Climbing further up the tree of the Jordans

 I've always been fascinated by the Virginia colonists. They dealt with harsh environments, Natives who sometimes were friendly, and sometimes weren't, especially with the way the English settlers treated them!

Today I'm looking at the possible parents of Mary Jordan Bass, who I talked about in my last post. One genealogist stated emphatically that Mary was probably not a Jordan, and there was nothing that said as much.

But even if she wasn't I've been enjoying learning about her "possible mother," Cicely Reynolds Bailey Jordan Farrer. 

Cicely came to America on the ship Swan in 1610. Cicely was identified as just 10 years old by one source, but as 24 by another. She must have had a guardian with her, but he is not named anywhere. 

My guess is that her parents had already come to Virginia and Cicely for some reason had to come later, with the unnamed guardian.  The new settlement of Jamestown was being built, but between starvation and disease, and even Indian raids, many of the early settlers died without any records being kept.

She married Thomas William Bailey, and they had at least one child, Temperance Bailey. When Mr. Bailey died in 1618, his heir and oldest daughter, Temperance inherited his property. 

The dates of the women's lives are quite confusing. Since her second daughter, Mary Jordan, grew up and gave birth to the first of her twins in 1615, she is assumed to have been born in 1600. That is rather impossible if her mother, Cicely was born also in 1600.

Mary Jordan Basse, who was my grandmother times nine greats, was the daughter of Capt. Samuel Silas Jordan. He came to America from France, on the "Sea Venture" in 1609, which wrecked in the Bermudas. John Rolfe was on the same ship, and the shipwrecked immigrants spent a year building a new ship from the parts of the old, and then sailed to Jamestown. His 3 sons had stayed in England. He was a member of the first assembly held in 1619. His plantation was named Jordan's Journey.  He was born in 1578 and he died in 1623. 

Cicely and Samuel Jordan had 2 daughters, Mary Jordan who grew up to marry Nathaniel Bass, and Margaret Jordan, who may have been born after her father's death in 1623. Cicely was being courted by the minister, who was certain she had given him promise of marriage, but she married William Farrar. There was a mention in a document that no one in the future could promise marriage to more than one person at a time.

Cicely married William Farrar in 1624, and they had seven children at Farrar Island. He died in 1637. It is likely Cicely lived until 1660 at least.

I just noticed that their son, William Farrar II was the ancestor of a movie star, Tommy Lee Jones. So he's a cousin, about 10 times removed!