Lawrence Dameron

Lawrence first appears in Northumberland County records on May 12, 1652, receiving a land patent for 342 acres located on the Yeocomico River.² This patent was renewed in 1655 and again in 1662.³

On August 20th, 1655 Lawrence purchased 500 acres of land that had previously been assigned by patent to Peter Knight. The bounds were described as "on the South side of Great Wicocomocoe River within ye Marsh, being a parcell of land bounded Easterly on the Great Bay & Westerly on the Creeke yt. pts. the same from the indian towne of Cuttatowman. Northerlie & North East upon the mouth of the said Wicocomocoe River and thence extending Southerlie betweene the sd. Creeke and another Creeke comeing out of the sd. Bay to the head thereof. Foure hundred poles."⁴ This land was where Lawrence built his home and is still today known as Dameron Marsh. The house was probably wooden, and it may have been large because in his will he mentions the great room and the chamber. The will also mentioned multiple other houses on the property.⁵

On February 21st, 1659 Lawrence received 450 acres of land in Northumberland County for the transport of nine people including; himself, his wife, James Sibble, Joane Jones, William Rule, Joseph Jepson, Katherine Shawe, Richard Fenner and Edward Stanford.⁶ Lawrence eventually owned about 2,600 acres in Northumberland County.

Lawrence Dameron’s name does not appear on the 1652 Oath of Allegiance to England taken in Northumberland County⁷. If he had the opportunity and purposefully did not sign, it could be a clue of why he chose to move his family to the colony. The oath asked for loyalty to the English Parliament instead of a King after the English Civil War when Charles II fled the country.

A fragment of Lawrence's will still survives though the book it was kept in was badly damaged. He will was signed on May 1st, 1660. It appears that Lawrence was able to write, because he used a signature instead of making a mark. The will was proven on December 17th, 1660. In two damaged section of the will Lawrence refers to "man servants."⁵ Slavery was not fully institutionalized in Virginia until later in the 1660s though examples existed much earlier and it is unknown if Lawrence was referring to indentured servants or Black slaves.

In a fully preserved paragraph near the beginning of the will he names his son, Bartholomew:

“I bequeath unto my sonne Bartholomew Dameron one halfe of five hundred acres of land situated in Great Wicomico which I bought of Mr. Peter Knight, the said land to be enjoyed peaceably by said Bartholomew and his heirs for ever, and to be delivered to him at the death of his mother with one cedar Bedstead, one long table with forme and benches to it, and one Couch, all which stands in the Great Roome.”⁵

Lawrence left the other half of ths 500 acres at Dameron Marsh to George. Thomas Dameron, a son of George, built a large brick manor house next to the original home of Lawrence and it was dubbed "The Brick Walls" a two story, high-ceiling manor house that had deep set windows, a large fireplace, wide staircase and upstairs bed chambers.¹ The grounds included gardens and an orchard. The Brick Walls plantation remained in the hands of the Dameron family until 1849. During that time Dameron Marsh was often called Guarding Point or Garden Point. Dameron Marsh was used as a lookout point during Bacon's Rebellion in 1679 and at other points by the Colonial Army before the Revolution.¹ The Dameron-Damron Family Association placed a marker at Dameron Marsh in 2009 in memory of Lawrence.