Thomas Batts

[3] Thomas Batte last appears in the records of Henrico County, Virginia in 1700 and must have died in 1701 or shortly thereafter, but certainly was dead by January 1, 1713, when his daughter Martha Cocke, adm. of John Banister dec'd, for amounts paid to her "by my late father, Thomas Batts of Henrico County, quitclaim to Richard Jones of Prince George County," certain slaves.

[4] On June 1, 1689, "Thomas Batte the elder" had made over to John Banister, Clerk, certain slaves.

"[5] Thomas Batte appears in a number of Henrico County records with William Byrd I, a well-connected fur trader and competitor of Abraham Wood.

They were acting under a commission granted to Abraham Wood and authorized by the Virginia House of Burgesses "for finding out the ebbing and flowing of the water behind the mountains, in order to the discovery of the South Sea" [a] The Batts and Fallam group is credited with discovering Woods River, now called the New River.

The Batts-Fallam Journal records that on September 17, 1671, "the Indians being impatient of longer stay, they proclaimed King Chas.

[10] The History and Present State of Virginia, in Four Parts published in 1705 and written by Robert Beverly (coincidentally, son-in-law of William Byrd I, stated elsewhere herein) states that William Berkeley "was also resolv'd to make new Discoveries abroad amongst the Indians" and "For this End he employ'd a small Company of about Fourteen English, and as many Indians, under the Command of Captain Henry Batt, to go upon such an Adventure."

They said, that not far off from that Place, lived a Nation of Indians, that made Salt, and sold it to their Neighbours.

The historical account of the expedition is contained in a letter from Abraham Wood to John Richards August 22, 1674.The expedition references "discoveries to the South or West sea in two years, which he was made sensible of by the hands of Thos.

Arthur Gabriel went on to explore lands as far south as the western coast of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico.