Person:Thomas Batte (4)

Thomas Batte Sr., the son of Capt. John Batte and Martha Mallory, was born about 1643. He came to Virginia with his parents. Along with his brother Henry, Thomas obtained a patent for 5,875 acres of land on the south side of the James and Appomattox Rivers on 29 April 1668. He later, in 1670 with Mr. Richard Butler, secured a patent to 378 acres in Henrico County near the Appomattock Indian village. As Mr. Thomas Batts he had a patent for 1,862 acres nearby in 1674.

Thomas headed an expedition into the Appalachian Mountains in 1671 with Thomas Wood and Robert Hallom. Their objective was to find the South Sea. With them was Jack Weason, a former servant of Gen. Abraham Wood, Perecute, an Appomattox Indian, and five horses. On 1 September 1671, the explorers filed out of the Appomattox village across from Fort Henry. Hallom kept a journal of their travels that still exits. They were often without food. Beyond Totero Town, (now Roanoke, Virginia) they traveled on foot. On 17 September, they set up camp by a stream whose waters fed the Ohio River, flowed down the Mississippi River, and emptied into the Gulf of Mexico. Here they marked four trees, one for King Charles II, one for Governor Berkeley, one for Gen. Abraham Wood and the last TB: RH: and P for Perecute. This point was at Peters Falls where New River breaks through Peters Mountain, near Pearisburg, in Giles County, Virginia.

Thomas Wood perished on the expedition. The remaining adventurers returned to the Appomattox village on October 1. "God's holy Name be praised for our preservation" ends Hollam's journal. This first recorded passage of the Appalachian's helped establish England's claim to the waters that flowed to the Gulf. Two years later Joliet and Marquette journeyed down the Mississippi marking the start of the conflict between the British and French that culminated in the French and Indian War. The remarkable men of this expedition crossed the Allegheny Mountains 45 years before the expedition of Governor Spotswood in 1716.

The name Thomas Batte was very prominent in the early history of Henrico County where he was a magistrate. Henrico County records of 1671, 1679, and 1690 refer to Thomas. In June 1683 Francis Epes brought a suit against Thomas Batte Sr. Thomas missed the court date and placed a judgement against the sheriff. Thomas took his usual place at the head of the court ant the next month's session. Batte may have had financial problems for he was several times the defendant in debt actions. Thomas Batte Sr. was to be at the Henrico County April Court 1687, to acquit the sheriff of a default judgement. He was "being by Accident disabled in his Limbs Soe that he is incapable of appearing at this Court" in December 1687.

On 8 April 1674, Thomas was granted 1,862 acres on the north side of the Appomattox River. He later conveyed 200 acres of this land to Col. John Farrar, who bequeathed it to Thomas Batte Jr. Together they sold a combined 903 acres to William Byrd in December 1686. Mary Batte Sr. appointed Mr. Henry Randolph her attorney to relinquish her dower right in the land.

On 9 November 1679, he bought 50 acres from Godfrey Ragsdale. Thomas Batte with wife, Mary, sold 100 acres of his 1674-patent to Gabriel Arthur in September 1684. Some historians have mixed the Henrico County records of Thomas Botte and Thomas Batte. Thomas Bott had a wife named Amy who later married Essex Bevill. Some have said she was as the wife of Thomas Batte. The confusion is understandable. On 23 October 1690, Thomas Batt and Thomas Bott secured a patent for 400 acres. Bott assigned his 270-acre portion to John Bevill.

Batte moved from Henrico County to Charles City (now Chesterfield) County and probably died there. His wife was Mary - whose surname is unknown. In May 1692 Thomas Batte sold 240 acres to his son-in-law Peter Jones and appointed "loving friend Capt. Peter Field" his attorney to acknowledge the deed. In January 1693/4 Thomas Batte of Charles City County sold 980 acres north of the Appomattox River to John Herbert. Both Richard Jones and Peter Jones witnessed this deed.