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

Five years later, in 1669, Nathaniel had 5 tithables in his household, which actually placed him among an
elite 10% of individuals in Accomack with households containing 5 or more tithable individuals.
1669 172
1 with 21 Ann Toft [head of one of Col. Scarburgh’s plantations]
1 with 19 Col. Edm. Scarburgh
1 with 10 Capt. Edm. Bowman
1 with 8 Hugh Yeo
1 with 7 Henry Smith
5 with 6 Tho. Browne, Robt. Huitt, Geo. Parker, Maj. Tilney, Capt. West
8 with 5 incl. Nathaniel
19 with 4
28 with 3
35 with 2
90 with 1
In 1671, the year his household underwent the 50% increase in tithable individuals, Nathaniel Bradford was
among the top 5% of individuals in Accomack in terms of size of household. He and only 5 others, out of a
total of 221 individuals on the tax list, had households with 9 or more individuals. This exclusivity becomes
even more significant when one considers that none of Nathaniel’s sons were of taxable age at this time. In
fact, Nathaniel’s household was larger than that of several of the county’s justices of the peace.
1671 173
1 with 40 Col. Scarburgh’s
1 with 14 Devorax Brown
1 with 11 Capt. Jenifer
1 with 10 Capt. Jno. West
2 with 9 Nathaniel Bradford & Charles Scarburgh
1 with 8 Capt. Edmd. Bowman
2 with 7 Maj. Geo. Parker & Mr. Hugh Yeo
5 with 6
10 with 5
13 with 4
22 with 3
59 with 2
103 with 1
In 1671, and thereafter until his death, Nathaniel remained in about the top 5 th percentile of individuals in
Accomack County in terms of size of household. In every year Colonel Edmund Scarburgh was alive his
household far outstripped all others in terms of size. In 1671, the second ranked individual in terms of
household size, Devorax Brown, had only 3 more tithables than the third ranked individual, Capt. Daniel
Jenifer. Yet Scarburgh had 26 more individuals in his household than Brown - another indication of the
power, wealth and influence he wielded in Accomack County.
Discussion of the tithable lists for the remainder of Nathaniel’s life will be reserved for later, since they
take on a different significance based on what was occurring in his household at that time. Suffice it to say
that by the 1670s Nathaniel may be ranked among the elite of Accomack County in terms of the number of
dependants on his plantation.
* * * * *
Consolidation of Bradford’s Neck and Addition to Holdings
In 1672 Nathaniel had a patent reissued for the whole of his land at Matchapungo, including the 1000 acres
originally patented in 1662, the 1400 acres patented in 1664 and the 400 acres added in 1667. 174 It appears
that Nathaniel had failed to plant or build houses on both the 1000-acre tract and the 400-acre tract, since
they were listed as deserted when the patent was reissued and Nathaniel had to supply 28 new headrights to
lay claim to them again. In 1672, these three separate tracts were consolidated into a single plantation of
Page 34 of 74 Copyright 2008 Adam M. Bradford