Thomas Ivey

(c1603 – January 1655)

His ancestry is uncertain.  The Ivey Family in the United States, by George Franks Ivey provides an ancestry for this Thomas Ivey which appears to be purely speculative.[1]  For instance, it provides no evidence of the connection to his alleged parents, Thomas Ivey and Lettice Culpepper.  As best I can determine there is no evidence that this couple had a son named Thomas, much less that he was the same person who immigrated to Virginia.  Since this connection is so highly speculative, I have omitted  this portion of the genealogy.[2]  In fact, there is evidence (see below) that Thomas Ivey’s mother was named Jane.

He appears to have been the first Ivey in Virginia, testifying in 1640 that he and his wife had arrived in Virginia on the ship Rebecca in 1637.[3]  He arrived in newly-formed Lower Norfolk County, which encompassed the entire coastline between the mouth of the James River and what would later become North Carolina.  He first appears in the court records of Lower Norfolk County on 6 February 1638/9 when he was ordered to pay a debt to Henry Sewell of 200 pounds of tobacco, and another debt to John Sibsey and Robert Page of 483 pounds of tobacco “for commodities bought”.[4]  These debts were probably purchases associated with establishing himself in the colony.  The following year, at a court held on 17 March 1639/40 he requested the court “assure and confirm” a parcel of land he had bought from William Julian, one of the local Burgesses.  The court ordered Julian to give Ivey “an assurance of the said land according to their agreement provided that said Mr. Ivey doe give Mr. Julian due and ample satisfaction for the same according to the said agreement.”[5]  This land was apparently on the eastern shore of the Elizabeth River, as William Julian had patented 600 acres there four years earlier.[6]

At that same court, Thomas Ivey “aged 36 or thereabouts”, also testified that he had bought a hog from William Julian which his “wife was to pay for in worke”.  If his wife failed to do the work, Ivey testified he was to pay Julian 140 pounds of tobacco for the hog.  The court ordered the payment of 140 pounds of tobacco for the hog “and for butter milke and makinge fower shirts and smocks to some (sum) of eleven shillings, ten pence.”

All of the people mentioned in these records lived on the eastern side of the Elizabeth River, near its mouth in the vicinity of Daniel Tanner’s Creek (now called the Lafayette River), thus it appears that Thomas Ivey had settled there immediately after his arrival.  He would remain there until his death.  Virtually every person with whom he is associated in the records was also a resident of that part of Norfolk County.

On 2 November 1640, as the first step in obtaining a headright patent [7], he testified to the Lower Norfolk County court that he had transported three persons to Virginia:  himself and his wife in the ship Rebecca in 1637, and William Browne in the Blessing in 1637.[8]  John Sibsey was his witness.  (Note that the couple apparently arrived with no children.)  Little is known about either ship, although Hotten recorded the sailing of both ships from London in 1635.[9]  The Rebecca probably made a trip or two per year, carrying the Iveys sometime in 1637.  The ship Blessing made several trips to Virginia and John Sibsey was a freighter in this ship on occasion.  Servants named Edward Cooper, John Moore, and Jobe Seamore are also mentioned in court records as having arrived in the Blessing in 1637.[10]   Oddly, neither Thomas Ivey nor anyone else ever used his three headrights to claim land.

Virginia’s early class society was much more highly stratified than most of us realize.  Thomas Ivey seems to have been solidly upper middle class.  He evidently paid his own passage to Virginia, but was not wealthy enough to avoid hiring out his wife’s labor. Although the records never refer to him as a “gentleman”, he clearly began with or acquired upper middle class status within a few years of his arrival.  He served as a church warden from 1641 through 1648[11], is mentioned in court records as a constable on 17 July 1643[12], and was sworn in as under-sheriff to John Sibsey on 15 May 1645[13] then to Francis Mason on 5 March 1647.[14]  He was clearly a landowner, as he served on several juries, a privilege limited to freeholders.

In addition to the land purchased of William Julian, Thomas Ivey acquired other nearby land, all in the area of Daniel Tanner’s Creek on the eastern shore of the Elizabeth River.  In late 1640 he struck a deal with Tristram Mason.  Their agreement was that Mason would sell Ivey half of a parcel of land, and rent him the rest for a period of six years.  Eight years later, on 1 February 1648/9, Thomas Ivey sued Tristram Mason over the disputed piece of land. [15]  A few months later a jury found in favor of Ivey, and Tristram Mason deeded Thomas Ivey half of his dividend, apparently 50 acres.  Ivey was to pay with a “cowe bigge with calf between this and Christmas next.”.[16]   He testified in court on 15 May 1643 that he was due 100 acres for the transportation of two persons, John Copeland and Will Wolts[17] but never patented land for these two immigrants, and likely sold the headright certificate, as Roland Lawson used John Copeland as a headright for a 1651 patent.  In 1648 the court granted him another certificate for 100 acres for the transport of William and Jeanne Butler.[18]  Although no subsequent patent appears in the records, this apparently resulted in a patent later sold by his sons. 

On 18 November 1646 he was one of the commissioners appointed to take the tithables for the following year.[19]  His district was from Daniel Tanner’s Creek northward to Capt. Thomas Willoughby’s.  This area covered the northernmost part of the Norfolk peninsula - from Tanner’s Creek just north of Norfolk, to Willoughby’s Bay at the northern point of the peninsula. [20]  Undoubtedly Thomas Ivey was living in that district, which would become part of Princess Anne County in 1691.  The resulting tithables list has not survived, but court records show there were 46 tithables in this district and 360 altogether in Norfolk county.  (This indicates a total population of under 1,000 people.)

Thomas Ivey was sworn the second time as under-sheriff for Lower Norfolk County on 5 May 1646/7.[21]  Francis Mason was sworn in as High Sheriff.  The office of High Sheriff was, in Norfolk County, a paid sinecure rotated among the Burgesses who, as gentlemen, could hardly be expected to perform the work themselves.  The under-sheriff, appointed by the Sheriff, actually did the work.  One of the under-sheriff’s duties was the serving of court orders.  At the court’s request, Thomas Ivey sent a letter to a highly-placed widow named Sarah Gookin[22] to inform her that the 5 March 1646/7 court had ordered her to give an accounting for the estate of her children, the orphans of Adam Thorowgood.[23]  Two months later, on 13 July  1647, a defiant letter from Mrs. Gookin was read into the court record ironically addressed to “Thomas Ivey High Sheriffe of Lower Norfolk.”[24]  Some descendants have concluded from this record that he was actually holding that office, but it is clear that Francis Mason was the High Sheriff, appointed two months earlier and that  Mrs. Gookin was merely indulging in irony.  Mrs. Gookin’s letter also referred to the court as “this Inferior Court”.  She refused to give an accounting until the children were of age – and never did.  Within a few months she had remarried to the Governor’s son and the whole matter was quickly dropped.  Her letter added a postscript to Thomas Ivey:  “My respects to your selfe and wife most kyndly remembered, to whome I have sent a small basket of apples p[er] the bearer.”

On 16 December 1647, Thomas Ivey was granted a license to keep an ordinary (a tavern)  “for the accommodation of dyett for strangers and the inhabitants of the county.”[25]  Apparently, his house was conveniently located for hungry travelers, for court was held at his house twice in late 1649.  He was paid several times during this period for “rowing up the Burgesses” (evidently to Jamestown or Elizabeth City) again suggesting the convenience of his location.  Thomas Ivey evidently did not actually row his own boat – there are records of several payments for his “men”, suggesting that the headrights he claimed were for indentured servants.

We can be sure Thomas Ivey was a solid member of the Church of England.  Besides his seven-year service as a churchwarden he, along with Richard Conquest and John Sibsey, signed a petition in 1648 accusing several local Puritans of sedition.[26]  A few months later, on 1 August 1648, he was one of four men appointed as vestryman for Elizabeth River Parish, to replace those who were “lately deceased” or who “doe absent themselves and refuse to be of this vestry.”[27]   Those vestrymen who were replaced were predominantly Puritans, who would shortly leave the area for Maryland.   It was apparently the same Thomas Ivey who was one of four arbitrators appointed to settle the estate of Henry Sewell in 1649.   

There are several suits in the court records with Thomas Ivey as either plaintiff or defendant.   Only one of them is particularly interesting.  On 15 April 1652 he sued one Henry Merritt.  (Thomas Ivey had acted as Merritt’s bondsman and attorney a few years earlier when Merritt was sued by creditors.)  Thomas Ivey and Henry Merritt apparently were partners in the construction of a kiln located at Ivey’s residence, an enterprise that was probably sorely needed to avoid importing earthenware.  On that date, the court ordered Merritt to “returne to the house of the said Ivey and there to use his best industry for the finishing upp of one kill of Earthen Ware:  the said Ivey assisting him with two men according to a condi’con made betweene them.  And the said Ivey to gett the kill finished up fittinge to burne the aforesaid Earthen Ware.  And further the said Ivey is to bring in a full and just account of all disbursements and receipts whatsoever laid out or received by the said Ivey since their partnership at the next Court...” [28]  Less than two months later, on 1 June, the court reported the suit settled.  Henry Merritt was to pay Thomas Ivey nearly 2,000 pounds of tobacco, the kiln was to be destroyed, and all materials split between the two men.[29]   We can infer that Henry Merritt’s workmanship left something to be desired, since the kiln apparently did not function.   Thomas Ivey was either plaintiff and defendant in a number of other suits of a minor nature.

At that same court on 1 June 1652, Thomas Ivey was again ordered to take the list of tithables from Daniel Tanner’s Creek to Capt. Willoughby’s.[30]  [This time there were 40 taxable people located in that district, a decrease from a few years earlier, and 471 tithables altogether in the county.]   As a reminder that this was a still dangerous place, this same court ordered the constables to give notice to residents “to have their arms fixed to be ready suddenly for the Indians.”

On 16 August 1652, Agnes Holmes, the wife of John Holmes of Little Creek, was indicted for beating a servant named Useba Rider to death – distressingly, a not uncommon occurrence between masters and their servants.  Thomas Ivey was one of “the jury of life or death” which cleared her that same day.[31]  He was probably on the jury because he was in court that day for his own suit against Richard Conquest.

An interesting series of connected events, requiring some explanation, occurred about this same time.   John Sibsey, a Burgess and militia colonel who was a neighbor of Thomas Ivey, died in late July or early August 1652 leaving a will witnessed by Thomas Ivey.[32]  The will named his wife Elizabeth as executrix and split most of his property between Elizabeth and his only living child, Mary, the wife of Richard Conquest.   Elizabeth Sibsey was not Mary’s mother, as John Sibsey writes in his will that he hopes “my sd. wife will be a mother to her.”[33]  Thomas Ivey was one of those appointed to take an inventory of the estate on 15 August 1652, though it was not presented to the court until a year later on 15 August 1653. [34]  The widow Elizabeth apparently was reluctant to part with her husband’s property, since she was repeatedly sued by the other legatees.  The daughter Mary Sibsey’s husband, Richard Conquest, sued the widow Elizabeth Sibsey in early 1653 when she refused to deliver a servant due to his wife.   Conquest also sued a second time “over division of the estate”, and sued a third time for her refusal to deliver another servant that had belonged to Thomas Sibsey, Mary’s deceased brother, for whom Mary was the “sole heir”.[35]  Mary Wickstead, who was evidently John Sibsey’s sister, also sued Elizabeth Sibsey over her refusal to deliver a cow which had been left by the will to her daughter.  Given this lady’s reluctance to part with her husband’s property, it wouldn’t be surprising if Thomas Ivey might have weighed in with an ill-chosen public comment or two.  By 15 June 1653, Elizabeth Sibsey was suing Thomas Ivey for slander, though the precise nature of that slander is not identified in the records.   

On 1 November 1653, the jury found in favor of Elizabeth Sibsey.   It ordered “that the said Ivey shall stand in open Court the next that shall be held in this place from nine till 3 in the after noone with these exprest words in Capitall letters standinge before and behind on his hatt:  I (Tho. Ivey) doe confess and acknowledge to have wrongfully defamed Mrs. Elizabeth Sibsey of the County of Lower Norfolk, for which I am hartyly sorry and Crave her pardon.”  He was also ordered to perform the same duty at the next Grand Assembly in James City.[36]   This type of penalty was reserved for the more outrageous types of slander against one’s social betters, thus reflecting Thomas Ivey’s social standing.  Those at the lower end of the social order would have been whipped.  Those in the topmost layer would merely have apologized.

Although John Sibsey had also mentioned his “beloved brother-in-lawe Thomas Lambert” in his will, it is not clear whether it was Sibsey’s first wife or his widow Elizabeth who was Lambert’s sister.  Whatever her maiden name, Elizabeth Sibsey was to continue to play a role in the lives of the Iveys.  After John Sibsey’s death she married again to Benjamin Trenneman by 4 December 1660, when a deed identifies Elizabeth Trenneman as the “relict and executrix of Capt. John Sibsey.”[37]  On 16 June 1667, Benjamin and Elizabeth Trenneman deeded to George Ivey, the son of Thomas Ivey, 100 acres “now in the possession of Ivy”, which Elizabeth had inherited from her former husband John Sibsey.[38]  Benjamin Trenneman died within a year or so, and Elizabeth married again sometime in 1668 to a widower named Thomas Blanch.  George Ivey, and his wife Hannah sold that same 100 acres to Thomas Blanch in 1668.[39]  When Thomas Blanch died in 1674, the appraisal order declares the widow Elizabeth to be of “great age and decreptitude.”[40]   Her own will, dated 17 August 1680 and probated the following summer, left land to Thomas Ivey, son of George Ivey, and the rest of her property to five other children of George Ivey.  Hannah Ivey witnessed the will.  The most plausible of several possibilities, it seems likely that Elizabeth had a small daughter named Hannah at the time of her marriage to John Sibsey, who would later become the wife of George Ivey.   [Note that researchers have widely reported George Ivey’s wife to have been the daughter of Elizabeth Branch.  A little careful research tells us that Elizabeth Branch had been widowed at least three times, and that her apparent daughter Hannah must have been born prior to all three of the known marriages.]

A few months after the slander case, on 16 January 1653/4, Thomas Ivey obtained an attachment against the estate “belonging to the wreck of Capt. Luck’s ship, in the hands of Richard Conquest, to cover 2800 lb tobo due him by order of the Comm’rs for the wreck.”[41]  The incident was evidently an old one, as the Governor had ordered an accounting for this wreck back in 1650.

Thomas Ivey’s wife, and the mother of his children, was Anne Argent, deceased by 1653.  On 16 August 1653, George Argent of Hoxton, St. Leonard’s Parish, Shoreditch, Middlesex County, wrote his will, which was proved on 23 April 1654.  He named four children, one of them a deceased daughter named Anne Ivey.   Since Thomas Ivey was the only Ivey in Virginia at the time who could have been the husband of Anne, this must be his wife.[42]   Argent’s will divided a portion of his estate four ways among three surviving children and  “…the other fourth part to the children of my daughter Anne Ivie, deceased, which were borne in Virginia where she died, to be equally divided betweene them, according to the will of Jane Baker, deceased, theire grandmother.[43]  To my grandchild Anne Ivie, my chest, that standeth in the greate chamber and the sum of £200 upon condition that she doe not marrie without the consent of my executors…”   The residue of the estate was left to his only living son, George Argent, daughter Jane Steward, and “to such of the children of my late daughter Anne Ivey as were borne in Virginia, to be divided amongst them, to be paid unto them when they shall accomplish theire ages of one and twenty years.”  Among the witnesses were Anne Ivey, evidently the granddaughter.[44]   Ann Ivey clearly was born before her parents emigrated to Virginia, and may never have set foot there herself.   She would have been 16 or older in 1653 if she were born before her parents left England.  That seems a certainty given the will’s language regarding her marriage, her witness to the will, and the reference to the children born in Virginia.  If, as the will implies, she was old enough to marry without consent, she must have been of age, thus born by 1632.  That she never went to Virginia is suggested by her father never claiming her as a headright, though he assiduously claimed his servants and himself.

The identity of “Jane Baker, deceased, theire grandmother” presents an intriguing mystery.  Apart from her name, it is obvious that she could not have been George Argent’s own wife, for only a single woman or widow could make a will.  Therefore, she could only have been Thomas Ivey’s own mother.  This suggests that Thomas Ivey’s father had died leaving a widow named Jane who remarried, was widowed again, and left a will sometime prior to 1653.  This would seem to be a promising avenue for additional research in England.  Note also that George Argent’s residence in northeastern London would seem to place Thomas Ivey’s own origin in the vicinity of London

Thomas Ivey died intestate sometime between 15 December 1654, when he served on a jury [45], and 25 January 1654/5 when George Kempe, his “great[est] creditor”, was appointed administrator of his estate.[46]   The appointment of Kempe suggests that Thomas Ivey’s debts may have exceeded his estate, a common reason for the appointment of a creditor as administrator.  It also suggests that there were no close relatives in the area old enough to serve, and that all the children were minors.  On 15 February 1654/5, an inventory of his estate was ordered on behalf of his creditors and “the poor distressed orphants”.[47]   An unusually large number of people were appointed to take the inventory, suggesting that several were creditors:  Thomas Willoughby, Thomas Lambert, Richard Conquest,  Lemuel Mason, William Langley, William Jermy, and Jasper Hodgkinson.  (All but William Jermy lived in the same district as Thomas Ivey; Jermy was the clerk of the court.)

The orphans are named in later records.  As Withinton reports, on 7 March 1663/4, the Lower Norfolk court certified that Thomas Ivey (identified as the elder son) and George Ivey, both minors “borne in Virginia”,  were the sons of Thomas and Ann his wife “who was the daughter of one George Argent liveinge about London, England, as she often reported.”[48]  As further confirmation, on 23 October 1673, John Thrower renewed a patent for 100 acres on Little Creek in Lower Norfolk County “being formerly granted to Tho. Ivey by patent dated ye 22 August 1648 and Tho. and Geo. Ivey his sonnes since his decease sould unto Wm. Richardson and by the sd. Richardson sould unto ye said Thrower...and [these sales appear] in the records of Lower Norfolk County in June 1673.”[49]  It is not clear when Thomas Ivey’s orphans sold this land, but the implication is that the sale occurred prior to 1673.

Thomas and George are the only children (other than Anne) proven by these records, which imply they were the only children in Virginia who were living at that time.  Both were “borne in Virginia”, therefore were 17 or younger at their father’s death, since Thomas Ivey didn’t arrive in Virginia until 1637.  Because their mother was already deceased, the children found themselves orphans in the modern sense, though thanks to George Argent’s will they were not destitute.   I found no record of the appointment of guardians.  It is possible that both George and Thomas returned to England.  It is also possible that they were taken in by a neighbor – and Elizabeth Sibsey is certainly an obvious candidate to have done so.

Descendants of Thomas Ivey and Anne Argent

As noted above, we know of only three children:  Ann, who may never have set foot in Virginia, Thomas, and George.  The Lower Norfolk court records referenced in the Thomas Ivey page identify two sons, Thomas and George, both of whom were born in Virginia after 1637.  His father-in-law’s will identifies a daughter named Ann, who apparently never came to Virginia.  Various published genealogies add two more sons, John and William, though the former is obviously an unrelated person (see separate paper) and the latter is fictitious. 

1.      Thomas Ivey II (c1639 – after 1664)   He was born in 1638 or later, since court records tell us that his father arrived in Virginia in 1637 and his father-in-law’s will states that both sons were born in Virginia.   We also know that Thomas was the elder son according to the 7 March 1663/4 court record identifying the sons of Thomas Ivey.[50]  He was still a minor on 16 June 1658 when Richard Cording promised to cure the “sore and bloated legs” of Thomas Ivey, “orphant”.[51]   The cure didn’t work, as six years later the same 1664 court record states that he “for many years since…is troubled with a sore upon his legg and is conceived immoveable and not fit for travel.”  Note that this (in combination with English records) proves he is not the same person as Thomas Vicesimus Ivey, who was a surgeon himself in 1660, under-sheriff in 1662, and county surveyor in 1664, hardly consistent with someone so afflicted.  [See separate paper on Thomas Vicesimus Ivey for a more complete discussion of this point.]  His younger brother George Ivey certified the importation of himself and Thomas Ivy in court three years later, on 15 February 1666/7.[52]   Since Thomas was “not fit for travel”, it is not clear when that importation might have occurred, if at all.[53]  There is no mention of him after the 1664 court recod, and it seems highly likely that he died without heirs. 

2.      George Ivey (c1644? – 1688/9)  As noted above, whether he actually left the colony and returned is uncertain.[54]  If he did, he must have returned before the 7 March 1663/4 court appearance.  He received a certificate for the importation of himself, Thomas Ivey, and one Thomas Piggot on 15 February 1666/7, though it was never used for a patent.[55]  [A Daniel McCoy later claimed both George Ivy and his wife Hannah as headrights for a 1673 patent.[56]]  Thereafter he appears fairly frequently in the records of Lower Norfolk County, making several purchases of land on Tanner’s Creek in the vicinity of his father’s land.  On 16 June 1667, Benjamin and Elizabeth Trenneman sold him 100 acres which Elizabeth had inherited from her former husband, John Sibsey, and which was described as land “now in the possession of Ivy”.[57]  George Ivey was married by then, for on 17 August 1668 George Ivey and his wife Hannah deeded that same 100 acres to Thomas Branch, who was by then the husband of Trenneman’s widow Elizabeth.[58]  On 15 March 1670 George Ivey bought 100 acres adjoining his own land from Jeffard Lewis.  He added to his holdings with a purchase from Charles Grandy on 15 February 1672[59]  and another 550 acres from Josiah Crouch in late 1682 which he patented in 1684.[60] 

His wife Hannah Ivey may have been the daughter of Elizabeth Sibsey Trenneman Blanch, for her will of 1680 left her entire estate to George Ivey’s children.  If Hannah was her daughter, it was apparently by an unknown first husband.  Elizabeth had married John Sibsey sometime in the late 1640s, but John Sibsey’s 1652 will makes no mention of a child Hannah, and administration records call Mary Conquest his “sole daughter”.  After Sibsey’s death, Elizabeth remarried to Benjamin Trenneman and, widowed yet again, married Thomas Blanch by 1668.  [See Thomas Ivey pages for references.]  Elizabeth Sibsey Trenneman Blanch left a will dated 17 August 1680 and proved 15 June 1681, and witnessed by Hannah Ivey.[61]   The will named George Ivey her executor and left 140 acres which she had patented a few years earlier to “Thomas Ivy ye sone of George Ivy”.  The rest of her estate was left to “ye children of…Geo. Ivy (viz.) Alexander, Samuel, George and Thomas Ivy brothers and to Eliz. Ivy their sister.” 

Note that the will does not explicitly identify Hannah Ivey as her daughter.  Most Ivey researchers have assumed that Elizabeth Blanch’s will can only be explained if Hannah Ivey was her daughter.  In fairness, we should consider the possibility of a relationship between Elizabeth Sibsey Trenneman Blanch and George Ivey himself.  After all, she must have know him since his birth, and surely was aware of his “poor distressed” situation after his father’s death.  She may even have taken him in after his father’s death.

George Ivey’s own will was dated 5 March 1685/6 and proved 17 January 1688/9.[62]  It left his home plantation to his “beloved wife and executrix…Hannah Ivy…and after her deceis to my eldest son Alexander Ivey.” It provided for reversion if Alexander died “before he come of age without issue to the next brother to succeed and so… to the fourth brother or more if there shall be any.”  Additional legacies were left to sons George, Samuel, Thomas, John, and Joseph, all of whom were under sixteen.  Several daughters are implied, but only Elizabeth Ivy and “youngest daughter Hannah Ivy” are named.  “Near neighbors” William and Thomas Langley were witnesses and overseers.  The widow Hannah remarried to David Murray [or Murrah] before 16 February 1690/1 when he sued for a debt to George Ivey’s estate as the new husband of the widow.[63]  Hannah herself died within the next few months, for on 15 July 1691 Alexander and George Ivey demanded that David Murray, who married their mother “now deceased“, deliver to them the personal estate of their father.[64]  She may have died a few months earlier, because on 16 June 1691 George Ivey’s minor children were assigned guardians and ordered to live with various people until they reached the age of sixteen:  the minor children mentioned in these records were John, Joseph, Hannah, Elizabeth, and Ann.  Both Alexander and George were over 21 at the time, since they were among the appointed guardians.  Samuel and Thomas are not mentioned, implying either that they were 14 and could choose their own guardians, or that they were dead.  
 

2.1.          Alexander Ivey  (c1668 – 1694) Named the eldest son in his father’s will, he was still a minor in 1686 when the will was written but was of age by 16 June 1691 when Elizabeth and Ann Ivey were ordered to live with him.  He was dead by 16 September 1694, when his widow Margaret was identified as the wife of Francis Thelaball, and his brother George Ivey, as executor of  their father, sued  Francis Thelabell for the estate of his father in Thelaball’s possession.[65]  Alexander’s inventory was recorded a month later.[66]  He evidently had no children, since his estate was awarded to his eldest brother George Ivey.[67]  It is interesting to speculate on why George Ivey named his eldest son “Alexander”, not a particularly common name at the time.  Given the absence of any known Alexander in the Ivey family, it is possible that was the name of his guardian or perhaps of his wife’s father.

2.2.          George Ivey  (1670 – 1710)   He was under 16 when his father’s will was written on 5 March 1685/6, but was of age by early 1691 (see above).  As the elder surviving son, he inherited his brother Alexander’s land.  He apparently married first a woman named Hannah, for in 1694 George Ivey and Hannah his wife sold the land his father George Ivey Sr. had purchased from Charles Grandy.[68]  He was on the 1704 Quit Rent roll of Norfolk County with 496 acres, though how he had disposed of the other 150 acres he should have owned is unknown.  His first wife must have died in the late 1690s, because he had married again to Elizabeth Langley and had a son by her before 1702 when the will of  Elizabeth Thelaball (widow of James Thelaball) bequeathed two ewes to her great-grandson William Ivey, “son to George Ivey.”[69]  George Ivey was dead by 15 December 1710 when his widow Elizabeth was granted administration of his estate.  His inventory, dated 21 December 1710, mentions the two ewes given to his son William by his great-grandmother Elizabeth Thelaball.[70]   This proves that George Ivey’s wife Elizabeth was a granddaughter of James and Elizabeth (Mason) Thelaball, but does not tell us who her parents were.  It appears that her parents were William Langley and Elizabeth Thelaball, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Mason) Thelaball, because William Langley’s 1715 will leaves one shilling to [the children of?] George Ivy “who married my daughter Elizabeth”.[71]  Since George was five years dead by the date of this will, I have no idea why this should imply he was still living.  To confuse matters more, William Langley’s son Jacob left a will in 1741 leaving one shilling to “Mr. George Ivy who intermarried with my sister Elizabeth” and a gold ring to his “cousin [nephew] Will Ivy”.[72]  Both of these wills, in their abstracted form, imply George was still alive as late as 1741.  Although this would appear to signal a different George Ivey, these wills are nearly illegible on microfilm and may actually refer to the “heirs of” George Ivey.  (In support of this point, I might note that I found no occurrence of the name George Ivey in any records other than these two wills.)  At any rate, there are several later records of George Ivey’s estate which show there were a total of four children.[73]  Apart from William Ivey, the other three children, James, Joseph, and Margaret were also children of Elizabeth Langley, as they were all under 21 as late as 19 July 1717.[74]   Elizabeth apparently did not remarry.  George Ivey was evidently the same George Ivey who signed a petition to repeal a 1691 Virginia law against interracial marriages.[75]

I should note at this point that an article published in 1927 made the erroneous assumption that George Ivey’s widow Elizabeth was the same Elizabeth Ivey who left a will in Prince George County dated in 1718.[76]  These were quite clearly two different women, the latter being the widow of Adam Ivey of Prince George County.

2.2.1.           William Ivey (c1699 – 1769)  He was “of full age to choose a guardian” (that is, 14) on 21 May 1714 when he chose William Langley (apparently his grandfather) as his guardian.[77]  He was later a vestryman, justice, and tithables commissioner in Norfolk, and remained close to the Langley family.  He is apparently the “cousin William Ivey” named in Jacob Langley’s will, the “Capt. William Ivy” who was witness to Sarah Langley’s 1742 will, executor of Joseph Langley in 1750, of George Rouviere (son-in-law of James Langley) in 1758, and of  William Nash in 1751.  He was also guardian of Frances, minor child of James Langley, in 1755 and of Elizabeth Nash as well.   He patented land in Princess Anne in 1734, and eventually acquired almost 600 acres there.  He is apparently the William Ivey “Sr.” who witnessed the will of Signa Langley Bartee in 1764.  He appears on the tithables lists of Princess Anne in 1731, 1733-5, 1751, 1753-4, 1757, 1759 (with son John), 1765, 1766, 1767 and 1768.  The 1769 tithables are lost, but he does not appear in 1770.  He lived in Norfolk Borough, but in Princess Anne County, and may have been a ship’s captain. There is a record of a slaver called the Anne, built in Norfolk in 1739, owned by James Ivey and captained by William Ivey.   William Ivey’s will is dated 8 April 1769 and proved 20 May 1769.  It names wife Ann, son John, grandson George Ivey, and grandchildren Ann Snale and William Ivey Snale.  The identity of his wife Ann is unknown.

2.2.1.1.          John Ivey (c1742 – c1776?)  He did not appear in the tithables of 1757, but was a tithable of his father in 1759, thus born around 1742.  He remained north of Tanner’s Creek, appearing in the tithables there 1765 through 1774 with as many as 30 slaves.   He married Elizabeth Nash by bond dated 4 June 1760, with his father William Ivey, guardian of Elizabeth, consenting.[78]  His father had been mentioned as guardian of Elizabeth Nash, the only child of William Nash, on 18 December 1758[79] and had been executor of William Nash.  He and his wife sold land in Princess Anne County in 1770 that “had descended to said Elizabeth as the only daughter of William Nash.”[80]  He seems to have died between 1774 when he was last in the tithables and  15 February 1777 when Elizabeth Ivey “relict and widow of John Ivey” renounced her part of the estate.  Elizabeth was taxed on slaves in the same district in 1778, and on a son George Ivey in 1780.

2.2.1.1.1.    George Ivey (c1763 – 1828?)  He was a minor in 1779 when Arthur Boush was his guardian, and a tithable of Elizabeth Ivey in 1780.  Not tithable in 1778, he was probably 16 shortly thereafter.  He was taxed in Norfolk County in 1790 and 1799, and appears in the 1820 census. Affidavits in the case of the heirs of Thomas Snale establish that George Ivey had four children:  William N. Ivy, Thomas J. Ivy, Sarah Ivey (widow of Edmund Goodwin), and Ann R. Ivey (wife of Moses Bonney) all of whom were alive and living in Norfolk in the 1830s.[81]  His children claimed to be the only living heirs of both Thomas Snale and of William Ivey [2.2.3.1] in pursuing the Revolutionary land bounties due them.  (see below).

The brothers William N. Ivey and Thomas J. Ivey both claimed land in Assumption Parish, Louisiana in 1845.  William N. Ivey (born about 1790) married Margaret Willoughby on 23 December 1820.  He appears in Norfolk censuses through 1840, but was in Assumption Parish, Louisiana in the 1850 and 1860 censuses with children named Virginia, William N. Jr., Thomas, Amanda, Mary, and Rachel.  (Another probable daughter, Marguerite Ann, married in 1846.)  Thomas J. Ivey (born about 1793) married Ann Eliza Browne, and is in Norfolk censuses through 1840.  He is said to have died in Louisiana leaving adult sons named Virginia H. and Edward and perhaps others.

2.2.1.2.          Elizabeth Ivey (c1745? – c1838?) She married Capt. Thomas Snale by bond of 14 September 1763, with the consent of her father, William Ivey.[82]  An affidavit associated with Thomas Snale’s Revolutionary land bounty claim states that Thomas Snale “married Betsy Ivy, his own cousin”.[83]  Thomas Snale died in the service of the Virginia navy in 1780.[84]  Two of their children, Ann Snale and William Ivey Snale, were named in her father’s will but must not have survived for the bounty land case mentions only a child named Nancy Snale, the deceased wife of William Herbert, and established that no other descendants were living in 1836.  The bounty land went to the nearest living relatives, who were the four children of her nephew George Ivey.  

2.2.2.           James Ivey  (c1700 – 1752)  James Ivey was a vestryman and justice in Norfolk County, and was one of the initial eight aldermen for Norfolk Borough when it was formed in 1736.[85]  He was also the owner of a ship called the Anne, built in 1739 in Norfolk, of which his brother William was the captain.  He first married Mary Furlong on 11 November 1728.[86]  Her will, dated 30 November 1730 but not proved for another seven years, left her husband a town lot in Norfolk given to her by her uncle Daniel Porteen. [87]  Daniel Porteen’s will of 1714 had left the lot to Mary Furlong, daughter of his sister Ann Furlong.  Richard Furlong’s will of 1712 had mentioned his wife Ann and minor daughter Mary.  James Ivey married again to a different woman named Mary, who survived him.  The 1743 will of John Hayes gives £20 to James Ivey’s daughter Elizabeth[88], suggesting that James Ivey’s second wife might have been related to Hayes.

James Ivey bought the plantation of Thomas Mason on Tanner’s Creek in 1737, where he apparently lived the remainder of his life.[89]  James Ivey’s will was dated 4 November 1752 and proved two weeks later.[90]  It named his “loving brother Joseph Ivy”, son James Ivey (the home plantation), daughter Mary Robinson (the lot in Norfolk Borough and a slave), and unmarried daughters Ann, Margaret, and Betty (one slave apiece).  His wife was not named, but the will gave her one-fifth of the estate not to exceed £200.  She was probably the same person as the Mary Ivey who shows up in the tithables list of the same precinct beginning in 1753.  James Ivey had 16 slaves in the 1751 tithables, and Mary Ivey is listed with 15 in 1753 and 18 in 1754.  The widow also seems likely to have been the “Mrs. Mary Ivey” who married John Hurt by bond dated 7 May 1759[91], since she does not appear in tithables lists after 1757.  John Hurt was later the security in 1765 for Irby Bressie’s guardianship of two of James Ivey’s daughters. All the children except Mary Robinson were under age, and guardian’s bonds exist for the other four orphans of James Ivey. [92] 
 

2.2.2.1.          James Ivey (c1740 – c1770?)  There are no tithables lists for a few years after 1754, when Mary Ivey had no male tithables other than slaves.  The son James Ivey first appears as a tithable of Lewis Hansford in the 1757 tithables of Norfolk Borough.  He was still under 21 on 21 June 1759 when Tully Robinson was his guardian[93] but appears separately in the tithables that year in Norfolk Borough with five slaves.  The tithables are missing until 1765 when he appears in the same district with 8 slaves and 550 acres of land.   He disappears from the tithables after 1766, and evidently died before 1771.  In 1771, the will of Solomon Wilson “late of Norfolk County”, who had been a surety for the marriage of Mary Furlong to James Ivey and a witness to her will in 1730, speaks of a claim brought against James Ivey in 1760 over a trip to Surinam, and bequeaths “my claims against the estate of James Ivey deceased” to his children.[94]  James Ivey’s wife and children, if any, are unknown.  It would seem unlikely that he had heirs living in the 1830s, as they would have joined in the effort to receive the Revolutionary grant due to his cousin William Ivey.

Note that the above record showing that he was dead by 1771 means he could not have been the same James Ivey who later appears with a William Smith in the tithables of 1767 through 1772 in southern Norfolk.  That James Ivey seems to have been the husband of Elizabeth Ellis, widow of a Smith, for the 1777 will of John Ellis of the western branch precinct names his daughter Elizabeth Ivey and her son William Smith. 

2.2.2.2.          Mary Ivey (c1730s? – ?) She was “Mary Robinson” in her father’s will of 1752.  Her husband may have been the Tully Robinson who was guardian of her brother James.  She was almost certainly a daughter of James Ivey’s first marriage.

2.2.2.3.          Ann Ivey  (c1745? - ?)  She was still under age on 15 March 1764 when Samuel Bressie posted bond as guardian of “Ann Ivy orphan of James Ivy”.[95]  She is probably the Ann Ivey who married Irby Bressie by bond of  9 April 1764.[96]

2.2.2.4.          Elizabeth Ivey (bef1745 - ?)  James Cleeves posted bond for the guardianship of “Betty and Peggy Ivy”, orphans of James Ivy on 17 April 1760, and Irby Bressie posted bond for “Elizabeth and Margaret”, orphans of James Ivey, on 19 September 1765.[97]  There is no further record of her.

2.2.2.5.          Margaret Ivey (bef1745 - ?)  As with her sister Elizabeth, she was still a minor in 1765 and there is no further record of her. 

2.2.3.           Joseph Ivey  (c1700-10 – c1755)  He was alive in 1752 when he was mentioned in his brother’s will, which means he must be the Joseph Ivey who appears on tithables lists north of Tanner’s Creek in Norfolk County from 1731 through 1754.  His wife seems likely to have been the Alice Ivey who appears on the next available tithables list in 1757 of the precinct with two slaves, the same number Joseph Ivey had in prior years.  She was probably Alice Miller, brother of Matthias Miller, because Mary Miller’s will of 1742 had named her daughter Alice Ivey and granddaughter Mary Ivey.[98]  The Alice Miller who witnessed Mary Ivey’s will in 1730 proved it in 1737 as “Alice Ivey alias Alice Miller.”  She must have married an Ivey between 1730 and 1737, and Joseph seems the likely candidate.  In addition, Joseph and Alice Ivey both witnessed the will of Henry Miller dated 20 January 1741/2.[99]  She may have been the Alice Ivy “widow aged 39 or more years” who testified in 1759 that she had lived in the borough of Norfolk all her life.[100]

2.2.3.1.          William Ivey  (c1750? - 1778)  He was not in the 1770 tithables, but appears as a tithable in 1773 with Pomp and Toby, the same two slaves taxed to Alice Ivey in 1770 and 1771.  The 1776 will of John Willoughby mentions land in Norfolk Borough that he bought of “Alse Ivy and her son William Ivy”.  This is apparently the William Ivey who was a Revolutionary War naval captain, dying during the war.  He joined the Virginia State Navy by September 1776, was appointed captain of a small ship in early 1777 and died sometime later that year or in early 1778.[101]  His administrator was apparently initially his uncle John Ivey, then Arthur Boush.[102]  He died without issue, for the four children of George Ivey (2.2.1.1.1 above) claimed to be his only living heirs 1834.[103] [Note that several printed sources incorrectly  identify these heirs as his own children.]  Under the succession laws of the time, his distant cousin George Ivey would have inherited as his nearest relative in the line of succession.[104]

2.2.3.2.          Mary Ivey (by1742 – c1769?)  She was named as a granddaughter of Mary Miller in her 1742 will, which left her a slave named Toby.  She may have died not long after, for a slave named Toby was taxed to Alice Ivey in 1770 and 1771 and to William Ivey in 1773.  Further, neither she nor any children were heirs of her brother William, indicating she died without issue.

2.2.4.           Margaret Ivey  (c1700-10 – by1737)  She may have been the wife of Solomon Wilson, who was surety for the marriage of James Ivey to Mary Furlong.  Both Solomon and Margaret Wilson witnessed the will of Mary Furlong Ivey, wife of James Ivey, in 1730.  Margaret Wilson was deceased by the time the will was proved, as Alice Miller Ivey proved her signature.

2.3.          Samuel Ivey  (by 1674 - ?)  He was probably older than Thomas since he’s mentioned in both wills before him.  I found no further reference to him in the records and assume he died shortly after 1686.

2.4.          Thomas Ivey  (by 1675 – by 1713)  He appears to be the fourth son, aged 16 or over by 1691 since he was not assigned a guardian then.  He sold the 50 acres inherited from his father to his brother George in 1696[105] and appears to be the same Thomas Ivey who moved a few miles south into Currituck County, North Carolina where Thomas and Mary Ivey sold land to John Jones in 1709, with witnesses who were all former residents of Norfolk County.[106]  That means this Thomas Ivey was probably the father of John Ivey, who in 1731 sold land to Thomas Grandy in neighboring Pasquotank County described as formerly the land of “Thomas Ivey decd, father of the said John Ivey”.[107]  John Ivey’s land is mentioned in a Pasquotank deed of 7 December 1713[108], so it appears Thomas Ivey was already dead by then.   Thomas Grandy had been a former neighbor of John Ivey (1.5 above) in Norfolk County, and his son-in-law William Russell had witnessed the 1709 Thomas Ivey deed in Currituck – he may also be related to the Charles Grandy who sold to George Ivey (2 above).  

Thomas Ivey’s wife Mary was almost certainly Mary Joyce, the daughter of John Joyce.[109]  John Joyce named a daughter “Mary Ivee” in his will dated 18 June 1707[110] and Thomas Ivey appears to be the only candidate to have been her husband.  John Joyce’s widow Rachel remarried to Richard Roberts, whose 1719 will[111] names only four legatees:  Rachel, two sons-in-law who were sons of John Joyce, and “daughter-in-law Mary Davis”.  This suggests that the woman who was “Mary Ivee” in 1707 was “Mary Davis” by 1719.  Thomas Ivey is the only Ivey who died in that timeframe who could have been her husband.  

2.4.1.           John Ivey  (c1700? – 1771) The above argument indicates that he is the same John Ivey who begins to appear in Pasquotank records in 1731.  Apparently the same John Ivey is mentioned in a diary of William Byrd as living in North Carolina near the border of Princess Anne on 15 March 1728/9.[112]  He appears frequently in Pasquotank court and deed records, and seems to have lived on Knobbs Creek, north of the Pasquotank River.  His will is dated 16 September 1771 in Pasquotank County.[113]  It names wife Elizabeth Ivey, and leaves son James Ivey the  land “I now live on” and the “old plantation”.  It mentions daughters Keziah Jones and Hannah Ivey, granddaughter Valey Ivey, and grandson Ivey Burnham.[114]   It appears he also had a son named Lemuel who predeceased him.  There is also a single mention of William Ivey and a Robert “Ives” in 1755 court records, both suing Jacob Barber.[115]  Although these may have been additional sons, the fact that they were plaintiffs means they may have lived elsewhere and filed suit in Paquotank because that was the defendant’s residence.  Also in Pasquotank was an Ives family, to which they may have belonged.

2.4.1.1.          Lemuel Ivey  (c1730? –  1769) I assume he was a son of the above John Ivey since he lived in the same area but was considerably younger.  He first appears on the 1754 tax list of Pasquotank County[116], on a 1755 militia muster roll, and in several Pasquotank records in the 1750s and 1760s.[117]  He left a will in Pasquotank dated 22 May 1769 mentioning wife Sarah, daughter of Thomas Parker, and unmarried daughters Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Tamor.

2.4.1.2.          James Ivey  He was executor of his father in 1771.  He was not tracked further.

2.5.          John Ivey  (c1681 - ?)  He was probably born between wills, and was under 14 in 1691 when James Peters was made his guardian.  I don’t see any record of him after that.   A Thomas Ivey and John Ivey witnessed a power of attorney in Norfolk from Edward Outlaw of Chowan County, NC on 20 October 1727.  Since it appears Thomas Ivey was long dead, I do not think these were Outlaw’s brothers-in-law.   Rather, they were probably Outlaw’s first cousins.  He does not seem to appear in either Norfolk or Princess Anne records.  I assume he died young or migrated elsewhere.

2.6.          Joseph Ivey  (c1682 - ?)  He was probably born between the two wills, and was under 16 in 1691 when his brother George was made his guardian.  I found no later record for him and assume he died young.

2.7.          Elizabeth Ivey  (c1678 – aft1695) She was born before 1681 and must have been 16 or more in 1695 when she requested her brother George pay out her share of their father’s estate.[118]

2.8.          Hannah Ivey  (c1685 - ?)  She was the” youngest daughter” in her father’s 1686 will and is not mentioned in Elizabeth Blanch’s will of 1680.   She may have been the Hannah Ivy whose deposition says she was aged “about 28” by 15 April 1715.[119] 

2.9.          Ann Ivey  (c1687 - ?)  She was probably born after 1686 (not being named in either will) but no later than 1689.  She may have been posthumous, as she is first mentioned among the children in 1691 when her brother Alexander was made her guardian.  Her brother George assumed her guardianship after Alexander’s death in 1694.   Although the connection is tenuous, she may have married Edward Outlaw, whose wife was named Ann.  On 17 December 1714, Elizabeth Ivey, widow of George Ivey, was ordered to pay 22 shillings to Edward Outlaw “which was due him in George Ivey’s lifetime”. This might have been Ann’s share of the estate.  Although Edward Outlaw had a proven connection with John Ivey (#3 below), there are a few records tying him to this branch of the Ivey family as well.   [See Holtzclaw’s Outlaw Genealogy for more information.]

3.      Anne Ivey  (c1630 - ?) She was probably the eldest child, perhaps left behind in England when her parents emigrated to Virginia.  She was presumably the same Anne Ivey who witnessed George Argent’s will of 16 August 1653.   George Argent’s will left “to my grandchild Anne Ivie my chest that standeth in the greate chamber and the sum of  £200 upon condition that she doe not marrie without the consent of my executors.” [120]  I note that common law required consent for the marriage of females under 21, but women of age were free to marry at will.  This language in the will suggests she was of age and capable of marrying without consent.   In combination with Argent’s use of the phrase “children born in Virginia”, this suggests that Anne Ivey was born prior to her parents immigration.  It is quite possible that she never set foot in Virginia herself.

Excursus:   Some published accounts of this family list a son William Ivey, who seems to be entirely fictitious.  The source of this seems to be W. Mac Jones’s article of 1927, which listed another son of Thomas Ivey named William Ivey. [121]  George Franks Ivey repeated this information in his 1941 book.  Mr. Jones wrote (on page 186 of his article) that he based this on reading an entry in Lower Norfolk County Virginia Antiquary, Volume 5, p146 which he identified as the 1707 will of William Ivy.  However, this is not a reference to a will for William Ivey.  That reference is actually to the will of Elizabeth Thelaball discussed above, which names William Ivy, her great-grandson, the son of George Ivy.  There is no record of any kind of a William Ivey in Lower Norfolk County records until the 1720s.