Category Archives: Evan Humphreys

Evan Humphreys … contrary to popular belief

Well, as it turns out, what’s floating around the internet about Evan being servant to Rowland Davies is WRONG!  I found the reference in Surry County Records, Surry County, Virginia, 1652-1684, pp. 104:

“7 Apr. 1677    Deposition of Rowland Davies concerning Robert Kae touching his Tithables. Kae had four men servants called James Johnson, Jno. Collins, Evan Humhrey, and John Esquire, also one negro woman called Judy, and Kae himself and myself (being Davies) and Kae a son called Robert Kae.
Roger Delke, about 48 years, testified to the same.”

This states that it is the testimony of Rowland Davies about the tithables belonging to Robert Kae.  So Evan Humphries was an indentured servant to Robert Kae; Rowland Davies, only being the witness of the fact.

Crossing the Pond: Evan Humphreys

I’ve been doing lots of reading on my family’s pond-hopper, Evan Humphreys. Rumor is that he came on a ship called Assurance de Lo (of London) in 1635.  At any conclusion, records do show that he settled in Surry, Virginia, which is across the bay and slightly inland from the Jamestown settlement.  September of 1677, Evan first appears in records naming him as a man servant to a Rowland Davies.  After taking a step back, I realized that his mother’s maiden name was also Davies.  An uncle? Grandfather?  I am not quite certain.  I plan to do more research on the Davies family to try to connect them, however records from Wales are proving quite difficult to locate.  The surname Davies seems to be like Smith is in America, and the given name Evan is like John…they’re everywhere.

More to come…

UPDATE 3/10/12: After only a few years, I finally found the passenger list for the Assurance. Here’s the book on Google. Listed is only an Evan Ap-Evan (Ap is a Welsh prefix similar to Mc or Mac in Irish names) and a Jo: (John) Humfrey. I believe this is the source for the confusion, but there is no evidence of any relations and definately no Evan Humphreys listed.