Isaac Dabney, Sr.

49 - 1784  (173 years)

• Name	Isaac Dabney, Sr.  [1]
  Suffix	Sr.
  Born	1745-49	King William County, Virginia   [2, 3]
  Gender	Male
  Died	1784	King William County, Virginia   [4]
  Person ID	I43	Dabneys of Virginia
  Last Modified	22 Jan 2017

  
  

  Father	William Dabney,   b. 1721, King William County, Virginia ,   d. 1767, King William County, Virginia  (Age 46 years)
  Mother	Philadelphia Gwathmey
  Married	1745-1749	King William County, Virginia   [2]
  Family ID	F31	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family 1	Ann/Susannah Hill,   d. 1778-80
  Married	Abt 1775/76	King William County, Virginia   [5]
  Children	1. William Dabney, Jr.,   b. Abt 1776/77, King William County, Virginia ,   d. 1802/03, King William County, Virginia  (Age ~ 26 years)   2. Frances Dabney,   b. 26 Nov 1778, King William County, Virginia ,   d. 23 Jul 1847, King William County, Virginia  (Age 68 years)   3. Humphrey Dabney,   b. Abt 1779-80, King William County, Virginia ,   d. 1808, Richmond, Virginia  (Age ~ 172 years)
  Last Modified	14 May 2012
  Family ID	F38	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family 2	Elizabeth Smelt,   d. Bef 1810-1812
  Married	1780	King William County, Virginia   [6]
  Children	1. Isaac Dabney, Jr.,   b. 1781/82, King William County, Virginia ,   d. 1807-1809, King William County, Virginia  (Age 27 years)   2. Robert Dabney,   b. Aft 1782, King William County, Virginia ,   d. Died young,, King William County, Virginia
  Last Modified	27 May 2011
  Family ID	F55	Group Sheet

  
  

• Notes

  Isaac Dabney Sr. was born to William and Philadelphia Dabney between 1745 and 1749 in King William County, Virginia. William died in 1767, when Isaac was about 20. In November of that year, his father’s will was proved in King William County court. As the eldest son, Isaac inherited his father’s farm called Springfield in King William County, which contained 383 acres and had one of the highest per acre valuations in the area. As a representative of his father’s estate on behalf of the executors, he also held title to several tracts in Louisa County that his father bequeathed to three other sons in his will. In the 1769 and 1770 land and personal property tax lists for St. Martin’s parish in Louisa County, Isaac was listed with 1,153 acres and 10 or 11 tithables (taxable white and slave residents of working age). In 1771, Isaac transferred 368 acres on the north side of the South Anna River to his oldest brother, Richard. Richard paid £184 to Isaac in exchange, probably a contribution toward a comparable inheritance for his youngest brother, Gwathmey, who was not yet born when William’s will was written. In 1775, Isaac’s brother Owen received 368 acres adjoining Richard’s tract and paid £1000 in exchange. In 1777, Isaac’s brother Cornelius received two tracts totaling 352 acres and paid £85 in exchange. The large differences in the amounts paid for the tracts may be due to variability in the purchasing power of money at the time and partly to differences in the perceived value of the tracts. The four tracts, which were all in Louisa County, do not add up to the 1153 acres charged to Isaac in earlier tax lists, perhaps due to the imprecise and variable survey methods of the time. The adjoining tracts given Richard and Owen are of special importance because the legal description of the outer boundary of the two tracts corresponds precisely with the outer boundary of two tracts patented by Cornelius Dabney of King William County, the grandfather of the two, and thus confirms the family relationship. Isaac was married first to Ann Hill, a daughter of Humphrey Hill, about 1775-76 in King William County. They had two children: William, born abt 1776/77; and Frances, born November 26, 1778. Ann died and Isaac remarried about 1780 to Elizabeth Smelt, a daughter of Rev. John Smelt of Essex County. Isaac and Elizabeth had two children: Isaac Jr., born abt 1781/82 and Robert, born between 1782 and 1784, when Isaac Sr. died. A fifth child, Humphrey, was born between Frances and Isaac Jr., 1779-1781, but it is unclear whether his mother was Ann or Elizabeth. Isaac was first appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1773. He was a captain in the county militia in December, 1776, when he received £78 for the payroll of his company. By 1780, he was promoted to major when his name was mentioned in a record fragment. In 1782, he wrote to the Virginia state militia office promising more accurate reports of militia strength in future and attributing past problems to resignations of field officers. In the 1782 land tax list for King William County, he was charged with 383 acres. In later lists that rated the per acre income of land, his farm was in the top range of per acre valuations, about twice that of his brother Richard, most of whose property was forested. On October 18, 1783, he witnessed a deed. In 1784, Isaac Dabney Sr died, aged about 37. On June 26, 1784, Richard Dabney, Isaac’s executor, advertised the sale of some of Isaac’s personal property and in July, 1785, he advertised for Isaac’s creditors to settle their accounts. Isaac’s widow, Elizabeth (Smelt) Dabney, remarried to William Pollard, Clerk of Hanover County, 1781-1824. They had two children: Mary Anderson Pollard and Elizabeth Smelt Pollard. Elizabeth died and William remarried to Elizabeth (Dabney) Shackelford, widow of Lyne Shackelford and daughter of George and Elizabeth Price Dabney of Hanover County. [2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24]

  
  

• Sources

  [S20] [S83] [S19] [S21] [S22] [S17] p.890.. [S37] [S53] [S92] [S542] [S144] [S145] [S605] [S772] [S17] p. 890.. [S29] [S11] [S23] [S771] [S124] [S202] [S206] [S114] p. 455.. [S28] p. 63..