Descendants of Nathan Underwood

From The Middlesex Parish Register pg 71, researched by Carolyn Hodges

and passed on to UNDERWOOD-L by Lt. Col. David Underwood

pg 71....Nathan Underwood Ye Son of Nathan Underwood & Diana his Wife

was Born Ye 9th being friday about nine of Ye Clock in Ye Morning &

Was Baptized february Ye 1st being Septuagesima Sunday. In christ

Church by Ye Reverend Mr. Bartholomew Yates Minister of Ye Same; his

Sureties being Joseph Goear, John Gibbs & Elizabeth Murry; Anno Domi

1707/08.

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Ben Coke's "The Underwood Family from Madison County Virginia" has a lot of detail about the business relationships between the Andersons and the Underwoods, an interesting summary of unusual circumstances around his death and a great deal of discussion on settlement of his estate. Nathan died a very old man on 9 Aug 1802.

Birthdate of 9 Feb 1707 per the Middlesex Parish Register. Databases on the net reflect a different date, usually 1 Feb 1707. He migrated from Middlesex Co., to Madison Co., VA and married Elizabeth Anderson. [Source: Lt. Col. Dave Underwood on UNDERWOOD-L@rootsweb.com ]

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Also this e-mail posted 8/22/1999: [Source: Lt. Col. Dave Underwood on UNDERWOOD-L@rootsweb.com]

This was generated from the Underwoods of Madison County VA by Ben Coke.

Since there was some discussion on the will disposition in the early 1800s

in rootsweb I thought you might enjoy it.

Nathan's story becomes interesting towards the last days of his life. He

wrote a will in 1801, in which he bequeathed specific property to his

grandson Robert Underwood who was to take care of Nathan; to Nathan's son

Gideon; and to Nathan's son Joseph now living in Georgia. Nathan directed

the rest of the property be sold and distributed among all of his children.

The will was never probated.

In February 1802, the Madison County Court appointed Gideon Underwood,

Elijah Underwood, and James Smoot a committee to manage his estate, "a very

aged and infirm old man who was deprived of his reason." This was senility,

most likely, as he was indeed quite elderly. His estate dragged through the

courts for several decades, and perhaps never settled.

When a committee was appointed to manage his estate in February 1802, Nathan

's estate was listed as 240 acres and 10 slaves. Nathan's will was not

probated on grounds he was not competent when he wrote it in 1801. In 1805

letters of administration were granted to Gideon Underwood. Gideon moved to

Flemming County, Kentucky in 1824. In 1825 the sherriff of Madison County,

Virginia, was ordered to administer the estate of Gideon Underwood and the

estate of Nathan Underwood. There appears to be no entries in the order

books of Madison County, Virginia showing either estate was settled. In

1806 a George Marshall Head claimed two shares of the Nathan Underwood

estate, and brought suit against the estate. Decrees were filed in 1827 and

1829, but the suit was not settled. In 1873 a case, "Head vs. Underwood" was

transferred from County Court to Circuit Court, and in 1874 the case was

dismissed. Coke suspects that Head had no inheritance claim, but a financial

claim due to some sort of prior business transaction.

V/R

Lt Col Dave Underwood

Anchorage AK

Baptism: Feb/01/1707-08, Christchurch, Middlesex Co., VA by Rev. Bartholomew Yates

Marriage: 1736, Madison Co., VA

Endnotes