Middlesex County,Colony of Virginia
Charles Grymes or Grimes (October 10,1693 –December 1,1743) was Virginia planter and politician who represented Richmond County on Virginia's Northern Neck in the House of Burgesses (1728–1734). [1]
The younger of two sons born to the former Alice Townley (1675–1710) of Gloucester County and her husband John Grymes (1660–1709). He had an elder brother also John Grymes (1691–1749) and sisters Anne (1689–1730;who never married) and Elizabeth Lucy Grymes (1692–1750) who married John Holcomb,and whose son (also John Holcombe) would twice serve in the Virginia House of Delegates (representing first Prince Edward then Cumberland County). [2] Their father built a plantation called "Grymesby" in Middlesex County. Their grandfather Rev. Chales Grymes (1612–1661) had emigrated from Kent,England to become rector of Hampton parish in York County in 1645,and had two sons and a daughter,as well as occasionally preached at what became North Farnham Parish in 1783 (previously Farnham parish of then-vast Rappahannock County. This boy received a private education appropriate to his class,and also attended the College of William and Mary in 1705. His brother John,who inherited Grymesby,would also represent Middlesex County in the House of Burgesses before being appointed to the Governor's Council.
Meanwhile,Charles Grymes married Frances Jenings,daughter of Edmund Jenings,a member of the Virginia Governor's Council. Two of their daughters married powerful planters. Frances Grymes would marry Philip Ludwell III,a merchant and planter who would sit in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly before moving to England. Her sister Lucy Grymes married Henry Lee II,and Sarah Grymes (1738–1764) married John Reynolds. [3]
Grymes ultimately inherited Morattico plantation in Richmond County,Virginia,as well as about 1000 acres at the headwaters of the Rappahanock River in what became Rappahannock County. Grymes became the Richmond County sheriff in 1724–1725. Richmond County voters elected him as one of their two representatives in the House of Burgesses in 1728,for the session that lasted until 1734,when they replaced both burgesses by J. Woodbridge and William Fantleroy. [4]
Grymes died intestate in 1743 and his son in law Philip Ludlow was appointed as executor of his estate.
Mann Page (1749–1781),sometimes referred to as Mann Page III,was an American lawyer,politician and planter from Spotsylvania County,Virginia,who served in the House of Burgesses and first Virginia House of Delegates as well as a delegate for Virginia to the Continental Congress in 1777. His elder half brother was Virginia Governor John Page. Since the name was common in the family,and five men of the same name served in the Virginia General Assembly,relationships are discussed below.
Colonel Robert Carter I was a planter,merchant,and government official and administrator who served as Acting Governor of Virginia,Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses,and President of the Virginia Governor's Council. An agent for the Northern Neck Proprietary,Carter emerged as the wealthiest Virginia colonist and received the sobriquet "King" from his contemporaries connoting his autocratic approach and political influence.
Augustine Washington Sr. was an American planter and merchant. Born in Westmoreland,Virginia,he was the father of ten children,among them the first president of the United States,George Washington,soldier and politician Lawrence Washington,and politician Charles Washington. Born into the planter class of the British colony of Virginia,Washington owned several slave plantations,from which he derived the primary source of his wealth. He also speculated in land development and owned an iron mine. Although Washington never sat in the House of Burgesses,as did his own father and son,he served in various government positions in the counties where he owned land.
Edmund Jenings (1659-1727) was an English lawyer and colonial administrator who held important posts in the colony of Virginia including as the attorney general,on the Governor's Council and as acting governor,but encountered controversy and experienced financial problems in his final years.
John Robinson,Jr. was an American politician and landowner in the colony of Virginia. Robinson served as Speaker of the House of Burgesses from 1738 until his death,the longest tenure in the history of that office.
Col. Henry Lee II (1730–1787) was an American planter,military officer and politician from Westmoreland and later of Prince William County. Although he served in the Virginia General Assembly for three decades,as well as held local military and civilian offices,Lee may today be best known for Leesylvania plantation,having been overshadowed by his cousin Richard Henry Lee and his sons,especially his lawyer sons Charles,Edmund Jennings Lee I and Richard Bland Lee I and his somewhat scandal plagued firstborn son Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee III.
Col. John Tayloe I was one of the richest plantation owners and businessmen in Virginia for his generation. Considered to be the chief architect of the family fortune,he was known as the "Hon. Colonel of the Old House". The Tayloe family of Richmond County,Virginia,including John Tayloe I,his son,John Tayloe II,and grandson,John Tayloe III,exemplified gentry entrepreneurship diversifying business interests through vertical integration.
The Burwells were among the First Families of Virginia in the Colony of Virginia. John Quincy Adams once described the Burwells as typical Virginia aristocrats of their period:forthright,bland,somewhat imperious and politically simplistic by Adams' standards. In 1713,so many Burwells had intermarried with the Virginia political elite that Governor Spotswood complained that " the greater part of the present Council are related to the Family of Burwells...there will be no less than seven so near related that they will go off the Bench whenever a Cause of the Burwells come to be tried."
Henry Corbin was an emigrant from England who became a tobacco planter in the Virginia colony and served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly,in the House of Burgesses representing Lancaster County before the creation of Middlesex County on Virginia's Middle Neck,then on the Governor's Council.
Valentine Peyton (1687–1751),was a Virginia planter and military officer who served in the House of Burgesses representing Prince William County (part-time) from 1736 through 1740,as well as in local offices. As explained below,he was named for a great-uncle who emigrated to the Virginia colony and served as a burgess for then-vast Westmoreland County in 1663-64.
John Curtisor Curtys was a North American Colonial British planter and politician who served one term in the House of Burgesses.
George Braxton Sr. emigrated from the Kingdom of England to the Virginia colony,where he became a merchant,planter,and politician in King and Queen County,which he represented in the House of Burgesses for multiple terms over 31 years. His son and principal heir George Braxton,Jr. also served in the House of Burgesses,but his most notable descendant was Carter Braxton,who became a Founding Father of the United States.
John Grymes or Grimes was a Virginia planter and politician who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly,first representing Middlesex County in the House of Burgesses(1718-1722) and on Virginia Governor's Council(1726-1748).
Ralph Wormeley Jr. (1651-1701) was a planter and politician who represented Middlesex County in the House of Burgesses before being elevated to the Virginia Governor's Council and serving as the colony's secretary and briefly as its acting governor. He further developed his father's Rosegill plantation,now on the National Register for Historic Places,as well as operated several plantations in adjoining Tidewater counties using enslaved labor.
Ralph Wormeley was a Virginia planter who served as a member of the Governor's Advisory Council (1771-1775),was suspected of being a Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War,and after the conflict represented Middlesex County,Virginia in the Virginia House of Delegates (1788-1791) as well as at the Virginia Ratifying Convention of 1788,where he voted in favor of ratification of the federal Constitution.
Gawin Corbin (1669-1745) was a Virginia planter,militia officer,customs collector and politician who served in the House of Burgesses representing at various times Middlesex and King and Queen County. Two descendants of the same name would also serve in the House of Burgesses,Gawin Corbin Sr. and Gawin Corbin Jr.
Gawin Corbin (1725-1760) was a Virginia planter and politician who served in the House of Burgesses representing Middlesex County,Virginia in the term in which his father of the same name died.
William Churchill (1649–1710) emigrated from England and became a Virginia merchant,planter and politician who twice briefly served in the House of Burgesses representing Middlesex County,Virginia,and on the Virginia Governor's Council (1705–1710).
John Tayloe Corbin was a Virginia planter and politician who represented King and Queen County in the House of Burgesses. The son of powerful planter Richard Corbin,a member of the Governor's Council,he was likewise a Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War,but remained in Virginia. He was named after his maternal grandfather John Tayloe I.
William Digges was a planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia,who represented Warwick County,Virginia in the House of Burgesses from 1752 until 1771.