Col. Joseph BridgerAge: 60 years1628–1688
- Name
- Col. Joseph Bridger
- Surname
- Bridger
- Given names
- Col. Joseph
Birth | 1628 44 20 |
Christening | February 28, 1631 (Age 3 years) |
Death of a paternal grandfather | Lawrence Bridger 1632 (Age 4 years) |
Birth of a brother | George Bridger 1633 (Age 5 years) |
Birth of a brother | James Bridger 1633 (Age 5 years) |
Birth of a brother | John Bridger about 1633 (Age 5 years) |
Birth of a brother | Jonathan Bridger about 1633 (Age 5 years) |
Birth of a sister | Mary Bridger about 1633 (Age 5 years) |
Birth of a brother | Samuel Bridger about 1633 (Age 5 years) |
Marriage of parents | Samuel Bridger — Mary Pitt — View this family about 1635 (Age 7 years) |
Death of a father | Samuel Bridger July 31, 1650 (Age 22 years) |
Marriage | Hester Pitt — View this family about 1655 (Age 27 years) |
Birth of a son #1 | Samuel Bridger about 1655 (Age 27 years) |
Birth of a son #2 | William Bridger 1658 (Age 30 years) |
Birth of a son #3 | Joseph Bridger Jr 1666 (Age 38 years) |
Birth of a daughter #4 | Elizabeth Bridger about 1677 (Age 49 years) |
Birth of a daughter #5 | Hester Bridger about 1677 (Age 49 years) |
Birth of a daughter #6 | Martha Bridger about 1677 (Age 49 years) |
Birth of a daughter #7 | Mary Bridger about 1677 (Age 49 years) |
Death of a wife | Hester Pitt 1685 (Age 57 years) |
Death | April 15, 1688 (Age 60 years) |
Family with parents |
father |
Samuel Bridger Birth: 1584 13 — Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, England Death: July 31, 1650 — Gloucester, England |
mother |
Mary Pitt Birth: 1608 — Gloucester, England Death: 1695 — Gloucester, England |
Marriage: about 1635 — |
|
-6 years himself |
Col. Joseph Bridger Birth: 1628 44 20 — Gloucester, Dursley Parish, England Death: April 15, 1688 — Smithfield, Isle of Wight, Virginia, USA |
6 years younger brother |
George Bridger Birth: 1633 49 25 Death: 1712 |
1 year younger brother |
James Bridger Birth: 1633 49 25 — Gloucester, England Death: 1712 |
1 year younger brother |
John Bridger Birth: about 1633 49 25 — Gloucester, England Death: 1712 |
1 year younger brother |
Jonathan Bridger Birth: about 1633 49 25 — Gloucester, England Death: about 1712 |
1 year younger sister |
Mary Bridger Birth: about 1633 49 25 — Gloucester, England Death: about 1712 |
1 year younger brother |
Samuel Bridger Birth: about 1633 49 25 — Gloucester, England Death: about 1712 |
Family with Hester Pitt |
himself |
Col. Joseph Bridger Birth: 1628 44 20 — Gloucester, Dursley Parish, England Death: April 15, 1688 — Smithfield, Isle of Wight, Virginia, USA |
wife |
Hester Pitt Birth: 1648 38 — Bristol, Dorset, England Death: 1685 — Isle of Wight, , Virginia, USA |
Marriage: about 1655 — |
|
1 year son |
Samuel Bridger Birth: about 1655 27 7 — , Isle of Wight, VA Death: about 1756 |
4 years son |
William Bridger Birth: 1658 30 10 — Isle of Wight, , Virginia, USA Death: 1730 — Isle of Wight, , Virginia, USA |
9 years son |
Joseph Bridger Jr Birth: 1666 38 18 — Isle of Wight, , Virginia, USA Death: January 25, 1713 — Isle of Wight, , Virginia, USA |
12 years daughter |
Elizabeth Bridger Birth: about 1677 49 29 — , Isle of Wight, VA Death: about 1759 |
1 year daughter |
Hester Bridger Birth: about 1677 49 29 — Dursley, Gloucester, England Death: about 1759 |
1 year daughter |
Martha Bridger Birth: about 1677 49 29 — Dursley, Gloucester, England Death: about 1759 |
1 year daughter |
Mary Bridger Birth: about 1677 49 29 Death: about 1759 |
Note | The inscription on his tombstone reads: “the Honorable Joseph Bridger, Esq., councilor of Sta te in Virginia to King Charles II.” Yet, today, he is almost forgotten in Virginia history. Born in 1628 at the manor of “Woodmancote” in the Parish of Dursley, England, he was the so n of Samuel Bridger, subdean and auditor of the College of Gloucester. Of his boyhood and you th nothing is definitely known, but is likely that he attended the College of Gloucester an d attained an education. A pronounced Royalist, Joseph Bridger came to the colony of Virginia about 1655, at a time wh en those holding views were fleeing the kingdom in order to escape Cromwellian persecution o r possibly death. He did well in Virginia. He settled below Jamestown and south of the Jame s River and probably patented more land than any other resident of Isle of Wight C., during t he 17th century. Joseph Bridger was chosen to represent Isle of Wight County in the House of Burgesses in th e session of 1658. After 1661 he filled the position without interruption until about 1672. A s a Burgess he received 250 pounds of tobacco for each day the assembly was in session in Jam estown. In 1664, Captain Bridger and two other commissioners were sent up to Chesapeake Bay to confe r with their Maryland opposites to settle dispute of a claim by the State of Maryland ove r a county line. Joseph Bridger's career in Virginia politics continued to rise. He was often named to deal wi th intercolonial problems, and in the House of Burgesses sat on important committees appointe d to consider economic matters. He was also influential in subjects pertaining to military de fense. He attained the rank of colonel in 1672, and in 1673 at the age of 45, became member of the C ouncil of State and General Court of the aging Virginia governor, Sir William Berkeley. The C ouncil of State usually was comprised of twelve members. They were the governor’s advisors an d were allowed to hire 10 servants each at public expense. They were also paid a salary out o f the taxes collected. Bridger was destined to take an active part in a series of historic events in Virginia histor y. The first was the governor'’ authorization of a 500-man army to fight the Indians and hi s appointment of Bridger as a colonel to organize it. As it turned out, the governor was deal ing with the Indians for their valuable furs, and the army never marched against them. In vie w of this lack of protection, the farmers became rebellious and availed themselves of the hel p of Nathaniel Bacon, a dissatisfied member of the governor’s Council. In time, the governo r was forced to flee Jamestown, and Bacon, who named himself “General by consent of the peopl e,” called Joseph Bridger a “wicked and pernicious councilor” for his continued loyalty to th e governor and the King of England. Bridger fled with the governor, but his son, Joseph Bridg er, Jr. cast his lot with Nathaniel Bacon. For this, he was disinherited by his father and hi s name stricken from his will. Bridger witnessed the governor’s will while they were in exile, and was appointed by the Kin g to continue as a member of the Council. The new governor of Virginia was instructed to rebu ild Jamestown) it had been burned down by Nathaniel Bacon), and suggested that each Council m ember should build a home there. By 1682, Joseph Bridger’s house had been completed and the C ouncil met in his new home on the afternoon of November 25, that year. The previous year, 1681, Lord Culpepper, the new governor, had commissioned Colonel Bridger s ole commander against the Indians, and in 1683 he was appointed to a command so important an d dangerous, the governor said he could appoint no other upon whom he could depend to carry i t out properly. On May 29, 1683, the governor appointed Bridger deputy vice-admiral, with jurisdiction over a ll of Virginia’s maritime matters. Soon after that, the governor left for London. He never re turned to Virginia. Joseph Bridger was active in keeping the government of the Colony alive, but he remained fait hful to the reigning Royalty in England. In June 1685, the new governor turned the administra tion of the government over to Bridger and his eleven fellow Councilors when he was require d to be away from Virginia for a period of time. Colonel Joseph Bridger was a man of strong emotions, given at times to angry outbursts. He di d not hesitate to engage in a lengthy litigation over land titles with his own father-in-law― and won. He was a great land baron with extensive holdings in Virginia and Maryland. He lived in manor ial splendor in a seventeen-room, brick mansion which must have been one of the largest of it s day in colony. His plantation was called “Whitemarsh” and was located not far from the Jame s River. There, Otta, an old Negro man and Isee, an old Negro woman were in charge of operati ng his handsomely furnished house, while nine other slaves and four indentured servants farme d the soil or otherwise helped to maintain the estate. It was Thursday, April 15, 1686 when death came suddenly to Joseph Bridger, the honored and t rusted “servant of the King.” He was buried at Whitemarsh, and to mark his grave a huge, gran ite slab was inscribed and brought from England. In 1894, after much persuasion, the then owner of Whitemarsh (from the site of which the orig inal mansion had long since disappeared) consented to the removal of Bridger’s tomb to the Ol d Brick Church near Smithfield, and on Oct 11, his remains were placed there in this chancel . In Isle of Wight Couunty, Va., “A Smithsonian Institution scientist shrugged off claustrophob ic working conditions Monday to recover the remains of a late-1600s skeleton buried under th e floor of America’s oldest standing English church.” The colonist in question is/was Joseph Bridger–one of the 10 wealthiest men in the colony, an d richest landholder south of the James River. Bridger paid for St. Luke’s well-appointed interior woodwork and the third floor of its disti nctive bell tower. His generosity is still remembered by a late Victorian stained-glass windo w installed above the altar space of the church. But it wasn’t until more than 60 of his descendants began talking about organizing an archaeo logical study of Whitemarsh - the old family property located about two miles from the churc h - that Williamsburg-based archaeologist Merry Outlaw saw the potential for adding her promi nent ancestor to Owsley’s study. From the church’s website: http://www.historicstlukes.org is some history of the building an d parish (although the part about Jefferson kneeling down to worship there may raise an eyebr ow): Venerable Historic St. Luke’s, Mother Church of Warrosquyoake County (later called Isle of Wi ght) was affectionately known as “Old Brick Church” long before it was given its present nam e in 1820. It is the oldest existing church of English foundation in America and the nation’ s only surviving Gothic building. It forms a unique bridge between the early civilization o f our country and the rich culture of Medieval England. Its structure reflects the architectu ral and spiritual descendents of the great Gothic cathedrals of England. By tradition and recollection of the first Vestry Book, “Old Brick Church” is dated to 1632 . It closely relates to the Tower Church at Jamestown, dated circa 1638/39. As was common a t the time, it took four or five years to erect such a church; and the finishing of the inter ior fittings required an additional number of years, even in this parish, already numbering 5 22 persons in the year 1634. In 1640, John Day (direct ancestor of Henry Mason Day, the first President of the foundation ) came from England with his own fine household furniture and personal servants. Colonel Joseph Bridger of “White Marsh” long associated with “Old Brick Church”, a man of sig nificant wealth, and a member of the Council of State to Charles II for Virginia, is known t o have settled in the parish at least as early as 1657. According to tradition, Colonel Bridg er brought members of the Driver family from England to do “finish” work on the church. Colon el Bridger was given increasing acknowledgement for the important contributions he made in br inging the church to completion. His remains, relocated to the church in the 1890’s, are in t he church’s chancel marked by a marble ledgerstone. By the Order of Assembly issued in Marc h 1623, this parish was one of only four locations, other than Jamestown, where the General C ourt of the Colony was permitted to convene. Since the Court convened in the church, there wa s urgency to make it suitably reflect this important function. The “Lord Governour and Captai ne Generall” would be present and during their stay attend church service. The high box-pew s were designated for their use. Those who first assembled in “Old Brick Church” knew much of Captain John Smith, Pocahontas , John Rolfe and Powhatan, who were still regarded as contemporary figures, and the tragic In dian Massacre of 1622, which wiped out nearly a third of the Virginia settlers. Nathaniel Bac on, the scourge of Governor Berkeley, passed not far from “Old Brick Church” on his way to bu rn Jamestown in 1676. In the stirring days before the Revolution, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Patrick Henr y, and many other of our great patriots must have knelt here before the altar and asked for g uidance on their passage to or from Williamsburg, as they slowly shaped the destiny of a nati on. Perhaps it was as great an honour to him to be the son of the man who built Old Smithfield Ch urch as to have been one of the Councillors of the corrupt Charles II., and to have acted wit h Sir William Berkeley against him who is called the rebel Bacon. This intimates that his father, Samuel Bridger, had also come to America. Samuel Bridger, how ever died on 31 Jul 1650 in Gloucester, England. So perhaps he came to America and later retu rned to England. Samuel Bridger's wife was Mary Pitt. Born in Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, England, Samuel died in Gloucester and was buried in th e city's cathedral under this epitaph:HERE LYES THE BODY OF SAMUEL BRIDGER, GENT. WHODEPAR TED THIS LIFE UPON THE 31ST DAY OF July, AN. 1650.RECEIVER OF THIS COLLEGE RENTS, HE PAIDHI S DEBT TO NATURE, AND BENEATH IS LAIDTO REST UNTIL HIS SUMMONS TO REMOVEAT THE LAST AUDIT T O THE CHOIR ABOVE. |