Capt. Thomas OPIE, Sr.

Abt 1641 - Bef 1702  (~ 61 years)

• Name	Thomas OPIE
  Title	Capt.
  Suffix	Sr.
  Birth	Abt 1641
  Gender	Male
  AFN	9FC4-WJ
  Will	20 Oct 1701	Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
  Death	Bef 5 Mar 1702	Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
  Probate	5 Mar 1702	Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
  Notes	(1) Virginia Family Histories #1, pre-1600 to 1900s [database online], Genealogy.com: Genealogies of Virginia Families IV, He-S, The Opie Family of Northumberland Co., Virginia, pp. 575-576: THE OPIE FAMILY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, VIRGINIA By LINDSAY O. DUVALL Capt. Thomas Opie, Sr., of Bristol, England, was a ship-captain, trading between Bristol and America. There is nothing known about his parents, nor can it be certainly said that his family was seated in Bristol; the Opie family is generally of the County of Cornwall. Capt. Thomas Opie, Sr., m. Helen, daughter of the Rev. David Lindsay of Northumberland Co., Virginia. The following may be the marriage record: "Thomas Opie of Bristol & Eliner, w., St. Augustine" (Parish, Bristol: from Gloucestershire Notes and Queries, vol. 10, p. 64). Helen Lindsay m. (1) William Wathen, 20 May, 1667; William Wathen died in 1672, and the widow m. (2) Thomas Opie, Sr. (Lindsay Family Association, 1911, p. 188). The Rev. David Lindsay was in Northumberland County as early as 25 Feb., 1655 (Northumberland Co. Orders, 1652-1665, p. 43, Coles to Lindsay). The will of the Rev. David Lindsay is dated 2 April, 1667 and is proved in Northumberland Co.?April, 1667 (Lindsays of America, by Margaret Isabella Lindsay, where the will is printed in full, p. 39). 3 Aug., 1667: Lindsay vs. Brimlly?debt to be paid to Wm. Wathen, Ex. of Lindsay: 4 Feb., 1667/8. 24 Feb., 1670/71: Bill of exchange drawn upon "Mr. James Wathen of ye citty of Bristol in debt for ye paying of ye sd sum (& returned paid) by me Wm. Wathen of ye sd Citty marnr Judgment. . . . Helena ye Exit & relict of Mr. Wm. Wathen aforsd . . ." 19 July, 1676. Carpenters work on Opye's plantation (Northumberland Co; Orders, 1666-1678, pp. 32, 58 and 141). "This day Joane Willoughby ye Relict of Robert Hitchcock and Relict of Edward Henly did assign, relinquish & make over all her right to interest of her thirds of a part of land belonging to Mr. Thomas Opie, formerly in the possession of Mr. David Lyndsay. 2 Feb., 1674/5" (Ibid., p. 113). Capt. Thomas Opie, Sr., took up his freedom in Bristol 17 July, 1672, having married the widow Wathen. There is a Capt. Thomas Opie who is mentioned in the Bristol-America records as captain of the ship "Richard and James" (New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 55, p. 334), in the years 1679-1680; this is probably the Virginia immigrant. In his will, Capt. Thomas Opie, Sr., leaves to his son Thomas a two-part ownership of the ship, "Adventur and Brittania," Both the father and son are seated in Bristol, with the ownership of a plantation in Northumberland Co. The Lindsay Family Association says that Helen Lindsay Opie died in Bristol in 1698. The will of Capt. Thomas Opie, Sr., was dated 20 Oct., 1701, and proved 5 March, 1702, at Bristol. He bequeathes to his son Thomas stock on his plantation and a two-part ownership, of the ship "Adventur and Brittania;" gifts to his sons John and Lindsey, and to his daughters Hellen, Susanna, and Sarah; bequests to his three brothers (un-named) and to his brother in law Robert Linsey; "my three sons are now abroad." The will of Thomas Opie, Jr., was dated 16 Nov., 1702 and proved at Bristol 26 July, 1703. He adds to the information given in his father's will: gives his three sisters an eighth part ownership of the ship "Adventure;" names his Uncle Edward Opie; to have a tombstone sent to Virginia to be put over his grave, "my grandfather's on top." From these wills we learn that Thomas Opie, Sr., had a brother Edward and two other brothers, that he had a brother-in-law Robert Linsey, and his son Thomas was buried beside the Rev. David Lindsay. Thomas Opie, Sr., and Helen Lindsay had the following children: (2) i. Thomas; (3) ii. John; (4) iii. Lindsay; iv. Helen, probably baptized 1673, Bristol; (5) v. Susanna; vi. Sarah, bap., Bristol, 24 March, 1680; vii. Elizabeth, bap. 31 Mar., 1687, d. 12 Feb., 1688. (2) Gloucestershire, England: Parish and Probate Records [database online], Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2001: Gloucestershire: Bristol Diocese - Marriage Bonds, 1637-1700 Burialls 1604. Bristol Marriage Licence Bonds 1671 County: Gloucestershire Country: England May 1671 Thomas Opie, Bristol, sailor, and Elinor, St. Augustine, W.: Bdm. Henry Daniel, Bristol, merchant: at St. Augustine. (21) [Note by compiler: The compiler is not certain that the Thomas OPIE listed in the Gloucestershire, England Parish and Probate Records is the same person as "our" Thomas OPIE, Sr., or that his wife, Elinor, is the same person as Helen LINDSAY.] (3) Van Ness, Esther Opie, William Oppie of Somerset County, New Jersey and Some of His Descendants, With Other Opie Families Mentioned, Ann Arbor, MI: Edwards Bros., 1958, pp. 231-232: A Thomas Opie of Bristol, England, whose will was dated 1701 and proved 1702, was a merchantman and part owner of the ship "Adventur" and he was designated as captain, as was also his son, Thomas, Jr. At the time that Thomas, Sr. made his will this boat was loaded with tobacco in Virginia to be taken "home." A Thomas (probably the same one) is also listed as the owner of a boat going to Maryland, the "Richard and James." (NYG & B V.29 p.74). Thomas, Sr. had bought a plantation in Virginia at Cherry Point, Northumberland Co., and m. Helen Lindsay, dau. of a Scottish minister, Robert Lindsay of Northumberland Co., as her second husband. Cherry Pt. is not marked as such on present day maps. It was a small tongue of land near the Yeocomico River, on which "Cowart" is now marked. Rev. Lindsay was the first minister of the old Yeocomico Church at nearby Tucker Hill. This is one of the oldest churches in Virginia, having been built as a wooden structure in 1655. The present brick building, in the form of a cross, was constructed in 1706. It is a small crude church, set in a large yard surrounded by a brick wall. The building was later abandoned and was used by soldiers in the War of 1812, when it was further abused. Later it was restored and is today in regular use. The front door is supposed to be that of the original wooden building and has a small wicket door that was used in cold weather. Thomas Opie, Sr., evidently never made his permanent home in Virginia, as it was designated as Bristol, England in his will. In the latter he mentions three sons as being "abroad" and three daughters: Thomas, Jr., who probably d unm. as no wife or children are mentioned in his will, dated 1702 and proved 1703; Lindsay, who evidently was not living in Virginia at the time Thomas, Jr. made his will, as in that he is mentioned as being in Jamaica; John, from whom the Virginia family descends; Helen; Susanna; Sarah. According to the records, Thomas, Sr. had had another daughter, Elizabeth. Some members of the family still live in Virginia, while others are residing in various states. The family has included at least two Episcopalian rectors, an eminent doctor, a well-known publisher, and several who have distinguished themselves in the armed services. Further information concerning the Virginia family can be found in the Compendium of Unabridged Genealogy by Virkus V.5 p.393, in the William and Mary Quarterlies, and in the Virginia Magazine, especially the number for Jan. 1946. Swem's Virginia Index can be consulted for particular references. More details of the historic Yeocomico Church can be found in the following books: Virginia Highway Markers; Guide to the Old Dominion; Old Churches, Ministers, and Families by Meade; Colonial Churches of Tidewater, Virginia by Mason. (4) Van Ness, Esther Opie, Supplement and Corrections to the Oppie-Opie Genealogy, Entitled William Oppie of Somerset County, New Jersey and Some of His Descendants, With Other Opie Families Mentioned, Phoenix, AZ: 1966, p. 86: Fitzhugh Opie of Alexandria, Va., a descendant of the Virginia Opie family, sent the compiler an old large scale map of part of the peninsula between the Potomac and Rappahonock [sic] Rivers in Northumberland Co., Va. On this is shown Cherry Point, where the American progenitor of the Va. family, Thomas Opie, had his tobacco plantation. A nearby creek is called "Cornish Creek." Ret. Gen. E. Walton Opie wrote that the Opie home in Northumberland Co. burned in 1812. Any family records that may have been there were destroyed. This Va. family can trace its ancestry back to the kings of Scotland through the wife of the first Thomas. She was the daughter of the Rev. David Lindsay, a Scottish minister, who was the first minister of the Yeocomico Church, mentioned on p. 231 in the first book. Fitzhugh Opie also sent a snapshot of the Rev. Lindsay's gravestone, which is supposed to be the first such stone used in Va. His grandson, another Thomas, is buried in the same grave. It is located at or near Cherry Point. (5) Lindsay, Margaret Isabella, The Lindsays of America, Albany, NY: Joel Munsell's Sons, 1889, pp. 40-42: Cotemporary with the Lindsay family there lived, in Northumberland, the family of Opies, who came from England, being, likely by their name, of Cornish origin, and as the descendants of this family have the Lindsay blood in their veins, and are hence connected with us, I cannot more fittingly end this chapter than by a short record of them. Thomas Opie, the founder and first of the name in Virginia, married Helen, the daughter of the Reverend David Lindsay, and their son, Captain Thomas Opie, Jr., lies buried beneath the same tombstone as the Reverend David, for the following inscription records it: "Here also lyeth the body of Captain Thomas Opie Jr of Bristol, grandson of Mr David Lindsay, who departed this life 16, November 1702." Captain Thomas Opie had a son, John Opie, who died in 1722, leaving a wife, Ann, and sons, Lindsay Opie, Thomas Opie, and a daughter, Susanna; Lindsay Opie lived, married and died in Northumberland county, in 1746, leaving a wife, Sarah, and sons, John, Thomas, George A. and a daughter, Ann. Either one of these sons was the father of Lindsay Opie, who was a wealthy planter in Northumberland during 1775. He was father to Hierome Lindsay Opie, born 1758, in Northumberland county, and who died in Baltimore 4th October, 1839, aged 82; also father to Juliet Opie, Mrs. Hopkins; Margaret, Mrs. Parker, widow of General Thomas Parker of Virginia, who left a daughter, Susan, who married General Stephen Mason of Virginia; and of Jane, who married a Mr. Clarke of Kentucky, and left a son, Hierome Lindsay Opie Clarke, and of a son by a second marriage, Major Leroy Opie, paymaster United States army, who was killed in Virginia by robbers, in the discharge of his duty, while traveling. Hierome Lindsay Opie, who died in Baltimore in 1839, resided a number of years in his native county and served as a member in the Legislature. His first wife was a daughter of Judge White of Virginia, by whom he had four children who died young; his second was Miss Muse, their children were Hierome Lindsay Opie, who married Miss Lauck of Martinsburgh [sic], W. Va., and had the following three children by her: 1, Hierome L. Opie, 2, Thomas, and 3, Mary, Mrs. Meade of Virginia, niece-in-law to the late Bishop Meade. The elder son is a lawyer in Covington, Ky., and is married; he had an elder son named Hierome Lindsay Opie. Thomas is a well-known surgeon of Baltimore, Dean of the College of Physicians and Surgeons there. The daughters were Margaret, Mrs. Riddle of Delaware, and Mary, Mrs. Norris of Virginia, who left a son William Opie Norris; and Virginia, Mrs. R. H. Butcher of Success, Warren county, Va., whose daughter is Mrs. General R. Ayres, U. S. A. Hierome Lindsay Opie, Sr., died in Baltimore in 1862, his wife in 1883. This latter family of Opies was known and highly thought of by my father, who indeed regarded them as his cousins as they did him. At all times there appears to have been a strong pride and attachment between the two families. Down to this generation the reader will notice the perpetuation of the favorite name of Hierome Lindsay in the Opie family, and of Opie in the Lindsay family.
  Person ID	I9003	Frost, Gilchrist and Related Families
  Last Modified	17 Apr 2024

  
  

  Family	Helen LINDSAY,   b. Abt 1643   d. 1698, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England (Age ~ 55 years)
  Marriage	Aft 1672
  Children	1. Capt. Thomas OPIE, Jr.,   b. Bef 8 Apr 1672, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England d. 16 Nov 1702 (Age > 30 years)   2. Helen OPIE,   b. 1673, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England   3. Capt. John OPIE,   b. Bef 22 Mar 1675, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England d. Bef 20 Mar 1722, Northumberland County, VA (Age < 46 years)   4. Lindsay OPIE, Sr.,   b. Bef 22 Feb 1677, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England d. Aft 25 Mar 1716 (Age > 39 years)   5. Susanna OPIE,   b. Bef 30 Jul 1679, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England   6. Sarah OPIE,   b. Bef 24 Mar 1680, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England   7. Elizabeth OPIE,   b. Bef 31 Mar 1687, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England d. Bef 12 Feb 1688, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England (Age < 0 years)
  Family ID	F4339	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	17 Apr 2024