MATTHEW FORD / FOARD / FOORD

Very little is known about Matthew Ford, the father of legatees named in the wills of John Porter and William Haskins. What we do know comes from the Virginia Patent Books and a few extant Prince George County records. Matthew was in Virginia before January 22, 1717, the date of a land grant using Matthew's "50-acre-headright." However, based on the date of the survey for his own land grant, I think Matthew was in Virginia several years prior to 1717. It took these early settlers time to locate the land they wished to settle on, then, in the cash-strapped economy that was Virginia, collect the coins needed to pay the surveyor to run the lines. Once the lines were drawn, they again had to accumulate funds to pay the land grant fees.

Matthew located on a 292 acre tract south of the Appomattox River in then Prince George County, Virginia. This area, where Martha's grandson Edward Traylor (son of Edward) is later found, is in present day Dinwiddie County and just across the Appomattox River from Amelia County. The survey is dated November 4, 1718; but,the land grant wasn't issued to Matthew Ford until February 20, 1723. His land was described as lying "on the lower side of Mawhipponock Creek adjacent William Anderson." When Anderson sold his tract in 1727, his neighbors included: Mathew Mayes, John Spain and Mathew Ford.

In 1738 Matthew petitioned the Bristol Parish vestry for exemption from paying the Parish Levy in the future. It was granted, but the reason not given within the vestry book entry. Advanced age is a logical guess. Neither Matthew's wife's given name nor his death date are found in extant Prince George County records.