John Waller (Virginia)


John Waller was an American politician who served in the House of Burgess in 1714, 1722, and 1742. His militia service under Captain John West saw him earn the title "Colonel", and a sheriff in both King and Queen and King William counties of Virginia.

Biography

Waller was born in England on January 23, 1673, the fifth child of Dr. John Waller of Newport Pagnell and Mary Pomfrett Waller, who were married on January 13, 1669. He travelled to Virginia at the end of the 17th century. It is known that it was before May 1, 1696 because that is when he purchased 1039 acres of land in the Pamunkey Neck of King and Queen County, on the south side of the Mattaponi River. He established a plantation here which he named "Endfield", which still exists today as Enfield Sod, Inc.
He was a slave owner.
He later established another plantation between 1723-1726 at "Newport" in Spotsylvania County, which he named for his birthplace in England.
A key fact in Waller's history, as a slave owner, is that he was the slaveholder who purchased a man named Kunta Kinte after Kinte was kidnap and transported to America in 1767. This history is included in the book by Alex Haley. Haley's book served, in part, as the premise for the groundbreaking 1977 miniseries, as well as the History Channel remake in 2016.

Career

Col. John Waller was a justice of the peace and the first sheriff of King William County in 1701. A small building that still exists today at Endfield is said to have acted as the county's first jail. He was the first Clerk of the Spotsylvania County in 1722. His son Edmund succeeded him in 1742. In 1747 he was made a Trustee of the city of Fredericksburg.
Waller sat in the House of Burgesses as a member for King William County in the session of 1720, which was extended into 1722.

Family

John Waller married Dorothy King circa 1697. They had six children: Mary, John, Thomas, William, Benjamin, and Edmund. Mary Waller married Zachary Lewis, and their daughter Ann Lewis married George Wythe, who signed the Declaration of Independence and taught Thomas Jefferson. Benjamin Waller married Martha Hall, and their daughter Dorothy Elizabeth Waller married Henry Tazewell in 1774. Their son Littleton Waller Tazewell was a senator and Governor of Virginia.