Sandy Point Plantation

OVERVIEW

Location: Westmoreland County, Virginia
Date Constructed/ Founded: ca. 1700
Associated Surnames: Ashton, Biglands, Bonum, Coulbourne, Eskridge, Grigsby, Rust, Vaulx-Craddock
Historical Notes: Colonel George Eskridge, who came to America (Virginia) from Lancashire (Lancaster), England as an indentured servant, had eventually settled at Cherry Neck, then became a tobacco merchant at Sandy Point Plantation, Westmoreland Co., VA ca. 1700. Col. Eskridge was an attorney and a member of the House of Burgesses, the lower house of the colonial Virginia legislature. He first married Rebecca Bonum (they had six children), and then married Elizabeth Vaulx-Craddock in 1715. Col. George Eskridge later became the legal guardian of Mary Ball, mother of George Washington (first U.S. President). Ownership of Sandy Point Plantation was passed to Col. Eskridge’s son Samuel Eskridge (b.1702) in 1735, and to his widow Jane Ashton Eskridge in 1747
Associated Pages: Robert Eskridge Plantation (Westmoreland Co., VA), Burdett Eskridge Plantation (Ninety-six District/ Edgefield Co., SC), Richard Eskridge Plantation (Caswell Co., NC)

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ASSOCIATED ENSLAVED PERSONS

Jack King – overseer at Sandy Point

Eskridge family – Sandy Point Plantation VA: Quamino “Kwame” (Eskridge); Taffy (Eskridge) – wife; Note: this family stayed at Sandy Point with Elizabeth V-C Eskridge after Col. G. Eskridge’s death

Bonum family – Sandy Point Plantation VA: Congo Judy (Bonum) (b.?-d.?); “Aunt” Rose (Bonum) (b.?-d.?) – dau.; Note: Judy and Rose were given to Col. G. Eskridge by his father-in-law Squire Samuel Bonum

Eskridge family – Sandy Point Plantation VA: Akey (Eskridge) (b.1715-d.?) – man from West Africa; Rose (Eskridge) (b.?-d.?) – wife; Jenny (Eskridge) (b.1747-d.?) – dau., taken to Burdett Eskridge Plantation in South Carolina aft. 1763

Information from Census & Estate Records

1706: Adam – age 6 (b.1700), adjudged at six years, a slave of George Eskridge

1736: Quamino, Jack, Jenny, Tom, Sambo, Porter, Caesar, Sam, Pompey, Jack King, Patrick, Young Jenny, Adam, Judy, Dina, Maney, Sarah, Congo Judy, Akey, Rose, Jenny and her child Mandy, Babby (age 12), Triss, Robin (age 4), Samson (age 5), Will, Beck (house servant), Hannah (house servant), Murrea, Old Betty, Tom (age 5), Billy (age 2), Lettice (age 3), Willoby (age 1), Danl (age 1); the following 15 were ‘lost to Dr. Robert Eskridge’ – Taffy, Botswain, Mingo, Tom, Willy and her child Will, Peg, Phyllis and her child Jenny, Dina, Quamino, Tom Tinker, Mogull, Dick, Jenny; the following were ‘lost to Mr. Samuel Eskridge’: Jack, Adam, Rose and her child Winny; and at Musos Quarter: Frank, Will, Peg, Sarah, Ned (age 4), Tom (age 1) [S. Hanks (2); Col. George Eskridge’s estate inventory, Prince William Co., Virginia]

1747: Negroes – Hery Burk, Lewis Whitly, Joseph Clark, William Clark, Benjamin Clark, Great Nan, Little Nan, Jenney, Charles, Elizabeth Clark, Bess, Prero, Rachel, Giles; Samuel Eskridge’s Estate in Fairfax County – Will, Jack, Sarah, George, Tom, Hannah, Jenney, Akey [Estate of Samuel Eskridge gentleman Deceased; S. Hanks (2)]

1747: To Charles (son) – Joseph the carpenter, Jane and her child Whitley, four other slaves to be picked by him  or his heirs; Richard (son) in Caswell Co., NC – Adam, William, Tom, Hannah; to John (son) – Benjamin, Nan and her child Beck; to Burdett (son) – George, his wife Bett, Frank, his wife Akey, her child Jenny; to Rebecca (daughter) – man Charles, his wife Sarah and her child Judith, mulatto Peg, black Peg, four other slaves to be chosen by her or her heirs; to Jane (wife) – girl Rachel, and all the rest of my slaves including those she brought me in marriage.

1750: ###

1760: ###

1799 (South Carolina): Deeded by George Eskridge to cover a debt owed to Richard Eskridge – Charles, age 14 (b.1785)

ASSOCIATED FREE PERSONS

Eskridge family: Colonel George Eskridge (b.1665-d.1735) – owner/ founder of Sandy Point, from Lancaster, England; Rebecca Bonum Eskridge (b.?-d.1715) – first wife (m.?); Daniel Eskridge (b.?-d.?) – son; Elizabeth Vaulx-Craddock Eskridge (b.?-d.?) – second wife (m.1715); Elizabeth Eskridge (b.?-d.?) – dau. of Col. G. and E.V-C. Eskridge

Eskridge family: Samuel Eskridge (b.1702-d.1746)- son of G. and R.B. Eskridge, Justice of the Peace, member of the Virginia House of Buegesses, owner of Sandy Point, inherited in 1735; Jane Ashton Eskridge (b.?-d.?) – wife (m.1736), owner of Sandy Point, inherited in 1747; Charles Eskridge (b.1737-d.1803) – son; Richard Eskridge (b.1739-d.1816) – son, established a plantation in Caswell Co. NC; Capt. Richard Burdett Eskridge (b.1740-d.1781) – son, established the Burdett Eskridge Plantation in Ninety-Six District (Edgefiled Co.) South Carolina; Rebecca Eskridge (b.1742-d.?) – dau.; John Eskridge (b.1743-d.1803) – son

Eskridge family: William Eskridge (b.1680-d.1744) – son of G. and R.B. Eskridge; Abigail Coulbourne Eskridge (b.?-d.?) – wife (m.?)

Eskridge family: George Eskridge Jr. (b.1683-d.1731)- son of G. and R.B. Eskridge; Hannah Rust Eskridge (b.?-d.?) – wife (m.1720)

Eskridge family: Dr. Robert Eskridge (b.1704-d.1747) – son of G. and R.B. Eskridge, medical surgeon, owned a 500 acre plantation next to Sandy Point; Jane Biglands Eskridge (b.?-d.?) – wife (m.1735)

 

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RESEARCH LEADS AND RECORDS

• None

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MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

• West African names. Kwame – anglicized as “Quamino,” Akan origin, meaning “a boy born on Saturday” [God’s Little Acre online; S. Hanks].
• Botswain – or Boatswain pronounced “BO-sun” may have come from the title of a ship’s officer in charge of equipment and the crew.
• Squire Samuel Bonum (Bonham), father of Col. George Eskridge’s wife Rebecca Bonum,  owned a slave ship called Margaret.

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REFERENCES

• Rootsweb World Connect: Arvesen-Kennedy Family Tree (Col George Washington Eskridge, ID: P3597). https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=kaliarvesen
• Hanks S. (1) Akee Tree: A Descendant’s Search for his Ancestors on the Eskridge Plantation. Paper Bird Books, 2005.
• Hanks S. (2) Akee Tree: A Descendant’s Search for his Ancestors on the Eskridge Plantations. American History Press, 2013.
• God’s Little Acre: America’s Colonial African Cemetery. http://www.colonialcemetery.com/names/
• Eskridge Family Association Website. http://eskridgefamilyassociation.com/
• Person County, North Carolina Deed Books 1792-1825, Deed Book C. Ancestry.com.