Col. John Thorowgood Jr.

Virginia Beach County · dedicated 2017 · 5381 Shell Road, at Lake Lawson/Lake Smith Natural Area

John Thorowgood Jr., Revolutionary-era leader, lived on an 840-acre plantation near here, on Little Creek. He was elected to the Convention of 1776, which adopted Virginia's resolutions for independence, the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and the state’s first Constitution. Thorowgood represented Princess Anne County in the inaugural session of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1776 and served for six additional terms. During the Revolutionary War he commanded the county militia and by 1781 was a prisoner of war. In his will, written in 1786, he directed that his enslaved African Americans be freed after the deaths of his siblings, to whom they were bequeathed.

Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library

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Col. John Thorowgood Jr.

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