case file № 4 · from The Temples

The real rebel and the invented ancestor

A man hanged in 1677 is over-documented. The English clergyman placed above him never existed in this family at all.

The claim you may have met

That Anthony Arnold, hanged in 1677 for his part in Bacon's Rebellion, was the son of “Rev. Thomas Arnold of Westbury-on-Severn,” an English clergyman — and that a petition of 1688 names Anthony's children.

Where it comes from: a 1935 family history that confused two Thomas Arnolds, and the trees that copied it. Not a forgery: this project first blamed a famous Victorian forger, and withdrew that when checked.

What happened

Anthony Arnold of New Kent County, hanged on 15 March 1677 for his part in Bacon's Rebellion, is as real as a colonial ancestor gets: Hening's Statutes three times, the Calendar of State Papers three times — including the 1677 petition of his “four poor distressed orphans” — the House of Burgesses, the patent abstracts. He declared at his trial that he would rise again if given the chance, and they hanged him in chains for it.

Above him the tree carried “Rev Thomas Arnold of Westbury-on-Severn” — an English graft, now deleted. The project first blamed a famous Victorian forger for it, and that attribution was itself withdrawn when checked: the forgery is real and the date is right, but its content has zero overlap with the graft. The error that actually matches is milder and sadder — a 1935 family history listing a Thomas Arnold “by many erroneously considered” to be a different Thomas Arnold entirely. Confusion, not fraud.

Two rungs in this story are soft and must stay soft. No surviving record states that Benjamin Arnold was Anthony's son: the link rests on the 1688 restoration of the confiscated land to the family, and the county historian said it in print in 1955 — “nowhere is he actually stated to have been a son of the condemned man.” Strong inference, universally accepted, graded exactly that. And the often-cited “1688 petition” does not exist: the orphans' petition is 1677–80 and names no child; the 1688 item is a land patent.

The records, in order

1 of 5
15 MAR 1677EXECUTION
Anthony Arnold hanged in chains for Bacon's Rebellion.
Recorded three times in Hening's Statutes and three times in the Calendar of State Papers.
2 of 5
1677PETITION
The petition of his “four poor distressed orphans.”
The family's survival, on the record — but no child is named in it.
3 of 5
1688LAND PATENT
The confiscated land returns to the family.
The whole basis of the Benjamin link — an inference from restoration, not a statement of sonship.
4 of 5
1955HISTORIAN'S CAUTION
“Nowhere is he actually stated to have been a son of the condemned man.”
The county historian, in print — the grade this page keeps.
5 of 5
4 AUG 2026GRAFT DELETED
“Rev Thomas Arnold of Westbury-on-Severn” removed from the tree.
Confusion in a 1935 family history, not fraud — the first attribution to a forger was itself withdrawn when checked.

Anthony Arnold: proven. Benjamin as his son: strong inference, not proven. The English father: deleted.

Being right and being justified are different properties — the graft was deleted not because the family needed a tidier tree but because no record supports it.

If your tree carries this line

Remove Rev. Thomas Arnold of Westbury-on-Severn; no record connects him to this family. Keep Anthony Arnold — he is as documented as a colonial ancestor gets. Carry Benjamin Arnold as Anthony's son by strong inference, not as proven. And do not cite a “1688 petition”: the orphans' petition is 1677–80 and names no child, and the 1688 item is a land patent.

What would change it

Any record naming Anthony's children by name — the 1677–80 petition survives but names none of the four orphans.

The full story

This case is told at length on the blog: The Hanged Man and the Counterfeit Parson.

The people in this file

✦ Anthony Arnold (1635–1677) · ✦ Ann Arnold (c. 1705–c. 1781)