Some of this family tradition may be difficult to verify, epecially as records for some Virginia localities are lost for the 1630 and 1640s. There were, in fact, a good many moderate Puritans in Virginia then, for which see Babette M. Levy, "Early Puritanism in the Southern and Island Colonies," Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, new ser., 70, part 1 (1960). And some did migrate into Maryland, although the precise circumstances are not in every instance clear. The records of Maryland are more nearly complete for the seventeenth century than are the Virginia records, so that would be the place to start. In the 1630s, though, everybody was still a royalist because the English Civil Wars had not yet begun. And there was nothing to prevent a wealthy, noble person from being a Puritan. Many of our modern conceptions of what Puritans were like are simply not so.
Brent Tarter
The Library of Virginia
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Please visit the Library of Virginia's Web site at http://www.lva.virginia.gov
-----Original Message-----
From: Research and writing about Virginia genealogy and family history. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sally Phillips
Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 9:55 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [VA-ROOTS] Puritans in Early Virginia
One of my ancestors, Richard Cheyney, supposedly came from a wealthy, noble, royalist family in England. In the early 1600s, as the Puritans began to attain power, Richard and his family began to lose some of their influence and wealth. He supposedly came to Virginia about 1635, paying his own passage. A group of English Puritans in Virginia were forced out by the early Virginia government because of their religion. These Puritans and Richard Cheyney the Immigrant then moved over to Providence near present-day Annapolis, Maryland. I assume "a wealthy, noble, royalist" would not be a Puritan. His son was a member of the Episcopal All Hallows Church near Annapolis. So I'm not clear about these early Puritans and Cheyney's connection (or lack thereof) to them.
Does anyone know about these Puritans in early Virginia? Were they a cohesive group? Did they settle in one place? How were they forced out? Did they all go to Maryland? Maryland was supposed to be Catholic; why would Puritans choose to go there?
Clearly my knowledge of religious history needs work! Thanks in advance. --Sally Phillips
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