With the theme of immigration, I decided to look at how many of my immigrant ancestors I have been able to identify. However, since there are a lot of them, I'm breaking it down into sections. Here, I'm looking at the first eight immigrant ancestors from my father's family.
1. Scrivener
As best I can tell, the immigrant in this line was Richard Scrivener, my 6x-great grandfather. He was born, probably in England, 2 April 1686. His marriage to Mary Burck was recorded at St. James Parish in Lothian, Anne Arundel County MD on the 1st of September 1709. The parish register also records the birth of three sons to this couple: John (my 5x-great grandfather), Richard, and William. Richard Sr. was alive in Anne Arundel County until at least 1753 when he is mentioned in an estate settlement, and was likely a tobacco farmer. As I have
written about elsewhere, I have not been able to trace Richard back to his origin in England, but I strongly believe that is where he came from.
2. Barber
The immigrant ancestor of the Barbers in Maryland was Dr. Luke Barber, my 9x-great grandfather, born 28 February 1615 in Yorkshire, England. Dr. Barber married Elizabeth Younge in 1641 in Yorkshire. At one time, he worked for Oliver Cromwell, probably serving as a physician or surgeon in the Lord Protector's army. He came to Maryland in 1654 aboard the
Golden Fortune, and settled in St. Mary's County in southern Maryland. He was a zealous friend of Lord Baltimore and served as a member of the Assembly, a Justice of the Provincial Court, and Deputy Governor. He died in St. Mary's County about 1674, leaving his home plantation,
Lukeland/Luckland, to his son Edward, my 8x-great grandfather. Dr. Barber had children: Luke, Elizabeth (8x-great grandmother), Mary, Edward (8x-great grandfather), Thomas, and Ann. (With thanks to Robert Barnes,
British Roots of Maryland Families II.)
3. Gwynn
The immigrant ancestor of this line may have been Hooper Gwynn, my 5x-great grandfather on both my paternal and maternal lines. He is as far back as I have been able to trace this line. He was in Prince George's County MD in the 1730's as a School Master and Court Scrivener, indicating that he was an educated man. A man of this name married in Yorkshire, England in 1725. It's an uncommon name and odds are it is the same person or at least a close relative, but I really can't be sure if the man was born in England (or Wales, since Gwynn is definitely of Welsh origin) or was born in Maryland to immigrant parents. Hooper Gwinn died in Fairfax County VA about 1759. He had one son that can be documented: Bennett Gwynn, my 4x-great grandfather on both sides of my family. I have written more about Hooper and the Gwynns
here. (With thanks to Effie Gwynn Bowie,
Across the Years in Prince George's County.)4. Keene
The immigrant ancestor of the Keenes in Maryland was Richard Keene, my 8x-great grandfather, born 7 December 1628 in Worplesdon, Surrey, England. Richard arrived in Maryland in 1653 with his brothers, Henry and Edward. He was a Quaker and was fined for refusing to train for military service. He was a close friend of Maryland's Governor, Charles Calvert and a large landowner, with over 10,000 acres on both sides of the Patuxent River. (Possibly these two facts are connected?) His principal estate was St. Richard's Manor in St. Mary's County, where Lord Baltimore's Council frequently met. Richard married Mary, the widow of John Hodgkin shortly after he came to Maryland. They had two sons: Richard and John, my 7x-great grandfather. Richard Keene died in 1675 in Calvert County MD.
5. Dent
The immigrant ancestor of this line of the Dents was Captain John Dent, my 8x-great grandfather, born in Yorkshire, England about 1635. He emigrated to Maryland about 1661 and married Mary Hatch shortly after his arrival in the colony. There is some evidence that he had an earlier wife in England and children there. He inherited land in Charles County MD from his uncle Thomas Dent, but eventually resided in the northern portion of St. Mary's County near Charlotte Hall. He was appointed Captain of the Chaptico Hundred in 1689 and served for some years as Justice of the Peace. Like some of my other great-grandfathers, he was involved with Josias Fendall's rebellion against Lord Baltimore. (I’m looking at you,
Thomas Gerrard!) John Dent had children (some with Mary Hatch): Peter, Michael, John, my 7x-great grandfather, George, Mary, Lydia, Anne, Abigail and Christian. Captain Dent died in St. Mary's County MD about 1712, leaving tracts of land to each of his children. (With thanks to Harry Wright Newman,
Charles County Gentry.)
6. Wright
I haven’t found the immigrant ancestor for my Wright line. The earliest Wright I have found is Littleberry Wright, my 4x-great grandfather. The 1860 Census puts him in Newnan GA, next door to his son, attorney William Wright, my 3x-great grandfather. The census says he is 60 years old at that point, born in South Carolina. He probably met his wife Henrietta Austin there and moved to Georgia with her family. He subsequently won two lots in the Georgia Land Lottery. He is found in the 1830 Census of Harris County GA, aged 30-39, along with 3 young boys, 2 young girls, a woman aged 30-39 and 6 slaves. His property in Harris County was sold to pay his debts in 1833. Henrietta filed for divorce in 1835, apparently on grounds of abandonment. I haven't found Littleberry again until the 1860 Census, so I'm not sure if he stayed in Georgia. I also haven't found a death or probate record for him in Georgia. So, dead-end on this for now.
7. Turner
I have a candidate for the immigrant Turner ancestor, but not a solid trail. I believe the immigrant was William Turner, my probable 9x-great grandfather, who settled around St. Leonard's Creek in Calvert County about 1650. He probably came from England. He died in Calvert County MD about 1663. He left a will that named his children: Eldest son William, Edward, and Richard, all receiving land along the Choptank River (Dorchester County) and daughter Jane, wife of Stephen Clifton. No wife is named, so I assume she is dead at this point. The reason I connect him to my line of Turners is because the family stayed around the St. Leonard's Creek area. William Turner Jr., who was of age in 1663, died in 1719 in Calvert County. William's son, John, called John of St. Leonard's, predeceased his father about 1716. His will names his wife Johanna and sons John, Thomas, Gideon who are not yet of age. After that I can trace the Turners pretty clearly in my line. So, for now, I'm going with this rather tenuous thread of location/land ownership. Calvert County having lost most records to several courthouse fires, it is hard to turn up more evidence.
8. Somervell
The immigrant ancestor of this line was
Dr. James Somervell, about whom I have previously written. Dr. Somervell, my 7x-great grandfather, was born 20 February 1688 in Ayershire, Scotland. He studied at the University of Edinburgh and was captured at the Battle of Preston and exiled to America. He prospered in the new world, married Sarah Howe in 1722 and had children with her: Rebecca, John, James and Alexander, my 6x-great grandfather,
about whom I have written previously. Dr. Somervell served as a Justice of Calvert County and as the Sheriff. He died in Calvert County in 1750.
On the whole, then, I have done pretty well at identifying the immigrant ancestors for this section of my family tree. Four immigrants are very well documented since they were prominent land owners and active in provincial politics. They knew and interacted with other ancestors of mine. Only one complete dead end, one kind of tenuous tie, and two open-ended connections back to England. I'm probably lucky that so many of these immigrants landed in Maryland and knew and interacted with each other, making connections somewhat easier to find.
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