Research Notes:
These are notes about the possible ancestry of Winifred Beasley, spouse of Micajah Pickett, and her first husband John Gough. Winifred Beasley and Micajah Pickett lived in Caroline County, Virginia. A court case involving Micajah Pickett indicated that Winifred was related to John Beasley [perhaps his daughter]. John and Winifred Beasley lived in Caroline County and had a daughter Winifred. We assume that these refer to the same person and show Winifred, spouse of Micajah Pickett, as a daughter of John and Winifred Beasley of Caroline County. [1] There was also a different John Beasley with spouse Winifred, who lived in North Carolina. [2] These two families have been conflated in several genealogy reports (including this one, in the past).
1733 The inventory of the estate of James Gouge, dated July 12, was admitted to record. [3]
1736 John Martin, a money-lender, threatened to foreclose on all freeholders who were in debt to him, if they voted for Gibson, who was the opponent to Martin in an election. Gibson won. Martin foreclosed on 33 men, including John Gouge and William Pickett. [4]
1738 John Beasley was paid by John Bushell for testifying in a suit brought by John Pickett. [5]
1742 Micajah Pickett sued John Beasley in Caroline County.
1743 Action of debt. Mayes Pickett as well for our Sovereign Lord the King as for himself against John Beasley. Dated May 13. [6]
1745 Action of trespass on the case. Winney Weasley [sic (Beasley)], an infant under the age of 21 years, by John Beasley her next friend, agt. Mace Pickett and Elizabeth his wife. Dismissed, being agreed. Dated March 8, 1744/45. [7]
1745 John Gouge returned an account of the sale of James Coghill's estate. Dated June 14. [8]
1761 The Caroline Court required freeholders of land to register the slaves they owned. John Beasley had 2 and Charles Beasley had 5. In 1762 Isabelle and Daphne, the slaves of John Beasley, were sentenced to 15 lashes at the whipping-post for perjury after they were convicted of lying on the witness stand in the trial of Daniel, slave of John Pickett, for the murder of Pronton, slave of Samuel Major. [9] [10] [11]
A biosketch reported (source not recorded): Micajah Pickett b:1709 in Essex County, Virginia married Winnefred Gouge (maiden name Beasley) born about 1725 in Essex County, Virginia. Micajah married Winnefred Gouge before July 1748 in Caroline Co. Virginia. Winnefred was the widow of John Gouge who died in 1733. She had 2 children with him: a daughter, Ann married to Thomas Okley by 1735, and son, John who married Winney Beazley [?]. Micajah had a wife prior to Winney, but so far only one child has been identified from that marriage, Rachel. Children: Micajah Pickett b: 25 Dec 1748 in Virginia; James Pickett b: 1751 in Virginia; Francis Pickett; John Pickett; Winney(Winnefred?) Pickett; Sarah Pickett; Nancy Pickett b: bet 1762 and 76 in King & Queen County, Virginia.
[1] John D. Beatty, Some Beasley Families of the Colonial South (2014: Fort Wayne, privately published), 15, [BeasleyGenealogy].
[2] John D. Beatty, Some Beasley Families of the Colonial South (2014: Fort Wayne, privately published), 69, [BeasleyGenealogy].
[3] John Frederick Dorman, Caroline County, Virginia Order Book, 1732-1740, Part One 1732-34/5 (Washington: 1965), 44, [GoogleBooks].
[4] Thomas Elliott Campbell, Colonial Caroline: A History of Caroline County, Virginia (Richmond, Virginia: 1954), 86-87, [GoogleBooks].
[5] John Frederick Dorman, Caroline County, Virginia Order Book, 1732-1740, Part Three 1737-40/5 (Washington: 1967), 34.
[6] John Frederick Dorman, Caroline County, Virginia Order Book, 1740-1746, Part One 1740-42 (Washington: 1971), [GoogleBooks].
[7] John Frederick Dorman, Caroline County, Virginia Order Book, 1740-1746, Part One 1740-42 (Washington: 1971), 11, [GoogleBooks].
[8] John Frederick Dorman, Caroline County, Virginia Order Book, 1740-1746, Part Three 1744-46 (Washington:), 25.
[9] Thomas Elliott Campbell, Colonial Caroline: A History of Caroline County, Virginia (Richmond, Virginia: 1954), 333, [GoogleBooks].
[10] Rosemary B. Hill and Dixie J. Clark, A Gathering of Picketts, Vol. 1 Virginia & Kentucky (self-published, 1998), 118, [GoogleBooks].
[11] Thomas Elliott Campbell, Colonial Caroline: A History of Caroline County, Virginia (Richmond, Virginia: 1954), 333, 337, [GoogleBooks].