William Wigginton

  General Notes:

Exerpts from David Wigginton's <dlwigginton@essex1.com> "Prince William Wiggintons":
William of the Acquia Creek is identified as the progenitor of the Stafford Line of Wiggintons. John Wigginton I is known as the progenitor of the Prince William Wiggintons. Research in the past 18 months has lead me to believe that John I was the son of William of Stafford. John's family will be identified in the next chapter of this volume and also in the corresponding chapter in the Prince William volume. The third major branch of Wiggintons in the United States descended from a George Wigginton who was residing in North Carolina ca. 1755. This third branch is referred to by me as the Wiggintons of the South-eastern United States. There is a tradition within the third group that their progenitor, George Wigginton, was born in Virginia. Richard Fulton has has advanced the theory that George was the son of John I of Stafford/Prince William Counties, Virginia. A source believed to be Richard Fulton of Plano, Texas sent a family group sheet with the following notation: "Another reference in a history of the Angier/Duke family of North Carolina with connections to the Wigginton's indicates the earliest known member of the Wigginton family in America was William Wigginton 'an early settler on Aquia Creek in Stafford County, VA." I find that an interesting possiblility although I have no evidence at present to support or refute the idea. I do happen to know that John I had a grandson, George who is this compiler's direct ancestor. The fourth major group is the Wiggintons of Westmoreland County, Virginia. I believe the progenitor of this fourth group was William Wigginton, a ship-builder of Bristol, England. I have no evidence to show that he ever came to America but I do know that three of his sons, Roger, William, and Henry, lived in Westmoreland County, Virginia in the early 1700's. Research has also produced evidence that John I, and his brother Henry (sons of William of Acquia) also lived in the very same area in Westmoreland County, near the villiage of Kinsale where Roger was engaged in ship-building. The mystery remains about what relationship the Westmoreland Wiggintons had to the rest. Because of the frequent intermingling with the Stafford descendants, most researchers are convinced that they are related. However, the closest speculated relationship is that of being cousins.
Lastly, there are some other traces of Wiggintons which remain unassociated with the four groups named above. These include a Frances Wigginton, orphan daughter of a George Wigginton. Frances was apprenticed to a Daniel Webb in Northumberland County, Virginia August 15, 1711. There was a George Wigginton declared to be age 15 in 1699 in Northumberland County. A knowledgeable source informed us that George's being declared age 15 by the court meant that he was a recent immigrant, most likely indentured or apprenticed. The court needed to establish his age for purposes of his indenture. Also in the same county, there was an Obedayah Wigginton born Feb. 16, 1707 to Joseph Wigginton.
Place of Origin
William Wigginton was of English ancestory. He is often refered to as William the Immigrant. However, I have no information to prove or disprove that he was an immigrant. The first record we have of William in America is dated June 28th, 1689 at which time he recorded his cattle mark in Stafford County, Virgina.
Gary Edward Young of Grasonville, Maryland sent the following:
"However, at that time I made a bigger point of the statement in the will of William Wigginton of Stafford County regarding 'my father's sheep and hoggs' than I might make today. I am more aware now that the term 'my father' could easily refer to father-in-law or a step-father and not only to a blood father. However, it is still a reference that must not be overlooked, as most inherited property came through the male line, of course, in the absence of a will."
The item Gary is referring to is reportedly found in at least one variation of William's will as cited at the end of this chapter. Gary also quotes the same excerpt in a letter to Newman A. Hall dated October 4, 1991: "The is a curious reference in the above mentioned will of William Wigginton of Stafford: 'I give to my two grand daughters above mentioned the half of my fathers sheep and hoggs to be equally divided ..." If the version that is cited here were the correct version it would be obvious that this William was not the first of this line to be in America.
However, I have a photocopy of William Wigginton's will and believe that there is a misinterpretation of the passage referred to above. I have studied it as carefully and objectively as I know how and am convinced that the statement actually reads: "my cattle, sheep and hoggs to --". The first letter of what appears to be father is a "C" instead of the letter "F". The reader is directed to compare the letter in question with the first letter of County at the beginning of the will. The same general reference to catle (sic) sheep and hoggs is repeated later in the same document. (I am aware that there may be other versions of the will as the documents were hand copied when duplicated for the first 200 years of our history.)
William may have been the son of John Wigginton transported to Isle of Wight County, Virginia in 1655 by Francis England. William named one of his sons, John (some records show Jonathan). Stronger support for the this connection comes from association of the Wigginton family with one Leonard Knight. I have been able to trace the migration of Leonard Knight's family from Isle of Wight to Surry to Lancaster, to Northumberland to Westmoreland and ultimately Stafford County from ca. 1645 to 1730's. It is my feeling that William Wigginton if the son of John the Immigrant, 1655, may have followed the same pattern. John the Immigrant was in Surry County, across the river from Jamestown ca. 1668. We do know that the migration pattern during the last half of the 17th century was from the south to the north.

William Wigginton's Family
Wife or Wives and Children

There are numerous records which follow in this chapter indicating that William Wigginton's wife and three children were killed by Indians in 1697. Unfortunately, I have not found a single reference that gives the names of the victims. There is one reference which states that they were expected to survive the attack. It is my personal opinion that they did not survive due to the numerous records that state they were killed. The identity of this first wife is unknown. However, one of the daughters had a curious middle name of "Apple" or some variant thereof which stimulates thought that William's first wife's surname may have been Apple. It is quite possible that her given name was either Mary, Ann or Grace following the traditional naming practice of that time.
It is possible that William married a second time to a Miss. Knight, daughter of Leonard Knight. This is based solely upon the deposition given by one Leonard Knight in 1737 recorded on pages 240-241 of Will Abstracts of Stafford County, Virginia 1729-1748 : "Leonard Knight being sworn and examined concerning the will of William Wigginton, deceased, saith that he was sent for to make his will by his own daughter who was mother-in-law to the deceased." The deceased William Wigginton was the son ,#10001. In the earlier form, "mother-in-law" often meant step-mother or "mother-at-law". Assuming that the court records were regarding the will of the son of William, it would be acceptable to believe that the deposition of Leonard Knight is refering to the wife of William the senior. William's wife was not mentioned in his will which implies that she was deceased by the time of the writing of his will November 27, 1732. This is purely a matter of speculation and the reference found in William's will to "my Daughter-in-law, Mary" is interpreted in purely modern terms.

The Massacre of William Wigginton's Wife & Children
The following collection of records report the incidents associated with the attack on William's wife and children. It is important to note that there is a difference of interpretation as to whether of not the wife and attacked children died from their injuries. Consequently, it remains an uncertainty as to whether there were other children than those named above in the family.
A report in the Overwharton Parrish Register dated July 9, 1697 stated that upon returning home from work, he (William Wigginton) found that his wife and three of his small children had been murdered by a band of Indians at an outlying building near their home which was on the head waters of the Aquia Creek. This is located in Stafford County, near the present site of the Quantico Marine Base just off of the Potomac River.
The following article: "The Migration of the Piscataways", from pages 94 - 95 of Landmarks of Old Prince William describes that event.
"--- succeeded in converting and baptising the 'Tayac' (as they called the Emperor) and all his family. They then took his daughter and only child to St. Mary's (Maryland) and educated her as a Christian. This Mary thus became the Maryland Pocahontas: as we have seen, she married an Englishman, Capt. Giles Brent, then of the Maryland Council, and with him reared a dusky race. In 1666 the Maryland government cemented this relationship by making a formal treaty with a successor Emperor and henceforth, the Piscataways were tributaries. As the English settlements spread, new lands were assigned to them north of the Eastern branch and they apparently reside for some years on the site of Washington city, probably at the mouth of Rock Creek. In consequence of their taking the field with the Maryland troops in the Susquehonnock War of 1676,they earned the hatred of the Iroquois, and in 1680 petitioned for and were granted permission to move back among the Maryland inhabitants as protection against the incursions of their enemies. A location was found for them in Zachaia Swamp, on what is now called the Mattowoman Creek, In Charles County, but even there they had to withstand a siege of the Iroquois in 1681 while Maryland hesitated about going to their assistance.
At the treaty of Lancaster in 1744, the Iroquois maintained that they had conquered the Piscataways as well as the Susquehonnocks, but it does not appear that in both cases they did so in the field. It seems it was the practice of the Maryland Indians to poach in the Iroquois hunting preserve in the interior of Old Prince William and, undoubtedly, during the decade after the unscuccessful siege of Zachaia fort, whenever the Iroquois caught them in Virginia, they ruthlessly cut them off; but the ultimate subjection of the Piscataways was accomplished more by guile than by arms. The Long House taunted them with the failure of Maryland to protect them in 1681, pointed out that they were becoming mere women living surrounded by the English, and beaconed them to join forces with those who could and would make men of them. By the end of the century theses temptations became resistless. The Emperor complained to the Maryland government that he was unable to control his young men; that they were being seduced by evil influences. Eventually radical counsels prevailed at Zachaia and the whole tribe abandoned Maryland. Suddenly and without warning, but, of course with the consent of the Iroquois, the Piscataways moved across the Potomac and into the back country of Old Prince William, and thus came into direct contact with the Virginia government.
The immediate cause of this move was dramatic enough. Early in the spring of 1697 and Indian of the Maryland Pamunkeys, called Squire Tom, was hunting at the falls of the Potomac and there fell in with 'some of those Seniquos that live in the mountains, amongst which last was a Susquehannah, a great man, whose name was Mongres'. This Mongres took Squire Tom apart, presented him with a large belt of Peak and told him his Nation was ruined by the English assisted by the Piscattowasy and now they were no people, that he had still tears in his Eyes when he though of it. Wherefore, the wiley Mongres confided to Tom that 'not being able to do anything publique he must take his revenge in private' and he added that it should be east to contrive that any crime he committed should be laid to the Emperor of Piscataway. The guileless Tom, flattered by the confidence, was stirred to see in all this an opportunity to distinguish himself, which, of course, was exactly what Mongres had intended. He proceeded forthwith to enlist seven others of his tribesmen and with their aid murdered the wife of one William Wigenton and three children at an outlying house on the head of Aquia. Though they escaped to the woods, Tom and his colleagues were soon run down and apprehended by George Mason, who brought them before the Stafford Court, where they duly testified that the Emperor was the real criminal. Much alarmed, that potentate came over to Stafford and vigorously defended himself, finally extracting a confession of the true story from one of Tom's accomplices. Stafford thereupon hanged seven of the criminals, but to the chagrin of all the frontier, Tom himself escaped. He fled into Maryland where Nicholson, now Governor of that province, issued a futiel proclamation offering a reward for his arrest. Tom had been spirited away by the Iroquois and disappeared forever from the stage of history.
From A Collected Memory of the Wiginton Family on page 6, by Rev. Henry L. Wiginton: "At a Council held at Mr. Secretry Wormelys, Ye 11th August, 1697 --- His Excellency laid before the Council letters from Captain George Mason , Commander and Chief of the Militia of Stafford County and Examinations taken ye sd County, of some Indians taken for the scalping and manening and dangerously wounding the wife of Wm. Wiggington and three of their children in sd County, ---. Executive Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, Vol. 1, page 370. Published by the Virginia State Library, H.R. McIlwaine, editor.
From Executive Journals, Council of Colonial Virginia pages 370-71:

"At a Council held at Mr. Secetary Wormelys ye 11th August 1697
Present His Excellency, Ralph Wormely, Edward Hill, Richard Lee,
Edmond Jennings, Wm. Byrd, Richard Johnson, Chr: Wormely, John Lightfoot Esquire
His Excellency aquainted the Council of the Arivall of the Honorable Vice Admirall Nevill into James River with a Considerable Squadron of his Majesties Ships of Warr, and that he had dispatched orders to all the adjacent Parts, for bringing them in fresh Provisions, and also for Sloopes and Shallops for their Watering, which Vice Admiral Nevill signified they were in wont of, and desired the councill what further Necessary to be done, who are of Opinion that Nothing more can be done, but what Sloopes are adjacent be prest for this Extraordinary Service.
His Excellency laid before the Councill letters from Capt. George Mason Commander in Cheif of the Militia in Stafford County and Examinations taken ye 27th of July last by the Collrs. and Militia Officers of ye said County, of some Indians taken for the scalping and mameing and dangerously wounding the Wife of Wm.. Wiggington & three of their children in the said County, It is the Opinion of the Councill, that a Commission of Oyeer & Teminer doe Issue; to some Gent, to sit in ye said County for Tryall of the said Fact, and his Excellency is disired to Issue one Accordingly. the Persons following were named and Appointed Commissioners, Richard Lee, Xtrophr Wormely, Edward Hill,, Richard Johnson of his Majesties Councill for this colony, Rober Carter speaker of ye house of Burgesses, George Mason, Wm. Taylor, Lawrence Washington, Malacky Peal, Mathew Thompson, John Harvey, Wm. Buckner, Richard Fosaker, & Thomas Owesly or any five of Them, whereof one of the Councill aforesaid to be always one, and to Continue in force three Days from the last of this Month.
His Excellency laid before the Councill a letter from Mr. Auditor Bird of an English man being shott in Appomattox by an Indian, and Mr. Auditor being present said he had been up in those parts, and that there was no more of it, but that the Indian being then single rann away so soon as he had shott, and can't be heard of, and that all were quiet in those parts, on which his Excellency asked if any Orders or Directions to be given therein. The Council think not any Necessary."
From America and West Indies page 579: entry 1, 237 dated August 11, 1697: "Minutes of Council of Virginia. The Governor reported the arrival of Vice-Admiral Nevill in James River with a considerable squadron, who had sent orders to all inhabitants to bring fresh provisions and sloops and shallops for watering. Resolved to impress what craft are adjacent for the latter service. Letters from Captain George Mason, Comander-in-Chief of the Militia of Stafford County were read, reporting the scalping and maiming of the wife and three children of William Wiggington by some Indians. four of the council, with the Speaker of the House of Burgesses and nine others were appointed a Commission to enquiere into the matter. Auditor Byrd reported the shooting of a man by Indians in Appomattox, but that the said Indians had disappeared at the first shot fired at them, and that all was now quiet, whereupon the Council thought it unnecessary to give any orders."
From Executive Journals, Council of Colonial Virginia, page 372: At a Councill held at James Citty ye 20th October 1697
Present: His Excellency, Richard Lee, Richard Johnson, William Bird, Cha. Scarburgh, Christopher Wormely, John Lightfoot Esquire, Edmond Jennings
" His Excellency was please to advise with the the Councill If anything to be said to the General Assembly ( to meet tomorrow) perticularly relateing to ye County, On Consideration thereof, It is ye Opinion of the Councill that an Account of ye Piscattoway Indians, comeing from Maryland & sitting down on this side Potomack River, and of a Woman and three Children in Stafford County dangerously wounded by Indians, with the papers & proceedings thereupon be laid before the Generall Assembly."
From Executive Journals, Council of Colonial Virginia p. 375: "James Citty November ye 4th 1697 (a part of a letter addressed to the Governor General of Virginia) "It being thought Necessary by his Excellency ye Governor, Councill and C of his Majesties Province of Maryland, for his Majesties Service, & the peace & safey of that province, to command us ye subscribers to attend your Excellency & lay before you some things relateing to ye Indians, and late Murther committed by Indians unknown & c In obedience whereunto, Wee attend your Excellency and humbly offer that wee are ready to acquaint your Excellency of the Circumstances of the said late Murther & c.
That for as much as the said late Murther has been committed by Indians unknown to the Government of Maryland, Therefore his Excellency the Governor & Council of Maryland desires your Excellency to cause Enquiry to be Made after ye said Murtherers within you government as has been lately done in Maryland by his Excellency the Governor for ye said seizing and apprehending of an Indian called Esquire Tom, that fled to that Province, from ye hands of Justice in Virginia.----"
From The Story of Stafford, A Narrative History of Stafford County, Virginia by John T. Goolrick, Stafford, Virginia 1976 pp. 51-52
"A border county, in a country far from settled - it was still a half a century in the French and Indian Wars - Stafford was always on the alert, in this late days of the 1600's. In 1664, the Assembly made new provisions for protection, under the title, "An act for the Better Defense of the Country". In which to prevent "murthers, depredations, incursions, and spoiles by the Indians" which seemed to be numerous it was provided that four troops of horsemen, each to contain 30 able men, should be raised and paid. Of these, two were in Stafford, one on the upper Rappahannock, one on the upper Potomac. Thus, when there were no settlers above the Falls of the Rivers, placed the troops along the Tidewater reaches, and in Stafford. The pay for each Captain to be 10,000 pounds of tabacco a year. In an accompanying act, provision was made and funds provided for Col. George Mason and Captain John West, both of Stafford, to build boats for the transportation of troops across the river, one boat to be kept at Occaquan and one at a fit place on the Rappahannock. In 1697 it was provided that these Rangers should continue in service.
In spite of these precautions, Stafford was to suffer another Indian outrage, Aquia.
In 1697, an Indian, a Pamunky, called "Squire Tom" hunting on the Potomac, fell in with some Senecas, who were wandering in this hunting ground. "Squire Tom" was a simple fellow. The Senecas were wise. They told him that his people were ruled by the Piscataways. Tom became incensed and being instigated, got some kindred spirit and attacked the home of William Wigginton, at Aquia village, while Wigginton was away in the afternoon. They murdered Wigginton's wife and three children and burned his home, and escaped. But Colonel George Mason and the rangers ran him down, and took him to Stafford Court House, at Marborough, where he was tried. Simple Squire Tom and his followers told the Court they had been incited by the Emperor of the Mongoa, and he was the real criminal. The Emperor came across the Potomac to protest, and got a confession from Tom's accomplices. This was at Marlborough, then Stafford Courthouse, and here, within a few days after Wigginton's family was murdered, in the Spring of 1697, the Sheriff, who was George Mason, who as Colonel Mason captured Tom, hanged seven of the accused Indians, before a large concourse of citizens and Indians.
A different source gives a different interpretation and more vivid detail of the attack as follows from Captains and Mariners of Early Maryland, "Tomohawks, Liquor and Provincial Justice", pages 369-370:
"The provincial authorities were not always willing to assume juridiction in Indian affairs. When, for example, the King of the Chopitoes asked the Maryland Governor and his Council to investigated circumstances surrounding the murder of his uncle, the late King, by his own subjects, the Indian Ruler was told that it was a 'crime committed by themselves to themselves, soe (sic) they must punish them amongst themselves according to their owne lawes & customes.' So far all of the criminal offences that have been considered were committed in Maryland. What if a Maryland Indian was guilty of some criminal offence in another colony? It was in July, 1697, that Mrs. William Wiggenton, who lived on the Acquia creek in Virginia, was washing of butter at the Spring, when there came two Indians to her and, and as she was Striving to get over a fence to make her escape, they knocht her down. When she Came to her Self, she felt her breast very Sore and her scalp all taken off except a little hair on her forehead." A Docktor Tanckardson, who was afterwardds called in to treat her wounds, shaid 'that her right breast had ben cut up by the Indians with a knive, insomuch that when he Came --- the wind puft out like a pair of bellows.' Four of the Wiggenton children were also attacked by the savages. Some of them were wounded but none of them mortally. ^24.
After considering all of the facts in this assult, the Stafford Court authorities of Virginia were of the opinion that the attack on Mrs. Wiggenton was probably made by some of the Indians who lived in southern Maryland. The Emperor of the Piscattaways was sent for and questioned. As a result of his conference, the Virginia officials came to the conclusion 'that the Mischief was done by an Indian Pomunkey, in Maryland, called, Esquire Tom & his party containing about Eight or Ten Indians of that Nation.' Esquire Tom, it was reported, denied being implicated in the assault. He maintained that it was the Emperor of Piscattaway himself who had made the attact and that then, in order to protect himself, he had thrown suspicion on him ' and that on purpose to Cause him and his Gang with him to be apprehended.' It was also part of the the Emperor's plan, said Esquire Tom, to bring the Pomunkeys and the Ma--womans into disreute with the white settlers so that the English would drive them from among them.' Another explanation of the attack on the attack on the Wiggentons was that one of the surviving members of the Susquehannoncks was responsible for the murder. A Susquehannock Indian whose name was Monges, it was alleged 'had much private Communication with Esquire Tom, and told him that his Nation was ruined by the English assisted by the Piscattaways, & that now they were no People." Monges, with 'tears in his Eyes whe he thought of it,' decided to try to induce Esquire Tom to help him take his revenge by killing some of the English then endeavor to put the blame for the outrage upon the Piscattaway Indians ^25."
Gary Edward Young wrote: "Several have written, based mainly on the Virginia records, that William Wigginton of Stafford's wife and children were killed by the Indians. Fortunately, the answer to that mystery can be found here in Maryland from Capt. George Mason wrote some letters regarding the matter to authorities in Maryland since the Indians responsible for the attack were believed to have fled into Maryland. the letters may be found in the published Proceedings of the Council of Maryland, 1696 -98 in the published series called the Archives of Maryland. On page 182 is a letter from Mason to Colonel Addison:" the Indians did att the House of Wm Wigentons on Ocquio in the heart of our County kill as they though a Woman and three Children; they did mortaly wound them, the womans head was clean flead and stab'd in the side with a great knife, but thank God, all of them are alive and like to recover....' "
From Calendar of State Papers, Vol. 1, 1652-1781, p. 60 regarding Stafford Co. Va. Compaint against Squire Tom: "To his Excellency F.N., Esq'r, his Majesties Lt. & Govern'r Generall of Virg'a; the Hon'able Councell of State; the Right Worshipfull Mr. Speaker, & the Worshipfull house of Burgases, & c:
Wee, the Inhabitants of Stafford County, hereunto subscribing, Doe offer to our Representatives this Day Legaly chosen, These following Agreivances:
Imp'rs:
That it Being noe less for the Hon'r of God, the Safety of the People, that Innocent Blood Inhumanly spilt should be justly Revenged, wee Desire that Bloody Villiane, Esq'r Tomm, a Convict upon Record, may be Demanded & Brought in by the Emperor of Piscataway, who now entertains him and protects him from Condigne Punishment.
(signed by) Robt. Alexander, Edward E. B. Barton, Thomas Baxter, Giles Vanderasteale, Hugh --, John Waugh, Jnr., Thomas ----, John Simpson, David Straughan, Burr Harrison, G. Mason, Math. Thompson, Ric'd ffaftaker (sic) Philip Buckner, William Williams, Jno Washington, Robert Collson, Jo. Mason, Jo Coale, Thos Owsley and others.

From Five Generations of the Family of Burr Harrison of Virginia 1650 to 1800, pp. 34-35 by John P. Alcock: "As we have noted, Burr Harrison Sr. probably had employed Indians as hunters and servants and had acted on at least on occasion as an interrogator of some friendly tribesman. Thus the younger Burr may have learned to speak Algonquian. This may be a reason he was chosen with a companion to undertake a mission to the Chief of the Piscataway tribe.
The crisis that necessitated a journey to the Indian camp had begun late in 1698, when the residents of Stafford, including Harrison, petition the governor and the General Assembly sitting at Jameston demanding that the 'bloody villain' Esquire Tomm ---- be brought in by the Emperor of the Piscataway who entertains him and protects him from condign punishment'. 'Squire Tom' was a Pamunkey Indian who the year before had killed the wife of William Wigginton.
Governor Nicholson in answer order the justices of Stafford to send one or more messengers to the Emperor, ' who had fled from his Majesty's province of Maryland with his nation of Indians about two years ago.' They were to command the chieftan to appear before the governor in two months' time and to give a full account of their journey and their observations at the Indian fort.
Immediately the justices replied that they had selected 'two substantial persons inhabitance of this county to wit Mr. Giles Vandecasteel and Mr. Burr Harrison' to be the emissaries. The two 'ambassadors' submitted a full report, as soon as they got back from their undertaking.

William married ???.