Re: Coleman Alexander Abernathy
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In reply to:
Re: Coleman Alexander Abernathy
Otis Fuller 5/16/13
You are behind the times, Otis. There was no Robert Abernathy b. 1624 in Scotland living in Virginia in 1652. Research by Margaret and myself have determined without a shadow of doubt that the Robert Abernathy of Charles City County, Virginia was born just prior to 3 Apr 1633 but we still don't know where in Scotland nor what was the names of his parents.
References we studied included the then laws of the Colony of Virginia as regards a Bond servant's terms and conditions of service vis-a-vis age upon landing on these shores and entering bond service, which term of service varied depending on age at landing and county in which they landed. These laws varied from county to county and changed several times, so it was interesting. It led us to Richard B. Morris' "Government and Labor in Early America", Columbia University Press, NY, to Abbot Emerson Smith's "Colonists in Bondage, White Servitude and Convict Labor in America 1607-1776", University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill NC (c. 1947), to William Waller Hening's "The Revised Code of the Laws of Virginia", Thomas Ritchie Co, Richmond, VA (c. 1819), and of course, to the Charles City County Court Order Book, 1655-1658 on LDS Microfilm, call #30989, 30990, specifically 'The Cow Document', transcript found on our websites. Once we got all those together, it was a slam-dunk! Robert could NOT have married while a bond servant, so the first thing he did when he became once again a free man was to hurry up and marry the mother of his (natural) child, record that fact in the 'Cow Document' in accordance with the customs of Scotland (but not England), thus providing said child with a dower for her marriage. And also thereby providing this country with the principle that women could own property in their own names, which was in strong contrast to the feudal laws that Britain did not amend until well into the mid 1800's.
More Replies:
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Re: Coleman Alexander Abernathy
Otis Fuller 5/20/13
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Re: Coleman Alexander Abernathy
Elizabeth Ferguson 11/25/13
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Re: Coleman Alexander Abernathy