Valentine Prentice of Virginia

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Valentine Prentice of Virginia
By Linus Joseph Dewald Jr., Editor
Winter 1999 and Revised 8 Jul 2004

In our Winter 1997 article about Prentice, Valentine, Trapper , we mentioned that we had found some information about a Valentine Prentice in Virginia in a treatise published in 1984 by the Roots Research Bureau, NY, NY. The pertinent portion reads:

"It is interesting to note that one "Val.", evidently Valentine, Prentice came from England to Westmoreland County, VA, in 1654. But nothing is definitely known of his immediate family or descendants, if any."

The source was not given alongside the quotation, but at the end of the document was a bibliography which references:

1. Virginia Immigrants by Greer, 1912.
2. Colonial Families of the US, V. 8, 1920. by Mackenzie.
3. William and Mary Quarterly. 1897-1898 and 1898-1899.
4. VA Magazine of History and Biography. V. 32, 1924.
5. Encycl. of VA Biography, v. 1, 1915.

We know he is not the Valentine Prentice, b. 1599, who immigrated to Massachusetts in 1631 because he died in 1633.
It is unclear who the VALENTINE is who "arrived in Virginia in 1654" might be. The earliest known descendant of the 1599 VALENTINE bearing that same name was not born until about 1683; he was the son of JOHN PRENTICE and ESTHER NICHOLS (Binney96, pg. 417). It almost surely is not VALENTINE'S father because he was born about 1561 and would have been age 93 in 1654.
By E-mail of 2 Oct 1999, Tom Young offered some additional information and observations. They are as follows:

I was grazing past issues of your newsletter and became interested in the [Winter 1997 article] on "Valentine Prentice, Trapper?" I was mostly interested in the fellow known to have been in VA, as our local library has some very good resources (not good enough, it turns out). I'm not sure, if anyone has followed up on this, so here goes:
I looked at the references numbered 1-5 in your article and discovered the following:

* 2. Colonial Families of the US, V. 8, 1920. by Mackenzie. V8 is unknown to our history and genealogy librarian (who's judgement I trust) and that only 7 volumes have been published (and reprinted 2 times). I scanned all 7 volumes and found several Prentice (all spellings) references, but nothing on Valentine.
* 3. William and Mary Quarterly. 1897-1898 and 1898-1899.
* 4. VA Magazine of History and Biography. V. 32, 1924.
* 5. Encycl. of VA Biography, v. 1, 1915.

Each of these contains several Prentice (all spellings) references, but nothing on Valentine.

* 1. Virginia Immigrants by Greer, 1912. This is the one that refers to Valentine's immigration to VA in 1654. It is a book of immigrants mentioned in early VA land patents. The line in question reads:
Prentice, Val., 1654 by Major Miles Carey, Westmoreland Co

I take it that the Major paid for the passage and then received a grant of land for his efforts. I think it's called a headright patent. The payer received 50A (I think) for each immigrant (head) he brought to the colony.
I'm certain there was no family relationship between the parties involved. I suspect the rules on this changed from time to time, so you might want to check into my claim.

I can report several things of interest:

Miles Carey doesn't seem to appear in the records of Westmoreland Co. I did notice a Miles Chafy. It may or may not be the same man.
The speculation that Val. is Valentine is correct. He appears in the records of Westmoreland Co as witness to a deed written 8 Dec 1668, recorded 30 Dec 1668. Another deed written 27 Jul 1674, recorded 28 Oct 1674 is witnessed by Blanche Prentice. Both parcels were in Cople Parrish, Westmoreland Co and were sold by an owner on Harris Creek, Elizabeth City.
I didn't note the parties involved, but saw no evidence the either Valentine or Blanche were related to them. Perhaps they were close neighbors, but the buyer or the seller, I can't say. I'll be back downtown on Monday night and will get the particulars, if you like.

This information suggests several things:

Was Blanche the wife of Valentine? Probably. She is involved with the same folks in the same area.
Did Valentine die between 1668 and 1674? Maybe. She may have been his widow, or he may have been still living, but unavailable to witness the second deed. I checked an index book of all VA wills, but found no reference to him. Perhaps, he died intestate. Our published books on the records of Westmoreland Co are somewhat spotty. I have no available deeds and order books for that time period. That's where information on his estate would appear.
Did Valentine come to America alone? Probably. There are females listed in the Greer book, indicating that their sponsor was intitled to a grant of land for transporting both males & females. If she were his wife, she would have been listed. It is possible they came together, but unmarried. The book is too lengthy to scan for all females named Blanche. I have no access to marrige records of Westmoreland Co.
What became of him? I haven't a clue. I searched the counties around Westmoreland with no success. The most likely place to look is the Westmoreland Co deed and court order books for the period 1668 forward.
Who are his ancestors? I don't know, but he is most certainly descended from the same clan as our Valentine. As he seems to have been unamrried as of 1654 & may have d. between 1668/1674, I would suggest a birth of c1620.

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