100benjamin

BENJAMIN DOGGETT

(Son of Rev. Benjamin)

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The Rev. Benjamin Doggett and his wife Jane had five children who were surviving at the time of his death in 1682, according to the provisions of his will. Of these five, there is no known information about the fate of his two daughters: Jane, who remained in England; and Ann, who was born in Virginia. As to the three sons, Benjamin, Richard and William, considerable information is available about them and their respective descendants.

100 BENJAMIN DOGGETT, son of Rev. Benjamin and Jane Doggett; b. 1665, Hadleigh, Co. Suffolk, England; d. 1723, Lancaster Co., VA; m(1) BETTY (perhaps THOMPSON, dau. of Thomas Thompson); m(2) abt 1711, Lancaster Co., VA, Mrs. MARY THRELKELD, widow of Christopher Threlkeld, d. abt 1737, Lancaster Co., VA.
Children (Doggett):

		(children of marriage to Betty)
110		Benjamin			m.	Mary
120		John				m.	Mary
130		Elizabeth			m. 	Philip Frond
140		Hannah				m. 1718	Thomas Yerby
150		Ann				m.	George Reeves
160		William			d. 1751
10x		Margaret
170		Richard			 	 m.	Ann Ascough
		(children of marriage to Mary)
180		Thomas			d. 1775	m.	Bathsheba
10y		Mary
10z		Winifret
190		Reuben			d. 1772	m.	Hannah

The order of the children of Benjamin Doggett, as shown in the above table, is estimated from the best information available. The only thing that can be stated with some certainty is that, based on the order in which they are named in Benjamin's will, the sons and daughters, respectively, are in the proper chronological order. The name of Benjamin, shown as the eldest child, is inferred. As discussed below, it is clear that a son predeceased the subject, and the obvious missing given name is Benjamin. However, this is only speculation and no proof has been seen.

Benjamin Doggett was the eldest child of the Rev. Benjamin and his wife Jane, and the only child born in England to emigrate to Virginia and survive. His christening is recorded in the parish register of Hadleigh, Suffolk, as occurring 9 Jul 1665, and we can presume therefore that he was born in late June or early July of that year. The Rev. Benjamin was curate of the Hadleigh church, but whether he presided at the baptism of his first child is not indicated in the register.

At the death of Rev. Benjamin in 1682, Benjamin, as the eldest son, received the largest portion, 150 acres, of the 350 acre plantation belonging to his father. The devise was subject to the condition that he not marry until he reached the age of 22 years. We can assume therefore that he did not marry until after June 1687. The 150 acres was the portion of the plantation upon which the dwelling house and other improvements was located, and Benjamin lived on that land until his death in 1723. Benjamin was mentioned in two other instances in his father's will. First, he did not receive any share of proceeds of sale of any cattle belonging to the estate, because "he hath a good stock of his own." At age 16, he had begun to accumulate livestock for his future life as a farmer. Second, he is charged with providing "accomodation" on the plantation for his mother until she remarried, and for his brothers and sister "till they are capable to live on their own." Rev. Benjamin had provided in his will for the land devised two his two younger sons to be "seated" or improved with dwelling houses, and for indentured servants to be purchased to work the land. However, as the children were only about 10, 8, and 6 years of age, it would be some time before they would be able to live on their own. We do not know whether the children did in fact live with Benjamin, or whether they lived with their mother and her husband John Boatman.

Benjamin was married twice. The surname of his first wife is not known, but it would appear that her first name was Betty. In 1694, Benjamin and Betty Doggett were named as devisees in the nuncupative will of Thomas Thompson. Thompson resided on the plantation adjoining that of Benjamin. As there is no other Betty Doggett of the proper age, we must assume that Betty was the first wife of Benjamin., and may in fact have been the daughter of Thompson.Benjamin and Betty had four sons and five daughters. Two of the daughters, Margaret and Jane, do not appear further in the records. It has been stated by some sources that Margaret married John Edwards. This may be true, but the writer does not know the basis for this statement.

It is not known when Betty died, as she does not appear further in the records, but he married again, in late 1711, to Mrs. Mary Threlkeld, widow of Christopher Threlkeld of Northumberland County. Northumberland County records contain a court order dated 16 Jan 1711/12, showing that Mary Doggett, executrix of the will of Christopher Threllkell, and her husband Benjamin Doggett appeared in court and presented Threlkeld's will for probate. There are a number of variant spellings of "Threlkeld," including "Thrailkill." Benjamin and Mary had four children, two sons and two daughters. No information about the two daughters has been seen, except that which is contained in Benjamin's will.

Benjamin died in 1723. His will, dated 18 Sep 1723, was recorded in Lancaster County records on 13 Nov 1723, when it was presented for probate by the widow, Mary Doggett. His son John was named as co-executor but does not seem to have been involved in the proate proceedings.The will directed that the estate not be appraised, but an inventory of the personal property was filed with the court on December 3. The estate consisted of those things which would be expected to be owned by a middle class planter of the time. In addition to the expected household goods, harvested crops, and livestock, Benjamin was sthe owner of one female negro slave named Criss.Criss was bequeathed to the widow for her lifetime and on her death to the four children of Benjamin and Mary.The balance of the personal estate was left to the widow, except for nominal bequests of one shilling given to the children of Benjamin's first marriage and to his grandson James Doggett.

James Doggett, named as grandson of the testator, is the only grandson named in the will and is named first in the list of legatees given a shilling "in full of all claims whatsoever." It is clear from this language that James was the eldest child of a predeceased son (who we have speculated was named "Benjamin,"), as otherwise he would not have had any claim to part of the testator's estate.

Earlier in 1723, the year of his death, Benjamin made a gift to his son Thomas of a negro boy named "Mingo," and a gift to his daughter Elizabeth Frond of a negro boy named "Tom." These two gifts appear to be the only recorded transfers of slaves or other property to the children, and why these two children were singled out does not appear in the county records.

Commencing in the year 1686, Lancaster County records reflect a series of civil actions involving Benjamin, concerning the 350 acres of land owned by the Rev. Benjamin and devised to his three sons by his will. In December 1686, not long after reaching age 21, Benjamin petitioned the court for possession of his part of the land. In June 1687, John Boatman, as husband of the widow, Jane, sued Benjamin for the widow's one-third dower rights in the land. The court rendered a Solomon-like decision and ordered that Benjamin divide the land and that Boatman should then select one of the dividends as his wife's dower. In fact, the land was divided by Mr. George Heale, the County Surveyor, as is indicated by a later proceeding brought in November 1687 by Benjamin against Boatman, in which suit Benjamin asserted that Boatman was attempting to usurp his rights to the land and had made false statments to the court in that regard. The court found that the property had been divided by the Surveyor and that Boatman had made a fair selection of a portion as his wife's dower. The court affirmed Jane's lifetime dower interest in the part selected by her husband, and confirmed his possession of the selection in which the three sons of Rev. Benjamin had a residuary interest. Boatman was ordered to pay one-third of the charges of the Surveyor

Benjamin' differences with John Boatman were not limited to rights under his father's will. In February 1687/8, Benjamin brought an action against Boatman on behalf of his fifteen year old brother Richard for a share of corn and tobacco produced by Richard's labor in the fields, according to an agreement with Boatman. The court agreed with Benjamin and ordered Boatman to deliver the share of crops to Benjamin to provide Richard with clothing "in his present necessity."

Lancaster County records contain a few other references to Benjamin.He was a witness to wills in 1709 and 1717, served on several juries, and was listed in tax rolls beginning in 1688. One further item of interest is the appointment of Benjamin as Constable of Christ Church parish in 1710. Constables were appointed by the county court for each parish in the county to assist the sheriff in enforcing the laws and orders of the court and keeping the peace in the parish.

Mary Doggett, widow of Benjamin, died in 1737/8. Her will, dated 24 Jun 1735, was recorded in Lancaster County records on 10 Mar 1737/8. Named in the will were her three sons by her first marriage: William, Christopher, and James Thrailkill; and her daughter Elizabeth, wife of John Pinckard. Also named were her children by her marrige to Benjamin: Thomas, Reuben and Winifret Doggett. No mention is made of her daughter Mary Doggett, so we can assume that she died some time between 1723 and 1735. Her sons Thomas and Reuben were named as executors. Her stepgrandson, James Doggett, and his wife Charity acted as witnesses to her will.

110 BENJAMIN DOGGETT, son of Benjamin and Betty Doggett; b. early 1690's, Lancaster Co., VA; d. bef. 1723, Lancaster Co., VA; m. abt. 1712, MARY (surname unknown).
Children (Doggett):

111		James				m.	Charity
						m.	Rebecca George
112		Benjamin			m.