Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/122

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

ary line between North Carolina and \'ir- ginia, orders John Allen, Surveyor of Surry, with the assistance of the company of Rangers appointed to attend him, to begin at the mouth of Nottoway River and to run a line "till said line intersects at Roanoke River. "Ye" Rangers are to spread them- selves 20 feet from right to left and to mark all "thee" remarkable trees with three notches. Then Allen is ordered as speedily as possible to return home, dismiss Rangers and transmit plan of said work, containing the remarkable Rivers, Creeks, Swamps or Plantations (if any be) and such other ob- servations as he may judge proper. "Given under my hand and the Seal of the Colony at Williamsburg, this Sixteenth day of April, 1714." Notice to the president of the colony of North Carolina of the contem- plated survey was sent, to give him the op- portunity to be represented.

Arthur Allen (3). son of Major Arthur Allen, married Elizabeth Bray, who, in the records, calls Thomas Bray her brother. He died in 1725 after which she married Arthur Smith, of the Isle of Wight, and after his death one Stith. She established a free school in Smithfield. Isle of Wight county. She left by her marriage with Arthur Allen : James ; Katherine. who married Benjamin Cocke. James Allen died without issue in 17 14, leaving legacies to Thomas Bray, James Bray. William Allen, Arthur Smith. "Frances Bray. Elizabeth Bray, James Bridges, Joseph Bridges, John, son of Jacob Cornwall, and sister Catherine Cocke. He made his brother-in-law, Benjamin Cocke, executor of his will.

Joseph Allen married Hannah, whose maiden surname remains unknown, and, dying in 1736, left only one son, William Allen, who was the sole heir of his uncle John. He was educated at William and Mary College, and married (first) Clara Walker, by whom he had John Allen, who died in May. 1793, without issue. He mar- ried (second) Mary, daughter of William Lightfoot. of Sandy Point, in Charles City count}-, and Mildred (Howell) Lightfoot. his wife, by whom he had Mary, who mar- ried Carter Bennett Harrison, and had issue. Carter H.. and William Allen; William; Anne Armistead. born 1777. died April 2-j, i833' who married John Edloe ; Martha Bland, born June 30. 1780. died April 21, 1814. married Miles Selden. The issue of

Anne Armistead Allen and John Edloe were: Carter H., born 1798, died 1843; Mary Allen, September 9, 1800, died Sep- tember 16, 1855, married Dr. N. M. Os- borne ; Martha Armistead, married Richard Griffin Orgain. William Allen's will was proved in Surry county, September 24, 1790. There were three other children, who died young: Joseph, Hannah, and Mildred.

William Allen, son of Colonel William ■Allen and Mary (Lightfoot ) Allen, was born March 7. 1768, and died November 2, 1831. He resided at Claremont, Surry county, Vir- ginia, where his tombstone still lies. He never married, and left his large estates to William Grif¥in Orgain, son of Richard ftriffin Orgain (by his niece, Martha Armi- stead Edloe. born March 31. 1803, died Feb- ruary 12. 1857. daughter of John Edloe), on his taking the name of William Allen, or to the son of William Griffin Orgain. on the like condition, but in case of \\'illiam Grif- fin Orgain's death without issue in the male line, then the property was to go to his nephew. Carter H. Harrison. In his will, Colonel Allen mentions his great-nieces, Anne Carter Harrison and Mary Howell Harrison.

Richard Griffin Orgain, born September 25. 1787. died July 17. 1830. and had issue by Alartha Armistead Edloe: Montgomery McKensie. born February 12. 1824, died July 15. 1824; Elizabeth C. who married Powhatan Starke; !\Iary M.. who married Archibald Harrison ; William Griffin, who took the name of W'illiam Allen, in accord- ance with the provisions of his great-uncle's will. He helped to organize Company D. of the Tenth Battalion of Artillery. Con- federate States army, and equipped and uni- formed his men. He was elected captain of his company and afterwards promoted major, when the battalion was organized. ("Battle Roll of Surry Co., Va., in the War between the States," by B. W. Hones). On his plantation at Curl's Neck was given an early demonstration of the grain reaper by Cyrus H. McCormick, founder of the great McCormick Harvester Company. He mar- ried. December 22, 1852, at Brockville, Can- ada. Frances Augusta Jessup. born 1832. in Brockville. eldest child of James Jessup.

The Jessup family was founded in Amer- ica by Edward Jessup, who was at Stam- ford. Connecticut, before 1649, at which t'nie he owned land in Fairfield. Connec-

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