#52 Ancestors 2023 Week 5 Oops: Barbara Smith and the Revolution of 1689

1689 was a pivotal year for the Maryland Colony.  Following the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 in England, where the Catholic monarchy was overthrown in favor of a Protestant one, the Puritans in Maryland decided to take the same tack.  Led by John Coode, the Puritans revolted against the Catholic proprietary government of Charles Calvert, Baron Baltimore.  The victorious rebels set up a new government that outlawed Catholicism, thus ending the colony's experiment with religious toleration.

My 8X-great grandfather, Captain Richard Smith Jr., was the son of Richard Smith, the immigrant ancestor of this branch, the Attorney General of Maryland and one of the Burgesses for Calvert County.

Captain Smith was one of the few Protestants to side with Lord Baltimore, leading his militia company in a losing battle against the rebels. When the new Protestant government tried to hold an election of Burgesses, Smith urged the people of Calvert County to hold no election, claiming that the writs were illegal. Smith was imprisoned for his efforts. 

Captain Smith, who was born in England and regarded himself as a loyal subject who had broken no laws, protested vehemently, but to no avail, to the British authorities for his release. Gentlemen who tried to carry reports of the trouble to England were not allowed to board ships.  Their letters were withheld from the mailbags of the sailing masters. 

So here is where the heroine appears, succeeding where the men failed. Coode's government made the mistake (Oops!) of allowing Barbara Smith, Captain Richard's wife and my 8X-great grandmother, to sail for England, clearly underestimating her abilities. Not only did Barbara carry her husband's letter, she wrote one of her own, outlining her husband's grievances for the Right Honorable Lords Commissioners of their Majesties plantations and presented a petition for his release in December 1689. See Below. 

Her letter argued that her husband, along with Calvert County Sheriff Michael Taney, had been imprisoned unjustly for more than a year; that they were good Protestants and loyal to the Protestant King and Queen (William and Mary). Her argument carried the day, and Captain Smith was released. He was later appointed Surveyor General for Maryland. In an ironic twist, when Col. Coode was later tried for misdeeds, Captain Smith was one of the jurors. 

30th Decer 1689.

Upon the 25th of March last a rumour was spread abroard about the mouth of Puttuxent River that Ten Thousand Indians were come down to the Western Branch of the said River. whereupon my husband went up to the said Western Branch where he found noe Indians but there a strong Report that nine Thousand were at Matapany and at the mouth of Puttuxent [Patuxent] and that they had cutt off Capt BOURNES Family and had inforted themselves at Matapany, which was all false, upon these rumours the Country rose in Arms, but after diligent search and enquiry in all parts of the Province this rumour was found to be only a sham and noe Indians anywhere appeared to disturb or molest any the People of our Province. All which reports I do verily believe were designedly spread abroard to incite the People to rise in Armes as afterwards by the like Sham they were induced to doe. For in the latter end of July following one Capt CODE, Coll. JOWLES, Majr BEAL Mr BLACKISTON ¹ with some others appeared in Armes and gave for their pretence that the Papists had invited the Northern Indians to come down and cutt off the Protestants and that their descent was to be about the latter end of August when roasting Eares were in season and that they therefore rose in Armes to secure the Magazine of armes and amunition and the Protestants from being cutt off by the said Indians and Papists, this was their pretence to those they found very apprehensive of the said Indians to others they said their design was only to proclaim the King and Queen, but when the aforesd persons with some others had gathered together a great number of People together they then came out and seized upon the Government, who withstood them first at St Maryes in the State House where the Records are kept, whom the said CODE and his party soon overcame and seized upon the Records, from thence he proceeded with his party to Matapany House, wherein Coll. DARNALL ² with some Forces as many Protestants as Papists had garrisoned themselves, but were soon forced to capitulate, surrender and yeild, to the said CODE and his party. They having thus possessed themselves of the Government one JOHNSON Master of a Ship being bound for England, they gave him charge he should carry noe Letters but what was sent for themselves, and my Husband they arrested and put in prison for fear he should goe for England with the said JOHNSON to give an accompt of their proceedings and as soon as the said JOHNSON was gone they released him again. The said CODE and his Complices then sent out Letters to all the Countys of the Province to choose an Assembly; what was done in the rest of the Countys besides Calvert and Ann Arrundell I am not acquainted with, ³ but when the said Letters for the choosing of Burgesses came to our Sheriff to summon the people for that purpose he refused the same, they then went to Mr CLEGATT Corroner and he also refused (who are both Protestants) whereupon Coll. JOWLES rode about to give the people notice himself. When the County were come together most of the House Keepers agreed not to choose any Burgesses, and drew up an abhorence against such proceedings, the which Election was alsoe much opposed by our Sheriff, whereupon Coll. JOWLES gathered his soldiers and caused the Election to be made by the number he had which was not above Twenty and of them not above ten that were capable of Electing. Coll. JOWLES himself and Majr BEAL his next Officer were returned for two of the Burgesses elected, and because Mr TANEY the Sheriff and my Husband endeavoured to oppose the said Election, the said CODE caused them to be put in prison. Neither for this Election nor in their Cause did almost any of our County appear that were men of Estates or men of note, but they to the contrary published an abhorence against such proceedings and were themselves as are most of our County Protestants. The County of Ann Arrundell which is accounted the most populous and richest of the whole Province, and wherein is but one papist Family unanimously stood out and would not Elect any Burgesses. About the 21st of August, the Assembly of their calling mett before whom was brought Mr TANEY our Sheriff and my husband, and Capt CODE and his Complices having pretended they had the King's Proclamation for what they did my Husband demanded to see the same, but their Answer was take him away Sheriff Mr TANEY likewise asking them by what authority he was called before them, CODE answered, what, this is like King Charles, and you are King TANEY, take him away. Notwithstanding upon the said Code's riseing as before is said, their pretence was chiefly to secure the Country against the Indians, yett all this while not until my coming away which was the 26th of September last there was not the least appearance of any foreign or Home Indians coming to disturb us. What was there furthur proceedings in their Assembly I am not able to give any Account of but Mr TANEY and my Husband were detained Prisoners at my coming away.

Barbara SMITH.

In London the 30th of December 1689.
Mrs Smith's Narrative of the
trowbles in Maryland.

To the Right Honble the Lords Commns
of their Majties Plantacons.
The humble Petition of Barbarah
Smith the wife of Capt Richd Smith
in their Majties Province of Maryd

Sheweth.

That your Petitionrs said husband together with Mr Michaell TAWNEY high Sheriff there, upon the rising in Maryland for choosing Burgesses in July last having had no knowledge of their Majties accession to the Crown, & altogether ignorant of any change of Government in England they chanced to oppose the Elections purely to the end of keeping the Peace, and are well knowne to be very good Protestants not repugnant to Protestant Government.

And for as much as your Petitioner's said husband and Mr. TAWNEY are now Prisoners, and have been ever since the 25th of August last having a great charge of Children neere 100 miles of their habitacon and in a very indigent Condicon. Therefore humbly prays your Lordspps Consideracon of the premises, and in your great pity and compassion grant your Lordpps. speedy Order for their Discharge. And your Petr as bound shall ever pray etc.

The Peticon of Barbarah Smith.
1689

Now, where did this brave woman come from? Barbara Smith was the daughter of Henry and Frances Morgan, sheriff of Kent County MD.  Her first husband was John Rousby, the brother of Calvert County Sheriff Christopher Rousby.  After Rousby's death, Barbara married Captain Smith in 1686 as his second wife.  Richard and Barbara lived at St. Leonard's Creek in Calvert County MD, now the site of the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum. Based on archeological work, the Park has provided a sketch of the Smith's residence. 

Richard and Barbara Smith had a son: Walter Smith and three daughters: Frances, Susanna, and Barbara, who were raised at St. Leonard's along with Barbara's Rousby children from her first marriage (Elizabeth and John Rousby) and Richard's children from his first marriage (Ann, Richard, and Elizabeth Smith). Interestingly, both my mother and my father are descendants of Captain Smith by his two sons, Walter and Richard. 

Barbara Morgan Smith died about 1695 and Captain Smith married for the third time to Maria Johanna Somerset in 1697.  She died a year later, giving birth to her only child, Charles Somerset Smith. 

Captain Richard Smith died in March 1714, leaving the St. Leonard's property to his son Walter. 

So, thanks to the courage and determination of grandmother Barbara Smith, Captain Richard and his family went on to thrive in Maryland. And I mean that literally, because all of Barbara’s children with Richard came after his release from prison. 

#52 Ancestors 2023 Week 4 Education: John Kostka Summers, Supporter of Education in Prince George's County MD

 

My great-grandfather, John Kostka Summers, was not only an educated man himself (somewhat unusual for his circumstances), but also devoted himself to supporting education for others as a trustee and supervisor of schools in Prince George's County MD, where he lived. 

John Kostka Summers, the oldest of nine children of John Francis Summers and Eliza Gwynn, was born 3 November 1855 at the family home in Westwood, Prince George's County MD. The picture at the left shows him at about age 50. The family has had many discussions about the origin of his middle name, which was certainly not in the family before him.  The Summers were devout Catholics, though, and our speculation was that it was related to the 16th-century Polish saint, Stanislaus Kostka, although we are unclear why this particular saint would have appealed to his parents. Maybe the parish priest gave a particularly rousing sermon on St. Kostka?

In any case, John was followed by 

• Eugene Summers 1858 (died as an infant)
• William Aubrey Summers 1859-1928 m. Martha Burch
• Marie Louise Summers 1861-1953 m. Claude Jarboe
• Ella Summers 1863-1923 Sr. Mary Rosa of the Holy Cross
• Edwin Gwynn Summers 1863 (twin)-1922 m. Annie Mace
• Joseph Alton Summers 1868-1954 m. Mary Rosalie Burch, sister of Martha above
• Jacobus Sydney Summers 1869-1872 
• Cora Agnes Summers 1874-1961 m. Frank Thomas Mace, brother of Annie above

Too young to be called up for service in the Civil War, John Kostka was sent to Rock Hill College in Ellicott City MD, a boarding school run by the Christian Brothers, to receive an education. The school advertised a curriculum based on physical education, sciences, and classical studies. The large building shown in the image below was completed in 1865, based on a design by Baltimore architect George A. Frederick, who also designed Baltimore's City Hall.  During the Civil War, which is likely when John Kostka was studying there, the basement of the building was used as a hospital for both Union and Confederate soldiers. As far as I know, John was the only one of the children who went on to further education. Possibly his parents made a special effort for their oldest son. Later census records show that John Kostka completed two years of college.

John Kostka's father, John Francis Summers, died in 1875 at age 51, shortly after the birth of his youngest child.  The house at Westwood had been destroyed in a fire, and Eliza Summers and her children moved in with her elderly in-laws, John Gwynn Summers and Ann Dyer Summers, at the old family home near Baden. This death would certainly have made it very difficult for the family to afford an education for any of the younger children.

In 1878, John Kostka married 20-year-old Mary Regina Ann Hill (for whom I am named), the daughter of Captain Alexander Penn Hill and Mary Elizabeth Childs.  The 1880 Census shows John (a farmer) and Regina living in Nottingham with their infant son, John Lamar Summers. After his marriage, John contracted with the Wyvill brothers to build a new home, which he called Pine Hill, near the site of the burned-out home.  He and Regina raised their family of 15 children there. 

• John Lamar Summers 1879-drowned 1896, unmarried
• John Kostka Summers Jr. 1880-1943 m. Benedicta Gannon of New York
• Emily Louise Summers 1882-1898, unmarried, died in Milwaukee WI of typhoid fever. Likely she was there visiting her maternal aunt, Emily Hill Young. 
• Alexander Hill Summers 1883-1918, unmarried, died in Spanish Flu epidemic
• Joseph Mary Summers 1885-1963, unmarried
• Mary Joseph Summers 1885-1965, twin, Sr. Mary Ange of the Holy Cross, followed her aunt into the order
• Eliza Mary Summers 1888-1980, married William August Dorr
• Regina Agnes Summers 1889-1968, married Edwin Payson Springer
• Gretchen Summers 1891-1953, married Joseph Summerfield Perrie
• Mildred Elizabeth Summers 1892-1980, married Bernard Aloysius Kummer
• Dorothy Lucile Summers 1894-1945, married James Heath Dodge
• Paul Francis Summers (my grandfather) 1895-1970, married Theresa Evalina Sasscer
• Olin Jerome Summers 1897-1898
• Emily Ruth Summers 1898-1996, married Charles Henry Adams McPherson
• Michael Jerome Summers 1902-1967, unmarried (confined to Mt. Hope Retreat/Hospital)

The photograph below shows the family about 1905 at their home in Westwood, Pine Hill. My grandfather, Paul, is in the center between his parents. 

As early as 1897, John Kostka served as a school trustee for the public schools in the Nottingham District of Prince George's County. He was still serving in that role in 1906. In 1914, he was appointed as a trustee for the newly opened Baden Agricultural High School, which my grandfather and his younger sister Ruth attended and where Paul most likely met his future wife who was also a student there. As a trustee of these schools, John Kostka would have help to oversee the finances and policies of the institutions, similar to what a school board would do now.

Census records show that almost all of John's children got a high school education, a tribute to his dedication to the value of learning. I don't have records of where his older children went to school, but it is likely that some of them at least attended the Marlboro Academy, established by the legislature in 1835, the precursor to Marlboro High School. Otherwise, many children at the time attended small, one-room schools that dotted the county. Another of my great-grandmothers, Theresa Evalina Wallis, taught in one of these in Prince George's County, and her daughters attended a one-room school near their home before going on to higher learning institutions. One of her sons attended Charlotte Hall Military Academy.  

In 1910, the Census for the Nottingham District of Prince George's County shows John Summers, farmer, age 54, living with his wife Mary and seven of their unmarried children. In 1920, John is shown with his wife and three sons, along with his 69-year-old widowed brother-in-law, Joseph Benedict Hill.

In the same year, John's mother, Eliza Gwynn Summers was living with her son Edwin at Baden.  She died there in 1914 and is buried beside her husband at Old St. Peter's Cemetery in Waldorf. 

In 1928, John and Regina celebrated their golden wedding anniversary with their family.  I am very fortunate to have a picture from this occasion. 

John Kostka and Regina are seated in the center.  My grandfather Paul is standing just behind Sr. Ange with my uncle Paul Jr. on his shoulder.  My grandmother is standing next to him. But my favorite part of this photo is my mother, three-year-old Anne, in the front row, just to the left of her grandfather, and in front of the young man with the tie, looking thoroughly unhappy to be there. 

By 1930, only their unmarried son Joseph was still living at home with his parents, managing their farm, along with Regina's unmarried brother, Robert E. Lee Hill. 

(An aside, Joseph later went to live with my grandfather, and I can remember meeting Uncle Joe at Pa Summers' home as a young girl. Of the other siblings, Aunt Elizabeth Dorr lived close to my family, and my mother stayed in fairly close contact with her Dorr cousins. Aunt Ruth McPherson was famous in the family for her bread rolls.  My mother kept that recipe in her recipe file, and I can remember sampling them at some family gatherings. There was a very good reason Aunt Ruth was famous for these.)

Mary Regina Ann Hill Summers (who seemed to rotate through those various names at different points in her life) died at Pine Hill 6 June 1932. She is buried at Old St. Peter's Cemetery in Waldorf MD. Although I never met my namesake great-grandmother, I do have an inheritance from her, courtesy of my grandmother.  When I got married, I was gifted a beautiful set of four wineglasses that belonged to Regina. 

In 1940, 84-year-old John Kostka is still living on the Pine Hill farm with his son Joseph and a housekeeper.  Joseph owned the home, valued at $3000. John Kostka died at his home the following year and is buried at Old St. Peter's beside his wife and his parents. 

Obituary: John Kostka Summers

John Kostka Summers, husband of the late Regina Hill Summers, died at his home near Westwood MD on Sunday, March 2, 1941, at the age of 85. Following a short illness, he passed peacefully away during his sleep.

Funeral services were held on Wednesday, March 5 with a Requiem Mass at St. Michael's Church, Baden with Rev. Harrington O'Neil, pastor, officiating and Rev. F.J. Loughran of Upper Marlboro assisting. Interment was in the family lot at St. Peter's, Waldorf. Six grandsons acted as pallbearers and four other grandsons served the Mass, one of whom was Robert Springer, S.J., a student at Woodstock College.

He was born November 3, 1855 at the old homestead near Baden, the son of the late Eliza Gwynn and John Francis Summers and spent his entire life in this community.

He is survived by a large and devoted family: two sisters, Mrs. Claude Jarboe of Washington DC, Mrs. Frank Mace of Baltimore, one brother Mr. Alton Summers of Waldorf MD; the following children: Sister M. Ange of the Order of the Holy Cross in Baltimore; Kostka Summers of New York City; Mrs. E.P. Springer and Mrs. Dorothy Dodge of Washington DC; Mrs. B.A. Kummer of Bristol TN; M. Jerome Summers of Baltimore; Paul Summers of Upper Marlboro; Mrs. Henry McPherson of Aquasco and Mrs. J.S. Perrie and Joseph M. Summers of Westwood and also by forty-one grandchildren and twenty-two great-grandchildren.

#52 Ancestors 2023 Week 8 I Can Identify: Update on the Ancestor Hunt

 Last year, I created a post where I calculated the number of ancestors from each generation that I had managed to track down.  So this year, I thought I would update that post to show where I had made some progress in naming a few more of my ancestors. 

I did make some progress in the last year, in part due to my discovery of a whole new line of ancestors of whom I was previously unaware--the Austins of South Carolina.  And I did manage to add a few other great grandparents here and there. 

Here is my chart from last year:

The Ancestor Hunt 2022

Generation	Number of Members	Number Found	Percentage
1.       Parents	2	2	100
2.       Grandparents	4	4	100
3.       Great Grandparents	8	8	100
4.       2X Grandparents	16	16	100
5.       3X Grandparents	32	32	100
6.       4X Grandparents	64	62	97
7.       5X Grandparents	128	114	89
8.       6X Grandparents	256	158	62
9.       7X Grandparents	512	249	49
1.       8X Grandparents	1024	294	29

So out of a possible 2046 ancestors in ten generations, I had found 939 or 46 percent of them. 

Here is my new chart for 2023:

The Ancestor Hunt 2023

Generation	Number of Members	Found 2022	% 2022	Found 2023	% 2023
1.       Parents	2	2	100	2	100
2.       Grandparents	4	4	100	4	100
3.       Great Grandparents	8	8	100	8	100
4.       2X Grandparents	16	16	100	16	100
5.       3X Grandparents	32	32	100	32	100
6.       4X Grandparents	64	62	97	63	98
7.       5X Grandparents	128	114	89	123	96
8.       6X Grandparents	256	158	62	204	80
9.       7X Grandparents	512	249	49	265	52
10.   8X Grandparents	1024	294	29	323	32
Total	2046	939	46	1040	51

Most of the additions were in the last three generations, so going back to the 17th and 18th centuries.  

I have now managed to find 1040 ancestors from ten generations or 51 percent of them. So, yeah! I managed to push past the halfway point. (Still haven't found that elusive 4X great grandmother, though.) And of course, this does not count all the siblings, cousins, uncles, aunts, etc. that I have discovered. 

Perhaps this year, I can add in numbers for generations and 11 and 12.  That would focus a lot more on immigrant ancestors, most of whom came to America/Maryland/Virginia from western Europe. 

And I plan to continue work on tracking the family back to my 39th great grandfather, Charlemagne.  That should add a bunch of new ancestors. 

#52 Ancestors 2023 Week 6 Social Media: My Uncle the Poet, Richard Lovelace

 

Richard Lovelace

During my 9X great-uncle Richard Lovelace's lifetime in the 17th century, the social media that we think of today (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) did not exist.  But Richard's poetry, influenced as it was by his experiences with politics and his associations with the important figures of his time, seems to qualify as "social media." 

In my earlier life, I was a professor of English and often taught the poetry of Sir Richard Lovelace, one of the most well-known of the so-called Cavalier Poets. Besides being known for their loyalty to the king, these poets counted the writing of polished and elegant lyrics as only one of their many accomplishments as soldiers, courtiers, gallants and wits. 

You would no doubt recognize some of Lovelace's most famous works, To Lucasta and To Althea, based on his war and prison experiences, respectively.

To Lucasta, On Going To The Wars

TELL me not, Sweet, I am unkind,
    That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breasts, and quiet mind,
    To war and arms I fly.

True, a new mistress now I chase,
    The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
    A sword, a horse, a shield.

Yet this inconstancy is such,
    As you too shall adore;
I could not love thee, Dear, so much,
    Loved I not honour more.

To Althea, From Prison

When Love with unconfined wings
    Hovers within my gates,
And my divine Althea brings
    To whisper at the grates;
When I lie tangled in her hair,
    And fetter'd to her eye,
The gods, that wanton in the air,
    Know no such liberty.

When flowing cups run swiftly round
    With no allaying Thames,
Our careless heads with roses bound,
    Our hearts with loyal flames;
When thirsty grief in wine we steep,
    When healths and draughts go free,
Fishes, that tipple in the deep,
    Know no such liberty.

When (like committed linnets) I
    With shriller throat shall sing
The sweetness, mercy, majesty,
    And glories of my king;
When I shall voice aloud how good
    He is, how great should be,
Enlarged winds, that curl the flood,
    Know no such liberty.

Stone walls do not a prison make,
    Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
    That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love,
    And in my soul am free,
Angels alone that soar above,
    Enjoy such liberty.

So, I was thrilled to learn that I was actually related to him. 

Sir Richard Lovelace was born in Holland (where his father was in military service) 6 December 1617, the eldest son of Sir William Lovelace (my 10X great grandfather) and Ann Barne.  The Lovelace family had deep roots in Kent, England, holding manors there since the 14th century. 

Sir William was one of the founders of the Virginia Company, explorers of the new world across the Atlantic although he never made that voyage himself. His daughter, my 9X great-grandmother, Ann Lovelace, married another Royalist, the Rev. John Gorsuch. After his death, Ann came with her younger children to Lancaster County,Virginia, where she died about 1651, and was the immigrant ancestor of one branch of my family (Thomas/Wallis). Another of William's sons, Francis Lovelace, was the second governor of the New York colony.

Charles I

As a boy, Richard attended the Charterhouse School in London and later Oxford University where he was described as "the most amiable and beautiful person that ever eye beheld." He was awarded a Master of Arts degree in 1635.

A comic play that he wrote at Oxford drew the attention of the king and helped him land a position in the household of King Charles I. Richard became a lifelong supporter of the Royalist or Cavalier faction in the English civil wars that ultimately led to Charles' execution in 1649 and the rule of Oliver Cromwell.  

Side note: it was Charles I who granted to Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, a charter for the new colony of Maryland in 1632 named after Charles' wife, Henrietta Maria. 

 

In 1639, Richard Lovelace served in the military, fighting in Charles's religious wars in Scotland, an experience which inspired To Lucasta.  

In 1641, Richard was imprisoned for presenting a pro-royalist petition to a hostile House of Commons, an experience which inspired To Althea. In 1648, he was again imprisoned. 

Richard Lovelace, Cavalier poet, died in 1657 at the age of 40 and is buried in St. Bride's church in London. He apparently died impoverished, having to sell most of his estates, "consuming his whole patrimony in useless attempts to serve his sovereign," as one biographer noted. 

Over his career as a writer, Richard Lovelace wrote more than 200 poems as well as several plays. Despite his many love lyrics, he never married.