Thomas Dew (politician)
Thomas Dew | |
---|---|
7th Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses | |
In office 1652–1652 | |
Preceded by | Edward Major |
Succeeded by | Walter Chiles |
Member of the Virginia Governor's Council | |
In office 1654-1660 | |
Member of the House of Burgesses representing Nansemond County, Virginia | |
In office 1652-1655 | |
Preceded by | John Carter |
Succeeded by | Edward Stretter |
In office 1642 | |
Preceded by | John Gookin |
Succeeded by | Randall Crew |
Personal details | |
Died | c. 1691 |
Residence | Nansemond County, Virginia |
Occupation | Farmer |
Thomas Dew (died c. 1691) was a Virginia landowner and politician representing Nansemond County.[1][2][3]
Early life
His birth date and location are uncertain, though he had to have reached legal age (21) before he settled in Nansemond County in 1634 as discussed below. In 1672 Dew became a Quaker, possibly after William Edmundson, an associate of Quaker George Fox visited Nansemond County.[2] Complicating matters, in 1660, a man named "Andrew Dew" bought land in Essex County considerably northwest of Nansemond County. That man had a wife named Ann and sons named Andrew and Thomas, but no proof exists of a family relation between the two Dew families.[4]
Career
Dew settled in the vicinity of the
In 1656 Virginia's governor authorized Dew to explore the coast of North Carolina between Cape Hatteras and Cape Fear.
Death and legacy
The date of Dew's death is unknown, but was after 1681.[2]
Notwithstanding later Quaker opposition to slavery, his descendants or that of family members likely owned slaves.[8]
References
- ^ Tyler, Lyon Gardiner (1915). Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. Vol. 1. p. 290.
- ^ ISBN 0-88490-075-4.
- ISBN 978-0-8063-1872-1.
- ^ Lyon Gardiner Tyler, "Dew", William and Mary Quarterly Vol. 27 (1920), p. 135
- ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) p.29
- ^ Leonard pp. xiii, 29, 30
- ^ Leonard p. xx
- ^ See note on talk page