Jon,

Thanks for the excellent reference on the life of Joseph Ring of Virginia. I, too, had had his birth as 1641, which I think came from a baptism of a Joseph Ring in the St. Peter's church in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England in 1641. Now, I'm guessing that either the baptism was of another child named Joseph Ring, or there is an error in one of the records. A gravestone is a very good source, though they too are sometimes in error.

I figure his birth (from the gravestone data) as either 1646 or 1647. When it says he was in his 57th year, that means his age was 56+. 1703 minus 56 is 1647. But if he was born in any month other than Jan or Feb, then his birth year was 1646.

I can fill in some of his life for you. He emigrated to America in 1668. He traveled first to Massachusetts to visit relatives there -- his Rolfe grandmother (Joann's mother), his aunt Hester Rolfe (Sanders), his sister Sarah, and his uncle Robert Ring and family -- all of whom lived in the Salisbury, Newbury, MA area. He also went to pick up a small inheritance left to him in the will of his grandfather Rolfe.

Notice that Joseph's will is witnessed by an Ezra Cottle. Joseph's sister Sarah married a William Cottle in MA and there was another Ezra Cottle in the area. These Cottles were no doubt all related and were friends/associates of the Rings from back in Wiltshire, England days.

I notice in the National Park Service booklet that Joseph Ring of Virginia is not known to have married and his end is obscure. Yet many of the "southern" Rings claim him as their ancestor. Do you have any evidence that he had children who carried on the Ring name in the South? Or are the southern Rings descended from an entirely different line? There is no doubt that Joseph, of Ringfield Plantation, is from the same family as the "northern" Rings. Beyond that, I am not so sure.

Franz Martin