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From: <>
Subject: [RHEA-L] Petition in Maryland- Ray
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1998 14:38:09 EDT

158
IX, 22

Prince George's County. Petition of several inhabitants above the
Monocacy to the Governor.

The subscribers have greatly suffered by the loss or want of a proper
person for the office of justice; they recommend Capt. Griffith,
William Toneyhill, and Jackob Duckett as proper candidates for that
office.

D.S. 1 P. 30.6cm X 18.8cm. Mutilated.

Signers: Samuel Duvall, Henery Emroney(?), John Harper, Ephraim Gold,
James Rigges, Henry Truman Hill, Luke Ray, Mikell Hallett, John Sonnis,
Thomas Wilson, Hadworth Wilson, Absallom Wilson, Joseph Wilson, Nichols
Roads, Joseph Worren, John Whealler, Orlando Griffith, Robart Parl (M.),
Joseph Hill, James Parl (M.), Benjamen Kelley (M.), Joseph Bookout, John
Cramphin, William Davis, John Harding, Gareth Davis, Joseph Harris,
Aquila Compton (M.) James Comton, Arthur Nelson, Jr., Joseph Gold, John
Nelso[n], Alexander De- - -, G[eo]rge Wea- - -, ________-,
________, _________, __________, John Tur[ner], Danel Pa- - -, John
Adon- - -, John John- - - (M.), John Comton (M.) James Wood (M.).

See Pioneers of Old Monocacy: The Early Settlement of Frederick Co.,
MD: 1721--1743 by Grace L. Tracey and John P. Dern (Baltimore:
Genealogical Publications, Inc., 1987) and also see Monocacy and
Catoctin: Some Early Settlers of Frederick and Carrol Counties, MD and
Adams County, PA, also Descendants c. 1725--1985, 2 Vols., C. E.
Schildknect, Editor (Shippensburg, PA 17257: Beidel Printing House,
Inc., 1985).

Mr. John P. Dern, co-author of "Pioneers of Old Monocacy" wrote to
Henry Wade Bookout III on March 25, 1995:

"Your query concerning the location of some 42 signatories on a petition
apparently seeking justices or a justice of the peace in some portion of
Prince George's County, Maryland is of great interest, especially as it
seems to be a petition I personally have not seen. You did not cite a
reference to its location or present filing at the Maryland Archives.

"Nor did you explain your reasoning in estimating its date as "c.1735,"
a date which appears to me very plausible. One year earlier Captain
William Griffith, whom the signatories recommend in the text of their
petition, became a lessee on two lots in "Carrollton" (Pr Geo Land
Records T161, 163). That tract comprised 10,000 acres and extended on
the west side of the Monocacy River from its mouth up the Potomac so as
to include the lower stretch of Tuscarora Creek before it, too, empties
into the Potomac. The tract then extended northerly along both sides of
today's New Design Road as far as Adamstown and Buckeystown. But
Griffith lived on "Black Acre," just west of Sugar Loaf Mountain near
Furnace Branch very close to the present Montgomery County line, i.e. on
the east side of the lower Monocacy River. Henry (Truman?) Hill among
your signatories also recieved land on "Carrollton" in 1744/46.

"Griffith was appointed constable for Upper Monocacy Hundred in 1735,
signed a petition to divide Prince George's parish in 1742 and signed
another petition in 1744 for a road to be laid out from Tuscarora Creek
to Kitoctin (Catoctin) Creek. In 1748 he was altering the road leading
to the ferry at the mouth of the Monocacy.
'
"In 1757 when William Griffith died, his son (and signatory) Orlando
Griffith continued to live on "Black Acre." In 1758 Orlando resurveyed
the area, increasing its acreage to 708 acres and renaming it
"Griffith's Chance." Ultimately he held 1,002 acres and land extending
as far as today's Greenfield Mills. The little waterfalls in the
Monocacy were known as Griffith Falls.

"William Teneyhill (Taneyhill), also recommended in your petition's
text, signed in 1744 a petition for a road along the Potomac from
Tuscarora Creek To Catoctin Creek, a bridge across the Catoctin and a
continuation of the road to Antietam Creek in today's Washington County.

"Broken Island," in the Potomac opposite "Carrollton," became the
property of Arthur Nelson in 1728. He also held "Nelson's Island"
farther up the Potomac (1724) as well as a rather extensive parcel
called "Hobson's Choice" (1725) running along the north side of the
Potomac above the Tuscarora. You'll note Arthur Nelson Junior as the
first to sign your petition. Just north of "Hobson Choice," John Nelson
had "Sweeds Folly" surveyed in June 1734.

"Gunders Delight" straddling today"s Montgomery County line right at the
mouth of the Monocacy River was surveyed in March 1726 (NS) for Gunder
Erickson and was later conveyed to your John Harding.

"Josiah (your Joseph?) and brother Absalom Wilson in 1745 acquired
"forest" near Crampton Gap just east of today's Washington County line.
... John Cramphin signed the 1742 petitions seeking creation of
Frederick County and All Saints Parish.

"So, with this smattering of observations, you'll see that most probably
the men signing your petition were all English, had come north and west
from today's Montgomery County and thus were the original settlers in
Frederick County. They settled not far from the Potomac River in an
area which because of their origins they would think of as "beyond" or,
as your petition words it, "above" the Monocacy River's lower reaches.
Still to come were the many Frederick County settlers who later
populated northern and central Frederick County. These "northerners"
dated from the late 1730's, thus confirming the earlier 1735 date you
assign to your petition. Moves south from Frederick County to North
Carolina were not uncommon. They had been begun by some of the early
missionaries tramping the backwoods away from the seaboard. Your letter
didn't indicate when settlement of the Bookouts in North Carolina
occurred, and I confess that I am no real expert on subsequent North
Carolina genealogy. Where that takes you with your quest for Joseph
Bookout (the letter "J." between his two names was his mark, not a
middle initial), I would be most interested in learning."
--John Dern

Hope this helps someone.

Pat H.

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