Genealogy Report: Descendants of Frances Asbury
Descendants of Frances Asbury
1.FRANCES1 ASBURY was born 1630 in England, and died 1682 in Kent Co., MD.He married MARY POWELL.
Notes for FRANCES ASBURY:
Married Mary Powell 25 Apr 1675
From the geneaology of Shauna Ball
Generation No. 1
1. FRANCIS1 ASBURY was born 1630 in England, and died 1682 in Kent Island, MD. He married MARY
POWELL April 25, 1675 in London, England. She was born 1632 in England.
More About FRANCIS ASBURY:
Cause Of Death (Facts Pg): 1682, Drowned
Children of FRANCIS ASBURY and MARY POWELL are:
2.i.HENRY ASBURY2 SR., b. May 1650, Kent Co, MD; d. February 03, 1706/07, Westmoreland
Co, Virginia.
ii.MARY ASBURY, b. 1650.
iii.FRANCIS ASBURY JR., b. 1658; d. 1703, Kent Co, MD,.
Generation No. 2
2. HENRY ASBURY2 SR. (FRANCIS1 ASBURY) was born May 1650 in Kent Co, MD, and died
February 03, 1706/07 in Westmoreland Co, Virginia. He married MARY DURRANT 1672 in Westmoreland
Co, VA, daughter of HENRY DURRANT and SARAH. She was born 1650 in Westmoreland Co, Virginia,
and died June 19, 1709 in Westmoreland Co, Virginia.
More About HENRY ASBURY SR.:
Will: February 03, 1705/06, LEFT 630 acres to his three sons
Children of HENRY SR. and MARY DURRANT are:
3.i.HENRY3 ASBURY, b. 1680, Westmoreland Co, Virginia; d. May 27, 1740, Westmoreland Co,
Virginia.
ii.THOMAS ASBURY.
4.iii.BENJAMIN ASBURY, b. 1695, Washington CO, VA,; d. 1750, VA.
5.iv.CATHERINE ASBURY, b. 1672, Westmoreland Co, Virginia; d. 1738, Virginia.
Generation No. 3
3. HENRY3 ASBURY (HENRY ASBURY2 SR., FRANCIS1 ASBURY) was born 1680 in Westmoreland
Co, Virginia, and died May 27, 1740 in Westmoreland Co, Virginia. He married HANNAH. She died 1740.
Children of HENRY ASBURY and HANNAH are:
6.i.JAMES THOMAS4 ASBURY, b. 1726, Westmoreland Co, Virginia; d. 1808, Mercer Co. , Ky.
7.ii.WILLIAM ASBURY, b. 1724; d. 1793.
4. BENJAMIN3 ASBURY (HENRY ASBURY2 SR., FRANCIS1 ASBURY) was born 1695 in Washington
CO, VA,, and died 1750 in VA. He married FRANCES BROWN 1718 in Westmoreland Co, VA. She was
born 1698 in Westmoreland Co, Virginia, and died 1755.
Children of BENJAMIN ASBURY and FRANCES BROWN are:
8.i.JOHN4 ASBURY, b. 1720, Westmoreland Co, Virginia; d. 1806, Russell Co, VA,.
ii.BENJAMIN ASBURY JR., b. 1722.
5. CATHERINE3 ASBURY (HENRY ASBURY2 SR., FRANCIS1 ASBURY) was born 1672 in
Westmoreland Co, Virginia, and died 1738 in Virginia. She married WILLIAM REMY 1693. He was born
1672.
Children of CATHERINE ASBURY and WILLIAM REMY are:
i.WILLIAM4 REMY, b. 1696.
ii.JACOB REMY, b. 1698.
iii.ASBURY REMY, b. 1702.
iv.MARY REMY, b. June 1709.
v.ELIZABETH REMY, b. 1710.
vi.KATHERINE REMY, b. 1710.
vii.JOHN REMY, b. 1712.
viii.JAMES REMY, b. 1715.
ix.DANIEL REMY, b. 1720.
Generation No. 4
6. JAMES THOMAS4 ASBURY (HENRY3, HENRY ASBURY2 SR., FRANCIS1 ASBURY) was born
1726 in Westmoreland Co, Virginia, and died 1808 in Mercer Co. , Ky. He married MARTHA JENNINGS
December 01, 1751 in Overwharton Parish, Stafford Co., VA. She was born 1727 in Fairfax Co, Virginia, and
died 1802.
Notes for JAMES THOMAS ASBURY:
in 1745 thomas asbury joined the masses of immigrants leaving england and other european countries in search
of new frontiers to practice their relgions or seculiar beliefs. the asbury sailed on a ship bound for america,
carrying with them expectations of a better life. ultimatley they would endure many hardships.
Thomas Asbury and his wife Susan Jennings Asbury settled in virgina and raised three sons under the Methodist
religion. When the Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, their two oldest sons joined the fight against the
British.
Children of JAMES ASBURY and MARTHA JENNINGS are:
i.GEORGE5 ASBURY, b. 1756, Fairfax Co, Virginia; d. November 12, 1824, Franklin Co. , VA; m.
MARY HATCHER, May 20, 1785, Bedford Co. , VA; b. 1760; d. Dade Co. , Ga.
ii.DANIEL ASBURY, b. February 18, 1762, ,Fairfax, Virginia; d. May 15, 1825, Lincolnton,
licoln,N. Carolina; m. NANCY JANE MORRIS, January 18, 1790, ,Brunswick, Virginia; b. December 22,
1770, ,Brunswick, Virginia; d. October 24, 1862.
Notes for DANIEL ASBURY:
Daniel Asbury, at the age of 15, was scalped by the Indians but survived and his wound healed. He was
adopted by the Chief and lived with the Indians for about 7 years. He left the tribe after having converted many
of them to the Methodist religion. Throughout his life, Daniel always wore a wig or cloth over his head to cover
up his baldness caused by the scalping. Daniel Asbury married Nancy Morris in 1790 and settled in Lincoln
County, North Carolina. Daniel was an early pillar of Methodism and founded a Methodist church in Lincoln
County in 1791. He was a devout and tireless preacher, ultimately becoming a Presiding Elder. Daniel Asbury
followed in the footsteps of his religious relative, Francis Asbury, who was the first Methodist bishop in
America.
iii.JOHN ASBURY, b. 1764; d. Brandywine.
7. WILLIAM4 ASBURY (HENRY3, HENRY ASBURY2 SR., FRANCIS1 ASBURY) was born 1724, and
died 1793. He married JEAN ANKERUM. She was born 1728, and died 1798.
Child of WILLIAM ASBURY and JEAN ANKERUM is:
i.THOMAS5 ASBURY, m. MOLLY KELLY, 1794.
8. JOHN4 ASBURY (BENJAMIN3, HENRY ASBURY2 SR., FRANCIS1 ASBURY) was born 1720 in
Westmoreland Co, Virginia, and died 1806 in Russell Co, VA,. He married (1) JEAN BOWLING February
25, 1743/44 in Overwharton Parish, Stafford Co., VA. She was born 1724. He married (2) KEZIAH 1774.
Children of JOHN ASBURY and JEAN BOWLING are:
i.MARY5 ASBURY, b. September 20, 1750, Overwharton Parrish, Stafford Co, VA.
ii.BENJAMIN ASBURY, b. July 26, 1753, Overwharton Parrish, Stafford Co, VA.
iii.WILLIAM BOLLING ASBURY, b. January 25, 1755, Overwharton Parrish, Stafford Co, VA.
iv.GEORGE ASBURY, b. 1756, Westmoreland Co, Virginia.
v.WYATT BOIING ASBURY, b. May 10, 1758, Overwharton Parrish, Stafford Co, VA.
vi.HENRY ASBURY, b. April 1760, Washington CO, VA,.
From Wanda Fox-Bingham
My records indicate the following:
Francis Ashbury was "transported" meaning that he was brought over as a servant to work his way to America.
Transported people agreed to give service for a certain period of time to pay for their transportation. This info
was obtained from The Early Settlers of Maryland, by Gus Skordas. It is believed the Francis had at least two
sons, Francis & Henry. Henry later moved to Virginia. See "The Early Settlers of Maryland" by Gust Skordas
page 13. Reference states that Francis Ashbury was transported to Kent Co in 1665 as a Servant and his bond
was till 1672 (17, fol, 50) This page has Liber 9 and Folio 191. This publication also references a John Ashbury
and a Thomas Ashbury.
Mary Powell Marrige: April 25, 1645 in London, England
The following information relates to research to determine the Asbury family
ancestry beyond Henry Asbury (1650-1707) of Westmoreland County,
Virginia.
Sources of Reference Used by Carl Asbury to determine father of Henry Asbury (1650-1707)
THE GENEALOGY OF THE HOLTZCLAW FAMILY BY DR. B.C. HOLTZCLAW, JR.
SEE ALSO, HOLTZCLAW'S WORKS PUBLISHED IN THE VIRGINIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
BULLETINS IN 1967-68
EARLY SETTLERS TO MARYLAND BY GUST SKORDAS
ARCHIVES OF MARYLAND, VOL.17, P.91
MARYLAND CALENDAR OF WILLS, VOL.1, P.182 (by Baldwin?)
Early Arrivals from England:
John Asbury - Arrived from England by sailing ship in 1661 in the Province of Maryland and according to the Maryland Hall
of Records received a land patent for 50 acres of land which he, along with many others, gave to Nathaniel Wye, a merchant,
for their transportation to America. Year 1661, Vol. 4, page 576.
Francis Asbury - Arrived from England by sailing ship in 1665 in the Province of Maryland and according to the Maryland Hall
of Records received a land patent for "one right" (50 acres) in Kent County for his services. He and others signed over their
one right to Richard Fitz Allen, February 5, 1665. This is document 79657, patents dated 1665, Vol. 9, page 191.
William Asbury - Arrived from England by sailing ship in 1670 in the Province of Maryland and according to the Maryland Hall
of Records received a land patent for "one right" for 100 acres of land which he signed over to Alice Durant in the presence of
Edward Roco, Robert Ridgely and Thomas R TO Obgood. Dated May 16, 1670. Document Patent date of record 1670,
Vol. 12, page 548.
Thomas Asbury - Arrived from England by sailing ship in 1676. He, along with several others, were transported to America by
a merchant, Samuel Lead Beater, who received 2,650 acres of land for transporting 53 persons. Date January 6, 1676. Hall of
Maryland Records patents year 1676, Vol. 15, page 300.
There is no information as to how many there were with each of these gentlemen but it is believed that Francis had at least 2
sons, Francis and Henry. Henry later moved into Virginia. No record has been found concerning what happened to some of
these early settlers except that Francis Asbury was granted land in Kent County in 1681 and he was accidently drowned there
in 1682. His wife, Mary and daughter, Mary, are briefly mentioned in the Maryland records (Warrant C.B. No. 2, Vol. 375,
Maryland land office); Kent County Bonds, Box 1, Folder 55, Archives;
A Francis Asbury who died in Kent County, Maryland in 1703 was probably a son of the first Francis (Kent County
Accounts, Box 1, folder 27, Maryland Department of Archives), and it is possible that Henry Asbury was another son though
he appears in St. Mary's County, not Kent County, Maryland.
Henry Asbury (1650-1 707)( I) - First appeared in the records of Westmoreland County, VA, February 27,1678 (Order
Book 1675/76 – 1688/89 p. 151). The tradition in the Asbury family is that he came originally from Maryland and this is
confirmed by his mention in a suit before the Maryland Provincial Court, June 18, 1678 by John Palmer against Thomas
Robinson, late of St. Mary's County in which a promissory note from Robinson to Henry Asbury was in question (Archives of
Maryland, Vol. 67, pp. 377-78).
I gathered the following information from the sources listed below:
Passenger and Immigration Lists Index
Name
Place of Arrival
Date of Arrival
Ashbury, Francis
Maryland
1665
Ashbury, Francis
Maryland
1681
Ashbury, John
Maryland
1661
Ashbury, Thomas
Maryland
1676
Ashbury, Robert
Virginia
4/26/1637 on the ship Tristan
and Jane from London,
England
Some of the above referenced in:
The Early Settlers of Maryland: An Index to Names of Immigrants Compiled from
Records of Land Patents, 1633-1680, in the Hall of Records, Annapolis Maryland
(8510) by Gust Skordas on page 13, Baltimore Genealogical Publishing Company, 1968.
WV State Archives call no. 929.3752 s628e
Ashbury, Francis - Transported 1665. Servant. Service 1672.
Ashbury, John - Transported 1661
Ashbury, Thomas - Transported 1676
Certain words that recur frequently in the "remarks" column have a special meaning as used in this index. "Immigrated", means
the individual furnished his own transportation to Maryland, while "transported", means that someone other than the person
indexed paid for his passage. Quite often a person "transported" is also described as a "servant", which means that he had
contracted to repay the cost of his transportation by agreeing to act as a servant for a period of years. Under certain of the
Conditions of Plantation, a servant was entitled to claim 50 acres of land upon completing his period of servitude satisfactorily.
Such claims are indicated by the word "service".
- Gust Skordas, Assistant Archivist, State of Maryland, Annapolis, Maryland, February 1968.
Above Robert Ashbury referenced in:
Immigrants to America before 1750; An Alphabetical List of Immigrants to the Colonies before 1750, Compiled from Official
and Other Records; Surnames A through Bat. (9450) by Frederick A. Virkus, editor. Baltimore Genealogical Publishing
Company, 1965. Robert Ashbury also referenced in (720, pg. 74) (9143, pg. 89) arid (3090, pg. 430>.
The following information contains my personal thoughts and hypotheses about the father of Henry
Asbury (1650-1707):
Francis Asbury Timeline according to Carl Asbury’s book:
1665 - Arrived from England - Received land in Kent County, MD. - signed over to Richard Fitz Allen
1672 - Presumably finished time as indentured servant and should have received own land.
1681 - Granted land in Kent County, MD.*
1682 - Died by drowning in Kent County, MD.*
* I think this reference to Francis refers to a second Francis Asbury who, according to Gust Skordas, arrived in Maryland in
1681. The Francis who arrived in 1665, likely, by 1681, would already have been settled and would not be receiving additional
land.
Further, information states that a Francis died in Kent County, MD in 1703. This person could be one of three Francis
Asburys:
1. The original 1665 Francis – presumed to be the father of our Henry Asbury
2. The 1681 Francis
3. Francis, one of two sons (along with Henry) of the original 1665 Francis, who exists according to Carl Asbury’s
research as stated above.
The 1682 death of a Francis Asbury, mentioned above, could be the original Francis' death or the sons death. There are
inconsistencies in the story, since the original 1665 Francis' sons appeared in different counties (Francis' 1703 death and
Henry's appearance in St. Mary's County, MD). The possibility that the 1681 Francis could account for the 1703 death, would
make it just as plausible that the sons of the 1665 Francis, were indeed both in St. Mary's County. Not that that would
necessarily matter; but it lends credibility to the fact that if families stayed together and the two sons of the 1665 Francis went to
St. Mary's County together.
With that being said, I will play devil’s advocate and suggest that Francis Asbury was not the father of our Henry Asbury. Carl
Asbury’s research suggests that it is believed that the 1665 Francis Asbury had two sons. No one has been able to put forward
any proof of this fact.
In fact to backtrack a bit, in the above notes by Carl Asbury the following assertion is made:
"…Francis Asbury was granted land in Kent County in 1681 and he was accidentally drowned there in 1682. His wife, Mary
and daughter, Mary, are briefly mentioned in the Maryland records…"
If this is the father of Henry and Francis, why are they not mentioned in the will? I think this lends further credence to the fact
that the 1682 death of Francis was the Francis who immigrated in 1681, and has no direct bearing on our research.
Another hypothesis of mine is that our Henry’s father was an Asbury other than Francis. Carl’s list (based on B.C. Holtzclaw’s
research) of Asbury immigrants and Gust Skordas’ compilation of Asburys listed above, provide several possibilities for our
Asbury ancestor. Assuming this list of Asburys is nearly complete and using what little information has been gleaned lets review
the possibilities after the two source lists have been combined:
Ashbury, Francis - Maryland 1665
Ashbury, Francis - Maryland 1681
Ashbury, John - Maryland 1661
Ashbury, Robert - Virginia 4-26-1637
Ashbury, Thomas - Maryland 1676
Asbury, William - Maryland 1670
Without knowing any definitive information, we could suggest that any one of these Asburys is the father of our Henry Asbury.
Hypothesis 1:
We think Henry was born about 1650-55, which would mean he was born in England unless his father was Robert Asbury
who came to Virginia in 1637. In that case, Henry would have been born in America. He could have later went to Maryland
where he appeared in records and then came back to Virginia later on. I don’t have much enthusiasm about this notion, but it is
possible. In the English church records I have checked, there was no Henry Asbury born/christened during the early 1650’s,
but I doubt I have the complete list of English Asbury records. If you have information that would clearly rule this hypothesis
out, please let me know.
Hypothesis 2:
William Asbury who came to Maryland in 1670 could be the father of Henry. The time frame fits and there is mention that
William signed over his right of land to Alice Durant. Our Henry was married to Mary Durrant, daughter of Henry and Sarah
Durrant. Possible family connection? 1670 would have been about the time that Henry Asbury and Mary Durrant would have
married, considering their first child Catherine was born in 1672. So theoretically, William Asbury’s son, Henry is marrying
Mary Durrant, whose relative Alice Durrant (possibly grandmother, aunt or sister) pays passage for the Asburys to America in
exchange for the land right of William Asbury. Again, some imagination has to get involved, but a possibility none the less. If
you can refute this theory, let me know.
So this is where we are in terms of continuing the search on back for our Asbury ancestors. If anyone has evidence of support
or refutability for anything related to this issue, please e-mail me at [email protected].
Child of FRANCES ASBURY and MARY POWELL is:
2. | i. | HENRY2 ASBURY, b. 1650, Kent Co., MD; d. February 03, 1704/05, Westmoreland Co., VA. |