John Parse 
      Sex: M
Individual Information 
     Birth Date: 
    Christening: 
          Death: Abt 1667 - (Northumberland Co., Virginia)
         Burial: 
 Cause of Death:
Spouses and Children 
1. *Elizabeth Key (1630 - Bef 1667)
       Marriage: 
       Children:
                1. Elizabeth Parse (      -      )
Notes
General:
WILL:

The following will is on pages 16 and 17 of Deed and Will Abstracts of Northumberland County, Virginia (Ruth & Sam Sparacio, The Antient Press, 1993). Colons seem to follow abbreviations and are presumably in the original. Punctuation is not fully consistent.

Itm: I bequeath unto my Daughtr: Eliza: Parse, ye Seat of Land whereon I am seated, it being 300 acres;
Itm. I bequeath unto my Daughtr: Eliza: Parse, two cowes & two calves ye one is m:rkt. wth:crop & slitt on both eares, ye other with swallow forkt and hole & underkeel on ye right eare & cropt & hole in ye left eare; the two calves to bee m:rkt. wth:crop & hole on ye left eare & cropt & swallow forkt & hole on ye left eare; I bequeath my sd: Daughter, Eliza: Parse, two sowes m:rkt. wth: swallow forkt. & hole in ye right eare & underkeeled & cropt & hole in ye left eare; I bequeath unto my sd: Daughter, Eliza: Parse, two pewter dishes, one large & ye other ye likely Dish & one pewter bason & one pott containing about foure gallons, it being ye best of two; & ye longest spitt of my two; & one dripping pan.
Itm. I bequeath unto my two Sons, Five hundred acres of Land to be divided betwixt them, the one part called Hogtowne for my Sonn in Law, Jno: Grimsted & the other parte called Long Neck for my Sonn in Law; Wm: Grimsted;
Itm. I bequeath unto my two Sonns seven cowes & six calves, ye cows are m:rkt. wth: swallow fork & hole on ye right eare & crop & hole & undr:keel on ye left eare & ye calves to be m:rkt. wth: ye same m:rke;
Itm. I bequeath unto my two said Sonns, two sowes m:rkt. wth: ye same m:rke of their cattle, I alsoe bequeath unto my two Sons, two pewter dishes & one great pott & ye shortest of my spitts; I bequeath unto my Son in Law, Jno: Grimsted, ye longest of my two guns & ye shortest for my Son in Law; Wm: Grimsted; I bequeath to my said Sonns one pestle & all my working tooles. I doe alsoe will that my Children should be brought up on my Platacon & that Hugh Statham should be their tutor to nurtur them till they come to age, & to take charge of ye Plantation & Cattle & hogs allowing ye sd: Hugh Statham the male of all their Cattle till ye Children doe come of age; I will alsoe that the increase of my Childrens hoggs should be disposed off for their p:sent use; I will alsoe that all my cattle & hogs that I have not disposed of to my Children shall pay my Debts & if there bee overplus, to be disposed off for the use of my Children. I alsoe will that Hugh Statham should make demand of all that is owing to me & to dispose of it for my Childrens use or to pay what I doe owe. I will alsoe yt: Richd: Eaton should oversee my Children yt: they have their right & to see my Will fulfilled;
This is ye Last Will & Testamt: of Jno: Parse he being weeke in body but sound in memory
<pre>Wittness Tho: Colson, Jno. Parse
ye mrk: of Wm: Taylor </pre>

20th May 1667. Proved to bee the Last Will & Testamt: of Jno: Parse deced., by ye Oathes of Tho: Colsen & Wm: Taylor et recordatur

INTERPRETATION:

There are two versions of the relationship between John Parse and the sons (William and John) of William Grinstead and Elizabeth Key.

One story is that two of John Parse's daughters married William and John. They are thus his sons-in-law. The other story is that after the death of the immigrant William Grinstead his widow married John Parse. William and John were thus his stepsons.

The first version is found in WGFA and the wording of John Parse's will seems to support it. He refers to them 4 times as his sons-in-law and 5 times as his sons. However, the will makes it clear that the children (William, John, and his daughter Elizabeth) are minors, and he wills that Hugh Strathan be their guardian until they "come of age". They were certainly not married at the time the will was written and they could not have been his sons-in-law as that term is used today. They must have been his stepsons. A well-written article about Elizabeth Key in the Dictionary of Virginia Biography at the Library of Virginia website says, "By the legal usages of the time, the phrase son-in-law embraced many more people than a daughter's husband and often meant a male who occupied the legal relationship of a son, what in the twenty-first century would be called a stepson. It would have been within that meaning of the phrase that Parse described the sons of his wife as his own sons or sons-in-law."

https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.php?b=Key_Elizabeth_fl_1655-1660

The will itself is undated, but it was recorded May 20, 1667, and at that time John Parse was said to be deceased. The will was probably written in early 1667, perhaps in 1666.

In the will John Parse refers to his daughter 4 times as Elizabeth Parse, and he refers to his sons as William Grimsted and John Grimsted. This implies that Elizabeth is not the daughter of William Grinstead. John Parse may have been a widower when he married Elizabeth Grinstead, and his daughter Elizabeth's mother may have been his first wife, or her mother may have been Elizabeth Grinstead. The fact that the daughter is mentioned first in the will suggests that she is older than the sons and thus the daughter of the first wife.

The will does not mention John Parse's wife; hence we assume that she died before he did.
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