Rev. Robert Braswell's will

In the Name of God Amen, I ROBERT BRACEWELL beinge very weake & sicke of Body but of perfectt memorie, doe make this my last Will & Testament, Revockeinge all former Wills whatsoever, Imprimis I bequeath my Soule into the hands of my Redeemer, who gave it mee, And my body unto the ground from whence it came to be decently buried, And for those Temporall goods God hath given mee I dispose of them in manner as followeth, I give unto my daughter JANE STOCKES her Children, three cowes, To REBECCA WEST my daughter one Cowe & Calfe And one Cowe & Calfe to the next child she shall have, And the rest of all my Estate unto my two sonns ROBERT and RICHARD whome I make my full & sole executors of this my Will, and the mill I desire shalbe finisht, with what speed may bee And to be lett out, only reservinge corne for themselves, and the p.duce of the Mill to be equally divided betweene them both, And reserved to build a new mill hereafter And when built to be left wholly to my sonne RICHARD Likewise I give Seaven hundred Acres of land, where I now live and sixe hundred Acres att the Western Branch of Nancemond County To be equally divided betweene my two sonnes Robert and Richard Likewise it is my desire that noe part or parcell of the estate shalbe disposed of, nor none of the land, untill they both are of full Age, nor no wayes divided But if it shall please God that either of them shall depart this life before he comes of Age, That then the Survivor shall enjoye the whole Likewise I give unto my Servant ELIZABETH HALL when she shalbe free one heiffer of two yeares of Age And likewise it is my desire That my Loveinge friends MR: RICHARD IZARD And GEORGE GWILLIM to be Guardians unto my Children in the time of theire Minoritie, And to see this my Will performed Likewise I give unto the said RICHARD IZARD & GEORGE GWILLIM, ffortie shillings to each of them, to buy them each one ringe, Likewise I Give unto my Daughter ANN BAGNALL one Cowe & Calfe And one Cowe & calfe to her first Child, if it please God she have any, And likewise it is my desire that my two sonnes, ROBERT & RICHARD shalbe putt to schoole untill they cann both write & read And this beinge my Will I testifie it with my hand this,

This will was proved in open Cort held for
the Isle of Wight County this first Day of
May 1668 And then Recorded

Commentary by Carey Bracewell:

This will, the Appraisal of the Estate (May 11, 1668), the Account Current by REBECCA IZARD (Jan 10, 1669/70) and the Disbursments Account of her husband, RICHARD IZARD (same date), give an insight into the man, his character and times, in a way unmatched by any of this researcher's other ancestors; how fortunate that he is the one whom we all share in common!

The wording of this will is clearly his own, just as it is in the BENNETT‑WEBB Agreement of 1650.The spelling may seem unlettered but keep in mind that standard for spelling English words was not established until after 1800; our ancestor spelled perfectly, and his choice of those words reflect favorably his Oxford background. Some observations:

1. Note that the children are listed in birth order. The time each first appeared in the legal records{ and therefore "of full Age" confirms this.} Notice that ANN {last paragraph} was still a newliwed at the beginning of 1670, about 16, not yet pregnant by her husband, JAMES BAGNALL, son of REBECCA BAGNALL IZARD, the de facto Adminitrix.

2. Note how evenhanded he was with his daughters: each got the precious dairy cows according to her needs: JANE STOKES getting the most because she was oldest and had the most children. What was a widower parson doing with so many milk cattle? He had more mouths to feed‑‑indentured servants besides ELIZABETH HALL, who may have been his housekeeper/nurse, and/or the parish orphans?

3. He was less even‑handed with his sons, favoring RICHARD , the younger, with the rebuilt mill. The description of his 1300‑acre estate is another Braswell enigma: the 700 acres "where I now live..."means that the good Parson acquired another 400 acres after 1650 {WILLIAM UNDERWOOD's tract?}by one of the many real estate transactions whose record is missing. Likewise the deed for 600 acres "att the Western Branch of Nancemond County" {ROBERT's choice?} is missing, but that is to be expected since Nansemond is a "burned out county". Both sons disposed of their legacies as soon as they came of age, as we shall see in later documents.

4. "Gwillim" is an archaic form of WILLIAMS. The custom of the "friendship ring" for those who render such personal services as this guardianship was a common practice among the wealthier class of this society.

5. Which of us cannot be proud that our ancestor's last wish was to educate his sons! Alas, neither ever became literate {like nearly all their peers in that schoolless, wilderness pioneer society}, always signing by mark like RICHARD IZARD, their guardian.

6. Confused about dates? Remember that New Year's Day was March 21st in the British realm until 1753.

Subj: Correction

Dear Cousins,

Some time back, I lent support to the notion that REBECCA BAGNALL IZARD "was probably" the sister of our Rev. ROBERT BRACEWELL, the Immigrant ancestor. A long overdue review of my Virginia materials quickly showed my folly: Our Reverend's daughter, ANN, married REBECCA's son, JAMES BAGNALL, about 1668 when she was about 16. She would not have married her first cousin! Sorry..This is not to preclude the Rev from having other relatives in Virginia we don't know about. Indeed, he seemed to have been among old London friends from the beginning. As Cousin Eunice Young {who has done the most comprehensive study of English Bracewells to date} has said (Young to Bracewell, ltr of 1/16/73), " ...the IZARDs, BAGNALLs, WESTs, and other relatives of ours were right in the same churches with our BRASWELLs there in London." She was reading seventeenth century London parish records at the time.

Carey

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Subj: Correction Correction

Date: 97‑06‑07 19:57:08 EDT

Dear Cousins,

I am indebted to Cousins Joyce and Lucy for correcting my "correction" about REBECCA BAGNALL IZARD as a possible sister to our Rev. ROBERT BRACEWELL. Both these splendid researchers knew, as I did not, that marriages between first cousins was approved of in these well‑to‑do colonial families as a means of preserving intact large family plantations. {Did anyone else besides me sleep through Melanie & Ashley Wilkes' cousin romance in GWW? <g>} Joyce cites the example of the Randolphs and the Jeffersons, and the genetic anomalies that began to appear after a number of generations of such crossings. Lucy mentions some cousin marriages that produced healthy offspring generation after generation. Most of us are probably already aware that romantic love as a basis for marriage is a relatively new invention, dating only from the last century. And as the record will shortly show, more than one of these early Braswell marriages, contracted for material purposes, ended in estrangement {divorce being then virtually impossible for all but kings}.

I am operating under the assumption that "att the western branches of Nancemond County" land given by Rev. Robert to his sons is actually in Isle of Wight County. These branches (aka "the Greate Swamp") were settled early and drain easterly into Nansemond County and the Nansemond River but are clearly in IoW. I am currently platting the location of land Richard Brasewell sold to my ancestor, Thomas Jones, ca 1700 as stated in Jane Brasewell Stoke's 1711 will. As noted in later IoW procession records, neighbors were Underwoods and Sellaways ‑ info which ties well into Richard Brasewell's land location...

I concur with your assumption that "the Western branches of Nancemond" were actually in what is now eastern Isle of Wight. But these folks‑‑the BRACEWELL brothers, ROBERT ELEY, et al‑‑did in fact disappear into the (genealogical) void of Nansemond in the 1670's. My RICHARD reemerged in the 90's on the main Blackwater Swamp of the Nottoway‑‑which I take to be near the Southampton county line, on the Isle of Wight "Lower Parish" side. . .

I assume you have Virginia grant 8‑176 ( p. 366) of October 20, 1691, to Mr HENRY POPE (one of my ancestors) for 187 acres in I of W adjacent JOHN WILLIAMS, RICHARD LOVEGROVE, JOHN SELLAWAY, and HENRY SANDERS? We will all be interested to hear what you come up with, Cuz, on platting these properties. Don't ya just love "metes & bounds"?

I feel I must once more apologize for errors made in interpretation. Purists may not accept the excuse that it has been years since I read this file myself, but I hope that the rest of you will. <g> I managed to slight the first two generations in one letter, thusly: I said Rev. ROBERT seemed to favor RICHARD over ROBERT by giving the former the profitable grain mill operation. True, but ROBERT got the home plantation with all that went with it, just about evening out their inheritances. Second I said the boys were stone illiterate, despite their father's dying wish. Well as the accounts clearly state, the boys were in boarding school throughout 1668 and 1669, and probably some beyond that. The fact that as adults they signed by mark just means they were more interested in making their fortunes in tobacco than in displaying their literary achievements‑‑modest as they must have been with such a late start!

No doubt researching cousins out there with specialized knowledge or insight will see more in these documents than this old writer. If so, please show the Southern hospitality spirit and share your insights/findings.

REV. ROBERT BRACEWELL'S WILL