1623 -

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• Suffix	, 9 & 11
  Birth	1623	Jamestown, Virginia probably on the Denbigh Plantation, Warwick County, Virginia   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Died	probably Virginia   [1]
  Buried	probably Virginia   [1]
  Person ID	I57535	Brainard (Brainerd) / Foster / Fish
  Last Modified	17 Apr 2005 00:00:00
  Family	Mary (UNKNOWN), , 9 & 11, b. Abt 1622, England
  Married	Virginia; possibly on the Denbigh Plantation   [1]
  Children	> 1. Henry SPICER > 2. William SPICER, b. Abt 1640, Virginia > 3. Peter SPICER, , 8 & 10, b. 1644, Virginia 'Cittie', near Jamestown Virginia
  Family ID	F24982	Group Sheet

• Notes

  [Spicer Family File.FTW] I have seen the Spicer's referenced in Hotten's Original List & Niell's and in Virginia Carolorum, and found some other references to Spicer's in Virginia in later years but not in Gregory or Edward Spicer's time, other than the mention of Gregory as arriving in Virginia in 1618. I found this reference of Gregory in the Virginia Muster Rolls of 1623/24. One reason that there isn't any other references of Gregory Spicer is because he was an indentured servant on the Mathew's Plantation. Although European, and not a man of color, he was non the less considered property and would not have been counted in most census of his the time. The only reason he appears in the Muster Roll (census) of 1623/24 is because the Indians went on a rampage and killed so many English citizens and their servants & slaves that the King of England demanded an actual head count of all towns and plantations, including servants and slaves. If it weren't for this, Gregory Spicer most likely would never have been included in a census as anything other than an un-named indentured servant (considered property.) Gregory Spicer's status as an indentured servant leads some of his descendants to speculate that he married a servant as well. This may be the reason that there are no records of his marriage and children's births. These records would have been part of the Mathews Plantation records as opposed to public ones. The problem is that most of these types of records were lost or destroyed especially during the Civil War and subsequent Reconstruction period. If in fact Gregory Spicer's son Edward was born on the Mathew's Plantation it would again explain the lack of records. We assume Peter Spicer was born in Virginia because "it is known" that is where he was prior to settling in Connecticut where he subsequently married Mary Busecot. However, the way the Spicer's moved around this country it is also possible that Edward Spicer left Virginia, married and returned later with his family, or Peter returned there on his own. It is also possible that there are no records simply because the family didn't live in a populated area, were married in their homes, had their children there and lived away from towns or cities where record keeping was practiced. We are a civilization of records but, other than family Bibles, records were not exactly kept like they are today so I don't get discourage because "there aren't any records." I find it interesting that although no records seem to exist on Peter Spicer prior to his settling in Connecticut, it is "known that he came from Virginia and was of English parentage." How it this fact known? Because it appears in writings such as in the HISTORY OF THE DESCENDANTS OF PETER SPICER; Meech and Meech, 1911. Does this make it factual? No it doesn't, however, most of us accept the research of Susan Meech as accurate so we quote her book as a source of our own research. I look at it this way; Gregory, Edward and Peter Spicer existed whether or not there names appear in any records, so I accept the fact that some things can never be proven, especially in the world of genealogy! to prove" where my family came from.

• Sources

  [S65] Spicer Family File.FTW. Date of Import: Jul 30, 2001