Joseph Milstead was born about 1718, probably in Charles County, MD. He lived and raised his family in Amherst, VA and died there in July of 1803. He is one of the most important Milsteads because he left so many descendants. Most of the Milsteads in the United States today outside of those that came from Maryland are descended from this man. In particular, those Milsteads from Alabama, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Mexico, and Southern Virginia are almost all his descendants. But we have no records that indicate who Joseph Milstead's father was. Several possibilities are listed below. Recently, we have even resorted to DNA testing to try to add additional clarity to the issue, but the missing link (Joseph Milsteads paternity) that ties together the Maryland Milsteads to those others mentioned above may never be known with certainty.
First, let's look at what we do know through documentation about the Milstead men alive in America and of age at the time to father a child:
Edward Milstead b. 1656 in Kent, England. He came to America as an indentured servant in 1674. We sometimes refer to him as Edward the first or Edward I.
Edward Milstead b. 1695, son of Edward I . We sometimes refer to him as Edward the second or Edward II.
William Milstead b. 1685, son of Edward I.
William Milstead b. 1702, son of William b. 1685.
Thomas Milstead b. 1701, son of Edward I.
Edward III and the other Edward Milstead that married Ann Elgin Dunnington were born much too late to be the father of Joseph born in 1718.
So who was the father of Joseph Milstead? For the sake of trying to sort this out, lets look at each possibility in turn:
1. Could Joseph be the son of Edward I? Edward I would have been 63 when Joseph was born, maybe a little old, but still possible. There is no specific mention of him in Edward's will however the will does say: "All my children that are not here mentioned I give unto them one shilling". This is also consistent with the will of (the forth) Edward Milstead (who we also don’t know how he connects) done in 1840, if we assume that Edward was a son of Joseph (if not, then who was his father?), perhaps Edward remained in Charles County when Joseph moved over to Virginia. It would be interesting to try to find the earliest records that could establish a date for Joseph in Virginia.
2. Could Joseph be the son of William? William clearly had a son named Joseph that lived to adulthood. He is mention in William’s will and also as a sibling of William, Jr. in his will. But it seems that this Joseph could hardly have been the Joseph that went to Amherst, VA. The case that Joseph, son of William, married Teresa Green and had a son named Leonard and stayed in Charles County is substantiated by the land transfers that show William Sr left his land to William Jr, who died shortly after. The theory is that the land would have passed to Joseph, as next in line, and therefore he must have been married to Teresa who eventually wound up with the land. Teresa probably did marry a Milstead, since the land went to her son, Leonard Milstead (her father's name was also Leonard). So this Joseph stayed in Charles County, married to Teresa Green and was not the same one that was in Amherst, VA married to a Rebecca (last name unknown).
3. William Milstead Jr, (son of William, son of Edward I) could have had a son named Joseph. I have not found a record of this, but John Jones and Barbara Van Balen have mentioned records to this effect (see below). I looked at the “Early Charles County Maryland Settlers” book and it shows the will and inventory of the estate of William Milstead, Jr. The book “Early Families of Southern Maryland” by Elizabeth Jourdin mentions the same information but adds that “William Milstead, Jr. died unmarried”, but no source is listed for this conclusion. Both these books have the will of William Milstead, Jr. mentioning Joseph Milstead in his will, but the Jourdin book states it is his “sibling”. Whoever the Joseph was mentioned in the will got the land and married Teresa Green (see #2 above) and therefore was not the Joseph Milstead who went to Amherst, VA. If William Milstead, Jr had a son named Joseph, he was not mentioned in his will. Also, he would have been only 16 years old if the birthdate for Joseph of 1718 is right. That is a little young for those times.
4. Joseph could have been the son of Edward II, born 1695. Time is right, but he doesn't mention any son named Joseph in his will, and I think he would have since he went to the trouble to mention each child by name as he left "one shilling and no more" to all his daughters and a son. It seems that he especially would have mentioned a son that was born before Matthew (the one he left his land to), a son that would have been more likely to contest the will.
5. Joseph could have immigrated and settled in Amherst, VA. Now we need to see if we can find him in the passenger lists, etc. That seems like someone already would have if it were there to be found, but perhaps not. DNA testing of the descendants of Joseph Milstead of Amherst show them to be exact matches with the descendants of Edward Milstead I b. 1656. This makes the seperate immigrant theory even more unlikely. DNA proves that Joseph of Amherst and Edward I were closely related, and Joseph was therefore most likely a descendant of Edward I somehow.
6. Joseph could have been the son of one of Edward I’s other sons, John b. bef 1718, or Thomas b. 1701. Again, there is nothing to substantiate this. Some researchers believe that Edward I had a youngest son named John who immigrated to King George, VA. Another son Thomas immigrated to Prince Georges County, MD. John was probably not born until about 1718, the same time Joseph of Amherst was supposedly born. Thomas, born in 1701 was old enough (barely) to have a son in 1718. Possibly Edward’s son John and Thomas’s (hypothetical) son Joseph left for Virginia together, since they would have been about the same age. This is really grasping for straws!
So where did Joseph Milstead of Amherst, VA come from? Options 1 and 3 seem the most plausible to me and 2, 4, 5 and 6 seem pretty unlikely. Maybe one day more accurate DNA testing will tell us.
John Jones and Barbara Van Balen of Willow Wood, Ohio had this take on the data:
The proof that Joseph Sr. was the son of William Milstead Jr. is found in "Early
Charles County Maryland Settlers, 1658-1745" by Marlene Strawser Bates and
F. Edward Wright, p.192.; "Charles County, MD, Court Records, 1743-1743[4]",
by TLC Genealogy, P.94.
The proof that William Jr. was the son of William Sr. is found in "Early Charles
County Maryland Settlers, 1658-1745" by Marlene Strawser Bates and F.
Edward Wright p.192; "Abstracts of Charles County Circuit Court, Court and
Land Records", Vol. 2, 1665-1695, p.126; "Charles County, MD, Births,
Marriages and Deaths, 1654-1726", Original record filmed at Maryland Historical
Society Baltimore, MD.
The proof that William Sr. is the son of Edward Milstead and Susanna ________
is to be found in "Early Charles County Maryland Settlers, 1658-1745" by
Marlene Strawser Bates and F. Edward Wright, p.192; "Maryland Calendar of
Wills", Vol. I and II, p.57, 229; "Charles County Register of Wills, 1665-1718",
CR 49, 152, Maryland State Archives, p. 264, 265; "Charles County, MD, Births,
Marriages and Deaths, 1654-1726", Original record filmed at Maryland Historical
Society Baltimore, MD.