An interesting family
Philemon Perkins and Obediece Cox were David Nowlin's ggg-grandparents. Philemon was born in 1685 in Henrico County, and
Obedience in 1692. He died in March 1789 in Goochland County and she
died 6 September 1770 in Goochland, County. It is through the Cox branch of this line
that the family reaches what I call the “Line of the Kings,” which
includes the royal families of Britain and the Continent. For more information Obedience Cox, see "Unusual people in the family tree."
There
is a lot of information Philemon Perkins and Obedience Cox on the Web,
some of which I will include here. The source for most of this material
is The Descendants of Nicholas Perkins by William Hall. This page is devoted primarily to the Perkins, and there are several notable and interesting facts
about them:
1. Philemon’s name (accented on the second syllable)
came from the Childers family as he was named after his mother's
brother, Philemon Childers. In the Childers family the name Philemon
was sometimes shortened to Lemon.
2, Philemon’s great-grandson
Thomas Perkins (born ?-died 1816) wrote the following passage in his
will dated April 17, 1816, listed on page 138 of Surry Will Book Number
3, “To my son Constantine Whitehead Perkins I give my land including
the seat where I now live called and known by the name of Mount Airy.”
This estate is where Mount Airy, North Carolina is said to have gotten
its name.
Philemon and Obedience’s son, Abram, born in Henrico
County, Virginia and died in, Caswell County, North Carolina, had a son
named Philemon, who died in 1795 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. He
married Mary Whitehead, the parents of Thomas Perkins.
Thomas
got 68 acres in from his father and is listed in 1811 Pittsylvania
County, Virginia records as paying taxes on it. Pittsylvania County,
Virginia, shares the state line with Surry County where Mt. Airy, North
Carolina is located. Thomas married twice, first to Faithey (Faithy)
Peebles. Their children were Constantine, Polly (married a Buckley and
then a Walker), Elizabeth, Nancy (married John Martin), Amy (married a
Robertson and then a Massey) and Peter Peoples Perkins. In 1798, Thomas
sold his land in Rockingham County, North Carolina, on the south bank
of the Haw River and moved to Surry County.
3. Philemon’s sister
Elizabeth is the great-grandmother of James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart,
the cavalry commander for Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia
during the Civil War.
Elizabeth married William Letcher in 1778.
They moved to Henry County (now Patrick County). In August1780, Tories
killed William in front of Elizabeth and their baby daughter Bethenia.
Elizabeth then married George Hairston, one of the wealthiest men in
the country and had twelve children with her second husband. She rests
(finally) with him today at Beaver Creek Plantation just north of
Martinsville. Virginia.
Elizabeth Hairston’s first child,
Bethenia, married David Pannill and had two children: William Letcher
Pannill and Elizabeth Letcher Pannill. The latter married Archibald
Stuart and moved to land on the Ararat River in the 1820s.
Of
the eleven children of Archibald Stuart and Elizabeth Letcher Pannill,
Jeb Stuart was the eighth, born on February 6, 1833. He attended the
United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, (Class of 1854)
and served seven years in the United States Army, mainly in the First
U. S. Cavalry in Kansas Territory. He was a Major General in Lee’s
Army. He died on May 12, 1864, after being wounded at the Battle of
Yellow Tavern and is buried in Richmond’s Hollywood Cemetery.
Philemon’s
brother, Constantine married Anne Pollard. They had Nicholas who
married Bethenia Harding. This family lived on the Dan River in
Pittsylvania County, Virginia. One of their homes, Berry Hill, still
stands on the banks of the Dan, built by their son, Peter.
Philemon Perkins and Obedience Cox had several children in addition to Mary, who married Stephen Knowling, including:
1. John Perkins (about 1718-1791), married Rachael Ferguson
2. Abram Perkins (born about 1720 in Henrico, Virginia-and died about 1793 in Caswell, North Carolina). He married Cecily Turpin
3. Sarah Perkins, married William Moore
One website also lists a child who died young, but it doesn’t list Mary, so there is some confusion in the records.
Now, to resume the Perkins line.
Note
that in some of the lines traced back from Philemon, I have skipped
generations because of the sheer number of people. I indicate this by
the phrase, “In this line . . .” which also signifies that the end of
the line has been reached.
Philemon Perkins father and mother
were Nicholas Perkins, 1647-1712 (I designate him Nicholas 3 because he
may be the third generation of Nicholases), and Sarah Childers, who was
born between1665 and1669 (one site says 1665 without qualification) and
died in1722, both in Henrico County. He was born either in England or
in Henrico County, where he died. They had eight children.
Nicholas’s
father was Nicholas Perkins 2 and his mother was Elizabeth Hardynge or
Mary Burton (sites disagree). One site says he was born 1614 in
Goochland and died 1664 in Charles City, while another says he was born
in 1624 in Bedfordshire, England, and died in 1656 in Charles City. The
dates for his first wife, Elizabeth Hardynge, are screwed up. The
information in the Appendix says she was born in 1640, but died before
1650 in Charles City. Elizabeth’s father was named Constantine.
Nicholas’s second wife Mary Burton was born either in 1611 or 1618 and
died in1668 in Charles City. They married about 1650. She was the
daughter of John Burton and Lydia Fry.
Either Elizabeth or Mary,
and Nicholas, had four children, including Nicholas 3. It is unclear if
they were born in England or in Virginia.
Nicholas’s 2’s
parentage is unclear. One website says his father was Aden Perkins, and
his mother was Martha last name unknown, 1582-1633, or Elizabeth
Kymball, daughter of Nicholas Kymball. Another, perhaps more accurate
site, the one reprinted in the Appendix, says that his father was
Nicholas 1, born 1572 and died after 1641 in Bedfordshire. He married
Jane Irondonger on 13 January 1612/13 in England.
I say the
attached information is more accurate because it lists Nicholas 1's
father as Arthur Perkins, who married Elizabeth Kymball. Note dates for
them are given, but they undoubtedly lived in England.
The
Perkins Coat of Arms is described as follows: The Shield is: Black with
an eagle displayed and at the top a small square of silver with a black
horizontal stripe. The Crest is a unicorn's head.
Sarah
Childers, wife of Nicholas Perkins 3, was the daughter of Abraham
Childers, 1622-16 February 1679, and Jane Anne Howard, 1622-1681.
Abraham is another of our ancestors to come over from England. He was
born in Nottinghamshire and died in Henrico County, Virginia. His line
ends with Hugh Childress, 1500-1571, Yorkshire. Jane Ann was also born
in Nottinghamshire, and her line ends with her father, John, who also
crossed the Atlantic. He was born 1596 in London and died in 1684 in
Henrico County. Her mother is listed as “John” Wright, born 1600 in
Burnedge, Manchester, Lancanshire, and the line ends there.
In
this line are Maude Childress, 1515-1571, who married into the
Childress line, and might have been a cousin. She ends this line. There
is also an Anne Webster, 1560-1667, Nottinghamshire, who is the end of
her line.
In the genealogical records of this line there is
apparently a case of fraudulent research as well. See the note on Dame
Anne Ramsden in “Uncommon People in the Family Tree.”
Mary
Burton, Nicholas 3’s second wife, had parents named John Burton,
1580-1674, and Lydia Fry, 1580-1685. John Burton was born in London and
died in Henrico County, so he is one of our ancestors who crossed the
Atlantic. The Burton line ends with Edward Burton, born 1470 in
Longnor, Shropsire, and died 23 April 1524. In this line is Kathrine
Burton, 1558-1609, in Chad, Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The records are
mixed up here or something unexplained is going on. Katherine Burton is
the daughter of Valentin Allen and Mary Page. Valentine is the son of
Col. Thomas Page, 1515-? But Mary Page, born 1648 in St. Chad, and died
1700 in Rappahannock County, Virginia, is the daughter of Thomas Page,
1605-1677, and Elizabeth Allen, 1600-1677.
In any case, the
latter Page line terminates with John Page, born 1521 in Wembley,
Middlesex, and died 1553, possibly in Virginia. In this line are Audrey
Redding, born 1536 in Hedgeston, Middlesex, and died 1600 in Lavenham,
Suffolk, but of whom nothing else is known. In this line there is also
a Susan Syckerline, born 25 April 1566 in Boxted, Essex, and died there
30 September 1583. Her father was William Sickerling, 1533-27 April
1599, and her mother was Anne Rulle, 1535-1573. They lived their entire
lives in Boxted, Essex, and both are the ends of their lines.
Also
in this line is a Jocosa Cressett, 1470-1490, who terminates her line,
and Elizabeth Poyner, whose parents Thomas, 1463-? And Lucia Eyton,
1467-?, both in Shropshire, terminate hers.
There is
also an Ann Madocks in the line, born 1510 in Wem, Cotton, Shropsire,
and died 1560. Her mother is unknown and her line ends with her father,
Nicholas Maddocks, 1480-1510 in Wem.
As said, it is
possible that Nicholas 2's father was Aden Perkins. Aden was born 22
July 1582 in Bunny Park, Nottinghamshire, England, and died in 1633 in
Corsthrope, Nottinghamshire. He is the son of Richard Parkyns,
1541-1603, and Elizabeth Beresford, 1550-1608.
Elizabeth
Beresford was born in Fenny Bentley, Darbshire, and died 4 August 1608
at Bunny Park, Nottinghamshire. Her father was named Aden, 1520-1558,
and her mother was Ursula Rolleston, born 1522 and died 1608 in Bunny
Park. Aden’s parents were George Beresford, 1495-1520, and his mother
was Benedicta Bradborne, 1495. The Beresford line ends with an Aden
Beresford, born 1441 in Bircham, Norfolk, and died 1495 in Fenny
Bentley, Derbyshire. The line includes his wife, Elizabeth Eyre, but
the only information on her is that she was born in Keyton,
Nottinghamshire, in 1470 and died in 1495 at Fenny Bentley.
In
the same line there is a Benedicta Bradborne, born 1495 in Hoghe,
Derbyshire, and died 1520 in Fenny Bentley. Her father terminates the
Bradborne line. He was born in 1465 and died in 1495 in Hoghe.
Benedicta’s mother was Margaret Longford, born 1480 in Longford, Ashbourne, Derbyshire, but her line ends here.
The
Perkins line terminates with Thomas Perkins, born 1400 in Hillmorton,
Warwickshire, and died 1478 in Ufton, Berkshire. His son married an
Ellen Thompkins, born 1400 in Nappend, Herefordshire and died in 1443,
but she is the end of that line.
The line also includes a Joanna Reed, born 1434 and died in 1495 in Hillmorton, Warwickshire, but nothing else is known of her.
Richard
Parkyns above, born 1541, was the son of Richard Parkyns, 1470-?, and
Anne Twynborro, 1500-?. Anne was born in Woodmenton, Herefordshire, and
was the daughter of Walter Twynborrowe, 1480-1534 in Woodmenton,
Herefordshire, which is the end of this line.
The line
also includes Ursula Rolleston, the daughter of John Rolleston,
1441-1505, and Margaret Agard, born 141 in Foster Derby, and died 14
July 1500 in Rolleston, Staffordshire. Both are the ends of their lines.
