The Case for Edward

This hypothesis comes from Johnathan J. Clayborn, MS.

An exhaustive search of the colonial era records provides no definitive proof for the parentage of John Clyburn who drowned in the swamp. This John just appears in the colonial record on 2 May 1678 when someone testified that they saw him fighting with Martin Elam, and after seven and a half years, is dead. He is not mentioned by name in any known Will or Probate, and he does not appear on any passenger manifests. In the following article, I will lay out a strong circumstantial case that, despite the lack of any single physical documents that could tie Edward directly to John, strongly supports the hypothesis that Edward Cleiborne is John's father.

John Clyborn vs John Claiborne

I think one of the first and most important arguments to settle right away is to quell any notion that John Clyborn who drowned in the swamp is the John who is the son of Col. William Claiborne. There is no truth to this claim and an analysis of available evidence soundly refutes the notion.

A tale of two Johns
John Clyborn who drowned in the swamp	John Claiborne, son of Col. William
b. Abt 1650	b. 1641
married Mary Sheppy	married Jane
Lived at Bermuda Hundred, Henrico County.	Lived in King William County
d. 1685	appeared in court after 1687 to take guardianship of his nephew.

John Clyborn was 35 at the time of his death. The other John lived to be at least 46. Indeed, with the well documented death of John Clyborn, who was serving as the Constable for Henrico County at the time of his demise and the panel set about to inquire on his passing, there is no question he died in 1685. It seems impossible then, that he should appear in court 2 years later.

There are numerous differences besides these - Col William's son John travelled back to England and studied in college there, John Clyborn never left Virginia.

This should be sufficient evidence to demonstrate that these two men are indeed separate people.

A Question of Origin

Having ruled out the possibility that this John Clyborn is kin to the Colonel, we must next set about ascertaining from whence he came. Two obvious possibilities exist:

1. He was an immigrant himself who was born overseas.
2. He is the son of an immigrant.

To the first point, there is absolutely no record of John Clyburn being an immigrant. He was not recorded on any passenger manifests between 1650 and 1680, and since he was first mention in 1678 he must have been in the country by that time. It is possible that he may have somehow missed being recorded, albeit unlikely. For the sake of argument, lets pretend that was the case and he just wasn't written down on a passenger manifest. There are no records of him purchasing land, nor are there any records of him exchanging his headrights in lieu of payment for passage. Given that all three of these events produce null results, it seems much more probable that he was born in Virginia to an immigrant ancestor.

Immigrants to Virginia
Name	Year	Age	Ship	Sponsor	Source
William Claiborne	1621				U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s "Immigrant Ancestors: A List of 2,500 Immigrants to America before 1750." (Virkus)
William Claiborne	1622				"Immigrant Ancestors of Marylanders" (Reamy)
William Claiborne	1626				"The Original Lists of Persons of Quality" (Hotten)
William Claiborne	1634				"The Conquest of Virginia: the Third Attempt 1610-1624" (Sams)
Edward Cleiborne	1635	20	Globe	Jeremy Blackman	"The Original Lists of Persons of Quality" p.120 (Hotten)
Edw. Clayborne	1636			William Julian of Elizabeth City, VA.	"Early Virginia Immigrants; 1623–1666" (Greer) "Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1666. Vol. 1." (Nugent)
William Cleborne	1640				"The Complete Book of Emigrants" (Coldham)
Edward Claborne	1650				"Lower Norfolk County, Virginia Court Records: Book "A" 1637-1646 and Book "B" 1646-1651/2"
William Claybourne	1651				"The Complete Book of Emigrants" (Coldham)
William Claybourne	1654			Robert Yoe	"Early Virginia Immigrants; 1623–1666" (Greer) "Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1666. Vol. 1." (Nugent)
Henry Cleborne	1657				"Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants" (Nugent)
William Clayborne	1669				"Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants" (Nugent)
John Clayborne	1669				"Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants" (Nugent)

The Immigrants

Of all of the Clayborns of any spelling who come to America between 1600 and 1650, all of them can be accounted for and connected back to Col. William's family, except for three: Edward Cleiborn, Edward Clayborne, and Edward Claborne. I posit that these entries are all the same man. All of the others are either too young to be John's father, are women, or are Col. William himself - and we have already excluded him.

The first Edward Cleiborne is listed in the US and Canada Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1500s to 1900s. The record states that he arrived in Virginia in 1635 at the age of 20. Further research shows that he arrived on a vessel called the 'Globe', which sailed from London and arrived 7 Aug 1635. The vessel was commanded by Jeremy Blackman. Mr. Blackman indeed used Edward's headrights, along with others, to purchase land in 1646. He is known to have lived in the Shirley Hundred.

In Jul 1636 another ship captain, William Julian, also used headrights from Edward Clayborne to purchase land, this time in Elizabeth City, VA. Edward is mentioned by name in the purchase . This also coincides with a second entry in the Passenger Lists for 1636, so we know that Mr. Julian did not somehow get Mr. Blackman's headrights.

A third entry into the country shows the Edward Claborne came back into Virgina in 1650, the approximate time of John's birth. This captain was William Shipp and he used Edward's headrights to buy land on 18 Jun 1650.

A review of the facts

We do know that John who drowned in the swamp married Mary Sheppey in 1680. We also know that Mary Sheppey is the daughter of Thomas Sheppey. Thomas lived 3 miles above Curles, on a branch of Four Mile Creek, land he aquired in 1637.

We also know that John Clyborn lived on the Bermuda Hundred, which is about 5 miles south of Sheppy's place, across the river. Being neighbors and related through marriage, John Clyborn also knew Thomas Sheppey.

We also know that Capt. Blackman and Capt. Julian knew each other. They were both busted by a Royal Navy Lieutenant for evading import tarrifs by offloading the expensive goods onto an island and then paying for what was still in the hold and going back out at night in rowboats. They were fined with importing horses. (I have lost the original source for this information, but once I find it again I will tag this with the source document).

We also know that Edward Cleiborne knew both Julian and Blackman because he came over once with each of them.

We also know that Thomas Sheppey knew Jeremy Blackman, as he transported Phyllis Blackman, his sister, in 1637 and they were neighbors.

Crucially, we know that Jeremy Blackman, the ship captain who first brought Edward over lived at the Shirley Hundred. The Shirley Hundred, you may note on the map, is directly 1 mile east of the Bermuda Hundred, just on the other side of the river. On a clear morning, John Clyborn could probably see the chimney smoke from Capt. Blackman's house. And Capt. Blackman lives within 5 miles of Thomas Sheppey.

Conclusions

Logically, if Jeremy Blackman and Edward Cleiborne knew each other, and if Jeremy Blackman and Thomas Sheppey knew each other, then its not a stretch to think that Edward may have been introduced to Thomas Sheppey by Mr. Blackman. When you further consider that Blackman, Sheppey. And John Clyborn who drowned in the swamp all lived within 5 miles of each other and were certainly neighbors, they would have certainly known each other. And, circumstantially, they all would have known Edward as well.

This trail of documents is as close as we are going to be able to get to placing Edward at the scene of the crime. Is this hypothesis 100% infallible and irrefutable? Of course not. Its possible that Ive missed a key detail or omitted or overlooked something. That being said, given my tenancity for completeness and thorough work, that does seem like a small possibility. If I were a betting man, I would bet that Edward is the father of John. Unless some new evidence comes to light that disproves this hypothesis, this is what I am assuming for this tree due to the preponderance of circumstantial evidence that can place Edward within 2 steps of people who knew John and in close proximity.