Stubble Stubbleson

Boy! I have to admit that name gave me pause and I had to wonder if it was possible that anyone was ever named Stubble Stubbleson. Not that there aren’t some unusual names in the family tree – Stufflebean isn’t exactly the most common name – but Stubble Stubbleson seemed too far fetched to even be possible.

That is, until I found real documents that named him!

Stubble, as I shall refer to him, was likely a Dutch man who settled in Old Rappahannock County, Virginia, probably in the 1660s, as he is first mentioned in 1665. He apparently was married, although nothing is known of his wife, and was the father of one surviving daughter when he died by February 1668/69.

There were two transactions between Stubble and Thomas Rawson on 29 October 1665.

In the first sale, Rawson sold 513 acres of land to Stubble for 1,000 pounds of tobacco in the parish of Sittenbourne.

In the second sale, Stubble sold a cow and heifer to Rawson, although the amount of money agreed upon is not mentioned in the deed.

“Stable Stubleson” settled a dispute with Thomas Rawson over property in December 1667 and in June 1668, Thomas Rawson again recorded a land sale to Stuble for 1,000 pounds of tobacco.

Land Deeds Between Stuble Stubbleson & Thomas Rawson
Old Rappahannock County, VA Deed Book 3:457-461
Source: FamilySearch

There is nothing notable about the details in these deeds. I’ve included the images just to prove that this man existed with his unique name. 🙂

Sometime between 1 July 1668, when that sale was recorded and 1669, Stubble had died.

Land Deed, 2 May 1674
Old Rappahannock County, Virginia Deed Book 5:299
Source: FamilySearch

The parcel of land is described as “land formerly belonging to Stubble Stubbleston alien deceased” and granted to Theophilus Wheele by the governor. Theophilus appointed an attorney to represent him and wife Elizabeth to support his claim to the land.

In 1669, an inquistion was held and determined that Stubble was an alien (non-citizen?), that when he died he owned about 100 acres of land in Old Rappahannock County and that, upon his death, his land was escheated (returned) to the state.  and I posted this deed yesterday in the Farguson story, which includes the verbiage:

 . . . I, the said John Fargisson as marrying Ann, the only surviving daughter and heir of Stubble Stubbleson, deceased, do hereby . . . make over unto . . . William Jewill . . . with . . . the voluntary consent of the said Ann, my now wife . . . a certain piece of land . . . formerly sold by one Thomas Rawson unto the said Stubble Stubbleson . . .

Given that Stubble Stubbleson’s only transactions in Old Rappahannock County involved Thomas Rawson, it makes me wonder if Stubble might have married a daughter of Thomas Rawson?  However, whoever Ann Stubbleson Farguson’s mother was, she seems to have been lost to time.

This is the sole mark that Stubble made on history, besides leaving one surviving daughter. I wonder if he was a young married man and his wife died giving birth to Ann? We may never know the answer to that question.