Betty's Boneyard Genealogy Blog: Was ELIZABETH BRUTON the wife of BENJAMIN CHAMPION II of Surry Co VA and Edgecombe/Halifax Co NC?

I've been working on several different lines from Surry Co VA for many years: BRUTON, SEWARD, CAULFIELD, BELL, CHAMPION, JORDAN, KAE/KEA, SAVAGE/SAVIDGE, HART and more. The BRUTONs are my direct lineage through my paternal grandmother, MINTTIE MAE BRUTON who married grandfather ALONZO COX HUBER.

ELIZABETH BRUTON, possible wife of BENJAMIN CHAMPION II was born about 1696 in Surry Co VA, the daughter of JAMES BRUTON & MARY SEWARD (dau of WILLIAM SEWARD & ELIZABETH CAULFIELD/COFFIELD)

ELIZABETH BRUTON was named in her father's Surry Co VA Will written Feb 4, 1734, probated March 17, 1735. She was apparently unmarried at that time, and was left 5 shillings, while her siblings all received slaves. No land was bequeathed, which is curious, because their mother MARY SEWARD BRUTON inherited land in 1691 from her maternal uncle ROBERT CAULFIELD.

JAMES BRUTON & MARY SEWARD had the following children:

--WILLIAM BRUTON born about 1685 m 1st) unknown; 2nd) SARAH BINNS (my line)

--MARY BRUTON born about 1690 m CHARLES KAE /KEA /KEY

--ELIZABETH BRUTON born about 1696 m (possibly) BENJAMIN CHAMPION

--ANN BRUTON born about 1700 m WILLIAM JORDAN

Except for one or two individuals, NEARLY ALL of the children & grandchildren of the couples in the above BRUTON family ended up in Edgecombe Co NC, which later became Halifax Co NC, in the mid-1700s until just after the Revolution , and then spread out from there to other places in the south.

The issue was land. There wasn't any to be had in Surry Co VA, for it was all swamps, and the best agricultural land had been taken by the earliest & wealthiest settlers. Unless one inherited land, the best that could be hoped for in Surry was a position as a tenant farmer for one of the plantation owners, or to rent land. The BRUTONs were in fact tenant farmers for at least two generations until MARY SEWARD BRUTON inherited that land from her uncle ROBERT CAULFIELD in 1691. Only then do the BRUTONs start showing up in the Surry Co VA tax lists.

Lots of Surry Co VA families went south to NC for land. There are many deeds showing folks in Edgecombe/Halifax Co NC selling their swampland back in Surry Co VA in the mid-1700s.

Anyway I first started suspecting that ELIZABETH BRUTON might the the wife of BENJAMIN CHAMPION II, (son of BENJAMIN CHAMPION Sr and ELIZABETH WILLIAMS) when I was researching which families from Surry Co VA ended up in Edgecombe/Halifax Co NC.

In fact there are several land deeds from Surry Co VA showing that BENJAMIN CHAMPION who had a wife ELIZABETH moved to Edgecombe Co NC before 1738 and sold land in Surry while he was living in NC.

( I know this is not his father BENJAMIN Sr ( d 1735) & mother ELIZABETH WILLIAMS, as they both were dead by 1736 as per their wills, and many of the deeds refer to "BENJAMIN CHAMPION Jr").

When ELIZABETH WILLIAMS CHAMPION died in 1736 Surry Co VA she left one daughter MARY CHAMPION who was still underage, and declared an orphan in the courts. Here is a list of all the children of BENJAMIN Sr & ELIZABETH WILLIAMS, so that you can understand some of the other later records that I found:

--BENJAMIN CHAMPION II b 1696 Surry Co VA m (possibly) ELIZABETH BRUTON

--ELIZABETH CHAMPION b about 1700 Surry Co VA m ?

--JOHN CHAMPION b about 1705 Surry Co VA m LUCY HART; son HART CHAMPION lived Edgecombe/Halifax Co NC

--ANNE CHAMPION b about 1710 m BENJAMIN BELL

--CHARLES CHAMPION b about 1715 m ANN JUDKINS (only recipient of his parents' entire estate, according to his mother's will)

--MARY CHAMPION b about 1720 m ? (orphaned in 1736, according to court records)

--"April Court 1736 Surry Co VA; bond of BENJAMIN BELL, CHARLES CHAMPION & WILLIAM BRUTON for BENJAMIN BELL as guardian to MARY CHAMPION, orphan. " ( MARY CHAMPION was the sister of BENJAMIN CHAMPION II & CHARLES CHAMPION and WILLIAM BRUTON was brother of ELIZABETH BRUTON. BENJAMIN BELL was married to ANNE CHAMPION, sister of MARY, CHARLES & BENJAMIN II)

OK. You really have to ask yourself--why on earth would WILLIAM BRUTON put up money with CHARLES CHAMPION & BENJAMIN BELL to support MARY CHAMPION? WILLIAM BRUTON was not a wealthy man, and was not at all related through his parents to the CHAMPIONs; he may have been married previously and his 1st wife may have been a CHAMPION, but even if he had, she would have been dead by 1723, when WILLIAM started having children with SARAH BINNS. Likewise, there was no connection with the CHAMPION & BINNS family that would make such a move by WILLIAM seem logical.

So I began to look at the children of BENJAMIN CHAMPION Sr & ELIZABETH WILLIAMS and noticed that BENJAMIN CHAMPION II had wife ELIZABETH, and that WILLIAM BRUTON had a sister ELIZABETH BRUTON, who was never mentioned in family deeds wills or records after 1735. Perhaps at the behest and/or funding of his sister ELIZABETH and her husband BENJAMIN CHAMPION II who were living in NC, WILLIAM BRUTON had put up money to help support MARY CHAMPION.

Then in March 21, 1738 Surry Co VA, there is an account current of the estate of ELIZABETH (WILLIAMS) CHAMPION by son CHARLES CHAMPION who inherited it all, and as administrator lists "Col Allen for Probation of my father's will" and "for my mother" Here is a partial list of legatees:

BENJAMIN CHAMPION (II)

ELIZABETH CHAMPION (wife or sister?)

MARY CHAMPION ( the one who was orphaned)

BENJAMIN BELL (who married ANNE, sister of 3 above)

CHARLES KEA (who married MARY BRUTON, sis of ELIZABETH & WILLIAM)

(and a list of about 30 others)

The children of BENJAMIN CHAMPION Jr & (possibly) ELIZABETH BRUTON of Edgecombe/Halifax Co NC, all born before 1750, were, according to BENJAMIN jr's 1769 Halifax Co NC will:

--JOHN CHAMPION died unmarried May 1774 Halifax Co NC; left property to his siblings & their children

--WILLIAM CHAMPION m TABITHA GREEN; died aft 1785 Halifax Co NC

--ANN CHAMPION m JOHN BELL died NC

--MARY CHAMPION m GEORGE BELL; aft her death he married her sister SELAH in Halifax Co NC

--SELAH CHAMPION m GEORGE BELL; she inherited brother JOHN's plantation; one son LEMUEL BELL.

--BENJAMIN III CHAMPION m SARAH unknown died Halifax Co NC; son JORDAN/GORDON CHAMPION moved to TN.

I find it interesting that this ELIZABETH named three of her children WILLIAM, ANN & MARY, as those were the first names of her other BRUTON siblings. Circumstantial evidence, I know, but interesting. And the first time that the name "WILLIAM' appears in the CHAMPION family, by the way.

BENJAMIN CHAMPION II wrote his will June 8, 1763 and it was probated Nov 1769; he does not mention his wife, only his children as listed above, and that son JOHN should have tutoring by GEORGE BELL (his son in law).

Then in Nov of 1770 there is another land deed in Surry Co VA, and it is really strange. This transaction happened after the death of BENJAMIN CHAMPION II.

--"BENJAMIN CHAMPION & ELIZABETH CHAMPION his wife of Halifax Co NC to JOSEPH HOLLEMAN of Southwark Parish, Surry Co VA; 340 acres south side Blackwater Swamp." Under Benjamin's signature, ELIZABETH signed it "ELIZABETH HOLLEWAY" (?) Did ELIZABETH divorce BENJAMIN II before 1763? Remarry to a HOLLEWAY after his death in 1769? Was the signature actually ELIZABETH HOLLEMAN's, JOSEPH's wife, who is in records, and "Holleway' is just a transcription error? The deed also mentions BENJAMIN (III) & WILLIAM of Halifax NC, sons of BENJAMIN II & ELIZABETH, naming them as grandsons of BENJAMIN Sr CHAMPION of Surry Co VA; the deed then says that the land on Blackwater Swamp had been left to BENJAMIN III & WILLIAM in their grandfather's will (which is entirely incorrect, according to BENJAMIN Sr's will--he does not mention any grandchildren!!!!!)

Anyway. All of this obviously needs more work. But it's very interesting. Someday I'd like to get copies of the actual documents; transcriptions seem to be a bit unreliable in many cases. But that's sometimes all you can find.

Have a great day!