Beyond our Elusive William Daniel

Traditionally, in Abel's line, William's wife, and mother of the children here, was Elizabeth Skinner of New York, where the marriage supposedly took place. There is no current documentation to support this. Likewise, the traditional marriage date, about 1772, is undocumented (as of 1991). The large gap in years between 1772 and the birth of the first child, about 1786, raises questions. There is supposedly "a deed" in the GA archives that verifies this; not found, but not necessarily indexed by Daniel.

There is a Charles Skinner listed in the statistics of Bethel Black River Church, 1786-1804. In 1790, he was a messenger to the association (S. Carolina Baptists 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph. D., Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1974, p. 15 7). This is the church to which Thomas Goodson, apparently the brother of Penelope Goodson, the wife of Theophilus Daniel, belonged. Is there also a connection between Charles Skinner and Elizabeth Skinner, the mother of Theophilus?

In the 1800 census some young Skinner families lived in the area. Among the names were Nathan Skinner, Benj. Skinner, and Edward Skinner, and another one who lived nearby had a name I could not decipher, but it appears to begin with a letter "j."

Possible Isle of Wight connections (from Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight....):
Nicholas Skinner was one of 33 people mentioned in a census taken 16 Feb 1623 taken at Warrascoyack. (Warrascoyack was an early name for Isle of Wight. Many people died in those early years, did he live?)
A list of the living in Virginia on 16 Feb 1624 includes a Nicholas Skinner at Warwick Squeak. (Bennett Genealogy)
On 16 Jan 1652, 3 Feb 1654, and 19 Jul 1656 Edward Skinner witnessed legal documents.
16 Dec 1652 a will was proven in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, and it was proved by oaths of William Underwood and Edward Skinner. (Bennett genealogy)
On 2 Feb 1664 Arthur Skinner, aged 31, deposed concerning a quarel between two men.
On 23 Dec 1664 Henry Skinner leased land from John Norsworthy.
On 25 April 1665 Robert Neville sold all his interests in his father's (William Neville) to his father-in-law Arthur Skinner. On 16 May of that same year John Neville sold 125 acres to Arthur Skinner.
On 8 Feb 1671 Arthur Skinner sold the plantation on which he lived to Thomas Pitt.
There seem to be many more references to this Arthur Skinner in the area.
An Elizabeth Skinner married Richard Ricks.

A Christopher Daniel received a patent for 100 acres of land downwards from Hog Island in the Warrascoyack area in 1626. (William and Mary College...)

There are Skinner, Goodson, and Daniel families in this area, so it would appear that it would be profitable to search the possibility of that area as the origin of the family.

NOTE: This information on possible early records is given for further research in case we learn that they are connected to our family, and to allow for easier searching for possible connections.