Mr. Davidson - 

If John Sandridge was "assigned" as an apprentice, without his consent,
he probably was under age 14.  You need to check the document's wording
to see if his consent was acknowledged.  In order for a child to choose
his own guardian, he must be over age 14.  So the 1778 guardianship
paper would prove John was born no later than 1764.  As long as John is
a ward of Drury Woodson, he must be under 21, and can be referred to as
a minor or infant, but the terms may not always be used.

Having Drury Woodson appointed his guardian may have no bearing on
John's relationship with his stepfather.  A child's interest in his
father's estate was often protected by a disinterested person appointed
by the court.  A guardian's duty was not necessarily to rear the child,
but to protect his share of the parent's estate.

If Drury Woodson was still acting on John's behalf in January 1779, that
means John was still under 21, or born no earlier than 1758.  You need
to analyse the document and related papers carefully to determine the
status of his guardianship.

The marriage records in question, in Buckingham County, comes from a
report that the clerk filed with the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts
in 1778, listing marriages that had taken place there between 1 Dec.
1775 and 1 Jan. 1778.  Dates were not specified.  The original marriage
bonds have been lost.  From this document we cannot tell if the groom
was of full age (21) or if his guardian had signed a consent. 

If John signed a petition to the Virginia General Assembly (1779) there
is a presumption that he was a citizen (free man over age 21).  If so,
then born no later than 1758.

To determine if these are all the same person, you need to evaluate
census, tithable and/or personal property tax lists.

For the period 1782-83, we have two compilations that identify every
head of household in Virginia:
*	Heads of Families ... Records of the State Enumerations: 1782 to
1785, Virginia.  (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1908; reprinted many times as a
substitute for Virginia's lost 1790 census).
*	Virginia Tax Payers, 1782-87, Other Than Those Published by the
United States Census Bureau, by Augusta B. Fothergill and John Mark
Naugle.  (Richmond, Va.: 1940; repr. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing
Co., 1999)

Three men named John SAND(R)IDGE are found in those compilations:
*	SANDRIGE, John - Fluvanna County, 1782 - 5 whites, 1 black.
[Heads of Families, p. 19]
*	SANDIDGE, John - Amherst County, 1783 - 10 whites, 4 blacks.
[Heads of Families, p. 48]  (Listed next to William and Larkin SANDIDGE)
*	SANDIDGE, John - Cumberland County, 1784 - 4 whites, 2
dwellings, 1 other building.  [Heads of Families, p. 67]  He is not
found there in the 1782 list for Cumberland County.

The preceding are actual census enumerations of every person in each
household.  The 1784-85 lists were a separate enumeration from that of
1782-83.  The man in Fluvanna and the man in Amherst are definitely not
the same person.  The man in Cumberland might be the same as the man in
Fluvanna.  (No lists exists for Fluvanna for 1784-85)

For the year 1787, use The 1787 Census of Virginia, by Netti
Schrein-Yantis and Florene Speakman Love (Springfield, Va.: Genealogical
Books in Print, 1987), 3 vols.  This was compiled from the 1787 personal
property tax lists.  Each head of household is over 21.

*	SANDIDGE, John - Albemarle County - no male 16-21, 4 slaves 16+,
4 slaves 12-16, 3 horses, 7 cattle.  [p. 144]
*	SANDRIDGE, John - Goochland County - no male 16-21, 1 slave 16+,
no slave 12-16, 1 horse, no cattle.  [p. 792]

It looks like John SANDIDGE of Amherst County (1783) is the same as John
SANDIDGE of  Albemarle County (1787) -- he has 4 slaves in both cases.
Those counties were adjacent then.

It looks like John SANDRIDGE of Fluvanna County (1782) moved to
Cumberland County (1784), and then to Goochland County (1787) -- he has
one slave in 1782 and 1787; the 1784 census did not count slaves.
Judging from the 1782 census he may have had 3 children born ca. 1777,
1779, 1781, placing his marriage perhaps ca. 1776.  By 1784 at least one
of the persons in his household has probably died.  The 1787 tax list
won't give you any insight into spouse or the total number of children.
The 1779 petition apparently places him in Cumberland County and over 21
at that time.

Buckingham County is adjacent to Amherst, Albemarle, Fluvanna and
Cumberland, so the marriage there could concern either of these men.
(No man named John SANDRIDGE appears in Buckingham County in 1782 or
1787.)   I think it likely that the marriage 1775-78 concerned John
SANDRIDGE of Cumberland:  The man in Amherst may have had 8 children
(judging from the 10 people in his household), requiring his first
marriage to be considerably earlier than 1775 (probably by ca. 1766) --
though he might have married a second time.

You can test the validity of the above theory by checking unpublished
annual personal property tax lists 1782-90, available through
interlibrary loan on microfilm from the Library of Virginia.  When he
appears in one county, he should disappear from his former residence. 

John SANDRIDGE of Cumberland County appears to have been born ca. 1758
(certainly no earlier than 1757 or later than 1764, based on the 1778
guardianship).  His marriage probably took place in Buckingham County
ca. 1776-77, to Mary DAVIDSON.

Hope this helps.

Donald L. Wilson, Virginiana Librarian,
Ruth E. Lloyd Information Center
  for Genealogy and Local History (RELIC),
Prince William Public Library System,
Bull Run Regional Library,
8051 Ashton Avenue, Manassas, VA  20110-2892
703-792-4540   www.pwcgov.org/library/relic


-----Original Message-----

Date:    Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:09:39 -0400
From:    Bill Davidson <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Question About Guardians and Age

There was a young man named John Sandridge in Cumberland Co., VA who was
old enough to have been assigned as an apprentice to a man named Drury
Woodson in 1776.  Then in 1778, this John Sandridge chose Drury Woodson
to be his guardian (John's father James Sandridge had died, and I guess
that John did not want to continue to live with his mother Judith
(Locke) Sandridge and her new husband....a Mr. Jones, as I recall).
Later in 1778, and into early-1779, the guardian Drury Woodson was
involved in a lawsuit against John's mother and new husband, where Drury
tried to obtain some of the slaves owned by this Sandridge family (on
behalf of John Sandridge, or probably more likely, as Drury's
compensation for caring for John).  John Sandridge was referred to as
"infant of James and Judith Sandridge" in most of these court records.

Note: Since John Sandridge was old enough to have been an apprentice in
1776, and also old enough to have been allowed to choose his own
guardian in 1778, I take it that "infant" apparently just meant that
John was not yet a "legal adult" (which I guess was probably either 18,
maybe more likely, in this case).

Per a marriage record on the Library of Virginia (LOVa) website, a John
Sandridge was married to a Mary Davidson, and the date shown is actually
a "date range" between 1775 and 1778.  There is a caution on the LOVa
record that the dates shown may not have been the actual marriage dates
(these dates were apparently taken from some court records, other than
an actual marriage bond or a minister's return; it also appears that
this record is from the Buckingham Co., VA courthouse versus the
Cumberland Co., VA courthouse....though I have found records for a
single marriage in BOTH courthouses in the past).

Is it possible that this John Sandridge, who was apparently married in
1775-1778, was the same John Sandridge who chose a guardian in 1778 and
who was called "infant" at that time?  My first thought was that this
was probably two different men named John Sandridge, but I know that a
lot of people married rather young in those days, and I don't know that
being married (or getting married) precluded a young man from chosing
(or from continuing to have) a legal guardian.  While it may not mean
much, I note that in the last record that I have concerning Drury
Woodson's attempt to obtain some of the slaves from the Sandridge family
(in January 1779), John Sandridge was once again referred to by name,
but the term "infant" was not used that time (for what that is worth).
Just a month or two earlier, however, the previous court record HAD used
the term "infant."

I would appreciate any comments on whether or not the above could have
been just one man named John Sandridge.  By the way, a John Sandridge
signed a religious petition in Cumberland Co., VA in 1779, as did my
ggggg-grandfather Hezekiah Davidson (died 1793 in Cumberland Co., VA)
and his son Philemon Davidson (died 1810 in Cumberland Co., VA); I
believe that the Mary Davidson who married John Sandridge was a daughter
of Hezekiah Davidson and his wife Tabitha Childers.  Did a person have
to be of a some minimum age to sign such a religious petition in 1779?
Thanks!



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