The Sampson Family and Manakin Town

The Sampson family of Goochland County, Virginia, occupies a distinctive place in the early history of the colony, shaped by their Huguenot heritage and the complex genealogical record left behind in parish registers, land patents, and family wills. Their story begins with the Huguenot diaspora of the late seventeenth century, when French Protestants fled persecution after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Many found refuge in England before being resettled in Virginia, where the Crown granted land for a new community at Manakin Town on the James River. Among the families connected to this settlement were the Sampsons, whose presence appears in early parish records and land transactions on both sides of the river.

Central to the family’s Virginia narrative is Francois (Francis) Sampson, who patented land in 1725 directly across from Manakin Town. His son, Stephen “Étienne” Sampson, born around 1703, became the patriarch of the Goochland County branch. Stephen’s marriage to Mary Woodson linked the Huguenot Sampsons to one of Virginia’s oldest English families, and their children formed the next generation of Sampsons whose lives were recorded in the parish registers of St. James Northam Parish.

Within this family line appear two women named Judith Sampson, whose identities have long caused confusion among researchers. One Judith was the daughter of Francis Sampson, mentioned in his 1744 will alongside her siblings. The other Judith was the daughter of Stephen Sampson, identified in the 1757 will of her grandmother, Bridgett Bryell Sampson. This younger Judith later married John Woodall, linking the Sampson family to the Woodalls of Pittsylvania and Charlotte Counties. Careful analysis of wills, parish records, and land documents reveals that these were two distinct individuals belonging to successive generations of the same family.

The Sampson family’s proximity to Manakin Town, their appearance in Huguenot parish records, and their intermarriage with families such as the Woodsons and Woodalls demonstrate the blending of French refugee heritage with established English colonial lines. Their story reflects the broader experience of Huguenot settlers who rebuilt their lives in Virginia—maintaining cultural ties to their origins while becoming part of the fabric of Goochland County society.

Together, the narratives of the two Judith Sampsons and the family’s Huguenot background illuminate the complexity and richness of the Sampson lineage. Their presence in early Virginia records forms an essential chapter in the broader Gaulding Origins project, connecting the Sampsons to the Woodalls, Steeles, and other families whose histories shaped the development of colonial Virginia.

Read more about the Sampson Family and Manakin Town on Gaulding Origins

The Two Judith Sampsons of Goochland County, Virginia

The Sampson Family and the Huguenot Settlement at Manakin Town