Anstis Mills

Anstis married John S. Oakley about 1805. John was born about 1785 in Virginia, USA; died in Henry County, VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. William Madison Oakley was born about 1812.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Will: 4 May 1827, Henry County, VA
• Probate: 14 Nov 1831, Henry County, VA

William married Elizabeth Fontaine in 1764 in Hanover County, Virginia, USA. Elizabeth (daughter of Peter Fontaine and Sarah Wade) was born in 1747 in Westover, Charles City, Virginia; died about 1804 in Henry County, Virginia, USA; was buried in Henry County, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Mary Hopkins. Mary was born in 1720 in Hanover County, Virginia; died in 1770. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Immigration: 30 Mar 1716, Virginia, USA
• Death: Aug 1759, Westover, Charles City, Virginia, USA

Notes:

Entered Trinity College, Dublin, in June 1711 at the age of twenty and received his degree in 1715. Ordained by the Bishop of London and licensed as a minister to Virginia on March 12, 1715.

Arrived in Virginia on December 11, 1716 and, in 1720, became Rector of Westover Parish. Established himself on a plantation in Charles City County, Virginia, on the James River, and served as Rector of King William Parish until his death in July 1757.

Peter was born in 1691 in England and was ordained by the Bishop of London. He married Elizabeth "Lizzy" Fourreau on March 29, 1714 in Dublin, Ireland. On December 11, 1716, he arrived in Hampton, Virginia from Ireland and was a chaplain to the Virginia commission in 1728 and 1729. After Lizzy died, Peter married Joseph's mother Elizabeth Sarah Wade. In "Old Church Ministers and Families of Virginia" by Bishop William Meade, Meade records that Peter was the minister for Colonel William Byrd. Colonel Byrd often spoke of the reverend preaching to the heathen in North Carolina and baptizing their children. Reverend Fontaine's main mission in life was to preach the gospel. Peter was the son of two pious and valiant Huguenots who fled from France to England. Peter, in his annual Thanksgiving sermon, commemorated the Fontaines' religious persecution in France and the remarkable preservation when attacked by French privateers in Northern Ireland. From that sermon, I will repeat his words.

"Several months was our parent obliged to shift among forests and deserts for his safety, because he had preached the Word of God to a congregation of innocent and sincere persons, who desired to be instructed in their duty and confirmed their faith. The woods afforded him a shelter and the rocks a resting place; but his enemies gave him no quiet until, of his own accord, he delivered himself up to their custody. They loaded his hands with chains, his feet stuck fast in the mire, a dungeon was his abode, and murderers and thieves were his companions, until God by means of a pious gentlewoman, whose kindness ought to be remembered by us even to latent posterity, withdrew him from thence, and was the occasion that his confinement was more tolerable."

He exhorted to his congregation at the close of his sermon never to forsake their annual meetings which were to remember their parent's virtues and sufferings and the wonderful deliverance of God. He said, "Would to God, that you would make it your business to teach them to your children, that they may be qualified to perpetuate them to infinite generations to come, and thereby engage the protection and draw the blessing of the Almighty above them. He hath millions of millions to bestow on those who love and fear Him."

Peter married Sarah Wade in 1740 in Virginia, USA. Sarah (daughter of Joseph Wade and Sarah Lide) was born in 1715 in Charles City, Virginia, USA; died on 10 Aug 1784 in Louisa, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Received degree of Master of Arts at the college of Guienne, finishing second in a class of fourteen.

Escaped to England with his fiancee, Anne Boursiquot, arriving on Decemmber 1, 1685, after eleven days at sea, Landed at Appledore, at the mouth of the Taw River, and proceeded to Barnstaple. Family moved from England to Cork, Ireland, arriving December 24, 1694. Moved to Bear Haven, Ireland, after death of son, Aaron, in 1699. Later, prior to 1710, moved to Dublin, Ireland. Is buried beside his wife in St. Stephens Green, Dublin.

Joseph married Sarah Lide. Sarah was born in 1693 in Virginia, USA; died in 1765. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]