Colonel John West, Jr. of

West Point, Virginia West Point (formerly Delaware) is an incorporated town in King William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 3,306 at the 2010 census. Geography West Point is located at (37.543733, −76.805366). The York River is formed at West ...

(1632–1691) was a planter, commander of the New Kent Militia in the

Colony of 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 ...

, and represented the county in the

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established ...

, as would his sons.

Early and family life

John West was born on June 6, 1632 at Bellfield Plantation, York River, Virginia. He was the child of Captain John West, Virginia Governor and his wife Anne Percy, daughter of George Percy and Anne Floyd. His father received an extra land grant because John was the first child of English parents born in the York River area.

Career

West farmed using enslaved labor. In 1659, West's father died, the last of the four sons of

Thomas West, 2nd Baron De La Warr Thomas West, 2nd and 11th Baron De La Warr ( ; c. 1550 – 24 March 1601/1602) of Wherwell Abbey, Hampshire, was a member of Elizabeth I's Privy Council. Biography Thomas West was the eldest son of William West, 1st Baron De La Warr, by his firs ...

who came to Virginia. In recognition of the family's contributions to the colonial enterprise, the Virginia Assembly passed the following Act: John West also served in the militia from 1652 to 1673, ending with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He supported Governor Berkeley during

Bacon's Rebellion Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion held by Colony of Virginia, Virginia settlers that took place from 1676 to 1677. It was led by Nathaniel Bacon (Virginia colonist), Nathaniel Bacon against List of colonial governors of Virginia, Colon ...

in 1676, during which rebels imprisoned him and damaged his property. After its suppression, West also served as a member of the courts-martials which tried captured rebels. However, the rebellion caused an official investigation and the report of the Commissioners noted: Beginning in 1680 until his death in 1691 West represented New Kent County (part-time) in the House of Burgesses.

Family

By 1664, West married

Unity Croshaw Unity Croshaw was a colonist of British Colonial Virginia, the first surviving European colony in North America. Born in the colony, she was the daughter of Major Joseph Croshaw, and a granddaughter of Raleigh Croshaw, who came to the Colony of ...

, daughter of Major Joseph Croshaw of York, member of the

. The children of Colonel John and Unity Croshaw were: *

John West III John West III (1666–1734) was a justice and sheriff of King and Queen County and a House of Burgesses representative for King William County, all in the Colony of Virginia. He was the eldest son of Colonel John West, and grandson of John West ...

; married Judith Armistead. *

Nathaniel West Nathanael West (born Nathan Weinstein; October 17, 1903 – December 22, 1940) was an American writer and screenwriter. He is remembered for two darkly satirical novels: ''Miss Lonelyhearts'' (1933) and ''The Day of the Locust'' (1939), set re ...

, married, as her second husband, Martha Woodard, widow of

Gideon Macon Gideon (or Gedeon) Macon (c. 1648–1702) was an early American settler.Cabell, James Branch. "The Majors and Their Marriages 1915" The W.C. Hill Printing Co., 1915 There are conflicting theories regarding Gideon Macon's lineage. The one which ...

and grandmother of

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 21, 1731 — May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington served as the inaugural ...

. *Anne West; married Henry Fox. *Captain Thomas Oliphant West (1670 West Point, VA – 23 December 1740, New Kent, VA); married Agnes Frances Estes Burton (1670–1720). They had five children: Nathaniel (1692–1727), Col. Francis (1702–1786), Virginia Agnes West (1705–1750; married Richard Thomas Gregory (1713–1742)), Anne (1714–1780), and Thomas (1718–1808). West was said to have fathered a son with the Pamunkey leader

Cockacoeske Cockacoeske (also spelled ''Cockacoeskie'') (ca. 1640 – ca. 1686) was a 17th-century leader of the Pamunkey tribe in what is now the U.S. state of Virginia. During her thirty-year reign, she worked with the English colony of Virginia, tryin ...

about 1656, several years before West's marriage to Unity Croshaw. The child became known as Captain John West. Although there is evidence that Col. West was living apart from his wife in 1685, the year before Cockacoeske's death, the reasons for their separation remain unknown.

Death and legacy

West died in 1691, because records show his will dated November 15, 1689, was probated in that year. However, a courthouse fire in 1787 destroyed most county records, including that will.New Kent County, Virginia Genealogy Project
/ref> All three of his sons would become major landowners and serve in the House of Burgesses.

Ancestry

References

Sources

* "The Powhatan Indians of Virginia: Their Traditional Culture. Rountree, Helen C., University of Oklahoma Press, 1989. * "Cockacoeske, Queen of Pamunkey: Diplomat and Suzeraine." W. Martha W. McCartney. * "Powhatan's Mantle: Indians in the Colonial Southeast by Peter H. Wood. * "A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire" by John Burke, Esq. Fourth Edition. In Two Volumes. VOL. I. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1834. Delaware, Earl Pg. 333-335 (pdf pg. 373-375) Notes on the ancestral pedigree of the West family: https://play.google.com/books/reader?printsec=frontcover&output=reader&id=Cq8KAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA333 * "A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire" by John Burke, Esq. Fourth Edition. In Two Volumes. VOL.I. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1834. House of La Warr. Pg. 335-336. (pdf pg. 375-376) Notes on the ancestral pedigree of the La Warr family: https://play.google.com/books/reader?printsec=frontcover&output=reader&id=Cq8KAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA333 {{DEFAULTSORT:West, John 1632 births 1691 deaths Virginia colonial people John West II People from West Point, Virginia de:Bacon's Rebellion