Hypothetical Origin

Previous Post: John Meeks, St. Paul's Parish and Allens Creek

When confronted with the numerous inconsistencies of the origin of the Meeks family in America I have created a plausible scenario on how the event actually took place. Here are the conflicts we need to consider:

• Dr. Priddy Meeks claims the immigrant was named William and he was from England and his generation would place his birth to be somewhere in the ball park of 1680 to 1700. 
• There is a John Meeks living in St. Paul's Parish as early as 1711 how is likely a member of the family. This would seem to contradict Dr. Priddy's statement. 
• It is believed that William Meeks (c. 1720) and John Meeks (c. 1725) were brothers. But DNA as suggested that their relationship may be more distance than that. 
• Dr. Priddy claims the immigrant ancestor came from England, but other members of the Meek DNA project trace their lineage to Scotland. 

In terms of immigration records of persons named William Meeks, we don't have many options. But there are several records of persons named John Meeks along with a few of them being indentured in New Kent County. One in particular, in 1667, shows a John Meeke and sixty others being indentured to three people: Robert Whitehaire, John Bowler, and Charles Edmond. 

If we were to make the assumption that most indentures were under the age of 20 (this is my assumption, I don't know what the average age of indenture was), then a large number of these people were from Newcastle Upon Tyne. Including a Mr. John Meek, son of Francis Meek born on March 1, 1655. 

This is interesting to us because Francis Meek was the father of Isaac Meek. By 1670, Francis had moved west to Cliburn, Westmorland County England, where his son Isaac would raise a family, with his youngest son being William Meeks, baptized on May 21, 1699. 

Under this scenario, William Meeks from Cliburn England, the one that 99% of all online genealogies claim is the immigrant ancestor, is the nephew to the John Meeks living in St. Paul's Parish Virginia in 1711. That gives our William an American connection, a place to live if he were to move to Virginia. 

Isaac was the older brother and he died in 1726, so it stands to reason that John lived long enough for William to grow up and move to Virginia and live with him. 

This also provides a potential answer to why the DNA profile of William (c. 1720) and John (c. 1725) suggest that they are more distantly related than brothers. What if John was descended from John, son of Francis? And William was descended from William son of Isaac? This would place their common ancestor as Francis Meek. They would likely be the same generation though, which means there are two generation gaps between John of St. Paul's Parish and John born around 1725. I would guess the missing generation names as being John, given the appearance of that name in St. Pauls Parish through 1743. 

So under this scenario they were 2nd cousins, which is more believable with the DNA analysis. However, they were obviously as close to each other as brothers because it was believed they were brothers by Dr. Priddy Meeks, who was a grandson of William. 

This may also explain the wealth inequality found between William and John. John owned several hundred acres along Allens Creek in Hanover County. William first shows up in Goochland County and no land records to speak of. Maybe John inherited his wealth from his fathers. But William was the son of the immigrant William who merely lived with is uncle? 

But what of the question of Scotland, since two members of the family can trace their lineage back to Scotland, shouldn't we be from there? To answer this question we have to accept the reality that people migrated. It has been found that thousands of Scotts migrated to England during the 14nth and 15nth centuries. There's ample time that the family could've split. 

With that said, the area of Virginia our ancestors our found, mainly on the Piedmont, was mostly populated with immigrants from the boarder area of England and Scotland. And very few Scottish people were in Virginia before the 1720's. Cliburn England is within the realm of the boarder region, so in reality, given their location in Virginia, the William Meeks born in 1699 in Cliburn is the best candidate for the immigrant ancestor. 

The biggest problem with this scenario is lack of proof. Evidence is severely lacking. But the story would make all the inconsistencies we see fall into place. Still, if we could prove this connection, then we can extend the family line another three generations up to Francis Meek who was born about 1627 in Newcastle Upon Tyne. 

John Meeks, St. Paul's Parish and Allens Creek

Previous Post: Immigration Records for Persons Named Meeks

Updated, 9/27/2017

After more extensive research I decided to redo the section of John Meeks in Hanover County. The reason we are interested in Hanover County is because of the deed record of Littleton Meeks selling 117 acres on Allens Creek in Hanover County. This land was willed to Littleton by John Meeks. From an immigration perspective, Allens Creek was the oldest settled land for anyone in our Meeks family to be associated with. So it is generally assumed that the family, including William Meeks (1720-1797) lived in Hanover County before migrating to the west.

To fully understand what is going on, we need to keep things in context. We'll start with the history of the area. A good place to start is in the year 1700 when this area was all located within New Kent County and St. Peters Parish.

The eastern seaboard has a geometric feature called the Fall Line. This line divides the upland region of hard crystalline basement rock and the coastal plain of softer sedimentary rock. Its called the fall line because the rivers all have waterfalls at this line as the ground transitions from high to low.

Because of this geometric feature, no European settlements beyond the fall line were built before 1700 (I am specifically referring to the James River area of Virginia). The disadvantage of settling beyond the fall line was lack of access to ships. The area that St. Paul's Parish will be established is in New Kent County and this fall line runs right through it:

[Source, Library of Congress, 1755, Jefferson]

According to the Huguenot Society, No settlements beyond the fall line were built prior to 1700. However, leaders in Virginia were anxious to settle beyond the fall line for a buffer against attacks from the Natives. The first settlement began with Manakin Town. Several French Huguenot refugees came to Virginia in 1700, and the leaders of Virginia had them settle about 20 miles beyond the James River Fall Line. In the map above I have Manakin Town Highlighted, along with Allens Creek to see where they are with respect to the Fall Line.

The Huguenot Society claims that by 1710, settlements had already developed farther west than Manakin town and westward development beyond the Fall Line was well underway. The land beyond the Fall Line is known as the Piedmont.

In the year 1700, religious services for New Kent County were being administered solely by St. Peter's Parish. But due to settlement expansion into the Piedmont, a new Parish farther west was needed. St. Paul's Parish was created in 1704. The boundary of the new parish was everything in New Kent County west of the Matadequin River. At the time New Kent County had no western boarder, so by extension, neither did St. Paul's Parish.

When settlements got a foothold in the Piedmont, the population started to explode and New Kent County could no longer support the distant settlements to the west. So Hanover County was organized in 1719. Its eastern boarder being the boundary between St. Paul's Parish and St. Peter's Parish. At the time, like New Kent County, it didn't have a western boarder.

In 1726 the population became too great for St. Paul's Parish to handle and so St. Martin's Parish was created. The boarder between St. Martin's and St. Paul was the South Anna River. Starting from the fork until it reached Stone Horse Creek. Allen's Creek is located in the boundary of St. Martin's Parish.

Finally in 1742, Louisa County was formed, just a little west of Allen's Creek, which finally defined a western boarder for Hanover County. The map below shows the boundary of Hanover County, the yellow line shows us where the Fall Line is, the red line shows the border between St. Martin's and St. Paul's Parish.

[Source, Library of Congress, 1770, Henry]

Information gathered from The Vestry Book of St. Paul's Parish can conclude that settlements in the area of Allens Creek began around the late 1710's. So we know that settlements west of the yellow line did not appear until the year 1700, and about 15 years later settlements were showing up on Allen's Creek. A chapel was built by Allen's Creek in 1724 and it was considered a frontier chapel at the time. [The Colonial Churches of New Kent and Hanover Counties, Virginia, The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 53, No. 4, Oct. 1945. by George Carrington Mason, page 257]

Records for Allen's Creek grow silent in 1726, when it fell into the district of St. Martin's Parish. The Vestry Book of St. Martin's Parish didn't survive. This is one reason there's so little information in this area.

St. Paul's Parish would routinely organize its constituents into precincts, first one happened in 1708. When these precincts were organized, it was written down what precinct the land owners belonged to. In other words, the names of all the land owners were mentioned along with the land owners they lived near.

The name John Meeks appears in the precinct organizations several times.

The first precinct that's of interest to us is precinct 15 in the 1708 precinct organization, the names in this precinct are:

*George Alves * William Harris * Thomas Harden * Theophilus Watson * George Marr * John Hamilton * [Page 213 from the Vestry Book]

This is of interest to us because when the precincts were organized again in 1711, these owners show up on precinct 23 as follows:

*William Harris * Adam Rotherford * Thomas Casey * Thomas Hurden * Widdow Watson * George Alvis * Thomas Rice * John Meeks * Martin Baker * [Page 230 from the Vestry Book]

The name John Meeks first appears, which means he arrived in St. Paul's Parish sometime between 1708 and 1711.

The next record for John Meeks in St. Paul's Parish doesn't come from the vestry book, but from the Virginia land grants and patents:

"JOHN MEEKS 427 acs. (N.L.) New Kent Co,. in St. Paul's Parish; adj. Samuel Aris; by Perry's Sw; John Giles; Paul Harrill; John Sneed; 16 June 1714. p. 148. Imp. of 9 pers: Ralph Calver, John Cape, Anne Lenson, Henry Edwards, Nicholas Stephens, George Sands, Eledia Glenton, William Cooper, Robert Cooke" [Page 146 in Cavaliers and Pioneers, vol 2]

The next precinct organization occurred in 1716 with precinct 23 having the following land owners:

*William Harris * Adam Rotherford * Thomas Casey * William Staples * Tim Murfield * Richard Watson * George Alvis * Widdow Rice * John Meeks * Martin Baker * [Page 254 from the Vestry Book]

But thanks to the land patent, precinct 20 is also of interest to us:

*Henry Chiles * Paul Harroldson * John Giles * John Ray * Hen: Born * John Snead * John Killcrease * Richard Anderson * Richard Corley * Henry Snead * Thomas Tinsley * [Page 253 from the Vestry Book]

So this record is a little weird, clearly this is the precinct that John Meeks patented land in 1714, but his name doesn't appear on this list.

The next precinct organization took place in 1719, and again, this time in precinct 22, we find the following names:

* William Harris * Adam Rotherford * Robert Mckoy * William Staples * Thomas Wattson * Richard Wattson * John Sym * Widow Rice * John Meeks * Martin Baker * [Page 262 from the Vestry Book]

And also, this time in precinct 25 we find the names:

* Paul Harroldson * Richard Anderson * Widdow Chiles * John Chiles * John Ray * Henry Bourne * Widdow Snead * John Killcrease *Richard Corley * Henry Snead * Thomas Tinsley * [Page 263 from the Vestry Book]

And again, John Meeks isn't listed on this list.

A new precinct in the 1719 organization is also of interest to us, precinct 38. This precinct contains the properties that were settled on Allens Creek, including Edward Nix, on his property the future church of Allens Creek would be built in 1724.

The next parish wide precinct organization wouldn't take place until 1731, after the split with Martin's Parish. But before that happens, another land patent for John Meeks in 1722:

"JOHN MEEKS, 44 acs (N.L.), Hanover Co; adj. land of Mann Page, Espre,. on Perry's Sw; * Edward Chambers; 18 Feb. 1722, p. 160, 5 shill." [Page 240 in Cavaliers and Pioneers, vol 2]

This land is in the general area of the patent from 1714, in the same precinct as the Snead family.

In the 1731 precinct organization, we finally find John Meeks in the precinct we expect to find him in, precinct 11:

*Widdow Chambers * John Tinsley * Ambrose Hundly * James Hooper * John Rea * Thomas Tinsley * Paul Harroldson * Edward Lewis * William Snead * Charles Bostick * Sarah Bourn * John Giles * John Meeks * John Smith * Charity Anderson * Colonel Bird * Michael Holland * William Chambers * Henry Chiles * John Jones * Joseph Gentry * [Page 278 from the Vestry Book]

It appears that precinct 22 from the 1719 organization was disbanded after the St. Martin Split. Adam Rotherford ended up in precinct 4, Martin Baker went to precinct 5, William Harris went to Precinct 7. The name Watson does not appear in the 1731 re-organization.

So were the two John Meeks' the same person? Your guess is as good as mine. It is peculiar that John Meeks begins showing up in 1711 during precinct organizations. He purchased land in 1714, but doesn't show up in the same precinct as that land until 1731.

The name John Meeks still shows up in 1735 in precinct 1, and  and 1739 in precinct 1, and again in 1743 in precinct 1.

His name does not appear in the precinct organization in 1751. So he either died, or moved away some time between 1743 and 1751. If all the records are about the same John Meeks, then at the very least he would've been 53 years old in 1743. This age comes from the age requirement to own land being 21. Since his name first appears in 1711, he could not have been born later than 1690.

It is difficult to draw any definite conclusions from the above information, but the following observation can be made:

• Since the precincts that included Allens Creek are known, and no Meeks family was living there, we can conclude that William Meeks (c. 1720) and his brother John Meeks (c. 1725) were not born on Allens Creek.

It would be helpful if I could identify where Perry's Swamp was, but right now I haven't figured it out yet. I have a hunch that its on the Piedmont side of St. Paul's Parish but that's just a guess.

So the big question is where does this John Meeks fall into our family, or does he fall into our family at all? Because of his location, and the families he lived near, I would say he is likely a member of the family. The family names Snead, Priddy and Watson are associated with provable members of the family. John Meeks lived next to a Snead family in one precinct, and next to a Watson in another precinct. Members of the Priddy family also lived in St. Paul's Parish.

• William Meeks' (b. 1720) oldest son has the given name Priddy. 
• William's second son, Athe, married Margaret Snead (father unknown). 
• In the 1780's, the Meeks properties along Allens Creek were next to properties owned by Joseph Watson

John could be the father of William (b. 1720) and John (b. 1725) but that reality can only be true if John was born within the narrow window of 1680 and 1690. 

We also can't dismiss the claim of Dr. Priddy Meeks, who claims that his grandfather William was the son of another William. Although his claim should be classified as family lore, it still shouldn't be ignored. 

The Meeks name disappears in St. Paul's Parish between 1743 and 1751. If you take into consideration the estimated married dates of William Meeks (abt. 1746), and John Meeks (abt. 1750) then the scenario exist that they grew up on Perry's Swamp. Lets assume that John was their father and he died in the 1740's. William gets married and moves to Goochland, and John gets married and moves to Allens Creek. By the time of the precinct organization of 1751, there are no more Meeks' in St. Paul's Parish.

Next Post: Hypothetical Origin

Immigration Records for Persons Named Meeks

Previous Post: William Meeks Born in Cliburn England in 1699

There are a number of records of people named Meeks immigrating to the new world before the Revolutionary War. According to meekdna.com there were at least seven un-related families with the surname Meek(s) prior to the Revolutionary War. So we can't assume that we are related to all, or any of them. I have made an attempt to consolidate all of the records of persons named Meeks who immigrated to Virginia, in chronological order. I will add to this list as the I find more records.

Updated 8/11/2017
In total, we find 14 people by the name of John Meeks who immigrated to Virginia between 1642 and 1718.

John Meakes, 1642
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 1
Page 132-133
John Meakes, 200 acs. in Mobjacke Bay, on the S. side of the southern br. of Severne, Aug. 20, 1642, Page 809. Trans. of himself, and 3 servts: Richard Carter, Robert Peircifull, Matthew Chapman. 

John Meekes, 1652, [Indentured Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 1
Page 258
Lawrence Dameron, 340 acs. Northumberland Co., p. 92. No. date. Butting S. E. upon the head of Tanx Yeococomico Riv., & c. Trans. 7 servants: Johne Meekes, Thomas Clarke, Edward Maddox, 3 tymes, Elizabeth Coringe, Barth. Wethersby, Dan. Piggin. 

John Meekes, 1654 [Indenture Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 1
Page 304
Toby Smith, 1600 acs. Lancaster Co., on N. side of Rappa. Riv., 6 Sept. 1654. p. 328. Along head of land of Walter Dickenson & William Yarrett, and opposite Colemans Marsh. Trans. of 32 pers: Henry Hawkins, John Colebourne, Phill. Wadingham, John Dixson, John Dear, James Williams, Sarah Willett, Mary Fox, John Redd, Gyles Joyce, George Johnson, Willm. France, Kath. Ham, James Cade, Jno. Dellony, William James, Tho. Langlin, James Boner, Thomas Richard, William Rowsen, James North, John Lepord, Richard Bryon, Thomas Jones, William Kedd, Jno. Serjant, Tho. Symons, John Meekes, John Harper.

Jno. Meekes, 1665 [Indenture Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 1
Page 468
Vincent Cox, 400 acs. W'moreland Co., 20 May 1665. p. 229 (141). Beg. at white oak dividing this & land of Robt. Selfe, thence N.W. & to nigh a branch of Nomeny, S.E. to the head of a br. of Yeoacomico Riv. & Trans. of 8 pers: Jno. Serviant, Thomas Symons, Jno. Meekes, Thomas Watson, James jnoson, Thomas Barwick, Tho. Bauldwin, Martha Dell. 

Jno. Meeke, 1667 [Indentured Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 2
Page 13
ROBT. WHITEHAIRE. JOHN BOWLER & CHARLES EDMONDS 3000 acs. New Kent Co., upon N. side of Riv., 25 Apr, 1667, p. 45. Trans. of 60 pers: ...James Fargeson, Jno. Meeke, Jno. Fargeson (note, out of the 60 persons on this list there are a number of boarder names such as Armstron and Hamilton. Also there is a Watson. Our John Meeks shows up in New Kent County living in the same precinct as a Watson family in the year 1711).

Robert Meakes, 1667 [Indentured Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 2
Page 23
COLL. EDMOND SCARBURGH, 3000 acs. Accomack Co., at Pockomoke Riv., 9 Oct. 1667, p. 78. Beg. below Hogg Quanter, up sd. river & including all necks & branches to the uppermost extent of this devdt, .S'ly. to severall extents as by the swamp & unhabitable parts admitts this. Trans. of 60 pers: ...

SAME Co., acreage, date & page the same as above. Bounded by his own severall devidents ont he seaside, bet. Gr. & Likttle Matomkin Crks. & the great white marsh, for trans. of 60 pers: ... John Radnock, Robert Meakes, Morris Curwethy.

John Meeke, 1668 [Indenture Servitude]
From The Bristol Registers of Servants
Page 244
John Meeke to Thomas Jarvis, 6 yrs Virginia

John Meeks, 1668 [Indencture Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 2
Page 158
Mr. Hugh Yeo, 2050 acs,. Accomack Co. at Machapongo Cr.  River; 5 oct. 1674 p. 540. Beg. at a cr. partin gthis from Nevell's Neck; big Machapongo Cr. parting this from land of Major Jno. Tilne; over the Back Cr... sold to sd. Yeo, 16 June 1668; 350 acs. for trans. of 7 pers: Richd. Chambers, Jno. Meekes, Antho. Hardy, Eliz. Michell, Laurence Atkins, Jno. Beare, Tho. Colwell.

John Meeke, 1670 [Indentured Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 2
Page 81
LT. COL. WILLIAM KENDALL, 10,500 acs, Accomacke Co., from the N. Gr. freshwater br. of Crooked Cr. unto land of Mr. Henry Smyth, adj. John Stokeley,...assigned to sd. Kendall 21 June 1670; 4,370 acs. due for trans. of 86 pers; Robert Hockett... James Forgeson, John Meeke, John Forgeson

John Meeke, 1671 [Indentured Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 2
Page 92
MR. LEONARD CLAYBORNE, 3000 acs., N. sid eof Mattapony Riv., on upper side of Doctor Moody, on 1 Apr. 1671, p. 353. Trans, of 60 pers: James Taylor ...Jno. Branch, John Meeke, Rich. Carter

Roger Mekes, 1671 [Indentured Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 2
Page 98
THOMAS LUDWELL, Espr., 2994 A., 2 R., 35 P., on S. side of Chickahominy Swamp, 7 Apr. 1671, p. 352. 2093 A. 1 R. 24 P. at a run called Co. Wynn's Quarter, to a run above Pomonkey Path, over Cowtayle quarter run, ... for the trans. of 60 Pers: Tho. Moss, Jno. Grout, Jno. Brewer, Jarvis Rogers, Roger Mekes, Jno. Skittlethorpe.

William Meeke, 1674 [Indenture Servitude]
From The Bristol Registers of Servants
Page 305
William Meeke to John Sanders, 6 yrs Virginia

John Meeks, 1674 [Indenture Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 2
Page 150
GEO. PEARCE 2100 acs. Nanzemond Co., by a br. of the Blackwater; adj. Col. Pitts & Col. Brdger; 21 Sept. 1674, p 519. Trans. of 42 pers; ... Peter Kickett, Robt Precivall, Jno. Meeks; 6 Negros

Francis Meeke, 1677 [Indenture Servitude]
From The Bristol Registers of Servants
Page 339
Francis Meeke to Richard Page, 4 yrs Virginia by Francis & Mary

Anthony Meeks, 1680 [Indentured Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 2
Page 205
MR. GILES LIMSCOTT, 1411 acs., Is. of Wight Co., on the maine Black Water, 20 Apr. 1680, p. 20. Adj. Robt Lawrence & John Lawrence. Trans. of 28 pers: Edwd. hill, Symon Wilson, Alice Warkman, pet. Hatcher, Jone Isham, Jno. Branch, Rich. Carter, Edwd Mason, Wm. Chapman, Jno. Hoskins, Antho. Meekes, Jno. Taylor, Tho. Elbury, Ja. Spicer, Wm. Potter, Sym. Buttler, Jno. Green, Hen. Davies, Tho Richards, Wm. Wright, Hen. Cole, An Sanders, O (?) Morgan, Lewis Williams, Ed. Rogers, Jno. Maccall, Wm. Shard, Antho. Bishop.

Daniel Meekes, 1680 [Indentured Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 2
Page 210
Mr. Henry Biggs, 321 acs,. New Kent Co., on head brs. of Assatians Sw; adj. Robert hill; & William Rogers; a Cattaile meadowe, &; 10 July 1680. p. 41. Trans. of 7 pers: Wm. Rowse, Ann Strange, Edwd. Archer, Danll. Meeks, Jno. Alwood (or Atwood), Loud Dennis, Eliz. Davis.

John Meeks, 1680 [Indenture Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 2
Page 215
CAPT. DANIELL JENIFER. 2500 acs. N'ampton Co,. bet Crooked Cr. & Pokomoke Riv. on Mesangoe Cr,. & Chesepiack Bay; 2 Oct. 1680. Adj: John Renny, Willm, Chase; Willia Wallis.. for Trans. of 50 pers: ...Jo. Branch, Jo. Meeks, Benj. Negro

John Meekes, 1683 [Indenture Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 2
Page 257
JOHN STALLENGE & ELIAS STALLENGE, 280 acs., of land & white marish, Up. Par. of Nanzimund Co., 16 Apr. 1683, p. 255 Beg. Adj. Capt Boothe; Robert Reddick; & land o fJohn Ellis, now said Booth's; being overplus within their bounds of a patt. to William Wright, 18 Mar. 1662. Trans. of 6 person: John Serjeant, James Johnson, Tho. Symons, Tho. Busby, Tho. Barwick, Jon. Meekes.

John Meeks, 1700 [Indentured Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 3
Page 40
GIDEON MACON, GENT,. 545 acs,. New Kent Co; in a fork of Chickahomany River where the swamp ends; 7 Nov. 1700, p. 289. Granted to Wm Clayborne, sonn of Wol. Wm . Clayburne, Junr,. dec'd,. & Thomas Clayburne, sonn and heir apparent of Mr.  Thomas Clayburne, 20 Apr. 1682, deserted, & now granted by order, for Imp. of 11 pers: John Lovell, John Meekes, Richd. Elliot, Guy Warwick, Joseph Miller, James Whitmore, Edward. Mash, John Townsend, Ralph Calmore, Edward Miles.

John Meeks, 1703 [Indentured Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 3
Page 81
THOMAS BRADLEY, 1087 ACS. New Kent Co., in St. Peter's Par; N. side of Chicahominy Sw; a little bellow the Izeinglass Run; 23 Oct. 1703, p. 583. Trans. of 22 pers: Robt. Keeble, Roger Powell, Mary Bland, Ben. Clark, Hum. Edwards, Rich. Sunderland, Mary Swana, Gideon Macon, Henry Allenson, Stephen Martin, Jno. Meekes, Philemon Adams, Jos. Lane, Robt. Townes, Mary Palmer. Note: 7 rights pad for to Wm. Bryrd, Esqr,. Auditor. 

Thomas Meeks, 1718 [Indentured Servitude]
From Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800 vol 3
Page 205
THOMAS CARR, JUNR.,, 600 acs. (N.L.), King Wm. Co; about 3 mi. above the falls of Pamunkey Riv., called Turkey Neck; at mouth of Topping Castle Sw; 12 July, 1718, p. 385. 10 Shill., & Imp. of 10 pers: Benjamin Bulkley, Abraham Alexander, William Jones, Elizabeth Pedley, Richard Darby, Fran. Mackey, Tho. Meaks, Jane Morris, Anne Newton, Mary Blackbeard

Next Post: John Meeks, St. Paul's Parish and Allens Creek

William Meeks Born in Cliburn England in 1699

Previous Post: So Many Williams

By and large the most popular belief for the identity of our immigrant ancestor is William Meeks, who was baptized in Cliburn, Westmorland County, England on  May 21, 1699. A quick google search and you'll find this record on 99% of online pedigrees, including familysearch.org. The internet has done wonders for family history research. But there are caveats, such as people accepting information as truth without question. This is the perfect example on how the internet can also do a disservice for family history research.

I haven't seen a shred of proof that this is our ancestor. From the previous post, I showed 46 records of persons named William Meeks that could possibly be our immigrant ancestor, and so why was this one chosen out of those 46? I can think of three other William Meeks' who have more reasons to be our ancestor, than Mr. William of Cliburn. I'm not saying that this William Meeks isn't our ancestor, I'm just saying we need proof that he is our ancestor before we embrace him. If someone out there has that proof, please share it, and if I concur that it is definite proof, then I will accept it.

According to the record, William Meeks, born in Cliburn England in May 1699, was the son of Isaac Meeks. About 90% of the pedigrees online claim that his father's name was William. To me, this tells me that not only do people cherry pick which records they want to use, but they also cherry pick the information in the record.

The records in Cliburn for this family are quite complete and Isaac had a lot of children. Most of his children however, died in infancy. It seems like this is the only Meeks family to have lived in Cliburn also. For no records of persons named Meeks appear in the Cliburn parish both before the time of Isaac, and after.

From the records, we learn the following about the family:

Father: Isaac Meeks, Buried 13 Feb 1728
Mother: Isabel, Buried 14 February 1710

Leonard: Baptized 26 Mar 1684 - Buried 1 Febraury 1758 (Wife1: Annas, Buried 22 May 1726) (Wife2: Anne, Buried 25 November 1744), (Daughter, Margaret, Baptized 24 August 1710)
Elizabeth: Baptized 7 Nov 1686 - Buried 25 May 1688
Mary: Baptized 12 August 1688
Isaac: Baptized 6 March 1690 - Buried 26 July 1691
Esther: Baptized 23 Oct 1692 - Buried 1 February 1705
Isabel: Baptized 17 March 1694 - Buried 6 April 1782 (age 88)
Christiana: Baptized 2 December 1696 - Buried 5 January 1697
William: Baptized 21 May 1699
Ann: Buried 10 Nov 1723

If anyone has more information about this family, please share.

Next Post: Immigration Records for Persons Named Meeks

So Many Williams

Previous Post: Our Scottish Cousins

Based on the oral tradition Dr. Priddy Meeks gave us, our immigrant ancestor would've been born in England sometime between 1680 and 1710. His name would've been William Meeks. YDNA testing has located two relatives whose ancestors are from Scotland. A search for records on ancestry.com for persons named William Meeks (or variants of that name) reveals 46 people born with that name between the years 1680 and 1710. I have verified that those records are not duplicates of each other. I have created a map that shows the birth locations of all of those Williams. The two yellow dots are the ancestral locations of our two relatives identified by YDNA. As you can see in this map, the heaviest concentrations are Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire in England. And the Lothians in Scotland, which is were are relatives are from.
Note: As mentioned in previous posts, it is entirely possible that Dr. Priddy Meeks skipped a generation(s) identifying the immigrant ancestor. There are another 63 William Meeks born in England between the years 1593 and 1680.

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Our Scottish Cousins

Previous Post: A Candle in the Dark. What ydna Testing has Told Us

It is important to understand the political and religious situations of Scotland and England during the 17nth century to understand all the reasons that our William Meeks might have immigrated to Virginia.
The main religion in England at the time was Anglican (Church of England) and in Scotland it was Presbyterian. The Scottish Presbyterians called themselves Covenanters, after the covenant between the Israelis and God in the Old Testament. In both countries, Catholics were the minority and despised by the Anglicans and Covenanters.
In 1626 Charles I was crowned King of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was the son of King James I (as in the King James Version of the Bible). King Charles made two mistakes, he married a Catholic, and he tried to consolidate power away from Parliament to himself. He believed that the King should have absolute power, and his agenda’s reflected that. His other agendas were also viewed as favorable to Catholicism. These actions eventually lead to the English Civil War which started in 1642 that eventually lead to the arrest and execution of King Charles I in 1649. This was the first civil war. During the civil war, Catholics were considered Loyalist. After Charles’ execution, Parliament operated the entire government, under the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. Two more civil wars would happen before the century finished. After Oliver’s death parliament reinstated the monarchy, with restrictions and crowned Charles’ son, Charles II, King of England, Ireland and Scotland. When Charles II died without heir in 1685 his brother, James was crowned King.
King James II was a Catholic, and failing to learn from the mistakes of his father, pushed pro- Catholic agendas and he was over thrown during the Glorious Revolution, also known as the 3rd civil war, in 1688 and the thrown went to King William and Mary.

During this century, you often had to pick which side you were going to support, if you chose the loosing side, then you would receive punishment that often involved being shipped as an indentured servant to the colonies. Click here for a great article that explains all this. From this article we see that there are countless of opportunities William Meeks could've come to our country as a political prisoner.

So where does our family fit into all of this? We start with a property called Fortissat. Fortissat is in Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland. The property had been in possession of the Hamilton family during the 16nth and 17nth centuries. The Hamilton's sided with Charles I during the first civil war. As a result of being on the losing side of the war, the family was left broke and they started selling off their land.

Our Scottish Cousins were tenant farmers in Burnhead, which is a property in Longridge, West Lothian Scotland. Burnhead was only eight miles away from Fortissat. In 1664, William Meike was able to acquire the Fortissat property which allowed him and his family to become minor Lairds.

By the time of the 3rd civil war our Fortissat cousins were Covenantors. There are three people who I am most interested in that are associated with Fortissat: James Meek, William Meek, and John Meek. James and William were both from Fortissat, and John was most likely a relative.

• 1679, after the Battle of Bothwell Brig, we find William Meek of Fortissat locked up in the Canongate Tolbooth at Edinburgh where he was held for suspicion of joining the Covenanters. 
• 1683, James and William Meek both of Fortissat  subscribed to the Bond and Test, which is where they are forced to swear allegiance to the King.
• 1686, John Meek was a portioner in Hinshellwood, Lanarkshire. His lands and houses were forfeit for treason and rebellion. His lands were returned to him in 1690 after the war. 

James Meek above was the son and heir of the William Meike who acquired the Fortissat property. As such, James descendants are well known since the property passed to his descendants. The person who interests me the most however is William, who found himself arrested in 1679. Surely he was either the father, or brother of James. If he was the father, then he would've been quite old to be participating in dangerous political activities. One might think it more likely that he was James' brother, running around with the Covenanters and being forced to swear allegiance to Charles II. If this William is the brother of James, then we have a real good candidate for our immigrant ancestor. There are no records of him after 1683, he is the right age, has the right name, and has the right dna. Was he shipped off to Virginia as a political prisoner?? Its a fun idea to think about.

After the war the Fortissat Meek family became very wealthy as they got involved in the cotton trade at Glasgow, coal was discovered on their land in the industrial revolution, and some descendants got into banking. Since, not all members of the family can live off the land, only the eldest son inherited the property while the other sons would go into law, or the Kirk (church). One of James Meek's great grandson, James Meek (1742-1810) became the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1795. He borrowed his crest from the Perthshire Meik family that has a duck with a bores head and two crescents. 

The modern day commercial coat of arms companies use a rendition of this crest for all Meek surnames associated with Scotland. Notably the duck, bores head, two crescents, and the motto.

It has been estimated that before the American Revolution, 150,000 Scots immigrated to the New World through either political prisoners, selling themselves as indentured servants or just going on their own. It is almost certain that our immigrant ancestor was among them.

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A Candle in the Dark: What ydna Testing has Told Us

Previous Post: Before Goochland

In 2004 the Meek dna surname project was started. Its website is meekdna.com. Participants will have a last name of Meek or variants of it. The testing consists of ydna only. For those who do not know what ydna testing is, it compares the genetic make up of the y chromosome. Since it is only looking at the y chromosome, only males can take it. This benefits genealogy because it follows the surname.

The main thing that surprised me is just how many people named Meek(s) that are not related to each other. Right now the project has eleven different family groups with another 15 individuals that don't relate at all. I didn't know this surname was that common.

Our family, descendants of William Meeks belong to group F where several descendants of Athe, Priddy, Littleton and Nacy have submitted test. The results show that Athe and Priddy do not share the same father as Littleton and Nacy. But the test does show they are related. Their closest possible relation would be 1st cousins, but even that relationship would have a high mutation rate. As stated in previous posts, I personally believe they were first cousins. Littleton and Nacy being the sons of John Meeks, brother of William Meeks.

The major find for the project though, comes from a donor in Scotland, whose ancestry is a family that has owned Fortissat in Scotland since 1664. Fortissat is a property in the village of Shotts, Lanarkshire County, Scotland. This property was purchased by William Meike, who is from Burnhead. Burnhead is a property just south of the village of  Longridge in West Lothian Scotland. Looking at ancestry.com, there are numerous Meek families throughout West Lothian during the 17nth century. Not all of them are related though. One other person who has ancestry in West Lothian has donated and he is among the 15 individuals that didn't match any group.

Another donor from from Indiana, whose immigrant ancestor was William Meek, born around 1795 and married in Edinburgh in 1827 (I believe this is the earliest record of him). This William immigrated to Ontario Canada in the 1830's. The donor is more closely related to the Fortissat family than we are, and has a good chance of being a descendant of William Meike who purchased Fortissat. A connection just hasn't been made yet.

That's two points for the Lothians in the Lowlands of Scotland. Looking at our deep heritage, we belong to the L193 haplogroup. Haplogroups are like the worlds family tree, with everybody belonging to the oldest haplogroup, then as mutations happen throughout the ages, younger haplogroups are created that parcel out portions of the population that belong to them. The L193 haplogroup is part of the older R1b group (R1b is generally associated with Western Europe). L193 has been estimated to be 1100-1800 years old, which is a really young haplogroup. What this means is the first person to carry the mutation that is unique to L193, lived 1100-1800 years ago, and everyone that belongs to L193 has a direct paternal lineage back to that person.

The heaviest concentration of people belonging to the L193 haplogroup are in the Lowlands of Scotland. This is why we need to question Dr. Priddy Meeks when he said the immigrant ancestor came from England. If he did come from England, he (or his ancestors) almost certainly came from Scotland before he (they) went to England. But there wasn't a lot of immigration between Scotland and England before the union in 1707.

This is a wealth of information that the early researchers of the family did not know. It allows us to narrow our search in the Lowlands of Scotland, or try to make connections between a Scottish family and an English family. Also, connections between the Fortissat family with any other family will do wonders to our research. While researchers have been studying our Meeks family in America for over 50 years, and a great deal of knowledge is known about them, knowledge about Meek(s) families in Scotland and England have not yet been so thoroughly researched. More than likely, all the records on the America said of the Atlantic have been researched, so researchers should focus their time and energy towards the Scotland and England and start making connections.

Next Post: Our Scottish Cousins