Archives of Maryland
Historical List
Cecil County Deputy Commissaries, 1692-1777

Beginning in 1692, each Maryland county was assigned an official to oversee local probate matters, known as the deputy commissary. The deputy commissaries reported to the Commissary General, the chief judge of the Prerogative Court, colonial Maryland's central probate court. The office was eliminated under Maryland's Revolutionary Constitution of 1776, and replaced by the position of Register of Wills.

For a more detailed discussion of the deputy commissary's duties, see Elisabeth Hartsook and Gust Skordas. Land Office and Prerogative Court Records of Colonial Maryland. (Annapolis: Hall of Records Commission, 1946), 88-89.

See also Donnell MacClure Owings. His Lordship's Patronage (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1953), 40-41.

1692-1694 Charles James
1694-c. 1701/02 John Thompson [1]
1702-1722/23 Matthias Vanderheyden
1722/23-1733/34 Stephen Knight
1733/34-1742 William Rumsey
1742-1746 William Knight
1746-1749 John Thompson
1749-1757 Michael Earle
1757-1762 George Milligan
1762-1772 Andrew Pearce
1772-1777 Baruch Williams

Notes:
1. John Thompson, whose name was sometimes given as Johanne, died in office between December 1701 and March 1701/02, and was succeeded by Matthias Vanderheyden.

Sources:
Cecil County Register of Wills (Wills) MSA C 646
Prerogative Court (Testamentary Papers) MSA S 541
Prerogative Court (Testamentary Proceedings) MSA S 529
Edward C. Papenfuse, et al., eds. A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature 1635-1789.
Maryland Gazette.


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