Ms. Jeanine.   

You wrote, "....My suspicion is that Richard Highfield's master was not the
Benjamin Johnson he and the other 20 individuals were bound to but that
Benjamin Johnson may have been a middleman for getting these folks to
VA...."  

So, Where is a copy of the list showing these 20 names ??????? 

"Richard is first found serving in the horse rangers under Richard
Brightwell in
1792 (sic, 1692) in St. Mary's County, MD with 10 other men. He was awared
"600 tobacco per month" for serving from April to Novemeber 1692. Richard
ended up in Charles Co where he died in 1710...."

"....This part of Charles Co was formed from St. Mary's Co. Richard is found
renting 50 acres of land there in the 1652 - 1753 rent rolls of Charles Co,
MD...."

Better check those records and make sure it was a lease and not a
lease/release or a long term rental property from another
proprietor/landholder.

"One intersting piece of information that I do not yet know what to make of
is the fact that there was a John Hyfield listed as an indentured servant
bound for MD in 1685...:"

Why is the indenture date - 1685 - mysterious for you?????
*****************
Indentured Servants Basic Search Results

Servant Information Agent Information
Name: John Hyfield Name: Thomas Cradock
Gender: male  Gender: male
Occupation:  Occupation:  
Place of Origin:  Place of Origin:  
Age: 17  
Spouse's Name:   
Indenture Information Servant's Parents Information Date of Indenture:
November 18 1685 Name:  
Indenture Length: 4 Occupation:  
Destination: Virginia Place of Origin:  
Ship:  Living: Yes
Witnesses: Rebecca Noakes
Notes: Witness Rebecca Noakes, his mother, wife of William Noakes,
Whitechapple (London).  

Since Richard came to VA in 1683 and John came in 1685, I am wondering if
they might have been brothers. The name is really not that common so just
trying to find out if there is a connection.
*******************

The dates of the voyage, the date of the agreement of indenture, the date of
the grant, dates of the survey and settlement, and the patent date almost
always were quite different, any one from the others.

Paul Drake
www.DrakesBooks.com

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