James Chick
of Caroline County, VA

James Chick, possibly a son of John Cheek, Jr. of Essex and King & Queen Co., VA (but this is not proven), was born abt. 1734, and died before 1780 in Caroline Co., VA. The name of his wife is unknown.

Children of James Chick:

1. Maybe Elizabeth Chick, b. Aug. 17, 1748; d. 1827, Bedford Co., VA; m. Justinian WILLS, Nov. 22, 1768, Caroline Co., VA (b. Oct. 27, 1735; d. abt. 1801).
2. +John Chick, probably b. around 1750-1755 in Caroline Co., VA. John is the only documented child of James CHICK of Caroline Co., VA, based on a court order dated Mar. 9, 1780, in which John claimed bounty land for his father James CHICK's military service. John Chick appears to have left Caroline Co., VA, soon after 1780.
3. Maybe James Chick who reportedly married Agnes DYER, daughter of John DYER of Halifax Co., VA, abt. 1768 (verification needed). According to some sources, John Dyer was from Caroline Co., VA, and his daughter Agnes Dyer married a man named James Chick. Child: William CHICK of Halifax Co., VA.

Notes

ames Chick, a saddler by trade, enlisted in Capt. Robert Stewart's Company of the Virginia Regiment in King & Queen County in 1757. He was discharged the following year in Caroline Co., VA, where he seems to have remained until his death sometime prior to 1780. James Chick lived in Drysdale Parish, which overlapped the border between Caroline and King & Queen Counties. Only a small part of Drysdale Parish was actually located in Caroline County, and most residents of the Parish lived in neighboring King & Queen County. It seems reasonable to conclude that there was a relationship of some sort between the Chick/Cheek family in King & Queen County and the Chicks in Caroline County. James was possibly the youngest son of John Cheek, Jr., of King & Queen Co., VA, although this has not been proven.

Unfortunately, genealogical research in Caroline County is complicated by the loss of many of the county's records during the Civil War. The surviving court order books are a primary source of information about the county's inhabitants. These contain numerous references to members of the Chick family during the 1760's and 1770's, particularly William CHICK and Richard CHICK who were involved in a large number of lawsuits. There are also couple of references to a James CHICK: he was was being sued by James FENNELL on Mar. 13, 1760/61, by Benjamin HUBBARD on June 15, 1765, and by John MORTON on Sept. 8, 1768.

In 1768, James CHICK and others were fined for refusing to pay tithes and not frequenting their parish church of Drysdale Parish. (Caroline County Orders 1768-1770, pp.273, 306.)  James CHICK's refusal to pay parish tithes suggests he was a "dissenter," that is, a person opposed to the established Church of England. He may have been a Baptist. At the time, the Baptist faith was gaining many converts in Virginia.

James CHICK died before 1780 when his son, John CHICK, made a claim for his bounty land. The Caroline court order books also contain a reference to Ann CHICK of Caroline County whose last will and testament was proved in court on Jan. 14, 1779; the witnesses were Thomas TARRANT & Ann GUNNEL, and the executor was William Craddock WISDOM. (Caroline County Orders 1777-1780, p.146.)  Was she the widow of James Chick?  Unfortunately, there is only a brief notation in the court order book concerning the will. No further information, such as the names of the heirs, is included, and Caroline County's actual wills from this period have not survived.

There are no Chicks or Cheeks listed on the 1783 tax list of Caroline Co., VA, and no further references to the family in the court order books after 1782, except for a lawsuit in 1787 that was assigned to Edward WEST by John CHICK and William CHICK, which suggests they were no longer living in the County.

Records

Apr. 2, 1753. Henrico Co., VA. James CHEEK apprenticed to Elisha MILLAR, saddler. Witness: Langston BACON. (Sources: Harold B. Gill, Jr., Apprentices of Virginia (Salt Lake City: Ancestry Inc., 1989), pp.221-222; The Valentine Papers, Ancestry.com, citing Henrico Deeds & Wills, 1750-67, p.221.)

Aug. 1, 1757. Muster roll of Capt. Robert Stewart's Company, VA Regiment: James CHICK, 23 years of age [so born abt. 1734], height 5' 9 ½", born in Virginia, a saddler, served at Winchester; enlisted in King & Queen County. Ruddy complected, with a long nose and short brown hair. Discharged in Caroline County, 1758. (Source: "King and Queen County: Records Concerning 18th Century Persons," 6th Collection, Virginia Colonial Abstracts, Vol. II (Gen. Pub. Co., 1988), p.364.)

Mar. 13, 1760/61. James CHICK being sued by James FENNELL. (Caroline order books.)

June 15, 1765. James CHICK being sued by Benjamin HUBBARD. (Caroline order books.)

Sept. 8, 1768. James CHICK being sued by John MORTON. (Caroline order books.)

Nov. 10, 1768. The grand jury of Caroline County issued a "presentment" against James CHICK, Justinian WILLS and several others, for not paying tithes and not frequenting their parish church of Drysdall (Drysdale) Parish. On March 10, 1769, James CHICK, Justinian WILLS, and John PRUETT failed to appear in court to answer the presentments, and were each fined 500 pounds of tobacco. (Caroline County Orders 1768-1770, pp.273, 306.)

Note: Justinian WILLS m. Elizabeth CHICK (possibly James Chick's daughter?) on Nov. 22, 1768, Caroline Co., VA. They moved to Bedford or Campbell Co., VA, around 1771 (they are found in records of both counties).

Mar. 9, 1780. "On proof being made to the Court that James CHICK served as a Soldier till properly discharged in 1758, in a Regiment raised for immediate defence of this State, not being Militia, and that he had never received his Bound of Land under the King of Great Brittains Proclamation, Ordered the same to be certified to the Register of the Land Office that the said James CHICK is since dead and that the said Bounty of Land is vested in John CHICK, heir at law."  (Caroline County Orders 1777-1780, p.217; see also "Some Colonial and Revolutionary Soldiers as Shown by the Order Books of Caroline County, VA," Virginia Military Records (Gen. Pub. Co., 1983), p.112, originally pub. in William & Mary College Quarterly, 2nd Series, Vol. XII (1932), pp.221-228). The bounty land warrant itself is dated Feb. 1780; Cert. #864; James RUSSLE is marked out and James CHICK written in; "served as soldier till properly discharged in 1760 in a Regiment raised for the immediate defense of the State not being Militia … said bounty of lands is now vested in Jno. CHICK heir at law"; assigned to John GAYLE, Jr., Mar. 11, 1780, signed by John (X) CHICK; wit. Matthew GAULE, Secton ACREE. (Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Nov. 1, 1993), p.282.)

A possible connection to Halifax Co., VA?

Not much is known about the Chick family who lived in Halifax County, VA, from 1771 through the early 1800's. According to some sources, Agnes DYER, daughter of John DYER of Halifax Co., VA, married a man named James CHICK abt. 1768. It is possible, though speculative, that he might have been a son of James Chick of Caroline Co., VA. John DYER was reportedly from Caroline Co., VA. John Dyer moved to Halifax Co., VA, by 1755 when he patented 400 acres of land on Childrey Creek. In his 1771 will, John Dyer left a piece of land to be equally divided between "Agnes, Anes and William CHICK", presumably his grandchildren (or perhaps his daugher Agnes and her two children). (Halifax WB 1, p.62; dated Apr. 9, 1771, recorded Mar. 17, 1774.)  Agnes' husband James CHICK reportedly died before Apr. 18, 1782, when she married James DALTON in Pittsylvania Co., VA.

A generation earlier, there were several connections between the Cheek and Dyer families in Essex County, VA. John Cheek, Sr., witnessed the will of Andrew DYER in Essex County, VA, in 1699. Andrew DYER was John Cheek's neighbor according to a deed dated Mar. 6, 1714/15 (Essex Deeds & Wills 1714-1717, pp. 347-348.)  In 1710, John Cheek, Jr., brought an action for debt against Jeffrey DYER. (Essex Orders 1708-1712, p.347.)  In 1717, John DYER witnessed a deed from John Cheek to Richard Cheek. (Essex Deeds & Wills No. 15, 1717-1718, pp.116-119; see also Essex Order Book 1716-1723 Part I.)  In 1728, John DYER traveled 20 miles to testify as a witness for Richard Cheek in a lawsuit against John EVANS. (Essex Order Book 1725-1729 Part II, p.257.)  Some sources claim that John Cheek, Jr.'s wife "Sinor" (Sina) was a DYER, although this is not documented.

It's possible that John Dyer of Caroline and Halifax Co., VA, was related to the Dyers of Essex Co., VA, in which case the Cheek-Dyer connection seems to have lasted for a couple of generations. William CHICK (grandson of John DYER) lived on Childrey Creek in Halifax County during the 1780's and 1790's, and he appears on Halifax County tax lists from 1782-1791. There are also a few records of a John CHEEK and a Richard CHICK in Halifax County during the same time period: John CHEEK appears on a Halifax tax list in 1782, and Richard CHICK is on the Halifax tax lists in 1784 and 1791. In addition, a deed dated Oct. 26, 1795, from Elizabeth Burch GRAY and Nancy GRAY to Tommey LANE refers to land on Terrible Creek, Bradleys Creek, and Spider Creek in Halifax County adjoining Richard CHICK and others. (Halifax DB 16, p.432.)  Spider Creek was an upper branch of Childrey Creek, so Richard Chick apparently lived near William Chick. There is also a Judith CHICK who married William NANCE in Halifax County on Feb. 2, 1805, and a James CHICK who served as bondsman five years later when William NANCE married Delilah HANCOCK on Dec. 10, 1810. (Halifax Marriage Bonds.)  Land records indicate that the Hancock family also lived in the Childrey Creek area and were associated with the Chick family (e.g., William Chick purchased 128 acres on Childrey Creek from Thomas Hancock on May 23, 1796; Halifax DB 16, p.660.)