A Long Time Ago/15 Paynter

From Wally Atkins Family Wiki

Paynter

This page is part of A Long Time Ago: A History of the Atkins-Paynter and Allied Families, the chunked book edition on the Wally Atkins Family Wiki.

  • Book section: Paynter
  • Page range in the book: 119-126
  • Chunk order: 15 of 36

This section has been lightly cleaned for readability from the working transcript. It preserves the general structure and meaning of the family history while avoiding silent correction of uncertain details.

Source note

  • Book: A Long Time Ago: A History of the Atkins-Paynter and Allied Families
  • Transcript files used: `015-ellington.md` and `016-rivers.md` in the local transcript set
  • Editorial note: verify quoted details against the scan where exact wording, dates, or names matter

Cleaned transcription

PAYNTER (PAINTER)

Arms. Gules, a chevron between three griffins' heads erased or; on a chief or, a close helmet between two roundels sable.

Crest. On a torse or and gules, a tree stump eradicated and broken at the top, with a serpent entwined about it, all proper.

(From Visitation of London, 1568)

Line of descent. Paynter - Atkins.

The first Paynter to appear in Virginia records was Edward, who came to the colony before 1622. Edward Paynter was later named among those killed in the Massacre of 1622 at Berkley Hundred, some five miles from Charles Cittie. An Elen Paynter was listed among the living at James Cittie in 1623 and 1624. Whether this Elen was the wife of Edward is not known.

The first Paynter in our direct line of whom there is any record, according to the Visitation of London of 1568, was William, born around 1532, whose wife was Dorothe, daughter of Edward Barham. The same visitation gives the arms and crest for this line.

William and Dorothe had eight children, including Anthony, born in 1560; George, born in 1564; John; Ann; Katherine; Dorothe; and Robert, born sometime after 1568. Sir William Paynter was Clarke of the Ordynance and Armory of London.

Robert, son of William and Dorothe, resided in Norfolk County, England. He married, around 1598, Ann, last name unknown. After Robert's death, Ann married a Jones.

Robert and Ann sailed from England to Barbados in 1630, where he became a merchant. They had three children that are known: John, born 1638; Susanna, born around 1640; and William, who was born in England and appeared in the ship list with Robert and Ann.

From the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the book notes that in 1630 the ladies of the Southampton Tribe (Parish) in Barbados created such a disturbance over seating in church that the Governor and Council had to meet at St. George's on February 11, 1630 to settle the dispute. Mr. Robert Paynter was given the task of assigning seats to the ladies, and Mrs. Paynter was to have first choice of the seat she wanted.

William, son of Robert and Ann, married Elizabeth Newsom on November 26, 1655 in Barbados. Elizabeth was the daughter of Mrs. Ann Newsom. William followed in his father's footsteps and became a merchant as well. In his will of August 24, 1666, probated September 27, 1666, William named his wife Elizabeth, his brother or brother-in-law John Newsom, and his mother, Mrs. Ann Jones. His mother-in-law was shown as Mrs. Ann Wadloe, indicating that Elizabeth's mother had married first a Newsom and second a Wadloe.

To his wife Elizabeth, William left all lands and houses in St. Michael's Town, Barbados, near the stepping stones. William and Elizabeth had issue, including Margaret, who married James Tinon on September 8, 1678; Mary King; and Richard, born around 1665.

Richard married Elizabeth Benson on May 16, 1690 at St. Michael's in Barbados. Soon afterward, he left Barbados and settled in Surry County, Virginia. It appears they had only one son, John, of whom the book could find record. John was born around 1700 and married Rebecca Rose, daughter of John and Rebecca Rose Wilkerson.

John and Rebecca Rose Paynter had a son, John, born about 1725, who married, around 1745, Mary Wilkerson, apparently a cousin, in Surry County.

John and Mary had five children, including Elizabeth, born December 19, 1749; Susanna; Samuel; and Richard, born February 16, 1746, with his twin brother.

Richard married, around 1768, Agnes Cotton, daughter of Nathaniel Cotton. Richard and Agnes had two sons, John, born in Sussex County, Virginia, March 27, 1772, and Wyatt, born April 13, 1774.

John married around 1792, wife unknown. They had four children: John, born 1792, who married Frances McClannaham of Princess Anne County on August 13, 1812; Nathaniel, who married first Elizabeth Cornick on February 24, 1807 and second Lettice Wilson on November 13, 1816; Susanna, who married John Handcock, Esquire, of Princess Anne County on April 2, 1799; and William, who married Pemmy Brock, daughter of Thomas Brock of Princess Anne County, on April 22, 1815.

John Paynter and Frances McClannaham had a son, John, born around 1815 in Warren County, North Carolina. They no doubt had other children, but John is the only one the book records. It is not known whom John married, but they had at least five sons: John B.; Joseph; Edward, who married Sarah J.; Andrew Jackson, who married Robena Watkins; and Thomas, born around 1835, who died before 1888.

Thomas married Elizabeth Frances Ellington on April 14, 1857. She was born in Warren County, North Carolina, on February 27, 1831, and died June 16, 1915, at Henderson, North Carolina. It is at this point that the Ellington line enters the family.

Thomas and Frances Paynter had seven children:

  • Rosa, born July 11, 1860, married John King, died April 25, 1929.
  • John T., born 1868, married Catherine King, died March 1, 1935 at Wise, North Carolina, and was buried at Wise cemetery.
  • Sue.
  • Lou.
  • Emma, born 1868, married William Mustian on January 18, 1888 in Warren County, North Carolina.
  • Robert (Buddy), born 1879, married Daisy R. Young on September 19, 1899.
  • Adelia Jackson, born December 12, 1869 in Warren County, North Carolina, married Joseph Henry Atkins on January 18, 1888, died August 13, 1954 in Richmond, Virginia, and was buried at Wise Baptist Church cemetery, Wise, North Carolina.

John T. Paynter and wife Catherine King had six children: Maynard A., Claud F., Luther M., John L., Grover C., and Nora King.

The book says it was very difficult to determine the parents of Adelia Paynter and her brothers and sisters. Adelia's marriage license showed only her parents as "T. and F. Paynter." Remembering a family statement that Adelia and her sister Emma were married on the same day, the compilers returned to Warren County Courthouse and located Emma's marriage license, which gave her parents' names as Thomas and Frances Paynter. They still did not know Frances's family name until, on a later trip to Warren County, they found the death certificate of John T. Paynter, brother of Adelia, in which his mother's name was given as Frances Ellington.

Because there was a great lack of information concerning the family, the compilers also visited Luther Paynter, then living at Wise, North Carolina. From Luther they learned that Thomas Paynter died and left Frances with several small children. Being unable to provide for all of them, the family had to be broken up. As a result, Adelia was raised by her older sister Rosa, who had married John King.

Adelia Jackson Paynter and Joseph Henry Atkins had seven children: Charles Henry Atkins, Robert Alexander Atkins, Albert Jackson Atkins, Thomas Patrick Atkins, Minnie Minerva Atkins, William Tanner Atkins, and Joseph Perkins Atkins.

The family of Ellington and its various branches will be dealt with in separate chapters.

Context notes

  • This chapter is one of the clearest direct-line maternal sections in the book.
  • It combines older Barbados and Virginia Paynter background with the Warren County, North Carolina branch that leads into Adelia Jackson Paynter.
  • The final pages of the section include chart material not fully reproduced here.

Related pages

Navigation

Retrieved from "https://family.wallyatkins.com/index.php?title=A_Long_Time_Ago/15_Paynter&oldid=184"