Henry Duke Jr. (abt. 1668 - bef. 1718)

Born about 1668 in James City County, Virginia [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 18 Jan 1718 before about age 50 in Prince George, Colony of Virginia [uncertain]

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Henry Duke Jr. resided in the Southern Colonies in North America before 1776. Join: US Southern Colonies Project Discuss: southern_colonies

Biography

Henry Duke was known both as Henry Duke Jr. and as Captain Henry Duke of Prince George County, VA in his Virginia records.

In 1690 Capt. Henry Duke received a grant for 1000 acres in James City County on the south side of Chicahominy River. ^[1] Capt. Henry Duke received a land grant in 1694, "90 acres beginning on Tiascunn Swamp along the line of his land he purchased of William Nanning."^[2] It is unclear whether "Capt. Henry Duke" referred to Henry Duke, Esq., or to his son. The title Captain can refer either to a militia rank or was sometimes bestowed as an honorific.

In the 1704 Quit Rent Rolls for Virginia there were five listings for individuals named Henry Duke. Three are for Col. Henry Duke, Esq., for property in New Kent Co and James City Co. One is for Henry Duke, Jr., for 1000 acres in James City County. This is surely the 1000 acres granted in 1690 to "Henry Duke, junior." (The final Henry Duke entry that year is Henry Duke of York County, a son of John Duke of that county and of indeterminate connection to the James City County Duke family.)^[3] This establishes that Henry Duke, Jr., was the same landowner as Capt. Henry Duke.

The move south of the James River to the Blackwater Swamp area can be accounted for by Henry Duke's second marriage, to Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of John Taylor of Prince George County, VA. Henry married Elizabeth Taylor about 1706 and had three children. Her parents were Capt John Taylor and Henrietta Maria [Taylor].

Captain John Taylor was a member of the House of Burgesses from Charles City County, VA in 1692-99 and clerk of the county in 1699. He was captain of the ship Merchant’s Hope. John Taylor married Henrietta Maria, commonly believed to have been Henrietta Maria Lucy. This is supported by the inheritance of land granted to Robert Lucy by Taylor, and subsequently by his daughter Henrietta Maria.^[4]

The will of John Taylor was dated 5 Apr 1707 and proved at court for Prince George County, VA, on 9 Nov 1709. John Taylor devised to his daughter Elizabeth Duke 1000 acres of land on the Blackwater, a riding horse and two enslaved men, Dick and Buck and all that which he had already given her. Those prior gifts included two enslaved women, Maria and Sue, given her soon after her marriage.^[5]

In 1712 Henry Duke was a Justice in Prince George County, VA. In 1714 he was Sheriff of the County.

Henry Duke really did have two sons named John. The sons often signed the same documents when settling family affairs. The oldest, Major John Duke, is believed to be a son by Henry's unknown first wife. The second son John was always known as John Taylor Duke and was named for the father of his mother Elizabeth Taylor. Honoring Capt. John Taylor was probably not just a matter of affection but respect since the family moved to the lands left to Elizabeth at Martin’s Brandon, taking up the very profitable estate there. Martin’s Brandon Parish was in the part of Charles City Co VA that in 1702 became Prince George Co. This may have been the James River plantation “Flower de Hundred."

Capt. Henry Duke of Martin’s Brandon, died in about 1718. ::Prince George Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Prince George, Virginia^[6]

In 1727 Elizabeth Duke, administratrix, provided an accounting fo the estate of Capt. Henry Duke, with Debts of 244.3 pounds and an inventory of 129.16.2 pounds.^[7]

Elizabeth next married Randle Platt.

Research Notes

Disambiguation

That Henry may be the father of an Elizabeth Duke who married James Nuckolls has been proposed, however, there is no daughter Elizabeth known to be associated with the family of Capt. Henry Duke and thus Henry is not the father of Elizabeth Nuckolls.

Elizabeth Duke was NOT a daughter of Capt. Henry Duke and Elizabeth Taylor. There was no Sims family connection to the family of Henry and Elizabeth Duke. In fact, Capt. Henry and Elizabeth are known to have had one daughter, first name unknown, who may or may not have married Daniel Eubanks.

Henry is NOT the Henry Duke who married Lydia Hansford in York County, VA. Lydia Hansford did NOT marry a member of the James City County/Charles City County Duke family. She married [Duke-4525|Henry Duke]] of York County, a son of John Duke and Jane Scarsbrooke there. That John Duke may, or may not, be a son of Thomas Duke of James City.

The following incorrect entry reflects a common problem for the colonial Duke families of Virginia, conflating the James City County/Charles City County Duke family with that of York County, VA. While there has been speculation that the John Duke of York County was from James City County/Charles City County, no evidence to support that assertion has ever been found and these two families should not be linked without such evidence. Edler Family Pages [1] provides incorrect information that Capt Henry Duke II, born about 1668, married Lydia Hansford, the daughter of Charles Hansford and Elizabeth Foliot of York Co VA, about 1698 and had two children.

Disputed Mother

Elizabeth Soane was previously attached as his mother. This claim is widely repeated but is disputed. Evelyn Duke Brandenburger in her 1979 book The Duke's Vol. 1 misinterpreted historical documents and came to the conclusion that Thomas Duke's mother, the wife of Henry Duke, was most likely Elizabeth Soane, but that is disproved by a document entitled "Settling The Debate On Who Elizabeth Soane (IV) Married."

Sources

1. ↑ Duke, Henry, Capt., grantee. Land grant 23 October 1690. Land Office Patents No. 8, 1689-1695, p. 123 (Reel 8).
2. ↑ Duke, Henry, Capt., grantee. Land grant 20 April 1694. Virginia Land Office Patents No. 8, 1689-1695, p. 322 (Reel 8).
3. ↑ Smith, Annie Laurie Wright. The Quit Rents of Virginia, 1704. Baltimore, 1977.
4. ↑ Weisinger, Benjamin B. III. 1994. Prince George County Virginia Wills and Deeds 1713-1728. Athens: Iberian Publishing Company. Page 100.
5. ↑ John Taylor Will. Virginia Historical Society Library, Richmond.
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 24 April 2020), memorial page for Capt Henry Duke, Jr (1668–1714), Find A Grave: Memorial #130584566, citing Hampton Memorial Gardens, Hampton, Hampton City, Virginia, USA ; Maintained by The Cemetery Lady (contributor 47893478).
7. ↑ Prince George County, VA., Deeds and Wills.

See also:

• Walter Garland Duke, Henry Duke, Councilor His Descendants and Connections (Richmond, The Dietz Press, 1949) pages 31, 33, 43, 82, 83, 88.
• Evelyn Duke Brandenberger, The Duke Family, II (Houston, TX: D. Armstrong Co., Inc., 1995), p235.
• Samuel Gordon Smyth, A Genealogy of the Duke-Shepherd-Van Metre Family from Civil, Military, Church and Family Records and Documents (Lancater, PA: Press of the New Era Printing Company, 1909), p267.
• English Duplicates of Lost Virginia Records, List of Patents.