A man and woman had four children “without benefit of marriage” in the 1790s in Virginia. This relationship necessitated documentation of the relationship in order for the children to inherit from the father.
That’s not the tip.
The mother of the four children testified in the 1820s to their relationship to their father–that’s not expected. To strengthen their case another woman testified to the parentage at the same time. If there was a relationship of this woman to the family it is not stated. But she had at the very least known of the relationship between the man and woman during the time the children were born–she testifies to that.
This woman is one who warrants further research. While she may not have had any biological relationship to the children in question, she at the very least must have been a near neighbor to the parents of the children. There’s also a reasonable probability that she was related to one of the parents–either biologically or by marriage.
At the very least this witness warrants further research. Whenever someone provides testimony about members of a family and their relationships that someone is someone who should be researched.
One response
I just ran across one of these affidavit today. My great grandmother was trying to get my great grandfathers pension. Very interesting that this comes up in such a timely way.