ock, in his will dated 1659,
says: "I give to my son Thomas Whitlock the land I live on, 600 acres,
when he is of the age 21, and during his minority to my wife. The land
not to be further made use of or by planting or seating than the first
deep branch that is commonly rid over, that my son may have some fresh
land when he attains to age."[6-22]

One may gain an idea of the condition of the very poorest class of
freemen by an examination of the inventory of the estate of Walter
Dorch, drawn up in 1684. This man possessed two pairs of woollen cards,
and one spinning wheel, valued at 100 pounds of tobacco, one chest at
eighty pounds, four old trays at twenty pounds, two runletts at forty
pounds, one pail and one skillet at sixty pounds, one bowl at two
pounds, one feather bed, two pillows and three old blankets at 120
pounds of tobacco, three glass bottles at twenty pounds, one couch frame
at forty pounds, one pair of pot-hooks at forty, 800 tenpenny nails at
forty-five, and one old table and one sifter at twenty pounds. In all
the estate was valued at 587 pounds of tobacco.[6-23]

John Gray, who died in 1685, left personal property worth 9,340 pounds
of tobacco, consisting in part of six cows and six calves, four
yearlings, two steers, one heifer, one barrel of corn, one bull, ten
hogs and one horse. He had no servants and no slaves.[6-24] In better
circumstances was Richard Avery, who seems to have been a tanner by
profession. The inventory of his estate, recorded in 1686, includes one
horse with bridle and saddle, a cart and a yoke of steers, eight head of
cattle, 25 hogs, 118 hides, various kinds of tools, lumber to the value
of 400 pounds of tobacco, four pieces of earthenware, four beds with
mattresses and covers, poultry to the value of 180 pounds of tobacco,
some wheat in the ground and a batch of wearing linen. The entire
personal estate was valued at 14,050 pounds of tobacco. It included no
servants or slaves.[6-25]

John Splitimber, who is entered as a headright to Thomas Harwood in
1635, is typical of the planter who rose from small beginnings to a
state of comparative prosperity. This man, at his death in 1677,
possessed eight cows, one bull, four yearlings, four mares, 35 hogs, two
horses, two bolsters, a pillow, two blankets, a mattress, two bedsteads,
two guns, fifty-six pounds of pewter, two rugs, a table, three chests,
one old couch, two iron pots, two kettles, two stilyards, shovel and
tongs, two sm