Captain Henry Tyler
Captain Henry Tyler (circa 1710-1777) was descended from the prominent
family of that name in York County, Virginia. In 1736 he succeeded Thomas
Claiborne, Esq. (January 9, 1704-December 1, 1735) as clerk of Stafford County;
he has served from 1731 until the time of his death.
As the office of county clerk was then an appointive position and
residence in the county not necessary, Henry Tyler probably came to Stafford
County from the vicinity of Williamsburg, Virginia, bringing his commission. He
served as clerk of the court until his death; for forty one years his
distinctive and beautiful handwriting adorn such of the records of that period
which have been preserved. He married circa 1738 Alice Strother ( circa
1719- circa 1792), daughter of William Strother, Gentleman, ( circa
1696-1733) and Margaret Watts, his wife. Margaret
(Watts) Strother, widow, married secondly Captain John Grant, widower of Hester
Foote who he married on August 17, 1727 in saint Paul’s Parish, and with him
in 1738 sold Ferry Farm, the plantation of her first husband, to Captain
Augustine Washington (1694-1743) who died there. Captain John Grant left issue
by both wives and died testate in Prince William County about 174/8; he must not
be confused ( tho he has been!) with Captain John Grant ( circa
1704-1762) of King George County who is mentioned on page 135.
The will of Captain Henry Tyler was recorded in now lost Stafford County
Will Book “N” ( 1767-1783), page 357. Henry and Alice ( Strother) Tyler had
issue, viz:
(1) Betty Tyler (#). Susanna Fitzhugh, daughter of
John Fitzhugh of Bellaire, was born February 5, 1756 and was baptized “by the
Rev. Mr. Moncure and had four sureties Mr. And Mrs. Moncure, Mr. Henry Tyler and
Miss Betty, his daughter,” says the Fitzhugh family register.
(2) Thomas Gowry Strother Tyler ( circa
1740-1816) succeeded his father as clerk of Stafford County court and acted in
that capacity for many years. Like his father his penmanship is distinctive and
beautiful. He married Ann Fisher Adie (1756-18), daughter of William Adie
(1731-1797): they were separated after having a large family of children, viz:
(a) George Rodney Tyler who died without issue in 1809; (b) Thomas Tyler; ( c )
William Henry Tyler; (d) Elizabeth Adie Tyler; (e) John Cooke Tyler; (f) Alice
P. Tyler ( who was living in Stafford County in 1855); and (g) Mary Ann Tyler
who married Thomas E. Baird of Alexandria, Virginia.
(3) John Tyler, born April 17, 1743; he is said to
have been insane and was taken by his sister, Mrs. Maze, to Georgia.
(4) Henry Tyler, baptized August 18, 1746; he died
testate in Prince William County in 1820. He served as a midshipman in the Navy
during the Revolutionary War and also in Lee’s Legion at the siege of
Yorktown. He was unmarried.
(5) Anna Tyler, baptized January 30, 1749; she
married Robert Maze and moved to Georgia about 1800 taking with her an insane
brother and a spinster sister (#), but if Betty or Mary Tyler the chancery
papers do not say.
(6) Mary Tyler (#), baptized March 20, 1751.
(7) Sally Tyler married George Steptoe Blackwell of
Fauquier County, Virginia.
In 1787 Alice (Strother) Tyler and her son John Tyler appear on the Personal Tax lists of Stafford County; in 1791 she last appears paying tax on seven slaves. In 1792 the Estate of Henry Tyler was taxed on six slaves, indicating his widow was deceased. The 300 acre plantation of Captain Henry Tyler was sold to Henry Fitzhugh of Bellaire in 1798.
Major Benjamin Strother ( circa 1700-1765), son of Captain William
Strother ( circa
1665-1726) and Margaret Thornton, his wife, of King George County, was
a brother of William Strother, Gentleman, ( circa 1696-1733)
previously mentioned. Major Strother married first circa 1726 Mary
(Mason) Fitzhugh, widow of George Fitzhugh, Gentleman,
(169?-1722),
who represented Stafford County in the House of Burgesses in 1718, and daughter
of Colonel George Mason (16 -1716)
and Mary Fowke, his first wife, by whom she had an only child to survive
infancy, Colonel William Fitzhugh (1721-1798) who removed to Maryland.
Colonel William Fitzhugh and his cousin William Fitzhugh, Esquire of
Chatham, were both intimate acquaintances of Colonel George Washington and both
often at Mount Vernon. However, in various published accounts these two William
Fitzhughs have been confused and misidentified.
Major Benjamin and Mary (Mason) Strother had issue three daughters only,
viz:
(1) Margaret Strother (circa 1730- May 31,
1761) who married first on October 26, 1750 John Murdock (17
-1759), son of Jeremiah Murdock, Gentleman, of King George County; he
died without issue in Stafford County. She married secondly on March 10, 1760
Colonel William Bronough (1730-1800), son of Colonel Jeremiah Bronough
(1702-1749) and Sympha Rose Ann Field Mason (1703-1761) of King George and
Fairfax counties, by whom she had an only child, Mary Mason Bronough who married
on October 2, 1792 her cousin William Fowke and died without issue. Colonel
William Bronough (1730-1800) married secondly on October 13, 1762, Mary
(Doniphan) Cooke (July 10, 1737- December 26, 1781), daughter of Mott Doniphan,
Gentleman, previously mentioned, and widow of Travers Cooke, Gentleman, (17
-1759), subsequently mentioned, by whom he had seven children. On
February 27, 1783 Colonel William Bronough married thirdly Rebecca Craine and
had three children. Hs will, together with many records of the family, are in
Loudoun County, Va.
(2) Alice Strother (November 30, 1732- December
, 1795) married on December 16, 1756, Robert Washington, Gentleman, (
January 25, 1730- circa 1800) of Woodstock, Saint Paul’s Parish,
Stafford County, son of Townshend and Elizabeth (Lund) Washington of Green Hill,
Saint Paul’s Parish. This couple had several children among whom was Lund
Washington ( 1767-1853), postmaster
of Washington, D.C., to whom we are indebted for a most informative family
manuscript written about 1848 in which he records many genealogical facts of
several Stafford County families which would otherwise have been lost. He
married first on February 11, 1793 Susanna Monroe Grayson ( May 29, 1768- April
20, 1822) , daughter of the Reverend Mr. Spence Grayson (1734-1798), and
secondly on April 11, 1823, Sally Johnson ( October 9, 1797- August 15, 1871),
daughter of John Johnson of Worchester County, Maryland.
Lund Washington left issue by both wives; he and some other members of
his family are buried in the Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
(3) Ann Strother was married by the Reverend Mr.
William Stuart, rector of Saint
Paul’s Parish, on September 16, 1763 to John James ( circa 1732-circa
1794). He was administrator of the estate of his father-in-law, Major Benjamin
Strother, and seems to have succeeded to his plantation near Potomac Church. The
inventory of his estate was recorded in now
missing Stafford County Will Nook “Y” (1793-1804), page 83.
On March 6, 1789 Lund Washington, Senior, ( 1737-1796) wrote General
George Washington relating a report heard by his nephew Lund Washington (
Junior) (1767-1853) while he was lately in Stafford County: John James of
Stafford County said “that we should have a very pretty President at the head
of our new government one who had paid off his debts within the time of the War
with paper money altho it had been lent to him in specia.” Lund Washington
informs the General that the report was started by Colonel Mason and adds, “he
is no friend of yours.”
John and Ann (Strother) James had a large family of
whom there is considerable detail in the Lund Washington manuscript.
John James was the son of George James, Gentleman, of Fredericksburg, who
died in 1753 leaving a handsome estate in Spotsylvania, Stafford and Prince
William counties, and Mary Wheeler, his wife, only child of John Wheeler,
Gentleman, (1684-1746) of Overwharton Parish who bequeathed to his grandson John
James all his land in Prince William County.
Major Benjamin Strother married secondly on December 6, 1760 Elizabeth ( Rowzee) Waller Peyton (circa 1715-182, widow of Charles Waller, Gentleman, ( 17 -1749) and John Peyton, Gentleman, ( 1691-1760) both of Stafford County. There is an account of Major Benjamin Strother and his wives in Tyler’s Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Volume 19, pages 224-227 and the Reverend Horace E. Hayden in his Virginia Genealogies, pages 495-498, details the family of John Peyton (1691-1760) of Stony Hill.