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The Broughalls of Colonial
Virginia |
Caroline County lies almost midway between Washington, D.C. and
Richmond, Virginia. It was formed in 1727 from the northern parts of
Essex, King William and King and Queen Counties. During the first five
years of its existence, court was conducted in the homes of various
magistrates and no records were maintained. Only after the House
of Burgesses found that "Except for buying beer for its comfort and
enjoyment, the Magistrates of Caroline [were] derelict in their
duties". Instead of building a courthouse and jail they met in
their respective homes and charged the sheriff with keeping the
prisoners at his manor. After a prisoner escaped, the
legislature passed a law requiring the construction of a court house
and demanded that records be properly maintained. This was
accomplished by May of 1732 when the first formal court convened and
permanent court records were established.
In 1861, Virginia joined the other states that had previously
succeeded from the Union and Richmond was designated capitol of the
newly formed Confederate States of America. Caroline officials
immediately recognized that their county's strategic position would
bring the Civil War to their doorstep and sent many of their county
records to Richmond for safe keeping, as did King William, King and
Queen and many other counties. But the Confederacy was defeated, much of
Richmond was burned, and countless early records were destroyed.
Caroline County lost its Wills, Deeds, Land Records, Guardian Bonds, and
many other records. Only its Court Orders survive, which apparently the
clerk did not feel were important enough to send to Richmond. They
contain a wealth of information, but the books are old, the ink is
faded, the handwriting is often difficult to read and the books are not
indexed.
Because of their genealogical and historic importance, Fred Dorman,
publisher of the Virginia Genealogist abstracted and published
those from 1732 through 1765. Sam and Ruth Sparacio of McLean, Virginia,
have picked up where he left off and have so far published three works,
carrying these records through 1768. During colonial times, the Anglican
Church was charged with maintaining marriage, birth and death records;
they were not kept by the county. Caroline County contained three
parishes - St. Mary's ran along the southern bank of the Rappahannock
River; St. Margaret Parish was on the west side of the Mattaponi River
and Drysdale on the east side. The records for all three parishes have
disappeared.
Because of such losses, researching families in Virginia's burned
record counties is extremely difficult. Until more court orders are
published, there is little information on the Broughills of Caroline
after 1768.
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The 1790 and 1800 Censuses of Virginia have been
lost, believed destroyed when the British burned Washington during the
War of 1812. The 1790 Census has been somewhat recreated by
State Tax Lists. The Caroline Tax List for 1783 lists William Broughill in Caroline County with one tithable white
and five slaves. "Tithes" were essentially a tax based on head
count made on males between the ages of 16 and 65. Since William was too
old to have been tithable (he was then 71), the tithable white must have
been John Broughill. The five slaves indicate a small plantation.
A spot check of later Caroline Court Orders
revealed reference to a 1791 suit "Nunn vs. Broughills." The
plural use of the name establishes that William was survived by more
than one family member. |
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19th & 20th Century
Virginia |
No Broughall, Broughill, etc.
appears in the Virginia Census Indexes of 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, or
1860. Apparently the Broughill name died with John and William Jr.
During World War I, Thomas Jefferson Broyhill,
the great grandson of James, moved with his children to Hopewell,
Virginia. They left many descendants. Most live in northern Virginia, not
far from Caroline County. |
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