Hammack-Martin-Chiles Connection

Chiles Family

Walter Chiles I (1608-1671) and his wife, Elizabeth (1610-1653) and two sons, William and Walter II (1630-1671) came to Virginia in 1637 from England in his own ship. On March 1, 1638 he was given 400 acres for “his own adventure” (trip to the Americas) and that of his family and four other people. He was the representative from James City County in a branch of the colonial legislature of Virginia called the House of Burgesses in 1645, 1646, 1649 and 1652. He was a member of the Council of Virginia in 1651. He was elected Speaker of the House of Burgesses in 1652, but he declined. He died in 1653.

Walter Chiles owned a vessel that was seized in the Chesapeake Bay. Most records indicate that this was the Walter I, but some report it was Walter II. It was at the time of the seizure that Walter Chiles was elected as speaker of the Assembly, and declined the offer, because of his involvement with the seized ship. Walter’s ship, “The Fame of Virginia”, was pursued and captured by Captain Robert Henfield. Three hours later on the eastern shore, the ship, “Hopeful Adventure”, captained by Richard Husband, seized the ship and claimed that Walter Chiles had no license. The Court of Northampton ordered the release of the ship. But Captain Husband took his prize and sailed away.

The inhabitants of the county protested their liberty in restitution, as their levy of tobacco for taxes would be appreciably increased. The incident of the seizure of the ship was presented to the General Assembly as a revolt and a commission was appointed to go to the eastern shore and investigate the matter. The General Assembly convened on July 5, 1653, and, immediately, received a note from Governor Bennett stating that he did not feel that it was proper for the House of Burgesses to elect as its speaker, Left. Colonel Chiles, in light of the agitation caused in the Assembly concerning the ship in which Chiles held an interest. But his advice was not heeded.

Colonel Chiles felt honor-bound to decline to serve. The General Assembly , at the same session, granted Walter Chiles the ship “Leopokias”, with all of its equipment and guns, for the sum of 400 pounds. The ship had been confiscated for violation of the Navigation Laws. Walter II requested permission to make the exploratory trip to the west. He, along with Rice Hoe, Joseph Johnson, and Walter Austin, asked for leave to undertake the discovery of a new river, or unknown land, bearing west, southerly from the Appomattox River. The Assembly confirmed “they and whoever they might admit to go with them shall enjoy and possess to them, their heirs…all profit whatsoever they in their particular adventure can make unto themselves by such discover for fourteen years after the date of January 1641. ”This encouragement came with the provision that they pay the crown one-fifth of the gain. This confirmation from the Assembly put Walter in the unique position of being able to trade with the Indians, and increases the goods, with which he could supply to the English market.
Col. Walter Chiles II was born in 1669 in Bristol, England, the son of Lt. Col. Walter and Elizabeth Chiles I. He was baptized in Redcliff Parish, on March 20, 1608. He married Mary Page (1648-1671). Mary was the daughter of Col. John and Alice Luken. Alice was the daughter of Sir Edwin Luken, a member of the Virginia Company.

Col. John Page came to the colony of James City, Virginia in 1650. He was one of his Majesty’s Council in Virginia. In his will, dated May 5, 1686-87, and recorded Feb 24, 1691, he mentioned his grandson, John Chiles and his granddaughter, Elizabeth Tyler. Col. John Page was 65 years old when he died on Jan 23, 1691 in Virginia. His tomb is in Bruton Parish churchyard in Williamsburg, VA. He gave the ground for the church building. (William and Mary Quarterly, page 78 and “Letters of the Tylers,” page 49.) When John Page died in 1691 and Alice died in 1698, Williamsburg was known as Middle Plantation. Mary died before her parents and did not live to see her children grown.

Walter II apparently worked as a cloth worker, before he came to the colony of Virginia. His father had been an apprentice to a textile dealer, Frances Knight, mercer (a dealer in textiles), when he was a young man. Walter II learned from his father and became a successful planter himself.

Walter II served in the House of Burgesses from 1658-1660, and again in 1663. In 1660-1661 he was appointed act during recess of the Assembly. He served as a justice of James City County during 1664.

He was a warden for Jamestown Parish, Virginia. Walter Chiles served as a churchwarden of James City Parish; a more influential position than its counterpart in the Episcopal Church today. The established, or official church, of the colony was the Church of England. In the absence of a resident bishop, the local parishes and their vestries were the dominant influence in early Virginia’s religious affairs, more that was the case in England.

In November 1655, following the death of Walter Chiles I, Lieutenant Colonel Chiles of James City sold, for a valuable sum of tobacco, the 813 acres in Charles City County along the Appomattox River that his father first patented.

He lived in Kent House, which he inherited from his father. This was convenient to his public responsibilities. While they lived at Kemp House they added onto the house, increasing the size by thirty-seven feet. Walter purchased a brick house from Edward Hill, of Charles City County. The houses have been identified in the archeological excavations at Jamestown. (National Park Services) The artifacts retrieved show that the house was a structure of considerable importance.

In 1690, Walter Chiles II obtained the land patent for 70 acres in James City Island originally granted to his father, known as “Black Poynt.”

Walter Chiles II and Mary Page had two children:
I. John Chiles (1669-1700) who married twice in his lifetime. His first wife was Mary Boucher (?) and second wife was Eleanor Webber (1675-1738).
II. Elizabeth Chiles who married Henry Tyler.

It is not know exactly when Mary Page Chiles died. Among the descendants of Walter & Mary Chiles is President John Tyler, tenth President of the United States. (Through the Terrell family, which his grandchildren who married Terrell children, see below.)

Walter married Susannah and had a son, Henry Chiles by her by April 4, 1671. Walter and Susannah were only married for a few years before he died in 1723. She married a second time after his death. She married Reverend James Wadding the minister of the Jamestown Church, around August 1672. It was evident from the property she sold shortly afterwards that James had chosen a woman of social position and considerable wealth. James and Susannah sold Kemp House in November of 1673 to John Page as stipulated in her late husband’s will.

Walter II and Mary Page’s only son, John Chiles was born in 1669 in Virginia. John inherited a third of his father’s estate, and thus was able to become well-established as a planter and land owner. He was a mace bearer and a messenger to the House of Burgesses in 1702. In 1714, he was appointed a justice in King William County. John’s business interests included part ownership of “The Westover”, in 1700-1702. It was a sloop of forty tons, built in Virginia in 1693.

John was a Burgess for King William City and was a messenger for the Virginia Council to Maryland and New York; a member of the Virginia Assembly in 1723. He inherited Kemp House from his father. He received a grant of 345 acres in New Kent County on October 3, 1690 and again in 1691, he received a grant of 900 acres in the same county, which was apart of Hanover at the time. He settled in Carolina City, in 1722 where he entered 300 acres in King William County. According to this grant he was churchwarden of St. Margaret’s Perish. The Compendium of American Genealogy, Volume VII, page 194, notes him as a Messenger of the Virginia Council in 1693.

He married twice. His first wife was (1) Mary Boucher (1672-1699), daughter of John Boucher who he married by Sept. 1693. Eleanor Webber, daughter of Henry and Jane Webber, was John Chiles’ second wife.

Children of John Chiles & Mary Boucher are:
I. John
II. Elizabeth

Children of John Chiles and Eleanor Webber:
I. Henry married (1) Mary Carr (?-1756) & (2) Susannah Dicken Graves in 1756.
II. John never married
III. Jane married John Wright
IV. Susannah (1701-1754) married Joseph Martin (1710-1760) in 1736, in Albemarle, VA.

On a deed executed by Henry and his wife Jane Webber to the two sons of John Chiles, Henry and John, (Spotsylvania County, Virginia Deed Book A, 1722-1729 88-91) not only does Henry Webber not identify the two Chiles sons, as his grandsons, but he states explicitly that the deed is in consideration of 100 pounds of current money already paid him by John Chiles, deceased. This Henry Webber was fulfilling a contract that included the lease of the land to Eleanor Chiles until her death, made with John Chiles before his death. (Arden H Brame, Jr, II, “Thomas Jefferson Reveals Three more Children of John Chiles,” Omnibus 14(a.d.): 71-72.) When Eleanor Chiles petitioned the Council (May 6, 1723) to stop the land patent to Henry Chiles or any of John Chiles’ children, only that she was his widow.

Joseph Martin, who married Susannah Chiles came to Virginia when a young man, married in King William and later settled in Albemarle. His wife survived him. Gen. Joseph Martin, their third son, was a patriot and prisoner, and Martinsville, Virginia, was named for him. (see earlier post)