Widow Davis, Rich. Bradshaw, Widow Smith, Widow Wisdom, & Law. Patrick. If either of these named have received of Mr. John Pritchett any part of 10 L {the L has a horizontal line through the middle} soe (???) left to ye poore of ye parish by Capt. Robert Thurston (dec). Tis ordered that they dispose of Capt. Smiths to sume (some) other of ye parish".
NOTE: Since Thomas (1) Wisdom seems to be the only adult Wisdom in Petsoe Parish at the time of his death in 1696 leads one to conjecture that the above Widow Wisdom may have been Thomas (1) Wisdom's Widow ? It is doubted that the land of Thomas (1) Wisdom was part of the revised land grant of Thomas Miller in 1696. It seems that Thomas (1)'s land was enherited by his son, Francis Wisdom in 1696 & appears as a renewal of the grant in Francis Wisdom name in year 1704 of which this Francis Wisdom paid a land tax in 1704 ?
h.) The wife or wives of Thomas (1) Wisdom:
The VA Land Grants (Nugent) does not indicate when Thomas (1) immigrated from England to VA. However, the Miller record shows that Thomas (1) was seated on his land by 28 Oct 1665 eventhough, he did not obtain title until 10 April 1667. It seems that Thomas (1) either paid his own passage or he had previously been transported by some Planter & was required to serve out an indenture before becoming a free man and able to own land. Should the latter be the case, Thomas (1) Wisdom could have arrived in VA c1658?
The arrival of a Martha Wisdom to the Nancemond area in Oct. 1662, brought over by Col. John Blake, seems most appropriate as the time of entry into the Virginia Colony for both Thomas (1) Wisdom & his wife. Thomas (1) Wisdom may have paid his own way & later reimbursed Col. Blake for Martha Wisdom's passage. (Col. Blake still claimed 50 acres of land for Martha's passage. Who knows, Col. Blake might have also claimed 50 acrs of land for Thomas (1)'s passage as well?).
The appearance of another Martha Wisdom to Nancemond Co., VA in year 1671, transported by James Collins, is also a matter of great interest due to the marriage of John (1) Wisdom c 1698-1762, to Ann Collins, c 1718-1799. In addition to the Wisdom-Collins marriages, memebers of these two families seem to have migrated to the same places (i e: King & Queen, Orange, Spotsylvania & Pittsylvania Co's, VA; Wilkes Co., N. C; Madison, Green, Adair, & Cumberland Co, KY; etc.) An abbreviated genealogy of the William Collins Family which seated in Isle of Wight Co., VA is included in this Introduction. The James Collins land grant follows:
Nugent, Vol II, page ??: James Collins on 29 July 1671 granted 164 acres of land in Upper Parish, Nancemond Co., VA for transport of 4 persons: Martha Wisdom, Thomas Pilman, Thomas Good, Edward Seddle. The land lying adjacent to his own land &land of Francis Wells. James Collins used Martha's name again the same day when he was granted another 142 acres of land lying on Matthews Creek branch of south branch of the
Wisdom Documentation Index
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Jane Fagan