The Aylett family of Virginia was a prominent family in
King William County
King William County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,810. Its county seat is King William.
King William County is located in the Middle Peninsula and is included in the Greater R ...
in
Colonial Virginia
The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...
which also supplied several brides to the Washington and Lee families. The family descended from Thomas Aylett (1570-1650) of Hovells, in Coggleshall, Essex, via his son William (1607- 1677) who became a merchant taylor in London. It was his son William (?1640-1679) who moved to Virginia.
Aylett, Virginia
Aylett is an unincorporated community in King William County, Virginia, United States. It is located where Virginia State Route 360 crosses the Mattaponi River. William Aylett and his family had several prominent warehouses and mills in the area. ...
is named for the family.
Notable members of the family include:
* Col
William Aylett Jr. (c. 1667 - 1732) -- Founder of
Fairfield Plantation where he probably lived from about 1704. Probable son of William Aylett and Lydia Aylett. Married Anne of unknown family. Father of Philip Aylett, Capt. William Aylett III; John Aylett; Benjamin Aylett; Lydia Aylett Boyd (later Herron), Ann Aylett Curtis; Elizabeth Aylett Buckner, Jane Aylett Buckner. Step brother of Jerome Ham Jr.; John Hubbard; Rebecca Edloe (Hubbard); Matthew Hubbard and Matthew Hubbard. First clerk of the Council of Burgesses when King William County was formed in 1702.
* Captain William Aylett III (c. 1703 - August 28, 1744) - Son of Col. William Aylett and Anne Aylett, Wm III married twice (Ann Ashton and Elizabeth Eskridge, later Steptoe) had four daughters, Elizabeth and Anne from his first marriage, and a second Anne and Mary from his second marriage. His Daughter Elizabeth, who was probably the oldest, married Col. William Booth and lived at the Aylett family's
Nomini Plantation;
his first daughter Anne married George Washington's half brother
Augustine Washington Jr. and lived at
Pope's Creek.
* Col
William Aylett (Sep. 12, 1743 - Apr. 12, 1781) - He married, in 1766, Mary, daughter of Col. James Macon and Elizabeth Moore, of Kennington. He had inherited the Aylett plantation, "Fairfield" in King William County, from his father Philip Aylett. Burgess for King William Co., Va., at the assemblies of 1772-1774 and 1775–1776. Member of the Conventions of 1774-1775-1776. Resigned from the convention to accept commission as Deputy Commissary General in Virginia. Died at
Battle of Yorktown
The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...
. His eldest son, Philip (1767-1831) married Elizabeth Henry, a daughter of
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...
.
* Col.
William Aylett represented King William County in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1801–1806.
* Col William Roane Aylett (May 14, 1833 - Aug. 8, 1900) - Lived at the Aylett family's Montville Plantation. Great-grandson of
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...
. Married to Alice Roane Brockenbrough with whom he fathered 12 children. Practiced law; served as colonel of the
53rd Virginia Infantry Regiment in the
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
and was present at
Pickett's Charge
Pickett's Charge (July 3, 1863), also known as the Pickett–Pettigrew–Trimble Charge, was an infantry assault ordered by Confederate General Robert E. Lee against Major General George G. Meade's Union positions on the last day of the B ...
during which he took temporary command of the 53rd. Letters of his are available at the
Virginia Historical Society
The Virginia Museum of History and Culture founded in 1831 as the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a major repository, research, and teaching center for Virginia history. It is a private, n ...
.
* Patrick Henry Aylett (19 May 1825 - 27 Apr 1870) was the elder brother of William Roane Aylett and a Prosecuting Attorney, becoming Distract Attorney for the
. He also provided editorial material for the
Richmond Examiner
The ''Richmond Examiner'', a newspaper which was published before and during the American Civil War under the masthead of ''Daily Richmond Examiner'', was one of the newspapers published in the Confederate capital of Richmond. Its editors viewe ...
, and fought a duel with O Jennings Wise of the Richmond Enquirer 15 July 1859, which both survived, over their opposed positions on intervention/non-intervention of Congress with respect to slavery in the territories (Wise for intervention, Aylett for non-intervention).
[London Times 24 July 1859 p9] He was killed in the 1870
Virginia State Capitol
The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. (The first two were Jamestown and Williamsburg.) It houses the oldest elected ...
collapse.
References
{{reflist
Families from Virginia