Why All the Craven PEYTONs?

The question is often posed as to the connection of the PEYTON family of Virginia to the CRAVEN family. There was a CRAVEN family in England and also one in Virginia, however, a familial connection with the PEYTONs has not been documented. Reverend Hayden in his "Virginia Genealogies" of 1891 ("PEYTON, of England and Virginia", ISBN 1438282710, page 499), addressed the question back then when he wrote of Craven PEYTON of Aquia Creek as "the first of the line in Va. to be named Craven, after the son of Sir Robert PEYTON." Craven PEYTON (1664-1738) was a prominent PEYTON of London who worked at the British mint with Sir Isaac NEWTON. He continued the "Craven" name in his own descendants (see pages 485, 486 of Reverend Hayden's book cited above).

The prominent Craven PEYTON of London descends from the same line of ancient PEYTONs as do those PEYTONs in Virginia who were named for him, which lineage is documented on pages 15, 25 of the "Revised and Updated" Second Edition of PEYTONs Along the Aquia Genealogy. The first Craven PEYTON of Virginia, mentioned by Reverend Hayden in 1891, appears on pages 70 through 72 of the new "keepsake" edition in hardcover.

Henry "Bully" PEYTON of Tom's Creek

Henry "Bully" PEYTON (1794-1848) of Cabell County, West Virginia, appears on pages 139, 167 of PEYTONs Along the Aquia Genealogy. His birth place on page 167 is probably incorrect, as Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encylopedia, 1884, page 399, states that he and his wife Polly, arrived in Cabell County, from Amherst County, Virginia, in 1803, although Cabell County was not formed from Kanawha unti 1808. Nevertheless, Henry PEYTON is unlikely to have been born at Kanawha. Both he and his wife are descendants of the early PEYTONs of Aquia Creek and their lineage is documented in the aforementioned genealogy book.