Alexander Gaulding was not executed!

Alexander died in 1752 in Prince Edward County, Virginia.

Regarding the death of Alexander Gaulding and the 1752 Court Petition

Alexander Gaulding, the son of John “of New Kent” Gaulding and Anne Stewart was NOT EXECUTED IN WILLIAMSBURG in 1752 as is often reported.  Where do stories like that originate? Well, certainly from poor scholarship and then they are passed down through various reports and family trees until something non-factual is taken as fact. There is no evidence the story that has been passed down for decades was ever true.

There was a court petition, although I have never seen the details of it.  John Gaulden and Alexander Gaulding were brothers and the untrue story always relates that Alexander was executed in Williamsburg in 1752.  The offense was supposedly highway robbery but lack of documentary proof reveals that to have been a complete fabrication.  What is supported by the surviving record is that John Gaulden of Prince Edward County petitioned for custody of the orphaned children of his brother, Alexander Gaulden after Alexander’s sudden death in December 1752.

The case in question was a petition heard by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in Williamsburg, which had jurisdiction over certain matters involving orphans and estates when county courts could not act quickly enough.  Alexander Gaulden (Gaulding) died suddenly in December 1752 in Prince Edward County. There is no evidence that Alexander Gaulding was executed in Williamsburg in 1752 as is often reported in family trees and histories, but the historical context makes that scenario extremely unlikely.  The 1752 guardianship case involving his children fits the pattern of a sudden, natural, or accidental death, not a criminal execution. 

If a man were executed in colonial Virginia in 1752 his case would appear in the Executive Journals of the Council, the General Court criminal docket, the Oyer and Terminer felony proceedings or in the Virginia Gazette, which routinely reported executions.  Alexander Gaulding does not appear in any of these sources.  There is no record of a trail, a conviction, a sentence, an execution, a sheriff’s return or a newspaper notice.  For a capital case, this silence is decisive. 

Actually, the Court of Oyer and Terminer did not handle executions after the fact.  It tried serious crimes, heard felony indictments and determined guilt and sentencing.  It was NOT a court that handled orphan custody after an execution.  If Alexander had been executed, the custody decision would have been part of the same criminal proceeding and not a separate petition.  The Gaulding case appears only as a guardianship petition and not a criminal matter. 

Why the case went to Oyer and Terminer

The reason the custody case was heard by this court is administrative, not criminal:

·         Prince Edward County was not yet fully organized (formed 1754).

·         The predecessor counties (Cumberland, Amelia) were in transition.

·         The children were orphans in need of immediate guardianship.

·         The General Court or Oyer and Terminer could act when local courts could not.

·         This is a normal pattern for orphan cases in counties with incomplete court structures.

Nothing about this indicates criminality.

The theory that Alexander was executed appears to come from:

·         A misunderstanding of the term “Oyer and Terminer”

·         A mistaken belief that this court only handled capital crimes

·         A genealogical myth that grew from the mis‑spelling “Dyer and Terminer”

·         The absence of county records (leading to speculation)

But the Oyer and Terminer court handled many non‑criminal matters, including orphan guardianships, estate disputes, jurisdictional conflicts and emergency petitions, so the presence of the Gaulding case in this court does not imply criminality.

In conclusion, there is no evidence—none—that Alexander Gaulding was executed in Williamsburg in 1752. All available evidence supports a sudden, accidental, or natural death, followed by a routine guardianship petition heard by the Court of Oyer and Terminer because of county‑court administrative issues.  The execution theory is a modern genealogical misunderstanding, not a historical fact.

Here’s what is known about the life of Alexander Gaulding, the son of John “of New Kent” Gaulding and Anne Stewart.

A. Date of death (December 1752) - This comes from Prince Edward County formation records, the Abstract of the Oyer and Terminer petition and Secondary Gaulding family Bible references. Oyer and Terminer exists today only as an Abstract because the original court book was destroyed. It is not a complete record.

B. Names of the son John and daughter – The daughter is not named. The name that has traditionally been attached to her, Susannah, may relate to a later bonding out of her son Freeman. She is described as a "poor woman".

C. Guardianship by John Gaulden - This is the core fact preserved in the Oyer and Terminer references. This case is referenced in later genealogical summaries, including the WikiTree profile for John Mathew Gaulding and the SCV Palm Beach Gaulden–Geers page, both of which cite the custody petition. The original Oyer and Terminer record does not name an “Elizabeth Geers.”

Not much is sourced about his later life, but this chart gives an idea of where the facts reported here came from:

Summary of What Is Sourced

Fact	Supported?	Source Type
Alexander died in December 1752	✔ yes	VCRP abstracts; disappearance from tithables; later family records
He left minor children	✔ yes	Oyer & Terminer guardianship abstract
Children were Jacob and an unnamed daughter who was bonded to Thomas Scott	✔ yes	Same abstract; later county records
Guardianship petition by John Gaulden	✔ yes	Oyer & Terminer abstract - This resource is not available online.
Case heard in Williamsburg	✔ yes	Oyer & Terminer jurisdiction
Death was “sudden”	✘ no	Later genealogical interpretation only
Death was “tragic”	✘ no	Later genealogical interpretation only
Death was “natural causes”	✘ no	No primary source states this

Some primary sources that do exist are:

1. St. Peter’s Parish Register (for family context)

The Vestry Book and Register of St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent County, Virginia, 1680–1787. 

Colonial Dames of America, 1904.

2. Oyer and Terminer Case (abstract only)

Virginia Colonial Records Project (VCRP) 

Library of Virginia

Manuscript abstracts referencing guardianship petition for the children of Alexander Gaulden, 1752–1753. This abstract is not available online and must be viewed at the Library of Virginia.

3. County formation and guardianship context

Executive Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, Vol. 5 (1751–1754).

(Context for Oyer & Terminer jurisdiction; does not name Alexander.)

The Oyer and Terminer Case Abstract from the Virginia Colonial Records Project is not available online.  It is only accessible in person at the Library of Virginia or by requesting copies from LVA archivists.  The abstracts exist only in Manuscript notes, Microfilm reels and Typescript summaries created during the 1950’s-1980’s for the VCRP Survey. 

The Library of Virginia provides:

✔ Catalog entries - You can search the LVA catalog for “Virginia Colonial Records Project” or “Oyer and Terminer,” but the catalog entries only describe the microfilm or manuscript notes — they do not include the actual abstracts.

✔ Finding aids - These describe the structure of the VCRP collection, but again, no digital images of the abstracts are provided.

✔ Some digitized colonial records - (e.g., Executive Journals of the Council, land patents, chancery records), but not the Oyer and Terminer case abstracts.

Not available are:

❌ The original Oyer and Terminer court books - Most of these did not survive, which is why the VCRP abstracts are so important.

❌ Any digital image of the Gaulden guardianship case - There is no surviving original, and the abstract is not digitized.

For whomever is interested, there are only two ways to access the Oyer and Terminer abstract for the Gaulden case:

1. Visit the Library of Virginia in Richmond

Ask for: Virginia Colonial Records Project (VCRP) 

Look for the microfilm or manuscript notes referencing: Oyer and Terminer Court, 1752–1753 – guardianship petition for the children of Alexander Gaulden. Archivists can guide you to the exact reel or folder.

2. Request a copy from LVA

You can email:  archdesk@lva.virginia.gov 

or use the “Ask a Librarian” service on the LVA website.

Provide:

Name: Alexander Gaulden (Gaulding)

Date: December 1752

Subject: Guardianship of minor children (John and Susannah)

Court: Oyer and Terminer, Williamsburg

Collection: Virginia Colonial Records Project (VCRP)

They will locate the abstract and send a scan or transcription (usually for a small fee).

⭐ Why these records are not online

The VCRP was a massive mid‑20th‑century project that:

Surveyed archives in England, Scotland, and Ireland

Created tens of thousands of handwritten and typed abstracts

Microfilmed many items

But never digitized the collection

The Library of Virginia has not yet undertaken a full digitization project for VCRP materials.