Individual Details
Thomas FURR
(April 9, 1679 - November 5, 1734)
Landmarks of Old Prince William, Volume 1, Fairfax Harrison, Gateway Press, 1987, page 237, in a footnote to a discussion of the Prince William Insurrection of 1732 in which Thomas Furr was one of the ringleaders, he is identified as "one of the original Scotch-Irish settlers below Brent Town in 1823."
The first traceable Furr was Thomas, whom we believe to have been William's son. He was born about 1679 and lived in what became Stafford County, VA in 1722. In 1722 he received a grant of 1072 acres from Thomas Lord Fairfax for land at the head of Elk Run. This land has been located and has been in the Peters family since the early 1850's. As late as 1936 a home known as Cherry Run, believed to date back to Thomas had stood on the land, but finally deteriorated due to neglect.
The grant to Thomas is transcribed as follows, with original spelling, wording and lack of punctuation:
" The Right Hon'ble Thomas Lord Fairfax of Leeds castle in the county of Kent and Baron of Cameron in Scotland and William Cage Esq'r of Milgate in the Parish of Bearstead in the said county of Kent devises in trust and sole Exec'r of the Last Will and testament of the Right Hon'ble Catherine Lady Fairfax dec'd Proprietors of the Northern neck of Virginia, To all who whom this present writing shall come Send Greeting to our Lord God everlasting Whereas Thomas Furr of Stafford county upon his Suggestion of a Certain Tract of Land in the said county belonging to us which is not yet granted did on the third day of July last obtain a warrant from our office for laying out the same and having returned a Survey thereof under the hands of Captain Thomas Hooper of Stafford Surveyer dated the Seventh day of December Last Know yee therefore that Wee the said Proprietors for and in consideration of the Compensation to us paid and the annual rent hereafter reserved have granted made over and confirmed and by these presents do make over and confirm unto the said Thomas Furr one thousand seventy two acres of Land lying and being upon the head of the southern most branch of elk run bounded according to the said Survey as followeth Viz't. Beginning at a Corner white oak on the north side of a hammock of pines thence North seventy degrees east four hundred eighty pole to a corner white oak on the head of a branch of Brent Town run thence north ten degrees West four hundred fourteen pole to a corner Spanish oak thence West two sixty pole to a corner white oak lastly South twelve degrees west five hundred and eighty pole to the beginning. Together with all rights members and appurtenances thereunto belonging, Royal mines excepted and a full third part of Lead, Tin, Coales, Iron mines and Iron oar That shall be found thereon and also except all or any part of the aforesaid lands that shall or may fall within the bounds of a Tract of thirty thousand acres of Land Commonly called and going by the name of Briton Grant first granted by the right Hon'ble Thomas Lord Culpeper unto George Briant, Robert Bristow Richard Foote and Nicolas Heywood by Deeds of Indenture bearing the date the tenth of January Sixteen hundred eighty Six and also again regranted and confirmed by the said Lord Culpeper unto the said persons by deeds of Indenture bearing date the thirteenth day of August Sixteen hundred eighty eight as by the said deeds doth and may more at large appear. To have and to hold one thousand seventy two acres of Land Together with all rights profits and benefits to the same belonging or in any wise appertaining Except before excepted to him the said Thomas Furr his heirs and assigns forever he the said Thomas Furr his heirs and assigns therefore yielding and paying to us our heirs and assigns to to the Certain attorney or attorneys of our heirs and assigns Proprietors of the said Northern Neck yearly and every year on the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel the fee Rent of one Shilling Sterling money for every fifty acres of Land hereby granted and so proportionably for a greater or lesser quantity Provided that if the said Thomas Furr his heirs or assigns Shall not pay the before reserved annual rent so that the same or any part thereof shall be behind or unpaid by the space of Two whole years after the same or any part thereof shall become due if lawfully demanded that then it shall and may be lawful for us our heirs or assignees Proprietors as aforesaid our or their certain attorney or attainies agent or agents Into the above granted premises to reenter and hold the same so as if this grant had never passed given at our office in Lancaster county within our said Proprietary under our Seal Witness our Agent and attorney fully authorized thereto dated Seventh day of March in the Ninth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George of Great Brittain, France and Ireland defender of the faith JC Anno Domini"
1722/23 ---- A Copy from the Record
Teste
Edw'd C Davis Reg't
Land Off. Dec 21st, 1808.
The grant above was recorded in Miscellaneous Records, Page 370 and 371 Fauquier County, Virginia Courthouse.
It turns out that this land has been held by no more than three or four families since that original grant.
This land was rich and good with low rolling swells and ,any small streams (among them Furr's Run). Drainage was gentle, so washing away of the soil into the surrounding streams was negligible. Thomas must have had sufficient indentured or slave help to do the heavy work of plowing and raising tobacco. He and his wife, Elizabeth, had three children - Elizabeth, Thomas and William. Thomas was already grown in 1732 as will be seen shortly.
Thomas became a successful planter and the children grew to adulthood with Elizabeth marrying one Malachi Cummings. Thomas gave the couple a part of his land for their plantation.
In the early to mid-seventeen hundreds England made a practice of "transporting" criminals of all degrees to the Colonies for use as labor. Originally the practice included primarily minor criminals, although there were, at the time over 150 capital offenses in England. During the 1720's and into the 30's, however, more violent prisoners were shipped to work the plantations of Virginia. In 1722, Robert Beverly wrote "It is feared that the malefactors condemned to transportation, though the greedy planters will always buy them, yet it is to be feared they will be very injurious to this country, which has already suffered many murders and robberies, the effect of that new law in England". By 1732 then Prince William County planters including Thomas Furr, facing the dangers of these violent criminals, as well as a new tobacco tax revolted against the English in the area. To express their discontent, these predominantly Scots-Irish planters raided tobaccos warehouses, burned harvested tobacco and created such a furor that the Governor ordered out the militia to put down the burgeoning insurrection. It must not, however, have been a very serous affair and, apparently, other than damage to the crop and warehouses, no serious bodily harm was visited upon anyone. evidence of this assumption comes from the minutes of the Colonial Council for May 2, 1732 comes the following notation: "James Bland, Thomas Furr, Thomas Furr the younger, together with Henry Filkins of said county to attend this board at the next court of Oyer and Terminer, held the second Tuesday in June and that all other persons concerned in the insurrection upon giving security for their future good behavior for one twelve month and one day, before the court of said county of Prince William be discharged from all further prosecution for their aforesaid offense." One could assume that had serious offenses been committed, the Tom's may not have faired so well and we could conceivably have been Australians instead of Americans. So ended the Prince William Insurrection of 1732.
Thomas lived for less than three more years. Thomas' will was presented to the court in Prince William on May 19, 1735. He must have been sick for some time as the will was prepared on November 3, 1734.
Prince William County, VA Will Book C, 1734-1744, pages 64-65. His will was dated 5 Nov 1734. Will lists wife Elizabeth, sons Thomas and William, and daughter Elizabeth Cummings. Shown as owing 1,072 acres in Fauquier County, VA in 1722.
Will of Thomas FURR
signed 3 Nov 1734
found in Loudoun Co., VA
Posted by Rich Furr, r_furr@yahoo.com on Thu, 11 Feb 1999
*********
"Thomas Furr of Hamilton Parish in the County of Prince William being sick of body. Unto Malachi Cummings one hundred acres of land whereon he now lives during his life and his wifes life the said Malachi Cummings to make no waste or sale of timber only for the plantation, etc, and after the decease of them and my wife the said two hundred acres to fall to her son Thos. Unto my loving wife Elizabeth Furr all my household goods, cattle, horses, mares, hoggs, sheep that in any wise belong to me. After my wife Elizabeth's decease that plantation whereon her son Thos. lives to her heirs and case of his death to her son William. After my wife's decease the plantation whereon I now live to her son William and after the decease of my loving wife what household stuff, goods and stock there is to be equally divided between her two sons Thos. and William except one pewter dish which I leave unto her daughter Elizabeth Cummings. I desire Jonathan Gibson when he lays of his land to lay of mine with it and for what land William Allen has taken from me to get it again if possible and let the children have a part as otherwise if he does not like of it take it out of the estate. I desire that if John Lattimore is disturbed about his land and will lay it off to have it done by a sworn surveyor and chain carryers and if any be wanting to take it where his knoct off. Unto my loving wife one servant woman and an orphan boy called by the name of Thos Mcantier. It is my will that my wife have all my tobacco, debts due and whatsoever belongs to me. I do make, ordain and constitute my loving wife my executrix of this last will and testament to see it performed and furthermore I do ordain and appoint my loving friend Jonathan Gibson overseer and assistant to my wife.
Thos (X) Furr
Witt:
John Boystone 3 Nov. 1734
Ralph (RH) Hues
Thos (T) Cummings
Note the discrepancy in the amount of land to Malachi Cummings. Was it 100 or 200 acres? It appears that Thomas could not write since he signs the will with the mark "X" as witnessed by the witnesses, two of whom could also not write and signed with their marks.
Also from the deed books of Prince William County we find the following:
Prince William Co. Deed Book B, pp 261-263, 16-17 June 1734.
Thomas Furr of the Parish of Hambleton, PWC, sells by deeds of Lease and Release, to Jonathan Gibson, of the Parish of s'Maries, County of Caroline, colony of Virginia, 300 acres of land in the Parish of Hambleton, PWC, for four thousand pounds of tobacco.
his
Witness: Jno Allen Signed, Thomas X Furr
Franc. Thornton, Junr mark
George Green
Prince William Co. Deed Book B, pp 328-331, 12-13 July 1734
Thomas Furr, of Hamilton Parish, PWC, sells by deeds of Lease and Release, to John Lattimore, of same parish and county, for five thousand pounds of tobacco, a parcel of land in PWC containing 200 acres, part of a tract granted to Thomas Furr by patent on the Branches of Elk Run, adjacent to Thos Furr's cornfield fence, Furr's old line, corner of Thos Furr's line...
his
Witness: Ralph RH Hews Signed, Thomas X Furr
Mark Signum
Thos Garner
These deeds were obviously written by two different people, note the phonetic spelling of Hamilton parish in the first.[vafurr.ftw]
Per Thelma Cummins Gamble, his land was on Elk Run where he built a plantation known as "Cherry Hill" near Bristersburg, Virginia.
The first traceable Furr was Thomas, whom we believe to have been William's son. He was born about 1679 and lived in what became Stafford County, VA in 1722. In 1722 he received a grant of 1072 acres from Thomas Lord Fairfax for land at the head of Elk Run. This land has been located and has been in the Peters family since the early 1850's. As late as 1936 a home known as Cherry Run, believed to date back to Thomas had stood on the land, but finally deteriorated due to neglect.
The grant to Thomas is transcribed as follows, with original spelling, wording and lack of punctuation:
" The Right Hon'ble Thomas Lord Fairfax of Leeds castle in the county of Kent and Baron of Cameron in Scotland and William Cage Esq'r of Milgate in the Parish of Bearstead in the said county of Kent devises in trust and sole Exec'r of the Last Will and testament of the Right Hon'ble Catherine Lady Fairfax dec'd Proprietors of the Northern neck of Virginia, To all who whom this present writing shall come Send Greeting to our Lord God everlasting Whereas Thomas Furr of Stafford county upon his Suggestion of a Certain Tract of Land in the said county belonging to us which is not yet granted did on the third day of July last obtain a warrant from our office for laying out the same and having returned a Survey thereof under the hands of Captain Thomas Hooper of Stafford Surveyer dated the Seventh day of December Last Know yee therefore that Wee the said Proprietors for and in consideration of the Compensation to us paid and the annual rent hereafter reserved have granted made over and confirmed and by these presents do make over and confirm unto the said Thomas Furr one thousand seventy two acres of Land lying and being upon the head of the southern most branch of elk run bounded according to the said Survey as followeth Viz't. Beginning at a Corner white oak on the north side of a hammock of pines thence North seventy degrees east four hundred eighty pole to a corner white oak on the head of a branch of Brent Town run thence north ten degrees West four hundred fourteen pole to a corner Spanish oak thence West two sixty pole to a corner white oak lastly South twelve degrees west five hundred and eighty pole to the beginning. Together with all rights members and appurtenances thereunto belonging, Royal mines excepted and a full third part of Lead, Tin, Coales, Iron mines and Iron oar That shall be found thereon and also except all or any part of the aforesaid lands that shall or may fall within the bounds of a Tract of thirty thousand acres of Land Commonly called and going by the name of Briton Grant first granted by the right Hon'ble Thomas Lord Culpeper unto George Briant, Robert Bristow Richard Foote and Nicolas Heywood by Deeds of Indenture bearing the date the tenth of January Sixteen hundred eighty Six and also again regranted and confirmed by the said Lord Culpeper unto the said persons by deeds of Indenture bearing date the thirteenth day of August Sixteen hundred eighty eight as by the said deeds doth and may more at large appear. To have and to hold one thousand seventy two acres of Land Together with all rights profits and benefits to the same belonging or in any wise appertaining Except before excepted to him the said Thomas Furr his heirs and assigns forever he the said Thomas Furr his heirs and assigns therefore yielding and paying to us our heirs and assigns to to the Certain attorney or attorneys of our heirs and assigns Proprietors of the said Northern Neck yearly and every year on the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel the fee Rent of one Shilling Sterling money for every fifty acres of Land hereby granted and so proportionably for a greater or lesser quantity Provided that if the said Thomas Furr his heirs or assigns Shall not pay the before reserved annual rent so that the same or any part thereof shall be behind or unpaid by the space of Two whole years after the same or any part thereof shall become due if lawfully demanded that then it shall and may be lawful for us our heirs or assignees Proprietors as aforesaid our or their certain attorney or attainies agent or agents Into the above granted premises to reenter and hold the same so as if this grant had never passed given at our office in Lancaster county within our said Proprietary under our Seal Witness our Agent and attorney fully authorized thereto dated Seventh day of March in the Ninth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George of Great Brittain, France and Ireland defender of the faith JC Anno Domini"
1722/23 ---- A Copy from the Record
Teste
Edw'd C Davis Reg't
Land Off. Dec 21st, 1808.
The grant above was recorded in Miscellaneous Records, Page 370 and 371 Fauquier County, Virginia Courthouse.
It turns out that this land has been held by no more than three or four families since that original grant.
This land was rich and good with low rolling swells and ,any small streams (among them Furr's Run). Drainage was gentle, so washing away of the soil into the surrounding streams was negligible. Thomas must have had sufficient indentured or slave help to do the heavy work of plowing and raising tobacco. He and his wife, Elizabeth, had three children - Elizabeth, Thomas and William. Thomas was already grown in 1732 as will be seen shortly.
Thomas became a successful planter and the children grew to adulthood with Elizabeth marrying one Malachi Cummings. Thomas gave the couple a part of his land for their plantation.
In the early to mid-seventeen hundreds England made a practice of "transporting" criminals of all degrees to the Colonies for use as labor. Originally the practice included primarily minor criminals, although there were, at the time over 150 capital offenses in England. During the 1720's and into the 30's, however, more violent prisoners were shipped to work the plantations of Virginia. In 1722, Robert Beverly wrote "It is feared that the malefactors condemned to transportation, though the greedy planters will always buy them, yet it is to be feared they will be very injurious to this country, which has already suffered many murders and robberies, the effect of that new law in England". By 1732 then Prince William County planters including Thomas Furr, facing the dangers of these violent criminals, as well as a new tobacco tax revolted against the English in the area. To express their discontent, these predominantly Scots-Irish planters raided tobaccos warehouses, burned harvested tobacco and created such a furor that the Governor ordered out the militia to put down the burgeoning insurrection. It must not, however, have been a very serous affair and, apparently, other than damage to the crop and warehouses, no serious bodily harm was visited upon anyone. evidence of this assumption comes from the minutes of the Colonial Council for May 2, 1732 comes the following notation: "James Bland, Thomas Furr, Thomas Furr the younger, together with Henry Filkins of said county to attend this board at the next court of Oyer and Terminer, held the second Tuesday in June and that all other persons concerned in the insurrection upon giving security for their future good behavior for one twelve month and one day, before the court of said county of Prince William be discharged from all further prosecution for their aforesaid offense." One could assume that had serious offenses been committed, the Tom's may not have faired so well and we could conceivably have been Australians instead of Americans. So ended the Prince William Insurrection of 1732.
Thomas lived for less than three more years. Thomas' will was presented to the court in Prince William on May 19, 1735. He must have been sick for some time as the will was prepared on November 3, 1734.
Prince William County, VA Will Book C, 1734-1744, pages 64-65. His will was dated 5 Nov 1734. Will lists wife Elizabeth, sons Thomas and William, and daughter Elizabeth Cummings. Shown as owing 1,072 acres in Fauquier County, VA in 1722.
Will of Thomas FURR
signed 3 Nov 1734
found in Loudoun Co., VA
Posted by Rich Furr, r_furr@yahoo.com on Thu, 11 Feb 1999
*********
"Thomas Furr of Hamilton Parish in the County of Prince William being sick of body. Unto Malachi Cummings one hundred acres of land whereon he now lives during his life and his wifes life the said Malachi Cummings to make no waste or sale of timber only for the plantation, etc, and after the decease of them and my wife the said two hundred acres to fall to her son Thos. Unto my loving wife Elizabeth Furr all my household goods, cattle, horses, mares, hoggs, sheep that in any wise belong to me. After my wife Elizabeth's decease that plantation whereon her son Thos. lives to her heirs and case of his death to her son William. After my wife's decease the plantation whereon I now live to her son William and after the decease of my loving wife what household stuff, goods and stock there is to be equally divided between her two sons Thos. and William except one pewter dish which I leave unto her daughter Elizabeth Cummings. I desire Jonathan Gibson when he lays of his land to lay of mine with it and for what land William Allen has taken from me to get it again if possible and let the children have a part as otherwise if he does not like of it take it out of the estate. I desire that if John Lattimore is disturbed about his land and will lay it off to have it done by a sworn surveyor and chain carryers and if any be wanting to take it where his knoct off. Unto my loving wife one servant woman and an orphan boy called by the name of Thos Mcantier. It is my will that my wife have all my tobacco, debts due and whatsoever belongs to me. I do make, ordain and constitute my loving wife my executrix of this last will and testament to see it performed and furthermore I do ordain and appoint my loving friend Jonathan Gibson overseer and assistant to my wife.
Thos (X) Furr
Witt:
John Boystone 3 Nov. 1734
Ralph (RH) Hues
Thos (T) Cummings
Note the discrepancy in the amount of land to Malachi Cummings. Was it 100 or 200 acres? It appears that Thomas could not write since he signs the will with the mark "X" as witnessed by the witnesses, two of whom could also not write and signed with their marks.
Also from the deed books of Prince William County we find the following:
Prince William Co. Deed Book B, pp 261-263, 16-17 June 1734.
Thomas Furr of the Parish of Hambleton, PWC, sells by deeds of Lease and Release, to Jonathan Gibson, of the Parish of s'Maries, County of Caroline, colony of Virginia, 300 acres of land in the Parish of Hambleton, PWC, for four thousand pounds of tobacco.
his
Witness: Jno Allen Signed, Thomas X Furr
Franc. Thornton, Junr mark
George Green
Prince William Co. Deed Book B, pp 328-331, 12-13 July 1734
Thomas Furr, of Hamilton Parish, PWC, sells by deeds of Lease and Release, to John Lattimore, of same parish and county, for five thousand pounds of tobacco, a parcel of land in PWC containing 200 acres, part of a tract granted to Thomas Furr by patent on the Branches of Elk Run, adjacent to Thos Furr's cornfield fence, Furr's old line, corner of Thos Furr's line...
his
Witness: Ralph RH Hews Signed, Thomas X Furr
Mark Signum
Thos Garner
These deeds were obviously written by two different people, note the phonetic spelling of Hamilton parish in the first.[vafurr.ftw]
Per Thelma Cummins Gamble, his land was on Elk Run where he built a plantation known as "Cherry Hill" near Bristersburg, Virginia.
Events
| Birth | April 9, 1679 | Stafford, Stafford County, VA | |||
| Death | November 5, 1734 | Hamilton Parish, Prince William County, VA |
Families
| Spouse | Elizabeth JOHNSON (1680 - 1745) |
| Child | Elizabeth FURR (1715 - ) |
| Child | Thomas FURR (1715 - 1783) |
| Child | William FURR (1715 - 1782) |
| Father | William FURR (1655 - 1734) |
| Mother | Elizabeth BATES (1640 - 1735) |