1619 Genealogy

1619 Genealogy – Documents the Descendants of the First Africans to Arrive in Virginia

For 400 years, they were only known as the “Twenty & Odd.” Now, we know their names, their status, their descendants and the contributions they made to the survival of Virginia. The following is a shortlist and below are their stories.

Frances Driggers
Emmanuel Driggers
Peter George
Antoney Tucker
Isabel Tucker
Michael Blizzard
Katherine Blizzard
Anthony (Tony) Longo
Anthony Johnson
Mary Johnson
Juan Pedro
Angelo/Angela
Edward Mozingo
John Gowen
Margaret Cornish
Anthony (Toney) King
John Francisco
Bashaw Farnando
Francis Payne/Pane
Phillip Mongon/Mongom
Paul Carter
Benjamin Doll/Dial

Frances and Emmanuel Driggers should be known as America’s earliest freedom fighters

Frances, who became Frances Driggers, was the mother of the first documented African child in Virginia. Frances was listed as early as 1621 at Abraham Piersey’s plantation, recorded as a Negro woman with a young child of hers. We now know the young child to be Peter. From the time of Piersey’s death in 1627-1628 until 1633, Frances and the other Africans in Piersey’s possession were moved to and from, caught up in the legal battle between Abraham Piersey’s daughters and their stepmother, Frances Greville-West-Piersey, and then Matthews. Their stepmother had quickly married Captain Samuel Matthews after their father’s death. As the administrator of Piersey’s estate, the new Mrs. Frances Matthews removed the Africans from Floridew to Matthews Manor. In 1633 Elizabeth Piersey and her sister Mary Hill finally received their portion of their father’s estate, and the Africans were returned to Piersey’s daughters.
Sometime between 1635 and 1638, during the ouster of Governor John Harvey – Elizabeth Piersey’s newlywed husband – the Africans were once again removed to Matthews’ Manor. Matthews had led the charge to remove Governor Harvey and send him to England to stand in front of the king. During this time, the Floridew Africans were confiscated and distributed among Harvey’s opponents. Frances was among those Africans, and she became the servant of Captain Francis Pott. Pott was a known participant in Governor Harvey’s removal. Between 1638 and 1640, Frances married Emmanuel Driggers.
Emmanuel was probably one of the six Africans found at Governor Yeardley’s possession. Within the next fifteen years, as slavery manifested in Virginia, Emmanuel and Frances Driggers’ became some of the earliest freedom fighters in what eventually became the United States of America. They possessed the knowledge to secure freedom for many Africans through the English legal system. Sometime between 1628 and 1644, Emmanuel was indentured to Captain Francis Pott, commander of Point Comfort and owner of a large plantation on the Eastern Shore in Northampton County. In 1649 Emmanuel Driggers and his wife Frances were assigned to Stephen Charlton, to pay for Pott’s debt to Charlton. In addition to Peter, Frances had at least five biological children and two adopted children with Emmanuel.
Elizabeth, b. ca. 1638 (adopted)
Frances, b. ca. 1640
Thomas, b. 1644
Jane, b. April 1644 (adopted)
Ann, b. 1648
Edward, b. 1650
William b. 1655
By 1656 Frances had died in Northampton County, Virginia when Emmanuel took a second wife named Elizabeth, an English woman. With Elizabeth Driggers, Emmanuel had two more children:
Devorax/Deverick, b. 1656.
Mary, b. 1658.

Peter was the first documented African child in Virginia

Peter, who became known as Peter George was the first documented African child in Virginia. Peter and his mother, Frances’s relocation to Bennett’s plantation was one of the very few relocations of the Africans recorded in colonial Virginia. Peter was listed with his mother at Abraham Piersey’s (the Cape Merchant) plantation as early as 1621 – 1622 and again in 1624 – 1625. However, in 1623 they were at Bennett’s plantation, representing Piersey’s contribution to the building of the lookout fort located just east of Bennett’s on the south shore of the James River.

By 1640, Peter was found in Northampton County working for Nathaniel Littleton, where he was identified as a “Negro carpenter.” He married Joan Johnson, daughter of Anthony Johnson. They had two children, Jane and Anthony. In 1656 Peter’s son, Anthony (Little Tony), and daughter, Jane, were listed in a will of Littleton’s wife, Ann. In 1664 Peter was again found taxable in the Littleton family, tithable under Francis Littleton in Northampton County. Sometime during 1664-1665, Peter George, a carpenter, began working for Captain Francis Pigot (Piggot). About 1676, Peter George received a release from his indenture with the promise to pay ten thousand pounds of tobacco to his master. He completed the last payment in 1682. In 1684 Captain Francis Pigot, Littleton’s kin, made his will in Northampton County, Virginia, listing Peter’s son Anthony George.

The attached picture is the view from Bennett’s Plantation on the south side of the James River overlooking the Chesapeake where Peter and his mother were living in 1623.

Antoney and Isabel (Isabella) – The Tucker’s, known to be the first African family in Virginia.

Antoney and Isabel (Isabella) were listed in the incorporation of Kecoughtan in William Tucker’s household in February 1623 and in the Muster of 1624/1625. Antoney and Isabel eventually took the last name of Tucker from their master, Captain William Tucker, the commander of Point Comfort in 1619. The Tuckers have the distinction of the first African family in the young English settlement of Virginia. Their son William was born before 1624 and became the first documented African child to be baptized in Virginia. Records show that William was the second documented African child in the early settlement. William Tucker’s descendants are believed to be among those buried at the Tucker Family Cemetery in today’s Hampton, Virginia where many Tucker descendants live today.

The Blizzards, Michael and Katherine

Michael and Katherine were on the Treasurer and among those Africans who returned from Bermuda prior to March 1620 and disbursed among the Earl of Warwick’s allies. These two Africans resided at William Ewen’s plantation known as the College Land on the south side of the James River. They were not listed in any of the early musters or censuses. They were only documented in Captain William Ewen’s land patents. Ewens was one of the largest landowners in early Virginia. His patents were continually renewed, ever since the original grant date of September 1619. Michael married Katherine, and they became known as the Blizzards by the 1660s. It’s been said they took their name after surviving one of the worst blizzards in Virginia’s early history. From a Surry County patent in 1659 that William Ewen’s widow, Mary, renewed, she had fourteen hundred acres, including his land on the sunken marsh where the Blizzards lived.
Listed in the patent are Michael and Katherine, together with the following children:
Rebecca, b. ca. 1639
Frances, b. ca. 1649
Amos, b. ca. 1651
Susanna, b. ca. 1654
An unnamed child.
Descendants of Michael and Katherine Blizzard remain in Surry County, Virginia, to this day.

Anthony, one of four African men documented as sold to Abraham Piersey, the Cape Merchant

Anthony, who became Tony Longo, was one of four African men sold to Abraham Piersey, the cape merchant in 1619. He was documented at Piersey’s plantation as early as 1621 and in 1623, 1624 – 1625, and until 1628, at which time Abraham Piersey’s last will and testament was recorded. In 1635 Tony Longo was one of the earliest Africans to be documented as “free,” exactly seven years after the death of Piersey, his former master. In 1647, Tony Longo was ordered to pay his debt of 384 pounds of tobacco to Francis White. If Longo would have been enslaved, he wouldn’t have been responsible for the debt; his master would have been. Longo had at least three children:
Grace, b. ca 1647
Daughter, name unknown, b. ca. 1649
James, b. ca. 1652
Longo and his wife purchased a 250-acre farm in March 1644. Sometime after 1655, Longo’s wife died, as she disappears from the records. From one notable case, the court portrayed Longo as a troublemaker, declaring that he led a lazy and evil life. In concern for his children, the court assigned Longo’s children out “to preserve his offspring from his baleful influence.” Undoubtedly, Longo had several misfortunes and possessed a harsh tongue, but whether he was a negligible father must have been in question. The court was apparently quite aware of Longo’s freedom, making considerable requirements of his children’s assignees. The “bigger girl” became an apprentice to a Captain George. The “youngest girl, went to Captain Edmund Bowman, and the boy to Colonel Edmund Scarborough. The court gave special conditions to the children’s appointed masters, requiring the girls “to be schooled in housewifery, spinning, knitting and such like and the boy to be put to shoemaking.” Regardless, the order wouldn’t go without a fight from Longo and he eventually had a portion of the ruling overturned. Longo retained his elder daughter, but the two younger children’s placement was upheld. In 1660, Longo was only responsible for one tithe, his own. Longo’s oldest daughter was now living with John Francisco, in Northampton County. Francisco and Longo were both aboard the San Juan Bautista and worked together at Flowerdew after the Native Uprising of 1622. Tony Longo’s name is a clear reflection of his homeland, the Kingdom of Loango.

The Johnsons; Antonio and Maria

Antonio and Maria become known as Anthony and Mary Johnson. They both arrived in Virginia from England courtesy of the Earl of Warwick. The likelihood that their passage was on the San Juan Bautista remains strong, yet documentation to confirm this is sparse. They would have been aboard the Treasurer when it arrived in Bermuda in 1619 after mysteriously leaving Virginia. In 1621, Antonio and Maria were put aboard the James, by Governor Nathaniel Butler in Bermuda and sailed for England. When they reached port, they were taken directly to Warwick’s estate of Leez Priory. Defiant to the Earl of Warwick’s requests, Anthony quickly found himself back on the James and on his way to Virginia. By November 1621, Antonio’s name had been anglicized to Anthony and he was at Edward Bennett’s plantation on the south side of the James River overlooking Burwell Bay, the outmost post accessible to Warwick. Bennett was a devout Puritan and a known loyal associate of the Earl of Warwick.

In March 1622, Anthony was one of a handful of settlers to survive the Native uprising responsible for slaughtering one-third of Virginia’s overall population and killing more than fifty settlers at Bennett’s plantation. For a time, the plantation is abandoned. Within six months, after an agreement for a lookout fort to be built there, Bennett’s plantation is reestablished.

Maria arrived in Virginia on the Margaret and John in late 1622 from England. Like Anthony, Maria anglicized her name to Mary, possibly camouflaging her Catholic heritage. By 1624 Mary was documented alongside Anthony on the south side of the James River at Bennett’s Welcome in Warrasquarake. By 1635 Anthony and Mary were married and living at John Upton’s plantation on the south side of the James, where they were listed as headrights. Upton had confirmed his patent with thirty-three headrights, which included two Africans: Anthony and Mary. Shortly thereafter, the Johnsons were documented as residents of the Eastern Shore.
On January 10, 1647, Anthony Johnson purchased a calf from James Berry, by a deed proven in Northampton County, Virginia. This purchase started Johnson’s livestock venture, which quickly grew into a major monopoly on the Eastern Shore in Northampton County.
The Johnson’s had four (4) children:
John, b. ca. 1631
Richard, b. ca 1632
Joan, b. unknown, wife of Peter George
Daughter, b. unknown.

In 1653 Anthony Johnson took his servant, Casor, to court to fight his neighbor from confiscating him from Johnson’s possession. Anthony won his case, but unfortunately for Casor, this court battle left him a servant to the Johnsons for all of his natural life. By 1665 Anthony and Mary Johnson had sold their land in Northampton County, with the exception of fifty acres they left to their son Richard. Joining them in their move to Somerset County, Maryland, was their son John and his wife Susanna along with John Casor, and fourteen head of cattle, a mare, and eighteen sheep. It must be noted that the Johnsons moved to Maryland in the vicinity of Richard Bennett, Johnson’s original master’s kin, who exerted a heavy Puritan influence.
In Maryland, many years later, Anthony and Mary’s grandson owned a small plantation he called Angola – a clear gesture to their heritage.

Juan Pedro
Juan Pedro, also called John Pedro, was one of three Africans taken from Bermuda to England in 1621; he was put aboard the James by Governor Nathaniel Butler and delivered to Leez Priory, the Earl of Warwick’s estate in Felsted. John Pedro remained in England until early 1623 when a legal case drew increased attention to the Treasurer’s escapades with the Africans. John Pedro was put aboard the Swan, one of Warwick’s ships, and smuggled out of England with Warwick’s ally Francis West. John Pedro resurfaced at the New England Company settlement, just north of Virginia, where the Earl of Warwick was heavily involved in the New England charter. From Plymouth, John Pedro went north into Weymouth where he was documented once again with Francis West. By late 1623 the Swan finally arrived in Virginia. In the muster of 1624-1625, John Pedro was listed as a servant in the household of Captain Francis West.
John Pedro was a devout Catholic who never relinquished his religious teachings from his homeland.

Angelo/Angela/Angola
Angelo/Angela arrived on the Treasurer. She was given to – or purchased by – Lieutenant William Pierce. The debate remains strong among historians as to the year of her arrival. It’s possible that Angela departed the Treasurer in 1619 at Point Comfort and was given to Pierce as insurance of the Treasurer’s safe departure. However, Angela might have been amongst the Africans brought back to Virginia on the Treasurer before March 1620 and listed amongst the thirty-two Africans in the 1620 census.
John Rolfe, William Pierce’s son-in-law, wrote the first letter to the Virginia Company of London, mentioning the Africans’ arrival five months after the White Lion had anchored, and most likely after he was made aware of the Treasurer’s second coming in early 1620 – plenty of time for Warwick’s allies to scramble together to set in place a cover-up story for Warwick’s ties to the illegal affair. On December 31, 1619, Pierce’s patent for 650 acres on Mulberry Island was recorded.
Angela was one of three of the earliest Africans to reside at Jamestown, but probably not until 1622-1623, after the Native uprising on March 22, 1622. It seems William Pierce, resided at Mulberry Island from December 1619 until 1622, when Pierce was appointed Captain of the Militia and he returned to Jamestown. Further, from 1623 to 1625 Angela was documented as living at William Pierce’s residence at Jamestown. There are no records of Angela ever leaving Pierce’s, marrying, or having children.

The Three Generations of Edward

Edward, (first generation) was aboard the Treasurer and would have been among the Africans who returned from Bermuda before March 1620. Edward is documented at Kingsmill Plantation at Ye Neck of the Land, a mile north of Jamestown Island in the List of the Living in February 1623 and again at Kingsmill Plantation in the Muster of 1624/25. It must be noted, Kingsmill plantation wasn’t always owned by Kingsmill. In 1619, Reverend Richard Buck patented 500 acres bounded by Mill Creek on the west. It’s questionable whether Buck ever resided at Ye Neck of the Land, rather residing at Jamestown. In 1622, during the Native uprising, Reverend Buck was killed. After his death, Richard Kingsmill became the caretaker of Buck’s children and executor for Buck’s property in Ye Neck of the Land, eventually known as Kingsmill.

Sometimes, between 1641 and 1644, Edward Mozingo, Edward’s son was born. On October 5, 1672, Edward completed his apprenticeship to Colonel John Walker.

By 1664, Edward Mozingo III was born. Edward III married Sarah Grinstead about 1690. Mozingo is mentioned with his children, Sarah and John, in Sarah’s mother’s last will and testament. Sarah was the sister of Ann Grinstead. The Grinstead family descended from the union of a mixed-race girl, Elizabeth Key, and her European husband, attorney John Grinstead. In July 1656, John Grinstead represented Elizabeth Key when she sued the colony for her freedom and won. The representation was prior to their marriage. Edward, like his father before him, indentured his son, Edward, to secure his future by giving him an end-date to his indenture.
The Picture below is the trail/road to Ye Neck of Land.

John Gruyere/Gaween/Gowen.

John was one of the Africans taken from the San Juan Bautista and put aboard the White Lion. However, when the White Lion arrived at Point Comfort, Virginia in August of 1619, John did not disembark. It’s possible he was one of the two (2) Africans detained in the depths of Somerset (Bermuda) with the four (4) crew of the White Lion. John was listed on a ship list as part of the White Lion as late as 1626. By 1627 he was documented at Ewens plantation on the south side of the James River, known as the College Land. By 1635 John has one child, a son with Margaret, who resides at an adjacent plantation.
In March 1641, John opposed Margaret in the general court for custody of their son. John paid Margaret’s master for Mihill’s outstanding expenditure, and the court grants his request. Within days, John re-indentured his son, Mihill, to Robert Stafford. This one-act, not only assures Mihill’s freedom but the freedom of his descendants for generations to come.
By 1650, John had left Ewens’ College Land, re-married, and had another son, Phillip. Like Mihill, John’s second son Philip traveled the same path of indenture to guarantee his freedom.
Looking over his life, John Gowen confronted and won the fight for freedom. His fight didn’t end with his own family. Records produce clear connections to the majority of the early Africans who found their path to freedom. John was one of a handful of Africans who learned to maneuver the English legal system using the courts to document the contractual agreements of their descendants and their possessions. Gowen’s knowledge of the English legal system allowed him to become a magistrate, auditing and ruling over smaller filings. In York County, in his later years, John judged Europeans and Africans alike until his death. Upon his death, a new law was enacted, disavowing the ability for any African to adjudge any Englishman or woman.
John Gowen’s children were:
1. Mihill (Michael) Gowen b. 1635
a. William b. August 25, 1655.
b. Daniel b. abt. 1657.
c. Christopher born abt 1658.
d. Thomas, born abt. 1660.
2. Philip Gowen b. 1650.

Margaret

Margaret, who became known as Margaret Cornish, was first documented at Bennett’s plantation in the 1623 List of the Living and Dead. Bennett’s Plantation was settled just before the Native uprising of 1622. Following the devastating skirmish, Bennett’s plantation was abandoned for at least six months. How Margaret found herself on the southside of the James River at Bennett’s plantation, to begin with, is somewhat of a mystery. One possibility is that Margaret was one of the two Africans seen castaway in the “depths of Somerset” (Bermuda) with the crew of the White Lion. When counting the numbers of their arrival in 1619-1620, two Africans appear to have remained with Captain Jope of the White Lion. Therefore, the circumstances and the timing of Margaret’s arrival at Bennett’s plantation are murky. Perhaps she returned in May of 1622 when the White Lion returned to Virginia and delivered 40 men, 40 head of cattle, and 1 African.

Margaret’s disappearance from Bennett’s plantation was equally mysterious. In the 1624-1625 Muster, she simply vanishes. Upon her master Robert Bennett’s death, in late 1623, its possible she went to live with Robert Chew and his family when an unnamed African woman was living at John Chew’s residence. Chew was the administrator of Robert Bennett’s estate, which lends support and credibility to this conclusion.
By 1638 Margaret was documented at Lieutenant Robert Sheppard’s Chippokes Creek plantation on the south side of the James River with one child, a son named Mihill Gowen. Mihill’s father, John Gowen, was living at a neighboring plantation patented by Captain William Ewens in 1619, known as the college land.

In 1640, Margaret was found guilty of fornication with Robert Sweat, an English servant for Lieutenant Sheppard. Sweat had arrived on Sheppard’s plantation in 1638 from the Guiding Star. After John Gowen severed their marriage in 1641, Margaret became the mother of at least four of Robert Sweat’s children:
-Robert Cornish-Sweat, b. 1640
-William Sweat, b. 1642
-Jane Sweat, b. 1644; adopted by Emmanuel and Frances Driggers by April 1645.
-Anthony Cornish, b. 1645.

In 1668, 1669, and 1670 Margaret was paying her own tithes in Lawnes Creek Parish on Hogg Island. In October 1670, Margaret petitioned the General Court of Virginia to release her from paying taxes the following year, and the court granted her request due to her advanced age.

Anthony, John, William, Anthony, an unnamed woman, and an unnamed woman with a young child of hers.

Those originally listed at Piersey’s Plantation in 1623, 1624-1625, and again in the last will and testament of Abraham Piersey in 1628.
Caught in the legal battle between Piersey’s widow and children, the Africans were moved to Denbigh Plantation on the north side of the James River when Piersey’s widow married Captain Samuel Matthews.

4 men –
Anthony (Toney) King –Toney and his wife, Sarah, were documented as paying their own tithes in Northampton County throughout the 1660s. He had at least one daughter, Sarah. On February 8th, 1677, Toney’s last will and testament is proven, confirming his wife – Sarah, his daughter – Sarah, and his granddaughter – Sarah Driggus (Driggers). His will is witnessed by Peter George.

John Francisco of Northampton County, who married an African woman named Christian. John and Christian may have had no children of their own. However, during the 1660s, Anthony (Tony) Longo’s eldest daughter, Grace, is documented as living with them.

William – his last name remains unknown.

Anthony – became Anthony (Tony) Longo. See above

1 woman – Unnamed and remains unknown.

1 woman – Unnamed with a young child of hers. Frances Driggers and her son, Peter George. See above.
The following picture documents 4 men and 2 women at Piersey’s Hundred.

Five (5) Women and Three (3) men.
In late August 1619, Governor George Yeardley purchased 8 of the Africans brought to Virginia on the White Lion. They remained in his possession until the time of his death in 1627/1628. Because their names were never recorded while in Yeardley’s possession, we can only surmise who they were. There are six candidates…

Emmanuel Driggers. See above

Bashaw Farnando – In the late 1640s and 1650s Farnando was a servant for Captain Francis Pott on the Eastern Shore. Farnando was one of two Africans for whom Francis Pott testified, stating “Driggs and Farnando, negroes, now servants, have certain cattle, hoggs, and poultry, now in their possession.” Farnando’s holdings were quite impressive and would increase under his next master, Stephen Carlton. In December 1652, both Charlton and Pott swore under oath “these animals with their increase belonged to their negro servants.”

Francis Payne/Pane – Francis was also called Francisco when he was claimed as a headright in 1637 by Philip Taylor. As early as 1649 he was listed as “Francis Payne, servant” when his master’s widow, Jane Taylor Eltonhead recorded an order in the Northampton County Court stating that she gave him the rights to a crop he was raising and “power from tyme to tyme to make use of the ground and plantation” in return for fifteen hundred pounds of tobacco and six barrels of corn after harvest.

Phillip Mongon/Mongom – The name Mongon was probably derived from the African region of Mongo and was more than likely Phillip recognizing his homeland. Mongom was documented as a free man on January 30, 1648, by his master, William Hawley. Like Anthony Johnson, Emmanuel Driggers, and Francis Payne, his fellow Angolans, Mongom raised some of the most sought-after livestock in Virginia.

Paul Carter – Paul was indentured to Nathaniel Littleton of Northampton County, Virginia, sometime prior to 1640. Paul must have died by 1665, when his wife, Hannah, was released from her indenture prior to May of that year. Francis Payne and Emmanuel Driggers promised Francis Pigot that they would support Paul’s widow, if necessary.

Benjamin Doll – Benjamin was among the first free Africans who lived on the south side of the James River in Lawnes Parish, Surry County, Virginia. In 1656, for the importation of six persons, Doll was granted a patent for 300 acres located on the south side of the Reeded Marsh lying east of the Blackwater River adjoining Captain Jordan’s line. Doll, a very respected African, was authorized and granted permission to act as attorney for Judah Hide in 1659. The following year he was a witness in a Surry County deed. Doll was the father to at least one son, John Doll (Daule) born about 1648. John and his wife Isabell were servants of Arthur Jordon until March 10, 1669, when they were released from service. John Doll purchased 162 acres in Newport Parish, Isle of Wight County, from John Sojourner sometime after April 21, 1689.

Unfortunately, the women in Yeardley’s possession remain unidentified.

UNVEILED – The Twenty & Odd, Documenting the first Africans in England’s America 1619-1625, and Beyond can provide additional information on those documented as the “first Africans to arrive in Virginia,”