A Long Time Ago/25 Flood
Flood
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: Flood
- Page range in the book: 184-186
- Chunk order: 25 of 36
This section has been lightly cleaned and reconstructed from the transcript seam where the Flood material begins clearly. It preserves the strongest readable Flood material relevant to the Nicholson, Rivers, Ellington, Paynter, and later Atkins branch.
Source note
- Book: A Long Time Ago: A History of the Atkins-Paynter and Allied Families
- Recovered transcript source used: Flood material visible in `026-waller.md`
- Editorial note: the nominal Flood transcript location was unreliable in the local files, so this page is built from the recovered Flood section where it actually appears
Cleaned import
The Flood branch matters in this book because it enters the family line through the marriage of Elizabeth Flood to John Nicholson, helping to connect the Tidewater Flood family to the later Nicholson, Rivers, Ellington, Paynter, and Atkins branch.
John Flood in Virginia
The chapter says John Flood came to Virginia in the Swan in 1610 as a poor boy and, after fifteen years in the colony, rose to high standing. It identifies him as a kinsman of Walter Flood, a carpenter whose will left an estate in Virginia.
In 1616, John Flood was in the service of Reverend Alexander Whitaker at Charles City. He married first Margaret Finch, widow, who had come over in the Supply connected with Berkley Hundred. By this marriage he had children including William, John, and Thomas.
He married second Fortune Jordan, sister of Colonel George Jordan of Jordan's Point. In 1625 he was living at Jordan's Journey, part of the old Four Mile Tree tract. By this second marriage he had two children, Jane and Walter.
Flood in public life
The book describes John Flood as an active and energetic man with extensive experience with the Indians, even serving as an official interpreter. It says that in 1630 he was a Burgess for Flowerdew Hundred, and in 1632 represented Westover, Flowerdew, and Weyanoke.
Later he moved from Charles City County to James City and in 1638 patented 2,000 acres on the south side of the river, west of Sunken Marsh Creek, in the part of James City that later became Surry County. He represented James City County again in 1642 and 1644, and later represented Surry County in 1652 and 1655. He died in 1661.
The line forward
The chapter then follows John Flood's descendants, especially through his son Colonel John Flood and later Flood descendants in Surry County.
The key family-relevant point for the later line is that Henry Flood, whose will was proved in 1740, had a daughter Elizabeth who married John Nicholson of Surry County. This is the crucial bridge by which the Flood line enters the Nicholson branch.
From there the line later connects through:
- Elizabeth Nicholson
- John Rivers
- Elizabeth (Bettsy) Rivers
- John Ellington
- Frances Ellington
- Thomas Paynter
- and ultimately into the later Atkins family
Why Flood matters
The Flood chapter matters because it gives the later maternal-side network another strong Tidewater Virginia support line. It also helps connect the family not only to marriage and descent, but to the public and political life of the early colony.
Context notes
- Flood works best when read together with A Long Time Ago/23 Nicholson and A Long Time Ago/24 Briggs.
- The most important family-relevant figure here is Elizabeth Flood, wife of John Nicholson.
- John Flood himself is one of the chapter's strongest colonial-history figures.
Related pages
- A Long Time Ago/23 Nicholson
- A Long Time Ago/24 Briggs
- A Long Time Ago/17 Rivers
- A Long Time Ago/16 Ellington
- A Long Time Ago/15 Paynter
- Joseph Henry Atkins
- A Long Time Ago: A History of the Atkins-Paynter and Allied Families
