Fourth Generation

18. Maj. George MARABLE¹⁵ was born about 1665 in James City Co., VA. Virginia. He was listed as a lessee of 115 acres in the Governor's Land in 1683.¹²

He served on a jury on 20 September 1686 in James City Co., VA. He was paid a sum of pirates money and plate on 30 April 1689,¹⁶ presumably for providing food and lodging during the pirates' confinement after capture and before they were sent to England to plead their case before the King.

A deposition of a ship's master concerning persons indebted to George Marable who might be trying to leave the country was ordered on 6 May 1691 in James City Co., Virginia.¹⁷  Also in 1691, he sold 50 acres in York Co. to John Doswell, with wife Mary Marable joining in the deed¹⁸  

He served as a justice of James City Co. at various times between 1694 and 1712¹⁹ and was High Sheriff of James City Co. in 1696.²⁰  

On 12 Nov 1696 he sold the ½-acre plot on the James River patented by his father in 1663. The 1696 deed to William Sherwood includes a release of dower by his wife, Mary Marable.²¹  

He was made a Captain of the James City Co. militia in 1697,^22,23 and by 1708 he was commissioned a Major of the militia.²⁶  

Maj. George Marable was elected to the House of Burgesses to represent James City Co. in 1699. He apparently was re-elected to serve at every election between 1699 and 1720 (the records of the House are incomplete, however).²⁴ Not a member of the aristocracy, Marable represented the interests of the small planters along the James River. He was a bit of a thorn in the side of the Royal Governors. At one point Gov. Alexander Spotswood complained in a letter to the House, in response to a petition sponsored by Marable from that body, that he would not be told what to do by "Mr. Marable's Rable." (See, e.g., Leonidas Dodson, Alexander Spotswood, Governor of Colonial Virginia, 1710-1722 (1932  H. Milford, Oxford University Press) p. 119.)

He patented 135 acres in Jockey's Neck on 26 Oct 1699 in James City Co., VA.²⁵  

He was the grantee of a lease of 422 acres of the Governor's Land, across the Back River from Jamestown Island, in Jan 1723.²⁷ This land presumably included his leasehold of 117 acres inherited from his fathere, shown on Soane's 1684 plat of the Governor's Land.¹² This land was occupied by the Marable family from before 1684 until sometime after 1747. At the present time the ruins of the dwelling on the original leasehold (now buried) are an identified (but not excavated) archaeological site on Mainland Farm, the oldest continuously operated farm in the United States.

He purchased Swann's Point, the 1600-acre plantation across the river from Jamestown at what is now called Mount Pleasant, in 1706. He then sold the land to his brother-in-law, John Hartwell, in 1709. 

Maj. George Marable died after 1725 in James City Co., VA.

Maj. George Marable may have been married to a  Mary [Spencer? or Wright?] in or before 1691 until in or after 1696, years in which a Mary Marable executed releases of dower in connection with sales of property by George Marable. This Mary, if she was not Mary Hartwell, would have died sometime after 1696 but before 1700.*

He was married to Mary Hartwell (daughter of Captain William Hartwell and Mary Stevens) before 1705 in James City Co., Virginia. Mary Hartwell was born about 1682 in James City Co., Virginia. She died on 26 Dec 1747 in Charles City Co., Virginia.

Maj. George MARABLE and Mary HARTWELL had the following children:

* - It is possible that William MARABLE and Elizabeth MARABLE were born prior to 1700 and were the children, not of Mary Hartwell, but of a previous spouse of Maj. George Marable whose name was also "Mary" (see, 12 November 1696 deed of 1/2 acre in Jamestown with release of dower signed by "Mary Marable"). This might help to explain why evidence of the relationship between Elizabeth's son, Edward Champion Travis, and the Marable family (found in naming patterns) is more pronounced among the descendants of William that in either of the other two branches of the family.

The evidence which has in the past been thought to suggest the previous spouse, Mary, and the earlier birth at least of William has three components: 1) the 1699 will of Henry Hartwell, Mary Hartwell's uncle, suggests that she was not of age and not yet married in that year (although Hartwell was in England when his will was written and might have been there for some time, and the language might also have simply been carried forward from and earlier will); 2) the 1710 will of John Hartwell, Mary's brother, names George Marable, Jr. and Henry Hartwell Marable as the sons of Mary [Hartwell] Marable and does not name William or Elizabeth (however, the will also seems to name John Drummond as a son of Mary -- a reference perplexing at best); and 3) a patent was issued in 1715 to William Marable for the 13-acre island at Archer's Hope (adjacent to the parcel patented by his father in 1699 in Jockeys' Neck), suggesting that William was an adult at that time and may, therefore, have been born before 1695 (the issuance of a patent to one not yet of age was not unheard of, however). Now one can add the less compelling fact that Elizabeth Marable would have married Edward Travis [III] in or before 1719. She might well have been born as late as 1703 if this is the case. However, the marriage might have been earlier than 1719, and, also, she could have been 20 or more instead of 16 when she married, either of which might require an earlier birth.