Biographical Sketch of Robert Mayfield (d. 1692)

The First Mayfield  Immigrant to Virginia

By Phil Norfleet

This Robert Mayfield was probably born in England in about 1630.  He seems to have migrated to Virginia Colony, as an indentured servant, in about 1652.  A few years after his arrival in Virginia, in about 1654, he married;  unfortunately the name of his wife is unknown. He seems to have had at least two sons who survived into adulthood:

1.  Robert Mayfield (d. 1715)

2.  Edward Mayfield (b. ca. 1660)

Notes For Robert Mayfield (d. 1692)

My notes concerning what little information that I have been able to glean from the records of Colonial Virginia concerning this Robert Mayfield, the first Mayfield immigrant, are as follows:

The earliest entry mentioning a person with the Mayfield surname in Virginia, of which I am aware, is found in a list of headrights supporting a 350-acre land grant in Gloucester County to a certain Richard Longe in the year 1652.

I have carefully examined the original of this document from the microfilm at the Library of VA. The grant is found in Patent Book 3, page 135 and I abstract it as follows:

06 Dec 1652: Grant to Richard Longe of 350 acres of land on Milford Haven on westward side of a branch dividing from George Billops. Headrights: Edward Dymont, Henry King, Robert Maiyffelld, Hannah Cotton, Mary James, Thomas Hale, Lt. Col. Griffith, his wife Anne.

The "Robert Maiyffelld" so listed is probably a variant spelling of "Robert Mayfield" as creative spelling is a hallmark of 17th century writing.

It should be noted that while I have transcribed the name as Robert Maiyffelld other researchers have read the name differently. In the old script, when the letter "s"appears in the middle of a word, it was written in a manner very similar to the letter "f." Hence, it frequently is very difficult to determine whether an "s" or an "f" is intended.

Nell Nugent, who abstracted all the early land patents of VA, read the name as "Mansfelld" [see "Cavaliers and Pioneers Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants" (first published 1934), Volume One, page 267]. Furthermore, Polly Cary Mason, who compiled the "Records of Colonial Gloucester County Virginia" (published 1946), at page 49, read the name as "Maysfield."

The identification of Robert Mayfield as a headright, indicates that he probably entered the colony as an indentured servant sometime in the year 1652 or shortly before. Studies of VA headrights indicate that the most common age for male headrights was the 18-25 age group. Assuming Robert was in this age bracket, his year of birth would be somewhere around 1630.

The Colonial VA law, in effect in 1652, concerning the terms of indenture was as follows:

Under 12 years of Age - 7 Years
From 12 to 20 Years of Age - 5 Years
Age 20 Years and Over - 4 Years

Accordingly, the most probable period of indenture for Robert Mayfield would have been four or five years. Thus, it is probable that he would have completed his indenture in about 1656/57. I have not been able to find any record of a Mayfield having received a land grant in Colonial VA during the period 1635-1750. In fact the earliest record of any Mayfield land acquisition was a Rappahannock County deed from Daniel and Robert Gaines to Robert Mayfield for 105 acres of land in the year 1677. My best conjecture is that this Robert is the son of the Robert Mayfield noted as a headright in 1652. My reasons for this conjecture are as follows:

1.  There is evidence that a certain Robert Mayfield of Henrico County VA had died about the year 1692 or perhaps a little earlier. Henrico County Record Book Number 2 (Orders and Wills, 1678-1693), page 429 states the following:

"Com: Henrici pr:o die [torn] 1692 ... Capt Will Farrar being by ye Last Court Appointed to see ye delry of Cattle belonging to Robt Jones an Orph late in ye Wardship of Will Blackman wch were given unto ye said Orph per Rob't Mayfield decd doth Return Acc't That ye sd Order is performed & that ye said Jones hath received in full one Cow, one Calf & one Bull."

I interpret the above statement to mean that the orphan, Robert Jones, was bequeathed or otherwise due some cattle from the estate of Robert Mayfield, now deceased; the orphan was given one cow, one calf and one bull to satisfy said court order. Most certainly this Robert Mayfield was dead by the year 1692, the year of the court order.

No will of this Robert Mayfield is known to exist; however, the extant probate records of Henrico County are not complete and the records of the adjacent County of New Kent have been completely destroyed for the relevant time period. Also, if this Robert Mayfield died intestate, then under the Law of Primogeniture, Robert's personal property, including cattle, would have been equally divided among all his children. It is quite possible that the orphan, Robert Jones, was a grandson of Robert Mayfield by one of his daughters who had married a member of the Jones family. The later (1720's) Essex County records show a certain Robert Jones associated with the Mayfields in various lawsuits.

2. There is evidence that a certain Edward Mayfield was living in New Kent County in in 1695. He almost certainly was at least 21 years of age at the time as he was a plaintiff in a successful lawsuit tried in the Rappahannock County Court. I believe Edward is probably a son of the Robert Mayfield who was an indentured servant in 1652 and a brother of the Robert Mayfield who acquired land in Rappahannock County in 1677.

3.  The Robert Mayfield who acquired land in 1677 is almost certainly the same Robert whose will, dated 3 December 1714, was probated in Essex County, Virginia on 16 August 1715. Thus, the year of death for this man was almost certainly in 1715. The will names a wife Sarah; sons Robert, Abraham, John, Isaac and Jacob; and daughters Catherine, Jane, and Anne. All indications are that these children were born in the 1680's and 1690's, i. e. after the 105-acre land acquisition in 1677. If their father was the Robert Mayfield, who was an indentured servant in 1752, he would have been in his fifties or sixties when all his children were born; I consider this to be a highly unlikely scenario.

4.  All demographic studies conducted for 17th century England and Virginia indicate short lifespans. The typical age of death for women was in their forties, and for men, it was in their late forties and early fifties. A recent study done for Colonial Middlesex County VA, a county directly adjacent to Essex County, indicates an expected age at death for men, who had already reached the age of 20, to be only 45 years of age! [see "A Place in Time Explicatus" by Darrett and Anita Rutman, published 1984, page 52] Accordingly, I consider it highly unlikely that the Robert Mayfield who died in 1715 was the same Robert Mayfield who entered VA in 1652.

5.  The Robert Mayfield who acquired land in 1677 is not designated as Junior or Senior or some other differentiating label. This indicates to me that there was no other Robert Mayfield living in Rappahannock County at that time. Robert's father and namesake was probably still alive at this time, but was residing in either Henrico or New Kent County.