Based on surviving merchant account records, Love Statham was a well-established tobacco farmer in the 1730's in the part of Hanover that eventually was carved out to form Louisa County. The early colonies have been described as "plantations of people for the purpose of trade," and this doesn't seem far from the truth when you realize that "current money of Virginia" as mentioned in most financial transactions refers to hogsheads of tobacco or "tobo."

The early general stores played an important role in the lives of colonists. Not only did they export Virginia tobacco and import British goods, including sugar and rum from the Caribbean, they acted like modern-day banks, extending credit, paying their customers' taxes and rents and acting as a third-party on financial transactions between individuals - "[f]or instance, if Jones carted tobacco for Smith, the value of the labor was converted to purchasing power at the store by posting a credit to Jones' account and a comparable debit to Smith's."

"The Revolution was fully supported in Louisa by local heroes. Patrick Henry represented Louisa in the House from 1765 to 1768. Dabney Carr represented Louisa County in the House of Burgesses from 1772-73. Mr. Carr presented a resolution for the creation of a Committee of Correspondence which was a first step in uniting the Colonies before the Revolution. During the war, Jack Jouett Jr. rode a distance of 38 miles from Louisa to Charlottesville to warn Thomas Jefferson and members of the Virginia General Assembly that the British were coming after Richmond had fallen." (County Historical Notes, see reference below)

Love furnished supplies to the patriots(DAR Ancestor #A207522), but died 2 years before the war officially ended. Love's son, John (DAR Ancestor #A109166), did likewise, and Charles was a private with the cavalry who drove supplies but refused to carry arms. It's possible that the Stathams were Quakers, as the refusal to actually fight in a cause they obviously supported seems inconsistent otherwise. Quakers were not supposed to own slaves, which the Stathams indisputably did, but I've seen references elsewhere that suggest some Quakers ignored this precept for the sake of assimilation and profit.

* * *

Residence in Hanover and Louisa Counties

Love Statham was probably born in Hanover County (few early Hanover records survive), and may even have lived in the same general area for most of his life as parish and county lines shifted around him. His name is recorded in deed and other court documents in both Hanover and Louisa counties, and he was living in the latter when he died in 1781. Louisa County was formed from Hanover in about 1742. Fredericksville Parish was created at the same time and covered the greater part of Louisa County.

In October 1743 Love and his neighbors petitioned to have a road cleared in that county. Love was also a processioner for Fredericksville Parish in 1747 and 1751, responsible with another landholder for renewing property lines within the precinct "from Fosters Creek to the Roundabout between the county line and the river," an area described as "ten miles long and seven broad." Because land surveys were so prone to error and resolving disputes over property lines was costly, the Virginia Assembly had passed an act in 1662 (improved on in 1705) requiring that landowners 'goe in procession' every four years - i.e., walk and renew the property lines between them and their neighbors. The county courts were tasked with ordering the parish vestries to first define then procession the precincts. Eventually the responsibility for appointing processioners went to overseers of the poor after the Church of England was disestablished in Virginia.

In 1758, 6-year-old Charles Goodman (recorded elsewhere as Elijah Goodman) was indentured to Love as an apprentice "to serve until age 21 years. Sd. Statham doth covenant to provide good and wholesome diet clothes and Lodging and teach or cause him to be taught to read and wright (sic) and at the expiration of sd. term pay the allowance by Law for Servants by Indenture."

Quit rents were land taxes levied by the Crown, but parish levies were set annually by the parish Church Wardens, who were charged with caring for "insolvents, destitute widows, orphans" and so on: the year's expenses were divided by the number of tithables in the parish to determine the levy each head of household was to be assessed. At the 25 Nov 1761 meeting of the Fredericksville Parish vestry, Love was duly reimbursed 240 lbs. tobo. "for taking care of David Tomlinson from 15th inst. till 1 Jan" and 1500 lbs. tobo. "as a gratuity for his past services to him."

Love appears on extant Louisa County tithable lists in Trinity Parish from 1767 through 1781, though he was probably part of that parish from the time it was created from Fredericksville Parish in 1762. The apprentice Charles Goodman appeared on Love's tithable list in 1770 and 1771, being over the tithable age of 16 by then. Love's widow, Martha, appears on the tithable lists in 1782 and again in 1783 (as Patty Statham), as well as on the 1782 Louisa County census. Some of the tithable lists for Louisa are missing or incomplete and since much of the 1790 census was destroyed I've not yet been able to determine when Martha Statham died though 1788 has been suggested by others.

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John Syme; land transactions in Hanover and Louisa

Love Statham was said to be the son of John Syme(s) according to a record in Louisa County Deed Book A, p. 374; however, I found nothing in this document to indicate such a relationship. The record (a transcription is available here) is dated 1750 and shows an indenture (deed transfer) between Love Statham, John Henry and his wife Sarah Henry "of the one part" and Edward Stringer "of the other part." It's extremely hard to read because of the flowery script and flourishes, and hard to decipher because of the legalese, but concerns land that John Syme bequeathed to Love Statham in 1731 as a condition of his bequest to his own son, John Jr. Sarah Syme, John's widow, married Colonel John Henry a couple of years after her first husband's death. Love, as a legatee, and John and Sarah, as holders of the property, are relinquishing their interests in 200 acres of the total 600 acres bequeathed to Love Statham. Martha Statham appeared in court to relinquish her dower rights - under Virginia law, women were required to do so when real property was being sold, though it wasn't typical for this to be part of the deed record. John and Sarah Henry were the parents of Patrick Henry.

I'm not sure whether or how the 1750 indenture relates to this 10 Dec 1730 entry in the Executive Journals, Councils of Colonial Virginia: "To John Syme Ambrose Joshua Smith & Lawrence Statham [emphasis mine] 4000 Acres on Gold Mine Creek and the branches thereof on Hanover County including an Entry made by Benj Brown & Assign'd to the pet-rs [petitioners]." Both of the above-named documents, the 1750 indenture and the Syme will it cites, make reference to land on Gold Mine Creek. Syme's will was probated less than five months after this 1730 Gold Mine Creek petition was granted, so it's reasonable to wonder whether the two matters are related.

It's not clear whether Lawrence Statham is different from Love Statham, or another name by which Love was then known, or this is simply an error either in the original record or the transcription. I've seen references by another family researcher to a Lawrence Statham as Love's brother, but have never come across a source or any documentary evidence for this claim. My guess is that Love's full name was Lawrence Love Statham and he dropped the Lawrence as he began to regularly engage in land and other financial transactions.

In Louisa County Deed Book A, p. 295, the following: "12 Feb 1746 (1747) Richard Palmer of Louisa Co. to Edward Stringer of same. £60 currt. money. 400 acres on branches of Golden Myne Creek...Beaver Creek; land that was acknowledged to sd. Palmer by John Henry and Sarah, his wife, and Love Statham in Hanover Co. Court 2 Aug 1739..." So between this transaction in 1739 and the aforementioned one in 1750, Love apparently sold his rights in the full 600 acres that John Syme had bequeathed to him.

According to the Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants online, while still a resident of Hanover County, Love bought 400 acres adjoining the lines of Francis Clark and John Henry (1735) and 212 acres on the south side of the Southanna adjoining Col. Meriwether, etc. (1744). Some of his Louisa County land transactions include: 1759 (Fredericksville Parish), bought 319 acres on both sides of the Haw Branch and some of the branches of Roundabout Creek; 1761 (Fredericksville), bought 605 acres on Roundabout Creek (red), 200 acres of which he sold to (future?) son-in-law Stephen Hunter in 1763; 1762 (Fredericksville), sold two parcels including 300 acres on Fork Creek (blue); 1766 (Trinity), sold 2 tracts totalling 259 acres on both sides of Southana (sic) River; 1767, bought 250 acres on the west side of Roundabout Creek and on the Horsepen Branch adjoining the lines of Stephen Hunter and Thomas Ballard Smith; 1772, sold 319 acres in Trinity Parish, references to Roundabout Creek, the Haw Branch and Treasurers Run Tract.

* * *

Martha and other family

As far as I know, no one has been able to find a record of Love's marriage to Martha or even to verify her correct name, which has been variously reported as Martha Meriwether or Martha "Patsy" Smith. From the Meriwether family research I've seen, however, it seems unlikely that Martha was of that family.

There is a Morris-Statham Family Bible in the Library of Virginia, which reportedly shows a Miss Lawrence as Love Statham's mother but according to The Compendium of American Genealogy, Vol IV (TCAG), there is no proof of this.

Love's paternal grandmother was said to be Jane Love, which would account for his unusual given name.

1. John Statham, b. ca 1735; m. Susannah Thomson
2. Charles Statham, b. ca 1736; m. Cecily Brothers
3. Mildred Statham, b. ca 1738; m. William Humphreys
4. Elizabeth Statham, b. ca 1739; m. Unknown Hardwick
5. Mary Statham, b. ca 1740; m. Stephen Hunter
6. Jane Statham, b. ca 1741; m. Bartlett Haley
7. Ann Statham, b. ca 1742; m. Edward Eastham
8. Sarah Statham, b. ca 1750; m. William Humphreys

Mildred and her husband, William Humphreys, jointly witnessed a deed in Albemarle County, Virginia, on 7 Mar 1772, so she died after that date. Her sister, Sarah, married William in 1774. Sarah was widowed in 1802 and moved west with her children some time after, first to Kentucky and eventually to Jefferson County, Indiana, where she died in 1816.

In his will proved Nov 1781, Love left 125 acres to Stephen Hunter, the husband of his deceased daughter, Mary, and bequeathed her portion of his estate to her children. His will also includes bequests to grandson William Dabney Statham [see here for more on William Dabney Statham]; granddaughter Martha Humphreys (daughter of Mildred, deceased); and grandson Cornelius Humphreys (son of Sarah). Love named his wife and two sons as executors. Though numerous earlier legal transactions contain Love's full signature, he was obviously too ill to do more than make his mark when his last will and testament was written. Abstracts are available of the 1786 and 1791 guardian accounts of William Humphreys on behalf of his daughter and Love's legatee Martha/Patsy Humphreys.

There was apparently a dispute over Love's will at some point that ended in Augusta County court as S. Humphreys vs. H. Vance in 1806. I've not yet been able to find further information on this case, even checking with Augusta County. According to an abstract in Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement of Virginia the legatees were suing H. Vance, but I have no idea who this is. There are punctuation errors in the abstract, which should read "...deceased daughter Mary Hunter, deceased daughter Mildred Humphreys..." Otherwise it suggests that son Charles was deceased by then and he was not.

* * *

Charles Statham

Charles Statham (as Statam) was on the 1783 tax list for Amherst County, Virginia; son Thomas Statham married Susanna Phillips there 21 Dec 1795 and Richmond Statham married Elizabeth Mosby there 18 Dec 1801.

Charles was with the cavalry in the Revolutionary War but never received bounty lands or a pension. He was a private and refused to carry arms but drove supplies, according to TCAG (Virginia did not grant bounty lands to non-combattants). Charles Statham married Cecily Brothers ca 1762 per TCAG.

Charles gave consent to the 1800 marriage of his granddaughter, Polly Furbush, to William Penn in neighboring Bedford County. Polly is probably the daughter of William Furbish and Sally Statham Furbish Stewart (Charles Statham's daughter). According to Sally's application for a Revolutionary War widow's pension, she married William Furbish in 1776 in Albemarle County, where he served with the Albemarle Militia, possibly under the command of a Capt. Thompson. William Furbish was at the capture of Lord Cornwallis in October 1781 but died several days after. She remarried, to Charles Stewart of Amherst County in 1786. It's noted in the comments that Sally, living by then in Appomatox County, Virginia, applied for bounty land in 1855 at the age of 98.

Charles Statham witnessed the will of Abia Clay in Richmond County, Georgia, in 1791 and Charles's son, Love Statham, witnessed the will of William Bibb in 1795 in Elbert County.

In 1791 Charles is also listed in the Georgia Colonial and Headright Plat Index with 1000 acres in Washington County. He served as a grand juror there in the July 1791 term, and is listed (as Charles Stateham) in that county's Militia Muster Rolls of 1793, along with a William Stateham, probably his eldest son. Charles's nephew (and my ancestor), Nathaniel Statham, was living in that county in 1794 and 1795.

Charles, Richmond and Thomas Statham appeared on the 1799 tax rolls for Amherst County, Virginia.

By 1820, Charles was living in Rutherford County, Tennessee, where he died in 1825. Charles's will names Love ("oldest son now alive"), Thomas, Jane and Richard (some researchers suggest this may have appeared in the original as Rich-d and should have been transcribed as Richmond, who is believed to be one of Charles's sons). The will also mentions grandson Charles, "son of my son William, deceased." The William Statham who died in 1822 Lincoln County, Georgia, was probably the eldest son of Charles who predeceased him. William's will names wife Jane and children Rhoda Quinn, Sarah Stribling, Charles Statham, Augustine D. Statham, William R. Statham, Richmond W. Statham, John A. Statham and Susan H. Statham (the last 5 apparently minors), with sons Charles and Barnett named as executors.

Richmond Statham, Charles's son, married (2nd) Rhoda Hill in Amherst, Virginia; she was the daughter of William Hill and Rhoda (Gresham) Watkins (widow of Col. Joel Watkins). Richmond and Rhoda's son Charles Wesley Statham married Maria Virginia Ferguson, and their daughter Elizabeth Statham (b 1852) married Rep. Page Morris. Their other daughter, Mary Beaumont Statham, was a lifelong researcher and genealogist who compiled the Morris-Statham genealogies (TCAG) and also provided information on the American Stathams to S.P.H. Statham for his The Descent of the Family of Statham.