Story
2006
Robert appears to have had more than one place of residence, as he was found in both James City County and Gloucester County.
He was referred to as Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel, though not necessarily in correct rank sequence. It would appear he served in the militia as the military titles were not generally used without authority. During his service to the colony as burgess from James City County to the General Assembly for the 16551656 session, justice of Gloucester County court, justice in James City County, re-elected burgess from James City County, appointment to the committee for the levy, later to the committee for private causes which dealt with suits appealed from the General Court to the Assembly, sergeant-at-arms for the General ASsembly, and high sheriff of James City County he seemed to have continued in his practice of medicine occasionally.
In 1660, Robert was one of those appointed to a committee of the Council and Assembly to make plans to build a state house. This was to be the third. The variety and importance of the positions that he held indicate that he enjoyed the favor of the leaders of the colony. He was once again elected a burgess from James City County in 1663.
In the spring of 1664, Robert Ellyson and several others were ordered, with Edmund Scarborough, the Surveyor General of Virginia to go to Manakin and confer with the commissioners of Maryland and if possible to adjust the boundary dispute. This concerned the Pocomoke River Valley in Somerset County.
"By the mid 1660's, it is known that Captain Ellyson owned land in James City County on Ware Creek. He had patented the land in New Kent County on the narrows of the York River in 1657. At the same time he also patented 200 acres in James City County on the east branch of Burchen Swamp. It would seem that he did not settle on either land patents, as his son was to repatent them later."
"There does not appear to be any conclusive evidence as to whom he married. Most of the printed accounts state that it is generally assumed that he married Elizabeth, the daughter of Dr. Thomas Gerrard. The basis for this assumption is not clear. Given the naming practices of the time, it would seem that he may have married a woman whose maiden name was Gerrard. The surname became a given name for several generations of Robert Ellyson's descendants, amont them, first his son, then grandson."
"Dr. Thomas Gerrard did not mention a daughter, Elizabeth, in his will, nor did he name an Ellyson grandchild. Elizabeth Gerrard was named as a headright when Thomas took upland in Maryland, she was not named as a headright when he patented land in Virginia. A printed account of the Gerrard family lists the names of Dr. Gerrard's children: Justinian Gerrard, his eldest son, Thomas, susanna, Anne, Frances, Temperance, Elizabeth, Jane, John and Mary Gerrard."
"In a postscript to the book by Anne des Cognets, Louis des Cognets included Elizabeth and her three marriages: Nehemiah Blackstone, Ralph Rymer and Joshua Gilbert. Jane appears to have been the one whose husband's name was not known. All of the other daughters married two, three, or four times except Mary and the will of her husband (Kenelm Cheseldine) is extant. It seems further, that the Blackstone husband, of Elizabeth, was living in 1672 when Thomas made his will, as he identified land that he owned as adjoining his son-in-law, Blackstone."
"The given name of Robert Ellyson's wife must have been Elizabeth, as Elizabeth Ellyson was one of the sponsors of William Randolph, the son of Henry Randolph, on 12 Sep 1658. She was present at his baptism in James City, and there seems to have been no other Ellyson in James City at that time. There remains the possibility that Robert married a sister of Dr. Thomas Gerrard."