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, 21 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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