Repost of an old blog entry...
Uncle Thomas in Bacon's Rebellion
Thomas Hansford was born in 1646 in Virginia
Death 13 November 1676 in York County, Virginia
FATHER: John Hansford 1590-1661
MOTHER: Elizabeth Jands
SOUSE:Elizabeth JONES
Marriage: about 1665 Hogg Island, Surry, New York
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Thomas was hanged by Gov. Berkley of Virginia for his participation in Bacons Rebellion. He is said to be the first American born person to be executed in the Colonies.
Southside Virginia Families, Vol. 1, by John Bennett Boddie, Genealogical Pub. Co, 1966, page 157.
NOTE: one souce says as many as 23 Men were hung. Did not state Names.
His land was confiscated by the government.
Wikipedia says:
Thomas Hansford had a younger brother, Charles, born May 9, 1654. He married Elizabeth Folliet Moody, and their son William Hansford is a direct ancestor of mine. Six generations later would be born my grandfather, Albert J. "Bud" Webb.
So my rebellious spirit might have been well tamed, but the blood runs true!
Death 13 November 1676 in York County, Virginia
FATHER: John Hansford 1590-1661
MOTHER: Elizabeth Jands
SOUSE:Elizabeth JONES
Marriage: about 1665 Hogg Island, Surry, New York
_________________________
Thomas was hanged by Gov. Berkley of Virginia for his participation in Bacons Rebellion. He is said to be the first American born person to be executed in the Colonies.
Southside Virginia Families, Vol. 1, by John Bennett Boddie, Genealogical Pub. Co, 1966, page 157.
NOTE: one souce says as many as 23 Men were hung. Did not state Names.
His land was confiscated by the government.
Wikipedia says:
Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion in 1676 by Virginia settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon against the rule of Governor William Berkeley. The colony's disorganized frontier political structure, combined with accumulating grievances (including leaving Bacon out of his inner circle, refusing to allow Bacon to be a part of his fur trade with the Native Americans, and Doeg tribe Indian attacks), helped to motivate a popular uprising against Berkeley, who had failed to address the demands of the colonists regarding their safety.
About a thousand Virginians of all classes rose up in arms against Berkeley, attacking Native Americans, chasing Berkeley from Jamestown, Virginia, and ultimately torching the capital. The rebellion was first suppressed by a few armed merchant ships from London whose captains sided with Berkeley and the loyalists.[2] Government forces from England arrived soon after and spent several years defeating pockets of resistance and reforming the colonial government to one more directly under royal control.[3]
It was the first rebellion in the American colonies in which discontented frontiersmen took part; a similar uprising in Maryland took place later that year. The alliance between former indentured servants and Africans against bond-servitude disturbed the ruling class, who responded by hardening the racial caste of slavery.[4][5][6] While the farmers did not succeed in their initial goal of driving Native Americans from Virginia, the rebellion did result in Berkeley being recalled to England.
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| The Burning of Jamestown by Howard Pyle, ca. 1905. |
So my rebellious spirit might have been well tamed, but the blood runs true!
Thomas was also my uncle. His brother Captain Charles was my ancestor; his grandson William Hansford, Jr. who married Sarah Mary Hyde had a daughter Mary "Molly" who married Patriot John Short. They are buried in a pioneer cemetery in Lawrence Co, Indiana where I live. Their only daughter Sarah married Stephen Fields, and they were my dad's great-great grandparents.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this comment. Since I'm also a descendant of Charles, then William Hansford, we must be cousins. I'd love to see photos of the ancestor's graves that are there in Lawrence Co. Indiana...if you ever feel like taking them.