#52 Ancestors 2023 Week 25 Fast: The Notorious Gerrard Girls

My 9X-great grandfather, Dr. Thomas Gerrard, about whom I have written elsewhere, was a troublemaker. However, his five daughters continued the family tradition, marrying into some other trouble-making families. Three of the leaders of the Protestant Rebellion of 1689 were sons-in-law of Thomas Gerrard. Some historians have described the events of 1689 as a continuation of Fendall's Rebellion (1660) in which Thomas Gerrard and his son-in-law Robert Slye played key roles. And there is some suggestion that Gerrard's dislike of the Calverts influenced the actions of his sons-in-law. 

If nothing else, the Gerrard girls were notorious for marital adventures, landing 14 husbands among them, including some of the wealthiest and most politically connected men in the Maryland and Virginia colonies (keeping in mind that Virginia is just a short boat trip across the Potomac from St. Mary's County MD and that Thomas Gerrard had extensive holdings in both colonies. See map below). And that is ignoring the rumors of some scandalous extra-marital adventures.

First, let me acknowledge that there is some controversy among genealogists about how many daughters Thomas Gerrard actually had.  I am only dealing here with the five daughters that seem pretty well proven: Susannah, Frances, Temperance, Elizabeth, and Mary, all of whom survived their father's death in 1673. The first four were born in England and emigrated with their parents to Maryland about 1650. Mary was born in St. Mary's County MD. All were the daughters of Gerrard's first wife, Susannah Snow. 

Susannah Gerrard

Thomas and Susannah's eldest daughter, Susannah, was born at New Hall, Lancashire, England in 1635, and as noted above, came to the Maryland colony with her parents about 1650.  She married first Robert Slye about 1654, when her father deeded her 1000 acres of land called Bushwood in St. Mary's County MD as her marriage dower. (See map below.)

Slye, one of the wealthiest men in Maryland, was born in 1627 in Warwickshire, England, and emigrated to Maryland in 1658.  He made his living as a tobacco planter and merchant, developing the first pottery in the colony to supplement his income from tobacco. Archeologists have discovered some of this early pottery at St. Mary's City, done by Slye's indentured servant, Morgan Jones. 

Slye's public career was extensive.  He served in the Assembly, was a Justice of the Provincial Court, and member of the Provincial Council.  

He also joined his father-in-law in supporting Fendall's Rebellion and as a result, temporarily lost his offices. 

At his death in 1670, Slye owned 2500 acres of land, and a number of servants and slaves.  Robert and Susannah Slye had two sons: Gerrard and Robert, and two daughters: Elizabeth and Frances. 

After Robert Slye's death, his widow married John Coode in 1674, and that is where her trouble-making days really got started.  Coode, born in Cornwall, England, an Oxford graduate and former Anglican priest who was "turned out" of the ministry, was "an ambitious and disgruntled Protestant in a colony ruled by Catholics." (I wonder if Susanna was attracted to that "bad boy" vibe?) His marriage to the wealthy widow Slye improved his social status considerably leading to his appointment as a captain of the militia, and as a Justice, and to election to the Assembly. (See John Barth's The Sotweed Factor for a fictional depiction of Coode.)

In 1681, Coode was arrested for participation in attempted rebellion (the first of four in which he ultimately took part). A letter from Philip Calvert describes Susannah's reaction, suggesting that she was not in good mental state. 

And the next day after, Mrs. Coode did Hector my Lord at a rate I never heard from a Woman before; by which you may conclude she was not run mad with the fright of her Husband's being pull'd out of his Bed, as we were told her son Slye falsly reports at London.

Three or four days after I saw her at St. Maries, and then I did suspect she would not continue long in her wits, knowing she had been mad awhile upon the death of her eldest son, and had heard she sometimes fell into like Fits since.

Susannah and John Coode had two sons: John and William (ca. 1679).  Susannah died shortly after the incident described above and her husband remarried. 

State House at St. Mary's City

In 1689, Coode raised an army against the Catholic leaders of the colony, spreading a rumor that the
Catholics had paid the local Indian tribes to come and kill all the Protestants. Coode's army attacked the State House at St. Mary's City, defeating the proprieterial army led by Col. Henry Darnall (my 7X-great grandfather). Coode set up a Puritan government and outlawed Catholicism, serving briefly as governor until his brother-in-law, Nehemiah Blackistone, (my 8X-great grandfather) took his place.  (Yes, I've got great-grandfathers all over this rebellion! See my blog about 8X-great grandfather Captain Richard Smith, who fought on the other side, for more detail.)

Coode participated in the new government for a while but couldn't seem to give up his hankering for rebellion, joining in several more uprisings against the colonial government, demonstrating why one biographer called him  "always unable to work co-operatively for any appreciable length of time under any government. “ At one point, Coode was put on trial for blasphemy and sentenced to be bored through his tongue with a red hot poker. However, his brother-in-law, Nehemiah Blackistone--governor at the time--pardoned him and saved him from this fate. Coode died in 1709.

Frances Gerrard

Frances Gerrard holds the record among the sisters for the most marriages--five. Her holdings from her five husbands, all neighbors in Westmoreland County VA, made her probably the richest woman along the Potomac River. She most likely met her husbands from her father's estate in Virginia. Colton's Point on the map below is the location of Gerrard's St. Mary's County estate. Note also Bushwood Wharf, another Gerrard property.

She married first Thomas Speke about 1650, shortly after her arrival in Maryland, which puts Frances's probable birth in the mid 1630's.  Speke served as a soldier in Maryland in the 1640's along with William Hardwick, below, but later was one of the founders of Westmoreland County VA where he patented Nomini Plantation. Thomas died there in 1660, leaving a son Thomas Jr. who was not yet 21 years of age and naming his wife Frances in his will and his father-in-law Thomas Gerrard. Frances and her various husbands continued to live at Nomini. 

Frances married secondly about 1661 Col. Valentine Peyton, a graduate of Trinity College, who was trained in the Royal Army.  He died at the Nomini estate in Westmoreland County VA in 1665 at about the age of 36. His 1662 will names his stepson Thomas Speke and his wife Frances as well as his father-in-law, Thomas Gerrard and brother-in-law Robert Slye. Frances and Valentine had a son Gerrard Peyton. 

Frances married thirdly Captain John Appleton, who died in Westmoreland County VA in 1676. He was a witness to the will of Col. Washington, below.

Shortly after Captain Appleton's death, Frances married fourthly Col. John Washington (the grandfather of President George) as his third wife. In 1665, he was the attorney for the widowed Frances Peyton. He died in Westmoreland County VA in 1677.

Frances married fifthly William Hardwick, who was one of the appraisers of Captain Appleton's estate. Their daughter Elizabeth was born in 1678. William was a justice and a colonel in the Westmoreland County militia, who also played a role in the Protestant Revolution in Maryland. William died in Westmoreland County VA in 1694.

Frances Gerrard Speke Peyton Appleton Washington Hardwick died in Westmoreland County VA in 1696.

Temperance Gerrard

Perhaps true to her name, Temperance Gerrard lived a fairly quiet life with her husbands and children, mostly avoiding the political controversies that seemed to swirl around her sisters. 

Temperance Gerrard married in 1669 to Daniel Hutt, as his second wife. Thomas Gerrard gave Temperance 300 acres of land in St. Mary’s County as a dowry.  Hutt was a sailing master and London merchant who operated trans-Atlantic ships, including the Mayflower (not THE Mayflower of Pilgrim fame). Although he was not a Maryland resident at the time, Hutt was present with Thomas Gerrard and Robert Slye at the planning sessions for Fendall’s Rebellion. He owned 1500 acres in Westmoreland County. In the 1660’s he was a Justice in Westmoreland County along with his future brother-in-law, John Washington. Daniel died in 1674 leaving a will that named his two minor children, Gerrard and Anne, and his brother-in-law, Captain John Appleton. 

Temperance Gerrard married secondly John Crabbe, a Westmoreland County merchant, in 1675. Temperance and John had a son Osman, named after his uncle Osman Crabbe.

Temperance Gerrard married thirdly Benjamin Blancheflower in 1692. He died about 1702. Temperance and Benjamin had a daughter Ann. Blancheflower's will in 1701 left his entire estate to his wife Temperance.

Temperance Gerrard Hutt Crabbe Blancheflower died in Westmoreland County VA in 1711 leaving a will which named her sons Gerrard Hutt and Osman Crabbe. 

Elizabeth Gerrard (My 8X-great grandmother)

Blackistone House at Longworth Point

Elizabeth Gerrard married in 1669 Nehemiah Blackistone (my 8X-great grandfather). Thomas Gerrard gave his daughter 300 acres of land at Longworth Point (Now Colton's Point, see map above) as a dowry. 

Nehemiah Blackistone was the son of John Blackistone, a member of Parliament and mayor of Newcastle and one of the judges who pronounced the sentence of death on King Charles I in 1649. Nehemiah emigrated to Maryland about 1668 with his uncle George Blackistone. 

No doubt the Blackistones suffered from the persecution endured by Commonwealth leaders after the restoration of Charles II in 1660, particularly given the regicide in the family. Writer John Milton (Paradise Lost) was arrested and imprisoned during this period because of his anti-monarchist views. Decamping to the colonies probably looked like a great opportunity. 

Nehemiah Blackistone was one of the attorneys of the Provincial Court in Maryland and was clerk of the King's custom for the Wicomico and Potomac Rivers. In his 1670 will, his brother-in-law, Robert Slye, named Nehemiah as the overseer of his estate. 

Blackistone played a leading role in the rebellion organized by his brother-in-law John Coode, marshalling a troop of militia and serving as Chief Justice and Speaker of the Assembly.  He acted as Governor of the colony in 1691.

He died in St. Mary's County in 1693, still serving as a member of the Provincial Council.  Elizabeth and Nehemiah Blackistone had children: John, Susanna, Rebecca, and Mary.  John Blackistone, my 7X-great grandfather, married his step-sister, Anne Guibert. Rebecca Blackistone married her cousin Gerrard Newton. 

Elizabeth Gerrard married secondly Ralph Rhymer about 1696.  There were no children from this marriage. 

Elizabeth Gerrard married thirdly Joshua Guibert (also my 8X-great grandfather with his first wife, Elizabeth Barber). He died in 1713 in St. Mary's County MD. Elizabeth had no children with Joshua Guibert, but Joshua's daughter Ann is my 7X-great grandmother through her marriage to her stepbrother John Blackistone. 

Elizabeth Gerrard Blackistone Rhymer Guibert died in St. Mary's County MD in 1716 leaving a will which named her son John Blackistone and daughters Mary Mason, Susanna Attaway, Rebecca Walters and her daughter-in-law Ann Guibert Blackistone. She left the Longworth Point property to her son John Blackistone.

Mary Gerrard (Also my 8X-great grandmother)

Mary Gerrard, born in St. Mary's County in the mid-1650's, married Kenelm Cheseldyne there in 1675 as his second wife. 

Kenelm Cheseldyne, born in Lincolnshire, England, the son of Rev. Kenelm Cheseldyne, emigrated to Maryland about 1669. He was a practicing lawyer, member of the Provincial Assembly, one of the Chief Justices of St. Mary's County, and the Attorney General of Maryland until 1681 when his association with John Coode led to the loss of his office. 

He was a leading player in Coode's Rebellion in 1689 and went to England with Coode to represent Maryland's position to King William. 

He was also one of the founders of King William's School in Annapolis, the predecessor of St. John's College and the third oldest college in America after Harvard and the College of William and Mary.

Kenelm Cheseldyne and Mary Gerrard had four children: Kenelm (my 7X-great grandfather) and daughters Mary, Susannah, and Dryden Cheseldyne. Kenelm Cheseldyne II married Mary Brown, the widow of William Phippard. 

Kenelm Cheseldyne died in 1708 leaving a will which name his son Kenelm, and daughters Mary Hay, Susannah Greenfield and Dryden Cheseldyne. His brother-in-law and fellow rebel John Coode witnessed the will. He is buried in St. Anne's Churchyard in Annapolis MD. 

Mary Gerrard Cheseldyne apparently died before her husband as she is not named in his will.

The Gerrard sisters were a tight-knit group marrying within the same families and mostly sharing a tendancy toward rebellion. I can only imagine that family gatherings must have been quite contentious affairs, filled as they were with powerful and opinionated people. 

#52 Ancestors 2023 Week 23 So Many Descendants: Francis Whittington

 My genealogical New Year's resolution was to write more about my grandchildren's ancestors on the lines other than mine.  So here goes. 

Francis Whittington is the 7X-great grandfather of my grandchildren Henry and Harper, on their mother's line. 

Francis Whittington, the son of William and Charity Whittington, was born about 1734 in Anne Arundel County MD.  Francis and his brother Thomas married two sisters, Elizabeth and Wilhelmina Powell, the daughters of John Powell and Rebecca Trott.

Francis and Elizabeth Powell were married sometime before 1756 when he was the administrator for the estate of Elizabeth's mother.  They had nine children together, living on Francis's farm at Hall's Hills. Francis Whittington appears in the 1800 Census of All Saints Parish in Calvert County MD with 3 young men and two young women in his household. Elizabeth Whittington died in 1789, Francis in 1807. 

*Rebecca Whittington married Thomas Turner of Calvert County MD and had three daughters with him: Eleanor, Mary, and Elizabeth Turner. Rebecca died before 1821.

*James Whittington married Mary Wood, the daughter of William Wood in 1787.  They had two daughters: Elizabeth, who married James Ward, and Eleanor, who married William P. Hardesty.  James Whittington died in Anne Arundel County MD in 1806.

*William Whittington married a Miss Smith and had four children with her: Rachel Smith Whittington, who married Washington Greene Tuck, Clement Whittington, Mary Whittington, and John S. Whittington, who married Mary Jane Weems. William Whittington died in Annapolis MD in March 1825.

*Francis Whittington Jr. (the 6X-great grandfather of my grandchildren) was born about 1757.  He married Eleanor Turner in 1778.  She was probably the sister of Thomas Turner, above. Francis and Eleanor had six children: Elizabeth, who married Samuel Wood Jr.; Charles, who married Wilhelmina Crandall; Eleanor, unmarried; Francis III, unmarried; Ann, unmarried; and Samuel, (the 5X-great grandfather of my grandchildren). 

*Elizabeth Whittington who married William Turner, probably the brother of Thomas and Eleanor, above. They had six children: Rebecca, who married William Howard; Wilhelmina, who married Clement Chaney and moved to Ohio; Thomas, who married Unknown and had five children; Richard who married Elizabeth Scrivener and died in 1845; William; and Sarah, who married Joseph Griffith.

*Lavinia "Viney" Whittington who married William Stevens in 1781 at St. James Parish in Anne Arundel County MD. They had seven children: John, who married Frances "Fanny" Larrimore and had six children with her; Samuel, who married Margaret Larrimore, the sister of Fanny, above, and had five children with her; (I will just note here that Samuel and Margaret Stevens would also be 5X-great grandparents of my grandchildren, since their daughter Margaret married her cousin Henry Whittington, shown below.)  Joseph; Rachel Ann, who married Samuel Wood and had seven children with him; Richard, who married Priscilla Marquess; Susan, who married William Wood and Lewis Tinges; Francis, who married Sally Jane Collinson and had eight children with her; Mary Ellen, who married James Larrimore, the brother of Fanny and Margaret, above, and three children with him.

*Samuel Whittington, who died unmarried in Calvert County MD in 1806, leaving his estate to his siblings. 

*Araminta "Minty" Whittington, who married James Wood in 1781 at St. James Parish in Anne Arundel County MD. Samuel, who married his cousin, Rachel Ann Stevens, above; Elizabeth who married Joshua Hardesty and Levi Webb; Eleanor who married Mr. Chalk. 

*Benjamin Whittington who had a son Henry Whittington. 

Samuel Whittington, the son of Francis Whittington, the 5X-great grandfather of my grandchildren, was born in Calvert County MD about 1800. He married first Dorothy R. Wood, the daughter of Henry Wood, in 1819. He married secondly Dorothy's sister, Ann Wood, in 1846. He died in Calvert County MD sometime after 1850, when he appears in the census as a widower with nine children.  His signature at the left dates from 1832, when his father-in-law Henry Wood's estate was settled. 

Samuel's children were:

*Rachel Ann Whittington

*Rebecca Whittington

*Catherine Whittington

*Henry L. Whittington (the 4X-great grandfather of my grandchildren) More below.

*Dorothy Jane Whittington, who married first William Fritts in Baltimore MD and had three children with him: William, Hannah, and Samuel; she married secondly William S. Cook and and had two children with him: Charles and Mary.  

*Martin Van Buren Whittington, who married first Ann Medora Crosby and had a daughter with her, Medora Ann Whittington. He married secondly Sarah Catherine Johnson and had a son with her: Elmer Martin Whittington.  He married thirdly Domy Ann Catherine Sheriff and had a daughter and a son, Charles Clemens Whittington with her. Martin Whittington died in Washington DC in 1893. 

*Samuel Edward Whittington, who married Amanda Fields in 1860.  He served in the Union Army during the Civil War and later moved to Ashland County OH where he died in 1910.  He had four children: Thomas S. Whittington, William F. Whittington, Samuel Edward Whittington Jr. and Hester Dorothy Whittington. 

*William F. Whittington, the son of Samuel's second wife, Ann, was born about 1846.

Henry L. Whittington (the 4X-great grandfather of my grandchilden) was born in Calvert County MD 26 April 1828. I have written previously about my search to find information about Henry. He married first in 1855, his cousin, Margaret A. Stevens, the daughter of Samuel Stevens and Margaret Larrimore, above. They had six children:

*Mary Miranda Whittington, who married Thomas Dorsey Loudenslager and had five daughters with him: Clara, Lillian, Buelah, Edna and Maude.  Mary died in 1937 in Ellicott City MD.

*Samuel Whittington

*Sarah E. Whittington

*Joseph James Whittington Sr. (the 3X-great grandfather of my grandchildren) More Below.

*Agnes Whittington

*George F. Whittington, who married Florence Adele King in Baltimore MD in 1890 and had a daughter Carrie Whittington with her. George died in Baltimore MD in 1906.

Henry L. Whittington married secondly Matilda Elizabeth Cole about 1870 and had two daughters with her:

*Florence M. Whittington, who married William J. Neisser and had six children with him: George, Mary Virginia, Carroll, Florence, Annabelle, and Emma. She married secondly George Norris Page. She died in Baltimore MD in 1862.

*Francis Vivian Whittington, who married John Frederick Eckert in Baltimore in 1894.  They had seven children: John Frederick Jr., Agnes, Bertha, Matilda, William, Howard and Mildred. Francis died in Baltimore in 1916.

Henry L. Whittington died in Baltimore MD in 1904 and his buried in Baltimore Cemetery. 

Joseph James Whittington Sr. (the 3x-great grandfather of my grandchilden) was born in Calvert County MD 31 January 1865. He married Florence B. Thompson, the daughter of James Thompson and Margaret Kingsley, in Baltimore MD in 1886. Joseph is shown in the picture at the right on the far right side of the group. Joseph and Florence had five children:

*J. Rankin Whittington, died in infancy.

*Margaret Elizabeth "Maggie" Whittington (the 2X-great grandmother of my grandchildren.) More Below. 

*Arthur Hurst Whittington married Annie C. Cunningham and had a son, Arthur Jr. 

*Joseph James Whittington Jr. married Myrtle Steiner and had two children: Margarite and Joseph James III.

*Mary Lucy died in infancy.

Joseph James Whittington Sr. died in Baltimore MD in December 1935 and his buried in Loudon Park Cemetery. 

Margaret Elizabeth "Maggie" Whittington (the 2X-great grandmother of my grandchildren) was born in Baltimore MD 23 November 1889.  She married Calvin Embert Jones Sr. in Baltimore MD in 1907. They had three children: Evelyn, who married John Englerth; Margaret, who died in infancy; Calvin Embert Jones Jr. (the great-grandfather of my grandchildren). Maggie Whittington Jones died in Baltimore MD in 1972. She is buried in Loudon Park Cemetery with her husband. 

I'm going to stop here because the line moves away from the Whittingtons.  I plan another blog later about the Jones ancestors of my grandchildren. 

#52 Ancestors 2023 Week 16 Should have been a movie: Molly Ogle's Two Suitors

My cousin, Mary "Molly" Ogle, born 3 March 1746 in London, England, came from a politically prominent family. (Our common ancestor is Thomas Forster of Northumberland, England). Both her father, Samuel Ogle, her grandfather, Benjamin Tasker, and her brother, Benjamin Ogle, were Governors of Maryland. Molly herself could have married a Governor as well, but she chose otherwise. 

The Governor who wanted to marry Molly Ogle was Horatio Sharpe. Sharpe, born in Yorkshire, England in 1718, one of 16 children of William and Margaret Sharpe. By all accounts, Sharpe was an honorable man and an all-around nice guy.  He was commissioned as a Captain in the King's forces in 1745 and served in Scotland and the West Indies. 

In August 1753, Sharpe was appointed Governor of the Maryland colony, replacing Mary's father, Samuel Ogle, who died the previous year. Governor Sharpe brought with him to the colony his 21-year-old secretary, John Ridout. 

The bachelor governor's parties and entertainments were legendary in Annapolis, such as this celebration of Lord Baltimore's 23rd birthday in 1754, as described by the Maryland Gazette:

His Excellency the Governor made an elegant entertainment at his own house at dinner for a great number of ladies and gentlemen. In the afternoon, Public Healths were drunk, the great guns firing at each Health, and in the evening, His Excellency gave a public ball where all the loyal Healths were repeated. . . . There was a large bonfire made in the Common. . . and the greatest part of the town was beautifully illuminated. 

Not that Governor Sharpe's term was all about parties.  He did his best to fortify the state for the French and Indian War, building Fort Cumberland in the western part of the state and set up the survey to determine the state's boundaries that eventually resulted in the Mason-Dixon line. He also warned the British government (to no avail) of the dire consequences of passing the Stamp Act. 

In the early 1760's, Sharpe built himself a country estate just outside Annapolis--Whitehall, where he planned to entertain his many friends and colleagues, including George Washington and George Mason. He also wanted to make it a home for the woman he hoped to marry: Mary Ogle. 

Designed by Joseph Horatio Anderson, who also designed the Maryland State House, Whitehall is the pinnacle of Georgian architecture, with its giant portico and Corinthian columns set in a 1000-acre estate overlooking the water. 

Unfortunately for Governor Sharpe, Molly had other ideas and in 1764 married instead the Governor's secretary, John Ridout. I can't help but wonder if this wasn't a little Cyrano-like situation.  Did Sharpe send Ridout with messages to Molly during his courtship?  I don't have a portrait of Ridout, but, at 34 he was considerably younger than the 46-year-old Governor. To 18-year-old Molly that might have been a very big difference. In any case, the studious Ridout, an Oxford scholar with expertise in Greek and Latin, won Molly's hand and settled with her at a house he had built on Duke of Gloucester Street in Annapolis. 

Ridout House

Governor Sharpe seemed to take his loss in stride, and, in fact, during Sharpe's nearly sixteen-year term as governor, he took every opportunity to advance his secretary's prospects. Ridout served as a probate judge, member of the Maryland Council and Naval Officer of the Port of Annapolis in addition to his secretarial duties. 

However, Sharpe never married. He retreated to his country estate where his biographer says that he spent as much time as he possibly could, especially after he was replaced as Governor in 1769. 

"His Garden was his passion, and seeds and scions of trees and rare shrubs and flowers to beautify it were sent for from Holland and England and France."

He remained good friends the Ridouts and was a frequent guest at their home with a room set aside for him known as "Colonel Sharpe's room," whenever he chose to stay in town. When he returned to England in 1773, he left his affairs in charge of John Ridout.   The American Revolution intervened, and Sharpe never returned to Maryland. He kept up an extensive correspondence with John Ridout, often expressing his sorrow over the events in America. He died in England in 1790 at age 72. He left a ring inscribed: "with affectionate and loving remembrance to John Ridout, my valued and faithful friend in public and in private."

Ridout managed to save Whitehall from confiscation during the Revolution by doing some exchanges of property. Later, Governor Sharpe instructed Ridout to sell Whitehall, and Ridout sold it to his brother-in-law, Benjamin Ogle who, in turn, sold it back to Ridout a few days later. So Molly did end up living at Whitehall after all, just not the way Governor Sharpe intended. Whitehall remained in the Ridout family for more than 100 years. Both Molly and John were buried there, along with Molly's mother. 

John Ridout kept up friendships on both sides of the Revolution and managed to maintain a neutral position. Ridout's mother-in-law Ann Tasker Ogle had sailed to England with Governor Sharpe and her grandson Samuel Ridout who attended school at Harrow.  John Ridout had the opportunity to take his family to England in 1776 but chose to remain in Maryland and took the Oath of Allegiance to Maryland in 1778.  His family rode out the early days of the war at Whitehall, but later retreated to his property in western Maryland. 

In December 1783, Molly Ridout was a witness to George's Washington's resignation, standing in the gallery of the Old Senate Chamber in the Maryland State House.  She described the scene in a letter to her mother who was still in England:

 "the General seemed so much affected himself that everybody felt for him, he addressed Congress in a short Speech but very affecting many tears were shed...I think the World never produced a greater man & very few so good."

John Ridout and Mary Ogle had four children:

Dr. Samuel Ridout (1765) who married Mary Addison. He later became mayor of Annapolis.

Ann Ogle Ridout (1767) who married John Gibson.

Horatio Sharpe Ridout (1769) who married first Rachel Goldsborough and second Ann Weems.

Meliora Ogle Ridout (1780) died in infancy.

John Ridout died at Whitehall in 1797 at the age of 65. Molly Ridout died at Whitehall in 1808 at age 62.

#52 Ancestors 2023 Week 15 Solitude: Ann Fielder's Twenty Years as a "Femme Sole"

My 8X-great-grandmother, Ann Fielder Gantt Wight, * became a widow for the first time in 1692 with the death of her husband, Thomas Gantt. She was about 30 at the time with four children under the age of six and a large estate to manage.  Given those circumstances, many women at that time would have been in a hurry to gain the protection of a new husband.  Widow Gantt chose to remain "sole" for four years, managing her own affairs although I'm quite sure she could have remarried easily at any time. 

She did marry for a second time about 1696 to Captain John Wight of Calvert County MD and had three daughters with him besides becoming step-mother to his son John by his first wife. When Captain Wight died in 1705, Ann was widowed for the second time at age 46. This time she chose not to remarry and managed her family and large estates on her own for the next twenty years until her death in 1726. Again, as a wealthy widow in a time when marriageable women were in short supply, she could have easily made a third advantageous marriage, but did not. Given that she had still had three children under ten at home, this may not count as solitude, but she did make a choice to raise them alone.  In this decision, she followed in the footsteps of her own mother and grandmother who had similarly chosen to spend a long widowhood managing the family affairs rather than remarrying. 

In law, a woman with the status of "femme sole" (woman alone) was able to make legal contracts and sign documents in her own name, unlike a married woman, who could not conduct business without her husband's permission. I suspect that this independence was a big factor in Ann's choice not to marry a third time and maintain her status as "femme sole." 

Ann Fielder was born about 1660 in Hartley-Maudit, Hampshire, England, a younger daughter of Captain William Fielder and Marjorie Cole in a family of twelve children. The Hampshire Hearth tax of 1665 shows William and his family with "eight hearths," indicating that they lived in a large gentleman's house and establishment. William (1679) and Marjorie (1699) are both buried in St. Mary's Church in Hartley-Wintney, along with their son, Edward (1697), a London grocer. 

St. Mary's, Hartley-Wintney, Hampshire

So how did this girl from a small village in Hampshire end up marrying a man on the other side of the Atlantic? When her father died, Ann would have been about 19 years old and in need of a husband.  Since her father was a younger son, there was no great inheritance from the main branch of the family, which was not in great shape anyway after the English Civil War of the 1640's and 1650's. One theory is that Ann's aunt by marriage, Judith Cullen Cole, daughter of a wealthy grocer, was good friends with Ann's mother and from the same small town that Thomas Gantt came from, and probably knew him. There was also a shared occupation and possible business contacts between Ann's brother, Edward, the London grocer, and Thomas Gantt of Maryland who was a "victualler" or grocer in Calvert County MD, and most likely newly-widowed at about the time that Ann's father died. This combination of circumstances may have led to some transatlantic match-making through the Grocers' Guild. 

Thomas Gaunt/Gantt, like a very large percentage of immigrants at the time, was transported to Maryland in 1654 as an indentured servant and was probably in his 20's at the time. Unlike the majority, Gantt was literate. By 1658, he would have completed his indentured service and by 1660, he had acquired his first land holdings at Gantt's Landing on the Patuxent River in Calvert County MD. 

Sometime before 1666, Thomas Gantt married Jone/Joan Robinson who had been transported to the colony earlier in the 1660's.  There were apparently no children from this marriage, or at least none who survived to adulthood. Joan must have died in the early 1680's, leaving Thomas free to marry again to Ann Fielder. 

In any case, Ann Fielder and Thomas Gantt were married about 1684 when Thomas would have been in his late 40's, and had a son, Thomas Gantt Jr., in 1686. They had three other children: Ann who married Col. John Bradford, Elizabeth who died unmarried in 1718, and Edward, who died young. 

Throughout the 1660's and 1670's, Thomas had built up his land holdings and risen steadily in the social ranks as victualler (i.e. purveyor of spirits), inn keeper, merchant and planter.  In the late 1680's, Gantt held the lucrative offices of Justice and coroner. By the time of his death in 1691, he left an estate of more than L400, not including real estate (in the top 1% of his contemporaries.) He owned 350 contiguous acres of prime land along the Patuxent River as well as other land in Charles and Dorchester counties. 

His will, proved by Ann Gantt in January 1692, names his oldest son, Thomas (my 7x-great grandfather on my father’s line), his daughter Ann, his daughter, Elizabeth, to each of whom he leaves a tract of land, and his young son Edward, who is only a reversionary legatee in case of the death of one his siblings. 

As I noted in the beginning, Ann Fielder Gantt, a widow in her thirties with four young children, managed this large estate on her own as a "femme sole" for several years.  Her activities included business transactions with her brother Edward, the London grocer, indicating that she was literate and involved with Thomas Gantt's business. Eventually she married for a second time to Captain John Wight about 1696 as his second wife.  Ann's mother died at about the same time, leaving a will that named her daughter and a legacy to her grandson Edward Gantt, who did not receive a specific bequest in his father's will. 

Captain Wight probably came to Maryland from England in the 1680's and married Mary Gittings, the daughter of John Gittings.  Their only child was John Wight Jr. who was, interestingly enough, my 7X-great grandfather on my mother's line. Captain Wight served in the lower house of the legislature between 1687 and 1700 and also as a justice for Calvert County. 

John Wight and Ann Fielder lived at the Gantt property, renamed Wight's Landing (now White's Landing), located a little south of the village of Nottingham) with their blended family of Gantt and Wight children. Captain Wight and Ann Fielder Gantt had three daughters together: Marjory (1697), Fielder (1699) and Mary (1701). 

Captain Wight died in 1705, leaving a large estate of more than 1000 acres of land and personal property valued at nearly L2000, including silver plate, books, slaves, and part ownership of a trading ship, a huge fortune for the time.

Confronted with managing the affairs of eight children and two complex estates, Ann, now age 45, chose not to marry again, although she most certainly could have.  As the redoubtable "Madam Ann Wight," she conserved the estates for the benefit of her surviving Gantt children, her three Wight daughters and her stepson, John Wight, until her death in 1726 at age 67. 

Ann Wight's 1725 will bequeaths to her son Thomas Gantt, her daughters Margery Sprigg, Mary Belt, and Fielder Powell, as well as to her grandchildren: Thomas Gantt, Thomas Sprigg, Ann Powell, Ann Sprigg, Ann Gantt, Priscilla Gantt, Elizabeth Gantt, and Edward Gantt. Her daughters Elizabeth and Ann and her son Edward had predeceased her. She signed the will as "Madam Ann Wight" and affixed the seal of the Wight family of London. Her son-in-law, Jeremiah Belt, was her executor. 

She did rely on her son-in-law, John Bradford, who married Ann Gantt at about the time Captain Wight died.  Bradford, a merchant, became one of the wealthiest and prominent planters of his generation, serving in the legislature and as a colonel in the militia as well as in the Vestry of King George Parish.  John Bradford Jr., born about 1706, was Ann Fielder's first grandchild. John Bradford shows up on multiple transactions involving Ann Wight over the next twenty years. 

Thomas Gantt Jr. married Priscilla Brooke, the daughter of Col. Thomas Brooke, about 1707. Thomas and Priscilla had seven children: Ann (1708), Thomas III (1710), Elizabeth (1713), Priscilla, my 6X-great grandmother (1715), Edward (1720), George (1727) and Fielder (1730).  About 1737, he married for the second time to Marjory Hollyday, the daughter of Col. Thomas Hollyday, and the widow of Levin Covington. There were no children from the second marriage. 

Thomas inherited 550 acres of land from his father, and he steadily acquired more property throughout his life, including a large tobacco warehouse in Nottingham. He was elected to the Lower House in 1722 and served as a Vestryman of St. Paul's Parish. He was a justice and later chief justice in Prince George's County. 

Thomas lived a long and mostly placid life, dying at age 80 in 1765. 

Marjory Wight married about 1714 Thomas Sprigg Jr. and had three sons and two daughters with him: Thomas, John, Edward, Ann and Mary. She married secondly about 1726 Col. Joseph Belt and had a son and a daughter with him: Humphrey and Marjory. She died in Prince George's County in 1783. 

Mary Wight married Jeremiah Belt, the brother of Col. Joseph Belt, above, about 1724. They had a daughter, Mary Belt, in 1731. Mary Wight Belt died in 1768.

Fielder Wight married John Powell about 1725 and had a daughter Ann Powell, who was named in her grandmother's will. 

Ann's stepson, John Wight Jr., married Ann Greenfield, the daughter of Col Thomas Greenfield, and had seven children with her before his death in 1729, including my 6x-great grandmother Mary Wight in 1702. 

Ann Fielder's legacy lives on in the name Fielder, which is scattered across multiple Southern Maryland families. She passed the name on to her daughter, and it was subsequently passed on to her grandchildren--Fielder Gantt--and great-grandchildren: Fielder Bowie and six generations of Fielder Bowie Smiths. There were also Fielder Bealls, Belts, Joneses, Denwoods, Clagetts, and Dorsetts. 

* I am indebted to the great research of Harrison Dwight Cavanaugh's Colonial Chesapeake Families for information about the Fielders, Gantts, Wights and related families.