Daniel Diskin, Old Rappahannock
If 1625 is the estimated birth year for Daniel Diskin, it is unlikely that he was married to a daughter of Richard and Margaret Mascall.(To date, there is no evidence that Richard and Margaret had children, but we're still working on that mystery.)Richard's birth year has been estimated as 1620.He would have been a contemporary of Daniel Diskin, not a father-in-law.
On 27 Dec 1666, Richard and Margaret executed a deed for one-half interest in a tract of land on which they then lived, to Daniel Diskin.(DB 3, p. 193, Old Rappahannock Co. Records)"For the great love and affection I beare unto Daniel Diskin and his children have freely given unto him, his heirs and forever them one moyety (sic) or half part of 300 acres of land bought by me of Robert Lovell lying at the head of Rappahannock Creek....always provided notwithstanding anything above mentioned that the sd Richard Coleman shall make use of one half of the said Land cleared and houses within the said one hundred and fifty acres of land given unto the said Daniel Diskin during the said Richard Coleman's life and not otherwise".
There is no mention of Daniel Diskin being a son-in-law of the Colemans.
A footnote in Old Rappahannock Co. Records 1663-68, p. 79states that Patrick Norton had been a co-owner of the parcel of land with Robert Lovell.Without Norton's knowledge, Lovell deeded the land to Richard Coleman.On 6 Jun 1678, Norton "especially out of love and affection that I beare unto John Diskin son of the said Daniel Diskin decd do fully give unto him all my right without any money".Either the Diskins had intermarried with the Nortons, Colemans, Lovells, et al, or they were a very popular and well-liked family.
Richard and Margaret gave half of their 300 acre parcel to Diskin, but retained the other half, on which they lived.Then, on 1 Jul 1670, by Deed of Gift, Richard and Margaret conveyed the remaining one-half interest in their property to Cornelius Silavant.(DB4, p. 314, Old Rappahannock Co. Records)
It is possible that Richard and Margaret had at least one daughter, but that fact cannot be presumed from the wording of the deed.Whoever wrote the deed didn't do us any favors.Judge S.B. Coleman thought that Richard and Margaret returned to England.However, it doesn't make sense that they would give away a 300-acre parcel of land before leaving Virginia.Richard was a well-to-do planter, and very active in the colony at one time.But even so, it's very unlikely that he simply gave away his land.Living in England would have required a substantial amount of money.It's more probable that Richard and Margaret decided to live with someone who could take care of them as they aged.Perhaps their health was failing.We'll probably never find evidence to tell us why they gave their land to Daniel Diskin and Cornelius Silavant.The Diskins and Silavants may have been close friends and neighbors of Richard and Margaret Coleman, and took care of them in a neighborly way.Giving them land may have been Richard's way of repaying the Diskins for their kindnesses.
There is another possibility for what happened to Richard and Margaret after they deeded the remaining half of their property to Silavant.A Robert Coleman died in Lancaster Co. in 1695/96.His wife was named Mary and his birth year has been estimated at about 1640-42.It is possible that Robert was a son of Richard and Margaret Coleman.He would have been given the Lancaster Co. land owned by his father, at the time of Robert's marriage.When his parents' health began to fail, they may have moved to Lancaster and lived with Robert and his family.
I wanted to point out the ages of Daniel Diskin and Richard Coleman.If they were both born about 1620-25, it doesn't seem likely that Richard became Daniel's father-in-law.When Daniel Diskin's children were born, any daughter of Richard and Margaret would have been a child, unable to bear children yet.
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Re: Daniel Diskin, Old Rappahannock
margaret brigham 9/08/04