Cornelius Dabney, II

Cornelius Dabney II was born to Cornelius Dabney I and his second wife, Susannah (__) about 1686 in New Kent County in the area that later became Hanover County.

He married his first wife, whose name is unknown, before 1713. They had three children: Cornelius, William, and John, who were named in his will. W. P. Anderson estimated their birth dates as 1713, 1714, and 1715. .

Cornelius first wife died before April, 1721, when he remarried to Sarah Jennings. They had six daughters: Mary; Elizabeth; Frances (Fanny); Anne (Anna); and two additional daughters whose forenames have not been found.

From FindAGrave:

• Birth: Apr. 7, 1688 New Kent New Kent County Virginia, USA
• Death: Feb. 17, 1765 Hanover Hanover County Virginia, USA

WILL OF CORNELIUS DABNEY

In the name of God Amen I Cornelius Dabney of St. Paul's Parish in the county of Hanover Being weak in body but sound and disposing mind, as usual thanks be to Almighty God for the Some Considering the uncertainty of this mortal life and to prevent dispute about such worldly Estate as I Shall leave at my death do think it proper to make and ordain this my last will and Testament in manner and form following Imprimus Recommend my Soul into the hands of my great Creator from whom I received it and my body to be buried in humble hopes of a resurrection into eternal life through the merits and mediations of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and as to what worldly goods and Estate I am _____ of after my debts are paid, I give and bequeath the same as follows.

Item: To my wife Sarah "my featherbed and furniture, two trunks, the black walnut chest, one looking glass, one horse and saddle, two cows and calves, house safe at her disposal; to wife for life, 2 negroes, Jane & Bob, and my river dwelling plantation; after the death of my wife, my son John Dabney may have the land and Bob if pays 45 pounds to my daughters, Elizabeth Maupin, Frances Maupin and Anne Thompson, for said Bob and 45 pounds for my land.

Item: I give to my son William Dabney one hundred and fifty acres of land with the Plantation whereon he now lives and four negroes to wit - Judy, Venus, Christopher and Moses, and all my wearing apparel to him and his heirs forever.

Item: I give to my son John Dabney one negro man named Will, my Saddle and my Guns to him and his heirs forever.

Item: My will and my desire is that the hundred and fifty acres of land and one Negro wench Amany That I intended for my Son Cornelius Dabney, deceased, may be sold and the money arising from Such Sale may be equally divided among all my deceased son's children .

My daughters, to equally divide the residue of my estate.

My son John Dabney and friend Harry Terrell, executors.

October 22, 1764

(signed) Cornelius Dabney

Witnesses: John Wingfield, Thomas Wingfield, Cornelius Dabney, Harry Terrell.

November 5, 1764 Codicil; 1 shilling to each of my sons-in-law, Christopher Harris, Matthew Brown and William Johnson.

Witness John Wingfield, Cornelius Dabney, Harry Terrell.

Recorded at Hanover Court February 7, 1765, by oaths John Wingfield and Harry Terrell. John Dabney and Harry Terrell qualified as executors;

At A Court of monthly Session held for Hanover County at the Courthouse on Tuesday the 22nd of December 1868. On motion of William Winston Dabney who this day produced in Court a copy of the last will and testament of Cornelius Dabney, deceased. And it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the same is a true copy duly attested by a former Clerk of the Court doth order the same to be recorded.

Test: R. O. Doswell, Clerk

Family links:

Parents:

• Cornelius Dabney (1631 - 1694)
• Susannah Pamunkey Dabney (D'Aubigne) (1643 - 1724) Spouse:
• Sarah Ann Jennings Dabney (1702 - 1790)*

Children:

• William Dabney (1722 - 1767)*
• John Dabney (1724 - 1773)*
• Mary Dabney Harris (1726 - 1757)*
• Frances Jennings Dabney Maupin (1731 - 1806)*
• Anne Dabney Terrell (1735 - 1825)* Siblings:
• George Dabney (1669 - 1734)*
• Mary Dabney Winston (1679 - 1760)*
• Dorothy Dabney Anderson (1683 - 1742)*
• Mary Dabney Carr (1685 - 1748)*
• Cornelius Dabney (1688 - 1765)
• David Anderson (1698 - 1735)**
• Calculated relationship
  • Half-sibling

Burial: Unknown

Edit Virtual Cemetery info [?]

Maintained by: Jeffrey Tull Originally Created by: Lila Cole Record added: Oct 06, 2009 Find A Grave Memorial# 42781613 https://old.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=dabney&GSfn=...

Will of Cornelius Dabney

February 7, 1765. - In the County Court of Hanover the will of Cornelius Dabney was recorded. He names his wife Sarah. His children, whom he names in his will were: William, John and Cornelius; the latter died before he did, as he mentions that his portion of the estate was to be sold, and the proceeds divided among the children of his deceased son, Cornelius. He names his son-in-law C. Harris, his daughters Mary Elizabeth Maupin, Fanny Maupin, and Anna Thompson, and the husbands of two others, Brown and Johnson, and appointed John Dabney and Henry Terrell his executors. This will was dated October 25, 1764." (1)

In Old New Kent County, Vol. 2, p. 883, Dr. Malcolm Hart Harris reported that after the death of his first wife Eedeth, Cornelius Dabney married Susanah, whose second husband was David Anderson. In her will dated 5 February 1724 (Hanover County Will Book 1, 1862-1868, Reel 1, pp. 632-634, Virginia State Library), Susanah Dabney-Anderson named her children:

Cornelius Dabney, the executor of her will. He married Sarah Jennings on 17 April 1721 (Virginia Marriage Records, by Wm. M. Clemons, Virginia State Library). His will was proved on 7 Feb. 1765 in which he named his wife Sarah and children William, John, Cornelius (deceased), Mary Elizabeth Maupin, Fanny Maupin, and Anna Thompson (Hanover County Will Book 1, 1862-1868, Reel 1, beginning page 634, Virginia State Library).An executor of his will was his second son, John Dabney, who became a Brigadier General in the Revolutionary War. (1)

Notes

Dabney - or d'Aubigne

A descendant of the French Huguenot family of that name; two brothers having fled from France at the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 went to Wales and remained there for a time, then Cornelius and his brother John came to Virginia about 1715 or 1717. After the death of his first wife Cornelius Dabney married Sara Jennings in April 1721. The Dabneys changed the spelling of their name after coming to Virginia. Mary Elizabeth Dabney their eldest daughter--married Daniel, the brother of John Maupin.

Descended from Theodore Agrippa D'Aubigne, a French Huguenot b. 1550.

links

• FamilySearch AFNs: 3244-8K, L4MB-BX, 233N-JG0
• http://www.juch.org/gedpages/nti/nti01859.htm
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/u/e/Fredrick-Dewayne-R...
• http://www.dabney-early-virginia.info/getperson.php?personID=I779&t...

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Not the same as Cornelius "the Interpreter" Dabney

In Old New Kent County, Vol. 2, p. 883, Dr. Malcolm Hart Harris reported that after the death of his first wife Eedeth, Cornelius Dabney married Susanah, whose second husband was David Anderson. In her will dated 5 February 1724 (Hanover County Will Book 1, 1862-1868, Reel 1, pp. 632-634, Virginia State Library), Susanah Dabney-Anderson named her children:

Cornelius Dabney, the executor of her will. He married Sarah Jennings on 17 April 1721 (Virginia Marriage Records, by Wm. M. Clemons, Virginia State Library). His will was proved on 7 Feb. 1765 in which he named his wife Sarah and children William, John, Cornelius (deceased), Mary Elizabeth Maupin, Fanny Maupin, and Anna Thompson (Hanover County Will Book 1, 1862-1868, Reel 1, beginning page 634, Virginia State Library).An executor of his will was his second son, John Dabney, who became a Brigadier General in the Revolutionary War.[SIC: not this John Dabney]

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Cornelius Dabney obtained his first land patent in Virginia September 27, 1664. It was located on the Pamunkey River, and was later augmented by two additional patents nearby and additional land on the other side of the River leased from the Pamunkey Indians . The colonial government appointed him official interpreter for Queen Cockacoeske of the friendly Pamunkey Indians from 1676 to 1684. His intellectual talents must have been exceptional to master such a foreign non-european language without a teacher and textbooks.

Cornelius and his two wives, Eedeth and Susannah, had at least six children who survived to adulthood: three sons, James, George and Cornelius and three daughters, Sarah, Dorothy, and Mary. It is possible they had a fourth son, Benjamin, about whom very little is known. They had about 42 grandchildren, who in turn had about 157 great-grandchildren.

Many of Cornelius’ descendants played public roles in their counties. All of his daughters’ husbands and two of his three sons served as Justices of the Peace, who administered civil and lesser criminal justice in the county courts, determined the county tax levy, maintained records of land ownership, and probated wills and estates. Eight of his grandsons and granddaughters’ husbands were appointed Justices of the Peace, five were sheriffs who enforced the law and collected county taxes, two were representatives to the General Assembly, two were coroners, and one was an inspector of tobacco for foreign shipment. Among his great grandsons and granddaughters’ husbands were 25 Justices of the Peace and judges, seven sheriffs, and ten representatives to state legislatures.

Among the 76 Dabney households listed in the first two censuses that included Virginia, 1810 and 1820, 92% could be traced through known links to the first Cornelius or in two cases to the much smaller New England Dabney Family, whose founding immigrant was probably a Huguenot from France. Clearly, almost all of the early Virginia Dabneys descend from Cornelius.

Figure 1 shows the number of household heads bearing the Dabney surname in the U. S. and Virginia from the 1810 through1840 censuses and the number of all individuals with the Dabney surname through the 1940 census, the latest available.

Dabney surnames in the 1810 through 1840 censuses.
In the early censuses through 1840, Dabney households numbered fewer than 100, but in 1850 and 1860, when the census listed all individuals, the number of Dabneys rose to 6-700, followed by a progressive increase to 3800 in 1930.

Among some Virginia families, “Dabney” became a somewhat popular forename. Figure 2 shows the number of household heads bearing Dabney as a first name through 1840 and the number of individuals with a Dabney first name from 1850 to 1940.

Dabney forename in censuses Figure 3 shows the location of the first seven land patents obtained by Dabneys in Virginia. Three were awarded to Cornelius between 1664 and 1668, and four were awarded in 1701 to his four eldest children to compensate for leases of 700 acres given Cornelius by the Pamunkey Indian Tribe.

First seven land patents obtained by Dabneys in Virginia map legend Figure 3. Map showing approximate locations of land grants received by Cornelius Dabney and his four eldest children. The measured boundaries are shown by dashed lines and the rest of the boundaries by watercourses, For orientation to other maps, Highway U. S. 360 is shown.

Map center coordinates: Latitude: N 37° 41’ 24.4287”; Longitude: W 77° 14’ 6.936”

   Tract C 1664 & 1667, which Cornelius obtained by patent in those years, is mainly bounded by the Pamunkey River and Totopotomoy Creek and contains a total of 300 acres.  Tract C 1666, which contains 640 acres, is bounded on the northwest by Totopotomoy Creek, but may have been located a little upstream or downstream from the site shown. 

The four patents issued in 1701 to Cornelius’ four eldest children, Dorothy (D, 179.5 acres), Sarah (S, 179.5 acres), James (J, 204 acres), and George (G, 293 acres) are bounded by the Pamunkey River and Pownce’s Swamp (creek). The greater number of acres granted to James and George are probably due to the lesser value of the low-lying part of their tracts bordering the River, for which the 1699 Committee of the Council that approved the grants added an extra 150 acres to the 700 acres allowed for Cornelius’ earlier Indian leases.

    The family biographies in the notes sections on this site are entered under the husband or wife who descends directly from Cornelius, so if a biography appears to be missing, it should be found with the spouse.

The myth that the Virginia Dabneys descended from French Huguenots

In 1888, William H. Dabney of Boston, in his book, Sketch of the Dabneys of Virginia, proposed that Cornelius Dabney, progenitor of the Virginia Dabneys, and his brother John were brothers of Robert Dabney/Dobney/ Daubigny/ d’ Aubigné, of French Huguenot descent, who the Boston Dabneys have consistently recognized as the immigrant progenitor of their family. More recently, records of Cornelius Dabney’s baptism in 1631 and his parents’ marriage in 1630 have been found in the Register of Bucknall Parish, Lincolnshire, England by Arden H. Brame Jr. and published in The Colonial Genealogist, 1985, 12, p. 107-111.

A search for Robert Dabney/Dobney/Daubigny in Boston records has yielded a record of his admittance to habitation in Boston June 23, 1715, with Capt. John Alden as security. Also found were four lawsuits in which Robert Dobney, blacksmith, was a plaintiff against Thomas Hodeball and Joseph Bissell, Othniel Hackett, John Smith, and Thomas Edeball in the Boston Court of Common Pleas 1715-1718. He also had a son John born August 17, 1723 and baptized in Kings Chapel September 22, 1723. Clearly, the Robert Dabney of Boston, who was probably of French descent, was of a later generation than Cornelius Dabney of Virginia, who was born in England and died in 1693/94, and therefore could not be his brother. The claim that Cornelius Dabney was a descendant of a French Huguenot family is clearly a myth based solely on the similar spelling of the surname in Boston and Virginia.

• https://www.dabney-early-virginia.info/getperson.php?personID=I462&...