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James Weems (ca. 1707-1781). Her uncle was John
W«?ms(1737-1813). Her aunts were Sarah Weems
(?-1763), who married Samuel Chew( 1737- 1790);
Margaret Weems (?-1783), who married second,
Joseph Sprigg (1732- 1800). Her sisters were Mary
Heighe (Hughe) (ca. 1750-?), who married John
Brooke; Elizabeth (ca. 1752-?), who married Levin
Ballard; and Ann Weems (ca. 1761-?), who be-
came the ward of her brother-in-law William Al-
lein in 1771 and who subsequently married Daniel
Kent (?-by 1835). Her first cousin was Margaret
Weems, who married Levin Mackall(1760-?). Her
paternal grandmother as well as her maternal step-
grandmother was Mary Crompton Wheeler
Weems (?-1769). ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Her
maternal grandfather James Weems (?-1781) also
became her paternal stepgrandfather when he mar-
ried Mary Wheeler. CHILDREN. SONS: William, Jr.
(ca. 1772-?); George W. (?-by 1835). DAUGHTERS:
Mary D.; Priscilla H., who resided in the District
of Columbia by April 1812. PRIVATE CAREER. ED-
UCATION: literate. RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Angli-
can, owned a pew in All Saints' Parish Church,
Calvert County, 1794. SOCIAL STATUS AND AC-
TIVITIES: Gent., 1781; Esq., 1781. OCCUPATIONAL
PROFILE: merchant; planter. It is possible that by
the time of William's marriage, ca. 1771, he had
been an apprentice in the Wheeler family's mer-
cantile business. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE
SERVICE: Conventions, Calvert County, 6th-8th,
1775-1776; Lower House, Calvert County, 1777,
1781-1782 (Claims 1). OTHER STATE OFFICE: Pa-
tuxent Association, in office 1781. LOCAL OFFICES:
justice, Calvert County, commissioned 1773, 1777,
and 1782; sheriff, Calvert County, 1785-1788.
WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. PERSONAL PROP-
ERTY: in 1777 he offered his plantation for sale,
which included a large seven-room dwelling house
and an outbuilding, a gristmill, and ca. 9 slaves,
all of which he probably acquired through mar-
riage, except perhaps one or two slaves. Assessed
value £380.15.0, including 7 slaves and 30 oz.
plate, 1782; owned 11 slaves that he mortgaged to
Wallace, Johnson & Muir, 1785. At the time of
William's petition for insolvency on March 20,
1794, his inventory included household furniture,
farm equipment and livestock, a gristmill, a snuff
mill, 4 slaves, and books. On May 13, 1801, a
schedule of personal property attached to a peti-
tion requesting release from insolvency indicated
that many items were encompassed in the 1794
inventory, including slaves. ADDITIONAL COM-
MENTS: At a public sale of his personal property in
1794, 11 out of 12 lots were purchased by his son
William, Jr.; the last lot was purchased by
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Elizabeth Ballard, his sister-in-law, accounting
perhaps for the repetition in the 1801 inventory.
LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: at least 531 acres in
Calvert County, formerly owned by his father-in-
law, Roger Wheeler, and of which his wife held
sole title to 240 acres. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN
LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH:
charged with 578 acres in Calvert County in 1783,
the additional acreage all being previously shown
as belonging to Roger Wheeler's heirs (including a
gristmill and a snuff mill); 305 acres (exclusive of
the gristmill) were mortgaged in 1785 to Wallace,
Johnson & Muir, Annapolis merchants, to whom
he was indebted for £2,120.13.9. Following his
petition for insolvency in 1 794, the 305 mortgaged
acres were sold to Wallace, Johnson & Muir at a
public sale, but William's wife was able to keep
the title to her 240 acres. Her brother-in-law, Dan-
iel Kent, became a trustee under court order for
the 240-acre tract in 1799, and was ordered by the
General Assembly to hold the land for his sister-
in-law's benefit. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: ca.
1802 in Calvert County, probably insolvent.
LAND, his wife, Sarah Weems Allein, retained her
interest in her 240-acre patrimony until her death
in 1 804, and in 1813 it was sold by their daughters
Mary and Priscilla.
ALLEN, FRANCIS (?-1745). BORN: of age by
1715. RESIDED: in Somerset County (later became
part of Worcester County). MARRIED first, (name
unknown). MARRIED second, probably by 1718
Mary, widow of both Rev. James Hindman (?-
1713) and Hugh Eccleston, Jr. (?-by 1717);
daughter of Jacob Lookerman (1652-1730). Her
brothers were Jacob, Jr. (1678-1731); Covert
Lookerman (ca. 1681-1728); Thomas (?-ca. 1714);
John (1686-1760); and Nicholas (1697-1771).
CHILDREN. SONS: John (?-ca. 1738); Francis (ca.
1715-?), a planter, who married Mary, widow of
William Brady; William Allen (?-1792); Joseph;
and Moses. STEPSON: Jacob Hindman (by 1713-
1766). DAUGHTERS Eleanor; Mary, who married
in 1759 Rev. John Rosse, of Snow Hill, Worcester
County; and Elizabeth. PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCA-
TION: literate. RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Protestant.
SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Gent., 1722. OC-
CUPATIONAL PROFILE: planter; attorney, admitted
to the following courts: Somerset County by May
1717; Provincial Court in April 1723; Talbot
County in March 1723/24; Dorchester County by
August 1728. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SER-
VICE: Lower House, Somerset County, 1732-1734
(Laws 1-Cv). OTHER PROVINCIAL OFFICE: deputy
collector of Pocomoke, sworn 1724 and 1729. LO-
105
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