#52 Ancestors 2024 Week 7 Immigration: Part 2 Immigrant Ancestors Maternal Line

 

In this blog, I am continuing to look at my immigrant ancestors, this time focusing on those from my mother's family. 

1.  Summers

The immigrant ancestor of my Summers family was John Summers, my 7x-great grandfather, who was transported to Maryland from England in 1671.  That probably puts his birth about 1650. By 1672, he was paying ground rent on 120 acres of land called "Pitchcroft" in Calvert County (now Prince George's County), Maryland. A few years later, he married Rebecca (possibly a Dent) and had three children with her: William, John (my 6x-great grandfather), and Sarah. In 1680, John claimed 50 acres of land, having completed his indentured service. John Summers died in Prince George's County MD in November 1705, leaving his estate to his wife, Rebecca and naming his three children in the will. 

2. 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.)

3. Hill

The immigrant ancestor of my Hill family was Clement Hill, Jr., my 6x-great grandfather, born 24 February 1670 at Compton Bassett, Wiltshire, England. He came to Maryland in 1693 and stayed with his uncle, Clement Hill Sr., who was a prominent figure in the Province, a member of the Lower House of the Assembly and a member of the Privy Council. In 1696, Clement Hill Jr. married Ann Darnall, the daughter of Col. Henry Darnall. In 1699, he purchased 748 acres of land in Prince George's County MD on the west side of the Patuxent River and built his home there, which he named Compton Bassett, after his home in England. Clement Hill Jr. was the Surveyor General of Maryland. Clement and Ann Hill had five children, including my 5x-great grandfather, Henry Darnall Hill.  Clement Hill died in Prince George's County MD in August 1743. (With thanks to Effie Gwynn Bowie. Across the Years in Prince George's County, Maryland.)

4. Childs

The immigrant ancestor of my Childs line was Henry Childs, my 7x-great grandfather, about whom I have previously written. Henry was born in Amersham, Hertfordshire, England about 1652. He married Ann Ball in 1671 and had ten children with her: Benjamin, Sarah, Mary, Ann, Henry Jr. (my 6x-great grandfather), Ruth, Rachel, Cephas, John, and William.  In 1687, Henry purchased 500 acres of land from William Penn, a fellow Quaker, land which he later gave to his son, Cephas. Henry moved to West River, Anne Arundel County MD where he and his family joined the local Friends Meeting. He died in Anne Arundel County in 1740, leaving his various properties to his children. 

5.  Sasscer

According to family tradition, the Sasscers came from France, but other sources say the Sassers originated in Westphalia/Saxony/Germany and migrated to England after the Norman Conquest in 1066.  The earliest person I have found in my line of Sasscers is Roger John Sarcer/Sasser/Sasscer, my 6x-great grandfather, who may or may not have emigrated from Europe.  A Benjamin Sawcer was found on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1671, but I do not know how or if he is connected to Roger.  Roger John Sasser purchased 300 acres of land in Prince George's County MD called "Sarcer's Green" in 1713, so he was probably born in the late 1600's. He later settled near what is now Brandywine, where he purchased additional land. In 1737, Roger deeded "Sasser's Green" to his son John, my 5x-great grandfather. Roger died in Prince George's County MD in 1752.  (With thanks to Lieze Sasscer Moffett, The Sasscer Family of Maryland.)

6.  Gibbons

The earliest Gibbons ancestor I have found is Thomas Gibbons, my 6x-great grandfather.  Thomas, age 14, was in Charles County MD in 1685 when he was presented in court as a servant to William Barton.  So Thomas was born about 1671.  He may have been born in Maryland, or transported to Maryland by William Barton as an indentured servant.  By 1697, Thomas, a planter, was in Prince George's County MD and purchased 100 acres of "Barton's Hope" from William Barton. In 1704, he made further purchases of "Smith's Green" and "Brookefield" in Prince George's County. By that year, Thomas had married Elizabeth (MNU, but possibly Turner). Thomas and Elizabeth had children: George, Turner (my 5x-great grandfather), Christiana (who married my 5x-great grandfather, John Sasscer), and Thomas. Thomas Gibbons died in Prince George's County in 1711, leaving his various properties to his children. 

7. Wallis

The probable immigrant ancestor of my Wallis line is Henry Wallis, my 8X-great grandfather, born about 1650 in England or Scotland. About 1685, Henry petitioned the Lord Proprietor to obtain title to the tract "Boothbies Fortune" in Kent County MD. He probably died in Kent County MD, or he may have gone back to England.  Unfortunately, no other record has been found for Henry.  Henry's son Samuel Wallis, my 7x-great grandfather, was possibly born in England or Scotland and was said to have come to Maryland about 1700 along with William Comegys, another of my 8x-great grandfathers. Samuel married Anne, the widow of William Pearce in 1703/4 in Cecil County MD. He died in Kent County MD about May 1724 and his estate was administered by his wife, Anne. Samuel was an Episcopalian and longtime vestryman of Shrewsbury Parish.  He served in the lower house of the Maryland legislature and owned considerable property on the Eastern Shore, including Boothbies Fortune, presumably inherited from his father, Henry. He bought several properties jointly with William Comegys. Samuel and Anne had seven children, including my 6x-great grandfather, John Wallis. (With Thanks to Guy Wallis, The Wallis Family of Kent County, Maryland.)

8.  Willson

The immigrant ancestor of this Willson family was John Willson, my 7x-great grandfather, born 10 January 1690 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Willson came to Maryland in 1731 and settled on the Wye River at "Greenwood," along with his wife, Elizabeth, and young son Thomas. Willson was a staunch Catholic and engaged in many business dealings with his wealthy Catholic neighbor, Richard Bennett III, who was considered one of the richest men on the continent. Richard Bennett was godfather to Willson's son, Thomas Bennett Willson, and paid for his medical studies in Edinburgh, starting a line of four generations of doctors in the Willson family.  John Willson died in Queen Anne's County MD about 1728. (With thanks to Thomas Joseph Peterson. Catholics in Colonial Delmarva.)

This exercise has reminded me of the relative scarcity of documents for the 17th and early 18th centuries and how fortunate I am that Maryland has a fairly good collection of probate, court and land records from that period.

#52 Ancestors 2024 Week 7 Immigration: Part 1 Immigrant Ancestors Paternal Line

 

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.