Michael, the son of Michael, created by David Porter Smith.

1672 --- YORK CO., VA. Tithe List. Michael Waldrop

1682 --- NEW KENT CO., VA. 20 Apr 1682. William Claiborne son of Col. William Claiborne dec'd and Thomas Claiborne, son and heir apparent of Mr. Thomas Claiborne, 545 acres, Beginning in the fork of Chicahominy River... Transportation of 11 persons: Thomas Bell, Robert Bowles, John Ireland, Richard Pearson, Corn Busby, Margaret Bright, Richard Ely, Micha. Wardrope, Mary Poll, Ann Hicks, and Andrew Hall. "Cavaliers and Pioneers" by Nell Marion Nugent, Patent Book 7, By Richard Bennet, Volume 2 page 236.
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Published Error - David Dobson of St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland--a specialist in Scottish immigration, documents Michael Wardrope's sons as James, John, Joseph, Michael, and Luke. Dobson's source was proven unreliable for documentation by Howard Hunt Waldrop, who tracked down the source for this printed material. An American lady, Dr. Grace Batson, originally submitted this material as a query. Dr. Batson was contacted by Howard H. Waldrop and she had no documentation for her query, and based it only on speculation and name frequency. The quote from Dobson's book follows: "From Scotland to America. Received a land grant in Virginia 1699. Father of John, Michael and Joseph." (From Scottish Settlers in North America, 6 vols. Vol. 1, p. 259, Geneal. Pub. Co.,Inc., 1984.)
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The theory of the first four Michaels came from David Porter Smith. It is and was intended to be theory for further research.
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Michael's year of arrival in VA is not known. The date of 1682 does not indicate his year of arrival. The year a headright was claimed had no bearing on the year of arrival of the transported immigrant. Michael's wives and children are not known. As stated above, David Smith created his son in the 1990's.
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MICHAEL WALDROP, IMMIGRANT, Essay by Jan Dawson, 9/02
In order to understand the immigration of Michael Waldrop, it is important to know a little about the history of that time.

Jamestown, Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in North America. On May 6, 1607, three ships stopped at Cape Henry, at the southern entrance to Chesapeake Bay, after more than four months at sea. (Jamestown is about 20 miles or so from where Michael Waldrop later settled.)

As the colonies began to grow, there was a demand for labor, both skilled and unskilled. The system of indenturing servants started during the 1600's to provide cheap labor for the colonies. (Over half of all immigrants to the colonies after the 1630's came as indentured servants.) An indentured servant was someone who worked without wages for a period of time in exchange for passage to the American Colonies. The term most commonly refered to Europeans who signed a contract to work a term of years, usually four to seven, in return for payment of their voyage, food, clothing, and shelter. The contract was called an indenture. Most indentured servants were young men between the ages of 16 and 25 looking for jobs and a better life. Some debtors and convicts were also sent to the colonies as indentured servants.

Beginning in 1618, the colony of Virginia offered a headright, a grant of 50 acres per head (that is, per head count) to any person who imported servants to Virginia. The "headright" belonged to the person who paid for the servant's passage. The servant was recruited in the British Isles. He "sold" himelf to an agent or a ship's captain and signed an indenture contract. The contract was then sold to a buyer in a colony. The crossing was difficult. Three biscuits and a pint of water a day was not unusual fare. Upon arrival, the servant usually ended up doing household or agricultural work or unskilled labor. If the servant had a craft, such as weaving, carpentry, blacksmithery or the like, he would bargain for a shorter term of indenture. Some servants, when they completed their term of servitude, were given "freedom dues" or small amounts of land.

Whoever bought the headright for the transported servant surrendered it to the colony who in turn awarded him 50 acres of land. However, it was more common for the owner of the headright either to keep the headright until he had accumulated a number of them and then exchange them for a larger tract of land, or else sell the headright to another person, who in turn might sell it to someone else, and so forth.

We assume from records in Scotland that Michael Waldrop probably was from Ediburgh, but we have no proof. We do know from two records, however, that he was an indentured servant in Virginia. In the 1672 list of tithables (A tithable was any male age 16 or older.) for York Co., Virginia, John Keene paid 100 pounds of tobacco for MICK WALDROP and Thomas Bell. Deeds prove that John Keene was a Virginia landowner and planter, and therefore, logically, owned indentured servants.

In 1682, the headright for transporting Michael Waldrop was surrendered for land in New Kent County, VA. (This does not mean that Michael Waldrop was in New Kent Co.; Merely that the headright owner was.) It appears the transporter was Col Wm. Claiborne, Jr., who gave or sold it to his son William, who gave or sold it to Thomas Claiborne, who gave or sold it to his son Thomas Claiborne, Jr. The document, which clearly states that headrights were claimed for eleven persons, one being Michael Waldrop, reads as follows: (From NellNugent's "Cavaliers & Pioneers" Volume II, p. 236, Patent Book #7.)20 Apr 1682, William Claiborne, (Claibourne), son of Col. Wm. Clayborne Jr., deceased, Thomas Claiborne, son & heir apparent of Mr. Thomas Claiborne, 545 acres, New Kent Co., VA., 20 Apr 1682 (p. 154). Beginning in the fork of Chickahominy River where the SW ends, & continues. Transportation of 11 persons: Thomas Bell, Robert Bowles, John Ireland, Richard Pearson, Cornwallis Bushy (or Busby), Margaret Bright, Richard Ely, MICHA WALDROPE, Mary Poll, Ann Hicks, and Andrew Hall.

The two records, 1672 and 1682, give us specific information about Michael Waldrop. The 1682 record proves he was an indentured servant, because Claiborne received a headright (which he received from someone else) for Michael's transportation to Virginia. Since a tithe was paid for Michael in 1672, he must have been at least 16 years of age at that time, because that was the minimum tithable age. This means Michael Waldrop was born not later than 1656, and possibly earlier, since he may have been older than 16 when he was tithed. Because Col. Claiborne, who transported him, did not cash in the headright when it was issued, we do not know exactly when Michael Waldrop arrived in America, but it must have been before 1672 when his name appeared on the Virginia tithe list. The interesting thing to point out is that he undertook a difficult voyage to this country at a young age, during a time of uncertainty, and probably about 60 years or so after the first settements were established. (No doubt a courgeous thing for a young man to do.)

Many Virginia records were burned or destroyed in wars and in courthouse fires over the years. Thus, we have only scanty amounts of data for our immigrant ancestor. No records tell us his wife's name or those of all his children. We do know that in 1672 he was in York Co., VA where his name appeared on the tithe list, and that he settled in King William County, VA by 1699. We also know that he himself received 100 acres of headrights in 1712 for transporting two men to Virginia.
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