Of all the ancestors in the Scrivener line, my 4X-great grandfather, Francis Scrivener, was the largest landowner.
Francis Scrivener, the third son of John Scrivener and Mary Lewin, was born about 1742 in Anne Arundel County MD. This is the first appearance of the name Francis in the Scrivener family, and I have not been able to discover if Francis might have been named for some relative. His older brothers Richard and John appear to have been named for their maternal and paternal grandfathers respectively, a very common naming pattern. His younger brother, William, appears to have been named for his father's brother. But Francis is an outlier. Possibly he was named for a neighbor who was a family friend. However, I think that Francis may have been the source for the naming of his great-grandson, Frank Philip Scrivener.
In any case, Francis's father John drowned in the Patuxent River in 1757 when Francis was still a teenager. His older brother Richard died unmarried in 1762 and his older brother John died at about the same time leaving a wife and a daughter, Mary Scrivener. Thus Francis was left to take responsibility for his widowed mother and his handicapped younger brother. In 1771 Francis deeded to his mother 127 acres of his Carter Bennett property for her lifetime, with the proviso that his brother William would be able to live on the property without rent for his lifetime. Mary Scrivener died in 1772 with Francis as the executor of her estate. William died in 1797, living with Francis for the remainder of his life.
Although there doesn't seem to be a written record of his marriage, Francis was apparently married about 1770, in his late 20's. By the census of 1776, he appears in St. James Parish with a woman and four girls (Mary, Ann, Elizabeth, and Sarah) as well as sixteen slaves in his household. His neighbors were Samuel Chew, Lewis Scrivener (a cousin) and Morgan Jones.
Francis's three sons, John (my 3X-great grandfather), George, and Francis Jr., were born between 1776 and 1783. The Assessment of 1783 shows Francis Scrivener with 415 acres of Carter Bennett valued at $550. His household consisted of 4 white males and 5 white females, but only 1 white male was between the ages of 15 and 50, Francis himself. He was also assessed for 24 enslaved people. The 1790 Census of Anne Arundel County shows Francis's household as 3 white males under 16 (John, George, and Francis), 3 white males over 16 (Francis and his brother William and ?), and 5 white females (his wife, and daughters Mary, Ann, Elizabeth and Sarah).
I have not been able to identify Francis's first wife positively, but I suspect that she was Elizabeth Simmons, the daughter of Francis's neighbor, George Simmons. I base this in part on the common naming pattern that a second son would be named for his maternal grandfather. And George Simmons did have a daughter Elizabeth who was the right age to be Francis's wife and was unmarried when George wrote his will in 1764. The name George does not appear elsewhere in the Scrivener line up to this point. Circumstantial, I know, but that's the best I've got until some heretofore hidden record of marriage turns up.
In any case, his first wife and the mother of his children was dead by 1794 when Francis married for the second time to the already twice-widowed Eleanor Ward Lewin Robinson, the daughter of Quakers Robert and Elizabeth Ward of Anne Arundel County. Eleanor had two children by her marriage to Francis's cousin Richard Lewin: Eleanor and Richard. She and Francis had no children. Eleanor died in 1802.
During the years between 1769 and 1796, Francis amassed several large tracts of land, all near Herring Bay and the present-day village of Friendship in southern Anne Arundel County.
* Evans Purchase 200 acres
* Wells and West Wells 100 acres
* Kirketon's Choice 160 acres (whose history I have previously described)
In addition, Francis received several special warrants to resurvey his holdings in 1783 and 1793 to include additional vacant land adjoining the property, adding another 230 acres.
Francis Scrivener died in 1797 at about 55 years of age, leaving a will that named all seven of his children. His inventory shows an estate valued at about L2600, including 26 slaves ranging in age from five to fifty years. His household goods included four feather beds, two pine tables, a dozen "winsor" chairs and six two-armed chairs, a half dozen knives and forks, a spy glass, 950 gallons of cider and some shoemaker's tools. His livestock included 26 cows, four yoke of oxen, 23 hogs and nine horses. In other words, quite a sizeable estate. (Compare to his father's estate forty years earlier valued at L650.) Francis's oldest son John and his son-in-law John Whittington were the executors of the estate.
To his oldest son, John, he left his dwelling plantation at Carter Bennett as well as Wells and West Wells. To his son George he left two tracts--Kirketon's Choice and Evans Purchase. To his other children he left slaves.
However, it was many years before Francis's estate was finally settled because a suit was brought by Joseph Camden, the husband of Francis's niece, Mary Scrivener, claiming that Francis had never given his brother William his fair share of his parents' estate. William, who died in 1797, was described in the court record as "a simpleton incapable of managing his own affairs." William was unmarried and had lived with his brother since their mother's death.
The case must have kept southern Anne Arundel County entertained for years as both sides took dozens of depositions from the Scriveners' neighbors testifying to Francis's treatment of his brother. Some claimed that William was treated like a laborer and was afraid of his brother, while others claimed that William was treated as a beloved family member and never forced to work.
In the end, the court decided William was entitled to a greater share of his mother's estate and that share was eventually distributed to his Camden nieces and nephews in 1808, and to Francis's children, all of whom were still living, as shown below.
Elizabeth Scrivener married married John Whittington in 1797. Three children: Mary, Charles, and Samuel.
Mary Scrivener married Jack Wood in 1809. No children.
Sarah Scrivener married William Ward in 1800. Daughter Sarah.
Ann Scrivener married Henry Dowell in 1796. Children: Francis, Henry, Mary, Elizabeth, Ann, George Washington, Elijah, John, and Richard.
John Scrivener married Eliza Smith Boswell in 1817. Children: John, Sarah, Samuel, Elizabeth, William Boswell, Sydney, Francis, James, Priscilla, Maria Louise, Emily Augusta, and Rose Matilda.
George Scrivener married Lurana Childs in 1805, married Mary Ann Childs in 1807. No children.
Francis Scrivener married Ellen about 1810. Children: Samuel, Thomas, Ellen, James, and Henry. This is the origin of the Calvert County branch of the family.
Francis's son John ended up acquiring more of the Carter Bennett property through purchases in the early 1800's. His son George got into financial difficulties and lost his inherited properties, but was bailed out by his brother John who purchased his brother's tracts.
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