"'John the Bankrupt' was a freeholder in Spotsylvania County from 1752 until 1767 when he lost his land and ordinary
(tavern) by mortgage to a Scottish merchant firm. Throughout the 1760s, Davenport was pursued relentlessly by creditors in Spotsylvania Court, and by 1769 he had fled to Louisa County where the Spotsylvania Sheriff had no jurisdiction—
and John had no assets remaining. "