Ralph Wormeley Jr.
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Ralph Wormeley Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Member of the House of Burgesses for Middlesex County | |
| In office 1669–1675 | |
| Preceded by | position established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1650 |
| Died | 1701 Rosegill plantation, Middlesex County, Colony of Virginia |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | planter, politician |
Ralph Wormeley Jr. (1651-1701) was a planter and politician who represented Middlesex County in the House of Burgesses before being elevated to the Virginia Governor's Council and serving as the colony's secretary and briefly ast its acting governor. He further developed his father's Rosegill plantation, now on the National Register for Historic Places, as well as operated several plantations in adjoining Tidewater counties using enslaved labor.[1][2]
Early life and education
Born shortly before the death of his planter father, Ralph Wormeley Sr., he was raised by his mother, the former Agatha Eltonhead (who had also survived a previous husband) and his stepfather, Sir Henry Chicheley, the lieutenant governor for the Virginia colony. He was educated privately at home, then sent to England where he completed studies.
Career
Planter
Upon reaching legal age, Wormeley inherited Rosegill plantation. After Bacon's Rebellion, discussed below, he compelled his guardian Henry Chicheley to account for the income received from (and disbursements made from) his father's estate during his minority. Meanwhile, Wormeley also patented 2,870 acres of land in Middlesex county, based on people for whose emigration to Virginia he had paid. Also, particularly after Bacon's Rebellion, Wormeley purchased enslaved blacks imported from the Carribeean colonies, although each such contrast cost significantly more than that for an indentured servant, who would only serve a fixed term (if he survived).[3]
In 1680, Wormeley patented 2,200 acres on the northern side of the Rappahannock River, which he called "Nanzattico", after the people noted by Capt. John Smith in 1608 and whose preserve that had once been. This land lay across the river from the land Wormeley controlled following his marriage to Catherine Lunsford, and bordered Portobago Bay. Wormeley would also patent additional acreage inland. In 1693 he patented 13,500 acres in King and Queen County, but was forced to give it up for lack of redevelopment.[4]
Also in 1680, Wormeley responded to the desire of other Middlesex County residents by offering some of his land for a town, tobacco port and seat of county government, although others wanted the county courthouse on previously obtained (and platted) land. As work finally began on the courthouse in 1691, another fracas ensued when Wormeley refused to deed the underlying land to the county without receiving in return written acknowledgement to what he considered his entitlements. They refused and sought to condemn the land in what became Urbanna.[5]
Politician
Wormeley (like his father before him) became one of the justices of the peace for the county of his residence, in this case for Middlesex County, which was formed in 1669. Middlesex County voters elected Wormeley as one of their representatives in the House of Burgesses in 1669, and re-elected him several times.[6] In 1675, shortly before Bacon's Rebellion discussed below, Wormeley was selected for a seat on the Virginia Governor's Council, on which he would remain for the rest of his life.[7] During Bacon's Rebellion, mostly white current or former indentured servants first attacked acculturated Native peoples, seeking their land, then seized wealthy landowners and vandalized their properties. Wormeley, his stepfather, his cousin Christopher Wormeley and neighbor Christopher Robinson would all be taken hostage and parts of their plantations destroyed.[8] While on the Governor's Council, Wormeley served as the Secretary of State for the colony, and was able to extract fees for ministerial tasks, including authorizing county clerks.When he became the council's most senior member and its president, he also served as acting Governor, including briefly in late 1693. Some council meetings were held at Rosegill, including when Wormeley was too ill or infirm to travel to Jamestown in 1697 and 1699.[9]
In 1686, Wormeley at Rosegill hosted a French Huguenot, Durand de Dauphine, and also showed him Nanzattico and Portobago plantations. The following year, he and his cousin Christopher Wormeley were ordered to return the records of the Virginia General Assembly formerly possessed by former clerk and Middlesex planter Robert Beverly to the colony's capital, still Jamestown until shortly before his man's death. Wormeley would also acquire a house at Jamestown, as the law required of men of his position, but would be criticized in his final years for delegating too many of his duties there to a junior clerk.[10]
Personal life
In 1674 Wormeley married the widow of Col. Peter Jennings, the former Catherine Lunsford. He had two sons. Ralph Wormsley III was educated in England before returning to Virginia, but died before having children. Thus, this man's estate went to his son John Wormeley, whose son Ralph Wormely IV would continue both the family's planter and political traditions.
Death and legacy
Wormeley prepared his last will and testament in February 22, 1700 and died on December 5 that winter.[11]
References
- ^ Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography (1915), vol 1, p. 110
- ^ Martha W. McCartney, Jamestown People to 1800: Lonadowners, Public Officials, Minorities and Native Leaders (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc ISBN=978-0-8063-1872-1) pp. 458-459
- ^ Tommy L. Bogger and The Black Church Cultural Affairs Committee, A History of African-Americans in Middlesex County 1646-1992 (Whitestone, Virginia, HS Printing 1995) pp. 5-6
- ^ McCartney p. 458
- ^ McCartney p. 458
- ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 79, 82, 84, 87, 89, 92
- ^ Leonard p. xxi
- ^ McCartney p. 458
- ^ McCartney pp. 458-459
- ^ McCartney pp. 458-459
- ^ McCartney p. 459