It would not have been unusual for a man to leave his child behind at that 
time. Men were the ones taking care of the business of family & state' That 
business very often took them away from home for extended periods. If the 
wife died a female relative would step in to take care of the children, she 
could be his sister her sister, or a brothers wife.

There are instances where the man would marry scandlously soon after his 
wife died more than likely because he needed someone to take care of the 
children. Records tell us that Henry Wetherburn, a tavern keeper in 
Williamsburg married Ann Shields, daughter of a tavern keeper with in a 
month after his wife died. Betsy Harrison, a niece of Elizabeth (Harrison) 
Randolph, came to live with her Uncle Peyton and Aunt Betty in Williamsburg 
soon after her mother died, Her sister Ann was sent to live with her Aunt 
Ann (Harrison) Randolph at Wilton near Richmond. So for Thomas to leave his 
child behind, was doing what was necessary for a man of business.

Harriott Lomax
Retired CWF








From: Louise Bernikow <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history 
<[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [VA-HIST] Rolfe family
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2007 09:50:36 EDT
>
>Subject: another Pocahontas line of descent?
>
>
>
>I'm eager for real info about Thomas Rolfe, a character in the novel I'm
>writing, so am happy to see this post. can you tell us the sources? My 
>interest
>is his life in Virginia after returning (he supposedly went to see his
>Powhatan relatives, inherited a great deal of land too) but it strikes me 
>as
>interesting to leave a child behind in England, since that's what his 
>father did to
>(or for?) him. Any ideas about where he lived before returning to Virginia,
>which Rolfe relatives took care of him, how he was raised? Anything else 
>you
>or others can say would be so very useful to me. Thanks so much. Louise
>Bernikow
><BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free
>email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at
>http://www.aol.com.

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