This is the first indication that Patrick had a fifth son. Hamilton Parish was located west of Dettingen Parish, (Charles Francis Cocke. Parish Lines Diocese of Virginia. Richmond: The Virginia State Library, 1967. pp. 173 – 174.) where Patrick, Sr. and his other sons lived. (In 1759, it became Fauquier County.) The Elk Run area is just west of Cedar Run, ("John Warner 1737 Survey" AND "Fry & Jefferson Map of 1755" Map Division, Library of Congress.) roughly ten miles southwest of Patrick. Elk Run was a loose assortment of farmhouses and was the first settlement in Fauquier County, although it was closely oriented to Dettingen Parish. (T. Triplett Russell and John K. Gott. Fauquier County in the Revolution. Warranton, VA: Fauquier County American Bicentennial Commission, 1977. p. 5.) Other individuals on this list who are familiar names to Hamrick family researchers include Jno Blackburn -- Benjamin worked for him as an overseer in the 1759 – 1762 timeframe, ("Account Book of Daniel Payne A Merchant at Dumfries, VA" Maryland Historical Society. Folio 165 (Benjamin’s account)) George Reeve -- who was among those appointed to appraise John's estate after he died in early 1757, (Prince William County Order Book 1755 – 1757. p. 257) and Jno, Wm, & Thos Stone.

 

Thomas Stone, along with Richard Melton, who both bordered Patrick’s 1740 grant, (REF: April 28, 1740 plat map) provided the bond for Sarah, John’s widow, as Administrix of his estate. (Prince William County Order Book 1755 – 1757. p. 257) Thomas Stone was also appointed as guardian to one of John’s daughters in 1762. (REF: below comments) John Stone and Thomas Stone had also both owned property near Patrick when he lived in King George County. (Stafford County Deed Book J. pp. 348 – 352. AND King George County Deed Book No. I, Part I. pp. 54 – 57; pp. 114 – 115 (Darnall / Kenyon deed); pp. 249 – 252 (Cale / Thorton deed). AND King George County Deed Book No. I, Part II. pp. 637 – 641 (Cale / Strother deed).) In all likelihood, John’s wife Sarah was a Stone (although it is not proven)—which would explain John’s presence in the Elk Run area; he moved there with the Stone family as an in-law.

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John’s son Nimrod was born no later than 1752 because he must have been at least 21 years old when he witnessed the bonding of another young man (John Hulett) to Thomas Stone in 1773. (Records of Dettingen Parish, Prince William County, Virginia. Dumfries, VA: Historic Dumfries Virginia, Inc., 1976. p. 118.) This suggests John was born by 1730. As such, John would have been at least 17 years old in 1747, but he was not among the 1747 Tithables for Dettingen Parish. (REF: 1747) This fact implies he must have been living on his own in Hamilton Parish as early as that point in time. Since this generally did not occur until an individual was of age, (Albert Alan Rogers. Family Life in Eighteenth Century Virginia. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 1939. p. 273 & 287. AND Edmund S. Morgan. Virginians At Home: Family Life in the Eighteenth Century. Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1952. p. 26.) John must have been born by 1726. In fact, further investigation suggests that John was born even earlier. This is based on the fact John had an older son, who was also named John -- John (II). (Personal interview with Frances Hamrick (Mrs. Dan Hamrick), Bureau County, IL, August 14, 1995: Mrs. Hamrick, who was "in my nineties," explained that her husband Dan, who had "died some years ago," was "from John Hamrick, who's buried over in Triplett Cemetery." (Triplett Cemetery is located on a nearby farm, although it is extrememly overgrown with briars and underbrush. However, John's grave (as well as his wife Elizabeth's grave) is indeed there. John's gravestone reads, "d. Oct 6 1845 In his 62nd year" - he was born in 1783. Elizabeth's reads "b. Oct 10, 1796 d. Sep 26, 1872 75y 11m 11d.") Mrs. Hamrick explained that John's son Harrison was her husband's grandfather. (Harrison is buried in nearby Forest Hill Cemetery at the edge of Wyanet. IL. His gravestone indicates he was born September 4, 1832 and died June 18, 1924.) At the time of the interview, Mrs. Hamrick lived across the road from the farm that had originally belonged to John. She said her husband had lived there all of his life. Most revealing of all, when asked if she knew anything about John's parents, Mrs. Hamrick said, "I recollect that Harrison's father, grandfather, and great grandfather were all named John, but I don't know much about them." She added, "I know my husband believed that to be true." She also said she knew that John "was from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia" but he "lived in Ohio for several years before coming here to settle on the farm." This Bureau County John was, no doubt, the son of John (II) who owned property in Fauquier County, Virginia. (This is corroborated by other compelling evidence.) If John (II)'s father was also named John, it could only be Patrick's son John.)

 

John (II) eventually acquired property in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Fauquier County, near the present-day village of Hume, Virginia.(Fauquier County Deed Book #5. pp. 147 - 152.) He was listed as a tithable in his own household in 1765 (i.e.-he was most likely at least 21 years old), (REF: 1765) which means he was born by at least 1744. Therefore, John (Patrick's son and John (II)'s father) was most likely born no later than 1722. This means John was probably Patrick's fourth son and Benjamin, who was still living at home in 1747, was his younger brother. (REF: 1747) There is no early bound for John’s birthdate other than his parents’ marriage, with time allowed for the births of his older siblings. As the fourth son, John could have been born as early as 1714.

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Like Robert and Benjamin, (REF: 1747 comments) there is no direct evidence that John was Patrick’s son. John did not inherit land from Patrick like Patrick, Jr., James, and Robert did—a situation that was not unusual in that fathers did not typically divide plantations into units too small to be economically feasible, so the younger of several sons often did not inherit real property. (Lois Green Carr, Philip D. Morgan, and Jean B. Russo. Colonial Chesapeake Society. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1988. p. 316.) There is not even a surviving record of John as a member of Patrick’s household, like there is for Benjamin. (REF: 1747) However, there are certain facts to support the notion that John was, indeed, Patrick’s son.

 

As mentioned previously, James’ daughter Ann assumed guardianship for John’s daughter Milloy following John’s death. (REF: 1747 comments) In addition, James’ account at Daniel Payne’s store denotes "Creditt Sarah Hambrick" and Sarah’s account shows that James paid her debt of 8£·6s·8d in full with 1,000 pounds of tobacco in June 1762, ("Account Book of Daniel Payne A Merchant at Dumfries, VA" Maryland Historical Society. Folio 78 (James’ account) & Folio 142 (Sarah’s account—noted as "John’s Widow")) (REF: 1759 - 1762) at a time when she was obviously having financial difficulty. (In May 1762, Sarah appeared in court with Richard Melton to indemnify him from providing security for John’s estate. (Prince William County Order Book 1761 – 1763. pp. 114-115.) Melton sued John's estate in June 1762. (Prince William County Order Book 1761 – 1763. p. 158.) That same month, William Foster, Jr. was assigned as Nimrod's guardian. (Prince William County Order Book 1761 – 1763. p. 158) Another merchant, William Carr, sued Sarah in July 1762 and Sarah was subsequently ordered to pay him 4£·8s·2d plus costs in August 1762. (Prince William County Order Book 1761 – 1763. pp. 203 & 274.) Thomas Stone was assigned as guardian to Sarah and John's daughter, Amey, in August 1762 (Prince William County Order Book 1761 – 1763. p. 254.) (as mentioned above). Sarah sued John’s estate in October 1762. (Prince William County Order Book 1761 – 1763. p. 359.) Ann (James' daughter) was assigned as Milloy's guardian nine months later. Often, when children were bound out to other families like this, it was because there was no money to support them.( Morgan. p. 23.) James’ assistance indicates a strong degree of compassion toward Sarah’s situation. With three young children to feed, Sarah must have had a very difficult time. Under such circumstances, help such as that provided by James most often came from close members of the family. (Marylynn Salmon. Women and the Law of Property in Early America. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1986. pp. 183 – 184.) The oldest son, John (II) must have already been in Fauquier County by this time since he was listed in his own household just a few years later. (REF: 1765)

 

More important in terms of supporting the notion that John was Patrick’s son, however, is the fact that there are no other logical alternatives. Based on the ages of his children, John was obviously a generation younger than Patrick—there were no other individuals of Patrick’s generation around who could have been John’s father. (REF: 1747 comments)