The first Herndon in America, of whom we have authentic record, is William, who patented lands in New Kent County, Virginia, in Feb. 1674. He married in 1677, Catherine Digges, daughter of Edward Digges, Colonial Governor of Virginia 1656-1658. Through this Digges connection the Herndon family is eligible to many of the Patriotic Societies, among them:

The Society of Daughters of the Barons of Runnemede--ancestor, Edward Digges.
The Society of Colonial Governors--ancestor, Edward Digges.
The Society of Daughters of the Crown--ancestor, Edward Digges to Alfred the Great.
The Society of Founders and Patriots--ancestors, Edward Digges.
The Society of Scions and Cavaliers--ancestor, Edward Digges, son of Sir Dudley Digges.
The Society of The First Families of Virginia--ancestor, Sir Dudley Digges, father of Edward Digges, whose daughter, Catherine, married William Herndon.

Reference of the above is found--Virginia Historical Magazine, Vol. 9, pp. 318, 319; William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 1, pp. 87, 88, 140, 141; and in Herndon, Hunt and Allied Families, p. 55, by Nesbit and Wood.