I found this in my older files dated February 22, 2010. Fourteen years ago – written a year before I started my blog, Kentucky Kindred. Thought I would share with you. 

   I suppose that in everyone’s life there comes a time when we begin to think about the past – how we came to be and why we are what we are.  Who were the ones who came before us and how did they code our DNA to become the people we are now?  How did their lives and the choices they made predetermine the life we now call our own?

            Most people wait until the last few years of their life to make this journey, and hurriedly search through available information to make this discovery just before they are ready to pass into another dimension.  Is this because they want to try to understand themselves in one unhurried moment before the end?  Perhaps they want to leave a part of themselves and their history for posterity?

            A deep sense of the past has always been with me.  Sitting on the arm of my paternal grandfather’s chair I would sit and listen to his stories – of the first time he saw my grandmother, driving a school bus.  Now that I look back, I realize I didn’t ask the questions I should.  Being content just in his company (since I was only eight or ten), I was more interested in his stories than who his parents were and what they were like and where they came from.  I was far more interested in Pap taking me up the path to the barn where we picked sweet strawberries or across the street to Beatt’s country store where I could buy a full sack of candy with Pap’s quarter held tightly in my hand.  Or playing house within the long trailing branches of the weeping willow tree in the front yard with Pap sitting in the shade watching us play.  This was the beginning of my quest for family history although I didn’t recognize it as such.  Pap planted that seed, and, unfortunately, it didn’t germinate until after his death, he encouraged my love of family and roots at the age of fifteen.

            As it is in every life, not only are seeds planted by someone you personally know; characteristics or traits are handed down from the ancestors we don’t know.  It wasn’t until many years later I realized what an avid genealogist my great-grandmother was.  I now have her charts and correspondence with many of her extended Linton cousins.  In this age of internet and email it seems almost uneventful to find distant cousins to work on family lines.  But in the 1930’s and 40’s it was quite a feat.  Every day I am thankful for her love of genealogy that was passed down to me.

            As is quite evident in my family, as I’m sure it is in most, not everyone is thrilled when the word genealogy is mentioned.  Most think of dry, dusty tomes locked away in a file cabinet in the basement of a county courthouse – or line upon line of dates and facts.  Of course, this is a part it, but not the whole part and parcel.  Every genealogist has to know the who, when and where to get his bearings in the general scheme of things.  But the what, why and how make up the most interesting parts.  Information goes from being boring facts to real, live people with flesh and bones that truly experienced life and who have a compelling story to tell.

            This is my intent – to make these people jump off the page and shake hands with you – become living breathing individuals who led a fascinating life.

            From the very beginning of my research Captain John Linton was my favorite ancestor.  He loomed large in my great-grandmother’s writings – to her everything revolved around “the Captain”.  All his descendants that I’ve corresponded with seem to be in awe of him.  And, I must admit, I’m no exception.  If there were any ancestor I could bring back for an hour’s conversation it would definitely be the Captain.

            John Linton was born in Prince William County, Virginia, in January of 1750.  His father was Moses Linton, a Justice of the Peace for the county.  Every time that Moses’ name is listed in deeds or other court records it is with the distinction of “Gentleman” after his name.  His parents were John Linton and Anne Barton.  It is from Anne’s family that John Linton inherited most of his fortune.  Edward Barton married Anne Green, the step-daughter of Martin Scarlett who was a Justice of the Peace for Stafford County.  In Edward’s will, dated January 10, 1712, he leaves all his personal estate to John Linton, a large portion of which descended to Moses Linton.  In fact, when the Captain was born it was on land on the banks of Occoquan Bay that originally belonged to Martin Scarlett when he died in 1696.  When my husband and I visited what is now the Occoquan Wildlife Sanctuary in 2002 we were fortunate that a ranger was there.  He pointed us in the right direction to find Martin Scarlett’s tombstone – the oldest in Prince William County.  It is not positioned at the gravesite.  During the 1800’s one of the owners decided to use the gravestones from the old cemetery for the foundation for one of his barns.  Martin Scarlett’s stone, along with that of one of his son’s was much larger than the other cemetery stones and couldn’t be used for the farmer’s purpose.  It was thrown in the creek!  Miraculously it was found some years later and restored to a position on the original land, the exact position of the cemetery lost years ago.  After our visit to the headstones the ranger drove us through the rutted tire track path to other points of interest on the property – including the point on the bay where Martin Scarlett and George Mason operated a ferry for many years, Mason living on the other side of the bay at Gunston Hall.

            Martin Scarlett’s will was proved in Stafford County Court on April 8, 1696.  He left land on the southern most branch of Mormumsco Creek to Edward Barton.  His wife, Anne Green Scarlett, died just two years later.  In her will, proved August 10, 1698, she gave daughter Anne Barton a slave and 10,000 pounds tobacco; to Edward Barton the land bought from Thomas Norman; granddaughters Constantine Barton, Anne Barton, Margaret Barton and Lettice Barton each 10,000 pounds tobacco; daughter Lettice Smith Harrison ½ the land at Neabsco given to Joshua Green during his lifetime and the other half to grandchildren Edward Smith and Katherine Smith plus a slave and 10,000 pounds tobacco; grandchildren Will Smith, Cat Smith, Ed Smith and Scarlett Green each 10,000 pounds tobacco.

            Moses father, John, was a sea captain.  Not much is known about him except that he must have made trips back and forth to England hauling the tobacco crops to be sold for a good profit, then filling his ship with supplies and goods for the return trip to Virginia.  Tobacco was money in those days.  Fines were paid in poundage of tobacco, inheritances were realized the same.   

            John Linton died in 1728 when Moses was about 28 years old.  About this time Moses married Susannah Harrison, the daughter of Captain Thomas Harrison.  They had at least two sons, William and Thomas.  Susannah Harrison Linton died before 1747, because at least by that time Moses Linton had married Susannah Hancock, the younger sister of his friend Scarlett Hancock.  Susannah Hancock was about thirty years younger than her new husband.  In fact, she wasn’t much older than his two sons from his first marriage.  This was not an unusual situation for the time period.  When one spouse died the other usually married quickly – it the man were left he needed someone to care for his children and manage the household; if the woman were left, she needed someone to provide for her and her children and protect her.

            Moses and Susannah were first blessed with a daughter, Catherine Jennings Linton, born in 1748, who later married William Joseph Lewis.  John Hancock Linton was born two years later.  Another son, Moses, was born in 1753.  During this year Moses Sr. resigned several positions in the county and church listing the cause as deafness.  A notice in the court records of Prince William County in October of 1753 lists him as Moses Linton, Gentleman, deceased.  Since we do not know the month or day of baby Moses’ birth we aren’t sure if he was born before or after his father died.  What a blow to Susannah.  At the age of twenty-two she was widowed with three children under the age of five.  Surprisingly Moses died without a will.  If he had been ill for a time surely he would have written a will to see that his instructions were carried out.  Evidently his death was unexpected.

            I have often thought about this and came up with the romanticized version that he was conducting business with George Mason at Gunston Hall.  When it was time to leave and return by ferry across the Occoquan Bay to his home a large storm was brewing.  He was encouraged to stay until the weather had calmed, but he was anxious to return to Susannah who was heavy with child.  As the ferry reached the middle of the bay the storm reached its zenith, tossing the ferry to and fro.  All of a sudden, a huge wave crashed into the boat, causing its moorings to break and dumping the carriage, horses and Moses into the dark frenzied water.  Moses held on as long as he could, fighting the waves that tore at him to drag him to the depths below.  Finally they succeeded, leaving nothing bobbing on the water.

            Back to the facts.  Susannah, with her three young children to consider, wasted no time remarrying.  She chose John Berkeley, a widower who was first married to Elizabeth Longworth and by her had two sons George and John Longworth Berkeley.  John Berkeley was the eldest son of William Berkeley and Elizabeth Hancock.  Hm, that Hancock name again.  Although it is not known for sure, Susannah Hancock Linton and John Berkeley were probably cousins.  So our dear Captain lived in quite an extensive household – two older half-brothers, William and Thomas Linton; one sister and brother, Catherine and Moses; two step-brothers, George and John Longworth Berkeley; and eventually, at least one more half-brother and half-sister, Scarlett and Elizabeth Berkeley, children of his mother Susannah and step-father John Berkeley.

            Just after the marriage Burr Harrison, uncle to the two eldest sons of Moses Linton, took William and Thomas Linton to live with him and promptly brought a suit in Prince William County Court against John and Susannah Berkeley for the boys share of their father’s inheritance.  The suit went on for several years without a decision being made.  Unfortunately William and Thomas Linton must have died young because no further record of them has ever been found.

            Little is known about the early years of John Linton.  About 1770-1771 he married Ann Nancy Mason, the niece of his step-father.  Ann was the daughter of Benjamin Mason and Elizabeth Berkeley.  Although we do not know the exact date of the marriage, she is listed in both her Berkeley grandparents’ wills – the first under Mason, the second as Linton.  In November 1761 William Berkeley gives “to my granddaughter Ann Mason ten pounds current money”.  In her will of 1772 Elizabeth Berkeley gives “to my granddaughter Ann Linton one young red cow and my spinning wheel”.

            In the tax records of Loudoun County for the year 1771 John Linton is listed as head of household with younger brother Moses living with him.  I’ve often wondered about this, perhaps relations with his step-father were strained.  There is no mention of Moses after this date.  The slave schedules for the year 1771 show John Linton with Aaron, Abraham and Alley.

            December 21, 1773, John Linton signed an indenture with “Thomas Ludwell Lee for a sum of five shillings to him in hand paid by these presents doth demise, grant and to farm let unto John Linton all that tenement lying the County of Loudoun and containing one hundred and sixty acres during his natural life and the natural life of Nancy Linton his wife and the natural life of Elizabeth Linton his first daughter together with all houses, orchards and appurtenances”.  There was a yearly “rent of three pounds current money of Virginia together with the taxes and quit rents that shall accrue and within the space of three years build one good tobacco house framed or built with good sawed logs at least thirty feet long and twenty feet wide or a barn of the same dimension and one good dwelling house framed or built with good sawed logs sixteen feet square at the least with an outside chimney or other houses and buildings equal thereto and shall plant one hundred and sixty winter apple trees and one hundred and sixty peach trees and keep well trimmed and pruned”.  This property adjoined property owned by Colonel Nicholas Minor, James Jennings and Peter Carter and was upon the waters of Beaver Dam Run.  This area is located in the southeastern part of the county not too far from the Fairfax or Prince William County lines.

            Doesn’t this give a lovely picture of a colonial household with everything they would need to sustain themselves – food from the gardens and orchards, land for their livestock to graze and their tobacco to grow.

            In January 1775 John Linton turned twenty-five, the age to receive his inheritance.  On the 30^th of the month the following release of rights was signed:

“Know all men by these presents that I, John Linton, of Loudoun County, the only surviving son and heir at law to my father, Moses Linton, late of County of Fairfax, Gentleman, deceased, and eldest son and heir apparent to my mother as well, for consideration of my education and maintenance by John Berkeley of County of Loudoun and Susannah his wife, my said mother and administratrix of all the goods and chattels, right and credits which were of my said father at the time of his death, who died intestate, as for and in consideration of the sum of three hundred pounds current money of Virginia to me in hand paid by said John Berkeley by these presents do bargain and sell unto John Berkeley and to his heirs and assigns all my right title interest and demand whatsoever to the estates of my said father and mother or to the estate of my deceased brothers and sisters, to have and to hold all my rights of the before mentioned estates with issues increase and profits thereof unto John Berkeley his assigns.  In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 30^th day of January in the year of our Lord seventeen hundred and seventy-five.”

            This one piece of evidence gives us much information about the Captain and his family.  He was the only surviving son of his father – older brothers William and Thomas and younger brother Moses had died by this date.  It doesn’t say “only surviving child” so at the very least his sister Catherine Linton was alive at this point.  “Eldest son and heir apparent to my mother” – his half-brother Scarlett Berkeley is one of the younger sons mentioned.  When the release of rights mentions “the estates of my deceased brothers and sisters” we know the aforementioned brothers that died young, but I have found no record of sisters other than Catherine Linton and Elizabeth Berkeley (who were both alive at this time).  There were very likely others whose information has been lost to us.

            It also tells us John Linton was an educated man.  I’ve often wondered if this was accomplished at home with a tutor, or if he attended college or university like his second cousin, John Tyler Linton, who earned a degree in law from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  His only daughter, Sarah, attended a boarding school run by the Visitation Sisters.  As a result of this education Sarah decided to join the convent.  The inheritance from her father, which included several thousand acres of land on Broad Run in Prince William County was given to the Benedictine fathers and sisters for schools for boys and girls.  Today Linton Hall School continues a long tradition of education on some of the original land.  In a glass case just inside the front door of the school a portrait of John Tyler Linton and his law degree are prominently displayed.  Across the road from the school is the old family cemetery surrounded by a rusting fence.  Three generations of this Linton family are buried there.

            In my great-grandmother’s writings she said when Captain John Linton came into his inheritance, he shared it with his half-brothers and sisters.  She did not mention the release of rights by name, but the story handed down through the generations gives credence to this document found in the Loudoun County Court House.  Great-grandmother Frances didn’t have access to such records, but her writings and memories corroborate that the John Linton in the release of rights is “our” John Linton.  The release itself names his parents and stepfather and was witnessed by Joseph Lewis, his brother-in-law.

            The Captain received 300 pounds for giving over his rights of inheritance to his mother and stepfather.  On the same day he purchased three slaves, Aaron, Milly and Charlotte, from his stepfather for 250 pounds.  This must mean that John Linton was viable in his occupation and well able to support his growing family.  By this time he had at least three children – Elizabeth, Moses and Catherine.

            The growing threat of war became a realization in 1776 with the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  Since most of the fighting of the Revolutionary War took place outside Virginia the majority of the work there was in preparation for the time when British regulars would come into their state, and the sending of supplies and troops outside the state.  John Linton was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Loudoun County Militia on February 8, 1779, and made Captain two years later.

            It wasn’t until the British sailed up the York River and marched towards Williamsburg that the Loudoun Militia got their first taste of battle.  According to the military pension application for a Mr. John Connelly, “In 1781 he lived in Loudoun County, Virginia, and in July was drafted for three months in the company of Captain John Linton, Lieutenant William Debell, and Ensign Franics Adams under Colonel George Summers and Major Risby who took command when they rendezvoused at West’s Town in Loudoun County.  They marched to Malvern Hill where they joined the brigade of General Stephens and where Colonel Summers and Major Risby were released from any further command.  Thomas Merriweather and William Hardman took command in their place.  They marched to the old magazine near Williamsburg, then to the encampment called Springfield, and there were dismissed and returned home in October 1781.”

            This is validated by a second pension application by Samuel Barker Davis who gave the following account:  “was called into service from Loudoun County, Virginia, as a private (militia) under Captain John Linton and commenced their march from the place of rendezvous in Loudoun County on 13 July 1871 and marched by way of Fredericksburg and Richmond and joined the army under General Lafayette on James River below Richmond on 26 July 1871 and were attached to Muhlenberg’s brigade under Colonel Merriweather and Major Hardiman and served until 26 September 1781 when the company was discharged between Williamsburg and Little York.  We reached home in Loudoun County on 1 or 2 October 1781.”

            Due to the constraints of the three-month draft period Captain John missed the battle of Yorktown and surrender of Cornwallis by just a few days.  Perhaps that was providential – he remained alive and able to make the trip home to his family.  Think of all his descendants today who would not be alive if he had perished at Yorktown.

            During the war years two children were born to John and Ann – Benjamin Franklin Linton on June 16, 1777, (a wonderfully patriotic name!) and Nancy Linton in 1778.  Daughter Susan was born in 1782.