Northhampton and Accomack Counties are not contiguous with the rest of Virginia, but rather are located on Cape Charles, a peninsula between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean often called the Eastern Shore. The counties are located across Chesapeake Bay from the James River and Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States. The peninsula also includes counties of Maryland as well as the entire state of Delaware.
Although there is 100 year time gap, other Bandys can be found in Accomack County through 1810. For example, in the 1772 will of Joshua Riggs, daughter Mary Bandy is listed as a residual legatee.[x] Mary's 1775 will lists Isaac Riggs as her administrator.[xi] I assume it is the same Mary. Sally Bandy is listed as an heir in the 1777 will of Isaac Riggs where she is identified as "my cousin."[xii]Kendall Bandy married Rosey Bunting on October 26, 1799.[xiii]Kendall is listed in the census of 1800 for Accomack County.[xiv] His age is listed as between 16 and 25 as is his wife (Rosey). They are listed as having two children, a boy and a girl, both under age 10. Kendall married Rachel Penn on July 5, 1804.[xv]Caleb Bandy is listed in the 1810 census of Accomack County (p. 12). It is not clear whether Caleb and Kendall are the same person. Caleb's age is listed as being between 26 and 45, and he is listed as living with a boy under age 10 and a girl between the ages of 10 and 15. As noted later in this chapter, it is possible that Caleb’s last name may possibly be Bundy. In 1820, Kendal Bandy is listed in the Elizabeth City County census (p. 115). Elizabeth City is across the Chesapeake from Accomack County. He and the only female in the household are both listed as being over age 45. The only other member of the household is a boy between ages of 10 and 15.
It is of course possible that these individuals are all somehow related, possibly as descendants, of the early persons with the name Band and/or Bandy. Given the very small population of Virginia in the 1600's and geographic proximity of the individuals it is very possible that the Bands and Bandys are the same family. In 1635, just before John Band acquired land, the population of Virginia was only 5,119.[xvi] As many individuals at that time could not write, the varied spellings may simply reflect the recorders’ interpretations of the names reported to them.
The descendants of this early group could have spread explaining, perhaps in part, the several pockets of Bandys along the eastern seaboard. These records of Bandys in Virginia in the mid-1600's establish that Bandys were among the earliest European settlers, and suggest that the group could be ancestors of some, perhaps many, Bandys in America today. The time gap between the earliest group found in the area in the 1600's and the latter group found in the late 1700's is puzzling. Did members of the group move away or die out? If they did move on, was it to Maryland?
[i]Immigrants to America Before 1750," The Magazine of American Genealogy, 1930.
