| State | Virginia |
|---|---|
| County (Primary) | Northampton |
| Other Counties | Accomack, Somerset, Kent |
| Family Name | Longo |
| Family History Notes | 1. Anthony Longo, born say 1625, was called Tony Longo "a negro" on 1 February 1647 when the Northampton County, Virginia Court ordered him to pay his debt of 384 pounds of tobacco to Francis White. He was taxable on one tithe in Northampton County in 1660 [Orders 1657-64, 102]. Edmund Morgan in "American Slavery - American Freedom" quoted a confrontation Anthony had with a Northampton County court official as evidence that racism had not yet taken hold on the Eastern Shore in the seventeenth century and how quickly Africans assumed typical English disdain for authority: Anthony Longo: What shall I go to Mr. Walkers for: go about your business you idle rascal: I told him I had a warrant for him: shitt of your warrant have I nothing to do but go to Mr. Walker, go about your business you idle rascal as did likewise his wife, with such noise that I could hardly hear my own words, when I had done reading the warrant: stroke at me, and gave me some blows [Orders DW&c 1654-5, 60a]. He was apparently the father of 2 i. James1, born say 1652. 2. James1 Longo born say 1652, was a tithable head of household in Accomack County from 1676 to 1692 [Orders 1676-78, 32, 58, 1678-82, 17, 101; W&cO 1682-97, 192, 228a, 258a]. He was a delinquent Accomack County militiaman in January 1685. On 20 September 1687 he and Jane Fitzgerald posted bond for Dorothy Bestick, servant of George Nicholas Hack of Pungoteague, who was presented by the court for having an illegitimate child by "George Francis Negro Slave to ye sd Geo Nich Hack." In 1687 Dorothy bound her daughter Sarah to him until the age of eighteen years [W&cO 1682-97, 57, 119a, 142a]. (On 19 February 1690 Dorothy Bestick was presented for having another illegitimate child [W&cO 1682-97, 175a, 181a, 187]. Perhaps her descendants were the two John Bosticks who were heads of "other free" Kent County, Delaware households in 1810 [DE:185, 188]). On 20 September 1687 James was fined 100 pounds of tobacco for assaulting Richard Shulster. Shulster testified that when he passed by James Longo's house on horseback, James ... leaped over his fence furiously ... laye hold of ye Deponts. horses bridle ... calling the deponent Rogue, Rascall, and severall other scurrilous words over and over againe threatning to beate him and asked me why I did not come to pay him a dayes work ... layd his hands on my shoulder in a violent manner ... caused great paine. The next day he brought suit in court against Shulster. He was sued by William Twyford on 20 November 1689 for failing to perform carpentry work which he had contracted for, and on 16 June 1691 the Accomack County court presented him for working on holy days [W&cO 1682-97, 119, 170a]. He was called James Longo "the Molatta" on 21 February 1694 when he was presented by the grand jury for turning a road which passed through his land [Orders 1690-7, 32, 123a, 124a]. On 2 April 1706 he petitioned the Accomack County court to permit him to turn this road. The court gave him permission to do so as long as the new road was as near to or nearer to Pungoteague and was well maintained. The court was not satisfied with the new road, and on 9 October 1707 the justices ordered him to reopen the original road. On 5 May 1708 he posted bond for the illegitimate child he had by Isabel Hutton (a white woman) who was presented by the court on 3 June 1707 for having a "Mulatto Bastard Child." On 5 May 1708 she testified in Accomack County court that James Longo "negro or mullatto" was the father of the child she was pregnant with, and on 5 August the same year she was called "Isabel Hutton who lives at James Longoes" when she was convicted of "having a Bastard Child by a Mulatto." The same court ordered that he be arrested for acting in a contemptuous manner when an officer of the court attempted to serve him with a warrant [Orders 1703-9, 68, 74, 98, 101a, 114, 114a, 122, 125]. He left a 13 August 1729 Accomack will, proved 1 September 1730. He left 70 acres of his land to his son James, 70 acres to his daughter Mary Huten, and 70 acres to his daughter Elizabeth, and the remainder of his estate to his wife Isabel. His wife and daughters were executrices of the will [Wills 1729-37, pt.1, 101]. His children were i. ?Ann, born say 1683, a "Mallatta Woman" living at William Smith's who was presented by the Prince George's County court on 28 March 1703/4 for having an illegitimate child. She was called "Ann Congo," servant of William Smith, on 22 August 1704 when he paid her fine [Court Record 1699-1705, 289a, 309a]. ii. James2, taxable head of a Matapany Hundred, Somerset County, Maryland household in 1727, and head of a household in Wicomoco Hundred from 1731 to 1740: taxable on Nathaniel Morris from 1737 to 1740 [List of Tithables]. He was called James Longer, Carpenter, on 5 June 1733 when he purchased 100 acres called Pole Hamilton on the southeast side of the south east arm of the Rockawakin River in Worcester County for 15 pounds [DB:AZ:108]. On 17 June 1735 the Somerset County court bound out Nathaniel Morris, orphan son of George Morris, to him to make linen and woolen wheels and chairs and to read and write. James was called wheelwright in November 1737 when he sued blacksmith John Farlo for 7 pounds. On 20 March 1738/9 the court allowed him 90 pounds of tobacco for three day testimony in the case of His Lordship against Isaac Saddler and granted him a licence to keep an ordinary. In March 1740/1 Thomas and William Selby were indicted by the Somerset County court for stealing seven turkeys from him [Judicial Record 1735-7, 14; 1737-8, 152; 1738-40, 75, 110; 1740-2, 92, 96]. iii. Elizabeth, living in Stepney Parish in March 1737/8 when she confessed to the Somerset County court that she had a child by Richard Jones. James Longo was her security [Judicial Record 1737-8, 208]. iv. Mary Hutton, born about 1708. Her descendants were John Hutton, head of a Washington, D.C. household of 1 "other free" in 1800 and Sarah Hutton, head of a Kent County, Delaware household of 2 "other free" in 1810 [DE:198]. One of their Longo descendants was i. Daniel, "Mulatto" taxable in Little Creek Hundred, Kent County, Delaware, in 1797 and 1798 [Assessments, frames 7, 483]. |
| Additional Notes | – |
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[Author (if known)], Free Black Families of Colonial Delmarva (abstracted by Paul Heinegg), [Date (if known)], Enduring Connections: Exploring Delmarva’s Black History, Nabb Research Center, Salisbury University.
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