French Family Association
The Official Website of the Surname French
Chart #14, James French
of
Prince William County, VA
Overwharton, Stafford County, VA
and Montgomery Co. KY
First Generation
This page updated by Mara French on 2/10/14. Numbers in brackets [ ] show the source material and refer to the bibliography. An asterisk (*) shows continuation of that line. Please send any corrections or additions to Mara French.
Contents
List of
Chart #14 Slaveholders and Slaves
French Family Slaveholders of Mulatto and Black
Slaves
Prince William
County Court Papers
DNA
Group 21 and Cross-Reference
chart
Generations: Index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
First Generation
1.1* William French, b. ca. 1665 or before most likely in Ireland. There are no documents of any kind for William living in Virginia. He probably did not emigrate from Ireland as his son did. The 7th generation French family of Texas indicates their line came from Ireland, but so far there are no documents stating this. WilliamÕs son, James, died on 3 May 1743. A land survey was performed for James French in 1741, which states that ÒJames French was heir of William French, deceased, and it doth not appear that William French ever had any right to said land or that James French for whom the survey was made, claimed as heir of William FrenchÓ. See the survey: PW Reliquary Vol. 7 No 2.pdf.
William m. 1684 or before because he had son James in 1685.
Assumptions
CAUTION: There is no proof whatsoever that this is the correct family. We need more research. The following records were found on findmypast, and on ancestry.com, and on ÒThe PeerageÓ.
Summary
William French was born ca. 1665 or before, m. Ruth ca. 1683 or before as James, b. 1684, was probably their oldest child. Ruth French was buried on 11 Jul 1697 at St. Nicholas Within Church. William held the office of Alderman of the City of Dublin. His last will was dated 17 Sep 1724. No marriage nor will nor death record has been found for James in Dublin.
St. Nicholas Within is a former Church of Ireland parish church in
Dublin city, Ireland. It was located at the corner of Nicholas St. and Christ
Church Place, where part of its entrance may be seen next to the Peace Park.
The church of St. Nicholas Within as it appears on Wikipedia
in 1786; only the entrance remains today at the corner of Nicholas St. and
Christ Church Place, near High Street. The church was not Catholic, but Church
of Ireland (COI).
Children:
A birth record of James French, son of William French on 7 Aug 1684 appears in Saint Nicholas Within, Dublin, Ireland.
William and Ruth had the following 9 children, all baptized at St. Nicholas Within Church in Dublin, Ireland, and all children indicate that their father was William. In several instances, the name French was spelled with double FÕs, such as ffrench, a spelling most often seen in the County of Galway. Records found at http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/:
James French*, baptized 7 Aug 1684. No marriage nor death date found in Dublin.
Greene French/ffreny, baptized 4 Sep 1687, buried 23 Nov 1687, age 3 months.
John French, baptized 9 Nov 1688, buried 2 Mar 1714, age 26.
William Henry French, b. 28 Oct 1691, baptized 6 Nov 1691, baptized again on 9 Apr 1697, d. 9 Apr 1697, age 6.
Elizabeth French, baptized 24 Jun 1693, d. 5 Sep 1697, age 3 months.
Anne French, baptized 26 Oct 1694.
Katherine French, b. 19 Nov 1695, baptized Aug 1696, buried 2 Sep 1696, age 1.
Jane French**, baptized 5 Feb 1696, married Walter Bremigen on 14 Jun 1720.
Margaret French, buried 18 Jan 1712.
*James (above) was baptized 7 Aug 1684 and was admitted to Freeman of Trinity Guild of (Dublin) Merchants on 17 Oct 1708. This would suggest that James m1. in Ireland, and m2. perhaps in VA ÒIFÓ he were the emigrant, but no hard facts have been found as only the dates and names (William and James) are correct, but the places (Ireland AND Virginia) are unknown.
**Jane and Walter baptized dau. Catherine Bremigan 14 May 1721, and son William Bremigen 20 Dec 1723, both at St. Nicholas Within Church in Dublin, Ireland. The surname Bremigen has so far been our biggest clue that the French family and the Bremigen family both lived in Dublin and in Virginia, as William Bremegen was born 1750 in Virginia as was head of household in the first U.S. census in 1790. James named his first daughter Jane, perhaps after his sister.
Alderman and Sheriff:
William French was an Alderman of St. Nicholas Within
Church (this means the church was within the walls, and St. Nicholas Without
was outside the walls). William French was the Sheriff of Dublin in
1703-4, from the Annals of Dublin.
Death:
WilliamÕs wife Ruth French was buried on 11 Jul 1697 at St. Nicholas Within Church. She had 9 children, of which at least 4 predeceased her. Perhaps there was an epidemic in 1697 as they died around this timeframe, but I did not find any while searching the internet. Her daughter Elizabeth French died Sep 1697, only 3 months after her mother died. Ruth was the mother of James French. At her death, her son James was only 12 years old, and most likely the oldest child.
William FrenchÕs first will was written on 6 Sep 1704.
William French died on 12 Sep 1724 at St. Nicholas
Within Church in Dublin, Ireland.
End of Assumptions
Immigration
ÒCavaliers and Pioneers 1666-1695Ó by Nell Marion Nugent in 1977 lists ÒaÓ James French as a ÒprimaryÓ immigrant who immigrated to Virginia in 1681. This is obviously not the James of Prince William County, VA, as he was not born yet.
But, see the next generation under his son James who probably was the first emigrant of this family. There is no record whatsoever that states that his father William ever lived in America, but documents concerning James exist that state JamesÕ father was William.
Neighbors in Virginia
Perhaps a good solution would be to research close neighbors or friends of William French, such as Henry Eilkin or Philkins, William Dolehy (b. 1708), Leonard Hornsby, William Moore, Thomas Reno (a relative thru marriage), Philemon Waters, and George Bryn. In doing so, I found that most of them were from England and not Ireland. WilliamÕs son James French is also listed on 22 Jan 1711 in connection with Henry Philkins and Philemon Waters. No connection has been made; however the similarity of the names Henry Philkins and Henry Eilkin needs to be checked.
á Leonard Hornsby was b. 1699 in Lincolnshire, England, m. Elizabeth I. Wilson in 1720 in VA, d. 1779. He was living in Frederick Co., VA in 1764. In his will in Fairfield Co., SC, written on 12 Apr 1779, he gives his eldest son his land in Prince William Co, VA on PowellÕs Run and Miapsco near the land of Thomas Dowell. The fact that he was born in Lincolnshire could be important to the French family – in other words, Leonard immigrated to VA between 1700 and 1719, perhaps the same time as the French family. Both Leonard and James French are listed as having Northern Neck land grants in 1740, the year before James French made his will. James French was of the Parish of Hamilton and County of Prince William. These two men were close enough to where the Hornsby family gave one of their children the middle name French, Offney French Hornsby, b. ca. 1783 in SC. So, the question arises, did they meet in England or in Virginia?
á The French family and William Moore were also close families as the Moore family named a child ÒAngelina French MooreÓ after her mother Angelina French.
á Colonel Philemon Waters Jr. was b. 1 Jun 1734 in Prince William Co., VA. Philemon Waters Sr. was b. 8 Oct 1711 in Stafford Co., VA. His father, Thomas Waters, was b. in 1681 in VA. His father William Waters was also born in VA in 1657. Finally we get to Edward Waters, b. in 1589 in Hertfordshire, England.
á James Haggard, neighbor of James French. James FrenchÕs nearest neighbors in Overwharton Parish, Stafford Co., VA, in 1723 were James Haggard (and his 3 sons), and William Rice, all tobacco planters [61]. James Haggard m. Elizabeth Gentry and she was baptized 29 Aug 1687 at St. PeterÕs Parish, New Kent Co., VA, daughter of Nicholas Gentry. Nicholas Gentry was b. 22 Aug 1655, d. ca. 1736, making him a contemporary of William French. Two sons of the Haggard family married into the French family of the 3rd Generation: James Haggard, b. ca. 1680, married Margaret M. French who was b. ca. 1711 in Overwharton, Stafford Co., VA; and Richard Haggard married Mary Ann French, b. ca. 1713 also in Overwharton, Stafford Co., VA. The Haggard family was from England.