John West (colonel)

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Colonel John West lived in New Kent as West Point fell in that County when it was formed in 1654. He was born in 1632 and was the first child born of English Parents on the York River (Virginia). Colonel John West was the son of Governor John West, of Virginia and the nephew of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr (Delaware). John West being the first child of English parents to be born on the York River, a large tract of land was granted to his father in honor of his birth. John West married Unity Croshaw, daughter of Major Joseph Croshaw of York, Member of the House of Burgesses, 1659-60, who died in 1667 and mentioned his daughter Unity in his will. The children of Colonel John and Unity West were: Anne West, who married Henry Fox; Unity West, who married Captain William Dandrige; Captain Thomas West; John West; and Nathaniel West. He was mentioned in records as a Captain in 1662, a Major in 1667, Lt. Colonel in 1673. He was taken prisoner in Bacon's Rebellion as he was active on the side of Governor William Berkeley. However, he later sat on Berkely's Court Martial at Green Spring Plantation which condemned, as Charles II of England said, "more men in that naked country that I did for the murder of my father". In 1685 he represented New Kent in the House of Burgesses. His will, which was dated November 15, 1689 and probated about 1691 was destroyed in the later destruction of the County records. John West was listed in later records as living with Cockacoeske the Queen of the Pamunkey Tribe. Cockacoeske was the cousin of Pocahontas and it was written that she "kept company" with John West, who was son of governor John West and nephew of Thomas West, baron De La Ware. They had several sons, one of the named John West after his father. Cockacoeske's husband/boyfriend John West was married to Unity Croshaw, an independent minded woman who left him for his adultery, and whose descendants were Dandridges, related to Martha Washington.

• Tax Rolls, March 1660. 3 March 1659/60, when the Virginia Assembly at that session enacted the following order: "Whereas the many important favors and services rendered to the country of Virginia by the Noble family of West, predecessors to Mr. John West, THEIR NOW ONLY SURVIVOR, it is ordered that the levies taxes of the said Master West and his family be remitted and that he be exempted from payment thereof during life."1

[edit] Sources

• "Middle Peninsula Historic Marker "Cockacoeske"
• "The Powhatan Indians of Virginia: Their Traditional Culture. Rountree, Helen C., University of Oklahoma Press, 1989.
• "Cockacoeske, Queen of Pamunkey: Diplomat and Suzeraine." W. Martha W. McCartney.
• "Powhatan's Mantle: Indians in the Colonial Southeast by Peter H. Wood.
• "Tax Rolls, March 1660. 3 March 1659. 1
• "Unpublished Historical Research" By Richard B. Autry.
• "Unpublished Genealogical Research" By Richard B. Autry.