Daniel Paine Jr. (ca. 1665-1709)

Daniel and Ann Paine’s son, Daniel, was born around 1665, most likely in Northampton County, Virginia, where Daniel and Anne lived. While there are no records of his birth, a guardianship petition referred to Daniel as the son of Daniel Paine.[1]

After Daniel’s father died, the Northampton County Court on May 15, 1677, appointed his maternal uncle, Thomas Thompson, as his guardian.[2] Two years later, the court ordered William Kendall, a local attorney, to pay 600 pounds of tobacco owed to Daniel Paine’s estate to Thomas as Daniel’s guardian.[3] On July 28, 1680, Thomas confirmed to the court that he delivered a cow and a yearling heifer for Daniel to use for his tuition.[4]

Daniel presumably studied to become a cordwainer since there are several references to this as his profession in court cases. In 1698, Daniel posted a notice offering a pair of shoes to anyone who found his runaway horse.[5] When Daniel purchased the property from William Willett in 1702, he was referred to in the deed as a cordwainer.[6]

In Colonial Virginia, cordwainers were men who crafted shoes from new leather, as opposed to cobblers, who created shoes from used leather and repaired existing ones. Cordwainers were highly valued in the colonies since sturdy shoes were essential to the colonists’ survival.[7] Captain John Smith, leader of the Virginia Colony in the early 17th century, wrote a letter to the Master Wardens and Society of the Cordwayners in London encouraging members to join the Virginia Company. He described how, for lack of shoes, they tied tree bark to their feet to protect them from being cut by the shells.[8]

In May 1689, Daniel was presented to a Grand Jury for having a child out of wedlock.[9] He appeared in court on October 1, 1689, to answer the allegations and paid a security to the court.[10] Nothing is known about his child or the child’s mother. In July 1695, he agreed, along with three other men, including Thomas Thompson, to pay a fine of 5,000 pounds of tobacco for the widow Anne Smith for having a child out of wedlock.[11] This was probably Daniel’s sister, Anne.

Daniel’s legal issues do not appear to have affected his status in the community, as he was appointed to serve on the Grand Jury six years later, in May 1695.[12] He was appointed to the Grand Jury again in 1701.[13]

On September 28, 1697, Daniel purchased 150 acres of land from his uncle and former guardian, Thomas Thompson, for 8,000 pounds of tobacco.[14] This may have been in anticipation of his marriage to Hannah Scarborough, which occurred sometime before October 1702, when Hannah’s father, Matthew, gave her land in Somerset County, Maryland, and identified her as Daniel Paine’s wife.[15] Hannah Scarborough was the great-granddaughter of Captain Edmund Scarborough, who, as Justice of the Peace, opened the first court of what was then called Accawmacke Shire on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.[16] Her great uncle, Colonel Edmund Scarborough, was one of the most prominent and ruthless politicians in Accomack County.[17]

According to Daniel’s will, he and Hannah had three children – John, Daniel, and Esther.[18] In 1705, he took on a new apprentice named George Thompson to learn the shoemaking trade.[19] It is unclear whether George was related to Daniel’s guardian, Thomas Thompson, who passed away in 1702.[20] In 1707, the Northampton County Court summoned Daniel to explain why he had not submitted a bond for George as his apprentice.[21]

Daniel died sometime after signing his will on May 9, 1709,[22] and July 28, 1709, when his widow Hannah entered the will into probate.[23] On May 19, 1710, the court accepted the inventory of his estate and distributed his assets to his heirs.[24]

Footnotes

[1] Virginia, Northampton County. Order Book No. 10 1674-1679, p. 158 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-Y76R.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Northampton County, Virginia. Order Book No. 9 1764-1774, p. 17 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-Y4M9.

[4] Virginia, Northampton County. Order Book No. 11 1678-83, p. 85 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-Y49C

[5] Virginia, Northampton County. Orders, Wills & C No. 13 1689-1698, p. 492 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-Y76P.

[6] Virginia, Northampton County. Deeds Wills Etc. No. 12 1692-1707, pp. 302-304 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TC-NWHM.

[7] The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers, Text (https://cordwainers.org/timeline/ : accessed 19 December 2024), Timeline.

[8] Smith, John. Writings with other narratives of Roanoke, Jamestown, and the first English settlement of America. (New York: Library of America, 2007) 201.

[9] Virginia, Northampton County. Order Book & Wills No. 12 1683-1689, p. 460 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-Y7Y7.

[10] Ibid, p. 429 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-YWBD.

[11] Virginia, Northampton County. Orders, Wills & C No. 13 1689-1698, p. 320-321 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-YW24.

[12] Ibid, p. 315 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-YWK1.

[13] Virginia, Northampton County. Orders, Wills & C No. 14 1698-1710, p. 63 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-YHBS.

[14] Virginia, Northampton County. Deeds & Wills No. 12 1692-1701, pp. 164-166 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TC-NWCC.

[15] Maryland, Somerset County. Deeds 1691-1703, p. 699, image 386 of 738 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9XH-NHKZ.i=385.

[16] Wise, Jennings C. Ye kingdome of Accawmacke; or, the Eastern Shore of Virginia in the seventeenth century. (Richmond, Virginia: The Bell Book and Stationery Co., 1911) 81. https://archive.org/details/cu31924076360118/page/n93/mode/2up.

[17] Wikipedia, Text (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Scarborough : accessed 19 December 2024), Entry for Colonel Edmund Scarborough.

[18] Virginia, Northampton County. Wills Deeds Etc. 1708-1717, pp. 79-80 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TC-NSQY-9.

[19] Virginia, Northampton County. Orders, Wills & C No. 14 1698-1710, p. 267 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-YHRX.

[20] Ibid, p. 94, image 73 of 1174 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-YHYJ.

[21] Ibid, p. 335, image 183 of 1174 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-YHPT.

[22] Virginia, Northampton County. Wills Deeds Etc. No. 19 1708-1717, pp. 79-80 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TC-NSQY-9.

[23] Virginia, Northampton County. Orders, Wills & C No. 14 1698-1710, p. 483 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-Y4DZ.

[24] Virginia, Northampton County. Deeds Wills Etc. No. 19 1708-1717, p. 171 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99PX-67XM.