Edward's failed escheat claim to Cole's Harbour, he disclaimed
willingness or ability to sell. The sheriff empaneled a jury of
freeholders who confirmed title in John and Thomas Colegate (the
heirs and devisees of the mortgagee who had foreclosed on John
Hurst) and awarded them three hundred pounds of tobacco per
acre .43

Jones Town was separated physically from Baltimore Town by a
marsh and the Falls, but a causeway and bridge soon permitted
goods and people to move back and forth. After some delay the
first lots were taken up in July of 1733; all were sold by 1741.
Among the purchasers were Edward and William Fell.44

X. Escheat Claims of the Brothers Fell

The brothers Fell had not given up on their efforts to
discover escheat parcels to be had at a discount. William took
out escheat warrants under which he obtained patents to Island
Point in 1734 and to Mountney's Neck in 1737. It was doubtful
that his escheat claim to Mountney's Neck was tenable; James Todd
had asserted title to it in 1701, and sold it along with Cole's
Harbour. William Fell's claim to Mountney's Neck was likely to
fail for the same reasons that brother Edward's escheat claim to
Cole's Harbour had failed. But there remained the loose ends of a
record title in Alexander Mountney, Samuel and Ann Wheeler, and
David Jones, none of which were connected to Todd. Decisions
determining whether an escheat had occurred were in the hands of

19