rd Generation

     Dabney, Theodore Dabney, Cornelius Dabney, Mary

     Dabney, Theodore Dabney, John Dabney, Mary

• The parish register of Christ Church, Middlesex County, Va., from 1653 to 1812 by Christchurch, Va. Christ Church; National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. Virginia. Richmond, W. E. Jones, Printer, 1897.

• WikiTree profile Breame-2 created through the import of Turnham Family Tree.ged on Mar 6, 2012 by Blake Turnham. It was merged with Dabney-246, then merged with Dabney-906 on 17 Sept 2022 by H. Kleine. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Blake and others.