Patrick Hamrick
Family Patriarch
PATRICK'S LIFE
PREFACE
Patrick Hamrick was the first of my direct ancestors to step foot on American soil. He arrived in Virginia at the turn of the 18th Century as a teenager, without his parents, when the English colony was still very young and its economy was based almost completely on tobacco trade with England. As was the case for many other young men who came here from England during that period, Patrick paid for his voyage by entering into an agreement to work in the tobacco fields as an indentured servant.
At the time he stepped ashore, Virginia was a vast wilderness, mostly occupied by native Americans. There were very few settlements, and they were located solely along major waterways such as the James, York, Rappahannock, and Potomac rivers. The non-native population of Virginia at that time was only about fifty to sixty thousand inhabitants, and most of them were males. (Warren M. Billings. The Old Dominion in the Seventeenth Century. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1975. pp. 105 & 188)
Patrick was born at the time Isaac Newton was working on his theory of gravity. Charles II reigned over England, Louis XIV over France, and Peter the Great was Czar of Russia. Other historic individuals who lived during Patrick's long lifetime include the famous composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), and American statesman Benjamin Franklin (1706-1783). Patrick had lived for nearly a half century by the time George Washington (1732-1799) was born.
Although he certainly never gained the stature or fame of these historic individuals, Patrick certainly bettered his station during his lifetime. He left England at a time when the economy was depressed and opportunities were few. Most likely (as was the case for many others), he came to America because it offered a chance to make a better life. Once here, he worked hard, acquired land (which was a highly valued social status), and raised a family that has widely proliferated to modern times.
Visitors to these pages will find facts and discussions of those facts presented in chronological order based on the dates of specific events concerning Patrick's life. As far as I know, these pages include all known historic records concerning Patrick's life. If you know of any other records, please contact me.
For those new to genealogy, certain dates are written with two separate years specified (e.g. January 7, 1724/25). This is commonly referred to as old style/new style dates. It stems from the fact that January 1 did not begin a new year until 1752. Prior to that time, the new year began on March 25. Consequently, events occurring during the months of January, February, and up to March 25th in years prior to 1752 are often specified in this old style/new style format. For the example cited (January 7, 1724/25), Patrick would have known the year as 1724. However, the year would be 1725 in relation to the calendar we know today.
The Table of Contents lists the events by date, along with a short description of what is contained on each page. If there is more than one record on a given date, they are suffixed with "a", "b", etc. in chronological sequence. Clicking on a date will take the reader to facts and discussion concerning that specific event. Verbatim transcriptions are shown in italicized bold blue characters such as this. Sometimes, I have skipped over superfluous portions of documents for easier reading. Those skipped portions are indicated by ellipses within brackets, such as this: [ . . . ] At the bottom of each page there are links to the next page and to the previous page, as well as to the Table of Contents. Often, there are hyperlinked references on a page that will direct the reader to another page in order to assimilate related information. If one of these links are followed, the back button on the browser will return the reader to the page where the reference link was located. Sources of information are identified In red text.
I am hoping this site will be widely circulated to help dispel the many myths about Patrick that have proliferated as though they are fact. So, please feel free to share this site with others who are interested in an accurate depiction of Patick's life.