“When the ships have for the last time weighed their anchors in England, the real misery begins with the long voyage. For from there the ships, unless they have good wind, must often sail eight, nine, ten or twelve weeks before they reach Philadelphia…But during the voyage there is on board these ships terrible misery, stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, many kinds of seasickness, fever, headache, heat, boils, constipation, scurvy, cancer, mouth rot, and the like, all of which come from old and sharply salted food and meat, also from very bad and foul water, so that many die miserably….

Among the healthy, impatience sometimes grows so great and cruel that one curses the other, or himself and the day of his birth and sometimes come near killing each other…Few women who give birth to children on the ship escape with their lives and many a mother is cast into the water with her child as soon as she is dead. Children from one to seven years rarely survive the voyage; and many a time parents are compelled to see their children miserably suffer and die from hunger, thirst, and sickness and then see them cast into the water. I saw such misery in no less than thirty-two children in our ship, all of whom were thrown into the sea…

When the ships have landed at Philadelphia after their long voyage, no one is permitted to leave them except those who pay for their passage. The others, who cannot pay, must remain on board the ships until they are purchased and are released from the ships by their purchasers. The sick always fare the worst, for the healthy are always preferred and purchased first; and so the sick and wretched must often remain on board in front of the city for two or three weeks, and frequently die…

The sale of human beings in the market on board the ship is carried on thus: Every day people come from the city of Philadelphia and other places and go on board the newly-arrived ship that has brought and offers passengers for sale…When they come to an agreement, adult persons usually bind themselves in writing to serve from 3-6 years according to their age and strength. But very young people, from ten to fifteen years, must serve till they are twenty-one years old.

Many parents must sell and trade away their children like so many head of cattle, for if their children take the debt upon themselves, the parents can leave the ship free and unrestrained but as the parents often do not know where and to what people their children are going it often happens that such parents and children, after leaving the ship, do not see each other again for many years, perhaps no more in all their lives.”

Gottlieb Mittelberger, a German Redemptioner, 1750

And yet, during this period 1750-1775, my ancestors’ families continued to emigrate from Northwestern and Germanic Europe, Ireland, Scotland, and Norway. In my list of identified ancestors at the end of this post, we can see that some of the earlier settlers are now dying off and the younger generations are expanding in size and my ancestors now span from colonies in Connecticut, down the Eastern Atlantic Coastline to Georgia and westward into Tennessee.

 

We can also see that James Tapp, my 4th paternal great-grandfather, lived to be an impressive and rare 96 years old.  He lived the longest of any my great-grandparents.  To be noted, James also was the 2nd great-grandson of the Wicomico American Indian Tribe Chief, William Taptico II.  William lived a relatively short life; he lived only to reach 30 years of age. But James and his other children well exceeded the average life expectancy of 36 during this era.  And, Sarah “Sallie” Chewning, James wife and my 4th great-grandmother, lived to be 62 years of age–or two thirds of her husband’s lifespan, but nearly double the average life expectancy.   

Of the 70 grandparents discussed here, their ages at death averaged 64 years.  They endured disastrously high mortality rates caused by disease or a result of unsanitary practices during childbirthing, warfare, and labor exploitation.   The primary causes of death in the Chesapeake area  included typhus, typhoid fever, dysentery, influenza, pneumonia, and malaria.

Also common during the day, my 4th great-grandparents James and Sarah had a large family (10 children in 22 years). In fact, the population of the colonies increased from several hundred non-Amerindian individuals in the early seventeenth century to about 2.5 million (2 million whites and about half a million blacks) in 1780. Birthrates were high, averaging about forty-five live births per one thousand people per annum.  Family sizes averaged seven children. However, mortality rates were much higher in colonial times than now, due to lack of sanitation, malnutrition, diseases, and accidents. In relatively healthy towns it was not unusual for one in ten children to die before the age of five.  In James and Sarah’s family, they endured the losses of three of their children before they reached adulthood:  their one-year-old, Lucy, 10-year-old, Charles, and their 14-year-old, Susan. Reflecting back on the events described throughout this post, I feel deeply saddened and humbled by the extreme life experiences and conditions our families had to endure during their mostly brief lifetimes. 

 

Ordered by their longevity, the table below post lists my now much-extended families (70 people in all). It includes only my 4th-7th paternal and maternal great-grandparents who settled in colonies up and down the Eastern Atlantic Sea Coast.

Ancestor Name	Birth	Death	Age	Birthplace	Place of Death	Relationship
James Tapp	1764	1860	96	Culpeper, VA		4th GG Father
Jarrett Wesley Bowling	1762	1857	95	Knob, Stafford, VA	Tazewell, VA	5th GG Father
Eleanor Garrison	1762	1856	94	Overton Parrish, Stafford, VA	Tazewell, VA	5th GG Mother
Elizabeth Atkinson	1680	1771	91	Gloucester, VA		6th GG Mother
Charles Young	1771	1860	89	Washington, VA	Tazewell, VA	5th GG Father
John Collins	1664	1751	87	Guilford, New Haven, CT		6th GG Father
Daniel Dempsey	1759	1846	87	Burr Hill, Orange County, VA		4th GG Father
Elizabeth Johnson	1676	1760	84	Rappahannock, VA	Fredericksburg, Essex County, VA	7th GG Mother
Isaiah Joshua Adkins	1760	1842	82	Guilford, New Haven, CT	Mehoopany, PA	4th GG Father
John Ford	1767	1849	82	Ashe, NC		4th GG Father
Elizabeth Long	1760	1841	81	Germany	Chatham, NC	6th GG Mother
John Chambers	1772	1852	80	Menallen, York, PA	Westmoreland, PA	5th GG Father
Elizabeth Betsy Dempsey	1760	1840	80	Botetourt, VA	Orange, VA	4th GG Mother
Benjamin Carpenter	1751	1829	78	DC	Wake, NC	4th GG Father
Elizabeth Ruffin	1685	1761	76	Campbell, VA		7th GG Mother
John Jett	1695	1771	76	Richmond, VA		6th GG Father
Frances Withers	1774	1850	76	Amherst, VA	Spotsylvania, VA	4th GG Mother
Ptolemy Powell	1767	1843	76	Orange, Orange, VA	Spotsylvania, VA	4th GG Father
Wiley L McGee	1769	1845	76	Spotsylvania, VA		4th GG Father
Leah Margaret Owens Hartzell	1773	1846	73	Hecktown, Northampton, PA	Westmoreland, PA	5th GG Mother
Robert Campbell Kyle	1702	1774	72	Kyle Ayrshire, Scotland	Charlottesville, Buckingham, VA	7th GG Father
Ebenezer Lyon	1692	1764	72	Suffolk, MA-Norwich, New London, CT		6th GG Father
Rhoda Carey Collins	1755	1827	72	Guilford, New Haven, CT	Mehoopany, PA	4th GG Mother
Israel Lathrop II	1687	1758	71	Norwich, New London, CT		6th GG Father
James Moses “Old Moses” Higginbotham	1755	1826	71	Monroe, Amherst, VA	Tazewell, VA	5th GG Father
Ann Elizabeth Wells	1700	1770	70	Culpeper, Culpeper, VA		6th GG Mother
Jemima Holcomb	1704	1774	70	Saybrook, Middlesex, CT	Guilford, New Haven, CT	6th GG Mother
Mary Polly Lawton	1767	1837	70	Petersham, Worcester, MA	Mehoopany, PA	4th GG Mother
Mary Elizabeth Bland Blair Bolling	1709	1775	66	Williamsburg, James City, VA	Chesterfield, Va	7th GG Mother
Thomas Leavitt	1705	1771	66	New Hampshire	Gloucester, VA	6th GG Father
John Amos Womble	1756	1821	65	Edgecombe, NC		6th GG Father
Mary Ann Molly Taylor	1760	1825	65	Bedford, VA	Tazewell, VA	5th GG Mother
Sally Mary Merritt	1774	1839	65	Tyrell, NC	Hyde, NC	4th GG Mother
Sarah Jane Yancey	1756	1820	64	Louisa, VA	Warren, TN	6th GG Mother
Mary Catherine Klein	1750	1813	63	Somerset, PA		6th GG Mother
James Bartholomew Warren	1750	1813	63	Louisa, VA		6th GG Father
Benjamin Gunter	1760	1823	63	Chatham, NC		6th GG Father
George Asbury	1756	1819	63	Stafford, VA	Tazewell, VA	5th GG Father
Sarah “Sallie” Chewning	1771	1834	63	Culpeper, VA		4th GG Mother
Andrew Austin Wharton	1773	1835	62	Albemarle, VA	Goochland, VA	4th GG Father
Lydia Crocker	1750	1811	61	New London, CT		4th GG Mother
Frances Rachel Riley	1692	1751	59	Dublin, IRELAND	Amherst, VA	7th GG Mother
Major John Kennon Bolling	1698	1757	59	Henrico, VA		7th GG Father
Jane Bowling	1750	1809	59	Stafford, VA	Tazewell, VA	6th GG Mother
John Merritt	1716	1775	59	Cecil, MD-Tyrrell, NC		6th GG Father
William Elliott	1692	1750	58	Montross, Westmoreland, VA		7th GG Father
Martha Johnson	1711	1769	58	Swansea, Bristol, MA		6th GG Mother
John Hassell	1696	1754	58	Tyrrell, NC		6th GG Father
Frances Brown	1698	1755	57	Westmoreland, VA	Stafford, VA	7th GG Mother
Etheldred Taylor	1699	1755	56	Campbell, VA	Nottoway Parish, Southampton, VA	6th GG Father
Benjamin Asbury	1695	1750	55	Westmoreland, VA		7th GG Father
Hezekiah Merrit Sr	1751	1805	54	Tyrrell, NC	Hyde, NC	5th GG Father
Agnes Christmas	1715	1768	53	Hanover, VA	Prince Edward, VA	7th GG Mother
Ezekiel Lathrop	1758	1810	52	Norwich, New London, CT		4th GG Father
Patience Kinchen	1715	1765	50	Campbell, VA		6th GG Mother
William Blum Dempsey I	1700	1750	50	Leinster, Dublin, Ireland	Fincastle, Botetourt, Virginia	6th GG Father
Benjamin Hix Hicks	1764	1814	50	Swansea, Bristol, MA	Mehoopany, PA	4th GG Father
Samuel Young	1751	1800	49	Tazewell, VA	Casey, KY	6th GG Father
Ezekiel Lathrop	1724	1771	47	Norwich, New London, CT		5th GG Father
Robert Bolling III	1730	1775	45	Petersburg, VA	Petersburg, VA	7th GG Father
Aaron Garrison	1715	1758	43	Stafford, VA		7th GG Father
Ezra Lathrop	1718	1760	42	Norwich, New London, CT		6th GG Father
Mary Jane Lowe	1720	1760	40	VA		7th GG Mother
Sarah Maffried Gates	1720	1760	40	Killingly, Windham, CT	Preston City, New London, CT	6th GG Mother
Rebecca Perry	1716	1752	36	Warren, Bristol, RI		6th GG Mother
Jane Sparks Miller	1720	1756	36	Culpeper, VA	Essex, VA	6th GG Mother
Elender Nellie Last	1725	1760	35	St. Mary’s, MD	Warren, GA	6th GG Mother
Susanna Watson	1728	1751	23	Prince George, VA		7th GG Mother
Elizabeth “Betsy” Garrison		1765		Stafford, VA		6th GG Mother
Appolonia Oberdorf	1765			Baden, Germany		4th GG Mother
Average Age at Death			64