FOURTH
MOSS GENERATION
Around 1630 Virginia was divided into nine
districts called shires, one of which was called York. After 1634 these shires were reformed and
denoted as counties. It is believed that
there were three main branches of the Moss line in America. Those branches were in the New England area,
Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In our
Virginia branch, Edward Moss is considered to be the progenitor of our Moss
line and is often referred to as the “immigrant Moss”
Edward Moss (9) was born in Lancaster,
England in 1610. He came to Virginia
when 15 for a short time, perhaps with his older brothers, before returning to
England. We know this because his name
is recorded in old York County records. Around
1632 he married Jane Ann Bridgette Beltchourton (10) (shorten to Ann Belt) in
Westminster Abbey, London, England. They
had five sons all born in Lancaster, Lancashire County, England over the time
span from 1632 to 1637. They sons were
named Thomas (11), William Henry (13), John (15), Robert Bruce (16) , and
Edward (!8).
The first son was Thomas (11), 1631-1678, who
married Elizabeth Wales, 1633-1683, (12) in 1656. Thomas and Elizabeth were married in England
and had two children named Francis and Elizabeth. After Thomas died, Elizabeth Wales Moss
married Edward Craske @1679. Edward and
Elizabeth also had two children named John and Ellen.
The second son of Edward and Ann was William
Henry (13), 1633-1685. William married
Jane Bridgette North (14) in c1660. William
had returned to England to further his education and met and married Jane
before returning to America. William and
Jane had three children named William, Elizabeth, and Frances. Their son William (1668-1722) served as the
High Sheriff of Rappahannock County and he married Margaret Hopkins (1670-1698)
in 1687. Elizabeth Moss (1665-1724)
married Captain John Craske who died in 1706.
This is the same John Craske mention in the above paragraph. After John’s death Elizabeth’s second
marriage was to Captain James Lockhart in 1708. Finally, Frances Moss married William Brown
in 1670. This marriage lasted about 10
years until William Brown died. They had
two children named Mary and William.
After William Brown died she then married James Ingo in 1680. This marriage produced two daughters named
Frances and Mary.
It is noted that William’s (13) wife is often
referred to as Lady Jane North in many genealogical articles, however, recent research
(see attached items) has shown that
information to be incorrect..
The third son of William and Jane was John (15)
who was born in 1634. Little is known
about John and some reports suggest that he may have died young and never
married.
The fourth son was Robert Bruce (16), 1635-1689. Robert married Rebecca Wales (17) in
1675. Rebecca, 1630-1680, was born in
England and died in America. She was the
daughter of John Wales and the sister of Elizabeth Wales-who married Thomas Moss
(11) as shown above. Robert was a
tobacco planter and in his will (Attachment 4-1) he mentions his son Robert
(born in 1650), his wife, and daughter Dorothy, born in 1656. In 1675, Robert’s daughter Dorothy
(1656-1714) married a widow named Abraham Stapp (1650-1714). Abraham and Dorothy had three sons with the
most prominent son named Joshua Stapp who was a well known planter.
Their last son was Edward (18), who was born
around 1637 and died in 1689. The St.Botolph Aldgate Church in London
recorded a christening event for Edward on 5 March 1641. Edward married Elinor (19) near 1655 and
continued our Moss line
Edward (9) was a member of the Anglican
Church and It is possible that he fought around 1641 for a short time in the
English Civil War. In 1642 Edward (9),
his wife and four sons left England and settled in what would become Old
Rappahannock County in Virginia. He
later moved to York County in 1644. Old
Rappahannock County (“Old Rapp”) was founded in 1656 and was a early county
established in Colonial Virginia. The
county covered a large area with vague boundaries on both side of the
Rappahannock River. Old Rapp was
abolished in 1692 with the north side of the river becoming Richmond County and
the south side becoming Essex County.
Old Rapp should not be confused with the present day Rappahannock County
that was created about 150 years later and is located about 100 miles inland.
It is of interest to note that In 1654, three
of Edward’s sons, William (11), Thomas (12), and Robert (16), were given a land
grant of 800 acres in Old Rappahannock County for transporting 16 emigrants to
Virginia. It is also noted In Land Patents and Grants Volume 2: 1666-1695
indexed by C. B. Grundman in 1977 that Robert Moss was given a land grant on 10
October 1672 of 944.5 acres in Old Rappahannock Country, which adjoined land
held by William Mosely.
On 21 May 1657 Edward (9) made a deed of gift
to his son Edward (18). The gift is
described in York Co Record Book #1, page 341, as well as in Virginia Colonial
Abstracts V26, page 74. This gift “out
of the good love and naturall affection” is stated as being “for his good
loving condition and dutifull carriage and behavior towards me” was 2/3 of all
his personal estate and all the plantation at the head of Chrismas Creek, excepting
planation and housing formerly in hands of “Mr. Robt Tod late dece’d” . Onto
the recording of this gift, the Clerk of Court affixed the drawing of a shield,
indicating armorial bearings. Edward (4) died in June 1658 in Yorktown,
VA. His will was signed and attested by
his brother Robert (7). Edward’s wife,
Ann Belt, died in Yorktown, VA after 1700.
It is noted that all of Edward’s sons were born in England and four of
them died in the Tidewater region of Virginia. Also of interest is the observation that of
the five sons, only three produced a male offspring.
Reference information about Edward (4) found
in http://www.wicasta.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I2548&tree=1
Early Immigrants to Virginia 1623-1666 by
George Cabell Green published in 1912
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