VOLUME 5
A Genealogy of the Garton, Smith & Associated Families
My
journey into the families within the pages of this volume began innocently
enough. It was my desire to set down
the ancestry of my husband for our children.
That simple goal has however, turned into a true expedition through the
pages of history. Let me briefly
introduce you to several of the more colorful characters that you will find
amongst the pages of this volume. They
are Capt.
William
Garton
,
William
Mabe
; Col. Martin Van Buren Mabe and his housekeeper,
Nancy
Jane
Mabe
; and
Stephen
Hopkins
.
Capt.
William
Garton
was
a planter, residing in
Lancaster County
,
Virginia
on land bought in 1673. He also ran
a coastal shipping business with his brother-in-law,
Uriah
Angell
[i].
His children Uriah & Margaret went on to marry and have children that
eventually produced cousins who married thus bring the family together once
again. His descendant
Thomas
Garton
served
during the Revolutionary War[ii],
and
John
Henry
Garton
served during the Civil War.
We find in
England
one
William
Mabe
, a man of humble beginnings. He is
found at trial in
Hereford
,
England
for the theft of a pair of boots. He
being found guilty is sentenced to seven years indenture in the Virginia
Colonies. Later in the course of
events we find him receiving a land grant for 204 acres in
Hanover
,
Virginia
.
Colonel
Martin
Van Buren
Mabe and
Nancy
Jane
Mabe
,
his housekeeper, is enclosed by a wrought iron fence, still erect though covered
with vines. Two large finely carved tombstones and six tall pines mark the
gravesite, which contains the remains and all the worldly possessions (which
could be interred) of its inhabitants. contents of the Mabe tomb sprung f As
time passed the colonel prospered, acquiring a sizable estate in goods and
property. rom vindictive reasons as shown in the story of their lives.
He is said to have helped widows obtain pensions after the war and was
instrumental in getting mail routes started.
When a neighboring man and wife died - leaving their children homeless.
The colonel and
Nancy
Jane
took in one of the girls to live with them. Neighbors began gossiping.
Spreading slanderous rumor that the colonel and his housekeeper.
Some of the older ones eventually
swore out a warrant for the colonel and
Nancy
Jane
, charging them with a crime. trial
they were exonerated. The neibors
unsatisfied once again pursued them before a grand jury, and the second set of
charges were once again dismissed. ,
the complaints of neighbors were so vicious the colonel and Mary Jane finally
gave up their efforts to keep the child. Outraged and humiliated by their
neighbors' actions, they withdrew as much as possible from society, although
they reportedly helped the child financially even after she left their custody.
Bitter and resentful,
Nancy
Jane
vowed that none of her neighbors and kinsmen would have any of her property
when she died. She decided to have all her earthly possessions buried with her.
he colonel promised to carry out her wishes and on
March 30, 19
16, following her death, he supervised the burial.
Our most colorful character of all seems to be
Stephen
Hopkins
. He indeed lived a most full and
adventurous life. Coming from
England
he was shipwrecked in
Bermuda
. There he incited a mutiny against
the governor. He was sentenced to
death, yet was spared on behalf of his wife & children.
His travels took him onto the Jamestown Colony and then back to
England
. The antics of
Stephen
Hopkins
during the time he spent shipwrecked in
Bermuda
did not go unnoticed, it seems to have become the inspiration for
William
Shakespeare
’s, “The Tempest”, and the subplot of the drunken Stephano was based upon
him. His previous perils did not
deter him from further travel, in fact, we finding him traveling once more this
time together with his wife & children aboard the Mayflower to the Plymouth
Colony. Even there he earned some
notoriety by having the occasional brush with the law.
These families all join together to provide
us
with a window into our own past. Looking
over the various families we find a such wide and contradictory assortment of
both events and characteristics that it does seem hard to believe that they all
do eventually mesh together. These
families have ties to the Jamestown Colony, the Mayflower and settlement of the
Plymouth Colony, and the early settlement of the
Virginia
wilderness. All the facts and
recollections are not always honorable nor or they dishonorable.
The people and events that shaped their lives in some small way have been
handed down to
us
through our parents and grandparents, thus touching even
us
today. Perhaps instilling in
us
the spirit of adventure and our own exploration.
So by mixing in: one mutiny; the theft of a pair of boots; drunkenness;
fleeing from taxes; a sentence of death; the Mayflower; Plymouth Colony; militia
members; Jamestown Colony; Revolutionaries; church Elders; colonist; explorers;
circuit riding preachers; and various community leaders…we find that these
element and more all combine to weave a rich tapestry that is our heritage.
Stephen
Hopkins
Constance
Hopkins
Francis
Cooke
|
Elizabeth
Hopkins
Damaris
Hopkins
|
Giles
Hopkins
Oceanus
Hopkins
|
William
Anderson
James
Doty
Thomas
Garton
Tisdale
Hodges
Joseph
Hopkins
Robertt
Mabe
,
Sr.
John
William
Mabe
,
Senr.
John
Paisley
William
Pinegar
Edward
‘
Edmond
’
Smyth
|
Hannah
Cole
Martin
Gambill
Uriah
Garton
Elijah
Hopkins
Moses Amos
Lawson
Samuel
McClure
Jonathon
Osborn
Mathias
Pinegar
Henry
Senter
Edward
Walthall |
Miles
Cook
Uriah
Garton
,
Jr.
David
Godfrey
Johnathan
Hopkins
William
Lloyd
Bryan
McDonald
,
Jr.
William Paisley
Peter
Pinegar
,
Jr.
Peter
Smith
(
Pieter
Schmidt
)
Jarrett
Walthall |
Willis
Anders
Spotswood
F.
Garton
James
Hezekiah
Pasley
Richard
Smith
|
David
Garton
Col.
Martin
Van Buren Mabe (CSA)
John
Calvin
Paisley
(CSA)
|
John
Henry
Garton
Isaac
Pasley
Nicholas
Smith
|
Mark
Andrews
Rev.
Wilborn
Cole
(Methodist)
Rev.
Drury
Senter
Rev.
William
Senter |
Ericus
Tobias
Bjork
Nicholas
Gentry (Baptist)
Rev.
Nathaniel
McClure
|
Rev.
Joshua
Cole
(Methodist Minister)
Rev.
John
Gooch
Rev.
Stephen
Senter
|
[Volume
5 Families]
[i]
The Garton Genealogy, compiled by
Harold
E
“Pete”
Remster, p. 1 citing The Garton News
[ii] The Garton News Vo. XIV, No. 3, p. 33