HANNAH RODHAM and her sister, Elizabeth, who married Richard Kenner, were positively identified by deeds-of-gift as the children of MATTHEW RODHAM. The given name of Rodham was also perpetuated in both girls’ families for generations.
MATTHEW RODHAM had signed the oath to the Commonwealth April 13, 1652, and was noted as about age 33. This gives us a birth date of about 1620 for him. Deeds mention his wife, ELIZABETH. Richard Kenner witnessed a deed of gift from MATTHEW RODHAM to “my daughter HANNAH, wife of CHRISTOPHER NEALE,” for a plantation formerly belonging to Hugh Lee, 300 acres. Another notation in Virginia Colonial Abstracts, Volume I, Northumbria Collectanea, 1645-172- A-L, on page 559, mentions Kings Creek Adj. Hugh Lee’s land prior to November 17, 1666. Also in St. S. Parish [?] adj. land of Jno Oldham, Sr., January, 1700.
In 1651, Mrs. Hannah Lee, the wife of Hugh Lee, gave a cow as a gift to MATTHEW RODHAM for use of his daughter HANNAH, to be delivered to her when she was age 16. If she died before that, it was to go to the next child of MATTHEW and his wife, ELIZABETH. This leads one to suspect that Mrs. Lee was the mother of ELIZABETH, and therefore, the grandmother of HANNAH RODHAM. No further proof of this has been found by this author, however. At this early date in Virginia’s history, the gift of a heifer or a cow was a princely gift indeed, and one not lightly given, or given to those not intimately connected by blood or friendship. [Virginia Colonial Abstracts.]
In an e-mail to the author, dated February 1, 1999, another researcher, Mr. Freeman, asserts, without citing a source, that ELIZABETH was surnamed, Hewett, and stated that her mother, as the widow Hewett, had married Mr. Lee when ELIZABETH was quite small. This might be a good avenue to explore with future research.
Saturday, August 6, 1659, at a court held at the house of Captain Richard Wright, the men of the area held a murder trial. George Casquescough, of Machoatick, Northumberland County, was accused of murder and entered a plea of not guilty. MATTHEW “RHEDON” [RODHAM], PETER PRESLEY, and Daniel Holland were on the jury. The man was convicted, along with “three other Indians,” and hanged.
MATTHEW RODHAM was still living in 1706. He was apparently reasonably “well-off”financially. The records of Northumberland mention several servants that he brought to court to have their age “judged.” These included Thomas Morny and an “Irish wench,” Guillian. He was also a vestryman in Chicacone Parish in 1671 and 1672. [Virginia Colonial Abstracts.]
The “judging of ages” of servants in court was related to the amount of time they had to serve. If they were under a certain age, they had to serve until a set “age” and if over a certain age, then for a set number of years. Since many of the servants did not have any real idea when they were born, the court would look at the person and decide how old they were.