"Delaware Town" and "West Point" in King William County, Va.Author(s): Malcolm H. HarrisSource: The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Oct., 1934), pp. 342-351Published by: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and CultureStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1923295Accessed: 25/02/2010 23:20

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"DELAWARE TOWN" AND "WEST POINT" IN KING WILLIAM COUNTY, VA.

By Malcolm H. Harris, M. D.

Foreword

For the past three years Mr. A. P. Gray and I have been trying to identify all the residual remains in the original bounds of New Kent County, and collect such data as may have bearing on our findings. The data used in the course of this article has in this way been collected and pieced together.

I wish to thank Mr. Gray for his help in collecting these facts. Also, I wish to mention that the personal recollections of Mr. W. C. Davis, West Point, Virginia, Mrs. 0. L. Cole, West Point, Virginia, and Mrs. Mary Lipscomb, West Point, Virginia, have been of material as- sistance in bringing the remains of Delawaretown to the present day. Mr. G. L. Evans has contributed no little in helping reconstruct the plat of Delawaretown and sketching the French Map.

Settlement

The narrow peninsula formed by the confluence of the Pamunkey and Mattapony rivers to form the York, commonly called West Point, has been the site of three distinct and separate towns since 1607. It was the site of the chief town of Opechancanough, and one of the important towns of the Powhatan confederacy, ruled by Powhatan, called Cin- quoteck,1 and by Capt. John Smith noted as 'Pamunkee'.2 Later it was here that the colonists planted a town and named it Delaware town,3 and now it is the site of a flourishing town under the name of West Point.

The names West Point and Delaware are so closely related, both being derived from the family of Thomas West, the third Lord de la Warre, who were the first settlers in the vicinity, that origin of the name ned not be further mentioned. In this review however it will be noted that the town we will call Delaware town and West Point will be applied as the title of the West Point plantation where the Wests established themselves and remained until the Revolution. Of course "West Point" invested the whole peninsula to begin with and as the town of Delaware passed out of existence, it once again became "West Point" as will be shown. The present town arose from the plantation.

The colony at Jamestown received from the Indians at West Point corn which tided them over the period of starvation. It was here that Captain Tucker in June 1623 in company with twelve other English- men, shot down forty' Indian warriors and three chiefs, among whom they reported the old man, Opechancanough, to be one of their victims. In this they sadly erred.4

Col. William Claiborne in 1629 near the seat of Pamunkey town defeated the Indians at Candyack.5

The massacre of 1644 the product of the, wily intriguing mind of the aged Opechancanough was formulated on the site of his principal town, and the plans of destruction were sent out from the point. Governor

1 Brown, Genesis of the U. S., v. 1, p. 184 (Zuniga Map 1608). 2 Howe, Notes, p. 282 (Smith, v. 2, p. 117). 8 Hening. Statutes. v. 3, p. 417. 4 William & Mary Quart. Mag., v. ix, p. 214. 5 Same.

WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY 343

Berkeley arrested the old man then blind and took him to Jamestown, where he was wantonly murdered.

The same year Col. Claiborne landed his army at Romancoke which lands he patented as will be seen later, as stated in the grant of five thousand acres. (1653)6

The north bank of the Mattaponi and the south bank of the Pamunkey as shown by the patent books were being settled as the Indians were driven back and the Pamunkey Necke as the present King William County was called, was their last stand, and here they were given tribal lands which their descendants hold to this day, the settle- ment of the neck was thus delayed.

It will be recalled that John West received in honor of his son being the first Christian born at Chiskiack, on York River, a grant of two thousand acres of land, under date of June 6, 1632, by order of the Council. He served the colony as Governor 1635-38, and was there- after a member of the Council and was most highly regarded in the colony.7

On July 3, 1652, he patented a dividend of land at the mouth of the narrows of York river, being a neck of land.8 On March 6, 1653, he received another grant as follows: 'beginning at tanks Mattadoquin creek, running north to Warranucock path thro George his field to a flashy vally & west to head of creek issuing into Mattapony west '2

point north 360 perches thence north by east 500 perches to the mouth of a great creek next beneath the ancient Indian Ferry on the Mat- tapony and thence east and south to the point severing the Mattapony and York river, thence north and west up the York to the beginning. The said land being due John West 850 acres in the olde book and 2490 acres [thereby?] and for the transportation of forty and nine per- sons to the colony. This was the West Point plantation, without the marsh lands, from the upper boundary to the point.9

On September the first 1653, Coll. William Claiborne was given a patent from tanks Mattadoquon creek up the York, of 5,000 acres; where he landed his army in 1644 and this was the Romancoke planta- tion.10

Captain John West, the Governor married Anna ------. He removed from Kiskiack about 1654, and it appears that he was living at West Point, and probably the first white settler in Pamunkey Necke. The order of the House of Burgesses under date of March 25, 1655, gave him a salary of 10,000 pounds of tobacco constantly on the York River.11

Coll. William Claiborne was asked by the Council to settle on his grant in 1654, and as seen, it lay above the West plantation. These two plantations continued as such under these two families for a hun- dred years.12

It appears from an act passed in 1659-60, that Capt. John West was dead, and his son John, the survivor of the family was the last living. "Whereas the many important former services to the countrey of Virginia by the noble family of West, predecessor of the John West, the now only survivor, claims at least the grateful remembrance of their former merits be continued to the survivor. It is ordered the levies of

6 Patent Book 3, p. 34. 7 William & Mary Quarterly Mag., v. ix, p. 214. 8 Land Patent Book 3, p. 93. 9 Same, p. 290. 10 Same, p. 34. 11 Journal of House of Burgesses, v. 1, p. 256. 12 Neill, Virginia Carolorum, p. -.

344 WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY

the said John West and his family be remitted and that he be exempted from payment of them during his life."13

Col. John West above mentioned, was born 1632 and married Ursula Croshaw, daughter of Maj. Joseph Croshaw of York County. The latter left his entire estate to the Wests at his death in 1689.14

West and Claiborne were loyalists and aided Governor Berkeley in his fight with Nathaniel Bacon. It is known that Bacon had a base of supplies at West Point, and George Milner, one of the Bacon followers, was at West Point when it was surrendered in January 1677.15 There are tales of a hanging from a mulberry tree of another of Bacon's men by the Royalists, and that tree was yet standing a f ew years ago (Legend).

Across the river, at Brickhouse, Drummond and Lawrence were fortified, and were the last of the rebels to give up the cause.16

Col. John West it seems died in 1689. He left three sons, John, Nathaniel and Thomas and one daughter, Anne, who married Henry Fox. This appears in a petition to the Council, for a title to 4000 acres of land belonging to the Wests since 1654, and devised to the four men- tioned by will of John West their father.17

rt is almost certain that Col. John West and his father Gov. John West were both buried near "West Point." The graveyard will be identified later.

John West, also called Col. John West, was Burgess from New Kent succeeding his father, and became the first sheriff of the new county of King & Queen in 1691.18

The inconvenience of attending court prompted the freeholders north of the York and Pamunkey in New Kent to petition for a separate county. They had been allowed a court it seems for certain classes of cases, but evidently had no records north of the river, and this did not fully serve the purpose.

"Delaware town"

The act establishing King & Queen county set forth the boundaries west of Poropotanke Creeke and above the Pamunkey, including Pamun- key Necke, and stipulated "the town lands were set aside at West Point in Pamunkey Necke." The provisions of the act as given in Hening sets forth the procedure of acquiring the lands, by purchase or con- demnation and the lands to be held by three trustees. It set forth that 50 acres of land would be the amount required for a port. The date of this act was April 1691.19

There are no records at King & Queen to show how the county acquired the land, but it is quite evident that the lands were conveyed by the Wests in a friendly manner, for John West was the Sheriff and a justice, as well as commander of the militia in the county.

The wharf or key was on the Mattapony. At West Point a fort was established in 1702, to defend the upper

country against the enemy. Col. John West was the commander in chief of the York river.20

The wharf at West Point had been designated to be used ex- clusively by the upper parts of the York and this most likely included

13 Hening Statutes, v. 1, p. 547. 14 Wrn. & Mary Quarterly, v. 2, p. 271. 15 Hening, Statutes, 2. 16 Standard, Va. First Century, p. 286. 17 Journal of Council, v. 3, p. 326. 18 Journal of House of Burgesses, v. 2, p. 358. 19 Hening, Statutes, v. 3, p. 55. 20 Journal of House of Burgesses (1702), p. 200.

WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY 345

the Pamunkey, which was frequently so called.21 The establishment of the town lands and wharf was done at the cost of the whole county and paid for by a special levy of tobacco.

Aside from these brief details of the town at West Point there is nothing of record. The ferries crossed here and it was undoubtedly a small trading place, but isolated on account of the rivers. Pamunkey Neck was so thinly settled in 1696 that a petition from its inhabitants to form a county was rejected. In 1701, a check was made and the com- mittee found there were only eighty nine freeholders in Pamunkey Necke.22

King William County was constituted in 1702, from the part of King & Queen described heretofore as Pamunkey Necke, and the Parish was named St. Johns. The town lands were to be assumed by the new county and the portion of cost to the old county to be returned, by the county of King William.23

Two years later, a general act establishing towns was passed by the General Assembly. This reestablished the town at West Point, to be called Delaware and the market days were appointed to be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the second Tuesday in September and four days thereafter were set aside for the annual fair. This brought the number of chartered towns up to sixteen and one city.24

The King William Burgesses present at this session were John and Nathaniel West. The quit rents for 1704 in King William show: Capt. Thomas West 1000 acres; Col. John- West, 1800 acres; and Capt. Nathaniel West 2000 acres.25 Col. John West was made commander of the militia and was of the quorum in the new county of King Wil- liam (1702).26

The act establishing Delaware town was passed in August 1701. Another act was passed later providing for the fees for the surveyor of towns, allowing him 500 pounds of tobacco for laying out the town and making a plat of the same, and also 20 pounds of tobacco for each lot as sold.27

The first trustees of Delaware town were John Waller, Thomas Carr and Philip Whitehead, all men of prominence in King William and members of the court. Mr. Waller had wanted the position as clerk but the governor thought it would be better for him to be sheriff, which position he accepted.28

Mr. Harry Beverley made a survey of the town and 'layed it out' in the required half acres as lots, the date of his survey as given in the deeds being Dec. 2 1706. His plat was recorded but has been lost in the several fires to which the records have been subjected. Fortunately there have been records of a number of deeds preserved showing who the first purchasers of lots in Delaware town were, and given as fol- lows: Deeds from the trustees of Delaware town, John Waller, Thomas Carr and Philip Whitehead, to the following: John Waller, lot 42; Philip Whitehead, lot 1; William Anderson, lot 9; Thomas Carr, lot 2; John Walker, King & Queen, lot 39; Thomas Walker, King & Queen, lot 32; Daniel Miles, Thomas Terry, and James Terry, lot 28; Maj. Nickolas Merryweather, New Kent, lot 4; William Merryweather, lot 38; John Monroe, clerk, lot 80; Richard Roy, King & Queen, lot

21 Hening, Statutes, v. 3, p. 55. 22 Journal of House of Burgesses, v. 3, p. 273. 23 Hening, Statutes, v. 3, p. 212. 24 Same. 25 Wertenbaker, Colonial Planter, (Appendix). King William Quit Rents. 26 Journal of Council, v. 3, p. 147. 27 Hening, Statutes, v. 3, p. 418. 28 Journal of Council. v. 2. a. 225.

346 WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY

26; Hon. Wm. Bassett, esq., lot 30; George Clough, New Kent, lot 6; Stephen Willis, lot 7; Larkin Chew, Essex, lot 27; Richard Wyatt, King & Queen lot 44; George Dabney, lot 16; George Priddy, lot 50; Henry Fox, lot 24; Vinty (Unity) West, lot 46; John Fox, lot 45; William Chadwick, lot 51; John Higgason, New Kent, lot 29; Thomas Pickells, lot 47; Thomas Claiborne, lot 20; Richard Littlepage, New Kent; lot 43; Randolph Pratt, lot 5; Charles Fleming, lot 12; William Dickinson, and Abraham Willaroy, lot 17; Thomas Seers and William Burford, lot 35; Lt. Col. James Taylor, King & Queen, lot 36; James Taylor, lot 37.29

These deeds are all given under date of June 20 1707 and set forth that each grantee shall pay the trustees the sum of four hundred and eighty pounds of sweet scented tobacco, and pay an annual rental on October the tenth of each year, of one ounce of flax seed and two ounces of hemp seed, and build one good house 20 feet square in one year from the date of deed or forfeit the right of sale without consent of the trustees. The rents are set forth in the original act establishing the town as well as the general charter provisions of transfers officers etc.30

The same year John Waller and Thomas Carr conveyed to Philip Whitehead one half acre in Delaware town, witnesses to deed, George Braxton, Martin Palmer, and Matthew Creed. Also Col. John West conveyed two and half acres of land in Delaware town to John Waller, Philip Whitehead and Thomas Carr (the trustees) as layed out by Harry Beverley.31

The tract of fifty acres provided in this act was likely in outline congruent with the first fifty acres laid out in 1691 for a port, and later made the town lands of King & Queen county.

There appears one transfer deed after the original in the records. This deed from John Waller to John Walker on June 20 1707, mentions that his lot fronts on a public key 2 chains breadth on Capt. John Braxton's lot on that side of Mattapony and on Capt. Richard Wyatt's lot upwards towards the county and on John Waller's part toward the Pamunkey river.32

This gives a key to the lay out of lots in the original town. With the aid of Mr. G. L. Evans we have been, in a reasonable degree, able to reestablish the original lots and their owners as far as known. (see sketch of Delaware town)

The key mentioned was the wharf. Here later the ferries landed, and evidence of the road across the marsh is still in existence. This is congruent with Fourth street in the present town. The lots all faced on the lateral streets toward the Mattapony and Pamunkey, were two chains in breadth and five chains deep, making the distance between the parallel streets ten chains, or 660 feet. The streets are shown on a map of 1781 drawn by the French.

It is certain that the town did not grow, but the records do not show how soon it lost its early impetus.

John Fontaine in his Journal recounts crossing the ferry from Brick House to West Point -on his journey to Augustine Moore's in 1714. He gives it scant notice.33

The old church yard where the Baptist church now stand adds a bit of evidence. One George Meridith was here buried in 172834 and there were other graves and stones which have been lost. This, uni-

29 King William Records, Book 1700-1885, no. 1, pp. 358 et seq. 30 Hening, Statutes, v. 3, p. 418. 81 Virginia Hist. Mag., v. xxiv, p. 390. 32 King William Records, Book 1700-1885, no. 1, p. 360. 33 Fontaine, Journal, Nov. 9, 1714. 34 Tombstone, Baptist Churchyard, West Point, Va.

WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY 347

quely enough, was in the center of Delaware town. It may have been here that Parson Munro, the John Monroe, clerk who purchased lot 80 in the town, had troubles with his vestry and where they "board up the chapple to keep out the cattul." Even at an earlier date Reverend Andrew Munro, was parson at Pamunkee (and with the suggestion made by Smith) it may have been here that he preached. It is said that an English church stood here but we have seen no records to prove it. The graves were in 1926 opened and a number of remains were re- interred under the present church building, in making excavation for a basement for the church.35

John Waller was still interested in the town in 1738, for he ad- vertised in the Virginia Gazette on March 18th of that year that he would conduct the Ferry called Graves, formerly run by Mr. Robert Willis. He also advised the public of the fact that he employed four able bodied men, and a good boat, and could give entertainment.

The last will of Stephen Bingham, dated August 22 1759, is of some interest. He mentions his sons, Jack and Stephen his daughters, Leah, Susannah Green, and Alice Bingham, and a child unborn. He devised to his sons his lots in Delaware town, his wife his land bought of Coll. Thomas Moore and Alex. Hilliard. He gave his sons Jack and Stephen his new sloop 'The Charming Jenny.' His wife's son born later, Roscow Bingham, was stated in the petition annexed by Stephen Bingham to have been the only child by this wife and to have died in the American Army.

Stephen Bingham was the second husband of Jane Cole, daughter of William Cole and Jane Roscow of Warwick Co. She later married Col. Francis West. Her first husband was Nathaniel Claiborne.

At the time of the Revolution, the French were stationed on the point and fortified it with the heavy artillery both before and after the capitulation at York.

The maps of 'West Point du Sud' give further evidence of the old town of Delaware. The places shown in Delaware Town, are Brack- son's, Moor's, Rascows, Bingham's, the roads leading into town, Brack- son's Plantation on the King William road,36 the ferries and landings as shown on the accompanying sketch.

Taking the present town map and adapting the two to a common scale, these places are indentified as follows: Braxton's at Main Street and Seventh Street; Moors, at Mains Street and Fourth; Roscows near Fourth and 'D' Streets; and Bingham's was between First and Second between Main Street and 'D' Street.

After some investigation, and the statement of a citizen of the town who recalled a few details of the point in 1860; these places are to be identified by remains to this day. There were remains of four rock houses still in evidence at the time of the Civil War, and pieces of these rocks, and foundation walls can be seen now on these sites.37

The Braxton house noted on the war (1781) map corresponded to the residence of Mr. William P. Taylor, who came into possession of the Braxton property in 1811. This lot and the house on it was valued in 1840 at $850.00. The house as renovated, is described by the last resident, (it burned in 1901), as having a half basement, walled with brick & sand marl, the walls half out of the ground; the first story consisted of a very large room in the north end and two rooms at the

35 Personal knowledge and observation. Ad. H. H.) 36 King William petition, State archives, loose folder, 1787. 37 Statement of Mr. W. C. Davis. West Point, Va.

348 WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY

south end separated by a hall. The stairway to the second story, ran up on one side crossed at the end and completed the ascent to the upper floor. The upper floor consisted of a number of smaller rooms.38 One of the earlier inhabitants states that the house had been torn up in remodelling, and this is quite likely for it accounts for the second full story and the numerous rooms.39 It was in all probability a story and half, with dormer windows, as typical of the period. It was a frame house and had large chimneys at the ends.

This building was called the Grove Hotel, and was seated in a grove of locusts and mulberries in 1860 and had then the appearance of being an ancient dwelling.37^

It is not known when Braxton settled in Delaware town. The statement of his grandson, says he never lived at Elsing Green and this he sold in 1767 to William Burnett Brown. The house at Chericoke which he built later (?) was burned while he was in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.40 Hence it is likely he came to West Point to live at that time. He had his home here in 1781 as shown by map and his plantation "West Point" nearby. A deed given by him in 1785 states that he owned "two lots in Delaware town, the one whereon he now lives and the one on which James Roscow now lives."'41 When he left Delaware town is likewise not known. His grandson states he never again lived at Chericoke after the fire. He died in Richmond in 1797 and was buried at Chericoke.

The remainder of the story will be written around the West Point plantation, where it is believed the West family lived until they re- moved from the county.

Delaware town had reached its zenith and was in a state of decline. It once was considered as a site for the capital city but lost by a small margin in the House of Burgesses. It was doomed to become a rotten borough, and pass back to the state of a plantation.

"West Point Plantation"

When the Wests came to Pamunkey Neacke, then New Kent County, it was a wilderness of timberland with scant spots of open lands here and there, where the Indians had cultivated corn and tobacco. It was in close proximity to the Indian lands, where they had retreated and remained under a treaty made in 1646.

Capt. John West most naturally sought a place to establish himself near the river, with an adequate wharf, and at the same time taking the best he could for himself in way of a fortification. There was the prob- lem of a large plantation too, and it was good sense to get near the center of his habitation, and lands, an estate of some 4000 acres.

The Wests came about 1653-1655. They patented the first land in Pamunkey Necke, and undoubtedly were the first settlers. Capt. John West died in 1659. His son John was his only heir, and he it was who married Ursula (Unity) Croshaw. Their four children, after him in- herited the lands under his will, in 1689, and it seems that Col. John came into the "West Point" property.

This col. John West married Judith Armistead, in 1698. They had but one son, Charles West, who inherited 'West Point' and at his death

37a Statement of Mr. W. C. Davis, West Point, Va. 38 Statement of Mrs. 0. L. Cole, West Point, Va. 39 Statement of Mrs. Mary Lipscomb, West Point, Va. 40 Blair, Bannister and Braxton Families, p. 165. 41 King William Records, B. 2, p. 3 (Photostatic Copies).

WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY 349

by will left it to his cousin Thomas West. This was in 1734, that Charles West died. In the time between the death of Col. John and his own death, his mother had married John Butts. Butts was sheriff of King William in 1727, and died the next year, June 7th 1728, and was buried on the West Point plantation, at a point about three hundred yards from the West house.

The tombstone was removed from the graveyard at the back of J. T. Dansey's house under two large oaks (1934) by Mr. Crosby Thompson probably ten years ago. In 1931 it was removed to St. John's Church where it now lies in the yard.

Here lyeth the Body of John Butts Born the 2nd of

August 1690 and departed this life the 7th of June 1728.

Thomas West who inherited West Point after the death of Mrs. Butts, was a son of Thomas West and Martha. He was Burgess from King William at the time of his death in 1742/3.43 His children were Nathaniel, who died 1727, Agnes who married Richard Gregory, Thomas who married Mary Cole, and Francis who married Jane Cole, both daughters of William Cole of Warwick Co.

After the death of Thomas West his widow petitioned to have the entail docked on 615 acres of land called Chankins Old Field and to settle it on a tract called the Home House tract of much greater value, containing 600 acres.44

Thomas West, the younger, married Martha Cole, and after his death she remarried Ferdinando Leigh. He died in 1758. His brother Col. Francis West was a member of the court, sheriff and prominent as a vestryman in St. Johns Parish at the time (1770) when it was at- tempted to dissolve the vestry. He was then renting the glebe, and had but recently had an altercation with Mr. John Quarles while in liquor.45 He married the widow Bingham after 1759, and had two daugh- ters, Agnes and Susanna.

John West petitioned for relief stating there were 450 acres in King William under the will of his father Thomas West. This would in- dicate that Thomas died about 1758, the date of the petition.46

Three years later Col. John West in another petition wished to dis- pose of 4000 acres contiguous to the town of Delaware, commonly called West Point, in order to support the younger children.47

In 1775, Col. John West petitioned the House of Burgesses for the right to dock the entail on the West Point plantation, stating he had two sons. This indicates that the title was yet in the West family. Some writers indicate that Col. John West removed from "West Point" in 1771 to be rid of his rebel neighbors, he being a tory. Col. John West married Elizabeth Seaton.48

Thus it appears that the West family passed out of "West Point" after living on the same lands for one hundred and twenty years. John West was appointed to provide clothes for soldiers in 1777 with Bernard Moore for King William County.49

43 Journal of Council, v. 5, pi 117. 44 do v. 5, p. 243, et seq. 45 Journal of House of Burgesses. v. 12, p. 225 et seq. 46 Journal of House of Burgesses, v. 10, p. 140. 47 Hening, Statutes, v. 7, p. 88 (Nov., 1761). 48 Burgess, v. 2, p. 876. 49 Journal of Council of State of Virginia, v. 2, p. 37.

350 WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY

There is a breach of four or five years, and in 1781, the West Point plantation is shown on the French maps as Braxton's plantation. Mr. Braxton was now living in Delaware town it will be recalled. It re- mains to find some records that may turn up to show how Braxton came into possession of "West Point." The site of his Plantation is believed to be the site of the "West Point" seat of the Wests.

It appears from the records of the Council of the State of Virginia that Carter Braxton, in the spring of 1781 had made an application to the Council to rent the Palace at Williamsburg, and that now (April 2 1781) it was occupied by militia and in all likelihood to be so continued it was agreed by the Council that the negotiations with Mr. Braxton should be broken off.50

This small notation certainly indicates that Braxton was in search of a residence. In the summer or fall of the same year he is shown to be established at Delaware town and West Point.

Unfortunately the King William records have a break in them for this period, and consequently the transfers from West to Braxton are missing.

The site indicated on the French map as Braxton's plantation is 2.2 miles up the King William Road and on the river. At this point there is still evidence of a house spot, broken bits of old chinaware, bottles, and a few glazed bricks. It is a beautiful site for a house, like a balcony above the Pamunkey, which is on three sides. Beneath the high bank, is a marl shelf, the wharf, for the West plantation. This is the place where Bassett met Gov. Spotswood as related by Fontaine in 1716, and today Eltham can be seen across the Pamunkey.52

After the Revolution the town succumbed again to the plantation. Braxton's estate was heavily involved. Carter & Fitzhugh held the mortgage on West Point and when it was sold, bought it. This fact is found both in Carter's will and the deed from John Taylor to his son, in 1812.53

The King William tax returns for 1805 show that Charles Carter owned 3601 acres of land. The same year Stephen Bingham is shown to have paid tax on 4 ferrymen at Delaware.54

In 1806 the lot owners in Delaware paying taxes are as follows: Richard Bingham, 2 lots; Stephen Bingham, 6 lots; Carter Braxton, 6 lots; Mary Dickenson, 8 lots; A. Kenneday, 11 lots; J. J. Otter, 2 lots and William Toler, 3 lots. This totals 36 lots.

The tax returns for 1806 show the Carter estate to have been trans- ferred to John Taylor of Caroline. He paid tax on 2401 acres of land (West Point). In 1810 he had purchased other land being charged with 2834 acres.

The deed transferring from John Taylor and Lucy his wife to their son William Penn Taylor of Caroline, "the land called West Point in the fork of the Pamunkey and Mattapony rivers, purchased by the said Taylor of Carter & Fitzhugh and confirmed by the Richmond Court of Chancery containing 3027 acres and 31 negroes," is recorded at King William,55 under date Oct. 1 1811.

The tax was paid by William Taylor jr in 1812 on 2834 acres of land.

In 1818 the tax returns show that Taylor had purchased the lots held by l3raxton, Dickenson and Adams.

50 Journal of Council of the State of Virginia, v. 2, p. 825. 51 French map reproduced, facing p. 348. 52 Fontaine, Journal (Memoirs of a Huguenot Family), p. 281 et seq. 58 Va. Hist. Magazine. v. 22, p. 380. 54 Tax Returns for King William Co., State archives. 55 King William Records. v. 6, p. 113 (Photostatic copy).

WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY 351

In 1820, the tax returns show the lot owners at Delaware town to be as follows: Lucy Adams, King William, 3 lots; Elizabeth Bingham (unknown) 6 lots; Ann Bingham (unknown) 6 lots; Thos. W. S. Gregory, King William, 1 lot; John J. Otter, New Kent 1 lot; William P. Taylor, 29 lots, and one house valued at $850. Elizabeth Sullivan 1 lot.

In 1821, Elizabeth Bingham sold her lots six in number to Sullivan making him a total of seven.

Taylor had acquired in 1839, 44 lots in Delaware. There was one house in the town valued at $500, on one of Taylor's lots. This was the Grove Hotel.

By 1850, the once colonial town of Delaware had been absorbed by the West Point plantation.

In 1860, which was after the York River Land Company had begun operations, and Mr. J. M. Daniel had laid out the present town, it was called West Point town. The present charter was dated in 1872.

William P. Taylor in 1862 sold to William A. Stuart, Geo. W. Palmer and John G. Spotts his West Point plantation consisting of 2800 acres of "arable land and about 1600 acres of marsh land." (Deed Book 9 P. 470)56

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