Once upon a time (in the 1700's), there were two cousins in Calvert County MD, both named James Weems. Now of course, their friends and family at the time could tell them apart. As for their future descendants, not so much. And the fact that Calvert County suffered not one but two Court House fires that destroyed pretty much all the 18th- and 19th-century records doesn't help. These two cousins have caused a lot of confusion for the family's historians. And because of their not-crystal-clear history, one or both of these men has even been sent off to other parts of the country to fill in a gap in someone else's family history.
So here is what I know about these Weems cousins.
David Weems, one of the immigrant Weems ancestors, (my 7X great-grandfather) lived in the southern part of Anne Arundel County MD, very close to the border with Calvert County MD. Arriving from Scotland in the early 1700's, David was a farmer and a trader with ships going across the ocean to England to bring back goods for sale. During the Revolutionary War, he used his ships to help the war effort.
David married twice and had a total of 19 children by his two wives, including a son James with his first wife, Elizabeth Lane.
James Weems of David (my 6X great-grandfather) was born at the family home, Marshes Seat, 22 May 1731. We can be fairly certain of that date because David kept a meticulous record in the family Bible, which was continued by his son Gustavus and fortunately for later generations is preserved at the Maryland Historical Society Library. We also know, thanks to the Bible, that James of David died 4 November 1784 in Calvert County MD.
In between those dates, James is named in the 1761 will of his brother Lock Weems, who died on a trip to England. James is also named as executor of the will of his brother-in-law, Richard Lane, in 1784, shortly before his own death.
Shortly before his death, James Weems (identified as James Weems of David) owned more than 600 acres of property in Calvert County MD, according to the 1783 Assessment found at the Maryland State Archives.
His property included
*pt of Regan
*Green House
*Chew's Purchase
*Grantham
*Fall Short
*Coxes Folly
*The Farm
*pt Coxes Choice
James of David married Sarah Isaac of Calvert County, the daughter of Sutton Isaac and his wife Mary. One clue is that their oldest son, born about 1760, was named Sutton Isaac Weems. Sarah is also identified as Sarah Weems in the 1764 will of her mother, Mary. Finally, the 1786 Tax List for Calvert County shows Sarah Weems along with five sons of James of David: Sutton, John, Loch, William, and David. (James and Sarah also had three daughters: Mary, Elizabeth, and Sarah.)
The 1800 Census of Calvert County shows two women over 45 in the household of Sutton Weems. One of these is likely his mother Sarah who presumably died in the county sometime thereafter.
So, while some researchers have suggested that this James moved to South Carolina and was the progenitor of that line of Weems, it seems very unlikely that this was the case given the strong evidence of his life in Maryland right up to the time of his death.
Family tradition says that James's sons David and William moved West about 1800 and there is not a lot of information about what happened to them. Band leader Ted Weems is said to descend from this David Weems.
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Now, as to the other James Weems.
David Weems the immigrant came to Maryland with his brother James Loch Weems (also my 7X great-grandfather, since I am descended from both brothers) who settled in Calvert County MD, not far from his brother. James married Sarah Parker, the daughter of George Parker and Susanna Parrott and the widow of John Stoddert, about 1727. James and Sarah's first child was a son, James Weems Jr. born about 1730, so very close in age to his cousin, above. James Weems Jr. had five younger siblings, one of whom, his sister Susannah, was my 6X great-grandmother.
Unfortunately, we don't have a nice detailed family Bible for the James Loch Weems family, but we know that James did have a son James Jr. because he deeded property to his son James in 1760 (probably at the time of his marriage) and left him further property in his will in 1778:
I give to my son James Weems and his Heirs forever the Land whereon he Lives and all other my Lands thereto adjoining together with the Water Mill bought of John Waters and also all my Lands near Calvert County Court House bought of Wm Woodward, John Wood, Richard Young, Thomas Tucker Wilson Jnr. G Clagate, the Lands I took up called The Meadows Preserved and my Lot adjoining said Court House.
The 1782 Assessment in Calvert County MD shows James Weems in possession of numerous properties, including specifically, the lot at the Court House (his father having died in 1779).
Sometime around 1760, James Weems Jr. married Margaret Terrett, the daughter of William Henry Terrett and Margaret Pearson. We have only indirect evidence for this, nothing so clear as a marriage license. The marriage probably took place in Virginia since that is where Margaret's family lived. Margaret Terrett's mother wrote her will in 1796 and named her grandchildren, the children of her deceased daughter Margaret Weems.
James Weems Jr. and Margaret Terrett had four children, who are named in a Chancery Case about the settlement of their grandfather Weems' estate in 1790:
*James T. (Terrett) Weems 1761
*Amelia Weems 1767
*Margaret Hall Weems 1768
*Nathaniel T. (Terrett) Weems 1772
After Margaret's death, James Weems Jr. married a second time to Frances MNU and had two daughters: Elizabeth and Wilhelmina.
James Weems Jr. seems to have had some issues with mental health. A Chancery suit (yet another suit about the estate of James Weems Sr. It was a very contentious estate, lucky for future genealogists since it gives us a lot of family history.) claims that about 1783 James Jr. became "hypochondriacal" to such a degree that he was confined to bed and his affairs had to be managed by his wife and other family members.
James Weems appears in the 1800 Census of Calvert County MD in Christ Church Parish, over the age of 45.
James Weems Jr. died about 1805 when the National Intelligencer advertises his property for sale in Calvert County MD under the direction of his son, Nathaniel T. Weems.
It seems that James Weems Jr. committed suicide. Letter of Mary Hesselius to Mrs. Ridout at White Hall, not dated, in a series with dates in the early 1800's [at Maryland State Archives]:
Dr. Clagett drank tea with us yesterday at Dr. Murray's. He mentioned a very shocking circumstance which was that Mr. James Weems of Calvert County having cut his throat. . . . He was a man in years, has a large family and many grandchildren.
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