Maryland 

              Maryland
first settlers  1634
became state    1781
first ancestor  1639
last ancestor   1810
# of ancestors    61
# of immigrants   25
# born in state   29
# died in state   52
  • ADAMS family (1658-1756)
  • BECK and DUNNINGTON families (1639->1785)
  • CHAPLINE family (1651-1740)
  • ELGIN family (1700ca-1810)
  • HANSON and HATTON families (1649-1732)
  • HARRISON family (1650ca-1776)
  • HOOPER family (1650-1676)
  • PERRY family (1670-1810)
  • PETTY family (1652-1665)
  • PLUMMER family (1667-1696)
  • RANSDALL family (1661-1666)
  • RILEY family (1675-1738)
  • EVANS & SMALLWOOD family (1650-1776)
  • STOCKETT family (1658-1698)
  • THOMPSON family (1634-1644)
  • TROOP family (1643-1673)
  • WELLS family (1652-1699)

    The second Lord Baltimore, Cecilius Calvert, received a charter for Maryland in 1632. The first settlers arrived at St. Mary's City in March 1634, which became the capital for 60 years. Tobacco grew successfully and made the colony profitable. However malaria, yellow fever, and typhoid made the life expectancy in Maryland 10 years less than in New England. Catholics were welcome in Maryland, although they were less than 10% of the population. Puritans from Virginia inhabited Kent Island in 1631, founded Providence (Annapolis) in 1642, seized Kent Island again in 1644 and took over St. Mary's. Lord Baltimore's younger brother, Leonard Calvert, took the city back in 1646. Puritans revolted again in 1650, and for eight years ruled the land, persecuted Catholics, and burned down all of the Catholic churches. Most of the original settlers, including our ancestors, arrived as indentured servants who had to work several years to pay for their boat passage. African slaves were also a part of the mix, and were originally treated similar to the indentured servants. As economic conditions improved in England, fewer indentured servants arrived and the labor pool shifted more to Africans.

    Land in Maryland was granted to anybody who paid for passage over from England at the rate of 50 acres per person. Tracts tended to be 100 to 300 acres, although one person might acquire numerous adjacent parcels. Each parcel was registered with a name when it was surveyed, such as "The Hope", and would be described in documents such as wills with just the name. The names would then change if the property changed hands and the new owner resurveyed the land or subdivided it. This means that for many of the ancestors, we know the names of their land but have no idea where they are located, other than which county. Of the seven original counties in Maryland, our ancestors lived in four of them: St. Mary's and Charles on the north bank of the Potomac River, and Calvert and Anne Arundel on the west bank of Chesapeake Bay. They also lived in Hoopers Islands in the Bay, and owned land at the northern tip of the Bay. Charles County originally extended north to include part of what is now Washington D.C., and two ancestors owned land in this part near Capitol Hill. Only one house built by our ancestors still exists (the Elgin house), although a second house built by a grandson on our ancestor's land is now on the National Registry of Historic Properties.

    I have yet to find a grave for any of our ancestors in Maryland. The oldest cemeteries in the state are located by churches, but most people were buried in family lots on plantations. There was no legal protection for these graves, and they were usually plowed up by future owners wanting to enlarge their plantations.

    The ADAMS family (1658-1756) 

        |-George Elgin
    |                 |-Francis Adams
    |-Elizabeth Adams-|
                      |-Grace Thomas

    FRANCIS ADAMS, born in England about 1643, was brought to Maryland as an indentured servant by Zacharias Wade in 1658. Three years later FRANCIS obtained 185 acres of a larger tract in Charles County called "Troop's Rendevous" surveyed for Robert Troop on the east side of the Avon River.. In 1669 FRANCIS married GRACE THOMAS, who also immigrated from England, and they had at least six children: John, Charles, James, Francis, Benjamin, and ELIZABETH. FRANCIS died in 1698 and GRACE in 1699. ELIZABETH married GEORGE ELGIN in 1708.

    The BECK and DUNNINGTON families (1639->1785) 

       |-John Perry
   |                    |-Francis Dunnington           |-Richard Beck
   |-Rebecca Dunnington-|               |-Richard Beck-|
                        |-Margaret Beck-|              |-Elizabeth
                                        |-Elizabeth

    In Virginia and Maryland, people were granted land for paying for the passage of new settlers across the ocean. In 1639 Walter Pakes of James City County was so granted for transporting 8 persons, including RICHARD BECK. RICHARD married ELIZABETH and moved to Charles County, Maryland by 1650 when their son RICHARD (2) was born. When the father died in 1668, ELIZABETH married Nicholas Emerson before dying three years later. The son RICHARD (2) also married an ELIZABETH (2) around 1673. They had three daughters including MARGARET BECK born May 1, 1674. They probably lived on a 200 acre tract called "Howland" on the south side of Mattawoman Creek near its headwaters. MARGARET married FRANCIS DUNNINGTON about 1696 and they had six children. FRANCIS immigrated from England in 1685 as a servant to Madam Mary Chandler. Their daughter REBECCA DUNNINGTON married JOHN PERRY about 1718.

    The CHAPLINE family (1651-1740)

    Note: the following description includes both Virginia and Maryland. The dates above are only for Maryland 
                                                                  |-William Chapline
                                           |-William Chapline-|
                        |-William Chapline-|                  |Mary Hooper
    |-William Chapline -|                  |-Susannah Kemball
    |                   |-Elizabeth Riley
    |-Ann Forman

    Since the Chapline family started in Virginia, moved to Maryland, then went back to Virginia, their story is told entirely in the Virginia chapter.

    The ELGIN family (1700ca-1810) 

                                          |-George Elgin
                      |-William Elgin-|
    |-Frederick Elgin-|               |-Elizabeth Adams
    |                 |-Elizabeth Harrison
    |-Catherine Perry

    GEORGE ELGIN emigrated from Scotland to Maryland around 1700. He started as a tailor living in Port Tobacco, Charles County, Maryland. About 1708 he married ELIZABETH ADAMS and purchased two tracts of land, 100 acres called "Batchelor's Rest" and 250 acres called "Batchelor's Agreement", in Nanjemoy, Charles County. When he died in 1748, he bequethed this land to two of his sons, John and WILLIAM, with the stipulation that his wife would control WILLIAM's land until she died, which happened eight years later. WILLIAM married ELIZABETH HARRISON in 1752, and soon after built a house on his land that still exists on Port Tobacco Road. A grist mill was added to the property in the early 1800s by his son or grandson, which also still exists as the oldest mill in the county. In his will written in 1794, WILLIAM gave his land to his son Joseph, and livestock, tobacco, and slaves to his other children and grandchildren, except he gave only money to his youngest son FREDERICK. This might indicate that FREDERICK had already left the state and had no use for anything other than money. FREDERICK married CATHERINE PERRY in Charles County on Apr 21, 1791. Their first two children, Thomas and MARY S. were born in Maryland, but their next five or six children were born in Loudown County, Virginia, the most populous county in Virginia at that time, and the other four or five children were born in Kentucky. The family moved to Woodford County, Kentucky, by 1810 when FREDERICK bought 336 acres for $2,000 along Brushe Run. CATHERINE died in Woodford County in 1825, whereas FREDERICK died in Christian County in 1827 and was buried in a grave where the present Western State Hospital now stands. Daughter MARY married JAMES MCCORMICK September 17, 1816. Her three children were born in Kentucky before she died around 1824.

    The HANSON and HATTON families (1649-1732) 

        |-Joseph Harrison
    |             |-Randolph Hanson
    |-Mary Hanson-|
                  |-Barbara Hatton-|
                                   |-Margaret Domville

    MARGARET DOMVILLE married RICHARD HATTON in England about 1623, and they had seven children born in England, including BARBARA HATTON born in 1633. RICHARD died in England in 1648, and MARGARET and the children came to Maryland in 1649, where she married Richard Banks in St. Mary's County. They lived in Poplar Hill Hundred in that county (across the St Mary's River from St Marys City), where she died about 1667. BARBARA married James Johnson in St. Mary's County in 1650, and they had two children. When he died, she married RANDOLPH HANSON around 1660. RANDOLPH was born in England about 1622, and lived in Charles County, Maryland when he came to America. They had seven children including MARY HANSON, born about 1664, who married JOSEPH HARRISON by 1688.

    The HARRISON family (1650ca-1776) 

                                                                  |-Joseph Harrison
    |-William Elgin                         |-Joseph Harrison-|
    |                    |-Richard Harrison-|                 |-Elizabeth Troop
    |-Elizabeth Harrison-|                  |-Mary Hanson
                         |-Hesther Smallwood

    JOSEPH HARRISON (1), born about 1639 in England, immigrated to Charles County, Maryland, where the Harrison family lived for the next four generations on the north side of the eastern-most branch of the Avon River (Nanjemoy Creek). He married ELIZABETH TROOP about 1659, had around seven children including JOSEPH HARRISON (2), and left a will which was probated December 26, 1673. ELIZABETH died sometime after her husband died. Their son JOSEPH (2), born around 1660, married MARY HANDON, and like his father also had seven children, including RICHARD. MARY died by 1715, and JOSEPH (2) then married Catherine, who outlived him. RICHARD married HESTER SMALLWOOD about 1708, and they had six children including their youngest, ELIZABETH, born in 1730. His will in 1734 left five tracts of land to his three living sons, including what was probably his dwelling on Chinkamuxon Road (which now runs over ten miles through the western part of the county near the Potomac River). ELIZABETH married William Elgin in 1752.

    There are two pieces of confusion for the Harrison family. First, there are two possible fathers for JOSEPH HARRISON (1), both of which immigrated to Virginia. Some people claim his father was Cuthbert Harrison, who immigrated to Stafford County, Virginia with his son Burr Harrison, but there are no records indicating he had a son named Joseph. Other people claim JOSEPH's father was Benjamin Harrison, who immigrated to Isle of Wight, Virginia. Benjamin did have a son named Joseph, but there is no record connecting him with the Charles County Harrisons. Also some people have a different line of succession between JOSEPH (1) and RICHARD. They say a second son of JOSEPH (1) named Richard, born 1659, married Jane Delahaye. Their son named Joseph married Verlinda Stone and had a son named Richard, who they claim was RICHARD who married HESTER. However I think their son Richard married Dorothy Hanson.

    The HOOPER family (1650-1676) 

        |-William Chapline
    |             |-Henry Hooper
    |-Mary Hooper-|
                  |-Sarah

    HENRY HOOPER, born about 1605 in England, arrived in Maryland in 1650 with his wife SARAH and five children: Sarah, Richard, Henry, Elizabeth, and MARY. HENRY received a land grant and settled on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay. By 1661 he had patented 1,750 acres in Calvert County. Records of the Provincial County show him buying and selling servants, alongside disputes over tobacco, sugar, and other commodities. He served as a member of the grand jury, was appointed a captain in the county militia, and was appointed a county justice of the peace. He died in 1676 in Calvert County. His daughter MARY married WILLIAM CHAPLINE in 1650 (see Chapline family).

    The PERRY family (1670-1810) 

                                                      |-Thomas Perry
    |-Frederick Elgin                |-John Perry-|
    |                 |-Thomas Perry-|            |-Mary
    |-Catherine Perry-|              |-Rebecca Dunnington
                      |-???

    THOMAS PERRY arrived in Charles County, Maryland in 1670. He married MARY about 1700 and they had seven children, including JOHN born about 1700. THOMAS left a will recorded in January 1717/8 in which he mentions all of his children. JOHN married REBECCA DUNNINGTON about 1700, and they had nine children, including THOMAS born in 1728. His will written February 1763 lists all nine children and his wife. The land given to some of his sons was called "Perry's Hunting Place", in Port Tobacco. His son THOMAS lived in Nanjemoy Lower Hundred in 1778, which is where the Elgin family had their plantation. CATHERINE PERRY was born in 1769 and married FREDERICK ELGIN in 1791.

    The PETTY family (1652-1665) 

        Hubert Petty

    HUBERT PETTY landed in Calvert County, Maryland in 1652 as an indentured servant to William Turner. His apprenticeship was for seven years, although he was able to obtain his release around 1655. In 1665 he bought 150 acres of land in Lancaster County, Virginia. See the Virginia chapter for his full story.

    The PLUMMER family (1667-1696) 

        |-Hugh Riley
    |                  |-Thomas Plummer
    |-Margaret Plummer-|
                       |-Elizabeth Stockett

    THOMAS PLUMMER came to Maryland in 1667 when he was about 33 years old. His passage from England was paid by William Stanley. He soon married ELIZABETH STOCKETT, and they had five children, including MARGARET. In 1672 THOMAS bought 100 acres from her uncle, Henry Stockett, part of a large tract called "Stockett Run" where the three Stockett brothers lived in Anne Arundel County. THOMAS bought several other tracts, some from his uncles. He died in 1694 and mentioned MARGARET in his will.

    The RANSDALL family (1661-1666) 

        Edward Ransdall

    The first mention of the EDWARD RANSDALL name in America was in records dated 1661 and 1666 in St. Mary's County, Maryland. But he and his children seem to have lived mainly in Westmoreland County, Virginia. See the Virginia chapter for his full story.

    The RILEY family (1675-1738) 

        |-William Chapline
    |                 |-Hugh Riley
    |-Elizabeth Riley-|
                      |-Margaret Plummer

    HUGH RILEY, who was born in Virginia (see Virginia chapter) settled in Calvert County, Maryland by 1675 when he married MARGARET PLUMMER. They had at least eight children, including ELIZABETH born in 1685. HUGH was a carpenter, farmer, and land surveyor. He eventually acquired enough wealth to speculate in land; he owned over 25 parcels in his lifetime, including "Hogyard", which was land about five blocks east of the current Capitol Building in Washington, D.C..

    The EVANS & SMALLWOOD family (1650-1776) 

        |-Richard Harrison                     |-James Smallwood
    |                   |-Thomas Smallwood-|              |-William Evans
    |-Esther Smallwood-|                  |-Hester Evans-|
                        |-????                            |-????

    WILLIAM EVANS arrived in Maryland in 1650 with his wife and at least two children, John and HESTER. He died within a year, and his wife remarried John Nicholls. HESTER married JAMES SMALLWOOD, who immigrated from England by 1664. They had twelve children, including THOMAS, all of who were born and died in Charles County. HESTER died in 1693, and JAMES then married Mrs. Mary (Eden) Thompson. He died in 1714, having been listed many times in the records for either owning land, appraising estates, or overseer of wills. In 1676 he was appointed "post" to convey public intellignece from Charles County to his Lordship and Council. In 1683 he was a commissioner of Charles County, in 1694 he was high sheriff of the county, and from 1692 until his death represented Charles County in the Maryland Assembly. He was appointed Major and in 1692 was authorized to raise a company on the east side of Port Tobacco Creek and the north side of the Potomac River. He was promoted to Lt. Colonel by 1700, and after his death was regularly called Colonel. In addition JAMES was licensed to run an ordinary (tavern) at Chandlertown (now Port Tobacco). At his death, he was living on his second wife's plantation in Prince George County.

    THOMAS SMALLWOOD was born in the mid 1670s. He had his cattle and hogs recorded in 1692, and was executor of his brother John's will in 1694. When his brother James died, THOMAS took in two children being raised by James who were their deceased brother William's children. THOMAS acquired at least four tracts of land amounting to 850 acres. At the time of his death in 1734 he was married to Alice, who was probably his second wife and not the mother of his children. His daughter ESTHER married RICHARD HARRISON.

    Major General William Smallwood, a great grandson of JAMES SMALLWOOD via son Prior and grandson Bayne, was a Revolutionary War hero who fought in many battles of the war. He was elected to the American Congress after the war, and later became Governor of Maryland. His estate, called "Smallwood Retreat", is now Smallwood State Park near the western border of Charles County. It originally belonged to his father Bayne Smallwood who called it Mattawoman Plantation. Perhaps JAMES SMALLWOOD's many holdings included this tract or was in this part of the County.

    The STOCKETT family (1658-1698) 

        |-Thomas Plummer
    |                    |-Thomas S. Stockett
    |-Elizabeth Stockett-|
                         |-Mary Wells

    THOMAS STOCKETT came from England to Maryland in 1658 with his two brothers Francis and Henry, and later joined by his oldest brother Lewis. THOMAS served in the Lower House at St. Marys in 1661 through 1666, was a Justice of Baltimore County from 1661 to 1668, High Sheriff of Anne Arundel County in 1668, and Deputy Surveyor General in 1670. He owned land in Baltimore County and Harford County - he was probably the first settler on the site of Havre De Grace - and lived in Anne Arundel County with his brothers on "Stockett Run" in his last few years. His grandson built a house on this lind that is now called Obligation Farm and is on the National Registry of Historic Properties. He married MARY WELLS and they had four or five children, including ELIZABETH born about 1658. After THOMAS died in 1671, MARY married George Yates and had three more children.

    The THOMPSON family (1634-1644) 
                           |-Richard Thompson
    Elizabeth Thompson-|
                       |-Ursula Bysshe

    RICHARD THOMPSON was born in England in 1613. He came first to Kent Island as a member of William Claiborne's 1631 expedition before the Catholic Calverts became the proprietors of Maryland in 1632. He returned to England in 1634 and came back to Maryland in 1636 with his wife and one son. When his wife was killed by Indians, he married URSULA BISH, who was a niece of William Claiborne. They had three children, Sarah, ELIZABETH, and Richard, all born in Maryland. RICHARD owned 1430 acres on Kent Island called "Thompson's Manor" which were surveyed in 1640. RICHARD was a member of the Maryland assembly in 1637-8 and 1641-2, Burgess for Kent County 1642; and Commissioner for the island of Kent 1642. However, since RICHARD was a Protestant, he along with others were proclaimed in 1644 by the Catholic rulers of Maryland to be enemies, and all trade and correspondence with them by Marylanders was prohibited. He them moved to Northumberland County, Virginia, where he died in 1649. After his death, URSULA married three more times: Col. John Mottrom, George Colclough and Isaac Allerton. ELIZABETH married Peter Presley in 1660, had six children, and died in Northumberland County in 1720.

    The TROOP family (1643-1673) 

        |-Joseph Harrison
    |                 |-Robert Troope
    |-Elizabeth Troop-|

    ROBERT TROOPE immigrated to Charles County from England by 1643 when his daughter ELIZABETH was born. We do not know who his wife was or when she died. ROBERT patented a tract of land called "Scotland Yard" about 1663 which is located just to the north of the Capitol building in Washington (Charles County originally included part of what is now the District of Columbia). He also surveyed a parcel called "Troops Rendezvous" just west of Port Tobacco, that was evenually owned in part by FRANCIS ADAMS. In his will writen in July 1666 he gives 550 acres in four tracts to his grandchildren, so he must not have had any sons. One tract was on the Anacostine River, which runs through the eastern part of Washington. ELIZABETH married JOSEPH HARRISON about 1659.

    The WELLS family (1652-1699) 

        |-Thomas S. Stockett
    |            |-Richard Wells
    |-Mary Wells-|
                 |-Frances

    RICHARD WELLS, born in England in 1610, a wealthy liberal Puritan educated as a surgeon, came first in 1637 to Charles City County, Virginia, northwest of Jamestown. He soon married FRANCIS and moved to Upper Norfolk County on the south side of the James River, where there were other Puritan families. They had eleven children, all born in Virginia except for the youngest. RICHARD served in the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1645 from Upper Norfolk County. He moved to Maryland to seek religious freedom in 1652 and lived on 600 acres on the West side of Herring Bay along Stockett Creek. He served as commissioner of Anne Arundel County starting in 1657, and has a Justice starting in 1654. He obtained about 3000 acres of land in at least six parcels, including 1,100 acres in Baltimore City. When he died in 1667, his son Richard inherited his manor, while his daughter MARY inherited 3 cows and 100 pounds of money. FRANCES died before RICHARD.

    Bibliography:
    "Historical Southern Families. Volume XII" by Mrs. John Bennett Boddie, 1968 (p. 13 Edward Ransdell)
    www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us - Early Colonial Settlers of Sounthern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck Counties