Samuel Weaver-499 Additional Information

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This page contains additional research, conflation information and critical questions which need to be answered in order to sort out and deconflate what we truly know about Samuel Weaver of Manikintown.

Conflation

There were a few men named Samuel Weaver living in the same area at the same time. Since the people generally didn’t name their children with “Jr.” and “Sr.” back then, it is difficult to always know who is whom. As result, the various Samuel Weavers have been confused or conflated with one another. This section of the profile seeks to outline those areas of confusion.

Several online trees and publications state that Sam Weaver of King William Parish, Cumberland County, Virginia was included on the 1704 Virginia Quit Rent Rolls with 100 acres in St. Peter's and St. Paul's Parish. Quit Rent Rolls are analogous to the property tax rolls of today. However, in this roll there is no indication of the residences of any of the persons included in that roll. It is much more likely that the Sam Weaver mentioned in this roll was living on this property and was probably none other than the Samuel Weaver who is often referred to as Samuel II who was still living in New Kent County in 1704 and passed away in that county in 1709.

The following list are represents several of his children who have been confused or conflated with others with the same names, or they are otherwise not proven to by his children. As such they were attached to the original profile and have now been removed.

• Thomas Weaver (bio says born 1710 in Halifax, not named in will)
• James Weaver - he was not named in the will and there are no other records which connect him to Samuel
• Hezekiah Weaver (name not in will, bio says born 1715 SC)
• William Weaver (name not in will, but may have been deceased - see below)
• The name John does show in the will, but there were three Johns attached, so these two have been removed: John Weaver and John Weaver
• The name Joseph does show in the will, but there were two Josephs attached, so this one has been removed: Joseph Weaver .
• The second Daniel Weaver born 1714 in Surry, NC has been removed
• The name Mary does show in the will, but there were two Marys attached, so the one married to Odell, Mary Weaver Odell has been removed.
• A previous version of this profile, without source, attached Joshua Weaver as a child. Joshua was still living at the time of Samuel's will and is not named as one of his sons so this profile has been removed.
• A previous version of this profile, without source, attached Lucretia (Weaver) Hudson as a child. Lucretia is not named in his will and she was born in 1760, when Samuel's third wife was already 65 years old.

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Key Unanswered Questions

Was Samuel Weaver English or French?

• Perhaps the most interesting fact about Samuel is that Weaver a relatively common English surname, yet he is living among the French Huguenots and his second wife, Françoise L’Orange was a French Huguenot who in 1700, with her parents, emigrated as refugees from France to the French Colony at Manakin in Virginia. There is no Samuel Weaver named in the lists of the original French immigrants and no Samuel Weaver owned land amongst the original tracts of land granted to the French colonists, other than his nominal ownership through his marriage to Françoise. By the time his name appears in the French records in 1733, there are still some new French colonists arriving in Manakin, but English colonists are also arriving as well, buying land from the French. We have no good indicator whether this Samuel is English or French, only that he was a Protestant.
• Interestingly, the Huguenot Society of Manakin lists the line of Samuel Weaver/Wever as a Registered Lineage. It is unclear what evidence exists that indicates he was French. Samuel nor any other Weaver is present in any of the earlier French records prior to his appearance in the Vestry Book of King William Parish beginning in 1733, and yet there are other English surnames listed in that same 1733 list who are not listed as an ancestor of Huguenot lineage. A written query of the [www.huguenotmanakin.org Huguenot Society] revealed no new facts not already revealed in the sources listed below. There is no information to indicate this Samuel’s origins, French or otherwise. It appears taking a French Huguenot wife and having a child with her is good enough to qualify for Registered lineage. Perhaps one day DNA findings will tell us the answer.

Which children belong to Françoise L’Orange, and which belong to the unknown spouse?

• In the prior WikiTree profile, all of Samuel’s children were attached to Françoise except Benjamin. This is not correct. Françoise arrived with her parents in 1700. In a list of living French colonists included in The Douglas Register (believed to be dated circa 1714) Françoise’s mother is included as a widow, but Françoise is not listed as an orphan member of the household (as are other children in this list), so presumably she was out of the house, perhaps married. She’d already had 6 children with 2 prior husbands prior to marrying Samuel, the first of which was born in 1721. This would indicate that was 40-ish when Daniel was born in 1739. Daniel is the only child of Samuel and Françoise documented as part of a list of vital statistics kept by the French Colonists listed in Huguenot Emigration to Virginia and part of that list is also included in The Douglas Register. Daniel's birth is the only child named Weaver listed in the records until John Weaver is born to Samuel Weaver and Elizabeth Williams in 1756. A description in the Huguenot Magazine, Vol 24, pgs 146 and 147 cites this list and presumes Daniel to be the only child of this couple. Most of the supporting records seem to support this conclusion.
• Daniel also appears later in The Douglas Register in 1766 and 1768, with the birth of two of his children, Elizabeth and Daniel. If these were Daniel’s first children, then using the 21 year old marriage age logic plus 1-2 years for conception and gestation, this would indicate that he was born about 1743-1744. Samuel & Françoise’s son, Daniel, was born 1739, so this Daniel is likely the same person. Most of the other appropriately aged Weavers listed in The Douglas Register, Vestry Book of King William Parish or Huguenot Emigration to Virginia, have names that correspond to children named in Samuel’s will: Benjamin, David, John, Samuel, Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah. The only outlier is William Wever, who is listed as godparent for Daniel. William may be yet another child of Samuel, perhaps deceased prior to his father's death and therefore not named in the will.
• John appears once and is shown sharing a household in 1744 with Stephen Reno, presumably both were young unmarried men, clearly making John too old to be a son of Françoise.
• Not only is Samuel Jr. listed in that same 1744 list, but presumably he is also listed, along with spouse Elizabeth Williams, getting married in 1755 and having children in 1756 and 1758. These facts clearly place Samuel as older than Daniel and son of the unknown spouse. Interestingly, the 1755 marriage record also shows him to be a widower.
• Benjamin married in April 1758, making him possibly younger than Daniel, but likely older than Daniel, but probably younger than Samuel or John. This would make him the son of the unknown spouse.
• David is often listed in family trees with an unsourced 1745 birth date as a child of Françoise and Samuel, which would put Françoise closer to age 45, which is certainly possible, perhaps her last child. Also hinting at his age being appropriate as a child of Françoise, he was not married until 1769. If David was 21 years old when he married, his birth year would be around 1748. However, the fact his birth is not listed amongst the birth records casts considerable doubt on the voracity of the claim that he is a child of Francoise. If then he truly was a child of the unknown spouse, he did not get married until he was in his 30s.
• Mary Weaver Drouin doesn’t give birth to her first child until 1757 and yet she presumably is listed in 1740 as Marie Wever, chosen to be godmother of Elizabeth Bilbo. Clearly, she comes from the unknown spouse.
• Elizabeth Wever Rainaux was chosen to be Daniel's godmother in 1739 and she was also chosen to be godmother of Elizabeth Bilbo in 1740, making her a child of the unknown spouse as well.
• Sarah Weaver Chaudouin gives birth to her first child in late 1761, possibly making her a child of Françoise placed between Daniel and David, yet here again, her birth is not listed in the French records.
• As for Jesse and Joseph, outside of the will, they aren’t listed anywhere in The Douglas Register, Vestry Book of King William Parish or Huguenot Emigration to Virginia. While anything is possible, their absence from these records would seem to indicate that they were not born to Françoise.

Who are the 3 Samuel Weavers that lived in King William Parish and how are they related?

• The name Samuel Weaver (with the a in Weaver) first shows up in the List of Titheables of King William Parish in 1733. We see presumably the same Samuel, but listed as Wever, on every subsequent tithing list through 1738, after which the tithing lists seem to stop. This Samuel is always listed as one tithable, which means he was the only male in the household over 16. Is this the future husband of Françoise L’Orange?
• A list of King William Parish provided in The Douglas Register for 1744 now shows two households, one, again listed solely with a Samuel Wever, and another household with 4 names, Sam Weaver (note this one has the letter A in Weaver), Sam’l Weaver, Jr, Wm. Young, and Sam Robin. Only males of age 16 or more would be listed. It seems clear these two Sams are father and son. So there are a total of 3 Samuels in 2 households.
• Questions
  • Which one of these Sams is married to Françoise L’Orange?
    • At first glance it seems likely that the Samuel Weaver from the 1733 tithing list is the same as the Samuel Wever in the 1734 and 1744 lists
    • Since there is only one Samuel Wever listed in tithing lists of 1734 to 1738, then presumably this Samuel is the husband of Francoise L'Orange, but we can't say for sure.
    • There are two problems with this conclusion:
      • In the 1733 tithing list, we have the spelling of Samuel Weaver containing the a. Is this Samuel different than the Samuel from the 1734 list, or is this just a spelling issue?
      • There is an eligible Samuel in the other 2 Sam household. Sam Jr. would have to be 16 to be listed in 1744, so his father Sam Sr is probably close to Francoise's age.
  • Are these three Samuels perhaps father, son and grandson? There is no proof one way or another, but if they are, it would seem like the eldest Samuel might be a bit old for Francoise.
  • It is also quite possible that 2 Samuels in the second household are not directly related to the Samuel in the first household. making them cousins or such.
  • Or instead, it may be that the inclusion of the a is not a modernization of the name as thought by many, but instead is an important differentiation, indicating they different names and thus these Samuels aren't even related.

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Naming Conventions

Many trees will list Samuel I, II, III, IV and V to indicate multiple generations of fathers and sons named Samuel, perhaps in an attempt to connect them to the Samuel Weaver of Martin’s Hundred in the Jamestown colony. This profile takes the approach of identifying the earlier Samuels according to where they lived, i.e. Samuel of Martin’s Hundred (Jamestown) living in the early-to-mid 1600s, Samuel of New Kent, living in the mid-to-late 1600s and Samuel of Manakin, who is the subject of this profile, living in the mid-1700s. We do know that this Samuel also had a son named Samuel, and very likely had a grandson named Samuel. Since the connection of this Samuel Weaver (aka Samuel III) to Samuel Weaver of Kent County (aka Samuel II) is being discontinued in this profile, the use of roman numerals to indicate specific generations of Samuel in any context is also discontinued.

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Timeline and Transactions

• 1733 - The name Samuel Weaver first appears on the List of Tithables of the Parish of King William. In subsequent years the spelling is changed to Wever.
• 1734 - Samuel Weaver witnessed several deeds in Goochland Deed Bk 1 pg 523 & 524, Deed bk 2 pg 15
• 1739 - Elizabeth and William Weaver were godparents of a child born in 1739 to Samuel and second wife Françoise.
• 1745 - Samuel Weaver witnessed deed of Peter Ford
• 1746 - A Samuel Weaver served in Captain Beverly Robinson's company of militia from 1746/06/14 to 1747/11/24.
• 1747 - From 1747/02/13 he was parish sexton of King William Parish.
• 1749 - Samuel Weaver & Samuel Weaver, Jr. are listed in the estate sale of Peter Ford.
• 1750 - He gave a receipt which was witnessed by Jos. Beingley and Jacob Trabue for 20 pounds 7 shillings and 6 pence and received on 03 Aug 1750 from Magdalen Guerrant, Esc. of Peter Guerrant, deceased, in full satisfaction of his demand of right of his wife from the estate of Daniel Guerrant, deceased, and also his wife's right to the estate of her two deceased children, Daniel and Peter Guerrant, "being this day settled and arbitrated by Thomas Turpin, John Harris and George Garrington".
• 1750 - A tract of of original French tract land remained in the possession of Frances (L'Orange) Guerrant after the death of her husband Daniel Guerrant in 1731. Samuel and Frances (Guerrant) Weaver sold this tract of land 20 February 1750.
  • Samuel Weaver and Frances, his wife, of Cumberland County, to Daniel Scott of Cumberland County... consideration 125 pounds... tract of land containing 59 acres, it being part of the five thousand acres of land surveyed for the French refugees... which tract of land was heretofore granted by Letters Patent bearing date at Williamsburg the 31st day of October 1716 unto Frances L'Orange, her heirs and assigns.
  • Witnesses: Thomas Porter, Matthew Bingley, /s/ Samuel Weaver, Robert Herndon, /s/ Frances Weaver, Samuel Weaver, Jr.
  • Cumberland County, Deed Book 1, page 279, dated 20 February 1750, Recorded 20 Feb. 1750
• 1763 - 16 Dec 1763 Indenture between Samuel Weaver and his son Daniel Weaver of Cumberland County, of the one part, and John Pleasants Sr. of Henrico County, and his son John Pleasants Jr., of Cumberland County, of the other part, for the sale of a plantation tract of 200 acres and five enslaved persons.^[1]
• 1763 – He wrote his last will and testament on 16 Dec 1763.^[2]
• 1769 - He died on 24 Aug 1769 in Cumberland County, Virginia.
• 1769 - His last Will was recorded on 28 Aug 1769 in Goochland/Cumberland County, Virginia.^[2]

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Sources

1. ↑ County Court, Cumberland County, Virginia, Deed books, 1749-1903 ; general indexes to deeds, 1749-1975, Deed books, no. 3-4, 1760-1771.; database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4H-CQ6T-K), images 288-289.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} County Court, Cumberland County, Virginia, Will books, with inventories and accounts, 1749-1887; general indexes to wills, 1749-1975, Will book, Vol. 1-2 1749-1792; database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TH-G3N9-P), images 250-251.