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The first county to cover the territory which became Richmond County was Northumberland, established in 1645, and from it, Lancaster County was formed in 1651; in 1656, Rappahannock was created from part of Lancaster. Rappahannock survived as a county just 36 years; in 1692, it was abolished and two new counties were formed. That portion lying south of the Rappahannock River became Essex County, and the portion north of the river became Richmond County.

"When the North Farnham Parish Register (1663-1814) opens, there was no such parish; it was simply Farnham Parish and covered both sides of the Rappahannock River in Old Rappahannock County. In 1684 Farnham Parish was subdivided into North Farnham Parish and South Farnham Parish and the Rappahannock River served as a natural boundary. In 1692 when Old Rappahannock County became defunct and became the parent of two new counties, South Farnham Parish fell[3] into Essex County and North Farnham Parish fell into Richmond County. . ."

The births of two sons of Henry and Jane Lucas in Farnham Parish in 1677/8 and 1680. The birth of Henry, son of Henry and Jane Lucas, took place March 23, 1677/8, and that of Francis, son of Henry and Jane Lucas, on September 1, 1680. Henry Lucas, Jr. has not been traced, and since he does not appear in the records of Richmond County, it is possible that he died before reaching adulthood or that he moved away from the area while still a very young man.

Henry Lucas, Sr.'s first appearance north of the Rappahannock River, in what was to become Richmond County, is found in a Northern Neck land grant of 1690. The published abstract of this grant reads:

"Henry Lucas & Jane, his wife, 310 acs. on the N. side of Rappahannock River in North Farnham Parish, near Peacocke Quarter. Said Lucas by nation being a Duchman but naturalized here in Va. as by an instrument under the hand of Francis, Lord Howard, and the seal of the Colony dated Apr. 27, 1687.'

Although he seems earlier to have lived south of the Rappahannock, Henry must have moved onto the land he received in the grant, for his will was presented in Court in Richmond County (north of the river) on August 4, 1697..

Francis Lucas was married to his first wife, Ann, before April 13, 1705, on which date Francis Lucas and Ann his wife of Farnham Parish, Richmond County, sold to Sal. ----ford, for 1200 pounds of tobacco, 80 acres in Richmond County beginning at John Batten's corner tree by the Rappahannock River, part of a greater divident belonging to Francis Lucas. Witnesses were Richd (R A) Appleby and James Suggett, who also acted as Ann's attorney to relinquish her dower right.

Ann, the first wife of Francis Lucas, Sr. was probably the daughter of John Batten, who in his will dated May 3, 1712 and proved in Court in Richmond County on September 3, 1712, mentioned his granddaughter Phyllis Lucas, and bequeathed to his daughter Elizabeth Dobyns, land "upon the riverside joining my son-in-law Francis Lucas. . ."[7] John Batten did not state the name of his daughter who was the wife of Francis Lucas and the mother of Phyllis, probably because she was already dead, but since I do know that as early as 1705 Francis Lucas had a wife named Ann, it seems probable that she was Ann Batten.

Strictly speaking, Francis Lucas was no longer John Batten's son-in-law in 1712 when Batten made his will, for he, Francis, had married Ann Smith in May 1711.[1] Beginning in 1713, and continuing through 1720, there is a series of four births recorded in the North Farnham Register for sons of Francis and Ann Lucas,[3] and from this point on, one must look at every bit of evidence very carefully in order to distinguish between the two Anns who were the second and third wives of Francis Lucas, Sr. Only one of those sons whose births were registered was the child of Ann (Smith) Lucas, and the other three were sons of Ann (--------) Lucas, the third wife.

Stephen Lucas, son of Francis and Ann Lucas, was born July 27, 1713. The next Lucas entry in the Register is for the death of Ann Lucas on December 9, 1715. [There is no proof that this was Ann (Smith) Lucas, but I believe that it was.] The next birth is that of John Lucas, son of Francis and Ann Lucas, on September 27, 1717, followed by the birth of Thomas Lucas, son of Francis and Ann Lucas, on June 19, 1719, and that of Henry Lucas, son of Francis and Ann Lucas, on November 14, 1720.[3] That Francis Lucas, was the father of at least two other sons will be shown below. They were Francis Lucas, Jr., who was the son of Ann (Smith) Lucas, and William Lucas, who was not the son of Ann (Smith) Lucas, but whose mother could have been either Ann Batten or Ann ________, the third wife of Francis Lucas, Sr.

Francis Lucas' inventory was returned to Court on May 1, 1723,[8] and less than a year later William Smith, father of Ann (Smith) Lucas, was also dead, his will being proved in Court on March 4, 1723/4. William Smith's will mentions his wife Ann, his daughters Elizabeth Clark, Mary Williams, and Catherine Smith; his sons John (underage) and Robert; grandsons Francis Lucas and Stephen Lucas; and "the son and daughter of my son Robert."[9]

Undoubtedly the reason William Smith did not directly mention his daughter who was the mother of his grandsons Francis and Stephen Lucas was that she was already dead. A chain of evidence to be given below will prove that when he died in 1723, Francis Lucas, Sr. was married to another Ann, and that she was the mother of the sons John, Thomas, and Henry, mentioned above.

Briefly summarizing the above: Francis Lucas, Sr. married first, before April 13, 1705, Ann, probably Ann Batten, daughter of John Batten, and had one known child, Phyllis Lucas. Francis Lucas, Sr.'s son, William Lucas, might also have been the child of Ann (?)Batten. Francis Lucas, Sr. married second, in May 1711, Ann Smith, daughter of William Smith, and had sons Stephen Lucas (born July 27, 1713) and Francis Lucas, Jr., whose birth is not found in the North Farnham Parish Register, but who is mentioned in the will of his grandfather, William Smith. Ann (Smith) Lucas died December 9, 1715, and sometime between that date and early 1717, Francis Lucas, Sr. married for the third, and final, time to Ann ________. [By his last wife, Francis Lucas, Sr. had children: John Lucas, Thomas Lucas, Henry Lucas, Zillah (various spellings) Lucas.]

On April 2, 1724, Roger Williams and Edmond Northern executed a bond in the amount of £50 sterling, promising "to well and truly pay unto Stephen Lucas. . .all the estate or estates belonging to the said Stephen Lucas as soon as the said Stephen Lucas shall attain to Lawfull age. . ." [10] On July 7, 1724, a similar bond, but in the amount of £150 sterling, was executed by (?)Howman Brockenbrough and Daniel Hornby, they being the guardians of the estate of William Lucas until "he shall attain lawfull age".[11] On November 3, 1725, John Smith, John Clark, and Robert Smith made a similar bond in the amount of 100 pounds sterling, the minor being Francis Lucas.[12] No such bonds were executed regarding the children of Francis Lucas by his last, and surviving, wife, Ann _______. Possibly the Court allowed her to act without bond as guardian of the estates of her own children, but thought it best to appoint others to safeguard the estates of her stepsons. Proof will be presented later to show that Ann (Smith) was not the mother of William Lucas, and if this speculation regarding the guardianships is correct, then Ann, the surviving third wife, was also not his mother, leaving the probability that he was the son of Ann (Batten). From the standpoint of the genealogist, the matter of which Ann was William's mother is of little importance, for he died in his minority and without issue.

It is time to look again at George King's statements regarding Francis and Ann Lucas of Prince William County and to examine closely the evidence which will allow us to state positively that it was not Francis Lucas, Sr., husband of Ann Smith, who died there in 1737.

a son, Beriah, was born September 10, 1724, to Ephraim and Ann Vernon.[3] This Ann Vernon was Ann, formerly wife, then widow, of Francis Lucas, Sr., as is proven by an indenture dated January 5, 1725/6, in Richmond County, by which Ephraim Vernon and Ann his wife of Richmond County sold to Thomas Nash of the same county, all their "right title and interest in one third part of what lands and tenements Francis Lucas was possest with at his decease it being Right of Dower of the aforesaid Ann Vernon formerly widow and relict of the said Francis Lucas."[13] This is not absolute proof that this Ann was the widow of Francis Lucas, Sr., or that she was not the former Ann Smith. More evidence is necessary.

Joyce, wife of Barnabas Wells of Richmond County, was the only surviving child of Thomas Smith, (?)eldest son of William Smith.[14] In 1741, after removing to Amelia County, Virginia, Joyce and Barnabas Wells sold to Edgecombe Suggitt of North Farnham parish, Richmond County, land in Richmond County. . .100 acres formerly belonging to Francis Lucas. . .[15] Some three years later, in 1744, perhaps for the purpose of making Suggitt's title more secure, Anne Lucas of Hambleton Parish in Prince William County, sold "all her right, title interest claim or dem'd of in or to one certain tract of land in Richmond County at the mouth of Richardsons Creek. . .100 acres. . .which she may or can claim as dower by virtue of her intermarriage with Francis Lucas late of Hambleton parish deceased to whom the said land descended from Stephen Lucas late of Richmond County, dec'd. . .[

1. The widow Ann who married Ephraim Vernon by early 1724, and who must, therefore, have been the widow of the man whose inventory was returned to Richmond County Court on May 1, 1723. It will be shown below that this Ann and Francis Lucas, Sr. were the parents of John, Thomas, and Henry Lucas mentioned above. It will be further shown that her marriage to Ephraim Vernon was her final marriage, and that she could not possibly have been the woman who, in 1744, styled herself "Anne Lucas", widow of Francis Lucas of Prince William County.

It should not be overlooked that in 1724 and 1725, the Court appointed Roger Williams, Edmond Northern, (?)Howman Brockenbrough, Daniel Hornby, John Smith, John Clark and Robert Smith to be guardians of William, Francis, and Stephen Lucas, which is not likely to have been done had their father been alive at the time; he could have served as guardian of his children's estates if it were necessary to appoint one. In fact, there is no evidence that the son, William, would even have had any estate to safeguard had it not been an inheritance from his father, the only other known source of estate for Stephen and Francis being their Grandfather Smith, who was not William's grandfather.

2. Ann, the widow of Francis Lucas who died in Prince William County, said that she was conveying her interest in land which descended to her deceased husband from Stephen Lucas. Stephen Lucas was alive in Richmond County in 1734 when he sold land to Thomas Suggitt and was dead in the same county by April 4, 1737, when his inventory was returned to Court.[18] Since Francis Lucas, Sr. had died some 14 years earlier, it isn't possible that any land descended to him upon Stephen's death, and so it must be the case that the Francis Lucas who died in Prince William County, to whom land descended upon the death of Stephen Lucas, was alive when Stephen died, that he was Stephen's brother, and that they were the two grandsons mentioned in William Smith's will.

in January 1725/6, Ephraim Vernon and Ann, his wife, former widow of Francis Lucas sold her dower interest in Francis Lucas' lands to Thomas Nash.[13] On July 3, 1728,[19] Thomas Nash was made guardian of Stephen Lucas, and nine days later, on July 12, 1728, Nash received an escheat grant on Stephen's behalf to lands that had belonged to Francis Lucas:

"William Lucas a minor of Richmond County dyed seized of 150 acres in Farnham Parish in said County. No heirs. Inquisition 17 May 1727 by. . .G. Eskridge Gent., Deputy Escheater, and 12 freeholders. . .Verdict: Land granted Henry Lucas and Jane his wife December 13, 1680. William made no disposition. Fra's Lucas widow possessed 1/3 of said land as her dower and disposed of her right to Tho's Nash who is in possession and on behalf of Stephen Lucas brother of half blood of William, asks grant to Stephen with a reservation of his right to widow's dower during her natural life. Escheat grant to Stephen Lucas. July 12, 1728.

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