Fortunatus Sydnor

Fortunatus Sydnor was born about 1637 in Kent, England. His father may have been Edmund Sydnor born circa 1595. Fortunatus is thought to have come to the Virginia Colony about 1660. On December 5th, 1666 he witnessed a deed in Lancaster County, that is the earliest known record. Margaret Sydnor,who was almost certainly Fortunatus' sister was also in Lancaster County by 1671 when she married John Davenport. According to a 1970 article by Sydnor Thompson, Fortunatus Sydnor is responsible for the all of the Sydnors in America. Further stated by Thompson the Sydnor name no longer is carried in England but the name can be traced back in Kent from the time of Fortunatus Sydnor to 1422 when a Sydnor purchased Madekin Manor and other lands at Barham.

Fortunatus married Johanna or Joanna Lawson, daughter of Rowland Lawson and Lettice. Her father was one of the earliest immigrants to Lancaster County and one of the first justices. Fortunatus and Johanna had at least six children. The names and birthdates of Fortunatus' children were taken from a family Bible dated 1804 belonging to William Sydnor and had been transcribed from an earlier family Bible. In 1896 the Bible was in the possession of Burwell Starke of Hannibal Missouri, and the information was published in Tyler's Quarterly, later the Bible was destroyed in a fire. Fortunatus was on the County tithable list in 1668 with one tithable and two in 1674. He was named an as overseer of the estate of Hugh Brent's Estate in Brent's 1671 will. In 1678 Fortunatus was made a churchwarden for Christ Church Parish. In 1681 he purchased 111 acres from Thomas Keare.

Fortunatus Sydnor died without a will. The inventory of his estate was ordered on September 25th, 1683 and returned on March 15th, 1684. The estate listed a male and female servant, maybe indentured servants, three muskets and a barrel of nails (the handwriting on this document is very difficult to read).