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There were three William Byrds; the family became very prominent in Virginia beginning in the late 1600s. They are known as one of the leading families of the day. The first one built a trading empire, the second one was wealthy and did a lot of writing, and the third one I can't remember much about. Anyway, William Byrd II wrote a lot; one of his books is his "secret diary" that chronicles all his amorous (sp.?) adventures. He was quite a ladies' man, and I think his mansion at Westover may be one of those open to the public.
In the early 1700s he plotted the disputed line between Virginia and North Carolina and wrote a book about it; that is the book I saw the mentions of Solomon White in. I think it was in 1738, so I figured it wasn't the first Patrick White's son but probably his grandson.
Also, I really need to figure out all these Patricks. I will write a more detailed e-mail later, butthere are several things puzzling me. Briefly, I found a reference to a "Capt. Solon White" whose will was probated (if I remember correctly - I will check) in 1729. I remember Henry White had something to do with it, and there was something about a $1,000 bond. (Think that should be a "pound" sign!) Then there's another one who died about the time you said. As I said, I'll get the specifics together later.
Anyway, the first Patrick had two sons, Solomon and Patrick. According to the info you gave me, Solomon didn't have any sons he named Patrick (which is odd in itself). I don't have any further info about his brother Patrick, except a reference to a Fairfax grant on the Northern Neck in Virginia, with the notation that his daughter Elizabeth was his only descendent, "he being dead." Yet I've got a bunch of references on land deeds, etc., to Patrick Whites in the area. There was a Patrick White Sr. and a Patrick White Jr., and then a third one after that, all in roughly the same period. Seems like there must have been another brother in one of these generations or something, given naming patterns of the time. So any info you have will help.
One of the Patricks got a large land grant in Hyde County in the 1750s. Then Joshua left a son Patrick land at "Marramackett on the lake" in his will. I'm thinking this might be in Hyde County, because Mattamuskeet Lake in Hyde County is giant. Joshua's son wouldn't have been born until after 1760, however, since that is when he and Lydia married.
The Patrick who got the land grant in Hyde County (which was part of Currituck at the time) seems to have left soon after, because he doesn't appear in any more records. I know there was a devastating hurricane in the area in 1761, so that might be why. Anyway, in about 1765 a Patrick White turns up "on the waters of the Savannah" in South Carolina.
I know this line actually diverges from yours before this, but I'm thinking any info you have may be helpful. My interest is that the Patrick White I know is mine shows up in Pendleton District, S.C., in the 1790 census. He would have been born in the 1760s, so is the right age to be Joshua and Lydia's son. I was puzzled about the names, but when I found out Lydia's father was Patrick it made sense. Also, my Patrick shows up at a land sale in Hyde County in the 1820s, so he had some kind of connection there.
I really, really want to sort all these Patricks out, because I'm having trouble figuring out these prominent Whites and my frontier Whites, but more and more there seems to be a connection. I think the connection was Indian trade, so anything I can find about all the Whites' mercantile ventures helps. I know a Patrick White was a prominent merchant in Petersburg in about the 1790s, and his correspondence is preserved at a university up north. Some of his correspondence is also in the Thomas Jefferson collection. His ships went up and down the U.S. coast and to several ports in Europe.
Even though these aren't really "your" Whites, I'm getting the sense they stayed connected. Down into the 1800s my Whites were still marrying representatives of the old families who had come out of the Tidewater area. Historian David Hackett Fischer describes those families as "a vast cousinage," and I'm seeing a family web, not a family tree. Strangely, some of them (and those branches are well documented) also had mercantile and maritime interests. That was what first threw me; it just didn't make sense why they would marry "down."
I have a fascinating story to tell you later about the first Patrick. You mentioned the date for his arrival was 1648; I checked, and that actually does fit with this wild story I collected. He was one of the leaders of "Culpepper's Rebellion" and amassed a fair amount of land, which doesn't fit well with the idea that he was an indentured servant. That's the problem - nothing fits with what I thought I knew about my family!
Here's another odd thing: When Patrick White shows up "on the waters of the Savannah," he gets 100 acres and an Andrew White gets 150 acres. I think that was in 1765. In 1753, the South Carolina colonial records make reference to a "half-breed" Andrew White involved in the killing of an Englishman at the Occonees in Georgia. There was a big trading post there. After that, an Andrew White shows up everywhere there's a Patrick White, and my Whites seem to have had some kind of close connection to the Cherokee. In fact, later generations lied about their heritage, attributing their black eyes and hair to "French" blood.
In trying to figure all this out, I've studied the period a lot. One thing I'm sure of is that if there was a mixed-blood Andrew White, then there was an English father named White, and he was likely to be involved in either the Indian trade (which was extremely big and important) or the military (a little less likely, because the father's presence would have been transitory and it would be less likely the son took his name). He would have probably been born in the 1730s, I'm guessing.
I had about concluded that my Patrick, documented from 1790 on, must have been born on the wrong side of the blanket and the Currituck County Whites didn't even know about him! Now I'm not so sure he wasn't Joshua's son.
You can see why I'm hooked on trying to figure this out. I'm actually more interested in the history than anything else. Any details you (or anybody!) have about the early Whites would be much appreciated.
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