The following are notes copied directly from the notes of my worthy and respected cousin, Rick Waggoner:

John Waggener came to Virginia from England, probably around 1660-1665. He apparently was about 17 years old in 1660. He apparently came to Virginia with the assistance of Thomas Gouldman. It seems very likely that John came as an indentured servant, since this was the manner in which the majority of new immigrants came at this time. Since he is listed on deeds from 1668, and 1670 as a tailor, it is possible that he was some kind of apprentice. He apparently met Rachel Ward in Virginia and married her there by 1669. This was apparently after he finished his servitude or apprenticeship. Rachel was apparently about 16 years old in 1669. At this point I have no information on the origins of Rachel or John. John bought land as early as 1668 and apparently was selling some the next year. In the 1668 and 1670 deeds, he made payments of 5,500 lbs. and 2,600 lbs. of tobacco as payment for the deeds. This would lead one to believe he was pretty much involved in agriculture at that point also. In the 1708 deposition he describes himself as a planter, and most of the other records seem to support that he spent the rest of his life in this occupation. Throughout this time period, tobacco was the primary crop grown in this area of Virginia.

There are quite a few public records which concern or mention John, and which would seem to indicate that he was fairly prominent. I have tried to describe or transcribe the ones I have found, below. Almost all of the records describe him and Rachel as living in South Farnham Parish in Essex County. This parish basically consisted of the southern half of what became Essex County. From a 1705 deed describing an adjacent piece of property, their plantation was apparently near the north side of Hoskins Creek, which flows almost due east into the Rappahannock River, near the town of Tappahannock. This definitely would have been within South Farnham Parish. The Thomas Gouldman who was involved in John's transportation to Virgina, became a prominent citizen of Essex County, and was named one of the first Trustees of the newly formed town of Tappahannock in 1682. This would seem to indicate that if John was an indentured servant or apprentice, it was likely in the Essex County area, where he eventually obtained land, and where he and Rachel spent the rest of their lives. Old Rappahannock County, was split in 1692 into Essex County on the south of the Rappahannock River, and Richmond County on the north side.

In the depositions from 1708, John gives his age as 65 years old, and his wife Rachel gives her age as about 55 years old. This is the source of their dates of birth. It would seem that they had a fair sized plantation. In the Quit Rent list from 1704, John paid taxes on 400 acres of property. In 1715, he paid taxes on 100 acres, which it is presumed means he was already distributing his estate to his heirs. He was deceased the next year. The list of the property that was distributed in his will, as well as in the will of Rachel two years later, would seem to indicate that they were fairly well off.

Most of the children of John and Rachel also seemed to have also lived their lives in Essex County, but many of the grandchildren moved on. The plantation of John and Rachel itself, seems to have passed to their son Benjamin, and then to his son Benjamin Jr., who apparently sold it around 1770.

Previous researchers have given dates for all the children of John and Rachel. I had been using these dates, under the assumption that there were records to support them, but I have been unable to locate any such records. We know of the names of eight children, from John's will in 1715, Rachel's will in 1717 and the will of John Jr. in 1696. I have abandoned the previous used dates, and from the various records, made my own estimated dates of the births of the children:

John Jr., Andrew, and James clearly seem to be the oldest three children. I would guess that John Jr. was probably the oldest. These three all must have been born in the early to mid-1670's. Samuel and Margaret seem to be the next oldest children. They probably were born in the late 1670's. Herbert and Dinah seem to have been born a little later that Samuel and Margaret. I would guess that they were probably born in the early 1680's. Benjamin is identified as the youngest child in several records. It appears that he was viewed as "the baby" of the family, which probably means there were several years between him and Margaret or Herbert. I would guess that he was born in the early 1690's.