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McGoughs in Pre-Revolutionary America: Miles and Elizabeth Spencer McGough by Hugh McGough

Miles McGough was born in Ireland around 1730. He emigrated to America and settled in Maryland sometime before 1752 when he leased 75 acres of land in the part of Baltimore county that became Harford county in 1773. He called this land Mile's Adventure. Around 1753, Miles McGough married Elizabeth Spencer who had been born in Maryland on May 16, 1730. Her father, Zachariah Spencer, occupied land that adjoined Mile's Adventure. Their first son may have been Hugh McGough, possibly born in 1755 or 1756.* Their oldest son mentioned in the real state records of Harford county was John McGough who was born in Harford county in about 1758. On March 6, 1760, Miles McGaugh leased 33 more acres of land called The Valley near Mile's Adventure. In 1787, John McGough, as the survivor of Miles McGough, purchased the land that had been leased by his father, Miles Adventure and The Valley (minus 25 acres that had been sold to Hugh Whiteford), called the whole remaining 254 acres Traveler's Rest, and assigned his purchase rights to his mother, Elizabeth McGough.

*Hugh McGough, however, married Rosanna Crooks, who was born in 1740. Unless Hugh was 15 years or so younger than his wife, he more likely was a brother, cousin, or other collateral relative of Miles McGough.

The land originally leased by Miles McGough was in the Deer Creek Upper Hundred of Harford county, and was about one and a half miles south of the eastern half of York county, Pennsylvania; five miles north of Deer Creek, and less than one quarter of a mile south of Broad Creek. The land is immediately east of the intersection of what are now Maryland state roads #136 (Whiteford Road) and #24 (Rocks Road). The intersection is now known as Five Forks. For a map, see: Five Forks, Maryland, United States.

A Hugh McGough was enlisted in the Maryland militia in Deer Creek Upper Hundred in Harford county in 1775 and was among the men of Deer Creek Upper Hundred who took the oath of the Maryland Association of Freeman in 1776. Hugh McGough served in the Pennsylvania Regiment of Foot in 1776 and 1777. He died in Harford county in 1779. He left a widow, Rosanne Crooks McGough. The probate of his estate was opened on October 4, 1779. Hugh McGough may have been the first born son of Miles and Elizabeth Spencer McGough—even though no genealogist lists him as a member of the family of Miles McGough and Elizabeth Spencer. The records show no other McGough family in Harford county during these years. If so, Hugh was no older than 23 when he died. See my page: Hugh McGough, Soldier in the American Revolution. Even so, it is more likely that Hugh was close to the age of his wife. Rosanne Crooks, who was 39 when Hugh died, and a brother or cousin of Miles McGough, or possibly the son of Miles McGough by an earlier marriage.

Children of Miles and Elizabeth Spencer McGough referred to in the last will and testament of Miles McGough, which was made in 1884, five years after the death of Hugh McGough, are their sons John, James, Miles, and Thomas, and their daughter Elizabeth. I have not been able to find a copy of the will and have only an indirect reference to it in real estate documents. Other children may have been named, therefore.

John McGough, the first son named in documents referring to a will, was born about 1758 and may have moved to Kentucky (but perhaps first to Pennsylvania) in about 1795 or 1796—to the part of Christian county that became Caldwell county, Kentucky, in 1809—and raised a large family there, including sons named Hugh McGough and Thomas Miles McGough.

The next three sons of Miles McGough and Elizabeth Spencer referred to in the will of Miles McGough were: James McGough, born about 1760; Miles McGough (junior), born about 1762; and Thomas McGough, born about 1765. These three sons moved to Cambria county, Pennsylvania, in about 1803, and raised their families there. James and Miles died in Cambria county. Thomas moved his family from Pennsylvania to Belmont county, Richland township, Ohio, sometime before 1820, and died in Ohio. See my page: McGoughs in the 1820 Census of the United States.

Miles and Elizabeth Spencer McGough were the parents of a daughter, Elizabeth, who was born about 1767, married Patrick William Dempsey around 1793, and had at least eleven children. Patrick Dempsey is listed in the 1800 census of District 5, Harford county, Maryland: 2 (free white males under 10) 1 (free white male 10 thru 15) - 1 (free white male 25 thru 44) - 3 (free white females under 10) - 1 (free white female 16 thru 25) 1 (free white female 45 and over) (roll 11, page 126). They moved from Harford county, Maryland, to Cambria county, Pennsylvania, before 1807, and later to Perry county, Ohio, and Huntingdon county, Indiana. The histories of these families after they moved to Cambria county are in my page: McGoughs Who Moved from Harford County, Maryland, to Cambria County, Pennsylvania.

Miles McGough and Elizabeth Spencer McGough were the parents of more children. Court records in Harford county refer to Bartholomew Connell (Bartholomy O'Connell) as the husband of another daughter of Miles McGough, and this daughter—whose name I have not been able to determine—may have been the first-born child of Miles McGough and Elizabeth Spencer, born about 1754. The names of Patrick McGough and Benjamin McGough are also found in Harford county records in the 1790s, and they were possibly also sons of Miles and Elizabeth Spencer McGough.

In the absence of birth, marriage, and death records of Miles McGough and his family, I have included on this page—and in my timeline—several references to other persons in the Deer Creek area of Baltimore county that may have had some connection with the McGoughs. I hope that these references may lead to more clues about the early history of the McGoughs in Maryland.

For a chronological list of events relating to the McGoughs in Harford county, see my page: Timeline of McGoughs in Harford County, Maryland, 1750–1810.

Sources

The Archives of Maryland Online is a great source. A good reference to early Maryland public documents is Maryland State Papers (Scharf Collection) 1640-1914 MSA SSI. 1005. Many legal terms from colonial times are defined in the Glossary of Terms of the Archives of Maryland Online.

A source of reference material on the American Revolution is at the Historical Resources Branch—US Army Center of Military History—Bibliographies of the War of American Independence. See also American Revolution and Other Resource Links.

The following book by Henry C. Peden, Jr., is available by subscription on Genealogy.com, and has been invaluable in preparing this page:

Revolutionary Patriots of Harford County, Maryland 1775-1783. The more than 3,600 men named in this book rendered active service in the cause of American independence between 1775 and 1783, either as an officer, soldier, seaman, marine, militiaman, or minuteman in the armed forces of the Continental Congress. (1985), 2000. 271 pages.

Henry C. Peden, Jr., is also the author of a valuable resource for genealogical resource in Harford county, originally in two volumes. Here are descriptions of the second volume and a supplement issued as a third volume:

Early Harford Countians, volume 2: L to Z Volumes 1 and 2 have been extracted from the following: Tax list of 1774, 1776 (missing two Hundreds now contained in the supplement), 1778, 1783, censuses of 1776 and 1790; Dr. Archer's ledgers; Orphan's Court Proceedings; Family Bibles; Estate Administrations; registers of St. Johns, St. George's, Quaker monthly meetings of Deer Creek and little Falls; wills; court minutes; commercial licenses; survey certificates; land records index; marriage licenses; gleanings from various publications such as the Bulletin of the Historical Society of Harford County and other periodicals and histories; list of Non-Associators and Non-Enrolles in 1775; tombstone inscriptions. Over 30,000 entries. (1993), new format in 1999.

There is a supplement in a third volume:

Early Harford Countians, volume 3. This is a supplement containing the 1775 census and two hundreds (subdivisions) of the 1776 census which were inadvertently omitted from the initial publication—along with corrections to the earlier volumes 1 and 2. (1999), 2001. 115 pages.

He followed up on this work with another volume:

Inhabitants of Harford County, Maryland, 1791-1800. A follow-up to Mr. Peden's 1993 massive work on Harford County, Maryland inhabitants—which covered the years 1773 to 1790. This work continues to follow those residents up to the year 1800, bringing the 18th century to completion. Data has been taken from a wide variety of sources. Alphabetical. Includes maps. (1999), 2001. 373 pages.

As I was looking for ways to examine these books, I discovered that Henry C. Peden, Jr., is available to do genealogical research in Harford county. I engaged his services and found that he also has many privately published pamphlets and other sources that he has developed. His work was great, his research exhaustive, and his prices reasonable. His email address is <pedenroots@msn.com>. His snail-mail address is:

Henry C. Peden, Jr., FMGS
707 Belford Road
Bel Air, MD 21014–4424

His telephone number is: 410–879–8717.

Here is a link to a map of the counties of Maryland, which in turn links to census information about each county. Another good source is Cyndi's List—Maryland. A large bibliography will be found at Maryland. See also Maryland Genealogy on My CinnamonToast® Genealogy for some references to sources on the web of Maryland death and cemetery records.

For more sources on Cambria County, Pennsylvania, see my page McGoughs in America before 1790: Arthur and Susan McGough.

Spellings of McGough

Most of the early spellings of the surname McGough in Harford county were closer to the etymologically related Irish name McGaugh. By 1800, however, McGough had become the standard spelling within this family. See my page: Spelling of McGough.

In a lease of land on April 25, 1752, Miles McGough's signature is copied as Miles Mc geagh, but his name appears throughout the text of the indenture as Miles McDear, a name that appears nowhere else in Maryland. The lease is indexed by Scharf under Miles McDear. (volume 32, number 2, Spring 1991, Scharf Collection: Property Lease Agreements, page 160, on Genealogy.com).

The Abstracts of the Administration Account of the Prerogative Court, Libers 29 though 36, 1750–1754, compiled by V. L. Skinner, Jr., lists a payment to Miles Magau from the estate of John Renshaw, which estate was opened on August 18, 1753. The payee was almost certainly Miles McGough.

In a lease of land on March 6, 1760, Miles McGough is referred to and signs as Miles McGaugh. In a tax assessment of 1783, he is also referred to as Miles McGaugh. Maryland State Archives—Maryland Indexes (Assessment of 1783, Index) 1783 Harford County MSA S 1437 includes these entries:

Miles McGaugh. The Valley, 33 acres. HA Deer Creek Upper Hundred, p. 102. MSA S 1161-6-6 1/4/5/49

Miles McGaugh. Miles Adventure, 75 acres. HA Deer Creek Upper Hundred, p. 102. MSA S 1161-6-6 1/4/5/49

In a list of the signers in 1776 of the Maryland Articles of Association from Deer Creek Upper Hundred in Harford county, Maryland, is the name of Hugh McGough. In another list of signers from the same township, also compiled in 1776, were John McGeaugh and Miles McGeaugh, whom I think were a brother and the father of Hugh McGough.

Miles McGaugh was on a list of taxpayers in Deer Creek Upper Hundred in 1783. Harford County 1783 Maryland Tax List (from the Collection of The Maryland Historical Society—Rhistoric Publications 1970), page 102. His sons are listed as John McGaw and Miles McGaw (page 106). This is one of the few places in the Harford county records where I have found McGaw written for McGough, although both surnames are sometimes written as McGaugh.

Miles McGeaugh was on a list of taxpayers of Harford county compiled on November 26, 1785.

Hugh McGough was listed as Hugh M. Gough in the Harford County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 94, as a signer of the oath of fidelity and allegiance to Maryland in 1778.

In a document of April 19, 1788, referring to the death of Miles McGeaugh, and his will dated May 25, 1784, Elizabeth MaGeaugh, of Harford county, Maryland, widow, and her four sons, John MaGeaugh, James MaGeaugh, Miles MaGeaugh and Thomas MaGeaugh, convey to Hugh Whiteford some of the estate property known as The Valley, reserving 7 3/4 acres of the use of Elizabeth. An inquiry from Eleanor Leonard McGough of Ormond Beach, Florida, about this document and other Harford county estate records, in The Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin, volume 36, number 4, Fall 1995, Queries and Answers, page 691 (question 36–094) (published on Genealogy.com), creates additional variants of the spellings by inserting spaces in the surnames:

"MA GEAUGH/MC GOUGH/MC GAUGH. I have listed several land records for Miles MA GEAUTH (MC GOUBH) of Harford Co., MD."

The 1790 census of Harford county, Maryland, lists Elizabeth MGeough and her son, James MGeough, in separate households. See: 1790 Harford County, Maryland Federal Census, page 75, lines 185 and 196.

On April 24, 1799, Elizabeth Megaugh, Miles' wife, assigned her interest in 254 1/4 acres of land lying partly on the north side, but mostly on the south side, of Broad Creek known as Travelers Rest to her son, Thomas Megaugh and her son-in-law Patrick Dempsey. The deed issued by the state of Maryland on December 17, 1799, spelled the grantee's name McGeaugh. Travelers Rest included Miles Adventure, which Miles McGough had originally leased in 1752, and the part of The Valley that had not been conveyed to Hugh Whiteford in 1788.

By unpatented certificate #474 dated December 3, 1804, a resurvey of Travellers Rest, consisting of 354 3/4 acres in Harford county, was filed. The resurvey was for Archabald Heaps and done by David Clark S.H.C., and carried out under a Special Warrant of Survey issued on October 29, 1803. The unpatented certificate of survey was completed on October 5, 1804. (MSA S1222-481). Harford County Circuit Court Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats MSA S1222: (Certificates, Unpatented, HA). (There is more on Archibald Heaps below under Thomas McGough (c. 1765–after 1850).) Broad Creek is mentioned in the survey of both of the tracts called Travellers Rest. In the 1803/1804 unpatented resurvey for Archibald Heaps, the reference is:

"a tract or parcel of land called Chevauxdefrize ,,, (containing) ... two hundred thirty eight acres and a half an acre and twenty nine square perches ... (and ... one hundred sixteen acres and eleven square perches in vacant land in seven parcels ... then running with and bounding on the original south seventy seven degrees and a half west forty seven perches to the end of the said line still bounding on the original the following course Viz.t south thirty two degrees and three quarters west sixteen perches then south sixty two degrees and a quarter east two perches and four tenths to two bounded white oaks standing on the south side and near broad creek they being boundaries of a tract of land called Mount Pleasant surveyed for William Prig.(Prigg) thence south thirty three degrees west thirty five perches and a half to a bounded white oak on the side of a hill a boundary of said land, south fifty degrees east seven perches and one tenth to a tract of land called Morgan's Gift surveyed for William Morgan ..."

In the will of Archibald's father, Robert Heape, Sr., executed on May 30, 1810, Robert bequeaths to his daughter Mary Heape "fifty acres of land being part of a tract formerly called Chevordory freeze (should be Chevauxdefrize) but now called Travellers Rest." The will is set out in full below.

Tracts described as abutting Travellers rest in the resurvey of 1803 for Archibald Heaps were Last Addition (Hugh Bay), Alexanders Enlargement (Isabel Alexander), Johns Adventure (William Ashmore), Mount Pleasant (William Prigg), Alexanders Enlargement (Isabel Alexander), and Morgans Gift (William Morgan). The surveys of these properties are avialable on Maryland Achives in the locations described below.

Harford County Circuit Court—Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats—MSA S1222: (Certificates, Unpatented, HA)

Reference: Unpatented Certificate 278
Date: 1802/04/03
Description: Last Addition, Hugh Bay, 340 3/4 Acres

Harford County Circuit Court—Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats— MSA S1222: (Certificates, Unpatented, HA)

Reference: Unpatented Certificate 20
Date: 1802/05/12
Description: Alexanders Enlargement, Isabel Alexander, 293 Acres
Storage Location: 1/25/5/18

Harford County Circuit Court—Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats—MSA S1222: (Certificates, Unpatented, HA)

Reference: Unpatented Certificate 258
Date: 1795/06/10
Description: Johns Adventure, William Ashmore, 977 Acres
Storage Location: 1/25/5/20

Harford County Circuit Court—Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats—MSA S1222: (Certificates, Unpatented, HA)

Reference: Unpatented Certificate 317
Date: 1795/03/24
Description: Morgans Gift, William Morgan, 70 Acres (vacant land on the west side of Broad Creek, bounded in part by York road; also borders Mount Pleasant)
Storage Location: 1/25/5/21

Harford County Circuit Court—Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats— MSA S1199: (Certificates, Patented, HA).

Reference: Patented Certificate 557
Date: 1795/08/07
Description: Mount Pleasant, William Prigg, Sr. (Beginning at a bounded White oak standing on the North side of the York Road and on the South side of Broad Creek -- 203 acres)

Harford County Circuit Court—Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats—MSA S1592: (Patents, HA, Tract Index)

Reference: Patent Record IC K, p. 667
Date: 1796
Description: Morgans Gift, 70 Acres; Certificate
Developer/Owner: Morgan, William

Harford County Circuit Court—Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats— MSA S1199: (Certificates, Patented, HA).

Patented Certificate 547
Date:1796/09/08
Morgans Gift, Samuel Sprigg (should be Prigg), 70 Acres MSA S 1199-556

Harford County Circuit Court—Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats—MSA S1592: (Patents, HA, Tract Index)

Reference: Patent Record IC M, p. 37 (MSA S 1592-3531)
Date: 1796
Description: Morgans Gift, 70 Acres; Patent
(Developer/Owner: Prigg, Samuel)

Other pertinent surveys in the Maryland Archives are:

Harford County Circuit Court—Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats—MSA S1592: (Patents, HA, Tract Index)

Reference: Patent Record IC M, p. 662
Date: 1797
Description: Travelers Rest, 254 1/4 Acres; Patent
Developer/Owner: Mcgeaugh, Thomas and Patrick Demsey

Harford County Circuit Court—Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats—MSA S1199: (Certificates, Patented, HA)

Reference: Patented Certificate 824
Date: 1799/12/13
Description: Travelers Rest, Thomas McGeaugh and Patrick Dempsey, 254 1/4 Acres
Storage Location: 01/25/05/16

Harford County Circuit Court—Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats—MSA S1592: (Patents, HA, Tract Index)

Reference: Patent Record IC M, p. 597
Date: 1799
Description: Chevauxdefrize, 833 Acres; Patent
Developer/Owner: Wheeler, Joseph

Harford County Circuit Court—Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats—MSA S1199: (Certificates, Patented, HA)

Reference: Patented Certificate 169
Date: 1799/05/23
Description: Chevaurdefrize (should be Chevauxdefrize), Joseph Wheeler, 833 Acres
Storage Location: 01/25/05/8

Although the land resurveyed for Archibald Heaps in 1804 also straddled Broad Creek, and is in the same general vicinity as the Travellers Rest owned by Miles and Elizabeth McGough, I have not been able to determine whether the first tract includes all or part of the second. On April 24, 1799, Elizabeth Megaugh deeded her interest in Travelers Rest to her son, Thomas Megaugh, and her son-in-law, Patrick Dempsey. On May 17, 1803. Thomas McGough and Patrick Dempsey conveyed their interest in "Travelers Rest" to James McGough, of John; 127+ acres and buildings for £50 (MDHR Liber HD #a Folio 483). On November 1, 1804. James McGough and his wife "Hester" (should be Esther) conveyed their interest in "Travellers Rest" to Thomas Montgomery "in consideration of the sum of nine hundred Spanish milled dollars of the value of seven shillings and six pence each current money of Maryland." The land was delivered to Montgomery on March 19, 1805. The deed was dated November 1, 1804, and the money paid on that date (Liber HD #R Folio 540-2). (In the 1790 census returns for Harford couunty, Thomas Montgomery (M-637, roll 3, page100) was on the page immediately preceding James MGeough, and two pages preceding Elizabeth MGeough.

"June 19, 1782. James McGeaugh, Bartholomew Connel (James' brother-in-law), and Hugh Bankhead, witnessed the will of Thomas Montgomery, planter (whose daughter was Elizabeth Webb). The will was admitted to probate on December 20, 1785. The estate lists two sons, James and Thomas Montgomery. These are probably the James and Thomas Montgomery listed as living one family removed from each other, and close to Hugh Bankhead (and a John and Samuel Webb), in the 1790 census of Harford county (roll 3, book 1, page 117). They were not far removed from the home of James MGeough." Timeline of McGoughs in Harford County, Maryland, 1750–1810

One factor that makes it likely the tract called Travellers Rest in the 1804 resurvey for Archibald Heaps, and mentioned in the will of Robert Heaps, Senior, and the Travelers Rest conveyed on April 24, 1799, by Elizabeth Megaugh to her son, Thomas Megaugh, and her son-in-law, Patrick Dempsey, is that Archibald and Robert Heaps were related by marriage to Thomas McGough. Archibald and Robert Heaps, Junior, were brothers. Their father was Robert Heaps, Senior, who left 50 acres of Travellers Rest to his daughter Mary in his will that he signed on May 30, 1810, and that was admitted to probate on February 23, 1819. Robert Heaps, Senior, married Nancy James (as her second husband). Thomas McGough married Sarah James, sister of the Nancy James, who married Robert Heaps, Junior. Martha Chocke (Chalk) James, the mother of Nancy and Sarah James, married Robert Heaps, Junior, (her grandson?) on August 21, 1782 (or 1781) (as a third husband, whom she married after the death of her second husband, Henry James, whom she had married in 1771). For more on the Heaps and Chockes (Chalks), see the section of this page below on Thomas McGough.

In the 1800 census of Harford county, two sons of Miles and Elizabeth McGough, James and Thomas McGeough, are shown as living next to each other. The surnames can be read as Megeough. One genealogists has indexed them as MeGrough. Genealogy.com indexes the surnames as McGeough.

James Meegaa of Harford county, Maryland, signed the Oath of Allegiance to Maryland in 1778. This may have been James McGough, son of Miles McGough (senior) (Harford County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 158). The name was on the returns of Robert Amos for Harford county (Maryland Records, Volume II, Oaths of Fidelity and Support, page 241).) This is the only time the surname Meegaa appears on Genealogy.com and, as far as I can find, anywhere else. (John Chocke was on this same list.)

There was a separate McGaw family, with a James and John (and Robert) McGaw, in Harford county in the 1780s and 1790s. The McGaw name was occasionally spelled McGaugh, leading to confusion. The name of Hugh McGough has often has been erroneously indexed as Hugh McGaugh in various genealogical compilations of Harford county. Other examples of confusion are: the text of a bond of August 8, 1800, to Hannah Richardson, indicates the obligors to be James Price and James McGaugh. The signature on the bond, however, is by James McGaw. The release from liability on the bond says that "although the within James McGaugh is jointly bound with James Price for the whole Bond the said James McGaw is per agreement Released." The name of Jane McGaw is spelled Jane McGaugh in a December, 1782, proceedings in the Harford County Orphan's Court. Abstracts of the Orphans Court Proceedings 1778–1800, Harford County, Maryland, by Henry C. Peden, Jr. (1999). The Robert McGaugh whom indexes show to have died intestate in Harford county on May 1, 1783, was actuallynamed Robert McGaw.

A "Return of Recruits, Substitutes, and Draughts, raised in Harford County for Two Battalions of Militia, Agreeable to an Act of Assembly in 1781" lists John McGaw and James McGaw. The report is dated December 11, 1781, and was submitted by "A. Crawford, Secy. L. H. County" to "His Excellency Thos. Sim Lee, Esq." James and John McGaw are listed under Names of Draughts, and after each name is the entry "Never taken up" (Muster Rolls & Other Records of Service, Miscellaneous Maryland Line Papers, page 399, on Genealogy.com). There is a slight possibility that these entries relate to John and James McGough, sons of Miles McGough and Elizabeth Spencer, whose names were sometimes spelled McGeaugh. James McGaw is on the list of persons in Harford county, submitted in March of 1778, who took the Oath of Fidelity and Support to Maryland in 1778 before James McComas. Also on the list is Sedwick (Should be Sedgwick) James who was a member of Captain William Webb's company of Militia with Hugh McGough (Maryland Records, Volume II, Oaths of Fidelity and Support, page 234, on Genealogy.com.). John McGaw is on the roster of December 2, 1775, of Captain Rigdon's Company No.12 of Maryland Militia in Harford county. A marriage license was issued to John McGaw and Phebe Gilbert in Harford county on July 2, 1801. There were McGaw families in Harford county at this time, and I doubt that these McGaw entries should have been McGough. Both John and James McGaw are in early censuses of Harford county, along with many other McGaws.

Harford County, Maryland

Harford county Maryland is in northeastern Maryland, immediately east of Baltimore county, and lies on the northern border of Maryland and southern border of Pennsylvania. Bel Air, today's county seat of Harford county, is 23 miles northeast of Baltimore. See map of Maryland counties. The southern boundary of Harford county lies along the northeastern shoreline of Chesapeake Bay, and the eastern boundary is the Susquehanna River. Harford county was created from a part of Baltimore county in 1773. Northern Harford county is scenic and relatively unspoiled country. See: Residents revel in rural past and present history: Families continue to be drawn to the area’s tranquility and natural beauty—A closer look at Harford County, an article in the Baltimore Sun by Karin Remesch, published on October 27, 2002, where she says:

"The English explorer Capt. John Smith was on the mark when he landed on the shores of Harford County in July 1608, and wrote in his diary: 'Heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a place for man's commodious and delightful habitation.' These scenic vistas and quality of life have kept families in Harford County for generations and have drawn droves of newcomers to the area, each searching for a small plot of land to call his own."

Maps of Harford county are available on the Harford county Genealogy website. See also: Harford County Regional Map on the Harford county website. For a map of all the counties in Maryland, see the US Census Bureau's Maryland County Selection Map. See also Lower Susquehanna River Basin (a PDF file with two pictures of Deer Creek).

The townland in Harford county called Deer Creek Upper Hundred, where Miles McGough leased property in 1752, is on the north edge of the county and lies on the Pennsylvania border. See the 1783 townland map of Harford county. The nearest village is Pylesville. Here is a link to the zoomable MapQuest view of the area centered on Pylesville. The McGough property was about half way between Pylesville and Fawn Grove to the northwest—just across the Pennsylvania line. Here is a link to the Yahoo.com map. The McGough property was immediately east of what is now the intersection of highways #24 and #136 marked Five Forks, and may have included the area marked Bobs Flow.

The term "hundred" relates to the division of a county into an area that was supposed to contain a hundred families or, according to other sources, an area that could furnish a hundred fighting men. Here is the explanation from How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement © Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:

hundred—"an old English unit of area equal to 100 hides (see below). This is roughly 12 000 acres, 5000 hectares, or 18.75 square miles. The hundred is approximately the area of a village with its associated fields, so the name "hundred" came to mean a minor division of a shire or county. This use carried over to the American colonies, where, for example, many of the early settlements in Virginia were called hundreds."

hide—"a very old English unit of land area, dating from perhaps the seventh century. The hide was the amount of land that could be cultivated by a single plowman and thus the amount of land necessary to support a family. Depending on local conditions, this could be as little as 60 acres or as much as 180 acres (24–72 hectares). The hide was more or less standardized as 120 acres (48.6 hectares) after the Norman conquest of 1066. The hide continued in use throughout medieval times, but it is now obsolete. The unit was also known as the carucate."

Here is a definition from the Glossary of Terms in the Archives of Maryland Online:

Hundreds (Hds.)—an old English term for land division equaling a land area of less than a county or shire but larger than a town or parish.

McGough Property in Deer Creek Upper Hundred

*William Pyles may have operated a saw mill near Pylesville before 1805. In 1805, the Maryland General Assembly enacted: "An ACT to lay out and make a public road from William Pyles's saw mill, on Deer creek, in Harford county (chapter LXXXIX)." A William Pyle married Ann Johnson on December 1, 1804, in Harford county. A William Pyle, Jr., married Susanna Baxter on October 7, 1811, in Harford county. Reverend John R. Keech conducted a funeral of William Pyle on February 13, 1843, in Harford county (probably in Christ's Church). Pylesville Maryland—A Rural Village in Northern Harford says: "In 1813, Nathan Pyle owned a mill on Broad Creek at Pylesville. From his ownership of the mill and adjoining properties, Pylesville received its name."

The geographical reference point mentioned above is marked on map #3 of the ADC Street Map Book of Harford County, Maryland. The three adjoining tracts of land acquired by the McGoughs in this area were determined ultimately to consist of 254 1/4 acres, and the combined tracts were known as Travelers Rest (which included Miles' Adventure and the 7 3/4 acres of The Valley that were not conveyed to Hugh Whiteford). The beginning point of the legal description was "two bounded Spanish Oak saplings standing on the north side and within seven perches of the Main Branch of Broad Creek; and on the south west side and within fifty yards of a spring emptying into said Branch and running thence S86°W forty perches to a stone thence N53°W ninety seven perches to a bounded Chestnut sapling by and on the north side of said branch of Broad Creek " A perche is generally equivalent to a rod, or 15.5 feet, but in these land measurements, it is equal to 16.5 feet:

"In indiscriminate metes and bounds, distance is measured in 16 1/2 foot lengths which are interchangeably known as poles, rods, or perches. Note that 320 poles = 1 mile. The directions are measured in degrees as compass bearings, beginning with the first direction listed and moving toward the second direction. Thus 'north 50 east' in the deed below means 50 degrees east of north and 'south 30 west' means 30 degrees west of south." (See Legal Land Descriptions in Indiscriminate Metes and Bounds.)

The Glossary of Terms in the Archives of Maryland Online says:

Perch—land measurement equaling 16.5 feet.

If I read the description of the McGough land correctly, part of the southeastern boundary of the land was also was a northwestern "boundary of a tract of land called Bellfarm." On the current map of Harford county, 2 1/4 miles south east of the geographic point defined above is a designation of "Belle Farm Heritage." About a mile to the southeast of our geographic reference point, and, on the south side of Broad Creek, is a designation of "Bobs Flow." This may be the spring emptying into the main branch of Broad Creek referred to in the legal description of the land.

The western corner of property originally leased by Miles McGough in 1752 was what is now the Five Forks intersection of Whiteford Road (Maryland state highway #136) and Rocks Road (Maryland state highway #24), marked on map #3 of the ADC Street Map Book of Harford County. After the additions of The Valley—and subtraction of the twenty five acres of The Valley conveyed to Hugh Whiteford in April of 1788—and Travelers Rest, the property extended northeast on what is now Whiteford road to a point just beyond where the road crossed Broad Creek, then southeast along the north side of Broad Creek to a point on the north side of Broad Creek about a tenth of mile west of the Wheeler School Road, then south across the creek (then a jog to the east and back to the west) and just over one half a mile south (along the western edge of Belle Farm) to St. Mary's Road to the point about a half mile east of Rocks Road where a local access road now intersects, then west to Rocks Road, and then north about a half a mile to the Five Forks intersection. The center of this property is less than a mile south by southeast of the geographic reference point described above. The property is a half a mile northeast of the detached 67 acre section of Rocks State Park. that contains the Falling Branch Falls.

The old McGough property is one and one half miles north of the modern-day campus on Pylesville Road shared by North Harford High School, North Harford Middle School, and North Harford Elementary School. The center of the old McGough property is just a little over half the wayfrom the schools due north to the Pennsylvania border. The McGough property is also within the boundaries of the territory covered by the North Harford Elementary School. (The road to the immediate left of the school is Rocks Road. The first intersection to the north is St. Mary's Road. The second intersection to the north (after a slight bend of Rocks Road to the west) is Five Forks where Whiteford Road enters from the northeast. The McGough property is immediately east of this intersection.)

The roads coming into Five Forks are Rocks Road (#24) from the south, Clermont Mill Road from the southwest, Harkins Road (#136) from the west, Rocks Road (#24) from the northwest, and Whiteford Road (#136) from the northeast. Harkins Road becomes Whiteford Road at the intersection, and the two roads are both part of Maryland State Route #136. Another way to find the old McGough tract is to go to Abe Lowe's Dairy Farm at 4838 Fawn Grove, Pylesville, Maryland, 21132, on Harford's County Electronic Farm. Click on ":Map It" on the right of the screen. The Five Forks intersection will be on the right of the red star on the map that is displayed. Or go to Dougherty Farms at 105 Constitution Road, Pylesville, Maryland, on Harford's County Electronic Farm. Click on "Map It." When the map appears, click on "south" at the bottom of the screen. The Five Forks intersection will appear at the bottom of the map. Or go to Fiore Winery, 3026 Whiteford Road, Pylesville, and zoom out one or two notches. See also the map at Fall Foliage Event and Bike Tour 2002—Bike Routes.

One and one half miles north of the McGough property in Harford county is York county, Pennsylvania. Immediately west of York county and bordering western Maryland is Adams county, Pennsylvania. In the early 1700s, parts of both York and Adams counties were mistakenly thought to be within the province of Maryland:

"In 1727, John Digges, a Roman Catholic Marylander, was granted a 10,000-acre warrant by Charles Calvert, the fourth Lord Baltimore of Maryland. The physical location of the warrant was the choice of Digges himself; hence the name of the tract: 'Digges' Choice in the Backwoods', or 'Digges' Choice'. He located and surveyed, by 1735, 6,822 acres in the area of what is today the Borough of Hanover, Penn Township, and Heidelberg Township in York County, and Conewago, Germany, and Union Townships in Adams County. Digges intended for the tract to be located in Maryland, but the surveying of the Temporary Line between Maryland and Pennsylvania in 1739 located the tract four miles north of the Maryland-Pennsylvania border. By 1730, Digges and other Roman Catholic settlers from Maryland had settled in the area." Digges Choice.

Sometime after 1747, John Digges (sometimes spelled Diggs in Maryland records) moved to his plantation in what was then Baltimore county. His son, also named John Digges, was a circuit-riding Jesuit priest in the Deer Creek area of Baltimore county "beginning in 1743 when Father John Digges, S.J., bought a tract of land on the south bank of Deer Creek and established this mission. Digges died in 1746 and left the property to his friend and fellow-priest, Father Bennett Neale, S.J., who maintained the mission until he retired in 1773." The mission on Deer Creek was known as St. Joseph's Mission. See Rev. John Digges, Jr., S.J., Papers (1734–1746) in the Georgetown University—Lauinger Library—Special Collections Division.

Here is an excerpt from The Digges Family Lineage: 1200 to present:

"Generation 16/ John Digges of Prince George County and Charles County, Maryland received from Lord Baltimore on October 11, 1735 a patent for 10,000 acres called 'Digges Choice' which included the valley of Conewago in what is now York and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania. Here he started the first white settlement in that region west of the Susquehanna River. His wife is thought to have been Eleanor Carroll. Their children were: Edward, William, Henry, Dudley, John (a priest of the Society of Jesus), Eleanor, and Elizabeth . . ."

Father Bennett Neale, SJ, and St. Joseph's Mission on Deer Creek

The McGoughs in Maryland in the latter half of the 18th century were part of a concentration of Catholic settlers along Deer Creek in the part of Baltimore county that became Harford county in 1773. Their marriages, baptisms, and funerals, were performed by Catholic priests. The records of these events have been lost, although comparable records of the "established" Anglican church have been preserved. The difference in availability may be partly explained by the legal restrictions on the practice of Catholicism at the time. An examination of the operation of these restrictions is illuminating. For the history of early Catholics in Maryland, see the article on the Archdiocese of Baltimore in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Here are some excerpts from an essay entitled Maryland Catholics on the Frontier by Timothy O'Rourke:

"After several abortive attempts at overthrowing the Proprietary government in Maryland, the Protestant revolution of 1689 was successful. It was fomented largely by the non-Catholic colonists of Maryland—about two-thirds of the population of Maryland at that time—who had benefited by the religious toleration policies of Lord Baltimore.

"Almost immediately after the take-over occurred, the subjugation of all Catholics began in Maryland. Justices and other public officials, even sheriffs and clerks, were replaced if they were Catholics. Arms and ammunition of most Catholics were confiscated. The very presence of any Catholic in St. Mary's City during the session of the Protestant Associators—the group which was to constitute the ruling body of Maryland for the next two years—was forbidden.

"In 1692, an Act was passed which established the Anglican Church as the official church of the colony, and all residents were taxed to support the church. Catholics were excluded from public office, from voting, or even jury duty.

"In 1704, the 'Act to prevent the Growth of Popery within this Province' not only forbade all works of conversion but also closed all Catholic churches and schools in the province. Most of them still clung to their Faith, however, and practiced their religion privately, in their own homes. Many baptisms and marriages were recorded in the Anglican churches, usually with a notation that they were known Catholics

"These restrictions on public worship and other persecution of Catholics continued through the colonial period, which extended to the American Revolution and the Bill of Rights."

The 1704 Maryland law prohibited Catholic priests from practicing their religion, baptizing Protestant children, or attempting to proselytize. But by the end of that year, because the law was deemed too strict to enforce, priests were permitted to practice their faith, but only in private. These rules remained in effect until the beginning of the American Revolution. A Declaration of Rights was adopted in Convention of the Delegates of the freemen of Maryland at Annapolis, on August 24, 1776, and incorporated in the Constitution of Maryland on November 3, 1776, as Article 36, Religious Freedom.

"That, as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to him; all persons, professing the Christian religion, are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty; wherefore no person ought by any law to be molested in his person or estate on account of his religious persuasion or profession, or for his religious practice; ... "

Part of the history of the Catholics in Deer Creek is Priest Neale's Mass House and Mill Site, also known as Paradice Farm, near Churchville. Here is a history of this this structure from the Harford County Maryland 1996 Master Plan:

"One other Deer Creek religious institution deserves mention at this point, the stuccoed stone building known as Priest Neale's Mass House (HA-138), a structure that can truly be called unique. The reasons for this little building's existence are complicated. Put as simply as possible, in the late 17th and early 18th centuries waves of anti-Catholicism swept over England and its colonies. This led to, among other things, a series of 'anti-popery' laws, including one that prohibited the celebration of mass except in private homes. A few Catholics (such as the Howards in England and the Carrolls in America) were rich enough to be able to build private chapels onto their houses and hire their own priests; others—the vast majority—had to rely on circuit-riding priests who rode from house-to-house to conduct services. One such was based here, beginning in 1743 when Father John Digges, S.J., bought a tract of land on the south bank of Deer Creek and established this mission. Digges died in 1746 and left the property to his friend and fellow-priest, Father Bennett Neale, S.J., who maintained the mission until he retired in 1773. After the Revolution, the new Archdiocese of Maryland acquired the mission; then, with freedom of religion guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, there was no need for missions such as this and the little building was sold and altered (slightly) to make it suitable for domestic use."

The chapel was also known as the Mission of St. Joseph and as the Monastery at Priest's Ford. Priestford Bridge across Deer Creek is about 3 miles north of Churchville on the Churchville-Dublin Road (Maryland highway #136), which is known as the Priestford Road. The bridge is almost fifteen miles southeast of the McGough property.

In his History of Harford County, Walter W. Preston says at pages 160–3:

"In the year 1747 Rev. Bennet Neale S. J., came to reside at Deer Creek. He was the grandson of the noted Capt. James Neale, and the granduncle of Archbishop Leonard Neale. ... Some years after his arrival, that is in 1760, he purchased of Mr. Henry Beach a narrow strip of land 'together with all the houses, gardens, fences and profits belonging or in any way appertaining thereto.' This plot of ground contained but eighteen acres of land, which lay bordering the creek on the south side, and here one is naturally inclined to conjecture stood the missionary's home, which, in public document of the year 1756, was alluded to as 'Priest Neale's Mass House' and which also gave occasion to the fording being called Priest's Ford. [The house was probably on adjoining property and this narrow strip of land was probably the site of a mill and a millrace. See below.]

"In 1764, Mr. Thomas Shea, who had been a resident of Priest's Ford for fifty years, deeded to Father Neale one of his farms [115 acres], which adjoined the small tract of eighteen acres just mentioned. This farm, which is still known by the name of Paradise, is now the home of Mr. R. Harris Archer, and his residence is the old chapel house which came into use for divine service some time about 1764. ... [Actually, the 115 acres of land had been deeded by Thomas Shea to John Digges Jr., on March 14, 1743, and left to Bennett Neale in Digge's will. See below.]

"There was added in 1786 another tract of land containing three hundred and sixty-nine acres. This purchase was made not by the congregation, but by the agent of a corporation of the Catholic clergymen, and the land, although lying on the other side of the creek, was in very close proximity to the other two smaller tracts.

"The little mission of Deer Creek continued under the care of the Reverend Bennet Neale until about 1770, when this devoted pastor was succeeded in his office by Rev. Ignatius Matthews, who was likewise a Jesuit. This reverend father resided at Priestford until the summer of 1779 ... when his place was supplied by Rev. Bernard Diderick.

"About the middle of the year 1779 Rev. Charles Sewall was appointed to replace Father Matthews."

On March 14, 1743, Thomas Shea had conveyed the site of the Mass House to Father John Digges, Jr., S.J., for a token consideration of 5 shillings. The land was described as 50 acres in Thomas's Beginnings (all south of Deer Creek), and 65 acres in an Addition to Thomas's Beginning (both sides of Deer Creek). There was a house on the property. Shea reserved a half an acre as a burying place. The deed was recorded on May 2, 1744. Father Digges died in Baltimore county in 1746 at the age of 34. By his will of September 11, 1744, Father Digges left all his property to his brother Jesuit, Bennet Neale. (One of the witnesses to the will was Elizabeth Rozer, who married Ignatius Wheeler, and was the mother of Ignatius Wheeler, Jr. See below.)Father Neale, at the age of 38, moved onto the property and took over the duties of Father Digges as a circuit-riding priest in the Deer Creek area.

On November 7, 1750, Henry Beach* conveyed to Bennett Neale 18 1/2 acres of land adjoining and to the east of the part of Thomas's Addition, which Father Neale had inherited from Father Digges in 1846. The land conveyed was part of a tract called Maiden;'s Bower. This narrow strip of land lay on the south side of Deer Creek.

[*Here is an entry on Henry Beach in Baltimore County Families, 1659–1759, page 35 (on Genealogy.com):

"Beech/Beach, Henry, alias Wiseman, m. Jane Garvin on 29 April 1740; owned 54 a. part Maiden's Bower and 13 a. Miller's Delight in 1750; had iss.: Thomas, b. 31 Aug. 1741; Elizabeth, b. 9 Apr. 1744; see also Wiseman, Henry."

Apparently, Henry Beach was an Anglican. On October 6, 1767, a summons was issued by the vestry of St. George's Anglican Church to Henry Beach for unlawful cohabitation and to his wife, Jane Beach, for evidence. On May 27, 1770, Henry Beach's wife appeared and declared that she had reason to believe that Henry was cohabiting with Elizabeth Dixon "upon which the said Beach to appear at the next vestry and bring a certificate from under the hands of his neighbors that they have parted." On June 4, 1770, Henry Beach produced a certificate from Samuel Smith, Jane Smith, and Robert Harkins, "that Elizabeth Dixon has left his house and they do not think that they cohabit together at present," but on April 15, 1771, another complaint was made against Henry Beach for cohabitation with Elizabeth Dixon. (St. George's Parish Registers, 1689-1793, Abstracts of Vestry Proceedings, pages 110, 111).]

On October 8, 1764, Thomas Shea conveyed to Bennett Neale the same 50 acres in Thomas's Beginnings and 65 acres in the Addition to Thomas's Beginnings that Shea had conveyed to John Digges, Jr., on March 14, 1743. The terms were the same. The sale price was a nominal 5 shillings, and Shea reserved a half acre as a burial place. Although John Digges, in his will had left this property to Bennett Neale, and had been occupied by Neale since Digge's death in 1746, Digge's will had not been prop bated. The conveyance in 1764, therefore, was to clear up a possible defect in title. See: Priest Neale, His Mass House, and His Successors, by John W. McGrain, Jr., the Maryland Historical Magazine (Baltimore Historical Society 1967), volume LXII, page 274–7.

Miles Foy (November 18, 1751–December 9, 1751), who lived in the Deer Creek area of what was then Baltimore County, asked in his will to be "buried at the Roman [Catholic] Chapel." George H. Stevens elaborates in the Harford County Md. Query Forum:

"I believe this very probably referred to 'a Papist Chapel built on a hill,' otherwise known as 'The Monastery at Priest’s Ford,' situated on the south bank of Deer Creek [Susquehanna Tributary] and three miles north of Churchville in what was then Baltimore County but is today Harford County, MD. Between 1740 and 1747 a Jesuit Father named Bennett Neale settled on Deer Creek in this area and remained through 1756; he may have built a monastery known as the 'Mission of St. Joseph,' and less formally as 'Priest Neale’s Mass House.' Irish workmen at nearby Nottingham Iron Forge and nearby Lancaster Iron Forge may have constituted his flock.

"Accompanying Fr. Bennett Neale (Neall) to MD were his kinsmen James Neall and Edward Neall, who formed a partnership for producing iron and built the forge on the opposite side of Deer Creek. (Mason, Samuel, Jr. Historical Sketches of Harford County, Maryland. Lancaster, PA: Intelligencer Printing Co., 1955. Dewey Call No. is 975.274 M, pages 78-79; 173-174). Also, Walter W. Preston, (in History of Harford County Maryland; Bel Air, MD., Orig. Published in Baltimore, MD, 1901; Reprinted in Baltimore by Regional Publishing Co., 1972, LoC F187.H2P9 1972; Dewey 917.52’74’03), in a discussion of 'The Catholic Church in Harford County,' notes that very early in the 18th Century, members of the Catholic Church began to take up lands and settle about Deer Creek, and its tributaries, from the Susquehanna River in the east to the neighborhood of Cooptown in the west. Of the first names that are in evidence of this immigration, these are some of the more prominent: Wheeler, Clarke, Shea, McElroy, Foy, and at a period somewhat later, Flanagan, Cretin, Doran, McBride, Quinlan, Mattingly, Jenkins, Green, Cooper, Coskery, Cain, Bussey, Boarman, Macatee, etc.

"Preston clearly had access, in 1901, to some sort of parish records or perhaps to then extant tombstones at the site of this early Jesuit Mission. Does anyone know where the records are today? Perhaps we may infer from this that Miles Foy was a Roman Catholic; however, this also likely was the closest church to his home. He and his wife Frances owned an Estate known as 'EIGHTRUPP/AITROPP,' etc. [In 1758, Walter Ashmore of Baltimore county assigned a lease of 62 acres in Aitropp, also known as Eightrupp, to Samuel Hughes. The property may have been called "Beautiful Island. See RENSHAW-L Archives on RootsWeb.]

"It is quite likely that this Mission of St. Joseph, run by Fr. Bennett Neill/Neale was subordinate to the much larger Roman Catholic estate, preparatory-school, agricultural establishment, and church over (eastward) at Bohemia Manor, across the Chesapeake Bay and on the Eastern Shore, at the head of the Bohemia River, in Cecil County, which was run by the famous John Carroll who later (1789) founded Georgetown University. Not clear whether any graves in the cemetery of this Jesuit mission on Deer Creek have survived (it later became a monastery) or whether they have been catalogued, or whether the parish records have survived, locally in Harford County, in Baltimore County, in Cecil County, at Bohemia Manor, in the Maryland Hall of Records at Annapolis, or at the Georgetown University Manuscript Collection & Archives. ...

"Will welcome any assistance you can provide in locating Miles FOY's Grave, in locating the parish records of this Jesuit Mission on Deer Creek, and in discovering the origins of the Foys in early Harford, Cecil, Baltimore Counties, ca. 1682-1751. Regards, George H. Stevens (GHStevens3@AOL.COM); 705 Gleneagles Drive; Fort Washington, MD 20744-7012. Home: 301-292-1202

See also these two postings by George H. Stevens on Genealogy.com: Miles Foy 1674–1751, Foy's Landing, Foy' sHill and St. Joseph Mission SJ Parish Records 1747.

Father Bennett Neale, S.J. (1709–1787), must have played a part in the life of Miles McGough and his family. Father Neale was the son of Anthony Neale (c. 1659–1723) of Charles county and his second wife, Elizabeth Digges. He was one of five children: Edward Neale (1704–December 28, 1760); Charles Neale (born 1705); Henry Neale (c. 1707–1767); Reverend Bennett Neale, a priest (August 3, 1709–March 2, 1787); and Mary Neale. The will of Anthony Neale of Charles county, Maryland, is dated November 12, 1722, and was proved on July 12, 1723, in Charles county. The will mentions his sons, Raphael, Henry (a minor intending to be a priest), and Roswell (probably by his first wife, Elizabeth Roswell, whom Anthony had married in 1681), and four younger children: Edward, Charles, Bennett, and Mary (Maryland Genealogies, Volume 2, Neale Family of Charles County, page 255, on Genealogy.com). Roswell Neale (1685–March 25, 1751, married Elizabeth Blakiston as his second wife. His son, Benjamin Wheeler, born on October 29, 1731, married Mary Neale.

The Maryland Province Society of Jesus Folder Listing (from Lauringer Library of Georgetown University—Special Collections Divisions) contains records of the transfer of the land for the chapel. One of the contributors was Benjamin Wheeler. The name of Ignatius Wheeler, Jr. (c. 1744–1793), appears in many McGough-related records. For example, Ignatius Wheeler, Jr., was second-in-command of Captain William Webb's company of Maryland militia in which Hugh McGough enrolled on October 14, 1775. His father, Ignatius Wheeler, may have been the son of a brother of Benjamin Wheeler. The Jesuit's folder of information is described thusly:

Box: 37 Fold: 3 Indentures [108 A1-A8] Date Span: [01/01/1725]? - [12/31/1779]?

Description: This folder [108 A1-A8] consists essentially of indentures. Items include the following: Grant (1725) from Charles Calvert [Lord Baltimore] to Thomas Shea; The courses of Maiden's Bower secured (1748); Indenture (1750) between Henry Beach and Bennett Neale, S.J.; Indenture (1753) between Bennett Neale and Benjamin Wheeler; Indenture (1764) between Thomas Shea and Bennett Neale; Indenture (1770) between Benedict Wheeler and Ignatius Matthews, S.J.; Receipt (1773) to Bennett Neale pertains to Deer Creek property

Neale, Jenkins, Digges and Wheeler are listed among early Catholic colonists in Maryland who "survived the dark days" in the article on the Archdiocese of Baltimore in the Catholic Encyclopedia. These four families intermarried several times over several generations. Other names on the list who married one or more of the Wheeler family are Brooks, Gardiner, and McAtee. I found help in sorting out conflicting relationships and dates relating to these families in the articles on members of the Jenkins family in Pedigrees of Members 1905–1939, published by the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of MD, which is available by subscription on Genealogy.com. The genealogies on the Internet are from volume II of Genealogies of Members and Record of Services of Ancestors, which was edited for the society by Francis Barnum Culver (1940, reprinted by Clearfield Publishing in Baltimore in 1997).

Benjamin Wheeler (October 29, 1731–March 7, 1802), a prominent Catholic layman in the Deer Creek area, was born in Baltimore county, married father Bennett Neale's niece, Mary, and died in Harford county. He is buried in St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church, Hickory, Harford County. Benjamin married Mary Neale around 1750. Mary Neale was a daughter of Roswell Neale (1685–March 24, 1751) and Elizabeth Blakiston, his second wife. Roswell Neale was the son of Anthony Neale (1659–1723) and Elizabeth Roswell, his first wife, whom he married in 1681. Anthony Neale was the son of James Neale (c. 1615–1684) and Anne Gill. Mary Neale was born in 1734 in Maryland and died in about 1756 in Harford county. (World Family Tree Volume 15, Tree 3465 says Benjamin Wheeler married Mary Neale in 1755, and Elizabeth Green in Harford county on February 4, 1793. Mrs. Elizabeth Wheeler, consort of Benjamin Wheeler, died in Harford county in February, 1802.) This Benjamin Wheeler was the son of Thomas Wheeler (May 19, 1708–1770) and his first wife, Sarah Scott, and grandson of the Benjamin Wheeler who was born in 1685 (or 1686) and died on .October 13, 1741, and who married Elizabeth. (For more of the ancestry of Mary Neale, see: Genealogy of Charles Sylvester Grindall, Society of Colonial Wars in the State of MD, Pedigrees of Members 1905–1939, page 85.)

Thomas Shea's will was admitted to probate on March 27, 1767. He was survived by his wife, Ann. The will was dated October 8, 1754, but the witnesses said this was a mistake; the true date of signature was October 8, 1764—the same day Thomas Shea deeded the property on Deer Creek to Father Bennett Neale that he previously had deeded to John Digges, Jr., in 1743. Witnesses to the will included Ignatius Wheeler and Edward Flanagan (transcribed as Flanganan).

The acquisition of land by "Popish Priests" and the construction thereon of "Mass Houses" did not go unnoticed by the General Assembly of Maryland. On June 17, 1752, a Report by the Committee of Grievances and Courts of Justice to the Maryland General Assembly included this paragraph:

"2dly. That Popish Priests, or Jesuits, take Grants of Lands from the Lord Proprietary, as well as Deeds from others, in their own Names; whereon they build and erect public Mass Houses, Plantations, and Edifices, for the public Exercise of their Functions; of which Mass Houses, Seminaries, or Sects of Jesuits (exclusive of many Chapels and Mass Houses in private Families), there are six or more seated, besides Tracts of Land held in their Right, ready to be so seated for the Purposes aforesaid, and pervert many of his Majesty's Subjects." (Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, 1752-1754, volume 50, page 52)

Father Bennett Neale and others in the Deer Creek area of what was to become Harford county were investigated by the Council of Maryland for being sympathetic with the French in the French-Indian War. See the proceedings beginning on November 13, 1756. (Proceedings of the Council of Maryland, 1753-1761, volume 31, page 161.) On October 26, 1756, William Johnston, whose true name he later admitted to be William Marshall, had testified:

"[I] left Delaware about three years ago, and came to a place called Deer Creek in Baltimore County in the Province of Maryland where he was for sometime employed in the Service of Thomas Burgen, Darby Tool, and James McDonald, during which time he was several times to Mass, at one priest Neals Mass House, and while in that Society it was insinuated to the Congregation by the said Neale that it would be much better for them to live under the Dominion of a French Government than under an English one, that they would thereby get their Lands on easier Terms, and might have and enjoy the free Exercise of their Religion and recommended it to them that it would be proper for them to prepare themselves with Arms and Ammunition, and be in readiness to join any party of French and Indians that might come down to invade, or make an Attack upon his Britannic Majesty's Subjects which was generally agreed on by the whole Congregation ...

"[I] was employed by one James McDonald an Irish Catholic in Baltimore County with whom he worked for hire about a Month at Plantation Business, and that he also boarded with him during that time that while he lived with him McDonald carried him to a Romish Chappie near Deer Creek where one Priest Neale officiated, and that as they were returning McDonald told him that he had heard at Chappie, that the Legislature was about to make a Law to disarm the Catholics, prevent their going to Mass, and to lay them under many severe Restraints as the Catholics were in Ireland, that priest Neale afterwards came to McDonalds while the Informant worked there to christen his Child Susannah and that he happening to come in from the field for some Drink just after the Ceremony was bid to sit down by McDonald the Priest Thomas Burgen and Darby Tool being also in the Room, that while this Informant sat there, the priest told the rest of the Company that a Body of French had he heard attacked and defeated Colonel Washington at a place called the Little Meadows between Virginia and the Ohio, and that after killing a great many of the English they had been merciful and generous enough to let the rest retire & carry off their wounded though they could easily have cut them all off without any Loss on their Side, that the priest thence took Occasion to enlarge much on the Power, Riches, Valour and Generosity of the French Nation and said that he believed if the English had been victorious, the French would not have been treated with such Lenity and Tenderness; that McDonald and Tool said they believed it would be better for the Roman Catholics of this province if it was subjected to the French Government, and asked Mr Neale what he thought of that Matter, that the priest answered he did not know but it might, and said that he thought any young people who had no Plantations or families, would do well in going to the Settlements that the French were making to the Westward, and that he was persuaded they would be kindly received and well treated, the Informant saith that this Discourse made such an Impression"

Marshall's testimony implicated several other members of Father Neale's congregation in Deer Creek Upper, and resulted in a warrant to bring in Bennett Neale, Ignatius Wheeler, John Cretin (Crayton), and others: Thomas Burgen, Darby Tool, James McDonald, and Ulick Burk. Darby Tool and James McDonald were shoemakers who worked for Samuel Webb. Another person identified was Thomas Skey:

"As I was returning home from Chappie the second time with McDonald he told me that he had heard Ignatius Wheeler and Thomas Skey say it would be necessary to provide Arms to assist the French if they should come down, but I never did hear either Wheeler or Skey say a Syllable to that purpose ... " (Proceedings of the Council of Maryland, 1753–1761, Volume 31, page 166).

"Priest Neale did once at McDonalds say that one Digges and Skey had Arms and Ammunition by them and that they would be of Service to assist the French to subdue the Country ..." (Proceedings of the Council of Maryland, 1753–1761, Volume 31, page 167).

Thomas Skey was Thomas Shea who had donated (actually, "sold" for the nominal amount of five shillings) the land on which the chapel was built to Father Neale's predecessor, Father John Digges, Jr., on March 14, 1743. The confusion of Skey for Shea may have kept Thomas Shea from being summoned before the Council. See: Priest Neale, His Mass House, and His Successors, by John W. McGrain, Jr., the Maryland Historical Magazine (Baltimore Historical Society 1967), volume LXII, page 254.

Marshall also testified that, while in the Deer Creek area, he had worked ten or twelve days for Joseph Renshaw, a protestant—a younger brother of the John Renshaw mentioned above from whose estate Miles McGough had received a payment on August 18, 1753. Renshaw was not implicated in the conspiracy.

The persons implicated as pro-French conspirators by William Marshall (while identifying himself as William Johnson) were examined by the Council on Monday, November 29, 1756. John Cretin denied the substance of the charges when questioned under oath:

"John Cretin of Baltimore County Planter, being sworn on the holy Evangels of Almighty God deposeth and saith that he has lived at Deer Creek in Baltimore County within four miles of Mr Ignatius Wheelers ever since the year 1752; that he is a Roman Catholick, and has gone to the Mass House where Bennet Neale officiated, that the said Neale lives upon a plantation that was given by one Thomas Shea, that he has three, or four Negroes, as he believes working upon it, and that Mr Neale has resided 6 or 7 years there. ..."

Cretin denied any conspiracy to aid the French. Other witnesses supported this testimony. Evidence showed that James McDonald (who, according to Marshall, might have been named Donelson, and was a fuller), a Protestant and a shoemaker who worked for Samuel Webb, had been confused with James Donnally, a Catholic, and a fuller who was a journeyman at Walter Ashmore's fulling mill. (Mary Cavanagh made payments to Walter Ashmore and his son, William Ashmore, on December 8, 1752, from the estate of John Renshaw. On July 19, 1756, William Ashmore, son of Walter Ashmore and his wife Margaret, was married to Susannah O'Neal, widow of Daniel O'Neal (St. George's Parish Registers, 1689–1793, page 84). William Ashmore was a signer and solicitor in the Deer Creek Upper Hundred of the Maryland Article of Association of Freemen in 1775 and 1776. William Crooks, father-in-law of Hugh McGough, had, before his death in 1778, agreed to sell 25 acres of land to William Ashmore. Ashmore was one of the appraisers of the estate of William Crooks in 1779. See: Hugh McGough, Soldier in the American Revolution.)

William Marshall then recanted his testimony (The Recantation and Confession of William Marshall also Johnson, made before his Excellency and the Council the 29th November 1756. Proceedings of the Council of Maryland, 1753-1761, volume 31, page 174). The proceedings resulted in this finding:

"Upon hearing the aforegoing Depositions, and the Recantation of William Marshall, it is the Opinion and Advice of this Board to his Excellency that the before mentioned Bennett Neale, Ignatius Wheeler, Ulick Burk, John Cretin, Thomas Burgen, Darby Tool, and James McDonald be discharged, and being called in they were discharged accordingly." (Proceedings of the Council of Maryland, 1753-1761, volume 31, page 179)

Darby Tool had once been a runaway indentured servant. John Cretin's testimony before the Council of Maryland was that "Darby Tool is a Shoemaker and works at his Trade for Samuel Webb, that he has a wooden Leg and that the Shoemakers Business is his chief Employment." Tool himself testified on November 30, 1856, that he:

"works at the Shoemakers Business at Mr Samuel Webb's Shop that he rents a small plantation where his Wife lives three or four Miles distant from Webb's, that he has no Family but his Wife, has worked for Mr Webb thirteen years last September at the Shoemakers Business, and that upon the Plantation he rents, he makes no other Grain than Corn ..." (Proceedings of the Council of Maryland, 1753-1761, Volume 31, page 171.)

Here is a notice from the Virginia Gazette (Parks), Williamsburg (from March 31 to April 7, 1738)—about five years before Darby Toole went to work for Samuel Webb:

"RAN away from the Subscriber, in Edgcomb Precinct, North-Carolina, on the 26th Day of December last, a Servant Man, named Darby Tool: He is a Shoemaker by Trade, hath but one Leg, and is an Irishman. Whoever will bring the said Servant to me in Edgcomb Precinct, or secure him, so that I may have him again, shall have Four Pistoles Reward, besides what the Law allows, paid by me,

"William Whitehead.

"N.B. He is suspected to be gone to Cherry Point, on Potowmack; and had in Company with him, one Mary Cullen, an Irish Woman, whom he calls his Wife."

From: Virginia Runaways: Runaway Slave advertisements from 18th-century Virginia newspapers. See also The Colonial Records Project—Slavery and Servitude.

Patrick Cavanagh and the Catholic School on Deer Creek

Patrick Cavanagh conducted a school for Catholic children in the Deer Creek Upper Hundred from sometime before 1753, and during the years when some of the children of Miles McGough and Elizabeth Spencer were in school. He may taught Hugh McGough, who appears to have received a good education, and who left more than a dozen books in his estate when he died in 1779, which was unusual even for a literate person in those years. See my page: Hugh McGough, Soldier in the American Revolution.

In 1753, Miles McGough received a payment from the estate of John Renshaw, of which Patrick Cavanagh's wife was executrix. Patrick Cavanagh was the subject of a statement to the Maryland Assembly in 1757 by Samuel Webb, a leading Anglican, concerning his conduct of an illegal school for Catholic children near the head of Deer Creek. The statement illuminates the anti-popery laws in effect in Maryland at the time. Cavanagh was described in Webb's deposition as a 'Roman Catholic schoolmaster in York County, Pennsylvania, and now in Baltimore County near the head of Deer Creek.'

A footnote in the History of Baltimore City and County by J. Thomas Scharf (Reprinted in Two Parts, Regional Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1971), Part II, page 526, says that Daniel Connelly and Patrick Cavanagh after 1755 established a Catholic school near "My Lady's Manor" that was "quite successful." For more on Daniel (or Don) Connelly, see below. My Lady's Manor is about three miles east of Monkton in Baltimore county, near the line between Baltimore county and Harford county, extends toward Jarretsville in Harford county, and is 15 miles or so to the east of the Deer Creek area of Harford county where James Cavanagh was teaching in 1757. [The 1807 Baltimore directory lists a Daniel Connell, teacher, on Forest Street near North Street. This may be the Daniel Connell who married Mary Roberts in Baltimore on July 23, 1801.]

According to School Teachers of Early Maryland by Robert Barnes (MSA SC 5300), Patrick Cavanagh came to America as an indentured servant to Samuel Webb:

"Cavanagh, Patrick, (MSA SC5300-66), BA, fl. c1757

"* Property: On 23 Aug 1753 Patrick Cavanagh, schoolmaster, conveyed. livestock to William Bennett, carpenter, James Lee, and Edward Morgan, all of BA Co. (BALR TR#E).

"* Legal problems: Samuel Webb of BA Co., on 25 April 1757, deposed that Patrick Cavanagh served his Time with him in Quality of a Schoolmaster that during his time of Service he went frequently to Mass, and always professed himself a Roman Catholic, that since the expiration of his service, about two years earlier, the said Cavanagh has taught School in York County in Pennsylvania until sometime this Winter when he came into this Province, and settled near the Head of Deer Creek in Baltimore County where he now teaches School, and lately told this Deponent that he had about twenty Scholars. Webb added that he believes the said Cavanagh still professes the Roman Catholic Religion (ARMD 31:210)."

The deposition was part of this investigation:

"By the Committee of Aggrievances and Courts of Justice, 28th April, 1757.

"Your Committee beg Leave to Represent as an Aggrievance, that several Persons professing the Romish Religion, have taught School in Baltimore County, and that one doth still teach School in the said County, near the Head of Deer-Creek, as by the annexed Depositions may appear; and humbly Report it as their Opinion, that the Tollerating such Schools, in Opposition to the Statutes of our Mother-Country, must greatly tend to the Poisoning the Minds of the Youth of this Province, and Alienating their Affections from our present most happy Establishment in Church and State: But submit it to the Consideration of the Honourable House." (See: Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, 1757–1758, volume 55, page 80.)

"On May 2, Charles Carroll, the Barrister, from the Committee on Grievances brought before the Lower House an address to be sent to the Governor, stating that Roman Catholics were conducting schools in Baltimore County, and it was believed in other counties, and requested him to apply at once 'the Statutes of our Mother Country in Force in this Province' in order to put a stop to this evil 'so productive of great Mischief to the good People of this Province' (pages 83, 84, 86-87). It is worth noting that Dr. Charles Carroll, the father of Barrister Carrol, was a convert from Catholicism to the Church of England, and that there is a Catholic breviary in the Maryland Historical Society which belonged to the Barrister's sister, Mrs. Nicholas Maccubbin" (Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, 1757-1758, volume 55, preface 42).

On August 18, 1753, Miles Magau (i.e., Miles McGough) is listed among persons receiving payment from the estate of John Renshaw in Harford county. Other payees at the same time include Samuel Webb, Flanegan and Co., Ignatius Wheeler, and Isaac Litton. Walter Ashmore, William Ashmore, and James Donnelly received payments from the estate at an earlier time, on December 8, 1752. Executrix of the estate was Mary Cavenagh, wife of Patrick Cavenagh (Prerogative Court Abstracts, 1750-1754, Abstracts 1750-1754 (Libers 29-36), page 134, on Genealogy.com).

Sometime before December 18, 1752, Patrick Cavanagh had married Mary Renshaw, widow of and executrix of the estate of John Renshaw of Baltimore County, and had conveyed land to Samuel Webb (Maryland Genealogical Bulletin, volume 33, number 1, Winter 1992, Colonial Schoolmasters of Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties, page 160, on Genealogy.com).

John Renshaw was the first born son of Thomas and Jane Renshaw. He married Mary Litton (or Litten) on March 27, 1735, in Baltimore county, Maryland. (His will mentions Thomas Litten and Michael Litten, and Alex Litten was a witness to the will. On August 18, 1753, the court records show payments from the estate to Isaac Litton—and Miles Magau. ) His father, in a will filed on October 13, 1748, left him 250 acres of land in Baltimore county, part of a tract known as "Brothers' Discovery" (Vol 9, 1744–1749, Calendar of Wills 1744–1749, page 172, on Genealogy.com). 25 On March 25, 1737, Isaac Webster (and his wife Mary—sometimes called Margaret), and Jacob Giles and (and his wife Hannah (Webster); his second wife was Johanna (Phillips) had conveyed a 134 acre part of Brother's Discovery and part of Giles' and Webster's Discovery to Thomas Renshaw. See RENSHAW-L Archives on RootsWeb (IS# LK, 417).

John Renshaw's will was signed on November 25, 1750, and filed in court on June 8, 1751. He left a wife and six daughters, and possibly an unborn child. (Vol 10, 1748–1753, Calendar of Wills 1748–1753, page 154, on Genealogy.com). The executrix of his estate was first named as Mary Renshaw, his widow, who posted an administratrix's bond on June 5, 1751. Her bondsman was Samuel Webb, and Samuel Webb was a creditor of the estate (Prerogative Court Abstracts, 1751–1756, page 4). By December 8, 1752, when the bond was filed in the name of Mary Cavanagh (Cavanah), she had married Patrick Cavanagh (Baltimore County Families, 1659-1759, Baltimore County Families, 1659-1759, page 535, on Genealogy.com). The court record shows that, on December 8, 1752, the a bond was filed covering "Patrick Cavenah & Mary his wife, Acting exrx. of John Renshaw." The sureties were Edward Wakeman and Samuel Well (Prerogative Court Abstracts, 1751-1755, (Liber 1), page 31). See: Descendants of John Renshaw.

On April 29, 1751, John Renshaw of Baltimore county conveyed 79 acres in Brother's Discovery to Samuel Webb, tanner and currier. See RENSHAW-L Archives on RootsWeb and Terry Mason's Family History Site. At the same time, Thomas Renshaw conveyed to Samuel Webb, tanner and currier, eleven acres that was part of Giles' and Webster's Discovery. "Brothers' Discovery" was a tract of land in Harford county on the Susquehanna River near the village of Castleton and near "Maiden's Mount." The land was near Dublin, Maryland:

"Dublin was part of a 4,735 acre tract of land patented to Dr. Charles Carroll of Annapolis, Maryland. He was issued a patented certificate on June 15, 1721. The tract lying north of Deer Creek was known as 'Arabia Petrea.'

"Dr. Carroll sold 'Arabia Petrea' to Jacob Giles and Isaac Webster in 1733 [deeded on March 20, 1734]. Isaac and Jacob were brothers-in-law*. Isaac and Jacob in turn sold off part to new settlers moving into the area. Two of the newcomers in Dublin were William Beaver and Walter Ashmore. Isaac and Giles sold lands east of Route 136 to Walter Ashmore and land west of Route 136 to William Beaver. William Beaver willed his land to his son Charles Beaver." Dublin History.

*The first wife of Jacob Giles Jr. was Hannah Webster whom he married on January 3, 1728 (or 1729) in Deer Creek, Maryland. His second wife was Johanna Phillips whom he married on July 17, 1739. He had four children by his first wife and seven by his second, and "became one of the richest men in Harford County." In 1731, Jacob Giles was appointed overseer of the roads from Zachariah Spencer's to the Rock Run, and from Thomas Felps's to the said Rock Run and likewise from Susquehannah Fording to the Rock Run aforesaid. 1737 Deer Creek Hundreds Tax List, Thomas Felps. Felps Family Research.

Mary Litton was born to Thomas Litton and Mary Hawkins in St. George's Parish, Baltimore county, Maryland, on April 1, 1717. She married John Renshaw on March 27, 1735, in St. George's Parish. Among her brothers were Thomas, Isaac and Michael Litton. See: Lytton Study Group—Descendants of Thomas Litton.

The name of Patrick Cavenough is next to the name of Ignatius Wheeler on the list of men who signed the Maryland Articles of Association in 1776 in Spesutia Upper Hundred in Harford county. (volume 25, number 3, Summer 1984, Men of '76, page 318, on Genealogy.com). On the same list is John Cretin, Bennett Wheeler, Joseph Wheeler, Thomas Wheeler, who is described as the son of Benjamin Wheeler. [A Patrick Cavenough was recruited in Montgomery county, Maryland, to serve in the Extra Regiment of the Continental Army in 1780 (Montgomery County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 60, on Genealogy.com). Patrick Cavenough is listed as a private who was granted 100 acres on January 8, 1794 (warrant number 11,075) in Maryland Revolutionary Records, Brief Resume of Maryland Federal Bounty Land Warrants, page 60, on Genealogy.com. Patrick Cavenough and Mary Eustice were married on June 1, 1780, in Montgomery county, Maryland, by Reverend Joseph Threlkeld (Maryland Records, Marriage Records, volume II, page 517, on Genealogy.com).]

Ignatius Wheeler, Jr., and St. Ignatius Catholic Church

Largely at the urging of Ignatius Wheeler, Jr., two acres at Hickory were purchased in 1779 at a nominal price from Martin Preston for the building of another chapel—in addition to the St. Joseph's Mission on Deer Creek operated by Father Bennett Wheeler. Construction on this tract of St. Ignatius Church at Hickory extended over almost fourteen years and was completed in 1793. St. Ignatius served as a mission of St. Joseph's until 1813, and by 1815 it was operating as an independent parish.

St. Ignatius Parish is in operation today. It is located less than a quarter of a mile to the west of the intersection of US Highway #1 and East Jarretsville Road in Hickory, Maryland, about 3 miles north of Bel Air. For a MapQuest map, go to: Saint Ignatius Roman Catholic Church—Directions from South (Baltimore). Here is the entry in Maryland State Archives—Guide to Catholic Church Records at the Archives:

"St. Ignatius Church, Hickory: This is the oldest Church building in the Archdiocese, stemming from its establishment in 1790. It served the entire county for many years. Records begin in 1818. In 1910 it became a mission of St. Margaret's in Belair, and all records for this time frame are in the parish records for St. Margaret's. In 1970, St. Ignatius became a parish once again, with its own records. M2849-M2850 "

See also: Maryland State Archives—Guide to Special Collections Archives of Maryland—St. Ignatius Church Collection (MSA SC 2686).

There is an article on Ignatius Wheeler, Jr., in A Biographical dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 1635–1789, by Edward C. Papenfuse, et al. (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979), volume II, pages 881–2, that is worth quoting in full:

"WHEELER, IGNATIUS, JR. (ca. 1744–1793). BORN: ca. 1744, in Baltimore County; eldest son. NATIVE: fifth generation. resided: in Deer Creek Hundred, Harford (formerly part of Baltimore) County, on his plantation, which was later known as 'Deer Park.'

"FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER: Ignatius Wheeler (?–1786). Esq., of Harford County, son of Benjamin Wheeler (? – 1741), who moved to Baltimore County from Charles County ca. 1715. MOTHER: Elizabeth Rosier (Rozer), possibly the daughter of Notley Rozer (?–1727) of Prince George's County and wife Elizabeth Whetenhall Rozer ( ?–1733). BROTHERS: Bennett; Joseph (?–ca. 1803), who married Ann. SISTERS: Monica; Mary, who married John Lee Gibson; and Elizabeth, who married (first name unknown) Mitchell.

"MARRIED by September 9, 1769, Henrietta Maria, widow of Roger Smith (?–1768) of Charles County, daughter of Henry Neale (ca. 1691–ca. 1742/43) of Charles County and wife Mary Gardiner (?–1765). Henrietta Maria was the stepdaughter of John Lancaster (?–1760). She was the great-granddaughter of James Neale (1615–1684); Luke Gardiner (1622–1674); and William Boreman (ca. 1630–1709). Her brothers were Richard (?–1772); Henry; James (?–1772); and Gerard. Her sisters were Sarah, who married Richard Brooke; Mary, who married Richard Gardiner; and Teresa, who married Raphael Lancaster.

"CHILDREN. SONS: Francis Ignatius (1782–1836), who married Mary Ann McAtee; Bennett (1784–1866), who married Frances; and Ignatius (1791–1866). DAUGHTERS:Monica (1773–1807), who married Jacob Rutledge; Teresa (Treacy) (1774–1815), who married in 1799 Capt. Henry McAtee (1768–1852); Henrietta, who was mentally incompetent; Mary Ann (?–1812), who married Samuel Brown after her sister Mary Ann's death.

"PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION: Literate. RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Roman Catholic; substantial contributor to the building of St. Ignatius Church in Hickory, Harford County. SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Esq., by 1780. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: planter.

"PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: 5th Convention, Harford County, 1775; Lower House, Harford County, 1782–1783, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1786–1787, 1787–1788. LOCAL OFFICES: commissioner under the act to procure flour and provisions for the army, Harford County, December 1799–at least 1780; contractor to procure horses for the army, Harford County, 1780, 1781; justice, Harford County, 1784–1789; 1791–1793; commissioner of the tax, Harford County, commissioned December 1792. MILITARY SERVICE: 1sr Lieutenant, Captain Webb's Company of Militia, Harford County, enrolled October 14, 1775; commissioner April 26.1776; colonel, Deer Creek Battalion, Harford County Militia, commissioner April 9, 1778; resigned by June 29, 1780.

"WEALTH DURING LIFETIME: PERSONAL PROPERTY. ASSESSED VALUE £1,499.18.4, including 33 slaves and 16 oz. plate, 1783; 44 slaves, 1790. LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: at least 678 acres in Harford and Charles counties (378 acres in Harford County and 300 acres in Charles County by Personal acquisition), plus his wife's life estate in two tracts in Charles County, at least 160 acres in Harford County leased from the proprietor, and possibly control over some of his father's land north of Deer Creek, Harford County. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: sold the 160 acres of leased land in Harford county in 1777, the 300 acres of Charles County land in 1779, and 100 acres in Harford County in 1780; purchased probably 200 acres in Harford County, 1780–1783); with Henrietta sold her interest in two tracts near Port Tobacco, Charles County, 1781; paid taxes on 827 acres of his father's land north of Deer Creek, Harford County, by 1783; bought leases on certificates of survey to confiscated proprietary reserve lands in Harford County totaling ca. 916 acres, 1785–1789, and patented an 1,160-acre tract of reserve land (probably including these purchases), 1788; inherited his father's land north of Deer Creek (of which he was already possessed) and ca. 2 acres of additional land in Harford County, 1786; sold 57 acres in Harford County, 1787; purchased 319 acres, which with other land in Deer Creek Hundred was resurveyed in 1786 into a 1,717-acre tract called 'Dear Park,' for a net gain of ca. 45 acres.

"WEALTH AT DEATH: DIED: on July 15, 1793, at 'Deer Park,' Harford County; buried at St. Ignatius Church, Hickory, Harford County. PERSONAL PROPERTY: TEV, £6,953.1.10 current money (including 47 slaves, plate valued at £9.12.0, books, and a saw mill; FB, £730.18.0 current money. The estate had separate debts of £1,344.0.0 and desparate debts of £3, 806.0.0. LAND: at least 3,020 acres in Harford County."

Ignatius Wheeler (senior), was as a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Wheeler, married Elizabeth Rosier (Rozer)*. Their son, Ignatius Wheeler, Jr. (1748–October 19, 1776), by September 9, 1769, married Henrietta Maria Neale (c. 1748–May 18, 1807), widow of Roger Smith of Charles county who died in 1768, and daughter of Henry Neale (c. 1691–c. 1742/3) and Mary Slye (or Mary Gardiner?) of Charles county. A website called St. Mary's Families shows the emigration of Henrietta Neale, daughter of Henry Neale and Mary Slye, and wife of Ignatius Wheeler, from Charles county to Harford county, sometime after 1768. (She cites: Charles County, Maryland, My Colonial Relations Plus Others, by Mary Louise Donnelly, P.O. Box 97, Ennis, Texas, 75120, c 2000.) Ignatius Wheeler, Jr., was a large landowner in Harford county, served several terms in the Maryland legislature, and was a substantial contributor to the building of St. Ignatius' Catholic church in Hickory, Harford county, where he was buried on July 15, 1793. Probate of his estate was filed in Charles county on December 19, 1794.

*Elizabeth Rosier Wheeler was a cousin of Richard Bennett whose will was admitted to probate in Queen Anne's county, Maryland, on October 20, 1749. Bennett made this bequest: "To my cousin Elizabeth Wheeler, wife of Ignatius Wheeler of Baltimore Co., land called 'Yorkshire,' reserved in my name for 675 A., in Cecil county, on Susquehanna River; land whereon I dwell called 'Morgan's Neck' and land near Wading Place, Bluff Point.", Other cousins mentioned in the will included William Neale and William Diggs.

Benjamin Wheeler (senior) (1685–October 13, 1741) was a grandson of John Wheeler (1630–1694) who was a major in the Charles county militia before 1681), and his wife Mary. John Wheeler remained loyal to Lord Baltimore in the revolution of 1689 and was deprived of all his appointments by the revolutionists. John Wheeler was one of the commissioners of Charles county in 1685 and 1687. Benjamin's father was Thomas Wheeler (March 18, 1661–c. 1736). Benjamin was in Prince George county on January 24, 1714, when he purchased Pearson's Range from Simon Pearson. [On January 24, 1714, Simon Pierson of Baltimore county, a weaver, conveyed 230 acres known as Pierson's Range to Benjamin Wheeler of Prince George's county (volume 30, number 2, Spring 1989, Baltimore County Land Records 1700–1715, page 156, on Genealogy.com.)] Benjamin married Elizabeth. Their children were Jane (Butterworth) (born in 1705), Thomas (born 1708), Mary (born 1710), Ignatius (born 1714), Charity (Colegate) (born 1718), Elizabeth (Thomas) (born c. 1720), Leonard (born 1722), and Ann (born 1725). Benjamin (senior) died on October 12, 1741. His wife Elizabeth died on June 21, 1742.

Here is information about the family of Benjamin Wheeler (senior) from Time after Time—History of Harford and Baltimore Counties (as quoted on the Colgate Family Page) :

"The plat on the last page is the outline of 'The Three Sisters' 1000 acres originally 'taken up' by Benjamin Wheeler, a Roman Catholic born in Charles Co., MD about 1685, son of John Wheeler. In 1704 at the ripe old age of 19 he married Elizabeth __?__. They lived in Charles Co. for 7 years then moved to Prince George's Co., MD. In 1716 at age 31 he patented 1000 Acres of Northeast Baltimore Co., MD and named it 'Wheeler's and Clark's Contrivance'. In 1718, he took his wife and 5 children and moved from 'crowded' Prince George's Co. to this property in the wilderness. And 'wilderness' it was—Indians, forts, miles and miles of forested hills and valleys, and a few neighbors.

"During his lifetime he patented over 4000 acres in what would eventually become Harford Co. with the names; 'Wheeler's and Clark's Contrivance', 'The Three Sisters', 'Taylor's Neglect', 'Benjamin's Beginning', 'Maiden's Meadows', 'St. Omer's', and 'Green Springs'. 'The Three Sisters' was patented in 1718 about the time his third daughter (sixth child), Charity, was born— hence the name 'The Three Sisters'—you'll have to guess about the meanings behind the other tract names, I haven't researched them yet.

"The children of Benjamin and Elizabeth:

Jane, 1705-1770 m 1728 Isaac Butterworth (marriage on December 18, 1728. Isaac's will was filed for probate on February 13, 1746. By 1748, Jane had married Lawrence Clark (Baltimore County Families, 1659-1759, page 88).

Thomas, [May 19] 1708-1770 [married Sarah Scott; had daughter Charity Ann (c. 1744–October 10, 1820) who married Michael Jenkins on December 21, 1761. [On October 9, 1738, a Benjamin Wheeler was born to Thomas and Ann Wheeler (Records of St. Paul's Parish, volume I, Parish Registers, page 14). This was probably the Benjamin Wheeler who elsewhere is shown with a birth date of October 29, 1731, and who married Mary Neale, sister of father Bennett Neale.]

Mary, 1710-1789 m 1743 William Few [May 16, 1714– Moved to North Carolina before 1760. In 1750, owned 200 acres in Three Sisters (Baltimore County Families, 1659–1759, page 216).

Ignatius, 1714-1786 m Elizabeth Rosier [son, Ignatius Wheeler, Jr., is born in 1748].[In 1750, Ignatius Wheeler owned a 360 acre part of Wheeler and Clark's Contrivance, and 67 1/2 acres in Pearson's Range.]

Leonard, [September 18] 1722-1747 m Ann Bond

Charity, 1718-1763 m (by September 15, 1741) in 1739 Benjamin Colegate (November 2, 1719–June 1762 - or 1768?). In his will, Benjamin Colegate appointed James Scott and William Rogers to see that his six children were "brought up in the Protestant faith." The administration of the estate was opened on October 28, 1768. (Baltimore County Families, 1659-1759, page 124).

Elizabeth, 1720 (?)-1777 [Elizabeth first married David Thomas, who was born on April 8, 1708, and died in Baltimore county shortly before September 20, 1746, when Elizabeth posted an administratrix's bond in his estate. With her on the bond were Benjamin and Thomas Wheeler. "In November, 1750, the executrix of the estate, Elizabeth Wheeler Thomas, daughter of Benjamin Wheeler, married Henry Green (1726–1797), by whom she had at six children (Baltimore County Families, 1659–1759, pages 277 and 633, on Genealogy.com). Elsewhere, it says that Elizabeth married Francis Greene II (1694–1761) who was born near Port Tobacco, Charles county.]

Ann, [April 30] 1725- ? m 1741 James Scott"

Benjamin Wheeler's son Thomas married Mary Scott, and they had a son named Benjamin (three) who was born on October 29, 1731 (or perhaps October 9, 1738). This Benjamin married Mary Neale, sister of Father Bennett Neale. He was probably the Benjamin Wheeler who had real estate transactions with Father Neale. (See the Genealogy of Benjamin Wheeler Jenkins in Society of Colonial Wars in the State of MD, Pedigrees of Members 1905–1939, page 131.) This Benjamin Wheeler and Ignatius Wheeler, Jr., were first cousins. Ignatius Wheeler, Jr., named one of his sons Bennett, probably after Father Bennett Neale, who was the brother of his cousin's wife.

[Another Benjamin Wheeler married Rebecca Miles Bevan. On November 5, 1716, Benjamin Wheeler (junior) of Prince George county sold to John Clark 1000 acres of Wheeler's and Clark's Contrivance in Baltimore county. One of the heirs named in his will was a daughter, Frances Renshaw. Baltimore County Families, 1659-1759, page 113.] On April 29, 1751, Samuel Webb purchased 7 acres in Giles' and Websters Discovery from Thomas and Frances Renshaw. Thomas Renshaw had married Frances Clark, daughter of Robert Clark, on January 29, 1739, in Baltimore county. In the estate of Thomas Renshaw, opened on June 24, 1774, was a tract in Harford county called Thomas's Desire "containing 82 acres lying between Deer Creek and Broad Creek (Calendar of Wills, Vol 15, 1772–1774, Calendar of Wills 1772–1774, page 158). The will of Robert Clark, Sr., of Deer Creek, filed on January 8, 1757, refers to is daughter, Frances Renshaw (Calendar of Wills, Vol 11, 1753–1760, Calendar of Wills 1753–1760, page 154).

The names of Benjamin Wheeler and "Ignatius Wheeler, Esq." were on the 1777 tax list of Harford county in the Spesutia Hundred, and the names of Hugh McGouch and Ignatius Wheeler were on the same list for the nearby "Deer Creek Hundred: Middle."

The Wheeler Family of Charles and Baltimore Counties is discussed in John Wheeler, 1630–1693 of Charles County and Some of His Descendants by Walter V. Ball. There were several Benjamin and Ignatius Wheelers in Harford, Charles and Prince George counties in the 18th century, and I have not been able to sort them all out. I have not yet examined the book, but it would be a good source for going further into the history of the Wheeler family. Ball's book may be the source of some confusing data on the Internet. Vivian Wheeler has prepared a notebook of corrections to Ball's book entitled The John Wheeler Family of Charles County Maryland—Correction Notes. She focuses on Ignatius Wheeler, a great grandson of John, on page 63 of Walter V. Ball's work, and on another Ignatius Wheeler, also a great grandson of John, on page 48. She discovered that the information is incorrect and documents this.

Samuel Webb and Indentured Servants

Miles McGough may have emigrated to America as an indentured servant, obligating himself to work without wages for four or five years for food, shelter and clothing, in exchange for free transportation to the colony. After fulfilling his commitment to labor, he would have become free to take up land of his own—and perhaps receive a freedom payment. This was a common arrangement under which poor Irish emigrated to Maryland in the first part of the 1700s, and many of these Irish indentured servants became landowners and respected citizens of Maryland. Here is some background:

Maryland State Archives— Indentured Servants:

"Indentured servants were persons obliged by contract to work for a stated number of years. During the early settlement of Maryland, many newcomers were indentured servants who wanted to immigrate to the colony, but could not pay for passage. Those people could agree to exchange time in service for the cost of the voyage. The servant might have accompanied his master to Maryland, or signed papers with a sea captain who then sold the contract after landing in the colony. One form of indenture obliged the master to provide transportation, food, clothing, and lodging for the servant during the term of servitude. On completion of the servant's term, the master may have promised to furnish clothing, a year's provision of corn, and the right to 50 acres of land. The usual length of service was 4 to 5 years, but in the case of a valuable skilled worker, such as a blacksmith or cooper, the time could be shortened to induce the person to sign.

"In 1717, the British Parliament adopted a policy of transportation, which banished convicts to the American colonies, usually for 7 years, and this allowed them to be bought and sold as indentured servants during their sentences. These indentured servants were subject to the master's discipline and could be sold to other masters. Neither men nor women could marry until they completed or purchased their service contracts.

"A person could be placed in servitude by the action of a county court. In 1773, for example, a Frederick County female servant was adjudged for bastardy, having a child 'begot by a Negro.' The child had been born free because that was the status of the mother. The white mother was sold for 7 years of servitude and her mulatto daughter, 11 months old, was sold as a servant to serve until age of 31 years."

Here is a comment from the Maryland State Archives website on Immigration and Naturalization—American Sources Giving Clues to Overseas Origins:

"Indentured Servants and Convicts: In Maryland there exists a considerable body of data, only now being investigated as a source for identifying a large group of colonial immigrants—indentured servants and convicts. For a long time this group was overlooked by genealogists because no one realized the importance of these humble folk as potential ancestors. At least one historian stated categorically that modern Marylanders need not worry: these "undesirables" could not possibly have been ancestors of people living today. Nevertheless, recent research has begun to refute this view and has examined convicts and indentured servants as individuals. While some of these examples have been discussed from the standpoint of Maryland records, remember that other colonies and states will have many of the same types of records."

From: "Family Tree Bookshop" <neilkeddie@beast.toad.net>
Subject: Re: [LDR] Indentured transports- Marchant

"In answer to your questions, there were two primary methods of indenture. The majority were made before leaving England and were usually made between the individual who was to be transported over here and those acting as agents for the planters in the colonies. There was room for bargaining, so that it was not a hard and fast deal. An individual who was older and possessed some sort of skill or trade usually could bargain for a shorter period than one who was younger and lacked a skill. The contract would be drawn up, and the transportee brought over where they served for the specified time.

"The other avenue was for those who came over here without an indenture. Where possible and in response to market conditions, some sailing masters who had room aboard ships would bring individuals who wished to come over here, paying their passage, and once over here the sailing master would make a contract with a planter for the services of the transportee thereby recouping his costs of the passage. In many cases these transportees were much younger in age and served for a longer period of time. Once the indenture was made, the planter was required by law to bring the servant before the County court to have his age judged and the time of his servitude set—thereby insuring that the indenture or 'contract' was on the up and up and that both parties were protected.

"The average indenture was for about 7 years, but for those who came over at a younger age or lacked a skill, the indenture could be of longer duration. Time could be added to the indenture for a variety of reasons. If a servant ran away from his master, then for each day he/she was gone 10 days would be added to his time of servitude. Women who became pregnant during their time of servitude were required to make up the lost time during their pregnancy and after the child's birth (there was no family leave in those days).

"The best sources for tracking down someone who served as a servant on this side of the Atlantic are the county court records—for those who came in without indentures—and through the late 1600s, the Certificates and rights which was part of the headright system which gave the planter who transported an individual or groups of individuals 50 acres per head. The problem with the latter, and particularly in Virginia, was there was much fraud in which people were reported being transported over here more than once.

"On the other side of the Atlantic, the best source appears to be two lists—one being the London List, which is only a partial list of those who set sail for the colonies with indentures already signed and a much more complete list from Bristol which was throughout the period the major port from which many of the indentured servants left.

"There are two books that are excellent in their look at early Chesapeake history and contain a good treatment of servants and servitude—one being 'Colonial Chesapeake Society' and the other being 'Adapting to a New World' (both of which we stock)."

Here is a