Individual Details

Notes for Richard Massey by Lisa Douglas:
In 1724, Richard bought two tracts of land on "Monk's Neck Creek" from John Stroud.
In 1729, Richard sold some land to Richard Herbert. "The Falls" where the first church was located at Petersburg is immediately north-northwest of downtown.
About 1730, Richard moved his family from the site of Petersburg, Va. to what is today southwestern Greensville County, Va. At the time of his move it was called Brunswick County, where in 1734 he recieved a land grant of 2331 acres. He lived near Seth Pettipool who was Anne's brother.


The will of Richard dated Feb. 1, 1739 was shown to have been executed in St. Andrew's Parish, Brunswick Co., Va. and was witnessed by Seth Pettipool and others. Richard made Anne, his wife, sole executrix of his will stating therein his desire that his sons, John and Richard to have 200 acres adjoining the "home place"; his son, William the 150 acres to the north on both sides of Beaverpool Creek by Seth Pettipool and Hezekiah 116 acres which was the "home place" subject to a life estate in all property in his wife, Anne. Richard marked his signature to his will by the capital letter "R".
After his death his widow, Anne, moved with all her children except for William, on to "Cattail Creek" opposite the point where Richard's brother, Joseph lived.

1. Conflict: (Info from Vince Hughes)
Both Richard and his wife Anne left wills.

About 1730 Richard Moved his family from the site of Petersburg, Va to what is today
southwestern Greenville Co, Va. At the time of his move it was called Brunswick Co,
where in 1734 he received a land grant of 231 acres, where he lived neighboring upon
the land of Seth Pettipool.

RESEARCH NOTES:
The information on most of this MASSEY line was taken from the book by Judge Frank A. Massey, Published 1979. In
that book, Judge Massey shows the father of this Richard Massey to be John Massey, who died after 1720. That individual
is contained in this database but not linked to this Richard Massey due to a concern on the part of some researchers that
Judge Massey may have erred in making that connection.

Other researcher have shown strong evidence that the father to this Richard Massey is Richard Massey, born about 1661 in Cheshire, England.
This connection is from the book by William W. Massey, Jr, titled, "MASSEY GENEALOGY 2000".

Further reseach is currently underway to sort out the facts and this site will be updated when all of the information
has been reviewed and documented. vh
1

2. WILLIAM MASSEY JR. [billmasseyii@prodigy.net]
Youngest known son, Richard2 born ca. 1690–1697 probably in VA, m.
Anne Pettipool ca. 1715–1717, died testate, Brunswick Co., VA 1740.
Anne?s will of 8 May 1710 was probated 22 Oct 1770, Brunswick Co., VA.
I have complete documented records for this Richard which you probably
have no interest in, so I won?t repeat here.

3. Info from Theron Smith, email address: tl2smith@flash.net

THE SHEEPSKIP ARMS
(Corrected, revised, and augmented 1 Sep 2004 as Paul2b4.rtf]
(Corrected 26 Oct 2004 as Paul2c4.rtf]
On 14 May 2002, Paul wrote to me:
<[TLS: Because of their Catholicism, these Masseys were persecuted by the Protestant governments in England from 1689 on.]
<>
The "purported heraldic achievement" appears to refer to a coat-of-arms painted on sheepskin, that was passed down in my sub-branch of Richard(1)'s descendants. I'm from Richard(2) who m. Anne Pettipool, who, as you know, is believed to be youngest son of Richard(1.) Author William W. (Bill) Massey [MASSEY GENEALOGY 2000] appears to be from Hezekiah(2), almost certainly oldest brother of Richard(2). Bill appears to be my 8th Massey cousin (no removes). The late Judge Frank Massey of Ft. Worth, author of MASSEY ADDENDUM, etc., whom I knew well, was a 3d cousin of Bill and 8th cousin of mine. [2004: Judge Massey’s ADDENDUM appears to be sole source of information about the "sheepskin arms."]
Thinking that you may not have viewed the actual sheepskin arms, a color print of these arms is attached (massarms.jpg) Based on the crest, the sheepskin arms were obviously suggested by the Coddington arms which , as you know, are derived from with the Puddington arms but have a different crest and have a silver canton in the 1st quarter “for difference.”


[2004 note: The Puddigton crest was "a lion passant"; the Coddington and sheepskin arms" a semi-pegasus with wings displayed."
All known published pictorial depictions of the Coddington arms show a single silver canton superimposed on the 1st quarter, whereas the sheepskin arms have silver cantons superimposed on both the 2d and 3d quarters. [2004 note: recent information provided to the compiler indicates that the cantons in the 2d and 3d quarters are found in a College of Arms description of arms intended for a Massey of the Isle of Ely [in Cambridgeshire] , but never actually granted - there's a more complete history associated with this; this Massey is also believed to have been a persecuted Catholic who may have emigrated to this country.] (Burke’s GENERAL ARMORY shows the crest associated with the Masseys of Isle of Ely, co. Cambridge and Coddington, co. Chester as an owl.)

Judge Massey distributed several copies of the sheepskin arms with the following caption added, which is not on the sheepskin itself and which is a little misleading:
“Massey of Coddington - from a 1636 copy on sheepskin of the 1399 arms.”
Note that the crest on this home-made coat-of-arms is a crude drawing of the crest of the CODDINGTON Masseys. This fact helped convince Judge Massey that the Masseys of [Ely in] Cambridgeshire (of Coddington descent) were good candidates for being our first colonial ancestors. This would be relevant only if the arms go back to the immigrant ancestor. If Col. Marschal Massey's unsubstantiated estimate of how long the arms had been in the family (200 years) was realistic, then Richard(4) Massey would have been the first one to own it, and he could have had someone paint it for him. As will be seen, the arms may not have come into our Massey family before the time of Richard(4)'s grandson, John Ross(6) Massey.

(NOTE: As you no doubt know, Judge Massey believed John Mace or Marsey, a 1636 immigrant to Virginia claimed as a headright by Walter Aston in 1637, was (1) a descendant of the Cambridgeshire Masseys and hence of Coddington descent; and (2) grandfather of the Charles City/Surry Co., VA brothers Hezekiah(2), Joseph(2), and Richard(2). To my knowledge, no other reputable Massey researcher accepts this account of the descent or progeny of the immigrant of 1636.) [2004: It’s still possible that we have a descent from the Cambridgeshire Masseys in Ely, but almost certainly NOT through Judge Massey’s John Mace or Marsey, a 1636 immigrant to Virginia claimed as a headright by Walter Aston in 1637.]
[TLS (26 Oct 04): We have to say that the CODINGTON crest and double cantons on the sheepskin arms do NOT support a descent from a Richard Massey (1) of Puddington in Cheshire in the late 1600s.] But this fact has no bearing on whether Richard(1) of Puddington was the immigrant ancestor UNLESS it was brought to the colonies by the immigrant, which may not be the case. [2004 note: Discovery of a the College of Arms document regarding cantons in the 2d and 3d quarter may lead to re-instatement of the arms having come down from our emigrant ancestor!
Whatever the arms scenario signifies, we can see that some of our early Masseys ancestors were interested in things like coats-of-arms. However, in all candidness, this interest might date back no earlier than the pre- or post-Civil War time frame and not to colonial times.
The earliest verifiable owner of the sheepskin arms in our family is John Ross(6) Massey (1821-98) and he may have been the one who acquired it. Actually, he was probably he first literate generation of the family in this country. The most recent owner known to me was Col. (Ret.) Marschal Wilson (9) MASSEY of Riverside, CA who had the arms in 1984 when I exchanged data with him.
Traditionally, the sheepskin arms have descended to the youngest son in each generation. This fact can be verified for the generations after John Ross. Richard(2) was youngest son of Richard(1); Hezekiah(3) was NOT youngest son of Richard(2); Barachias(5) was probably youngest son of Richard(4.) [2004 note: Nathaniel Dudley (6) appears to be younger than John Ross (6), but didn't survive the Civil War - John Ross lived until 1898.]
The descent of Col. Marschal(9) Massey from Richard(1) Massey is:
Richard(1) Massey [of Puddington?]
Richard(2) (1790-1740) m. Anne PETTIPOOL.
Hezekiah (3) MASSEY Sr (abt. 1718 - 1791) m (1) Sarah -----
Richard(4) MASSEY of Franklin Co.,NC (abt. 1750 - 1815).
Barachias (5) MASSEY (1778/9 - aft, 1850) m. Obedience “Beady” Williams


John Ross (6) MASSEY (1821 - 1898)
[brother of my gg gf Nathaniel Dudley (6) Massey 1822/23-1864] TLS]


Jefferson Walton (7) MASSEY (1861,GA - 1934, TX)
Frederick Bailey(8) MASSEY (1883-1962)
Col. (Ret.) Marshcal Wilson(9) MASSEY. Col. Massey of Riverside, CA was owner of the sheepskin arms in 1984.

4. Notes for Richard Massey by Lisa Douglas:
In 1724, Richard bought two tracts of land on "Monk's Neck Creek" from John Stroud.
In 1729, Richard sold some land to Richard Herbert. "The Falls" where the first church was located at Petersburg is immediately north-northwest of downtown.
About 1730, Richard moved his family from the site of Petersburg, Va. to what is today southwestern Greensville County, Va. At the time of his move it was called Brunswick County, where in 1734 he recieved a land grant of 2331 acres. He lived near Seth Pettipool who was Anne's brother.


The will of Richard dated Feb. 1, 1739 was shown to have been executed in St. Andrew's Parish, Brunswick Co., Va. and was witnessed by Seth Pettipool and others. Richard made Anne, his wife, sole executrix of his will stating therein his desire that his sons, John and Richard to have 200 acres adjoining the "home place"; his son, William the 150 acres to the north on both sides of Beaverpool Creek by Seth Pettipool and Hezekiah 116 acres which was the "home place" subject to a life estate in all property in his wife, Anne. Richard marked his signature to his will by the capital letter "R".
After his death his widow, Anne, moved with all her children except for William, on to "Cattail Creek" opposite the point where Richard's brother, Joseph lived.

Birth	1696	Prince George Co., Virginia
Death	5 Jun 1740	Brunswick Co., Virginia

Father	Richard Massey (1661 - 1740)
Mother	Sarah (1660 - )
Sibling	Hezekiah Massey (1685 - 1727)
Sibling	Joseph Massey (1690 - 1760)