RIDLEYS OF SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA.
483
had a son who became ancestor of a distinguished family now numerously
represented in the Southern States. Mr. Ridley left issue two (some say
three) sons and a daughter, of whom hereafter. It seems a little strange
to me, that there is no record of a grant of land to this man in the registers
at Richmond.
Capt. Nathaniel Ridley' (1), a younger brother of Robert¹ (1), came
to Virginia many years subsequent to the settlement of that gentleman,
and became a wealthy land-owner and planter in the County Isle of Wight
in that State, as the following grants, copied from the records in the land
registry at Richmond, prove: "June 16, 1714, Capt. Nathaniel Ridley
815 acres Isle of Wight." It is presumed that Captain Ridley came to
Virginia but little anterior to the date of the above-mentioned grant of
land, unless he came over as an indentured servant, in which case his
name would appear in connection with some grant to which it gave a con-
stituent heir right, in legal virtue, of fifty acres, the names of such,
called "transports," always appearing in conjunction with grants of land.
I have not found the name of Nathaniel Ridley's wife, and only know
that he left two sons, whose names will hereafter appear.
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William Ridley' (1), a brother of Robert' (1) and Nathaniel¹ (1),
came to Virginia and settled near his brothers in what was then Isle of
Wight, but now Southampton County. The only record found of this man
is of his will, dated the 1st of April and recorded the 19th of October,
1671. In his will he does not mention a single person of the Ridley
name, but gives his small property, consisting mainly in chattels, to the
relatives of his wife, whose maiden-name has not reached me.
SECOND GENERATION.
James Ridley² (1), eldest son of Robert¹ (1) and his wife, Elizabeth
Abridgton, was born in County Isle of Wight, now Southampton County,
Va.; married, and had issue two sons, and perhaps other issue. He re-
sided on a farm in Southampton County, west of Angelica Creek, and
two or three miles south of the road leading from Jerusalem to Hicks-
ford, which, in 1802, was in the possession of a Mrs. Taylor; the buildings
had been good, but were then much dilapidated. There were two daugh-
ters in this family, of whom, with the sons, hereafter. I have no other
information; no mention of the maiden-name of his wife, nor of the death
of either.
William Ridley2 (2), second son of Robert¹ (1) and his wife, Elizabeth
Abridgton, was born in Southampton County, Va.; married, and had issue,
Burgess, who, after graduating in medicine, settled in Raleigh, N. C., where he
married and commanded an extensive practice. Though instinctively shunning no-
toriety, taking some interest in politics to while away his leisure hours, he com-
menced writing political essays, and such was the potency of his pen, that it acquired
great notoriety, and among others attracted the particular attention of him, who by
way of eminence has been called "the great Carolinian," John C. Calhoun. Dr. Bur-
gess having lost his wife, his great desire was retirement, in search of which he
returned to his native County, to reside with his sister at the paternal abode; but
his light could not be hid under a bushel. He was again drawn into an extensive
practice of medicine, and without the first effort on his part to procure personal
popularity. When it was determined to new-model the frame-work of the State
government, the public eye was turned toward him as a suitable representative
in the convention, and the public voice ratified the selection, and his labors in that
distinguished body were highly creditable to himself and cordially approved by his
constituents. This note shows how the family of Ridley was allied with some of
the most respectable families of the South.
