Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: User Home Page Book: Norfleet, Campbell, Mayfield and Mortier Ancestors of Philip C. Norfleet: NGS Quarterly Report of Thomas Northfleete

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Descendants of Thomas Northfleete

37. Hezakiah⁴ Norfleet (John³, John², Thomas¹ Northfleete) was born 30 May, 1739 in Nansemond County VA, and died Abt. 1811. He married Mary Bef. 1779 in Nansemond County VA.

Notes for Hezakiah Norfleet:

Hezekiah was probably born on 30 May 1739 and thus was the fourth oldest son of John Norfleet. He moved back to Nansemond County and, according to the county land tax lists, acquired 436 acres of land near the Anglican Chapel at Cypress Swamp. The Upper Parish Vestry Book indicates that he was the Reader at Cypress Chapel for several years. The Nansemond County land tax lists indicate that Hezekiah had at least one son named John. The tax lists also indicate that Hezekiah died in about the year 1811.

Children of Hezakiah Norfleet and Mary are:

	124	i.		John⁵ Norfleet, born Abt. 1779.
+	125	ii.		Bathsheba Norfleet.

39. Jacob⁴ Norfleet (John³, John², Thomas¹ Northfleete) was born 17 August, 1743, and died Bef. August 1780 in Gates County NC. He married Elizabeth Kinchen(?).

Notes for Jacob Norfleet:

John Norfleet's youngest son, Jacob, was probably born on 17 August 1743. He was a constable for Chowan County in the 1770's. He lived near the land and mill of his father and mother, in that portion of Chowan that in 1779 became part of the newly formed County of Gates. Jacob died as a comparatively young man in about the year 1780.

Children of Jacob Norfleet and Elizabeth Kinchen(?) are:

	126	i.	Elizabeth⁵ Norfleet.
	127	ii.	Pleasant Norfleet. She married _____ Lawrence.
	128	iii.	Esther Norfleet.
+	129	iv.	Mourning Norfleet, born in Gates County NC; died 24 March, 1842 in Hertford County NC.
+	130	v.	Kinchen Norfleet, born Abt. 1775 in Chowan County NC; died Bef. August 1849 in Gates County NC.

40. Barsheba⁴ Norfleet (John³, John², Thomas¹ Northfleete) was born 06 September, 1745, and died 08 July, 1825 in Gates County NC. She married Jacob Gordon 14 May, 1769, son of John Gordon and Mary Hunter.

Notes for Barsheba Norfleet:

Probably the third oldest daughter of John Norfleet, Barsheba was born on 6 September 1745 and died 8 July 1825. She married Jacob Gordon on 14 May 1769. Jacob was the son of John Gordon and Mary Hunter. Two sisters of John Gordon, Mary and Elizabeth, also married members of the Norfleet family: James Norfleet (d. 1732) of Perquimans County and Marmaduke Norfleet (1700-1774) of Northampton County, North Carolina, respectively. Also, a daughter of John Gordon and Mary Hunter, Sarah Gordon, married James Norfleet (d. 1796) of Gates County, North Carolina. This James Norfleet was the grandson of the elder James (d.1732) of Perquimans. All three of these Norfleet males were descendents of Thomas Norfleet, Junior, the son of the original Norfleet immigrant, Thomas Northfleete (c. 1645 - c. 1700.

Children of Barsheba Norfleet and Jacob Gordon are:

+	131	i.	George⁵ Gordon, born 04 August, 1775; died 14 December, 1822.
	132	ii.	James Gordon.
+	133	iii.	Mary Hunter Gordon, born 12 January, 1772; died 14 December, 1802.
	134	iv.	Jacob N. Gordon.

41. Mary⁴ Norfleet (John³, John², Thomas¹ Northfleete) was born 23 August, 1747. She married John Ellis.

Notes for Mary Norfleet:

Mary was probably born on 23 August 1747 and was the fourth oldest daughter of John Norfleet. She married John Ellis of Gates County, North Carolina. The will of John Ellis, dated 8 November 1810 and probated in 1811, mentions his wife Mary, his son Marmaduke Norfleet Ellis and his daughters Elizabeth Riddick Ellis and Sarah Norfleet Ellis.

Children of Mary Norfleet and John Ellis are:

135	i.	Marmaduke⁵ Ellis.
136	ii.	Norfleet Ellis.
137	iii.	Elizabeth Riddick Ellis.
138	iv.	Sarah Norfleet Ellis.

42. Elizabeth Ann (Nancy)⁴ Norfleet (John³, John², Thomas¹ Northfleete) was born 28 March, 1751 in Chowan County NC, and died 1831 in Montgomery County TN. She married John Baker Abt. 1785 in Gates County NC, son of John Baker and Mary Wynns.

Notes for Elizabeth Ann (Nancy) Norfleet:

John Norfleet's daughter Elizabeth Ann (Nancy) was probably his youngest child and, thus, was born on 28 march 1751. Possibly to avoid confusion between her and her mother, Elizabeth Riddick Norfleet, she appears to have been usually known by her middle name, Ann or Nancy. In about 1785, Ann married the successful planter, John Baker, of Hertford and Gates County North Carolina. John Baker was a grandson of Captain Henry Baker (d. 1739) and a half-first cousin of William Baker of Buckland Plantation, who had married Judith Norfleet, daughter of Marmaduke Norfleet (1700-1774). Thus, we have a situation where Baker first cousins, John and William Baker, married Norfleet second cousins, Ann (Nancy) and Judith Norfleet!

John and Nancy Baker moved to Robertson County, Tennessee in 1796. One of their sons, William, fought in the War of 1812, dying in 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans. In 1802, their daughter Lucinda married Willie Blount, who subsequently became the Governor of the State of Tennessee. A daughter of Willie and Lucinda Blount, also named Lucinda, married a son of Isaac and Martha (nee Norfleet) Dortch, i. e., John Baker Dortch. Martha Norfleet Dortch was a daughter of James Norfleet (1735-1780) of Nansemond County, Virginia; thus she was a niece of Elizabeth Ann Norfleet Baker.

Children of Elizabeth Norfleet and John Baker are:

	139	i.	John⁵ Baker.
	140	ii.	Ann Baker.
+	141	iii.	Lucinda Baker, born Abt. 1786 in Gates County NC; died Abt. September 1806 in Montgomery County TN.
	142	iv.	William Baker, died 21 January, 1815 in Battle of New Orleans.
	143	v.	James Baker.
	144	vi.	Robert Baker.

43. Cordall⁴ Norfleet (Joseph³, John², Thomas¹ Northfleete) was born Abt. 1735 in Nansemond County VA, and died 1788 in Southampton County VA. He met (1) Ann Bynum. He married (2) Mary Wilkerson 1771 in Southampton County VA, daughter of John Wilkerson.

Notes for Cordall Norfleet:

Cordall Norfleet was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Norfleet of Nansemond County. His father, Joseph, was the tobacco inspector (appointed in 1733) at Lawrence's Warehouse; this warehouse was located on the site where the town of Suffolk was later established in 1742. The position of Inspector of Tobacco was a potentially very lucrative post and was much sought after by members of the Virginia Gentry. Joseph held land in both Nansemond and Isle of Wight Counties. In 1737, Joseph acquired a 185 acre tract of land in the Nottaway Parish of Isle of Wight County. In 1749, the County of Southampton was formed and the land fell within the new county. This tract formed the nucleus of the plantation that Joseph's son, Cordall, would later create. By the time of his death in 1788, Cordall's plantation in Southampton County had grown to 1400 acres.

Cordall was the first Norfleet to establish his primary residence in Southampton County. He apparently moved to Southampton in about 1756 for, in that year, he patented an additional 200 acres of land adjacent to that of his father, Joseph (then deceased). Cordall most certainly was a resident by 1760; he was appointed ensign in the Southampton Militia in that year by the Royal Governor of Virginia, Francis Fauquier.

As a royal officer in the militia, he would have been required to take the Test Oath, the Oath of Abjuration and two Oaths of Allegiance to the King (see page 47). Having previously taken these oaths, when the Revolution began, Cordall, like George Washington, may have had some hesitation before embracing the patriot cause.

CORDALL'S ILLEGITIMATE SON

Cordall appears to have been somewhat of a "womanizer" in his younger days. On 14 March 1760, he was ordered by the Justices of Southampton County to post a bastardy bond for a child he sired by a woman named Ann Bynum. The child was apparently named Cordall Norfleet Bynum. In his will (probated 1788), Cordall Norfleet left Cordall N. Bynum a 694-acre plantation in Northampton County, North Carolina; this legacy constituted almost one-third of Cordall's entire estate!

MARRIAGE TO MARY WILKERSON

In July 1771, Cordall married Mary Wilkinson, by whom he had five (5) children; only three survived into adulthood, Elizabeth, John and Sarah. Cordall was a successful planter; at the time of his death in 1788, he had accumulated 1400 acres of land in Southampton County, Virginia, 694 acres of land in Northampton County, North Carolina and owned about 28 slaves.

REVOLUTIONARY WAR PARTICIPATION

At the time of the Revolution, Cordall Norfleet was a wealthy planter of Southampton County Virginia. His political position during the early days of the Revolutionary War may have been somewhat equivocal. The minutes of the Committee of Safety for Southampton County, for 11 January 1776, makes the following reference to Cordall:

"Ordered that Mr. Wm Blunt & Mr. Jno Thomas Blow wait on Mr. Jno Wilkinson & Mr. Cordall Norfleet & take security that they do not sell any pork that may be barreled by them without permission of this committee."

The Committees of Safety were the de facto local governing bodies at the county level in Revolutionary Virginia, entirely replacing the royal governing structures such as the parish vestries. The committee order cited above is equivocal, but the implication is that messieurs Wilkinson and Norfleet may have been considered less than sanguine regarding the patriot cause and therefore required watching by the Committee.

The above notwithstanding, after the Revolution, Cordall filed two War connected public service claims in Virginia for which he was reimbursed

LAWSUIT IN VA COURT OF APPEALS

Ten years after Cordall's death, his only legitimate male heir, John Norfleet died in 1798, shortly after having reached the age of 21. John's wife of only three months, Eve Formicula Norfleet (see below), renounced her rights to his estate for a "stipulated price." However, John's early death gave rise to a major lawsuit between his two sisters, Elizabeth and Sarah; and the children (William and Lavinia) of his mother, Mary Norfleet, by her second husband, William Gee. The case ultimately went to the Virginia Court of Appeals and the court decision (in October 1805) became a major precedent in the law concerning widow's dower. It is interesting to note that none of the parties contested the 694-acre legacy to Cordall Norfleet Bynum, hence his illegitimate status must have been well known to all members of the family!

AARON NORFLEET AND THE NAT TURNER REVOLT

Cordall Norfleet may also have sired a child (Aaron Norfleet) by a slave woman, in about the year 1756. On 28 May 1798, Aaron was freed by Cordall's legitimate male heir, John Norfleet. After gaining his freedom, Aaron acquired land on the south side of Flat Swamp and lived there for many years. In March 1808, Aaron married Marian Artis. Marian belonged to the large and well-known Artis family of free blacks, who mostly lived in the St. Luke's Parish area of Southampton County. Aaron apparently died in October 1831, under rather suspicious circumstances. Aaron's death occurred shortly after the Nat Turner Revolt (August 1831), but before Turner was apprehended and hung in November 1831. Aaron's farm was located less than 2 miles from the farm of Joseph Travis, where Nat Turner had lived. In addition, several members of his wife's family had participated in the Turner insurrection. It was widely believed by the local white people that Turner had been aided in the planning for his "revolt" by the local free Negroes, accordingly, Aaron would have been a prime suspect in this regard. During the time while Nat Turner was a fugitive, gangs of white vigilantes roamed throughout Southampton County, searching for Turner and seizing any free blacks they ran across, for questioning re Turner's whereabouts. Many of the free blacks so taken were tortured and sometimes killed. Aaron, who by this time was an elderly man, may have been the victim of such a "vigorous" interrogation!

Child of Cordall Norfleet and Ann Bynum is:

145

Cordall Norfleet⁵ Bynum, born March 1760.

Children of Cordall Norfleet and Mary Wilkerson are:

	146	i.	Joseph⁵ Norfleet, born 13 October, 1772 in Southampton County VA; died Bef. 1788 in Southampton County VA.
+	147	ii.	Elizabeth Norfleet, born 20 August, 1774.
	148	iii.	John Norfleet, born 20 September, 1776 in Southampton County VA; died 24 July, 1798 in Southampton County VA. He married Evelyn (Eve) Formicula April 1798 in Williamsburg VA.

Notes for Evelyn (Eve) Formicula:

JOHN NORFLEET AND EVE FORMICULA

Cordall Norfleet's only surviving, legitimate, male heir, John Norfleet, was the first Norfleet in the United States to attend a university (College of William and Mary). While a student, in April 1798, John married one of the leading belles of Williamsburg, Eve Formicula. Eve was the daughter of Matilda Stuart and Serafina Formicula of Venice, Italy.

Eve's father, Serafina Formicula, was reputed to have been a close friend of the last royal governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore and may have been his steward. When Dunmore was forced to leave Virginia during the Revolution, the Formiculas remained behind. Serafina's family first resided in Williamsburg, but later they removed to the new Virginia State Capitol, Richmond. In Richmond Serafina owned a tavern and subsequently managed the famous Eagle Tavern. He was a patron of the arts and was a subscriber to the Academy of Fine Arts in Richmond.

Just after her marriage in April 1798, Eve Formicula was described by one of her former admirers, Garrett Minor (College of William and Mary student) in the following words:

" � The ladies of this place [Williamsburg] � are the most engaging, pleasing, easy and polite set of women with whom I was ever acquainted. One of the finest has lately retired from this elysium. E. Formicula is noosed irrevocably to Mr. Norfleet. On the whole I admired Eve. She was fickle, inconstant, extravagant and coquettish. But she was endowed with sensibility and a share of sense which in some measure extenuated these qualities."

Unfortunately, John Norfleet died only three months after his marriage to Eve, in July 1798. His widow, within a short time, again married, this time to her cousin, Stuart Bankhead. Eve's second husband also died after a short time, in about 1807. On 1 March 1808, Eve was married for a third time, to Robert Gilchrist Robb. Her third husband also lived for only a few years and Eve was left a widow for the third time. Shortly thereafter, Eve Formicula Norfleet Bankhead Robb died, as a three-time widow, at the age of only 31. She definitely lived her life in the "fast lane!"

	149	iv.		Sarah Norfleet, born 12 September, 1778 in Southampton County VA; died 22 September, 1798. She married Charles B. Jones 28 February, 1797 in Southampton County VA.
	150	v.		James Norfleet, born 12 September, 1780 in Southampton County VA; died Bef. 1788 in Southampton County VA.

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