I. TRANSCRIPT FROM VIRGINIA SOLDIERS OF 1776 PERTAINING TO CAPTAIN PETER BERNARD
(Peter was the granduncle of William Meredith Lambeth who was the first cousin to Catherine “Kitty” Spence Pitts who was the mother of Ellen Nancy Pitts Allen, my father’s grandmother.)
As noted towards the beginning of this chapter, Aunt Nancy stated in her comments about the Pitts line “c. Down the Lambeth line there was a Revolutionary war soldier, Peter Bernard, but he, and probably others, are not documented in any papers which we have. d. Another undocumented family name mentioned is Meredith.”
I found verification in the book Virginia Soldiers of 1776 of the Bernard/Lambeth/Meredith connection which collaborates this family line and feel strongly that Aunt Nancy probably would not have known of this connection had Lambeth only been the last name of a cousin (“Willie” Lambeth). [See section G. above for a family tree to help clarify.]
I present the following to show the steps I have taken while (unsuccessfully) attempting to verify Aunt Nancy’s understanding that the wife of my fourth great grandfather, John Richardson (abt 1740-1791), was Sarah Lambeth not Sarah Blackwell (as many ancestorial trees on Ancestry.Com show.), with the hope that the effort won’t be duplicated when either I or some future interested party continues this research when perhaps more information is available
As Aunt Nancy stated that “Down the Lambeth line there was a Revolutionary war solider, Peter Bernard.”
From the Virginia Soldiers of 1776 [a copy of the transcript is included below] we find the following proof of Peter Bernard who died in 1787:
– that he was the brother of Frances Bernard (1741-1810) who married Meredith Lambeth (1726-after 1800)
– that Meredith and Frances Lambeth had a son John Lambeth (1762-before 1835) who married Elizabeth Richardson (abt 1769-before 1851) who was the sister of my third great grandmother Ann Richardson
– that John and Elizabeth Lambeth had two children, a son William Meredith Lambeth (1800-1853) and a daughter Frances Bernard Lambeth (1798-1882). From many other resources above, we know that this Frances Bernard Lambeth married Thomas H. Pitts, my second great granduncle, brother to my second great grandfather George Richardson Pitts (abt 1794-abt 1845).
To determine the approximate year that Sarah, the wife of John Richardson, would have been born we work backwards:
– Per the gravestone of Sarah’s daughter (and my third great grandmother) Ann Richardson Pitts we know that Ann was born in 1771.
– Per the Last Will and Testament of John Richardson proved in 1791, Ann’s name appears third in the list of “his wife’s children”. John does not name his wife Sarah or leave anything to her in his will so I am assuming she had already passed at the time he originally wrote his will in 1787. If indeed Ann was the third of his children, we can propose that his first child was born perhaps four years earlier in 1767 and John and Sarah were married perhaps two years prior to that in 1765. Assuming Sarah was about 20 when she married John would make her birth year approximately 1745.
I know these are a lot of suppositions, but I have found it does help to have a general birth year when researching for a particular person.
Now, assuming Aunt Nancy was correct in saying Sarah’s maiden name was Lambeth and that “down the Lambeth family line” were Bernards and Merediths, it could be supposed that Sarah might have been the daughter of Meredith Lambeth (whose mother was Mary Meredith) and Frances Bernard. However, the evidence in Virginia Soldiers of 1776 shows that Meredith and Frances Bernard Lambeth had five sons and no daughters (her children are listed as Meredith, John, George Kemp, Bernard and Washington).
Then I wondered if perhaps Sarah Lambeth could have been the sister of Meredith Lambeth, Sr., son of John and Mary Meredith Lambeth. However, John Lambeth’s Last Will and Testament, proved in 1746, only mentions his wife Mary and two sons Meredith and John. So, unless Mary was pregnant at the time of her husband’s death, this would not be true. It is possible that Sarah was the daughter of John Lambeth, Jr. (born about 1728), brother of Meredith Lambeth and son of John and Mary Meredith Lambeth. However, I have found no proof to date of this or of John’s marriage or any offspring.
This then leaves us with just speculation and the supposition that Sarah Richardson’s maiden name may not have been Lambeth at all, but perhaps Blackwell as other Ancestry family trees suggest. However, as stated previously, I have to date not found proof in those trees for this maiden name either.
Below is the transcribed portion from Virginia Soldiers of 1776, written around 1834-1836, which pertains to Captain Peter Bernard.
The testimony of Ann Meredith [possibly the cousin or wife of a cousin of Meredith Lambeth, his mother Mary Meredith’s brother’s child, but this is purely conjecture], now in her sixty-ninth year. That she was intimately acquainted with Mrs. Frances Lambeth, who was the wife of Meredith Lambeth of King William County. That her name was Frances Bernard; was raised in Gloucester Co., in that part now called Matthews; that she often spoke of her brother Peter Bernard, who lived in Gloucester county or Matthews Co., since its division that Frances Lambeth was a widow at her death and died at the home of her son, Meredith Lambert [sic] in Campbell county, intestate.
That John Lambeth late of Fredericksburg, dec’d., was the son of said Frances Lambeth, and that said John left two children, to wit:–William [Cousin Willie] and Frances [Fanny Pitts], and that George Kemp Lambeth, late of Fredericksburg (a son of Frances Lambeth) left four children:–Susan, Frances, John, George Henry, and Fayette; that Meredith, Bernard and Washington Lambeth are now living in Campbell county, and that they are the sons of Frances Lambeth, dec’d. and that she had no other children at time of her death. Signed. Ann Lambeth. [The transcription shows “Signed. Ann Lambeth”, although it was the testimony of Ann Meredith.]
Lynchburg Hustings Court, May 5, 1834. The foregoing affidavit certified and this is true copy. Teste, James Benagh, Clerk, Campbell Co. Clerk’s office May 12, 1836, certified that Frances Lambeth died intestate.
Executive Dept. March 19, 1834. The heirs of Peter Bernard are allowed land bounty for his services as a Captain in the Contl. line for three years, John Floyd, Gov.
Henrico County Court, July 6, 1835. Certified that Peter Bernard, dec’d, a Captain in the Rev. War died about the year 1787 in Gloucester Co. now Matthews Co., intestate, leaving one only son and heir, Dudley Bernard, who was twenty-one years of age in 1789. That he went on a voyage to the West Indies from which he never returned, and has never been heard of since. That he was unmarried and without lawful issue … His mother was Betsey Dudley who died before her husband, Peter Bernard …
The following powers of attorney granted by various claimants of land bounty due for the service of Peter Bernard will show various relationships …
… Second, Eliza G. Lambeth [Elizabeth Gaines Bingham Lambeth] of Lynchburg for land due her as Executrix of [her husband] George K. Lamberts [sic] estate. George Lambeth was one of the sons of Frances Lambeth, a sister of Peter Bernard. Note. This name is spelled Lambert and Lambeth in the same documents [This note is from the original transcribers.] …
… Thirteenth, Meredith Lambeth, Washington Lambeth and Bernard Lambeth all of Campbell Co., “Three of the sons out of the five children of our deceased Mother, Frances Lambeth, who was a sister of Bernard (Peter), dec’d. a Captain of Infantry in the Rev. War” appoint John H. Price of Richmond, Va., our Atty. 8 June, 1835 …
… Memorandum filed with the above papers:–Captain Peter Bernard’s brothers and sisters were John Bernard who left four children … Frances, who married Meredith Lambeth and whose children are:–Bernard Lambeth, Meredith and Washington Lambeth. Children of Frances who are dead:–John Lambeth (who left two children, William and Frances [this is William Meredith Lambeth (“Cousin Willie”) and his sister Frances Bernard Lambeth (Fanny Pitts) who married Thomas H. Pitts]) and George Lambeth, who is dead and left Susan Francis, John, George Henry, and Fayette.
familyties3.com 