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MADDERA Domingo

Male Abt 1620 - Abt 1685  (~ 65 years)


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  • Name MADDERA Domingo  [1
    Birth Abt 1620  [1
    Gender Male 
    Lived(s) In King & Queen County, VA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    • Lived in Essex and King & Queen Counties in the mid 1600s
    Death Abt 1685  [1
    Notes 
    • He was probably born on the island of Madiera, Portugal or possibly his father was. He may have been brought by the Dutch, who imported skilled cattle ranchers from Portugal.

      Ancestry.com in their Ancestry World Tree > Individual View section provides the following sketch concerning Domingo Maderas, the progenitor of the Maddera family in America.
      Domingo lived in Essex and in Kings and Queens County, VA in the mid 1600's, wife unknown, but suspected to be "Sarah ". Domingo shows in several Virginia Records. One where he witnessed the sale of property in Virginia in 1658/59. Domingo Madeiras cattle mark (registration), two crops and two holes in the right ear. It is believed that around 1620, Domingo Madeiras was born, likely on the Portuguese Island of Madeira. The circumstances of his arrival to the New Colonies of America are not yet known. There are several theories to consider. He may have come here on a Dutch ship in the 1640'a to be a rancher. The Dutch, having the foresight to realize they would need to grow and produce their own food, brought farmers and ranchers from areas all over the world. Among their group, cattle ranchers from Portugal. This foresight allowed them to prosper and succeed much easier than the early English Colonists. It is also possible that Domingo was born in this country in 1620 in the area of the newly settled Jamestown. The Portuguese were traders with the new Colonists, as there was a treaty between Portugal and England. They traded furs and tobacco.

      In fact, it was the production and trade of tobacco from the Portuguese settled West Indies island ofBarbadoes, that created the financial success of the new Colonies. The Virginia Colony nearly failed before the importation of this fine tobacco, which replaced the Indian (domestic) tobacco which most Englanders found to have a "bite ". Did Domingo come to America as a rancher? Was he a child of a Jamestown settler? Was he a son of a Portuguese tobacco trader? Was his family here before the establishment of Jamestown? I doubt that we will ever know the answer to these questions.
      (Copyright 1998-2000, MyFamily.com Inc. and its subsidiaries.)

      Essex Co., VA Deeds Book p. 292, date 1660 - Domingo Medaris - cattle mark two cropps and two holes in right ear.
      Cavaliers and Pioneers Patent Book No. 6 - Domingo Mederis & James Johnson awarded 1000 acres in New Kent County for transportation of 10 persons on 8 April 1668. On 24 April 1694 500 acres of the same tract, identified as formerly granted to Domingo Maderas and James Johnson and since deserted, was granted to Zachary Lewis. It is quite possible that James Johnson may have been the father-in-law or brother-in-law of Domingo, making his wife speculatively "Sarah Johnson". Partnerships with a non-family member were uncommon. Domingo named one of his sons James, and his daughter Sarah.
      Margi Wagner-Farley at web site blitzen@iw.edwpub.com lists the following as the children of Domingo Madeiras. These same children are also listed in Ancestry World Tree on Ancestry .com. The sources of the information are not given.
      Carlos/Charles Maderas
      Bolivar Maderas
      Jonas Maderas
      James Maderas
      Sarah Maderas

      These tantalizing bits of information are just enough to suggest that Domingo Medeiras was a settler with means enough to be a player in the business of patenting major land grants in return for paying the transportation expenses for new immigrants from England. The grants and his business partnerships indicate that he was well integrated into the colony.
      The family name is spelled in a myriad of ways before settling into Maddera, pronounced Madrey, a century later. Some of the variations found in the records are: Medeiros, Medeiras, Medaris, MadoraSjMaderis, Maderas, Maddarra, Madderra, Madera,Maddra,Madray, Maddera. Anglicizing the family name seems to have presented an ongoing problem for the clerks who kept the records. [1]
    Person ID I3576  Booth Family
    Last Modified 6 Mar 2014 

    Family MADDERA Sarah --LNU--   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Children 
     1. MADDERA James,   b. Abt 1650   d. Aft 1712, Isle of Wight County, VA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 63 years)
     2. MADDERA Sarah   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F1133  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 5 Mar 2014 

  • Sources 
    1. [S1212] Owner: Pat Reynolds, Cotton family tree, (Compiled and Supplied by Robert L. Bartlett of Juno Beach, FL to Pat Johnson Reynolds) (Reliability: 3).