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It wasn't a will. Elizabeth Page Digges died intestate.
Her son-in-law Francis Page (widower of Mary Digges) petitioned the court to have Mrs Digges' personal estate divided amongst her surviving heirs, which would include Francis Page's daughter Elizabeth.
The Court agreed to this request, and administration was granted (24 Sep 1691) to her sons William and Dudley. The estate was divided (24 Aug 1692) amongst Elizabeth's four surviving heirs: sons William, Dudley, Edward, and granddaughter Elizabeth Page as mentioned above.
That's how it is known that there were no other surviving daughters. If there had been another living daughter, she would have shared in the division of the personal estate.
See "Adventurers of Purse and Person", 4th ed., Vol. 1, in the Digges section. This extremely valuable work is sponsored by First Families of Virginia, and edited by their genealogist, the eminent John Frederick Dorman.
The fate of the Digges children is a sad one. Out of thirteen children, five were dead by 1674, when Edward Digges himself died; by 1691, when Elizabeth died, five more had died. Another, Edward, survived long enough to share in the division of his mother's personal estate, but died without issue. Two of the daughters, Anne and Mary, survived long enough to marry and give birth, but both Anne's children died before her, and she herself died in 1686, aged 29.
Perhaps if poor Elizabeth Page Digges had lived today, her children could have been saved. It seems very much like an inherited disorder, or perhaps a blood condition -- rhesus negative, perhaps?
Getting back to William Herndon -- there is unfortunately no evidence as to the name of his wife. There is also no evidence as to the names of any children he may have had. I'm afraid it's all pure speculation, as acknowledged by the speculator, John Goodwin Herndon.
(Though as I recall, JG Herndon gave him only three sons; someone seems to have endowed him with another couple -- that's one way to obtain an ancestor! Though why anyone would particularly wish to descend from William Herndon beats me, since nothing whatever is known of him other than the fact that he patented land with Robert Bagby.)
I sympathize with your frustration. However, I am sure you would rather know your real ancestors. If you descend from Edward Herndon, by the way, you might like to be aware that there is no evidence as to the identity of his wife, either. John Goodwin Herndon was eager to claim that he was married to Mary Waller, daughter of John Waller of Newport Pagnell; however, that child died aged three and her death is shown in the Newport Pagnell parish records.
JG Herndon also tried to build a case arguing that the wife of John Waller of Newport Pagnell immigrated to Virginia. That is not true. She died in Newport Pagnell, just as one would expect, and her death is recorded in the parish records.
Just goes to show -- you can't believe everything you read, particularly where genealogy is concerned.
James
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