482 RIDLEYS OF SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA.
RIDLEYS OF SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA.
Robert Ridley' (1), supposed to have been a son of Christopher Rid-
ley of Battersea, in the County of York, Eng., came to America in 1635,
with his wife, Elizabeth Abridgton, to whom he was married previous to
his embarkation for the New World. The record gives his age as twenty-
three years, and that of his wife as twenty-eight. He came on the ship
"Dorset," Captain Flowers master, and brought a certificate from a Jus-
tice of the Peace proving himself conformable to the Church of England
and "no subsidy man." Mr. Ridley settled in Isle of Wight County, in the
south-eastern section of Virginia, and became a wealthy land-owner and
extensive planter there. He is said to have died about sixty years before
the Revolution, which would make his age one hundred and three years,
which is presumably incorrect, for his wife survived him and married,
secondly, to Matthew Jones,* a gentleman of Welsh descent, and by him
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* ABRIDGTON JONES, Son of Matthew Jones and Elizabeth (Abridgton) Ridley, was
born Sept. 22, 1720, and was married to Elizabeth Simmons, June 17, 1744, and by her
had nine children; one died in infancy, one in early manhood, and of some others I
have little knowledge. Mary, the eldest child, was married to a Mr. Jarrel, who
died in a few years, leaving her in charge of three children, a son and two daughters,
of which charge she most faithfully acquitted herself. Few women have displayed
the same sound judgment and energy of character, that were visible in all the duties
devolved on Mrs. Jarrel. More than sixty years of her life were spent in training
her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and she descended to the tomb
beloved by all who knew her. Matthew Jones, the eldest surviving son, had one
son and a daughter, both of whom married and moved to the West. Agatha
Jones, the second daughter, married in North Carolina, and was the mother of Dr.
Simmons Baker, who was extensively known for his intelligence, usefulness, and
great personal worth. Col. Abridgton Jones was the youngest of his father's
children, and had just completed his twentieth year at the Declaration of Indepen-
dence, yet he had already buckled on his armor and gone forth to the battle-field.
He and his kinsman Ridley fought side by side throughout the Revolution, and at
its close received the grateful approval of their country, the soldier's richest meed.
After the toils of war Colonel Jones settled down in the old family-mansion, and
being in temperament social, gathered around him a band of ardent friends. For
his military services he was assigned a considerable tract of land in the State of
Ohio, joining the Ridley grant, but in consequence of neglect, neither he nor
his realized anything from it. Colonel Jones left two daughters and one son;
the son has been some years dead. The eldest daughter was everything that a fond
father could wish. She was united in marriage to Griffin Stith, and by a joyous
sunlight of a cloudless disposition, dispensed as much happiness around her as is
compatible with this fallible world. Mr. Stith was a profound lawyer and one of
the most eloquent men of his day; was promoted at an early day to the circuit
court bench. When on the steady march to fame he was suddenly cut down by death;
and to show the inscrutable vicissitudes of time the wife of his bosom in two short
years meekly bowed to the same fell destroyer. Of Colonel Jones' second daughter
I will only say, she was an emblem of purity and was possessed of a charity that
"suffereth long and is kind, envieth not, and thinketh no evil." In the forty-fourth
year of her age she was called to enter her Father's Mansion, to receive the reward
of her labors of love. Sarah Jones, the youngest daughter of the elder Abridgton,
was of a cheerful disposition, disposed to look on the bright side of things, and
with great felicity imparted to others her own happy mood. She married Parson
Burgess, a distinguished Protestant Episcopal minister, who kept a classical school,
and who, no doubt, educated more young men of lofty bearing and usefulness, in-
cluding William Henry Harris on, late President of the United States, than any
other man in Eastern Virginia. Mrs. Burgess had one daughter, who was the wife
of Capt. Richard Kello, and their esteemed descendants are now resident in Vir-
ginia, their only surviving son, Dr. Samuel Kello, being present presiding justice
of Southampton County Court. Mrs. Burgess had a son, Dr. Abridgton S. H.
