Hedges Immigration to Maryland and Virginia

William Hedges b.c. 1650 in Berkshire, England. christened on 3 Jan 1676 d. before 5 Mar 1679 in New Castle County, Delaware. The Colonial Descendants of William and Mary Hedges, Dr Peter Stebbins Craig, 1988 & 1999 (excerpt): “William Hedges first appears in New Castle, Delaware, records on 3 January 1677/78 when he was issued a warrant to take up a lot in the town. (NCR, 1:175) This leaves a two-year window of opportunity for William Hedges to sail to America and find his way to New Castle. There was no Pennsylvania yet. He either had to have sailed for West Jersey or New York first. If to West Jersey, it would have been under Quaker auspices. (A number of Quakers, dissatisfied with Fenwick's colony, moved across the river to New Castle or to what later became Chester County)... William married Mary. Mary was born about 1650.”

William and Mary Hedges had 2 children: 1. Charles Hedges (b.c. 1673; d.c. 12 Oct. 1743- Chester Co., Pa) who m. Elizabeth Stille (d. < 12 Oct. 1743 -Chester Co. Pa) daughter of Anders Stille and Annetje Pieters. (Olof Persson Stille and his Family by Dr. Peter Stebbins Craig (PeterCraig@ColonialSwedes.org) originally published in Swedish Colonial News, Volume 1, Number 16 (Fall 1997). 2. Joseph Hedges (b.c.1675 in Shrivenham, Berkshire, England. christened on 25 Dec 1675; d. in Nov 1732 in Monocacy Manor, Frederick County, Maryland. m. Catherine Land (b.c. 1680; d. 1749 in Monocacy Manor, Frederick Co., Maryland) daughter of Samuel Land and Dorcas Walliam about 1709 in New Castle County, Delaware.

Charles Hedges son of William Hedges: Two of his children seem to have gone to Maryland, one dying there, and the other moving to Virginia

(1.) Charles Hedges father died before 1678 when his mother Mary went to court to declare that she had “putt out hur son Charles hodges of about 5 Jeares of adge, unto Thomas Jacobs of Bread & Cheese Ysland for the full space and terme of Twelve Jears now next Ensuing, Thomas Jacobs Lykewyse apearing in Court did aknowledge to have taken the said Chyld for the abovesaid terme of 12 years; during which tyme hee doth promisse & Ingage to find the said boy with sufficient meat drink apparill washing and Lodgeing, and att the end of the 12 Jears to give to the boy a Cowe and Calfe, and doth further promis to Instruct him (if hee the said Jacobs Lives and that the boy is Capable of itt) in the trade of a wheele Right, and that his son Oele Tomas shall Larne the said boy to Reed as much as hee can teach him." (NCR, 1:285-86). Bread & Cheese Island,... is located on the Christina River in New Castle County, immediately to the east of the place where Red Clay Creek joins the Christina River and is so named because it is mostly surrounded by water. Thomas Jacobsson, who accepted responsibility for Charles Hedges, was a Finnish Swede who had arrived in former new Sweden … in 1656 with his wife [and] three children…. Thomas Jacobsson's name last appeared in New Castle County court records in the above-quoted excerpt. He presumably died shortly thereafter. He was no longer living in February 1682/3 when his son, Olle Thomasson [but not Thomas Jacobsson], pledged allegiance to the new government of William Penn. (NCR, 2:37) [On August 3, 1668, a patent was granted by Governor Nichols to Olle Poulson, Thomas Jacobs and Thomas Snelling for the land on Bread and Cheese Island. The origin of the name for this island has not been ascertained. On the 4th of June 1679, John Anderson, who had purchased a sixth interest in the island, sold his share to Olle Poulson. At this time Abram Mann was also a part owner, and on February 4th, of the following year, purchased from Olle Poulson all his right and title (which was a third interest) in Bread and Cheese Island. At the same time he also bought of Olle Poulson a one-sixth interest in two hundred and forty-eight acres of land lying near and adjoining Bread and Cheese Island. This tract was patented by Governor Andros to Olle Poulson, Thomas Jacobs and Arient Jansen (Johnson), November 17, 1679, on a warrant and survey made for them in 1675. The Thomas Jacobs portion of this tract was inherited by his son, Olle Thomas, and by him devised to his son, Peter Thomas, who died without issue. It then passed into the hands of his brother, Paul Thomas, and was by him devised to his daughter Eleanor, who was the wife of John Twigs. The part belonging to Arient Jansen came into the possession of Andrew Vance. Twigs and Vance united, February 21, 1737, in coveying their portions to Edward Robinson, who, by various conveyances, was also the owner of Bread and Cheese Island, which he still held in 1755.- “ Delaware”, by Scharff]

Land transactions: On 25 November 1724, the Pennsylvania Board of Property included the following entry in its minutes (Pa.Arch.2d Ser, 19:724): "Edward Robertson [Robinson] requests the grant of 500 acres of Land on the Head of the further Branch of Elk River. Charles hedge desires about the like Quantity about a mile to the Northward of the Indian Town, between the Head of Elk river and Octoraro." A year later, on 29 October 1725, this plea was repeated (Id., 19:733): "Edward Robinson and Charles Hedge request the Grant of two parcells of Land on the Head of Elk River for 2 settlements for their sons." The move apparently took place, as is shown by [a] quotation dated 26 Jan. 1730/31 supplied by John Dern (source not identified). On 17 February 1730/31, Charles Hedges and his wife Elizabeth of Notingham township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, for £70 and one peppercorn if demanded, sold their three tracts in Mill Creek Hundred, New Castle county, to Thomas Gray of Mill Creek Hundred. (New Castle Deeds, L-4,341) Simon Hadley and Charles Sprnger delivered the deed to Gray.

Will: Wills: Abstracts and Administrations 1713-1825: Chester Co, PA (Will Book B, pages 100-199) HEDGES, CHARLES. Londonderry, yeoman.October 12, 1743. November 8, 1743. B. 144.To son Andrew £50 towards the payment for the place sold him whereon we lived. To sons John and Joseph £16 each. To daughter Mary Bishop £16. To son Peter £10. To son John oldest Bon a colt. To Ezekiel son of Peter Hedges, a colt. Executors: sons John and Andrew.Witnesses: Christopher Springer, Wm. Cleneay, John Gordon.

2) Joseph Hedges (William ) was born about 1675 in Shrivenham, Berkshire, England. He was christened on 25 Dec 1675 in Shrivenham, Berkshire, England. He died in Nov 1732 in Monocacy Manor, Frederick County, Maryland. Joseph married Catherine Land (b.c. 1680, d. 1749 Monocacy Manor, Frederick County, Maryland) daughter of Samuel Land and Dorcas Walliam about 1709 in New Castle County, Delaware. (Life of Joseph Hedges Time Line) [Will of Joseph Hedges] [Sumary of the Deed Transactions of the Armor Property 1684-1810 (Samuel Land) [This property was originally granted by William Penn in 1684 to Samuel Land (Table 10). By the l720s, when John Ball, a blacksmith, owned the land, there was a house supposedly constructed of ballast brick on the property. Following a land dispute that involved the property and was settled in the Court of Common Pleas in 1751, the Ball family sold the acreage to John Robinson. Robinson willed the land to his heirs in 1764, and they sold the property of slightly more than 125 acres to the Reverend William McKennan on August 2, 1765....Thomas Wollaston was also appointed marshall and crier of the court. These positions he held until 1679, when he was succeeded by Samuel Land.] [Att a Speciall Court called by Robberd Waede & held in ye Towne of New Castle the 9th of december 1680. Mr. John Moll, Mr. Joh: D'haes, Mr. Will: Simpill, Justices Robberd Waede Plt, John Grub & Richard Bovington Defts, In an action of ye Case. Anna Pitman Sworne in Court sayeth that shee was prsent at ye house of Robt Waede when ye Laest agreemt was made betweene Robberd Waede & John Grub & Rich: Bovington, and after sd agreemt was signed, John Grub & Rich: Bovington did then demand and Receive of Robberd Waede the 500 gilders mentioned in the award of ye arbitrators & further sayeth nott. Mr. Samuel Land Sworne sayth ye same as Anna Pittman hereabove. Notes: It appears that there was an agreement between Wade and Grubb/Buffington, that they would farm some of his property.Ê According to Dave Grubb's notes, The property was in Upland, a small settlement across the river from Salem and several miles north of the modern border between Delaward and Pennsylvania. Wade is accusing Grubb/Buffington of a breach of contract and embezzling his grain.Ê You can see that the jury voted in favor of Grubb and Buffington.]

Pioneers of Old Monocacy, The Early Settlement of Frederick County, Maryland, 1721-1743, by Grace L. Tracey & John P. Dern (1987), pages 106 -110 - The Hedges Family - A number of the early settlers along the Monocacy came originally from the upper reaches of today's New Castle County Delaware or from neighboring Chester County in Pennsylvania. Typically representative of these was the family of Joseph Hedges. Joseph Hedges was English, but-- notwithstanding elaborate claims to the contrary-- no substantiated tie has ever been established to a marriage in England or to his antecedents there. He first appears in American records in a warrant dated September 8, 1702 and its certificate of survey of April 4, 1703 for 100 acres located on Red Clay Creek in Mill Creek Hundred, New Castle County. Some fifteen or twenty years later [1717-1722] he and his wife Catherine moved to the London Tract in London Grove Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.

The move to Maryland of the Joseph Hedges Family

Then although now well advanced in years and with a family nearly grown, Joseph Hedges on April 22, 1730 sold his Pennsylvania land and moved on to Maryland. On July 1, 1730 Joseph Hedges had 258 acres surveyed in Maryland on the Monocacy River some five miles north of today's downtown Frederick. The land bordered the river, extending north and west from what was soon to be known as Biggs Ford. It also supposedly bordered the northeastern line of "Tasker's Chance.".

Hedges named his land "Hedges Hogg," and this has puzzled historians ever since. They are unable to ignore the notation that Hedges' first land in New Castle County was "at the head of a tract formerly taken up on new rent by George Hogg" or that when Hedges and his wife Katherine in Chester County sold the New Castle land on August 17, 1725, George Hogg was one of the witnesses to the deed. [A Scottish Hoge/Hogue/Hogg family migrated from New Jersey, eventually settling at Opequan. A George (b.c. 1708) is listed as a member of this family, the grandson of James Hogue (-1682) and MARJORIE LAMBERT, whose son William (, b. 1660, Musselburgh Scotland; d. 1749, Near Winchester, Frederick Co, VA Bur Opequon Cem Kernstown.) came 1682 on "Caledonia"; landed in Perth Amboy, NJ., w/ William Gregg of the Quaker Greggs and w/ Humes. This William had a brother George Hogue who m. Anne. Two other posible sons of James and brothers of William are said to have gone to America: Peter to New York, and Soloman to Pennsylvania then later to Virginia. William Hogue, like the Hedges migrated from Deleware to Nottingham, Chester Co., Pa, and then to Opequan, Va. Some have the Hogues w/ the Hite party, but others say Hogue land was not in the Hite alotment. William married (2?)Barbara Hume, the orphan of James and his wife, who died on the voyage, and who was raised by her Uncle, Dr. Johnson, of Perth amboy, NJ. One note says that William came to Frederick co maryland from Chester Co in 1735, moving on to Opequan Va the same year. He was a tailor. In 1744, he obtained a license to keep an Ordinary. In 1745 William conveyed to the trustees of Opequon Presbyterian church (located at Kernstown) "for five shillings... two acres... near the presbyterian Meeting house where it now stands on the Land of said William Hogg, Sr...A burying place together with Timber sufficient from any part of the Hoggs Land to repair the Meeting house." He m. 1st Mary, according to some notes. In his will, he refers to himself as a farmer. Eldest son John of Wiliam stayed in Chester, eventually moving to Cumberland near Harrisburg and founding Washington, Pa. William married a Quaker and is the main ancestor of the Hoges of Va. and WVa. George moved to North Carolina. Alexander became a lawyer a congressman to the first US congress, and was a rep at Va Constitutional Convention. james became the father of a number of preachers: Moses Hoge of Richmond, Va., and James Hoge ¹ of Columbus, Ohio. ]

Even more mysterious is the question who or what encouraged Hedges to come to Maryland and why he settled where he did. Although his residence on "Hedge Hogg" proved to e a focal point for nearby parcels of land surveyed or rented by his children, all of whom came to Maryland with him, his own Maryland chapter ended almost as soon as it began. Joseph Hedges received his patent for "Hedge Hogg" on August 25, 1732. Two weeks later, on September 6, 1732, only two years after his arrival and almost exactly 30 years to the day after his initial warrant for land in Delaware, Joseph Hedges "of Manaquicy in Prince George's County" wrote his will. It was probated on November 29th. In the will he named no wife, though she survived him. His eldest son Solomon Hedges was to inherit "the 258 acres on Manaquicy Creek," while sons Charles and Joshua were each to receive 200 acres at Opeckan in Virginia-- obviously already purchased for them. More significantly, Solomon and Charles as executors, one of whom seemed slated to stay on Maryland while the other was to go to Virginia, were instructed to purchase an additional 400 acres at Opecken to be divided equally between sons Jonas and Joseph.

The executors were also directed to purchase 100 acres at Manaquicy for son Samuel. Personalty was to go to daughters Ruth, Cathren and Dorcas and to sons Joseph and Samuel. All nine children and Joseph's wife were to divide the remainder. Chidley Matthews, Thomas Hillard and John Hillard witnessed the will and on February 27, 1733 Robert Jones and Henry Ballenger inventoried the estate.

It would appear that a move to Virginia was contemplated for at least some of the family almost before roots could be established in Maryland. Presumably none of the children was yet married, and Joshua was only seventeen years of age. The purchase of Virginia land, both actual and contemplated, was being made by Joseph Hedges himself for, but not by his children. Thus the Question is posed, how permanent did he view his family's stay in Maryland? Unless we are plagued by positive hindsight which he did not have, why also would he want his family to desert an area where all about him lay good choice land almost theirs for the asking? It was not a wholesale commitment, however. He did provide for two of his children to stay in Maryland. And so our curiosity turns to how the future actually did unfold.

At first the family seems to have stayed put. In the year after his father died, Solomon Hedges had "Hedges Delight" surveyed-- 192 acres near Tuscarora Creek some three miles southwest of "Hedge Hogg" and near the Monocacy road which was soon to carry the bulk of those settlers going to Virginia. In 1733 he was listed as a taxable in Monocacy Hundred, and in the June Court of 1734 Solomon declared that he had paid Robert Jones and John Tredane a debt of 15 pounds for Flower Swift. who had been a Constable for Monocacy Hundred with John van Metre in 1732. Also in 1734 Solomon's name appeared on the list of those not burning their tobacco properly, and in 1735 he himself was named Constable for Monocacy Hundred, replacing Thomas Doudith, possibly a relative, who was incapable of duty. About this time Solomon married John van Metre's daughter Rebecca, and the connection with that family made it only a matter of time before they joined the move to Virginia. This occurred about 1738. They sold their farm animals, which they had purchased from Rebecca's father, to John House and moved to Patterson Creek near present-day Keyser, West Virginia. This area was then a part of Orange County, Virginia, where the November 2, 1739 bill of sale for livestock showed Solomon Hedges was then residing. George Washington in 1748 at the age of 16 "traveled up ye Creek to Solomon Hedges, Esq., one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for ye County of Frederick." The family was still there in 1753 when Hampshire County was formed, but by 1778 had moved on to Buffalo Creek in Ohio County in the [West] Virginia panhandle. There Solomon Hedges is alleged to have lived and died after the turn of the century at an age over one hundred.

Jonas and Joshua Hedges settled next to each other on Tulisses Branch in today's Berkeley County, West Virginia. Jonas married Agnes Powelson about 1738, and in 1743 Joshua married Elizabeth Chapline. The fate of Samuel Hedges is unknown. Presumably he died shortly after his father, sometime in the 1730's still in the Monocacy area and probably unmarried. What became of his has sister Dorcas is also unknown. But Ruth Hedges married Abraham van Metre brother of Solomon Hedges wife and they, too, moved to [West] Virginia, settling in Berkeley County.

This leaves Charles and Joseph Hedges, both of whom according to their father's will were destined to go to Virginia. Neither did. Nor did their sister Catherine, who stayed on in the Monocacy area with her two husbands, Jacob Julien and Joseph Wood. Joseph Hedges became a tenant on the Monocacy Manor, married and had but a single child Rebecca before he died in 1753. His widow Mary, later the wife of John Wilson, and his brother Charles Hedges were Joseph's executors. Joseph's will provided that. should his daughter Rebecca die before coming of age, half his land should go to the children of his brother Charles Hedges. She did not die, but was raised by Charles Hedges and in storybook fashion married her first cousin Charles Hedges Jr.. As a result, they together inherited the 150-acre lease to Lot No. 10 on Monocacy Manor! So it was that Charles Hedges, alone among the nine children who came to Maryland with their parents, continued the Hedges story in Frederick Coaunty With his brothers Solomon and Joshua, he was listed as a taxable in Monocacy Hundred in 1733. In 1736 he journeyed all the way back to New Castle County where at Old Swedes Church in Wilmington on February 12th he married a Mary Stilley, The daughter of Jacob Stilley. In the same year he was appointed by the Prince George's County Court as overseer of the road from Mill Branch to Monocacy Manor. On may 8, 1740 he purchased "Hedges Delight" for fifty pounds from Solomon and Rebecca Hedges, who then were residents in Virginia. On the same day Solomon and Rebecca transferred title to "Hedge Hogg' to Jacob Nafe (Neff), blacksmith, for #127/10 "for his own use and no other purpose." Charles Hedges witnessed this deed and collected the alienation fine of 10sh 3d. The amount paid for the land at a time when land was free or only a few pennies an acre probably indicates that considerable improvements had been made by the Hedges family after their arrival in Maryland. For a blacksmith, its location must also have been important, suggesting considerable growth in the neighborhood and the importance of the road junctions nearby.

The hypothesis is quite plausible that Catherine Hedges, widow of the original Joseph Hedges and the mother of Charles Hedges sometime after Joseph Hedges' death in late 1732 married Isaac Bloomfield as her second husband. There are no records of surveys or patents in Frederick County for him, but in 1739 he had been a witness to six of Susannah Beatty's deeds. The November Court of 1743 appointed him Constable of Linganore Hundred. He witnessed the will of Jacob Julien, who three years earlier had married Charles Hedges sister Catherine. Isaac Bloomfield died shortly before December 27, 1748, the date of his Inventory as presented by Robert DeButts, his administrator. As administrator, DeButts was sued by Charles Carroll. DeButts in turn sued Joseph and Charles Hedges on November 1751 for a debt of #12/19/8 due from them to Isaac Bloomfield's estate. Catherine Bloomfield died in 1749. Joseph Hedges, Jr. (d 1753) and Joseph Wood signed her Inventory as near of kin. Charles Hedges was her executor and in his administrative account of 1751 accounted for payments to Thomas Douthitt, John Bell, Joseph Wood and Stephen Julien. He also recorded debts due the estate from Allen Farquhar, Daniel Pepinger, Jacob Barton, John Biggs, William Hedges, Jonas Hedges, James Head, Mary Martin and others, all known to have been living in the immediate neighborhood of "Hedge Hogg." In 1751 Thomas Douthitt "swore for Isaac Bloomfield" in the probate of the 1743 will of Jacob Julien. On November 15, 1743 Charles Hedges had a tract surveyed just south of "Hedges Delight" which he called "Charles and Mary." In 1749 by patent he acquired "Whiskey" which had been surveyed for Peter Stille. Its 100 acres lay adjacent to "Hedges Delight." He then followed this on February 18, 1754 with the survey for "Yellow Springs," named for those springs traditionally known to the Indians for their great healing power. Though he now owned four parcels of land well west of the Monocacy River, Charles Hedges apparently tenanted, rather than owned, Lot No. 11 on his Lordship's Monocacy Manor directly across the river from "Hedge Hogg." John Biggs was a near neighbor on the Manor and to the two of them on 1754 Robert McPherson and John Beard mortgaged their livestock and household items. In 1759 Charles Hedges was named Constable for Monocacy Hundred. Charles Hedges' wife died in the mid-1760's. His family was nearly grown. Still, a new wife seemed desirable and in April 1769 Charles Hedges married Isabella Wirk. She was at least 35 years his junior and was destined to outlive him by over 30 years. By an antenupial agreement, in order to bar her rights of dower, Isabella was to receive only one-third of "Yellow Springs." Actually they each received far more, she in property, he in children. To the eight children of his first marriage, six more were added in the second. Altogether they included Jacob, Moses, Joseph, Absalom, Rachel, Susannah, Charles, Shadrack, Isaac, Samuel, Ruth Margaret, Hannah and Dorcas. Some of these, or their immediate families, moved on to the Middletown Valley, Greene and Washington Counties in Pennsylvania, the West Virginia Panhandle, Belmont and Seneca Counties in Ohio and Bourbon County in Kentucky. Though he did not die until December 1795, Charles Hedges wrote his will in 1790. His wife Isabella was to get "Hedges Delight," "Yellow Springs" and "Charles and Mary." After her death these tracts were to be divided equally between Isaac and Samuel Hedges, sons of the second marriage. Later surveys, including "Johnson's Level" (150 acres), "Leddy" ("Leeds" 50 acres) and "Hedges Chance" (50 acres), were to go to son Shadrack Hedges after he made compensatory payments to Charles Hedges Jr. and their four half-sisters from their father's second marriage. The other children had already been provided for, with, for example, the parcel "Whiskey" going to son Jacob Hedges in 1765 before Charles first wife died.

The subsequent history of the original "Hedge Hogg" is clouded with uncertainly. Although the land was transferred to Jacob Neff in the year 1740, there is a question whether he was actually living there when on October 2, 1750 he wrote his will. The language is stilted: Wife Catherine as executrix "is to dispose of this place which I live on and pay my debts now named 'Durnah' and all my goods and chattels."She was to receive 100 acres of land "betwixt mountains which I bough," 50 acres from Daniel Dulany and 50 acres from Nodley Thomas, "for my wife to live on or dispose of." There is no reference to "Hedge Hogg" even though subsequent deeds indicate that the parcel was still known by that name as late as 1809. Yet the witnesses to the will, Stephen Julien, Charles Hedges, Adam Stull and John Stoner, all were living near "Hedge Hogg" at the time, and the estate's inventory, made by Charles Hedges and Adam Stull, included blacksmith tools, indicative of Jacob Neff's trade when he purchased "Hedge Hogg" in 1740. Moreover, the inventory shows Notley Thomas as a creditor. The mystery thickens with the sudden appearance of a William Hedges whose relationship to the first Joseph Hedges has mot been determined. William wrote his will on August 11, 1742 and died relatively young, before its probate on January 29, 1743. Calling himself a farmer of Prince George's County, he provided that his wife Ann should "live on my estate during life of my son" Joseph who was to get to get all of the land unless an expected posthumous fourth child was a son, in which case the two sons were to divide the land equally. Ann was to serve as executrix. Robert Baker and Jacob Neff witnessed the will, but only Robert Baker was present for its probate. Co-sureties on Ann's bond were Charles Hedges and Pilip Kinss. The inventory of March 6, 1743, made by John Middah and Robert Jones, was signed by a single creditor, Jacob Neff, and by kin Charles, Joseph and Andrew Hedges. In none of these documents is the named or otherwise identified. But there are clues to help: Stephen Julien became Ann Hedges' second husband on July 14, 1743 and together they prepared the estate accounts. In the account of June 12, 1747 they took credit for a payment to Jacob Neff on a debt owed by William Hedges but paid by Stephen Julien on bond #22/5/6 plus interest. The posthumous child referred to above did turn out to be a son. He was given the name William Hedges Jr. and, because he was born late in 1742, should have expected to inherit his father's land, whatever it was, when he reached majority in 1763. By then Jacob Neff has died. But our attention is directed to a deed dated March 15, 1763 from his son "Jacob Kneff, heir at law to Jacob Kneff Kneff of Prince Georges County, deceased," which transferred to Joseph and William Hedges, sons and heirs of William Hedges of Prince George's County, a 258-acre parcel called "Hedge Hogg." The conclusion seems obvious: Whatever his origins and whatever his relationship to the other Hedges who preceded him, William Hedges sometime between 1740 and 1742 had Been purchasing "Hedge Hogg" from Jacob Neff. But he died before the transaction could be concluded and it took until the youngest son reached majority for title finally be established. As proof of the pudding, it will be noted that Stephen Julien paid taxes on "Hedge Hogg" from 1753 to 1773 and early in that period was shown as "in possession." In 1772 Joseph and William Hedges divided "Hedge Hogg" between them. Five years later they both died, and their wills were probated on the same day, May 6, 1777. Again there were heirs who had not reached majority. But the land remained in the Hedges family well into the next century. The 1873 Atlas, for example, shows the home of Eneas Hedges (1800-1873) still on "Hedge Hogg." No relationship has been found between Jacob Neff and Johann Henry Neff of "Trasker's Chance," p. 296 below. Jacob's widow Catherine Neff wrote her will in 1776, naming her children as John, Jacob, Henry, Francis, Adam, Margarette and Esther Neff. Peter Bainbridge, Bartholomew Booker and John Arnold were witnesses to he will.

No survey or patent records exist for brothers Stephen and Jacob Julien, both of whom were associated through marriage with the Hedges families. They were sons of the immigrant Rene Julien who lived on Eastern Maryland early in the eighteenth century and who later went with most of his sons to the Winchester area of Virginia. Only Stephen and Jacob lived in today's Frederick County area, where they first appeared in 1743. Stephen's first wife Allatha, the mother of all his children, was buried April 6, 1743 according to All Saints' Church Records, and, as noted above, he married as his second wife Ann, the widow of William Hedges. There were no children in the second marriage. Stephen died some time after 1760 when he witnessed John Biggs will. Jacob Julien married Catherine Hedges, daughter of the first Joseph Hedges, on Feb. 2, 1743/44, but died shortly thereafter. All Saints Church records note his burial on March 26, 1747, the day after he wrote his will. The will was not probated, however, until August 30, 1751. It had been witnessed by Rene Julien, Isaac Bloomfield and James Beard, and it divided most of his estate between his wife Catherine and his only child Rachel Julien. Rachel Julien was born June 26, 1746, but did not live long. She was buried April 25, 1751. Catherine Hedges Julien married Joseph Wood as her second husband on September 11, 1747. He died in 1782 and she survived him. There is one other tie between the Hedges and Julien families. On June 3, 1770 Isaac Julien by his first wife, married Susannah Hedges, daughter of Charles Hedges Sr. and Mary Stilley. Susanna died before her father's will of 1790, but Isaac Julien lived until 1839, having served in the Revolution and lived in both Greene County, Pennsylvania and Miami County, Ohio.

Like the Hedges family, the Stilleys also had origins in New Castle County, Delaware. Jacob Stilley, yeoman of Christiana Hundred, New Castle County, and his wife Rebecca Springer had a sizable family, most of whom are named in his will of September 14, 1771. Although he did not leave New Castle County himself, several of his children did. Reference has already been made to Mary Stilley, born June 22,1715 as Maria, daughter Jacob Stelle and wife Rebecca. She married Charles Hedges in 1736 and came to the Hedges area north of today's city of Frederick. Her brother Peter Stilley, born March 8, 1717, also came . He had "Saplin Ridge" surveyed for 100 acres on January 15, 1742. It lay "near Chidley Matthews' land" just north of Rock Creek and today's forks of U.S. Highways 40 and 40-Alternate by the golf course. On May 20,1749 Peter Stilley resurveyed his tract to increase its size to 295 acres, and in 1793 his son Peter Stilley, Jr. added 65 acres more, calling the whole "Neighbor's Agreement." According to the Moravian missionary August Spangenberg, Peter Stilley in 1748 was a vestryman and "Vorsteher" in the English church who, because of his friendship with neighboring Moravians, had been called to account. He was Constable of Middle Monocacy Hundred in 1778. In his will of July 25, 1765 Peter Stilley devised his plantation to his son Jacob, but also provided for sons Peter and John. His wife Mary also left a will dated September 30, 1784, which named daughters Estelle, wife of John Kennedy, and Rebecca, wife of Benjamin Ogle.

2.i. Solomon Hedges

was born about 1710. He died before Jan 1802 in Brook County, WV. m. Rebecca Van Metre (probably at the Monocacy settlement c. 1735)

A GENEALOGY 0F THE DUKE - SHEPHERD - VAN METRE FAMILY BY SAMUEL GORDON SMYTH, 1909 - Solomon Hedges was born 1710. C. 1735 removed to Orange County, Virginia., settling on the South Branch of the Potomac-his residence afterward fell within the limits of Frederick County, when it was created 1748. From his father’s will it appears that Joseph Hedges died seized of 400 acres of land on the Opequon in Virginia which are "to be cleared and paid for out of my estate." 200 each of this land are devised to testators two sons....The executor (Solomon) is instructed "to purchase - acres of land on ‘Opechan’ which shall be equally divided between ‘my two sons’ Jonas Hedges and Joseph Hedges, " and to purchase 190 acres of land at Manacquacy" out of the estate for "my son Samuel" (Book I, p. 203, Prince Geo. Co. Wills)..... The first recorded purchase of land by Solomon Van Metre was made 10 Apr 1738 (Orange Co. Records, Book I, p. 481) by Edward Davis late of Orange Co. to Solomon Hedges of same county who for the consideration of 5 shillings conveys a piece of land containing 275 acres lying on the west side of Sherundo (Shenandoah) River and Opequon Creek on a branch of the Hangaloota (Potomac) called Tullises Branch, it being a part of 875 acres granted unto said Edward Davis, 12 Nov 1735, it adjoined lands of Peter Hedges. Witnesses were Peter and Joshua Hedges and Richard Morgan. On the same date as the preceding Peter Hedges also acquired by purchase from Davis 300 acres of the 875 acre tract-Solomon Hedges was one of the witnesses thereto.

The Court of Orange County, Virginia., on 23 June, 1738, appointed Solomon Hedges and Jost Hite road-viewers.

In 1740 Solomon Hedges sold his patrimony in Maryland, two farms called "Hedges Hogg" and "Hedges Delight" and the conveyance was acknowledged by Rebecca Hedges before the Justices of Prince George's County, Maryland., 8 May 1740 (Lib. 7, fol. 170-171).

Frederick County having by this time, 1744, been established out of Orange County, Solomon Hedges was appointed a Justice of the new county and was sworn 8 June, 1744 (Frederick County Court Journal) ; and on the 5th October, 1745, was commissioned the Coroner of Frederick Co. In this year also, Rebecca, his wife, received on the death of her father a legacy of 200 acres of his estate and a child’s share in the personalty.

Frederick County, Virginia, Deeds, Book 2, Page 26 - 8 Jun 1749 - Known all men by these presents that I William Chapman of Frederick County... do bargain & sell unto Solomon Hedges of the same County... all my beast & goods & chattels hereinafter mentioned to wit: 1 Bay Horse, 1 Bay Mare & Cole, 1 black horse... 1 brown cow, 1 feather bed and furniture 4 pewter dishes, etc., etc. Signed William Chapman. Witnesses: Henry VanMeter, John Sturman. Recorded 9 Jun 1749.

Abstracts of Virginia's Northern Neck Warrants & Surveys Frederick County, 1747-1780, Volume 2, page 72 - Solomon Hedges, 10 Sep 1750 - 10 Oct 1750; 102 acres on new creek, adjacent his own land. Chain Carriers - George Parker & John Dowthart. Surveyor, David Vance.

Abstracts of Virginia's Northern Neck Warrants & Surveys Frederick County, 1747-1780, Volume 2, page 72 - Solomon Hedges, no warrant, 10 Sep 1750 - 10 Oct 1750; 320 acres on New Creek, adjacent Miller & Holms. Chain Carriers - George Parker & John Dowther. Surveyor: David Vance.

By the setting off of Hampshire Co. in 1753, from Frederick Co. the home of Solomon Hedges now lay in the new county; when the youthful surveyor George Washington was engaged in laying out lands in the Northern Neck for his patron Lord Fairfax, Solomon Hedges obtained and had surveyed to him, a farm on Patterson’s Creek about 40 miles above its confluence with the Potomac. In later days when Washington made his "Journey over the Mountains to the Ohio, " he stopped at Solomon Hedges for entertainment, and refers to him as " one of His Majesties Justices of the Peace" (Kercheval’s History of the Valley; Maxwell’s History of Hampshire County, Virginia.).

Virginia Northern Neck Grants, Book K, page 55 - Hedges, Solomon, Grantee - 16 Feb 1760, 102 acres on New Creek in Frederick County, Virginia.

Virginia Northern Neck Grants, Book K, page 320 - Hedges, Solomon, Grantee - 18 Feb 1760, 320 acres on New Creek in Frederick County, Virginia.

Hampshire County, Virginia, Deeds, Book 1, Page 39 - 2 Aug 1760. Solomon Hedges and wife Rebecca Hedges to Peter Steenbergen 2 adjacent tracts of 320 and 102 acres for £80 on New Creek. Lease and Release.

Virginia Northern Neck Grants, Book M, page 39 - Hedges, Solomon, Grantee - 6 Sep 1762, 250 acres on New Creek including the Round Lick in Hampshire County, Virginia.

Frederick County, Virginia, Deeds, Book 10, pages 483 & 485 Lease & (Release) - 1 Aug 1765 - Between Solomon Hedges and Rebecca his wife of Hampshire County to Thomsa Hilyard of Frederick County... consideration of 5 shillings (£12.10)... part of a tract of land lying and being now in Frederick County and on the west side of Opeckon Creek and is part of a tract of 875 acres granted to Edward Davis the 12th Nov 1735. Line to Peter Hedges... Containing 102 acres of land more or less... Rents of one pepper corn on the 29 day of Sept only if same shall be lawfully demanded... Signed Solomon Hedges & Rebecca Hedges. Witnesses: Thomas Rutherford, George Michael Laubinger, Henry Brinker. Recorded: 3 Sep 1765.

Frederick County, Virginia, Deeds, Book 10, pages 487 & 488 Lease & (Release) - 1 Aug 1765 - Between Solomon Hedges and Rebecca his wife of Hampshire County to Allen Cox of Frederick County... consideration of 5 shillings (£12.10)... one parcel of land part of a Tract of land lying and being on the west side of Opeckon Creek and is part of a tract of land containing 875 acres granted to Edward Davis the 12 Nov 1735. Containing 173 acres... Rent of one pepper corn on 29th day of Sep is same be lawfully demanded. Signed Solomon Hedges & Rebecca Hedges. Witnesses: Thomas Rutherford, George Michael Laubinger, Henry Brinker. Recorded 3 Sep 1765.

The property in Frederick County, Maryland, his wife’s inheritance, was sold to their son and heir-at-law Silas Hedges on 13 Aug 1770 and to John Wilson of Frederick County, Virginia.

Frederick County, Virginia, Deeds, Book 14, pages 68 & 70 Lease & (Release) - 13 Aug 1770 - Between Solomon Hedges & Rebecca his wife of Hampshire County & Silas Hedges their son & heir to John Willson of Frederick County... consideration of 5 shillings (£160)... tract of land situate lying and being in Frederick County aforesaid... Containing 200 acres... which said Tract was devised to said Rebecca by the Last Will of John Vanmetre deceased her father... Rent of one peppercorn on Lady Day next... Signed: Solomon Hedges, Rebecca (O) Hedges, Silas Hedges. Witnesses: Phil Pendleton, William Willson, Alexander White, Peter Hogg, Jno Magill. Recorded 4 Dec 1770.

When David Shepherd, his brother-in-law, became High Sheriff of Ohio County, Virginia., 6th April 1778, Solomon Hedges became his surety in the sum of £3, 500. The bond is recorded at Wheeling, West Virginia, 1778, April 8th. "In the former Commission of the Peace for Ohio County there must have been a mistake in the recommendation placing that of Silas (Hedges) prior to that of Solomon Hedges. Said Solomon having formerly acted as Jude (Judge) in the Court of Hampshire, this Court therefore would pray that Solomon aforesaid be inserted the first in the list of the new Commission." On the 2nd June, 1778, Solomon Hedges came into Court and took oath as Justice of the Peace. And it was "ordered that Solomon Hedges and Jno Williams, gentlemen, - distribute the public land consigned to this county upon proper and sufficient certificates to them presented." From this date to and including 7 Aug., 1780, Solomon Hedges and his son Silas were Justices of the Courts of Ohio County, Virginia., sometimes the father and at other times the son was presiding Judge of the Court. At the latter date Virginia’s jurisdiction over any part of Pennsylvania ceased. (Annals of Carnegie Museum, Vol. III., Pt. I, Dec., 1904.)

Virginia Land Office Grants, Book H, page 551 - Hedges, Solomon, Grantee - 14 Oct 1783, 385 acres on Buffaloe Creek in Ohio County, Virginia.

Virginia Land Office Grants, Book 1, page 366 - Hedges, Solomon, Grantee - 5 Jul 1786, 21 acers on Buffaloe Creek adjoining lands of Aaron Robinson in Ohio County, Virginia.

Virginia Land Office Grants, Book 1, page 373 - Hedges, Solomon Jr, Grantee - 5 Jul 1786, 10 acres on Buffaloe Creek adjoining Buskerk in Ohio County, Virginia.

Brooke County, Virginia, Court Records 1780-1797 - This Indenture made this 8th day of September 1795 between Solomon Hedges of the County of Ohio in the State of Virginia and Rebekah Hedges, wife of the said Solomon Hedges of the one part & William Hudson of the same place of the other part, witnesseth that the said Solomon Hedges & Rebekah Hedges his wife for an in consideration of the sum of 150 Pennsylvania money to them in hand paid, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have granted, bargained, sold aliened, released & confirmed, & by these presents, doth grant, bargain, sell, alien, release & confirm unto the said William Hudson, his heirs & assigns one certain moiety or parcel of land containing 50 acres, lying and being situated in the county of Ohio & State of Virginia on Buffalo Creek, described as follows, Viz: beginning at a sugar tree on the bank of Buffalo Creek, corner to the said Solomon Hedges, thence down the creek north 45 east, 50 poles to an elm, thence north 24 degrees east, 32 poles to an ash, thence north 42 degrees east 52 poles to the water of said creek, thence north 25 degrees east 40 poles to a wild cherry, thence north 29 degrees west 18 poles to a white oak, thence south 50 degrees west 194 poles to the line of said Solomon Hedges, thence south 58 degrees east 59 poles to the beginning, being part of a certain tract or parcel of land, containing 308 acres by patent granted to said Solmon Hedges under hand and seal of Benjamin Harrison, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia bearing date the 14th day of Oct in the year of our Lord, 1783, reference being thereunto had more fully appear with all buildling hereditament & appurtenances to the said tract or moiety of land belonging, and all estate, right, title, either of them & to the same or any part thereof. To have & to hold the tract or moiety aforesaid with the appurtenances to the said William Hudson, his heirs & assigns, to his & their own proper use forever. And the said Solomon Hedges & Rebekah Hedges his wife & their heirs shall & will warrant said tract or moiety of land as aforesaid to the said William Hudson & his heirs for all manner of persons whatsoever & the same forever defend. In witness where of the parties have hereunto set their hands & affixed their seals the day & year above written. Solomon Hedges (seal), Rebecca (X) Hedges (her mark). Witnesses: Isaac Weese, James Hoagland & William Hedges.

Brooke County, Virginia, Wills - .... constitute this to be my last will & testament in the manner and form following (to witt): 1st, I do give & bequeath unto Margaret Hedges, wife of my son Joseph, & her two daughters Rebekah & Catherine £10 each Pennsylvania Currency. I do likewise desire that all my estate both real & personal shall be sold at my decease at public sale & equally divided between my four children & their heirs. That is to say to Silas Hedges, Joseph Hedges, Rachel Vause & the heirs of Catherine McCollach, after the legattes is paid; and I do also appoint my two sons Silas Hedges & Joseph Hedges to be my sold executors of this my last will & testament hereby revoking all former wills by me made. In witness hereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal this 6th day of January in the year of our Lord 1797. Solomon Hedges. Witnesses: Stephen Jno Francis, William Hedges & Silas Hedges.

The Colonial Descendants of William and Mary Hedges, by Peter Stebbins Craig, November 1988.

Solomon Hedges (1710-1802) & Descendants, compiled by the Hedges Association, 1991, updated Jul 1999 by Joanne Eustice.

Solomon married Rebecca Van Meter daughter of Jan Jansen Van Meter and Margaret Mollenauer about 1735. Rebecca was born in 1711 in Raritan, Somerset County, New Jersey. She died in 1796 in Brooke County, Virginia.

They had the following children:

+ 44 M i Silas Hedges was born on 1 Dec 1736. He died on 17 May 1811.
+ 45 F ii Catherine Hedges was born about 1738. She died in 1787.
+ 46 M iii Joseph Hedges was born about 1740. He died on 30 Sep 1821.
+ 47 F iv Rachel Hedges was born on 30 Jan 1743. She died in 1832.

¹ A novel published in 1824 by a James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, (W.W. Norton, N.Y. 1970.), is concerned with psychological aberration and as such, anticipates the literature of the twentieth century. The protagonist is a young man named Robert, who drenched in the religious bigotry of Calvinism, concluded that he was predestined before the beginning of the world to enter heaven, therefore no sin he committed would be held to his account. This freed Robert to become an assassin in the cause of Christ and His Church. (Source: The Yurica Report)

CATHOLICS IN COLONIAL DELMARVA

"CATHOLICS ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND"
An Article by Reverend Thomas J. Peterman

After the downfall of the Puritan Commonwealth in 1660, Philip Calvert, described as "a rigid Papist," was appointed chancellor of the colony.

Posthumous reconstruction from the skeleton of Anne Wolsey Calvert, wife of Philip Calvert, Chancellor of the Colony and youngest son of the first Lord Baltimore. Their lead coffins were discovered recently, and a quest begun to find out who the important personages buried in the lead coffins discovered at the 1660s brick chapel in St. Mary's.

He was granted land on the southernmost tip of Talbot County now called Chancellor's Point, where he grew a large crop of tobacco. He also was granted land where the Bohemia River connects with the Elk River. [See Boatology Professor O'Donnell's map of Cecil County, Maryland.] He planned a large port town there which never developed but it is still called Towne Point today. Other tracts granted to Philip Calvert were Hazelmore and The Grove or Grove Point near Cecilton in Cecil County.

In 1659 Augustine Herman was granted 4,000 acres which he named Bohemia Manor. Herman met George Hack in New York, and the two operated there one of the largest tobacco houses in America. Herman was not Catholic, but George Hack was baptized Catholic in the Cologne Cathedral. They married sisters and when Herman moved to Maryland, Hack settled opposite Bohemia Manor across the river at what is now known as Hack's Point.

By 1662 the Wye River Basin had become a safe haven for the largest and most flourishing Catholic population on the Eastern Shore at that time. The chapel at Wye is considered primarily the work of Peter Sayer, an architect. It was built on a tract called Morgan - St. Michael's, near the home of Peter and Frances (Morgan) Sayer. Peter Sayer was a Catholic gentleman whose father William had come over on the Ark and Dove in 1634. Peter had been educated in Paris by the English Benedictines. He remained until his death a close friend and confidante of the Calverts. In 1675 he married Frances Morgan, and built around that time the first structure dedicated exclusively to Catholic worship on the Delmarva peninsula. The Peter Sayer chalice is displayed now with other Recusant chalices in the Jesuit archives at Georgetown University.

Charles Blake, a nephew of Peter Sayer, was also educated by the Benedictine monks in Paris. He lived first with his uncle, until he married Henrietta Maria Lloyd II and reared a family at Blakeford, referred to by the Jesuits as "Blakes on Chester," where Mass was offered in a chapel room fro several generations. His son, John Sayer Blake I, lived at Sportsman's Hall, referred to by the Jesuits as "Blakes on Wye." Another son, Philemon Charles Blake I, continued to live at Blakeford. John Sayer Blake's daughter Mary wed Conrad Wederstrandt and lived in Queen Anne County near Queenstown at "Bennetts Regulation," referred to by the Jesuits as "Blakes on Corsica." Their son Philemon was the second student to enroll at Georgetown College.

When the Maryland Government had been threatened by the Puritans from Virginia, Richard Bennett, the governor of Virginia had stood by the Calverts and as a reward had been given large land grants on the Wye River. His son married Henrietta Maria Neale a Catholic, settled there, having first a daughter Susanna Maria in 1665. His wife was expecting a second child when he drowned at age 35. The son was named Richard Bennett III. Widowed at 21, Henrietta Maria in 1669 married Philemon Lloyd, and became Madam Lloyd of Wye. They had three sons and six daughters. Philemon died at age 39, and Henrietta lived on a dozen more years. Her background, wealth, and beauty dazzled those who might otherwise have snubbed her for her open espousal of Catholicism. The Catholic church built at Wye is often referred to as "Madam Lloyd's Chapel." Father Nicholas Gulick was resident priest there till the chapel was closed in 1689. In her will Henrietta Maria Neale Bennett Lloyd left 300 acres near the chapel. "She threw over the Roman Catholic priests the protection of her long social standing in Maryland on both shores. No archbishop could have been more of a stay and prop for Roman Catholicism than this estimable woman." Henrietta Maria is credited with a share in the establishment and maintenance of the chapel. She was 28 years old when the chapel was built in 1675, at "Chapel Cove." It was the only Catholic church structure on the entire Eastern Shore during the years of its existence.

In Somerset County there was no chapel nor were Catholics regularly visited by the Jesuit missionaries. The county had 72 Catholics at the turn of the seventeenth century as reported by the county sheriff - the second greatest number in all the Eastern Shore counties. These were mostly Irish indentured servants or tenant farmers involved in raising tobacco. Berlin, Maryland, then in Somerset County is a derivation of "Burleigh's Inn," named for its first proprietor William Burleigh, who was arrested as a papist in 1669. In 1685 Donnock Dennis, a Catholic, was appointed high sheriff of Somerset County. He took up a grant in the lower Pocomoke area, and together with Irishmen O'Cain and Blake, formed a settlement called Irish Grove.

In Dorchester County, Raymond Staplefort, a Catholic, served as high sheriff when the county was founded in 1669. His daughter Eleanor married Richard Tubman I, a Catholic gentleman from Scotland. The missionaries regularly visited the "Isles of Dorset" on the western side of the county (James, Taylor, Barren, and Hooper islands). Richard Tubman II gave the land for the first Catholic chapel in the county, built in 1767, St. Mary's, Star of the Sea, at Meekins Neck.

In 1663 Cecil Calvert sent his secretary Henry Sewall to Maryland to guide his son Charles Calvert as governor of Maryland. Henry Sewall had married Lady Jane Lowe, and was granted land on the Eastern Shore on what came to be called Secretary Creek, a tributary on the south side of the Choptank River. After Henry Sewall's early death,ÊÊJane married governor Charles Calvert, later becoming Lady Baltimore in 1675 when Cecil Calvert died. Her home on Secretary Creek still exists as "My Lady Sewall's Manor House."

The town of Oxford on the Tred Avon is the Eastern Shore's oldest surviving town. The first map of Maryland drawn by Augustine Herman in 1670 included the port of Oxford. Lady Jane's brother, Vincent Lowe, played a major role in the establishment of the port town. Peter Sayer and Henrietta Maria Lloyd of Wye were among those who purchased early plots in the town.

Susanna Maria Bennett, Madan Lloyd's oldest child was 17 when she married Lord Baltimore's brother-in-law John Darnall. At his death she married again Colonel Henry Lowe, Lady Baltimore's nephew. She died at 48 after having reared a dozen children. As is her mother, she is referred to as the "ancestress of the Eastern Shore."

Madam Lloyd's eldest son, Richard Bennett III, attended a Jesuit school in Paris, and at 19 conducted a general store in Wye Town. He married Elizabeth Rousby and lived most of his life at Bennett's Point. They had no children. His wife died at 58, and Richard Bennett never remarried. (Their dwelling was excavated in 1973).

Richard Bennett III kept a chapel room where visiting Jesuits offered Mass regularly. When he died in 1749 Richard Bennett III had become the province's greatest landowner, its largest ship owner, and its most important merchant and financier. "Poor Dick of Wye - the richest man in all his majesty's colonies," was the Eastern Shore's biggest producer of tobacco. The settlement of his estate in 1749 precipitated one of the bitterest and longest legal battles in provincial history. In his will Bennett directed that a chapel be constructed over his and his wife's graves. An elegant chapel was constructed in the Morgan - Sayer cemetery (excavated in 1975) near the road at the southern tip of Bennett's Point. (In 1982 the foundations were reconstructed and two historical markers were placed there). Sunnyside at Bennett's Point was the home of Captain John Griffin. Sedgewick at Bennett's Point was the home of Alfred Bryan.

James Hepbourne migrated from Scotland in 1665 and purchased Shepherd's Delight in Kent County near Still Pond. He kept a chapel there and had the priest say Mass whenever he visited.

In 1685 Peter Sayer brought another Catholic into the Wye area in the person of Jacobus Seth. The Seths made their home on the Back Wye at Mount Mill, a tract owned by Seth's descendants for the next 200 years. Mount Mill was a Mass station. Charles Seth, the eldest son, operated mills at Mount Mill, at Island Creek in Queen Anne County, and at Tuckahoe in Caroline County. The Jesuits visited Piney Neck on the southern tip of the peninsula on the east side of Greenwood Creek in Talbot County.ÊÊMissionaries also visited "Clifton" at Easton Landing, the home of David Jones, a family doctor. Nearby was another Mass station, Island Creek, the home of Thomas Browning, Sr.

Colonel George Talbot, Charles Calvert's cousin, was responsible for the largest settlement of Irish Catholics on the Eastern Shore by the end of the 17th century. An openly professed Catholic, "our right trusty and beloved cozen," was granted a total of 32,000 acres of land, Susquehanna Manor, extending from Delaware to Octoraro Creek, 80 miles at top of the Bay to above the present Pennsylvania line. In 1683 he established New Munster (6,000 acres), which extended over the Pennsylvania line. Talbot was placed there to be a thorn in the side of William Penn, who was encroaching on Maryland territory. The boundary dispute between the Penns and Calverts was a war. Talbot set up a fort at the head of the Christina River. Charles Calvert rode to Bohemia then to New Castle to meet with Markham, Penn's governor. The 40th degree of latitude reached to Upland, near Philadelphia. Bacon Hill on Route 7 between Elkton and North East was the lookout or beacon spot for Talbot's men. Charles Calvert sailed for England leaving Talbot in charge as president of the Provincial Council. Talbot was fiery, impetuous by nature. He boarded the Quaker on the Patuxent, stabbed the king's agent in a fight, was arrested and taken to Virginia. His wife sailed down with two Irishmen and rescued him from jail. He hid out for weeks at Susquehanna Manor in a cave below Port Deposit. He was persuaded to surrender and was taken to England where King James II exonerated him. Eventually he died later in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. While in hiding, he was spotted off Oldfield's Landing, named for George Oldfield, first attorney for Cecil County when it was founded. "Historic Oldfield" is where the British landed on the Elk River in 1777. In 1690, George Oldfield refused to take the Oath of Supremacy and moved to Pennsylvania.

After the "Glorious Revolution" in England in 1688, Calvert lost control of his Maryland government through the Coode rebellion in Maryland in 1689. The Anglican Church was established in Maryland and the capital moved to Annapolis. Catholics were denied public worship and political office. Peter Sayer kept Lord Baltimore informed by letters. His and Madam Lloyd's firearms were confiscated. Richard Bennett III at 31 rode his horse into the courthouse to protest the Protestant takeover. Madam Lloyd preceded Peter Sayer in death in 1697 by six months.

In 1704, the St. Francis Xavier Mission was established by Father Thomas Mansell at Bohemia in Cecil County. It was the first permanent Catholic foundation on the Eastern Shore. In 1745 Father Thomas Poulton opened an academy for boys there. Nearby at Mount Harmon on the Sassafras, James Heath built a chapel and ran an academy for girls.

The French and Indian War resulted in one of the worst periods for Roman Catholics in the colony. Fearing the increase of Irish immigrants, Maryland passed the "Act to Prevent The Growth of Popery." In 1757 Father James Beadnall was tried for saying Mass. In 1755 groups of French Acadians were unloaded at places on the Eastern Shore, at Wye River, Oxford, Chestertown, and Elk River. In 1758 the sheriffs of each county were required to report properties owned by Catholics in their county. Severe intolerance against Catholics evaporated as victory came to the British.

In 1763 the Penns and Calverts employed Mason and Dixon to conduct a survey and to settle finally the boundary dispute. In the same year, Father Joseph Mosley established St. Joseph's Mission at Tuckahoe in Talbot County. It was a farm in 1764. Mosley wrote "I began my mission with a hole in the roof for a chimney." His sacramental record, is now preserved at Georgetown University and, is one of only two known Catholic sacramental registers to have survived from colonial times in Maryland. The church is the oldest still in regular use in the Diocese of Wilmington. Mosley served there for 22 years. The nearest priest was fifty miles away at Bohemia. Around 1765 (definitely by 1777) Father Mosley built the first Mass house of St. Peter's in Queenstown. (This first building, enlarged in 1813, was razed in 1967). Another church was built in 1825 and enlarged in 1877).

Bolingly, located at Queenstown was given to Edward Neale, his nephew, by Richard Bennett III as a wedding gift. Martha Neale, his daughter, married Francis Hall and together they reared ten children at Bolingly. One daughter, Mary Theresa Hall, married Dr. Thomas Bennett Willson shortly after the American Declaration of Independence in 1776.

The Jesuits and their congregations were loyal to the patriot cause in the American Revolutionary War. The Blakes, the Halls, the Willsons and many other Catholic families sent sons to fight the war and provided supplies from their farms for the army. The counties of the Eastern Shore merited the title "The Breadbasket of the Revolution." Colonel William Richardson served as commander of the Eastern Shore Battalion of the Maryland Continental forces. His wife Elizabeth Green was a fervent Catholic. The Richardson home at Gilpin Point was a Mass station over many years. Colonel Richardson is regarded as the father of Caroline County. His son Joseph fought in the Revolutionary War. His daughter Ann married Colonel Billy Potter. Billy Potter's Landing on the Choptank River was for a long time a Mass station. The Richardsons and Potters were largely responsible for the building of St. Elizabeth Church in Denton.

At Tully's Neck, between Bridgeton and Rae's Crossroads, on the western side of Tuckahoe Creek in Caroline County, the Councells and Ewings welcomed missionaries regularly to offer Mass. James Ewing married Anastasia Councell in 1767, and reared seven children.

John Willson, another progenitor of a large Eastern Shore Catholic family, settled on the Wye River and was a close friend of Richard Bennett III. His son Thomas Bennett Willson married Mary Theresa Hall and lived at the Willson home in Warrington near Queenstown.

Chancellors Point, Talbot County, Maryland

Map produced by Craig O'Donnell, Sinepuxent Ancestors & Boats http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~fassitt/; The Proa FAQ http://boat-links.com/proafaq.html; The Cheap Pages http://www.friend.ly.net/~dadadata Sailing Canoes, Polytarp Sails, Bamboo, Chinese Junks, American Proas, the Bolger Boat Honor Roll, Plywood Boats, Bamboo Rafts, &c. -- Professor of Boatology -- Junkomologist -- Macintosh kinda guy; Friend of Wanda the Wonder Cat, 1991-1997.

HEDGES MIGRATION TO MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA

(I.) William Hedges: New Castle, Delaware 1677/8 by way of New York?

Charles Hedges son of William Hedges: Two of his children seem to have gone to Maryland, one dying there, and the other moving to Virginia

The move to Maryland of the Joseph Hedges Family

2.i. Solomon Hedges

Stille/Stilley

CATHOLICS IN COLONIAL DELMARVA

"CATHOLICS ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND"
An Article by Reverend Thomas J. Peterman

HEDGES MIGRATION TO MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA

(I.) William Hedges: New Castle, Delaware 1677/8 by way of New York?

Charles Hedges son of William Hedges: Two of his children seem to have gone to Maryland, one dying there, and the other moving to Virginia

The move to Maryland of the Joseph Hedges Family

2.i. Solomon Hedges

Stille/Stilley

CATHOLICS IN COLONIAL DELMARVA

"CATHOLICS ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND" An Article by Reverend Thomas J. Peterman

"CATHOLICS ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND"
An Article by Reverend Thomas J. Peterman