"18 Nov 1707 - Judgmt is granted George Durkin aft Nicholas Lehugh for his Corne and Cloaths according to the old Law, he having served the said Lehugh his full Indented time and ordered the sd Lehugh pay the same to the sd Dunkin only deducting two bushells and a halfe of Corne pd by ye sd Lehugh for ye sd Dunkin by order of Capt John Howson with Costs of suite als Ex." (1)
Nicholas appears to have been one of several servants with French surnames that arrived on the same ship. (1) (2) (5)
"Since the name Nicholas Lehugh appears in the records of Northumberland County, Virginia, as early as 1688 [should be 1670], it seems most likely that his son Peter was born in Northumberland County, and that it was Nicholas who was the immigrant ancestor. There seems to be general agreement that our immigrant ancestor came from France, and in some branches of the family there persists to the present day a tradition that their immigrant ancestors was a Huguenot who fled the renewed persecutions which followed the 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes. [New evidence has been discovered that he came to America 15 years before the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.] The legend (we find similar ones in other Huguenot families) is that Nicholas had himself shipped to England in a hogshead, and later made his way to America. Whether this is true or not, it makes a good story, and the time when his name begins to appear in Northumberland County records ties in well enough for him to have been one of the Huguenots who were making their way to England and on to the American Colonies after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. [New evidence reveals that his arrival as an indentured servant is documented in Northumberland County, Virginia court records.]
"Nicholas Lehugh's name appears in Northumberland County records at intervals from 1688 until February 1718/19, when his son Peter and his wife Mary of Wicomico Parish came into court to swear that Nicholas had died without making a will, and were appointed administrators of his estate. No other family members are mentioned in the records, and it is presumed there were none. Nicholas' estate seems to have consisted of an eighty-acre farm (possibly used for raising tobacco?) and considerable personal property. A 1722 record shows mary, widow of Nicholas, making a declaration regarding the release of her dower rights in the land, which she and Peter, of "Wiccocomoco" Parish in Northumberland County, sold to John Jordan. The inventory of Nicholas' personal property is recorded in Northumberland County Record Book for 1718-26, and includes three slaves, plus the infant of one of them." (3)
(2) Ruth Sparacio and Sam Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Northumberland County, Virginia 1669-1673 (McLean, Virginia: The Antient Press, 1995), 18, quoting Northumberland County, Virginia Order Book 1666-1678, 96.
(3) James Huston Le Hue and Edith Foster, Peter LeHew of Front Royal, Virginia and Some of His Descendants (Elburn, Illinois: n.p., 1967), 5-6.
(4) Ronald D. Warta, "Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: User Home Pages: Lahew, Lahue, Layhew, Leahew, Lehew, Lehug," Family Tree Maker, accessed 8 Feb 2007.
(5) County Court of Northumberland County, Virginia, Order Book 1666-1678, p. 49, Microfilm 32642, Item 2, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.