FRANCIS EPPES
- westmohney
- Mar 4, 2021
- 7 min read
Updated: Jun 13, 2024
One of "the chiefest planters that have both ventured their lives and estates for the plantation of Virginia." ~ from Papers Relating to the Virginia Company
expansion along the James River
In the beginning, all colonization in Virginia revolved around the James River. As the settlement at Jamestown became more stable, communities spread up and down the banks of the river. Tributaries like the Chickamominy, Appomattox and Elizabeth Rivers allowed easy access to inland properties. Between 1611 and 1616, the "center of gravity in the Colony" shifted upriver from Jamestown to Henrico and Bermuda City (later Charles City) where the Appomattox River meets the James.
Note: The light portion of the map below is the approximate boundary of our grandfather Francis Eppes' plantation called Hopewell. It was located right at the confluence of the Appomattox and the James rivers.
In 1619, four shires were created. These were James City, Charles City, Henrico and Elizabeth City.
Prosperous years ahead seemed assured until the Powhatan attack of 1622. Terrified settlers fled back to the safety of Jamestown and the eastern shore of Accomack. The fearful years didn't last long, however, and our grandfather, Francis Eppes (9GGF), arrived in Virginia just in time to take advantage of a new surge in growth.
Francis Eppes' fledgling years in the colony
We wrote of the scoundrel William Eppes (9U) in an early post called Our Southern Roots. William arrived in Virginia ca. 1618 and lived through many adventures there. About six years later, our grandfather, Francis Eppes, followed his brother to the shores the New World, arriving in Virginia at an extremely opportune time. We know that Francis was in Virginia before 1625 because, that year, he represented Shirley Hundred in the General Assembly. At the time of Francis' arrival, the colony had made progress toward a temporary peace with the Powhatan and expansion up-river began anew. Francis settled first at Shirley Plantation in Charles City County.
The lands that made up Shirley Plantation were first settled in 1613. The ground there was cultivated, like most of the Virginia plantations, for growing tobacco to be shipped around the colonies and to England. Given his status in the colony, Francis Eppes must have held a position of some authority on the plantation. He acquired land and lived near to Shirley Plantation for the rest of his life. In 1626, Francis was appointed Commissioner for the "Upper Parts," the area surrounding the head of the James River, including Shirley Hundred.
early military and government service
The people of Virginia never forgot the Powhatan attack of March, 1622. Because the memory of that event was still so fresh, the colonial militia launched an assault on Powhatan settlements almost every year for the next 10 years. In 1627, Ensign Francis Eppes and Captain Thomas Pawlett commanded an attack on the Weyanoke and Appomattox tribes.
Note: Very little is known about our grandmother, Marie Eppes. (9GGM). That she was related to Thomas Pawlett is very probable. While there are no records to indicate the relationship, (father, uncle or brother), Thomas Pawlett's will indicates a close relationship. Captain Pawlett named Francis Eppes as one of the overseers of his will and left to Marie his bible and 20 shillings to buy a mourning ring in his memory. Bibles were most often left to close family members and the mourning ring goes without saying.
Francis continued his upward trajectory and, by 1628, he held the rank of captain and was again elected to serve as a member of the Assembly held at James City. These early assemblies gave most attention to Indians, defense, religion, tobacco, and taxes.
Francis and Marie had two children born in Virginia, John (9U) and Francis (8GGF). Then, between the years 1629 and 1631, Francis disappeared from the Virginia record books. In 1627, his father, John Eppes (10GGF) had died and it is supposed that Francis went back to England to settle the estate. Francis and Marie were in England in 1630 when the birth of their third son, Thomas Eppes (9U) was recorded in London.
Headrights for Francis
Although Francis might have been a man of wealth and influence when he first arrived in Virginia, it was the headright system that placed him among the wealthiest landowners in the colony. It is almost certain that he had ideas beyond settling his father's estate when Francis returned to England. The headright system was in full swing and he undoubtedly viewed that as a golden opportunity. His two years in England may have been spent collecting people who would agree to let him transport them to Virginia in return for four or five years of of servitude. It appears that twenty-five men and women took him up on the offer. Francis also got credit for himself and his three sons.
Below is the original listing of the people Francis transported. He and his three sons are the first three named. On the third to the last line begin the names of five Africans he purchased and brought back to New England, Bashaw, Juliana, Andrea, Magdelina and Sesent. The word behind their names is difficult to read but has been transcribed as Negar. Africans were always listed on headright rolls with one name only, generally Anglicized.
Below is a transcript of Francis' headright award for 34 persons:
(250) Captain Francis Eppes, 1,700 acres in the county of Charles, lying east upon Bayly's Creek, west upon Cosons [Cawsons] Creek, by Appomattox river, and north upon the main river - due 50 acres for his personal adventure, and 650 for the transportation of three sons and 30 servants (names below). By West, August 26, 1635.
Head rights: Captain Francis Epes, Jon. Epes, Fr. Epes, Thomas Epes, Jon. Long, Jon. Baker, Thos. Warden, Jon. Joyce, Tho: Foanes, Tho: Cropp, Richard Stayte, Richard Heutt, George Addams, Sarah Hickman, Thos. Pattison, Anthony Box, Jonathan Ellison, Barth. Swinborne, Silvester Atkins, Robert Fossett, Ju. Rowland, Ann Turner, George Archer, Hugh James, Jon. Nowell, Bashaw, Juliana, Andrea, Magdelina, Sersent, negar, Rich. Litchfield, Edward Ames, Susan Mills, James Long.
Every name on this list (except the four Eppes) came to Virginia indentured. According to statistics on indentured servitude, of the thirty persons brought over, approximately ten would be freed of their indenture, fifteen would die before their indenture term was served and the five Africans would most probably live their lives out in bondage.
Below are the approximate boundaries of the 1,700 acres granted to Francis. The east boundary (blue) was Cawson's Creek and the southwest boundary (red) was Bailey's Creek. The northern boundary of this land was the James River. Additional land that was later granted to Francis in 1644 (purple) was then known as Shirley Hundred Island. Today it is known as Eppes Island.
landowner Francis
It was in Charles City County, at the confluence of the James and Appomattox Rivers that Francis Eppes made his home on the land that had been granted him. He built a house known as Eppington and called his estate Hopewell. As these lands were sold over the years, they subsequently became the town of Hopewell, Virginia.
In an excerpt from “Papers relating to the Virginia Company,” housed in the Bodleian Library (the main research library of the University of Oxford, England), Captain Francis Eppes is listed with eight others as ”the chiefest planters that have both ventured their lives and estates for the plantation of Virginia.” In 1631 he was appointed Commissioner for the counties of Charles City and Henrico. He served in the House of Burgesses for Charles City County in 1640 and 1656 and was a member of the Council in 1652.
Francis consolidated all his lands in a 1668 patent for 1980 acres and died before 30 September 1674 when his son and heir John Eppes (9U) renewed the patent in his own name. Due to the vast amount of records which were destroyed in the Civil War, there is no record of Marie Eppes' (9GGM) death. We only know that she was alive in 1643 when Thomas Pawlett left her his bible.
A small piece of the Hopewell Plantation remained in the Eppes family for over 340 years. Appomattox Manor was built on this property in 1763 by one of Francis Eppes' descendants, Richard Eppes (5C5X). During the Civil War, the family abandoned the house when Union troops approached Hopewell. The house was then used as headquarters by Ulysses S. Grant from June 1864 until April 1865. After the war, the Eppes family again claimed title to their property which stayed in the family until 1978. In 1979, the manor and surrounding lands was acquired by the National Park Service. It is now used as an historic house museum by the City Point Unit of the Petersburg National Battlefield.
a continuing myth
If you take a trip to Hopewell, Virginia and visit the post office there, you'll find a mural on one of the walls entitled “Captain Francis Eppes Making Friends with the Appomattox Indians.” The artist, Edmund M. Archer, painted the mural In the early 1940’s. According to Emily McGowan, an intern at the Smithsonian Institute, “the work continued a long tradition of romanticizing first encounters between Europeans and indigenous peoples.”
Archer’s mural was meant to be an illustration of an agreement made by the Englishmen and the local Appomattox tribe in the area to share the land where the city of Hopewell now sits. The truth of the matter is that the Native Americans had no involvement in any agreement. The blissful union shown in the mural is at definite odds with the fact that the English colonists and the Native tribes in that region had been “waging a series of wars known as the Anglo-Powhatten Wars” for twenty years prior to our grandfather Francis Eppes' land grant in 1635.
Also at odd with Archer’s idyllic rendition are the records showing that Francis Eppes, in 1627, led assaults against the both the Weyanoke and the Appomattox people.
Throughout the history of our early families in the new world, the "inconvenience" of these indigenous people arises in their stories. They killed and they were killed. It's only one of the ugly aspects of this chronicle.
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