Most trees give his birth year as 1690, but that's an estimate based on an estimate based on an estimate
(his oldest child is estimated to have been born about 1716, making his usual estimated marriage date
about 1715, and so he must have been born about 1690, or before). I picked 1684 in order to MAKE
him be 21 for the petition and 18 at the time of a militia roll that his name might have been on. But even
born as late as 1690 he still makes a good candidate for the father of William the Patriot (though a less
likely candidate to be the petitioner). There's still the possibility that it could have been one of the older
generation Bunches (this John's father John or his uncle Paul) that was William's father. I do tend to
favor the theory that it was the elder John who petitioned the Virginia Council, both because the younger
John hooked up with Rebecca (not Sarah) and because the elder John would have been one generation
less mixed. There were also a number of Bunches of about the same generation as the younger John
who start showing up in North Carolina records in the 1720's and 1730's. They probably came from
Louisa, Hanover or King William Counties in Virginia (at least some of the NC Bunches are ychromosome matches to the Virginia Bunches), and so constitute other possible candidates for William's
father. Of these, the most likely culprit might be Henry Bunch, who may have been born as early as
1690 -- most of the others would probably have been a little too young.
I don't know whether the fact that John Bunch stayed in Virginia while Henry and the others left for
North Carolina does more to argue FOR or AGAINST John being William's father. :-)
It's interesting that whereas the Bunch who petitioned the Council may have been unable to marry Sarah
Slayden, John Bunch III WAS apparently able to marry Rebecca 9 or 10 years later despite a supposedly
more stringent (or at least more precise) anti-miscegenation law. I wonder if that had something to do
with his being one generation more mixed, with simply moving westward out of Blisland Parish, or
maybe with the coming of Quakers to that neck of the woods (assuming the Quakers performed their
own marriage ceremonies). I guess I'm overlooking the obvious possibility that Rebecca may have been
mixed too...
This is nit-picking, but I picture the 1721 land processioning order having been in Hanover County,
which was formed from New Kent in 1720/1721. I can't confirm that factually, but I just see the 2nd
and 3rd generations pushing westward up the Pamunkey and South Anna Rivers.
'll stipulate that John III is a prime (maybe THE prime) candidate to be William's father, but I definitely don't
consider it to be anything close to proven. John III was my 6th great grandfather, so if the theory is true then I
would be approximately 7th cousins with William's living descendants. My dad is (obviously) a generation closer
to John III, and has taken FTDNA's Family Finder test -- William's older living descendants would be
approximatley 6th cousins to my dad. Are there any members of the Nuckolls group who are descendants of
William and have taken Family Finder? Would any of them be willing to upload their results to
GEDMatch.com? A 6th cousin match would be a long shot, but if we got lucky it would definitely add some
weight to your hypothesis.
John II's wife may or may not have been Temperance Bates -- nearly every Bunch tree lists her, but not one that I
have come across gives any documentation for either her first name or her last name. My theory is that the first
wife (whoever she was) of John II died fairly young (which accounts for only 1 definitely known immediate
descendant), and that John was thwarted by the relatively new anti-miscegentation law in his attempt to remarry
(which accounts for the petition to the Virginia Council). In any case, I do agree with you that John II is less
likely to have been William's father than John III. However, I think the Henry Bunch who shows up in early
North Carolina records is in the running -- he was quite possibly a brother to John III (John III named one of his
older sons Henry). Of course, the problem with Henry is that there are no records showing he definitely came out
of the Hanover County area (but his descendants are y-chromosome matches to John III's descendants).
I think the older Paul Bunch is definitely in contention too (to be William Nuckol's father). There was mention of
"Paul Bunch's quarter" in a road work order appearing in St. Paul's Vestry Book, which definitely connects A Paul
Bunch to Hanover County around 1721. There was a Paul Bunch who purchased land in Chowan County, NC in
1725 then died in 1726 leaving a will -- I believe these two Pauls are probably the same person. The main
beneficiaries of Paul's NC will were his son John (who later started an early Bunch branch in South Carolina, and
whose descendants are also y-chromosome matches to John III's descendants) and a Fortune Holdbee, along with
her two young daughters, Keziah & Jemima. Some researchers believe Fortune may have been Paul's live-in,
common law wife, which if so probably demonstrates a preference for younger women (if not necessarily younger
white women) -- Paul was probably about 60 years old at the time he passed, while Keziah & Jemima were (at
least) minors. I'd guess Fortune was in her forties or younger. Of course, Fortune might also have been a
widowed or divorced daughter of Paul's, but the fact that part of Fortune's legacy was contingent until the time she
married lends some weight to the "common law wife" theory.
I was an avid reader of detective fiction when I was a kid, and I have to admit that detective novels and genealogy
have a lot of the same appeal. Because of my genealogy addiction, like Scooby, Shaggy, Velma, Freddie and
Daphne, sometimes life for me is all about finding clues. :-)