Name: John Garnett
* Given Name: John
* Surname: Garnett
* Sex: M
* Birth: After 1625 in Elizabeth City, Virginia, America
* Death: 1703 in Kingston Parish, Gloucester County, Virginia, America
79Note: GARNETT, John [abt 1625 to aft 1703/4] Very little is known about John GARNET T. Until recently it was not even known that he existed, but now he is considered to be the "missing link" between the emigrant Thomas GARNETT and the more established third-generation John GARNETT of Elizabeth City County. It is very probable that he was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth GARNETT of Elizabeth City County. He would have been born at some point after the Muster of Inhabitants was taken in 1624/25 and probably died in his home county. By 165 1 many of the early settlers in Elizabeth City County crossed the estuary of the Pamunkey River to settle on new land. This area was easily accessible to the citizens of the Elizabeth City County because of the short and direct water route. On June 15, 1676, John Garnett acquired by purchase from Humphrey Toll 180 acres of land in Gloucester County. To secure his title he obtained a patent in 1683 for this previous purchase plus an additional 80 acres h e had obtained for transporting Elizabeth Tindall and Thomas Combs. This land was described as being on the south side of Garden Creek in Gloucester County. The Land Office Book Number 7, page 289 for Richmond Virginia records that " Lord Culpeper, Governor, did give and grant unto John Garnett 260 acres of land lying on the south side of Garden Creek, in Gloucester County described by metes and bounds, but bordering on Garden Creek. One hundred and eighty [180] acres of this land being purchased of Humphrey Coy [is this the same person that is recorded elsewhere as Humphrey Toll...?] said Garnett as by the assignment of a bill of sale bearing date the fifteenth day of June, 1676 will appear. The residue being eighty acres of land now taken up. The said residue of land being had for the transportion of two persons into this Colony, whose names are mentioned in the records under this patent [Elizabeth Tindall and Thomas Combs]. Dated April 16, 1683." Since part of the land granted to John Garnett was for bringing two persons into the Colony, it is likely that John Garnett had resided in the Colony for some indefinite time prior to the date of the patent in 1683. Although some researchers have concluded that this John GARNETT arrived in America in the 1680s and was the progenitor of the GARNETT family of Virginia, this impression is disqualified by the fact that a second generation John GARNETT seated on Garden Creek pre-dates any 1680 arrival by more than four years. So, it appears that the previous researchers simply did not have access to records of any earlier John GARNETT and concluded incorrectly that this John GARNETT was a new arrival to the colonies. This John GARNETT was taxed for 250 acres in the Quit Rent Rolls of Gloucester in 1704. His son, also named John GARNETT [the third generation] le ft a will dated November 12, 1703. This will has since been lost, but the fact that it did exist is proved by a transaction dated June 8, 1709 in which Thomas GARNETT [ fourth generation] of St. Anne's Parish, Essex County, who calls himself "one of the sons and devisees of John GARNETT, deceased and late of the Parish of Kingston in the County of Gloucester." In this transaction , Thomas GARNETT sells to John Foster fifty acres, part of a tract of 600 acres "purchased by the said John GARNETT, deceased, father of the said Thomas, of John Barker, 150 acres of the said land the said John GARNETT did by his last will and testament bearing date November 12, 1703, give to his son Anthony, the said Anthony dying before he was twenty-one, the said 50 acres doth now of right belong to the said Thomas." This deed proves that John GARNETT [third generation] of Gloucester County had four children: Thomas, John, Anthony and an unnamed daughter. This John GARNETT [fourth generation] was the ancestor of several famous GARNETT descendants: