"I discovered a set of books edited by Mary Marshall Brewer,abstractin g the King George County Order Books from 1720 (when thecounty was org anized) through 1756. The set of books had beenpublished in Lewes, D elaware, by Colonial Roots, in 2007.
The following is quoted from the 1754-1756 volume, page 40, whichabstr acts the county court order for November 7, 1754, as recorded onpage 3 77 of the original: "Benjamin Berry foreman, Edward Pearl,John Lunsfo rd, Daniel White, Robert Benson, John Corbin, JosephBerry, Peter Hord, W illiam Pearse, James Kay, Thomas Hore, JohnPollard, Linchfield Sharpe, T homas Sharpe, Samuel Kendall, Adam Banks& John Nichols were according t o law sworn a grand jury for the bodyof this co[unty] who having recei ved their charge withdrew & aftersome time came into court & made thei r presentments as follows:'King George [George II of England], we the g rand jury for the bodyof this co[unty] in behalf of our King being swo rn received ourcharges withdrew do present as follows: Susanah Turlan d presentedfor bearing a base born child of Hanover Parish, Margery Ar mstrongpresented for bearing a base born child of Brunswick Parish, Sa rahBerry, presented for bearing a base born child of Brunswick Parish, Million Corbin presented for bearing a base born child of BrunswickPari sh, John Rose presented for cohabitating with Rachel Prentice ofHanove r Parish....
The next reference to Sarah Berry in the King George Court Orders wasa bstracted on pp. 58 and 59 of Mary Brewer's book, citing the CountyOrd er Book for February 7, 1755, which was recorded there on p. 409:"Susa nnah Turland of Hanover Parish being presented by the grand juryfor ha ving a bastard child was summoned & failling to appear it istherefore o rdered that she pay to the church wardens of the s[ai]dparish (for the u se of the poor of the s[ai]d parish) 500 lbs oftobacco & cask or 50 sh illings & costs or receive 25 lashes on herbare back well laid on. Ma rgery Armstrong being presented by thegrand jury for having a bastard c hild was summoned & failing toappear it is therefore ordered that she p ay to the church wardens ofthe s[ai]d parish (for the use of the poor o f the s[ai]d parish) 500lbs of tobacco & cask or 50 shillings & costs o r receive 25 lashes onher bare back well laid on. Million Corbin bein g presented by thegrand jury for having a bastard child, it is ordered t hat the sheriffsummon the s[ai]d Million to appear at the next court t o answer thes[ai]d presentment. Sarah Berry being presented by the gr and juryfor having a bastard child, it is ordered that the sheriff sum mon thes[ai]d Sarah to appear at the next court to answer the s[ai]d presentment."
[Note that the two young women who were not sentenced by thecourt o n February 7, 1755, had the same surnames as two of the grandjurors--C orbin and Berry!]
The next and final reference to Sarah Berry in the King GeorgeCou nty Order Book was on May 2, 1755, abstracted by Mary MarshallBrewer o n p. 112 of her book, citing King George County Order Book p.509: "Sa rah Berry being presented by the grand jury for having abastard child i t is again ordered that she be summoned to appear atthe next court to a nswer the s[ai]d presentment. Million Corbinbeing presented by the gr and jury for having a bastard child it isagain ordered that she be sum moned to appear at the next court toanswer the s[ai]d presentment....
To summarize, in 1754 Sarah Berry had no husband, her parents weredec eased, her children had been "bound" to her aunt Rose (Berry)Ashby in F rederick County where her brother already lived, she was"wanted" by th e King George County Court [not by the Frederick CountyCourt], so she d isappeared from the family and from that part ofVirginia."
