Occupacia, Caroline and Essex County, Virginia

Daniel Noel, 1665–1755
and
Elizabeth Elliott, 1670–1752

Daughter Elizabeth Noel married a first name unknown (FNU) Gouldman per the Winston Family History, 1924. No year is given for the marriage. Elizabeth would have been approximately 17 in 1730.

— Martha Tomlin, 1680–1721, widow of Edward Gouldman, 1660–1710, would marry into the Winston family, with the Winston family inheriting a good portion of the Gouldman estate after her death.

— Who could be FNU Gouldman? … It is unlikely that he was named Thomas as Edward and Martha Gouldman already had a son named Thomas Gouldman, 1705-1729. This Thomas died young, probably not long prior to FNU Gouldman and Elizabeth Noel supposedly marryed. Their son may have been named in the late Thomas’ honor if they had a son.

>> It has been a mystery for some years as to whether Elizabeth Noel existed. She is occasionally listed in an unsourced genealogy, but since 2018 she has disappeared from most online genealogies as she was not mentioned in her father Daniel Noel‘s 1755 last will and testatment (LWT). ^[1]Daniel Noel’s 1755 LWT is now over 260 years, yet it is the internet that has made his LWT info and the naming of his children (in 1755) widely available. 

>> Could Elizabeth Noel associated with FNU Gouldman be the daughter of Daniel Noel Jr, 1694/1700-1770, and Elizabeth Gouldman, 1702-1744? Maybe. If so, there are conflicting claims as to whom she married: James Sr. Newman, 1732–1816, and/or William Brown (Broun), 1740-17/18?? … but was William Brown born in 1740? Not possible. He was born much earlier. A land transaction required being of age 21 to sign a legal document. The wording of the land transaction also seems to indicate that Daniel Noel Jr is a probable brother and not Elizabeth’s father.

1754 — Elizabeth Noel, married to William Brown, would have probably been born prior to 1734 as she and William sold property on 15 Sep 1754: “… William Brown and Elizabeth, his wife, of Essex County, and John Noell of County of Orange, Virginia and Rowzee of Essex County. Brown and wife and John Noel sell to Rowzee a tract of a land of 110 acres in Essex County which John Noel received from his father Daniel Noell, adjoining Bernard Noell and Cornelius and Daniel Noel Jr.” ^[2]Essex County Virginia Deed Book 27, page 165.

Elizabeth born about 1705?

The theory that Elizabeth Noel is a daughter of Daniel Noel Sr and not Daniel Noel Jr would probably have her born before 1716, when the youngest of the Noel children was born: Samuel Noel (Briggs), 1716–1774.

Gouldman and Noel families were propertyline neighbors in the Occupacia, Virginia area. Occupacia is a difficult area to place exactly on a map. Occupacia creek winds through the countryside.

There is no actual place called ‘Occupacia’ although there once was a post office with the name. Google Maps will show you Occupacia North, Virginia if you try to look for it — this is generally the center of the Occupacia Creek area. However the region itself (44,000+ acres) was referred to as Occupacia. ^[3]Essex County’s Occupacia-Rappahannock Rural Historic District encompasses a vernacular landscape of more than 44,884 acres that boasts a significant collection of buildings, structures, landscape … Continue reading

Daniel Noel Sr, father of Elizabeth Noel, his land is better defined as ‘… Popoman Swamp adjoining lands of Benjamin Boulware, and land of Smith and Vawter …’ … whether correct location or not, click this link to Popopman Swamp Road, which is certainly in the center of the Occupacia region.