Short Family Roots
The History and Genealogy of Thomas
and Ann Short and their Descendants
(Including Shortt, Shorte,
etc.)
Dedicated to the Memory of our Honored Pioneer Ancestors
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(A link to the
Short database and pedigree is located at the end of the historical section.)
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On the Banks of the Rappahannock River
In the mid 1600s, Thomas and William Short were among the early residents of Lancaster and Old Rappahannock Counties, Virginia. I could not determine how these two men were related, but William seems to have died or removed after April 29, 1658 when he was noted in court documents for the last time. Josephine Short Lynch has done considerable research on the Shorts of 17th century Virginia. She writes that a William Shorte was claimed by John Kempe as a headright in James City on October 24, 1639. To encourage settlement of America, the English government provided parcels of land to individuals who "transported" immigrants from Europe. Masters of ships were often the recipients of these grants, but almost anyone that paid for the immigrant's passage was eligible. These rewards were termed "headrights". Josephine also states that “This William Shorte was undoubtedly the William Shorte found in Gloucester and Lancaster Counties later. He was the progenitor of the Shorte family found later on the Rappahannock River.” Josephine concluded that this William Shorte was not part of her line, so she did not include any of his descendants in her book. Although I am not sure about the William Shorte in 1639 James City, I agree with Josephine that the Rappahannock Short's were not part of her line. William Short seems to have been successful in Lancaster since, on September 1, 1657, he and William Lippeate were awarded 400 acres on Fleets Bay, between the mouths of Haddawaies and Corotoman Creeks. This award was "for the transportation of eight persons" to Virginia (headrights).
Court records show that Thomas Short was born in 1642 and between 1666 and 1673 he married Ann Nott Landman, widow of William. By July 2, 1685, Thomas Short had died and Ann was married again to William Hasle. The rigors of the times dictated that many early settlers were married three or four times. Indeed, it was not uncommon for a widow to remarry before the estate of her late husband was completely settled.
The records of Old Rappahannock,
Lancaster, Westmoreland and Essex Counties
indicate that Thomas and Ann Nott Landman Short may have had three sons that
survived to adulthood: Thomas Jr., William
and Samuel. On January 1, 1689, Thomas Short sold 1000 acres that were
originally "granted by patent to Michaell Hugill and Thomas Short, my father".
Abundant other references to Thomas Jr. are found in the records but, although
William and Samuel seem to be contemporaries of Thomas Jr., they are mentioned
only infrequently. The statutes of
primogeniture were probably the reason for their relative absence in the court records. Most of the
surviving records deal with land transactions and it is quite obvious
that Thomas Jr. inherited the bulk of his father's holdings.
The October 7, 1693
Westmorland County will of William Shores
strongly suggests that William was the son of Ann Nott Short, the only known
wife of the elder Thomas Short. Also, on August 11, 1699, William and his brother
Thomas Short participated in the probate of the will of Susanna Davis. The Westmorland records also show that William
and Mary Short owned land there in 1703 and that William died before June 10,
1712, leaving only one known son, William Jr., who died in 1721 at age
twenty-one. I have not found any primary evidence of any other male descendants
of these two men.
However, no direct evidence
at all has been
discovered that points to the parents or siblings of Samuel Short. Between 1704
and 1708, Samuel married Sarah
Catlett Taliaferro Sallis (her 3rd marriage) and their son Samuel
Short is mentioned as a half-brother in the 1725 will of Samuel Sallis Jr., the son
of Sarah and her second husband, Samuel Sallis. Previously, this Samuel Sallis
Jr. witnessed a deed involving Thomas Short Jr. and Charles Brown Jr. in 1723.
Although the first Samuel Short may have had other children, none have ever been
proven or even suggested by circumstantial evidence. However, in 1753, a Samuel Short received a Northern Neck land grant in the branches of
Hawksbill Creek in the Shenandoah Valley of then Frederick Co., Virginia. Strong circumstantial
evidence found in the counties of Spotsylvania, Orange and Frederick leads me to believe this Samuel was the son of Samuel and Sarah Catlett
Taliaferro Sallis Short. Samuel Jr. was married to Ann Price and, as new Virginia counties were formed, their
children and descendants lived in the counties of Frederick,
Rockingham, Shenandoah and Page. About the same time that Samuel Jr.
obtained his land grant, a William Short forfeited a land warrant nearby. I have not discovered any mention of this William Short in later
records; however, some twenty years later, Samuel Short III, the only lawful heir of Samuel
Short Jr., transferred this exact land to a neighbor.
So, it is quite likely that William Short of early Lancaster County was the father of Thomas Short Sr., but either could have been the immigrant Short that established a new home in the American colonies. Old Rappahannock County was located on the south side of the Rappahannock River, a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay and was formed from part of Lancaster County in 1656. This area is in the heart of the Virginia peninsular region and is bounded on the south by the York River. The rivers played a vital role in the local economy which was highly dependent on the cultivation, sale and exportation of tobacco. English ships regularly visited riverside docks bringing supplies to the settlers and then sailed on to other ports laden with tobacco. Indeed, the importance this plant was so great and coin of the realm was so scarce that tobacco was the “currency” used in many land transactions. A typical sale would involve several thousand pounds of tobacco. In an effort aimed at stabilizing the price of tobacco, the colonial government enacted laws regulating the culture, production and sale of this product. The success of these laws is questionable, since many entries in old court record books deal with the prosecution of offenders and the penalties imposed on those plantation owners found guilty of violations.
In the late 17th century, as it is today, most of the area that was Old Rappahannock was rural and sparsely populated. To encourage immigration, the English government used inventive methods aimed at potential settlers from countries other than the British Isles. With government assistance, Robert Beverley, a prominent land promoter of the time, established the settlement of Beverley Park and advertised it as a home for Huguenot refugees from France. In 1692, Essex County was carved out of Old Rappahannock and the village of Tappahannock was selected as the county seat. Fortunately, for the family researcher, this area was mostly spared the courthouse and record destruction that accompanied the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Civil War.
As far as I know, the first Thomas did not leave a will, but the will of Thomas Short Jr. has survived. In this 1740 document, Thomas Jr. names his wife Catherine and his children William Short, John Short, Ann Golden, Eliza Short, Catherine Short, Sarah Short and Susannah Short. His estate was probated at Tappahannock in late 1744. Another son, Thomas Short III, most likely predeceased his father.
On March 12, 1750, William, the son of Thomas Jr., and his wife Elizabeth conveyed to William Bates land that Elizabeth had inherited from her mother, Elizabeth Pell Bendry Virget.
On September 15, 1752, John Short, the other living son of Thomas Jr., and his sister Sarah entered into an indenture that left Sarah with the land that John had received upon the death of their father. A witness was Susannah Short. John’s wife Dinah relinquished her dower rights. Some researchers have claimed Winfred Randolph/Randall as another wife of this John. So far I have not been able to confirm this connection. A John and Winifred Short lived for a while in King George County, the home county of Winifred’s parents. Unfortunately, King George County was the home of another large Short family containing several Johns, so I am especially interested in any evidence that connects John, the husband of Winfred, to Thomas Short Jr. of Essex County.
On February 19, 1753, William Short, the son of Thomas Jr., and his then wife Barbara, conveyed land to Sarah Brooke with an indenture. Barbara relinquished her dower rights. Shortly after that transaction, on June 19, 1753, Young Short, son of William, witnessed a power-of-attorney in Essex County.
Captain John Smith’s “List of first settlers at
Jamestown Island, Virginia, in 1607” offers a very intriguing
possibility. John Short, Gentleman, is among those noted by Smith;
however, the fate of this Short is unknown. His death was not recorded, so he
probably survived the incredible early hardships of the colony. He may have
removed to England, Bermuda or another part of Virginia. Captain Smith mapped
and recorded his extensive exploration of the Chesapeake Bay and many of the
place names he originated are in use today. Smith’s account of his
Rappahannock River (then Toppahanock) voyage proves that the early settlers
were well aware of this area and its potential for tobacco cultivation. One of the Captain’s more colorful geographic descriptors was Stingray
Point, at the mouth of the Rappahannock. Here, he suffered a very serious wound while
fishing.
However, I have not found any evidence at
all to link this John Short, Gentleman, to any of the later Shorts found
in various Virginia locations.
Manakin Town on the James River
Beginning in the early sixteen hundreds, many Huguenots fled religious persecution in France and immigrated to other countries, most notably England, the Netherlands and America. One of the most well known Huguenot enclaves in America was established in 1700 in east-central Virginia. At the site of a deserted Monacan Indian village on the south side of the James River about twenty miles west of present day Richmond, the English government set aside thousands of acres as a Huguenot refuge. This site soon became known as Manakin Town and was located in a part of Henrico County that later became Chesterfield and Powhatan Counties in 1749. Although Shortt/Short may not seem to be a French name, the 1933 edition of The Huguenot, the journal of the Huguenot Society, includes the surname Shorte in a “List of Manakintown Settlers”. However, the Short/Shortt/Shorte surname is not included in any of the extant passenger lists of the four primary ships that brought the largest influx of Huguenots to Virginia in 1700. By 1750, the French heritage of Manakin Town was in decline and many of the descendants of the original settlers were no longer literate in French. Many descendants had moved on and the center of the declining French culture had contracted and was located in Powhatan County.
In 1765, William Short, the son of Thomas Short Jr., executed a will in Chesterfield County. In this document, he named his wife Barbary, grandson Grief and sons Young ( left will), Thomas (left Bible record), John and Samuel. Another son of William, William Jr., died in 1763, leaving a will.
William’s eldest son, Young, married Marie Bilbo, the granddaughter of Jacques Bilbo, a French Huguenot and a founder of Manakin Town. Edmond, a son of Young Short, married Susannah Bilbo, a great granddaughter of the same Jacques. Several of William’s other sons married descendants of the original settlers of Manakin Town.
Archibal
d Short
was a son of Young and Marie Bilbo Short. As his Pension Declaration of August 15, 1832
details, he was a veteran of the American Revolution and served about two years
in the Virginia Militia. He is recognized by the DAR as a Revolutionary War
Patriot. On November 20, 1787, along with other veterans and concerned citizens of
Chesterfield County, Archibald
signed a petition asking for a “Decliration of rights that says that (no)
man or Lott of men shall have separate Emoluments (or) pervilages from the Comunity,
and to the Law for establishing Religious freedom among us, wich
says no man shall be obliged to support any minister or attend any place of
wors(hip) whatsoever”. An exact image of this petition, as well as 422
other “Early
Virginia Religious Petitions” may be viewed at the Library of
Congress web site. As part of the Virginia census of June 1, 1840,
Revolutionary War veterans were enumerated and Archibald Short, age 79, was
recorded as living with his daughter Mary Ann and her husband Dutoy Bass in
Powhatan County.
In October of 1801, Reuben, another son of Young and Marie Short made a Deed of Gift of land to the Baptist Society of the Spring Creek Church. This church was founded July 25, 1790 as Cox's Meeting House. The name was changed to Spring Creek Church in 1792 and again to Bethlehem Church in 1855. The Bethlehem Church moved to a new location in 1893, but some members continued to meet at the old site which was known as Spring Creek Baptist Mission. The name of this branch was changed again in 1900 and is now known as Central Baptist Church.
Since the descendants of Thomas Short of Old Rappahannock County lived in Manakin Town and had a very close association with proven Huguenot descendants, it is a possibility that Thomas was a very early Huguenot immigrant. Although the main contingent of Huguenots did not settle in America until 1700, many of the refugees arrived much earlier as families or small groups on ships that were not part of the larger migration. Although they were few in number, some of these very early immigrants first settled in and around Beverley Park in Old Rappahannock County.
Reverend William Douglas
The Douglas Register, a personal record of Reverend William Douglas' forty-five year ministry, is one of the few documents that survived in Virginia's "Black Hole" of genealogy. Most of the records of Henrico and derivative counties were destroyed by invading armies in several wars.
The Reverend William Douglas married some of the children of William, son of Thomas Short Jr.:
Young Short and Mary Bilbo, “in Manikin town”, Feb 3, 1756,
Thomas Short and Ann Payne, “both of Maneken town”, Jan 10, 1762,
John Short and Olive Sasseen, “both of Maneken town”, Sep 18, 1766.
In addition, Revered Douglas baptized several of the children of the above marriages:
Young Short & Mary Bilbo;
a daughter named Elizabeth, born Mar 7, 1764, baptized Apr 15, 1764,
a daughter named Mary, baptized Sep 14, 1766,
a son named Reuben, born Jan 10, 1769, baptized Mar 4, 1769.
Thomas Short & Ann Payne;
a daughter named Judith, born Feb 5, 1765, baptized May 19, 1765.
Some of these marriages and baptisms took place in Manakin Town/King William Parish in Powhatan County. Although Reverend Douglas was the pastor of Dover Church in St. James Northam Parish, Goochland County for 27 years, he also ministered in the Anglican church of Manakin Town for 19 years. However, I cannot find one Short in The Vestry Book of King William Parish which covers the period of 1707 to 1750. Also, a 1744 list of King William Parish residents, compiled by Reverend Douglas, does not include a Short.
NEW Archibald Short - DAR Revolutionary War Patriot
Very recently, a descendant of Archibald Short (1758-c.1845), was admitted to the DAR through his son Obediah and grandson Wellington. The membership application process is difficult and time consuming, but this effort overcame the most difficult documentation obstacle and paves the way for others in his line. It will take some time before this event is published by the DAR but, if you are an interested descendant, please contact me.
Research Considerations
Because very few early Virginia church vital records are available, the study of most early immigrants is based on the evaluation and subjective interpretation of the wills, deeds, court orders and Bible records associated with those individuals. I have examined many of the published abstracts of the documents relating to the Shorts and have compared my interpretations with the work of other family historians. Although my findings are in basic agreement with the work of several other researchers, we do differ on some important points. I am very confident that Thomas Short had a son Thomas and that Thomas Jr. had sons John, William and Thomas. As mentioned above, the first Thomas Short also had a son named William who died at a relatively young age, leaving a son who died at twenty-one. The first Thomas Short likely had another son named Samuel, but that possibility has not been proven. Undocumented lineages that claim both William and Samuel as ancestors abound on the web. While these assertions may be true, I have not seen any supporting evidence for the claims nor has any evidence been offered. I welcome any information concerning any of these individuals, no matter how trivial it may seem.
Although a very few families use or have used the Shortt spelling (most notably, the Floyd County, Virginia branch), I have used Short exclusively in the Database to ease the search process.
Any corrections/additions/comments that apply to Thomas Short and his descendants will be greatly appreciated.
Bibliography
Barbour, Philip L., editor. The Complete Works of Captain John Smith,
(1580-1631). The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill & London, 1986
Bethlehem Baptist
Church - History
Essex County Virginia and the Town
of Tappahannock
Douglas, William. The Douglas Register, transcribed & edited by W. Mac Jones,
Genealogy Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1977
Elterich, Allison Wehr. The Diligence and Disappearance of Manakintowne’s
Huguenots, The Reprint Co., Spartanburg, SC, 2000
Lynch, Josephine Short. Short, An Early Virginia Family, Whittet &
Shepperson, Richmond, VA, 1970
Fife, Robert H. The Vestry Book of King William Parish, Virginia, English translation published by the Virginia Historical Society, 1905-1906. Reprint published by the Manakin
Episcopal Church, Midlothian, VA, 1966
The
Huguenot, The Huguenot Society, Vallejo, CA, 1931, 1933, 1941, 1943
The Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakin
in the Colony of Virginia
The Library of Virginia,
Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants/Northern Neck Grants and Surveys
These links will take you to
Short lineages:
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More Short lineages
(Please send me your Short link)
Wedemeyer
Genealogy
Thomas
W. Short Descendants
Short Images
(Please send me your Short descendant photos)
Image of Descendants of Young & Mary Bilbo Short of Chesterfield Co., Virginia
Short yDNA Projects
Recent yDNA submissions and comparisons have yielded some very interesting results. If you are interested in your heritage, the benefits of yDNA testing offer intriguing possibilities. To view an explanation of these benefits, along with the results obtained so far, please browse the links below.
I urge male Shorts to join a project and submit a 37 marker test. They deserve your support.
Short DNA
Project - WorldFamilies
5-Star
Web Sites
Families
of Floyd Co., Virginia
Informative Viewing
Virtual
Jamestown
Old
Virginia Maps & Charts
Wilderness Road Regional
Museum
The focus of my research has been on the descendants of Thomas Short of Old Rappahannock, Virginia. I invite other researchers to share information and images pertaining to this family line. I will gladly acknowledge your contributions and/or provide links to your online data. Most of the genealogy of Thomas Short and his early descendants has been derived from my independent research. Nearly all the work on the descendants of Calton and Elizabeth Shelton Short is my own. However, I do make use of the work of other researchers and family historians and, except where the data pertains to my direct line, I do not always attempt to verify the findings of others. In creating Short Family Roots and the associated online database, one of my objectives was to provide a comprehensive, documented resource for those doing research on the descendants of Thomas Short. Hopefully, this approach will provide a base that other researchers of this line will enhance with their contributions. For much of this information displayed at this website, I am indebted to the following individuals, institutions and organizations:
Lela C. Adams, Sandra Estes Allen, Bertha Shortt Anderson, Louise Anderson, Lydia Smith Anderson, Janet Green Ariciu, Stanley W. Arnold, Mark D. Aubrey, Jeannette Holand Austin, Raymond H. Banks, Donald Barker, Karen Baker, Brenda Barrett, Robert B. Basham, Barbara C. Baughan, Marlin Beaty, Cricket Bell, Gretchen Bellman, Philip J. Bertrand, Michael M. Black, James Warner Blankenship, Rae Borgarding, John Edward Bouscher, Daniel Bowling, Diane Bowman, Ann Brown, Joyce Browning, Peggy Buescher, Elaine Bullock, Todd Burton, Lloyd Campbell, Lyman Chalkley, Karen Clifford, Joyce V. Compton, Charles L. Cook, Barry R. Cooper, Donna Stewart Coultas, Dana Harper Davey, Autumn Davis, Yvonne Davis, Mike Day, Jordan R. Dodd, John Frederick Dorman, Larry Douglas, Lindsey O. Duvall, Patricia N. Edwards, James G. Elgin, Katherine B. Elliott, Elizabeth Prather Ellsberry, Andrew J. Estes, Maurice T. Evans, Michael Farren, Bob Felton, Joy Fisher, Beverley Fleet, William M. Foley, Shirley Foster, Timothy Foy, Sandra Franklin, Melvin L. Frazee, Beth Fridley, Dorothy Ford Fulfeck, Bessie W. Gahn, Wally Garchow, LaDawn Garland, Sherrina Garner, Ann Allen Geoghegan, Amelia C. Gilreath, Ken Gissy, Kenneth Alexander Goodwin, Gertrude Entz Gray, Alton Greeson, William Hadskey, Bill Hamm, William E. Harrold, Phillip Hatcher, Patricia Heath, Douglas R. Henry, Rosemary Hollingsworth, Jan Hornick, Tom Hoot, Laurie McDaniels Howland, J. Hughes, G. Wayne Humphery, Annette Hunt, Nancy Leeg Jankowski, Mark E. Johnson, David R. Jones, Peggy Shomo Joyner, K. M. Keith, William Compton Kerr, T. William Kethley, James Paul Kinney, Catherine Lindsay Knorr, Shannon Marie Kupfer, Kathy Kuzas, Bonnie Lacey, Larry D. Laird, Dennis Lance, Demeris Lee, L. Lewis, Robert L. Lewis, Susanna Lingross, Bruce W. Locke, Jana Long, Elizabeth Lundgren, Penni Lynch, Charles MacCawthon, John Massey, Timothy Mathis, Catherine S. McConnell, Wes McDaniel, Paul Mears, Cathryn Millburn, Susan Mills, Pam Fisher-Moreno, Richard L. Moser, Dorothy Murry, Dreama Neely-Reip, Rena Nemecek, John Bailey Nicklin, Sherrie Osburn, Marilyn Owen, John Parrott, Sherry Peek, Phillip Peters, Betty A. Pilson, O. E. Pilson, Marguerite B. Priode, John W. Pritchett, Lavonne Fisher-Radloff, Brenda H. Reed, Barbara A. Reininger, Doris Robbins, Dave Robison, Jimmy Rosamond, nancy Rosamond, Pat Ross, Tom Sattler, Fredric Z. Saunders, Floyd Scott, Ernie Shanks, David Gordon Sharpe, Melissa Shindlebower, John A. Short, Ken Short, Selma Kay Short, Carol Shrader, Ken Shultenburg, Martha Ann Dillon Simon, Tracie Simon, Janet Smith, Ruth & Sam Sparacio, Jimmie Martin Steele, Lyndell Storey, Bill Stout, Bobby Street, Jean Strickland, Harry M. Strickler, Ann Scott Swain, Meloney Taylor, Wyndell Taylor, Virginia Thomson, Jean Cragun Tomaugh, Joan Turpin, Molly Urguhart, Eddie Vaden, Dawna Vicars, Tina Vickery, John Vogt, Raymond. W. Watkins, Rebecca L. Watson, John W. Wayland, Nancy Wedemeyer, Benjamin B. Weisiger, Carey Seagraves Werlein, Elinos Alton Whitlock, Eva Eubank Wilkerson, Bill Wilkins, Kathleen Booth Williams, Amos DeRussia Wood, Louise McCaffrey Woody, Tammie Wooldridge, Jeff Young, Jo Anna Youngblood, the staff of the New Bern - Craven Co. Library Genealogy Desk, New Bern, North Carolina, the staff of the Ft. Myers – Lee County Library, Ft. Myers, Florida, the staff of the LDS Family History Centers in Port Charlotte, Florida and Knoxville, Tennessee, the staff of the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, Knoxville, Tennessee. Any omissions are unintentional.
I am especially grateful to the transcribers of old documents. This is a very difficult task and every serious researcher should try their hand at transcription. Copies of original census records are a good place to start. Most of the authors of the transcriptions that I have used are included in the above list.
Click here to email me your comments, additions & corrections.
Member
Click on Map for Short and Shortt Surname Distribution
1990 U.S. Census Short Surname Frequency Rank = 550
1990 U.S. Census Shortt Surname Frequency Rank = 10,562
Revised July 19, 2008
