George Howell was the father of several children born in colonial Virginia. His Findagrave memorial page states, “no remaining marker,” yet gives dates of birth in 1660 and death in 1698. His widow and three children are named there.[1]
Before 1 Feb 1698/9 in Richmond County, his widow Diana married William Brett[2]. She died after 9 Sep 1708, and was buried in St Stephens Episcopal Churchyard, Northumberland County, Virginia.[3] No children are known from this marriage.
Various family trees posted on the Internet give the names of George’s parents, his birthplace, and a date of immigration, but this writer has not seen evidence for any of these facts.
George Howell and wife Diana were the parents of these known children:
- John, 1686-1727, christened on 18 November 1686 at North Farnham Parish Church, Rappahannock (now Richmond) County, Virginia. Married Ruth Downing in 1716. Also buried at St Stephen’s Episcopal Churchyard.
- Elizabeth, born 16 Aug 1688, married (1) Aaron Webster, and (2) Roger Powell. Mother of four children by her first husband. She died after 7 November 1757 in Saint James Northam Parish, Goochland County, Virginia.
- George, 1694-1729, a farmer, he married Elizabeth – and had a daughter Mary.
A DNA Clue
One of the very common surnames in the United States is Lewis. This writer has several multiple-great-grandmothers named Lewis, with family origins known for only one.
Ancestry.com’s new feature of its DNA site, ThruLines, links my 4ggrandmother, Anne Lewis of Maryland, to one of the richest families of colonial Virginia, Charles Lewis, Jr., and his wife Mary Randolph.[4] Descendants of three of this family’s children share from 6 to 12 cMs of DNA with me.
Although this is not the family of Anne (Lewis) Atwell, there must be a connection, since ThruLines affirms is that I share DNA with these people. If the people with common ancestors aren’t Anne’s siblings, there must be another link.
Charles Lewis was born in 1721 in Goochland County, Virginia. His mother was Mary Howell, Mrs Charles Lewis, Sr. The parents were married 28 May 1717 in New Kent County, Virginia.
Mary’s father is named at Ancestry.com as James (or John) Howell, 1660-1699.
Like George described above, James (or John) was born ca 1660 and immigrated at an unknown date to Virginia. Given the DNA connection, it is possible they were related.
© 2019 Kathy Alvis Patterson
[1] Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 02 June 2019), memorial page for George Howell (1660–1698), Find A Grave Memorial no. 135361841, citing First North Farnham Churchyard, Warsaw, Richmond County, Virginia, USA ; Maintained by Charles Boetsch (contributor 48409474) .
[2] Ancestry.com. Virginia, Marriages of the Northern Neck of Virginia, 1649-1800 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Headley, Robert K. Married Well and Often: Marriages of the Northern Neck of Virginia, 1649–1800. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2003, page. 50, citing Richmond County Order Book 2: 365.
[3] Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 02 June 2019), memorial page for Diana Brett (1668–unknown), Find A Grave Memorial no. 136212197, citing Saint Stephens Episcopal Church Cemetery, Heathsville, Northumberland County, Virginia, USA ; Maintained by Charles Boetsch (contributor 48409474) .
[4] Mary was an aunt of Thomas Jefferson. Meriwther Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame, was also related to this family.
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