Did John Hendrickson come from England on a prison ship?

YDNA proves that our John Hendrickson’s male Hendrickson line is unlike any other Hendrickson/Hendricks line in the colonial America era. He first shows up in Loudoun County, Virginia in 1760. But where did he come from?

Some family members report in different history books a different place for where the Hendricksons are from:

• History of Shelby County, Indiana says the Hendrickson family comes from Wales
• History of Marion County, Ohio says the family comes from England
• History of Johnson County Indiana says the family comes from Ireland

In 1743 John Hendrick is accused of stealing tobacco from the wharf near St. George, Botolph Lane, in London.

He is found guilty and sentenced to 7 year bondage/indenture in the American colonies.

They have to wait for the ship “George William” to fill with prisoners, so he doesn’t sail for America until around January 1744 and it arrives in Virginia and Maryland in April 1744. His indenture/prison papers would have been sold to the highest bidder and his 7 years’ indenture would have begun at that time.

That means he would be released from bondage around April 1751.

It appears he and Eve begin to have children around 1751, but his first record as “John Hendrickson” appears in 1760 Loudoun County, VA. Where was he from 1751 to 1760?

There is a John Hendricks who serves in the French & Indian war from Frederick County, MD in 1757. It’s just across the Potomac River from Loudoun, VA. Two other prisoners from the same George William ship, Griffith Merrick and Thomas Birk, are also on the same roster.

I researched all the prisoners on the George William ship. Of those I could find, most of them settle in the Frederick MD and Loudoun/Fairfax VA area.

When he goes to Fayette, PA, his records and his kids’ records are sometimes Hendricks or Hendrick until the family finally settles on Hendrickson (for the most part – some kids continue to use Hendricks and have YDNA matches to this same line).

We’ll never know if John Hendrick the convict is John Hendrickson the farmer, but the age and locations (and the locations of the others from the prison ship) seem to indicate this as a strong possibility. And it might explain why the YDNA is so unique.