POSSIBLE PARENTAGE OF CAPT. BENJAMIN HEAD OF ORANGE CO., VA There have been much speculation and confusion over the parentage of Capt. Benjamin Head of Orange Co., VA, due to lack of information, assumption, and incorrect deductions based on wills. In many instances some of these faulty hypotheses are excusable, until one discovers just how MANY Benjamin Heads there were in the Spotsylvania-Culpeper-Orange County, VA areas in the last half of the l8th century. Hypothesis #1 : Capt. Benjamin Head was the son of Henry Head who left will in Spotsylvania Co., VA, dated 25 Feb. 1765, proved 7 May 1772. Generally, most are content with the abstract of the will as found in William Armstrong Crozier's SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY RECORDS 1721-1800, page 25, as follows: HEAD, HENRY, Planter,Spotsylvania Co., d[ated]. Feb. 25, 1765, p[roved]. May 7, 1772. Wit[nesses]. Guy Bell, Charles Proctor, Benjamin Steward. Ex[ecutor]. son, Henry Head. Leg[atees]. son Henry Head; son Alexander Spence Head; son Benjamin Head; daughter Mildred Edwards; wife Frances Head. (Page 401)[of Will Book D--1761-1772]. Mrs. Idress Head Alvord in her 1949 publication, DESCENT FROM HENRY HEAD IN AMERICA 1695-1949, used this approach, and had Capt. Benjamin Head as the son of Henry And Frances [Spence] Head. Hypotheses #2: Mrs. Mary Head Burton in her 1942 publication, HEAD-COX AND ALLIED FAMILIES, used, evidently as a source by Alvord, but not followed as to this matter, quoted from the will of Henry Head as follows on page 11 of her book: "I quote the following from the will: 'I give and bequeath to my son, Benjamin Head and his heirs forever one Negro BOY TOM ... and in case that my son Benjamin is dead at the signing of these, then the negro boy above mentioned, named TOM, shall belong to my son Hany (sic; = Henry) Head.'" On page 13 of her book, she quotes the entire will of one Benjamin Head, 20 Dec. 1784, proved 19 July 1790, Culpeper Co., VA. I abstract: "I Benjamin Head of Orange County ... lend unto my loving wife Grace Head all my Estate, real and personal during her life or widowhood and at her death or Marriage, I give and bequeath to my youngest son Benjamin Head all my land and my Negro FELLOW NAMED TOM [emphasis Mrs. Burton's] .... My eldest son Frances and my daughter, Molly Perry ... I ... appoint ... my loving wife Grace Head, Executrix and my son Benjamin Executor ... This 20th day of December l784. Benjamin Head (L. S.) Witt: Edm. Row Zachariah x Jones. Elizabeth x Jones.' Recorded July 19th, 1790 in Culpeper Court House, Culpeper, Va." Mrs. Burton states in a following paragraph: "I am inclined to think that the Benjamin Head above was the father of Capt. Benjamin Head, who died in Orange County, in 1803, and was probably the son of Henry Head and wife Frances Spence of Spotsylvania County." Sounds quite reasonable doesn't it? The tax lists of 1782 and 1785 which substitute for the 1790 Census of Virginia. which was burned in Washington, DC, in the War of 1812, in both lists, include two separate Benjamin Head households, which are easily this Benjamin and Capt. Benjamin Head who married Martha Sharman. In a book called FORKS OF ELKHORN CHURCH, published in 1946 by Ermina Jett Darnell, the following is stated: "To that part of Woodford [County, KY] that was afterward Franklin [County, KY] came Mrs. Grace Head, widow of Benjamin Head, of Culpeper, with her children: 1. Benjamin, m Milly Long, Culpeper 1785. They settled on Elkhorn, and he died in 1808 ... 2. Francis, m (Elizabeth?) ... 3. Mary, m Benjamin Perry and they ... went to Henry [County, KY]." Wait a minute here! How can Benjamin and Grace Head of Culpeper and.Orange Co., VA, be the parents of Capt. Benjamin Head of Orange Co., VA, who died by July 1803, the date his Will was submitted for probate and rejected by the Court, and before an August 1803 partition suit between the heirs, if Mrs. Grace Head showed up in Franklin County, KY and her son died in 1808? Evidently, Capt. Benjamin Head of Orange County, VA was not the son of Benjamin and Grace Head of Culpeper and Orange Co., VA, and therefore, NOT the grandson of Henry and Frances [Spence] Head of Spotsylvania. The passing of the Negro boy Tom from Henry Head to his son Benjamin (who married Grace) and the passing of surely the same Negro "fellow" Tom to the son of Benjamin and Grace seems far more clearly to identify just which Benjamin Head was the son of Henry and Frances [Spence] Head. To date, no will nor deed has shown up linking any other Head with Benjamin Head of Orange Co., VA, except deeds made BY Benjamin to his known sons. So far, this compiler has seen only one document with ANY OTHER HEAD NAME on which Benjamin Head with wife Martha can be identified: a deed, dated 24 Aug. 1763, Culpeper Co., VA, Deed Book G, page 151, abstract: "Robert Sharman of Bromfield Parrish of Culpeper County ... to Benjamin Head of St. Thomas Parish of Orange County ... land lying in Culpeper County containing 150 acres ... bounded by Richard Quinn's land ... Robert Sharman In the presence of: Henry White James Head Ann Sharman Benjamin Head and Martha his wife, of Orange Co., VA, by deed dated 15 Sep. 1777, Culpeper Co. VA, Deed Book H, page 517, sold this land to Richard Quinn. On page 9 of the aforementioned HEAD-COX AND ALLIED FAMILIES, Mrs. Burton abstracts the will of Robert Sharman, Brompton Parish, Culpeper Co., VA: "Will Book B, p. 123, dated Jan. 21, 1773. In the name of God Amen' and the usual preliminaries - He bequests [sic] all of his estate to his wife, Lucy, during her life - then to his daughter, Ann, and then to her son Elisha. 'I appoint, nominate, and ordain my well beloved friend and son-in-law, Benjamin Head, Executor and my beloved daughter, Ann Sharman, Executrix.' Signed, Robert Sharman. (L. S.) Witnesses: Robert Quinn Francis Quinn Proved April 16. 1774 Copied by Mary Head Burton, Aug. 23, 1935, Culpeper Co. Court House, Culpeper, VA." The James Head who witnessed the deed of Benjamin Head's father-in-law Robert Sharman is unidentified. There was a James Head who died in 1748 in Spotsylvania with an executrix named Betty. But, that James died 15 or so years before the 1763 Culpeper deed. Capt. Benjamin Head named, as his ELDEST SON, one James Head, who married in 1775, probably about the age of 21, who, therefore was probably born ca. 1754 or slightly earlier. That James Head would have been only about 9 years of age or so at the time of the Culpeper deed. The James Head in the Culpeper deed may have been the father of Capt. Benjamin Head, since it was often a tradition among families of British Isles' descent to name the eldest son after the husband's father. It can be noted that he and wife Martha waited until their SIXTH son and SEVENTH child to get around to the name Henry. That our Benjamin Head may have been RELATED to Henry Head of Spotsylvania County, I have no doubt. Henry Head had another grandson, named Benjamin Head, son of Alexander Spence Head. This Benjamin had a wife named Mary, and his son William R. Head migrated to GA before 1820 and is found in Morgan, Clarke and Walton Counties. The Revolutionary War service of this Benjamin Head, who married Mary, has at times been confused with that of our Benjamin Head, but has been solved by the writings of the late Robert T. C. Head of San Francisco, CA, and of Judge Henry Oswald Head of Sherman, TX, copies of which the compiler has in his files. Until some will or deed from James Head to Benjamin Head is found, however, the proved parentage of Capt. Benjamin Head remains a mystery. And considering the dearth of compilers researching VA records over the years, if there had been anything concrete, surely it would have been found by now. Written: 3 Sep. 1986 Revised: 8 Mar. 1987 By: James R. Landrum, 3203 Cody Road, Columbus GA 31907 Mark B. Arslan 407 Highlands Lake Drive Cary, NC 27511-9167 marslan@nc.rr.com Head Web Site: