USA > Maryland > Dorchester County > History of Dorchester County, Maryland > Part 27
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After Anthony Bacon, of Talbot County, returned to Eng- land, he was knighted and resided in Wales until his death. He left to his niece, the daughter of Thomas Bacon, of Talbot County, £10,000. This niece married Watkins Price, of Brecon, Wales.
The Harwoods, of Talbot County, and the Passopai fam- ilies, of Dorchester, descend in their maternal lines from nieces of Sir Anthony Bacon.
Thomas Richardson was one of His Lordship's Justices of the Talbot County Court in 1726 in company with Mr. Daniel Sherwood, Robert Goldsborough, Nicholas Golds- borough, Mr. Clayton and George Robinson.
On August 2, 1726, Charles Calvert addressed a letter to these gentlemen approving their decision in a certain case and of their conduct at all times.
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385
HON. JAMES S. SHEPHERD
The seat of the Talbot County Richardsons in England was at White Haven, Cumberland County.
In England the Richardsons are among the oldest and most distinguished families in the realm. In the Peerage they rank seventy-second out of nine hundred peers.
As early as 1631, Sir Thomas Richardson was Chief Justice of the King's Bench.
The present Secretary of the Order of the Thistle, the highest and most exclusive order of Scotland, is Sir Thomas Smeaton Richardson. This Order is composed of the King and fourteen Knights, and is the oldest in Scotland. Sir Thomas lives at Pitfern Castle, Perth, and is member of the London clubs, such as the Carlton, etc.
The late Attorney-General, George Richardson, of the Western Shore, was a descendant of William Richardson, the first, of Anne Arundel County, who has left a long array of distinguished descendants in the South and West in addi- tion to the many who have served with honor on the field and in the legislative halls of their native State.
HON. JAMES S. SHEPHERD.
Hon James S. Shepherd, son of Caleb Lockwood Shep- herd and Priscilla Elizabeth (Pattison) Shepherd, his wife, was born March 28, 1858, in Cambridge, Md., where he grew to manhood and was educated, and where he engaged in mercantile business and other enterprises for some years. He is a lineal descendant from two notable colonial families of Dorchester County, the Pattisons and LeComptes. (See family history records.)
In 1881, Mr. Shepherd married Miss Elizabeth Ellen Rob- ertson, daughter of Dr. Samuel Robertson and Margaret (Ballard) Robertson, of Somerset County, Md. In 1892 he was appointed Chief Deputy Clerk of Dorchester County Court, a clerkship which he has held ever since, except when temporarily absent as a member of the House of Delegates of the General Assembly of Maryland, at the session of 1902,
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER COUNTY
to which he was elected in November, 1901. Mr. Shepherd is also a member of the Bar of Dorchester County Court. He is an active Democrat, whose political course has ever been on a high and honorable plane within his own party lines, and who has highly respected the political rights of his opponents in other parties. His affable manners and oblig- ing disposition make him a popular Court officer. To him large appreciation and great credit is due for much history and biography data so cheerfully given for publication in this limited history of Dorchester County and of some of her people. Wherever the reference abbreviations "J. S. S." appear in this volume, Mr. Shepherd has furnished more or less data for subject matter there given. He is a member of the Maryland Historical Society, and takes much interest in local history.
RAYMOND STAPLEFORT.
The first Sheriff of Dorchester County was Raymond Sta- plefort. He came to the Province of Maryland in 1660 from what place there is no record, and first settled on the Western Shore. He was a Commissioner for Calvert County in 1664. Prior to 1666 he married the widow of Thomas May. In the month of May of that year, when an Act was passed to build a prison at St. Marys for 10,000 pounds of tobacco, he offered to build the prison for that amount if he could be appointed keeper of it for life. It is probably that he did not take the contract to build the prison on any terms, for, on April 16, 1667, a tract of land on Taylor's Island was surveyed for him called "The Commencement," that contained 100 acres, and several other tracts at the same time. From the office of Sheriff in the county in 1669, he was appointed one of the County Justices, and reappointed several times, but when a Commissioner in 1679, complaint was made against him by several persons in Dorchester County, and by their influence, he was dismissed by the Governor.
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387
RAYMOND STAPLEFORT
Mr. Staplefort's landed acquisitions in the county were large and valuable, which was devised by will, a copy of which is hereunder appended.
Some of his descendants who bear the name of Staplefort still live on Taylor's Island, where he first settled in Dorches- ter County.
COPY OF WILL OF RAYMOND STAPLEFORT.
In the Name of God, Amen:
I give to God my Soule that gave it mee and to the Earth my Body and to my sonne Charles all my lande, only Four Hundred Acres, I give to my sonne George Stapleford at the head of the Creeke and to my Daughter, Mary, I give one hundred acres of Lande Called by the name of Stapleford Lott att Charles is Creeke side and my Debts being paid I give all the rest of my estate to be divided to every one, Wife and Children a share of all my Goods and Chattells and to See it equally divided I leave Major Thomas Taylor and my Brother George Thompson; and soe I rest in God and all his Saints and Angels, Amen.
August 11th., Anno Domm. 1684. (Seal).
RAYD. STAPLEFORD.
Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of us WILLIAM ROBSON. WILLIAM ROBSON, JR. JOHN PHILIPS.
ON THE BACK OF WILL THE FOLLOWING.
September the 3d. 1687. Then was this within written Will proved by William Robson, Senr. & William Robson Junr. and John Phillips all of them the witnesses to the said Will before me HENRY HOOPER.
True Copy: ELIE NALLETTE Per C.
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER COUNTY
THE STEVENS FAMILY.
William Stevens came to Maryland in 1651 . with his family. He entered his rights 15th July, 1651, for him- self, Magdalen, his wife; John and William, his sons. and Margaret Aylin, William Hardin, Daniel Elsmore and John Mark "this present year." (Land Office Lib. A. B. H., fol. 14I.) The entry is made among the "demands of land made by the inhabitants of Patuxent River," showing that he first settled in what is now Calvert County. Subsequently, however, he removed to Dorchester County, of which he was one of the Justices in 1669. (Md. Archives, v, 52.) The year of his death is unknown. By Magdalen, his wife, he had issue:
I. John Stevens, of whom further.
2. William Stevens, settled in Calvert County and left descendants.
John Stevens, son of William and Magdalen, came to Maryland with his parents in 1651, as shown by the entry of rights cited above. He represented Dorchester County in the House of Burgesses, 1678, 1681, 1682. (Md. Archives, vii, 7, 125, 276.) He married Dorothy, sister of Christo- pher Preston. In his will, dated November 4, 1689, proved November 7, 1692 (Lib. 2, fol. 285), he mentions the children given below. His widow Dorothy made her will November 7, 1709, and it was proved November 10, 1710. (Lib. W. B., fol. 194.) She mentions her son John Stevens, her daughter Magdalen, widow of James Edmondson, her four grandchildren, Walter, Johanna, Mary and William Stevens, children of her son William, deceased, and Mary Stevens, the widow of the latter; her daughter Grade Woolford, wife of James Woolford; her granddaughter Sarah Edmondson, and her nephew Thomas Preston, son of her brother Chris- topher Preston. John Stevens and Dorothy (Preston) his wife, had issue as follows:
I. John Stevens, of whom further.
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THE STEVENS
2. William Stevens, youngest son, married, 1700, Mary Pryor; died in 1709, leaving four children.
3. Magdalen Stevens, eldest daughter, married, 1, James Edmondson; 2, Jacob Lockerman.
4. Grace Stevens, married James Woolford (see Woolford family).
John Stevens, son of John and Dorothy, is mentioned in his father's will as the eldest son. In a deposition made in 1728, he gives his age as fifty-eight years, so that he was born in 1670 (Dorchester County Lib. 8 old, fol. 431). His will is not recorded and he seems to have died intestate, but in what year does not appear. He married between 1693 and 1696, Ann, widow of Thomas Cooke and daughter of Dr. John Brooke. It is not known what issue they had, but there was at least one daughter.
I. Sarah Stevens married Thomas Woolford.
7th February, 1729, John Stevens, of Dorchester County, conveys to his grandson, Stevens Woolford, son of Thomas Woolford and Sarah, his wife, tract called "Stevenses Gift," in Dorchester County. (Dorchester County Rec., Lib. 8, old fol. 305.)
NOTES.
The Stevens family, of "Compton," on Dividing Creek, in Talbot County, are connected with a Dorchester County family of that name.
I. Thomas Stevens, was born in 1678; died in 1762. His only son-
John, born, 1735; died, 1794; married Elizabeth Connoly. Their children :
I. Juliana, born, 1765; died, 1823; married Dr. Joseph Martin.
2. Mary, born, 1767; died, 1828; married, I, Nathaniel Manning; 2, Rev. James Thomas.
3. Henrietta, married his brother, John Thomas.
4. Eliza, married John R. Downs; 2, Francis Rochester, of Queen Anne's County.
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER COUNTY
5. Samuel, the only son who survived his parents, born July 13, 1778; died February 7, 1860; married, in 1804, Eliza May, daughter of Robert and Rebecca Potts May, his wife, of -, Chester County, Pa.
Samuel Stevens was Governor of Maryland in 1822-23-24. He received and entertained General Lafayette when he visited the United States. Only two of Governor Stevens' children survived him, and only one, the youngest, left chil- dren, Edwin John, who married Sarah Hooper Eccleston, daughter of Thos. I. H. Eccleston, and Sarah Ennalls Hooper Eccleston, his wife.
HON. JAMES A. STEWART.
The late Hon. James Augustus Stewart was born in Dor- chester County, Md., on the 24th day of November, A. D. 1808. For many years he resided at Cambridge, in his native county, where he was regarded as one of the most estimable and public spirited citizens. He was the eldest of seven sons and five daughters, of Joseph Stewart and Rachel (Linthi- cum) Stewart, his wife, who resided in Dorchester County. His paternal ancestors came to this country from Scotland.
Joseph Stewart, the father of our subject, was well known in his day as a useful and exemplary citizen. He died on the 4th of August, 1839, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, and his widow died April 7, 1856, in her seventy-third year. Mr. Stewart's limited education caused him to appreciate the importance of giving his children better advantages in this respect. They were liberally educated. The son, James A. was first sent to a country school, where he made special effort to master every branch to which attention was directed. At the age of fifteen he was sent to Franklin College, in Bal- timore, where he made rapid progress, especially in mathe- matics. Entertaining a preference for the law, he chose that profession, and began its study in the year 1827 in the office of Major Ebenezer L. Finley. In 1829 he was ad- mitted to the Bar in Baltimore. He immediately removed to Cambridge and at the April term was admitted to practice
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HON. JAMES A. STEWART
in that court, then composed of Hons. Wm. Bond Martin, Ara Spence and William Tingle. The Bar then consisted of learned members of the profession, among them were Josiah Bayly (afterwards Attorney-General of the State), Hon. John Leeds Kerr (subsequently a U. S. Senator), Pitt, Page, Nabb, R. N. Martin, Bullett, Lockerman, James Alfred Pierce and others, a majority of whom were members of the Adams party, while Mr. Stewart's views at this time on the national issues impressed him that the principles of the Democratic party were best for the country; he therefore allied himself with the Jackson party.
At this period political discussions partook much of per- sonal rancor and vituperation. Professional standing and suc- cess depended greatly upon partisan sentiment and rivalry. He had to share the fate of his party, and honorably endeav- ored to maintain a firm position in support of its principles. As an incident of the times, the following "affair of honor," in which he became involved with the Hon. Henry Page, may be mentioned: Mr. Page was then a member of the same Bar, a leading politician of the Adams party and afterwards a distinguished State Senator. Mr. Stewart took exceptions to certain conduct of Mr. Page, which was not sufficiently explained, consequently he sent him the usual invitation for a hostile meeting according to the code, which was accepted, and the parties met on the selected ground the next morning; they drew lots and at the distance of ten paces exchanged shots without serious effect. The previous difficulty was amicably adjusted and friendly relations resumed.
In 1832 Mr. Stewart was one of the Electoral candidates for General Jackson in the Presidential campaign; the State was then divided into districts, the Eastern Shore counties constituted one district with three Electors. Henry Miller, of Cecil, and Richard H. Spence, of Talbot, were with him on the ticket. Hon. Albert Constable, Robert H. Golds- borough and John N. Steele were the opposing candidates, and were elected.
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER COUNTY
In 1837 Mr. Stewart married Rebecca Sophia Eccleston, daughter of Wm. Washington Eccleston, Register of Wills, of Dorchester County. By this marriage there were six children, three sons and three daughters. In 1843 he was elected to the Legislature; his election was regarded as a great triumph for him and his party; he served on the Com- mittee of Ways and Means with the late Chancellor Johnson, who was chairman, and James Murray, a distinguished law- yer, the other members. He was a Delegate to the National Convention, which met at Baltimore in 1844, and nominated James K. Polk for President; was also a member of the National Convention at Cincinnati in 1856 that nominated James Buchanan for President. In 1854, after the resig- nation of Judge Ara Spence, Mr. Stewart was recom- mended by the Bar, without party distinction, for the judicial vacancy, and was at once commissioned by Governor Ligon Judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. Upon the expira- tion of his judicial term he declined a nomination for Judge, preferring to be a candidate for Congress, although the district was doubtful and the chances against him. He was, however, elected to Congress over his competitor, Hon. John Dennis, by a small majority. In 1856, while in Congress, he took front rank in discussions on national questions of law and party policies. Throughout his con- gressional term of six years, he diligently discharged his duties and ably represented the people of his district. At the close of his last term in 1861, he retired from poli- tics to practice his profession, where he devoted himself until 1867, when he was elected Chief Judge of the First Judicial Circuit, under the three-judge system adopted by the Constitutional Convention that year. Under the judicial system his election as Chief Judge made him a member of the Court of Appeals. He continued a member of the Court until his death, April 3, 1879, then over seventy years of age. His widow and five children survived him to mourn their irreparable loss. Judge Stewart was a progressive man of enterprise in Cambridge. He built a number of houses
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THE VANS MURRAYS
in the town and also conducted a large shipbuilding industry and built a number of vessels there, and at Church Creek, one fine vessel of his, a bark, was lost at sea with all on board on her first voyage.
The eldest son of Judge Stewart and wife, is Major Wil- liam E. Stewart, of Easton, a practicing lawyer who was prosecuting attorney there for twelve years. When living in his native county, Dorchester, he was elected a Delegate to the General Assembly of Maryland in 1868. While liv- ing in Baltimore, he was elected for two terms to the Legis- lature of Maryland, and was also a member of the City Council two terms. Some years ago he returned to Easton to practice his profession, where he is still an able and in- fluential member of the Bar. He has always been an active politician of attraction and force.
Alfred R. Stewart, the second son, was also admitted to the Bar, but never practiced law; he lived a number of years in the western section of the United States. Since his return he accepted a position with the Standard Publishing Com- pany, and at the present time (1902) is Clerk at the Cam- bridge Postoffice. Mr. Stewart has always taken an active part in party politics.
Donald Stewart, third son, since his maturity, has always been engaged in the mercantile business, and has acquired considerable means by strict attention to his enterprise.
Two single daughters reside at the Stewart home, lately bereft of their mother, Mrs. Rebecca Stewart, who died May 3, 1899.
HON. VANS MURRAY.
The following sketch of the Vans Murrays is largely quoted from a record made by Hon. Clement Sulivane.
Wm. Vans Murray, of Dorchester County, was a cousin and ward of the then Duke of Athol, chief of the Murray clan in Scotland, and having embraced the cause of the Protector in the rebellion of 1715, after its suppression he was obliged to fly for his life and escaped to France. From there he
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER COUNTY
emigrated to Maryland, and settled in the village of Cam- bridge, Dorchester County. He was a very young man at the time and only had fifty guineas as his fortune when he arrived. He was a physician, his practice brought him a large fortune. In the year 1739 he purchased from the orig- inal patentee of Lord Baltimore about one-third of the land forming the present site of Cambridge. Dr. Murray died
Dans Murray Arms.
in 1759, leaving five children, one of whom, James Murray by name, was the father of William Vans Murray, who was born in Cambridge about 1765, and died in 1803. Very soon after the Revolution he was sent to England to be educated. There he studied law, and married Miss Charlotte Higgins, of England. * *
* It appears she did not come with her husband to America, but came some time later.
395
COL. JAMES WALLACE
In the March term of Dorchester County Court, 1791, Mr. Murray was admitted to the. Bar, and was elected to Con- gress that year at the age of twenty-five, and was twice re- elected thereafter. He was appointed Foreign Minister to The Hague by President Adams in 1800. While in Holland, he was appointed one of the three Ministers Plenipotentiary to negotiate a treaty with France in 1799. After the election of President Jefferson and the return of Minister Murray to Cambridge, he only lived about two years and died on a visit to Philadelphia in 1803.
From the Baltimore paper, Telegraph and Daily Adver- tiser, Friday, November 7, 1800, is here copied foreign news, which shows what eminent service Mr. Murray was then rendering his country.
GLORIOUS NEWS.
PARIS, October 3.
A convention of amity and commerce between French Republic and the United States of America was signed the day before yesterday by the French plenipotentiaries, Joseph Bonaparte, C. P. Claret, Flerieu and Roederer, and the American Commissioners, Oliver Elsworth, W. R. Davy and W. V. Murray.
COL. JAMES WALLACE.
Col. James Wallace was born in Dorchester County, Md. March 17, 1818. His parents were Robert Wallace and Susan Wallace, née LeCompte, great-granddaughter of John LeCompte, a Huguenot refugee, who came to this country after the treaty of Ryswick and settled in Dorchester County. The paternal grandfather of Col. James Wallace served in the Revolutionary War under General Smallwood.
Colonel Wallace was graduated at Dickinson College, Car- lisle, Pa., in 1840, and two years later was admitted to the Bar in Cambridge, having studied law under the late Henry Page. In 1854 he was elected to the House of Delegates;
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER COUNTY
he was a Presidential Elector at large in 1856, voting for Mil- lard Fillmore; the same year he was elected to the State Senate, serving until 1858.
In politics he was an old line Whig and in later years was identified with the Republican party. After 1858 he took no active part in politics, although he was several times prom- inently mentioned for Governor.
At the solicitation of Gov. Hicks, he accepted a commis- sion from the Secretary of War and raised the First Maryland Eastern Shore Volunteer Regiment in the Civil War. He was engaged in military duty on the Eastern Shores of Mary- land and Virginia from the organization of the regiment until 1863. His command was with the Army of the Potomac in 1863, under General Lockwood, forming part of his inde- pendent brigade of Marylanders.
In his official report of the battle of Gettysburg, General Meade especially commended the Maryland Brigade for gal- lant service on that occasion. Towards the close of 1863, Colonel Wallace resigned his position in the Army and resumed the practice of his profession, but subsequently abandoned it to engage extensively in the more congenial pursuit of agriculture. He is said to have planted and cul- tivated the first large peach orchard in Dorchester County, and up to the time of his death was considered perhaps the most successful horticulturist in the State.
He manifested, at all times, the liveliest interest in the improvements and progress of the town and county and was foremost in all the leading enterprises of the community.
He died February 12, 1887, and no higher eulogy could be pronounced upon any man than to say he possessed this transcendent gift, to impress his ideas upon the age in which he lived.
JAMES WALLACE.
. James Wallace, son of Col. James Wallace and Annie E. Wallace (née Phelps), was born January 5, 1850, at Cam- bridge, Md.
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JAMES WALLACE
Mr. Wallace, after leaving the Cambridge Academy, entered the Freshman Class of Dickinson College as a member of the now celebrated Class of '70, continued his studies at Dickinson until the Junior Year, when he was com- pelled to return home on account of the breaking down of his health.
He regained his health in a year or so and entered into the then undeveloped business of packing canned goods and vegetables and oysters in connection with his father, under the firm name of Jas. Wallace & Son.
They were the pioneers of this industry in Dorchester and from their primitive beginning have built up a large and lucrative business, their brands of goods are now sold and recognized the country over as one of the leading brands in this line of industry.
The packing business was under the active management and control of the junior Mr. Wallace, and its success is attributable to his industry and business sagacity.
In 1888 Mr. Wallace married Miss Emma McComas, daughter of F. C. McComas, Esq., of Hagerstown, Md. By this marriage they have two children, Katharine and James Wallace, Jr.
Mr. Wallace, while devoting his time particularly to the packing and other business enterprises with which he is connected, always took an active interest in the political affairs of his county and State, being actively identified with the Republican party; he persistently, however, refused a number of nominations tendered him by his party, the only time he consented to accept a nomination he was elected a member of the Maryland Legislature of 1882.
In addition to the canned goods business, Mr. Wallace has at all times been an ardent and zealous worker for the improvement of his town and county, and has ever stood ready to aid and foster all enterprises looking toward the industrial development of the city of his birth.
Mr. Wallace was one of the incorporators of the Dorches- ter National Bank and is now its Vice-President, also one
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER COUNTY
of the organizers and incorporators of the Cambridge Water Co., the Cambridge Mfg. Co., the Cambridge Gas Co., and the Eastern Shore Trust Co., being a Director in all of the above corporations and President of the Cambridge Water Co., also of the Cambridge Mfg. Co .; has done his full share in connection with a number of young men who came to the front with him to make Cambridge the largest and most progressive town on the Maryland and Delaware Peninsula.
Mr. Wallace is also extensively interested in fruit and veg- etable raising on his fertile farms near Cambridge.
THE WOOLFORDS AND WHITELEY CONNECTIONS.
Roger Woolford, the first of that name to settle in Mary- land, came from England and first settled on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Soon thereafter he came to Maryland and permanently located on the Manokin River. (Family tradi- tion claims that his ancestors lived in Wales and that one of them went to England as a soldier with William the Con- queror.)
After the arrival of Roger Woolford in Maryland, about 1662, on August 13 of that year (data from J. S. S.), "he had a warrant for 600 acres of land, for which he enters rights for his own transportation and undertakes to enter other rights in due course." (Land Office, Lib. 5, fol. 210.) Feb- ruary 4, 1663, he demands land for himself, Mary Woolford, Mary Woolford again, and other persons. (Land Office, Lib. 6, fol. 134.) July 10, 1665, he enters rights for the transportation into the Province, of Levin and Sarah Den- Wood, John Wells, Martha Robinson and Owen Mackara. (Land Office, Lib. 8, fol. 486.) And February 13, 1667, he enters rights for Mary Thomas, Elizabeth and Rebecca Denwood, Richard Prinum, Barbary Gilbert, Thomas Somers and Elizabeth Gradwell. (Land Office, Lib. 11, fol. 229, 359.) With Levin and Thomas Denwood he reg-
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