Individual Details

Note: "Higginbotham Descendants of Moses and Frances Kyle Higginbotham" by Earl and Nena Higginbotham has been microfilmed by LDS, #1697905. Mr. Higginbotham died in 2008 and the book is out of print. His website is still online, but it connects to a rather defective database.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~higginbotham/

The parents of these Higginbotham children is usually seen as John and Frances (Riley) Higginbotham. When Earl Higginbotham and his wife Nena began to research for their excellent and well-documented book, "Higginbotham Descendants of Moses and Frances Kyle Higginbotham", they could not find any records to back up the existence of John and Frances. To the contrary, they found evidence that John, son of Charles Higginbotham of Barbados, from the accepted and many times published lineage had married there in Barbados - to a Susannah - and had several children baptized in Barbados. There was a John Higginbotham, planter, from Barbados, that landed in Boston ca 1719, but there are no further records to prove he remained or that he was the father of these children. Earl Higginbotham did find slight evidence that the father could have been a Joseph Higginbotham who died 17 Apr 1742 - there is an old book with this name and date written in it and the date seems reasonable. It is also still quite likely there is a relationship to these Higginbothams of Barbados and England - the exact relationship is illusive.

Succession of Counties: Goochland Co was formed from Henrico, 1728; Albemarle from Goochland, 1744; Amherst from Albemarle, 1761.

Pastor Robert Rose, Rector of St Anns Parish, Albemarle Co, VA from 1747-1751, kept a diary which has survived. It is in the Brock Collection, Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. A photostat copy is in the Archives Dept of the State Library, Richmond, VA He often stopped over at Mrs. Higginbotham's and obviously knew her family well, but never states her given name. The first entry:
27 Oct 1747. Dined at Mrs. Higginbothams christened her Grandchild
here are other entries of interest - but not all of the references to Mrs. Higginbotham.
20 Mar 1749. A fair morning rode with three of the Higginbothams to their Mothers
4 Sept 1749. Rode to Captain Downs dined to Mrs. Marshalls and Lodge at John Marrs with Benjamin Higginbotham
27 Nov 1749 rode to the Widow Higginbothams married William Morrison to her Daughter and returned at Night being very rainy weather
21 Feb 1750 Married Benjamin Higginbotham and Elizabeth Graves
14 May 1750 Rode to the Mines stayed till Evening came home at Night with Moses Higginbothams

Moses, the eldest, divided property among himself and these six siblings, likely in accordance with an unfound Will of his father or the desires of his father that his property be divided. If there was no will, Moses would have received all his father's lands in accordance with primogeniture laws. No mention is made again of the mother and she is likely also deceased prior to the disposition of these properties. It is likely these are all the children that survived their parents.
From DEED & WILL ABSTRACTS OF ALBEMARLE CO VIRGINIA 1748-1752 Deeds & Wills Book 1. Ruth & Sam Sparacio, The Antient Press, 1990. p.96/pp.283f.
30 Apr 1751. At St Ann's Parish, Albemarle Co. Moses Higginbotham to Joseph Higginbotham for 5 shillings. Parcel now in posession of Joseph on branches of Buffalo River. 200 acres, part of 1000 late in Goochland granted Moses by George Braxton the Younger of King & Queen Co on 23 & 24 of April, 1745. [This grant to Braxton on both sides of the Buffalo in what was then Goochland was originally for a total of 25,000. CAVALIERS & PIONEERS, Vol. IV, p.115 ] Adj James Higginbotham. Signed: Moses Higginbotham. Wit: James Higginbotham, Thomas Jefferson, John Higginbotham. Frances, wife of Moses relinquished. Ack 14 May 1751.
20 Apr 1751 Moses Higginbotham to Joseph Higginbotham for 5 shillings. Land now in possession of Joseph on Buffalo River. 204 acres part of tract of 1430 acres late in Goochland granted to Moses Higginbotham by George Braxton Jr of King & Queen Co on 23 & 24 Apr 1745. Adj James Higginbotham, South side Mill Crk. Signed: Moses Higginbotham. Wit: John Higginbotham, Benj. Higginbotham, James Higginbotham. Rec. 14 May 1751; Frances, wife of Moses relinquished.
[Total of 404 acres to Joseph.]
11 May 1751 Moses Higginbotham to John Higginbotham for 5 sh. Land in possession of said John. 200 acres on Buffalo part of 1000 acres [as above]. Adj William Morrison. Wit: Joseph, Benj, and James Higginbotham. Frances, relinquished. Rec. 14 May 1751
11 May 1751 Moses again to John. 204 acres part of 1430 as above. Adj James Higginbotham. Wit: Joseph, Benj, James Higginbotham. Frances relinquished. Rec. 14 May 1751
[Total of 404 acres to John.]
6 May 1751 Moses Higginbotham to James Higginbotham for 5 sh. Land now in possession of James. 204 acres part of 1430. Begin at Mill Creek. Wit: Aaron Higginbotham, William Morrison, John Higginbotham. Frances relinquished. Rec. 14 May 1751
6 May 1751 Moses Higginbotham to Aaron Higginbotham for 5 sh. Land in possession of Aaron on Buffalo. 204 acres part of 1430 as earlier. Begin Joseph & James Higginbotham's corner, South side Mill Creek. Wit: James Higginbotham, William Morrison, John Higginbotham. Frances relinquished. Rec. 14 May 1751 [This will be the only tract Aaron receives.]
19 Apr 1751 Moses Higginbotham to James Higginbotham. Tract now in possession of James on Buffalo. 200 acres part of 1000 acres. Adj. Booker. Wit: Thos. Jefferson, John & Joseph Higginbotham. Frances relinquished. Rec. 14 May 1751.
[Total of 404 acres to James.]
30 Apr 1751 Moses Higginbotham to Benjamin Higginbotham for 5 sh. Land now in possession of Benjamin on Buffalo River. 204 acres part of 1430. Wit: Thos. Jefferson, John & James Higginbotham. Frances relinquished. Rec. 14 May 1751.
[This 204 acres will be the only tract Benjamin receives. I find it somewhat strange that Aaron and Benjamin did not receive an equal share with the others. The rest, including William Morrison, brother-in-law, receive 404 acres. Moses retains 416 acres. Did Aaron & Benjamin receive something previously? The division left a total of 406 acres in the hands of Moses - perhaps Aaron & Benjamin agreed to receive less. I did find land patents for some of the brothers prior to this division in 1751. Aaron had patented 300 acres, both sides of the Buffalo River, 15 Dec 1749. Benjamin patented 300 acres, both sides of the Buffalo, 5 Sep 1749. Joseph patented 150 acres, both sides of the Buffalo on 5 Sep 1749 - the same day as Benjamin. Moses patented 200 acres on the south side of the Buffalo on Rutleges Creek, 1 Jun 1750.]
6 May 1751 Moses Higginbotham to William Morrison for 5 sh. Land now in possession of said Morrison on branches of the Buffalo River. 204 acres. Adj James Higginbotham, John Higginbotham. Wit: James, Aaron, and John Higginbotham. Frances relinquished; rec. 14 May 1751
6 May 1751 Moses to William Morrison. 200 acres. adj. Joseph Higginbotham. Wit: James, Aaron, & John Higginbotham.
[Total of 404 acres to William Morrison who married Rachel Higginbotham.]

The property above lay first in Goochland Co but became part of Albemarle when that county was formed in 1734. The same parcels became part of Amherst County in 1761. The patent to George Braxton Jr. was dated 25 Nov 1743, 25,000 acres in Goochland County, both sides of the Buffalo River. [PB 23, p.606] Possibly the Higginbothams were living in this area prior to the issuance of the grant [which often took months, even years, to obtain] but had not completed deeds before the death of their father - Moses obtained the deeds or agreements and then proceeded to make division of the land.

Other children sometimes listed are an Anne, no proof and I doubt her existence, and a Thomas. There most certainly was a Thomas Higginbotham who left records in Albemarle Co in 1751. He had patents received in Albemarle Co in 1750, one of which bordered land of Pastor Rose for 140 acres, another was on the north branch of Piney River, 200 acres. A deed, dated 3 Jun 1751, shows at least the latter on Piney River was sold to Robert Rose and was at that time in possession of Rose. By 1759, this Thomas had removed to Georgia where he petitioned for a grant of lands. He received 100 acres; later additional grants of 150 and 200 acres. By June of 1766, he stated he had a wife and 10 children. He is possibly an uncle to the children listed here as he seems somewhat older. There is said to be a record of jury duty that makes him too old to be a sibling. There is some scant evidence of possible relationship between the families, but given names are for the most part quite different. Thomas was most likely the father of Burris Higginbotham, pioneer to Florida. Most of the databases found online have considerable erroneous material concerning Thomas and his parentage and children.

Death

Bef 1751

Albemarle County, Virginia

Spouse	Higginbotham ( - 1747)
Child	Moses Higginbotham (1715 - 1790)
Child	Joseph Higginbotham (1717 - 1805)
Child	Aaron Higginbotham (1720 - 1784)
Child	BENJAMIN Higginbotham (1723 - 1791)
Child	RACHEL Higginbotham ( - 1809)
Child	Capt. John Higginbotham (1726 - 1814)
Child	Col. James Higginbotham (1729 - 1813)

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