David Dortch & his wife Lucy

Searching for a maiden name & estimating birth years in colonial Virginia

David Dortch’s wife was named Lucy. Everything I’ve seen written about the Dortch family and posted online states that her name is Lucy Russell. There was a Lucy Russell who was born in Richmond County, Virginia. Some people think this the same Lucy, and I can understand why, because I’m finding some of my Mecklenburg families previously lived in Essex and across the Rappahannock River in Richmond County. I do not think it could be the same person though though, because the Lucy Russell in Richmond County would have been too old to have been the mother of Newman Dortch. There were two Russell families living near the Dortch family on Miles Creek, a Jeffrey Russell and Richard Russell. Burnall Russell’s children are listed in the guardian records in 1777, although I haven’t found a Lucy with the Russell families in any records.

A marriage record would be helpful to confirm the maiden name of Lucy. People report an exact marriage date for a David Dortch & Lucy Russell in Lunenburg County, Virginia before 1746. I have looked through marriage bonds in Lunenburg and there is no marriage record for David Dortch in Lunenburg. David Dortch sold land 10 Jul 1746 in Isle of Wight County. (Free to view in FamilySearch after logging in.) No wife signed her permission to sell the land, which meant David was not married in the year 1746. If a man was married and sold land, by law his wife had to be asked by magistrates if she gave her permission, because selling land affected her dowry and the financial support she was promised as a widow.

David Dortch was in a chancery case in Sussex, Virginia in 1755 showing his wife at that time was named Rebecca, the daughter of John Barlow. I believe Rebecca was Rebecca’s youngest child and she died soon after the baby was born. Then he married a lady named Lucy and her first child was named Lucy. See David Dortch in the Mecklenburg Community tree on FamilySearch.

David Dortch’s will states that his wife is Lucy. I have several chancery cases about David and Lucy’s children and who their children married. Each case refers to their mother as Lucy and their father as David Dortch. Unfortunately none of these cases state Lucy’s maiden name. I’ve been a bit puzzled by my ancestor Newman Dortch’s name, because I do have ancestors with the surname Newman. Most of the time that I see a surname used as a male first name, it is usually a surname from the mother’s family line. For example: Burton Jones, Jones Taylor, Wilson Walker. I’ve wondered if and how Lucy could be related to the Newmans, even though they are different branches of my family tree. I have not yet seen a Lucy Newman in colonial Virginia, in the areas my family lived. My Jones, Newman and Dortch families were at least neighbors, but I am keeping a look out for other possible relationships.

There is a wide range of birth years reported online for David Dortch’s children. That is probably because in this time period (before 1850) ages were not recorded on the census, wills, or marriage records. The majority age, (the age to get married without needing written consent of the parent) was 21. None of David Dortch’s children had a consent note on the marriage bond (marriage record). This means that all of David’s children were at least age 21 when they married. There is another record that gives us a time frame to better estimate birth dates, and that is the guardian record. Guardian records (also known as orphan records) were created when one parent died, and that parent willed things to their children who were under the age of 21, which necessitated the appointment of a “guardian”. So, although Lucy was still living, (she was notated in the inventory of David’s estate as the widow), there were guardian (orphan) records created for their younger children at the time.

I made this chart below to show how I better estimated the birth dates of David and Lucy’s children. Newman Dortch was the youngest, born in 1775. His oldest brother David was born about 1751, meaning Lucy and David probably married about 1750. That is 25 years of child bearing. Rebecca Dortch, one of the older children, was born about 1755, and Lucy is notated in a chancery case as both Rebecca and Newman Dortch’s mother. To have been having children this long, I believe Lucy would have had to have married underage, probably about age 16, which would have been about 1733. Then she would have had David at about age 17 and Newman at age 42. I believe this rules out the Lucy Russell born in Richmond County, Virginia, because that Lucy was born in 1723. I’ve checked all the wills of people with the surname Russell in Richmond, Essex, Orange, and Mecklenburg, and none of them mention a Lucy with maiden name of Russell, except the one born in 1723, who would have been 52 when Newman Dortch was born.

I continue to search for Lucy’s maiden name and if there could be a connection to the Newman family.

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Recalculated birth dates of David Dortch’s children

David Dortch’s will was written in Mecklenburg County, Virginia on 12 Nov 1780. It was proved 13 May 1782. David lists these family members in this order: Wife Lucy. Children: William, John, Jesse, Young, Lewis, Newman, Noah, David, Abel, Hillica, Rebecca, Lucy. Note: Hillica and Rebecca were already married at the time their father’s will was written, but he lists them by their maiden names in his will. David’s son David was the executor and a guardian.

Mecklenburg Fudiciary Book 1765-1850, letter D surname page; film #0076445469 image 107 of 150, lists David Dortch’s orphans. (Sign in to FamilySearch to see image for free.)

• Jesse and Young Dortch have guardian Nathaniel Moss, security Benjamin Ferrell, bond date 9 May 1785, penalty 500 pounds.
• William, John, Lewis, & Newman Dortch have the guardian David Dortch, security by Nathaniel Moss, bond date 9 May 1785, penalty of 1,000 pounds.

Birth year ranges and calculations

Birth year ranges are based on marriage record in order to be at least age 21 at time of marriage. Also birth year ranges are based on orphan records.

name	Birth year to be 21 at time of marriage	Marriage year	Age at time of May 1782	Birth year based on orphan record
1. David Dortch*	before 1777	1798	over age 21	before 1761
2. Hillica Dortch	before 1756	1777	over age 21	before 1761
3. Rebecca Dortch	before 1757	1778	over age 21	before 1761
4. Lucy Dortch	before 1763	1784	over age 21	before 1761
5. Noah Dortch	before 1759	1780	over age 21	before 1761
6. Able Dortch**	before 1759	1780	over age 21	before 1761
7. Jesse Dortch	before 1771	1792	over age 15***	before 1767
8. Young Dortch	before 1778	1799	over age 15	before 1767
9. William Dortch	before 1765	1786	under age 15	after 1768
10. John Dortch	?	?	under age 15	after 1768
11. Lewis Dortch	before 1775	1796	under age 15	after 1768
12. Newman Dortch	before 1779	1800	under age 15	after 1768

*In a chancery case about David Dortch Sr’s estate, David Dortch Jr was called Major David Dortch. I estimate he’d need to be at least 18-20 years old when the war started, to make rank, so I estimate he was born at the latest about 1756.
** Able’s pension record gives his age as 72, on 22 July 1833, born in the year 1761.
***Assumed that these two brothers with the separate guardian of Nathaniel Moss instead of their brother is because they are over age 15, as I’ve seen in cases in other Virginia counties.

New birth year estimations for the children of David Dortch

1. David Dortch was born about 1751
2. Hillica Dortch was born about 1753
3. Rebecca Dortch was born about 1755
4. Lucy Dortch was born about 1757
5. Noah Dortch was born about 1759
6. Able Dortch was born about 1761
7. Jesse Dortch was born about 1764
8. Young Dortch was born about 1766
9. William Dortch was born about 1768
10. John Dortch was born about 1770
11. Lewis Dortch was born about 1773
12. Newman Dortch was born about 1775