Martin's Hundred & the Lark Family Ancestry

Martin’s Hundred was a plantation located along the north side of the James River in Virginia, east of James Town, the first permanent English settlement,  in the early 17th century.    Martin's Hundred was named for Sir Richard Martin (1534-1617), the Master of the Mint under Elizabeth I and James I, and the word "hundred," which referred to a tract of land on which 100 families could live.  Martin's Hundred was home to about 140 settlers from 1618 (two years before the Mayflower set sail) to about 1622, when approximately 80 settlers were attacked by Indians in March.    The Powhatan Indians surprised the English in their homes at Martin's Hundred, the hardest hit plantation, and at other English settlements in the modern Richmond to Newport News, Virginia area.   Those that survived the massacre may have temporarily relocated to James Town along with new English settlers.   By about 1625 many of the survivors returned to Martin's Hundred to try again.    A section of Martin's Hundred became part of the famous Tidewater Plantation of Robert Carter who purchased over 500 acres of the riverfront land in 1709.    Eventually the land came to be known as Carter's Grove Plantation and was subsequently owned by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Map of Virginia Counties

- Russell County highlighted in green
 - James City County highlighted in red (Martin's Hundred Plantation located in James City County, Virginia)

 

In the 1970s, Martin's Hundred was the subject of archaeology evacuations led by archaeologists Ivor Noel Hume and his wife and funded in part by the National Geographic Society.   Martin's Hundred remains the earliest extensive trace of British colonization in America.    An internet search of "Martin's Hundred Virginia"  will lead you to additional information about Martin's Hundred and other early English settlements from Richmond to Newport News, Virginia. 

 

The Lark Family Ancestry - Martin's Hundred

- Scott Elmer LARK (b1958)
     - Virginia Catherine THOMPSON (b1886 - d1951)
          - Sarah M. "Sallie" FINNEY (b1848 - d1910)
               - Dorcas LOCKHART (b1811 - d1887)
                    - Catherine (Katie) (Caley) SCOTT ( b1777 - d1855)
                         - Acton or Axton SCOTT (b c1748 - d c1794)
                              - Lucretia "Lucy" JAMES (b c1722 - d c1805)
                                   - Thomas JAMES (b c1722 - d c1740)
                                        - Justina THRUSTON (b c1691 - d ?)
                                             - John (Judge) THRUSTON (b c1668 - d c1717) Born In Martin's Hundred
                                                  - Edward THRUSTON (b c 1638 - d c1717)
                                            

Descendents Chart of Edward THRUSTON (PDF File)