ALTERNATE ORIGINS

The Devil and He had both one nurse.

widow was entitled to her right of dower, meaning a right to one-third of the personal property during her lifetime. After The Reverend adds: “This is very sour.”

her death the entire estate could be sold and the proceeds divided among all the heirs. Accordingly, even if Primogeniture When you go to Stratford-on-Avon, stroll out to the modest little church hard by the Avon; therein you may see the simple was applicable, it still was necessary to make an inventory of the deceased’s personal property, as soon as possible after stone of William Shakepere and his dates. A few feet away, the magnificent, recumbent statue of John Combe.

death. The inventory would form the basis for the subsequent division of the estate, even if the final division might not be The names of three later, distinguished Combses might be mentioned here: Combe, William (1741-1823), born in [EN]; made until years later. Many genealogists, including many professionals, do not seem to fully understand this need for an contributor to magazines; author of the celebrated Three Tours of Dr. Syntax, a satire on pedagogues. Combe, George (1788-inventory when Primogeniture is applicable.

1858), of Edinburgh [Midlothian, Scotland]; phrenologist, essayist, traveler, author of a number of books. Combe, Andrew (1797-ABOLISHMENT OF PRIMOGENITURE IN VA, NC AND SC

1847), of Edinburgh; physiologist, author of a number of books.

As a general rule, after the American Revolution, most states abolished both entail and primogeniture. However, in Great A word about armorial bearings may seem appropriate here. Combs coats of arms varied, depending on the family. At least one Britain, my understanding is that the Law of Primogeniture continues to prevail in some areas, except in Kent where the lion is present on practically all of them. Every family whose cost of arms bore one or more lions was a staunch follower of the king.

(equal sharing among all male heirs) is applicable. Primogeniture was abolished in Virginia, North Carolina and South Says Ellis, in his Antiquities of Heraldry: “We have seen that the royal Lion, or Leopard of England was proudly borne by all those Carolina as follows:

families whose alliance with royalty sanctioned its use.” One of the best known coats-of-arms of any English Combs family is ermine, three Lions passant in pale, gules; crest: an arm in armor. But Combs families in the New World need not be too concerned about armo-In Virginia:

rial bearings, since so few of them may lay claim to this honor among the English ancestors. Yet, as far as my own line of the family is In Virginia (VA) the entail was abolished in 1776; however, primogeniture was not eliminated in VA until 1785. The concerned, I must mention a transaction which took place in ([later] ) [VA] on November 2, 1675: and his wife, Elizabeth, conveyed a VA law, unlike the NC law of 1784, provided for equal sharing of real property among all the heirs - both male and female.

tract of land (in the present ) to Capt. William Ball, Mary Washington’s grandfather, of . Along with their signatures, Archdale and his

[See C. Ray Keim, Primogeniture and Entail in Colonial Virginia, William and Mary Quarterly, Volume XXV, No. 4

wife affix a wax seal bearing the crest of a vulning pelican; encircling the crest is the Latin motto: sic bis quos diligo.

(October 1968), Pages 550-551]

l

But the seal used by Archdale Combs was not necessarily his own, and not prima facie evidence that Archdale even had a crest. Away from home (probably down at Tappahannock [then Old Rappa, now , the old county seat), he used somebody else’s seal, to flatten out or spread the wax. The records of the College of Arms do not indicate that any Combs family in the British Isles From: Kentucky New Era

ever used the vulning pelican as a crest.

But let’s be in no hurry to pull old Archdale Combs out of his armorial bearings, as he was probably armigerous. John Combs, Sept. 29, 1922

of London, was granted a coat of arms in July, 1603. The records show that no other Combs of London was ever an armiger that early. Now, if this John Combs is identical with as he may well be, then Archdale Combs and his descendants may claim armorial Patriarch Of Clan Is Slain

bearings. The arms and crest of armigerous John Combs, of London, are as follows: Arms: argent on a band raguly gules, a lion passant sable; Crest: out of a ducal coronet a lion’s gamb argent holding a staff raguly gules. John Combs, Shakspere’s friend, of Stratford-on-Avon, was granted armorial bearings in 1574, as follows: Arms: Ermine three lions passant in pale gules; Crest:

(Jackson, Sept. 26)

an arm enbowed in armor sable garnished or, wreathed about the arm argent and gules, holding in the gauntlet a broken tilted spear gold. Nearly all Combs arms bore approximately the same motto, with slight variations: nec (nil) timere, nec (nil) temere Sol Noble, 65, Patriarch of the Noble Clan was shot three times and instantly killed at Grapevine just across the

(Neither timid nor bold). An armiger in those days was usually styled “Gent(leman)” The records of Old Rappahannock County Breathitt County Line in Perry County. Boozer Fugate who is charged with the shooting is a fugitive, being sought

list here and there “Archdale Combe, Gent.” Incidentally, “Mr.” stood for Master, and “Ors.” [nb: Mrs.?] for Mistress. “Mister”

by possees sent out by sheriffs of Perry and Breathitt Counties. Noble was the father of Bud Noble and grandfather and “Mizzes” are of more modern origin.

of Beecher and Soldier Noble. The three men who are charged with complicity on the jail raid of last December at

Jackson, which resulted in the killing of a boy and a girl, and the woulnding of a woman and for which one man is

Law of Primogeniture in the South

under sentence of death and two have been given life sentences are still at large and have been reporting as hiding in the hills.