Henry Madison (d. 1788/89) King Wm Co., VA
I am trying to connect this Madison family back to the earlier Madisons of King William & King & Queen Co., VA in the early 1700s.
The following lawsuit is discussed in the King William Co., VA Record Book 3, page 144, et seq.
"July Court MDCCXCV [1795]
At a Court held for King William County the 27th day of July 1795....
Whereas in a suit in Chancery lately depending in the County Court of King William there was a Decree made in the cause in . . . at a Court cont'd & held for King Wm. County the 30th day of May 179? [could be 1792 or 1794]. Elizabeth Breedlove an infant under the age of twenty one years by Wm. Waide her Guard'n & next friend (plt) against Mary Seay, Henry Madison, Marinnia Breedlove, Wm. Breedlove, John Breedlove, Lucy Leigh, & Mildred Madison (deft).
This cause having abated as to Mary Seay, Henry Madison, & . . . Breedlove by their deaths & now coming on to be heard on the . . . examination of witnesses and other exhibits, as well as the arguments of . . . on both sides and the heard and considered, the Court is of opinion . . . decreed and ordered accordingly that the Complainant ought to be . . . in her title to the Land in the Bill mentioned as the said Mary . . . declared before & after the execution of the Deed in the Bill mentioned . . . to give the same to Clifford Breedlove the father of the Complainant . . . the execution thereof that she had given the same to him and . . . to the Court that the said Deed was fraudulently destroyed by . . . decreed that the person now holding the said land under Henry . . . of the Defendants in this cause who hath departed this life since his answer therein, shall release all right and title to the . . . to him or her under the said Henry Madison to the said . . . unless upon having notice of this Decree he or she shall show . . . to the contrary and the Court is further of Opinion and it is . . . accordingly that the Complainant be confirmed in her title to . . . Dinah & Frank in the Bill mentioned & all the increase of . . . since the commencement of this suit and whereas of . . . answers that the said Mary Seay in her . . . of the said slaves pending this suit and died so possessed and that they are since in possession of the Defendants or some of them. It is further decreed and ordered that such of the Defts as are possessed of the said slaves or any of them do deliver them to the Complainant by her Guardian and next friend & that they do settle an account of the profits of all such slaves before James Hill, James Quarles, Isaac Quarles and Thomas Butler Junr. or any three of them allowing a compensation of maintenance of such young or disabled slaves as are incable of maintaining themselves and that the Commissioners report to the Court in Order to a final Decree.And whereas since the . . . the above recited Decree and before the final Decree was made in this
cause the Complainant Elizabeth Breedlove intermarried with one James . . . [Jones] who was thereupon made a party in the said suit and Whereasat . . . held for the said County of King William in August 1794 a report . . . compromise between the parties in the said cause being returned into . . . the same was ordered to be recorded and it was Decreed and Ordered . . . Defendants do perform all parts of the Interlocutory decree hertofore . . . in the said cause not affected thereby and also that the Defendants . . . the Plaintiffs their Costs in this behalf expended.I Mildred Madison . . . County of King william who held the lands mentioned in the Bill & . . . Decree under Henry Madison who was on of the defendants . . . to the said Decrees and in ORder to comply & carry the same . . . relinquish and release unto the Complainant James Jones . . . Elizabeth his wife who was Elizabeth Breedlove all right & title . . . claim in and to a certain tract of land in the Bill mentioned . . . being in the County of King william and parish of Saint David . . . by estimation two hundred acres and bounded beginning at . . . Quarles, thence by Mr. Manns to Herrin Creek down sd creed . . . thence to Ann Quarles, thence to Capt Henry Quarles lower . . .I do by these presents forever quit claim to the same & to . . . parcel therein.In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand. . .24th day of Novr in the year of our One thousand Seven . . .
At a Court held for King Wm Conty the 27th day of July 1795 this release from Milley Madison to James Jones & wife was proved by the oaths to the several Witnesses and Ordered to Recorded by the Court./S/ Ed Berkeley, Clerk"
An examination of the King William Co., VA Personal Property Tax Lists beginning in 1782 show that the household headed by Henry Madison in 1788 was headed by Mildred Madison in 1789 and Henry Madison disappears from the list in 1789.Therefore, it seems to safe to assume that Henry Madison died between 1788 and 1789.That means that the above-mentioned lawsuit began no later that 1789.
Was Mildred Madison the first wife of Henry Madison and the mother of his children?I wonder if she was previously married to Mr. Seay or Mr. Breedlove before she married Henry Madison and the land and her interest in the the slaves mentioned in the lawsuit were brought with her into her marriage to Henry Madison.