Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, and Me

An interesting item was posted on Facebook by the Hampton History Museum this month. I made an immediate connection between Elizabeth Queen of Bohemia and our own family history, but I had no idea that this Elizabeth was the one for whom the places in Tidewater are named! Elizabeth River, Elizabeth City County... I always assumed they were named for Queen Elizabeth I of England, as the state of Virginia was.

Posted on Facebook February 13, 2016

My ancestors were in the Bohemian Queen's inner circle! Here is an excerpt from a previous blog entry (4/12/15) that I wrote about Nicholas Stillwell, my 9th great grandfather and Abigail Hopton, my 9th great grandmother:

Nicholas Stillwell was born in Surrey, England in 1603. He fled England to escape religious persecution, becoming a soldier of Elizabeth Stuart the Queen of Bohemia who was protestant. Elizabeth is called "the Winter Queen" because of her short tenure in the winter of 1619-1620. According to tradition, he married one of her maids of honor, Abigail Hopton, in about 1630. After the defeat of Prague, Elizabeth went into exile at The Hague, and her army disbanded. Nicholas came to America and settled in Virginia.

My ancestor, Nicholas Stillwell came to Virginia around 1630 and owned a tobacco plantation on the York River (where the Colonial Parkway is today) and was a well-known leader in the colonists' fight against the Indians. Could he have been instrumental in giving the Elizabeth River its name? Elizabeth City County? It is entirely possible!

This is the story I found: 

The Elizabeth River in colonial Southeastern Virginia was named in honour of the princess, as was Cape Elizabeth a peninsula, and today, a town in the United States in the state of Maine. John Smith explored and mapped New England and gave names to places mainly based on the names used by Native Americans. When Smith presented his map to Charles I, he suggested that the king should feel free to change the "barbarous names" for "English" ones. The king made many such changes, but only four survive today, one of which is Cape Elizabeth.[47] 

 Stewart, George R. (1967) [1945], Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States (Sentry edition (3rd) ed.), Houghton Mifflin, p. 38

I find it fascinating that my family history is so deeply embedded in the history of Tidewater Virginia, especially on my maternal side.  As far as I ever knew, my mother's family came from "out west," and my father's family from Richmond and New Jersey. How they ended up here, where it all began, it such an amazing saga!

Lt. Nicholas Stillwell > Capt. Nicholas Stillwell > Nicholas Stillwell III > John Stillwell > William L. Stillwell > Catherine Stillwell > Capt. Jacob Wandell > Miriam Olivia Wandell > Ada Clemina Hall > Horace C. Crofford > Virginia M. Crofford > Teresa Zaun Austin

Inn at Warner Hall, Gloucester, Virginia

We are descendants of the Lewis's and Warners who owned Warner Hall until the 1830's.  Our first ancestor on this soil was Augustine Warner I, who came to Jamestown in 1642. (Augustine was also George Washington's great-grandfather - there is also a connection to Thomas Jefferson's family). Augustine built the original house at Warner Hall.

I have written about this in a previous blog entry, but I thought it would be good to include a link to the history of Warner Hall.

Here is an excerpt:

Elizabeth, the third daughter of Augustine Warner II, became the wife of John Lewis and inherited Warner Hall. Their son, John Lewis II (1702-1754) was a member of His Majesty’s Council, and was prominent in Gloucester County. The Lewis Family occupied Warner Hall for generations and members of the family immigrated to all parts of the United States. Lewis family descendants built a number of important Virginia homes including Belle Farm, Eagle Point, Abingdon and Severn Hall. Colonel Fielding Lewis of Belle Farm, was the grandson of Elizabeth and John Lewis. Col. Lewis was married twice, first to Catherine Washington, and after her death, to Elizabeth (Betty) Washington, sister of George. One of Fredericksburg’s most beautiful and historic homes, Kenmore, was built by Fielding Lewis for his wife Betty.   

http://www.warnerhall.com/words-from-our-innkeepers/warner-hall-a-brief-history/