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from which he wrote Joshua Johnson in Decem-
ber 1782 that he was confined to his bed. PUBLIC
CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Lower House,
Talbot County, 1780-1781 (granted a leave of
absence from the House on December 20, 1780,
and did not serve for the remainder of the As-
sembly). WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. PERSONAL
PROPERTY: inherited £31.7.2 current money,
probably including at least 1 slave, from his father.
LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: none. SIGNIFICANT
CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND
DEATH: none. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: probably
as a prisoner on the Isle of Jersey; presumed dead
by Joshua Johnson by April 20, 1783; bond for
Martin's estate was posted on December 23, 1783,
in Talbot County. PERSONAL PROPERTY. TEV,
£672.12.4 current money (including 3 slaves and
£564.4.10 in sperate debts); FB, £671.6.6 current
money. The administrators of Martin's estate later
sued for an additional debt of £575.5.0 current
money owed Martin by Stephen Steward & Son.
LAND: none. IDENTIFICATION PROBLEMS. Legisla-
tive service for the 1780-1781 Assembly has been
assigned to Capt. Nicholas Martin (ca. 1749-1783)
after a careful examination of his movements dur-
ing those years. There was, however, another Ni-
cholas Martin (1743-1808) living in Talbot County
during this period. This second Nicholas Martin
represented Talbot County in the assemblies of
1795, 1801, and 1802. He, too, was a mariner, at
least from 1770 until 1776, but apparently was
commissioned as the captain of a company in the
4th Battalion of Militia in 1776. There is no ob-
vious explanation for the brief service of Nicholas
Martin in the 1780-1781 Assembly. Excused ab-
sences were rarely granted by the House, and
since Martin's request for leave was approved it
may have been to enable him to serve the state
in another capacity of higher priority. It is likely
that Capt. Nicholas Martin commanded the Por-
pus on a short, but important, voyage between
late December 1780 and late January 1781 --a
voyage that left the sloop in such deplorable con-
dition from battle that it required two months to
repair her.
MASON, MATTHEW (ca. 1689-ca. 1728/29).
BORN: ca. 1689 in St. Mary's County. NATIVE.
second generation. RESIDED: in St. Mary's County.
FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER: Robert Mason
(1653-1700). MOTHER: Susanna (?-ca. 1716).
BROTHERS: Robert (?-ca. 1734); John; and For-
dham. SISTERS: Mary; Susanna; Elizabeth. NEPH-
EWS: Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer (1723-1790);
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Daniel Jenifer (by 1729-1795). NIECE: Betty Jen-
ifer (?-1791), who married by 1776 John Eden
(ca. 1728-1775). MARRIED Mary, daughter of
Nehemiah Blakiston (?-1693) and wife Elizabeth
Gerard (?-1716), stepdaughter of Joshua Guibert
(?-1713). Mary was the granddaughter of Thomas
Gerard (1608-1673). She was the niece of Susan-
nah Gerard, who married first, Robert Slye (ca.
1628-1670/71), and second, John Coode (ca. 1648-
1708/9); Mary Gerard, who married Kenelm Che-
seldyne (1640-1708). Her brother was John (?-
1724), who married Ann, daughter of Joshua
Guibert (?-1713). Her sisters were Susanna; Re-
becca. Her first cousins were Kenelm Cheseldyne
(1683-1719); Mary Cheseldyne (1678-?), who
married first, James Hay (?-by 1717/18); Susan-
nah Cheseldyne (1680-1730), who married Thomas
Trueman Greenfield (1682-1733); and Dryden
Cheseldyne (1687-1760), who married first, Henry
Peregrine Jowles (1681-1720). CHILDREN. SONS:
Robert; John. DAUGHTERS: Elizabeth; Susanna;
and Mary. PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION: literate.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Anglican. OCCUPA-
TIONAL PROFILE, planter. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGIS-
LATIVE SER VICE: Lower House, St. Mary's County,
1715. LOCAL OFFICE: justice, St. Mary's County,
1718. WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. LAND AT FIRST
ELECTION: at least 593 acres. WEALTH AT DEATH.
DIED: will probated on March 27, 1729, in St.
Mary's County. PERSONAL PROPERTY: TEV,
£166.8.0 (including 18 slaves), FB, estate over-
paid £2.16.11. LAND: more than 1,180 acres.
MASON, RICHARD (?-1781). BORN: in Queen
Anne's County; of age by 1754. NATIVE: probably
fourth generation. RESIDED: in part of Queen
Anne's County that later became Caroline County.
FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER: Richard Mason (?-
1746) of Queen Anne's County. STEPFATHER.
James Lane, Jr. of Queen Anne's County.
MOTHER OR STEPMOTHER: either Mary (?-by
1746), daughter of Patrick O'Bryan (?-1732) of
Queen Anne's County, or Rebecca (last name
unknown). BROTHERS: William Winchester (?-
ca. 1778), who married in 1750 Tabitha Purnal
(?-1796); Solomon (?-1781). MARRIED first, (first
name unknown) Baggs (?-by 1774), daughter of
Thomas Baggs (?-ca. 1793) of Caroline County.
Her brother was John. Her sister was Hannah
(?-1774), who married Thomas Roe (?-by 1774)
of Caroline County. MARRIED second, Sarah (last
name unknown). Sarah subsequently married by
1784 Benjamin Elliott, a Queen Anne's County
farmer. CHILDREN. SON: Thomas Mason (?-1802).
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