1. Nathaniel Bradford of Accomack County, Virginia - Lower ...

natives. This doesn’t change the fact that such actions as men like Scarburgh took would continue to occur,
but it shows that a distinction ought to be drawn between those Englishmen who wished violence upon the
Indians and those who wished to find some way to share the same space. However, this should not discount
what happened to the Indians of Accomack over the course of the 17 th century. By the end of Nathaniel’s
life they were not only in a position of complete dependence upon the English, but their population had
been decimated. Only a tiny portion of this loss of population was likely attributed to the violent actions of
Scarburgh and others. Much of it was due to disease. In particular, the smallpox epidemic of 1667 affected
the Indians far more severely than it did the English, carrying off hundreds out of a total population that
before the arrival of the English was probably only about 2000 and must have been even less at the
outbreak of the disease. 136 By 1705 the list of surviving tribes was painfully small. 137 Indians were still
living in their ancient homes at Wachapreague and other places in Accomack, but only by the sufferance of
the English. Some tribes had disappeared completely or had been incorporated into other tribes. In time the
same fate would befall the remainder.
* * * * *
Charles Holden
Both the simple outline first drawn of Nathaniel’s family and the picture just sketched of the makeup of his
household are significantly complicated by an order from the 16 August 1667 court of Accomack, in which
reference is made to Nathaniel’s prosecution of Charles Holden, a young attorney and later a deputy
attorney general of the Eastern Shore. On this occasion, Nathaniel attempted unsuccessfully to force
Holden to support a child Nathaniel’s wife bore six months into their marriage. As neither the name of
Nathaniel’s wife nor the name of the child is given in the court order, the question of their identity is a
matter for investigation. While analysis of the record yields inconclusive results, it opens up an intriguing
possibility - that Nathaniel may have had a third wife, no direct record of whom exists.
“Whereas Nathaniel Bradford prosecuted Charles Holden and pleaded before ye Court that for so
much as ye now wife of ye said Nathaniell Bradford hath had a Child wthin six months after
mariage and doth affirm Charles Holden to bee father desiring ye sd Holden might keepe ye sd
Child according to Act of Assembly The Court Examining ye cause finds noe such rule by Act of
Assembly to inforce the said Holden to keepe ye sd Child. Therefore dismisd the suit. 138
At first glance, Alice would seem to be the obvious candidate for Nathaniel’s wife in 1667. There is no
record of any other wife of his between Alice Smith and Joan Franklin, and it can’t be said for certain that
Nathaniel was married to Joan until 1677, a full ten years after the Charles Holden prosecution. By the
same token, it is known that Alice was alive three years before this prosecution. If the wife in question is
indeed Alice, then the possibility arises that Nathaniel, Jr.’s natural father was Charles Holden. It depends
on whether or not Nathaniel, Jr. was Alice’s first child. In fact, this seems likely. In 1664, when Nathaniel
and Alice sold the land inherited from Alice’s father, the elder Nathaniel was obliged to provide for Alice’s
heirs, as stipulated in Richard Smith’s will. Yet he provided only for Nathaniel, Jr. and no other child of
Alice’s, which indicates that Nathaniel, Jr. had no older siblings. Therefore, if the wife in question in the
Holden prosecution was Alice, then the child fathered by Charles Holden was probably Nathaniel, Jr. 139
However, several considerations cast doubt on the conclusion that Alice was the wife referred to in the
Holden prosecution. First, in 1664, when he granted his son land in lieu of the Richard Smith inheritance,
Nathaniel Sr. referred to Nathaniel Jr. as “my heir”, implying that he reckoned him his own son. If another
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