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FIRST COUSIN Thomas Beall, of George (1735-
1819). NEPHEW: Alexander Contee Hanson (1749-
1806). NIECE: Jane Contee Hanson (1747-1781),
who married Philip Thomas (1747-1815). OTHER
KINSHIP: his maternal great-grandfather was
Thomas Dent (ca. 1630-1676). MARRIED ca 1755
Sarah (ca. 1732-1793), daughter of Benjamin Fen-
dall (?-1764), of Charles County, and wife Eleanor
Lee (1710-1759); stepdaughter of Priscilla (ca.
1714-1763); granddaughter of both John Fendall
(1674-1734) and Philip Lee (ca. 1681-1744); niece
of Richard Lee (ca. 1707-1787), Arthur Lee (?-
1760), and Francis Lee (?-1749); half niece of both
Corbin Lee (?-1774) and George Lee (ca. 1736-?);
stepniece of Hannah Sewall, who married second,
Joseph Sprigg (1736-1800). Her brothers were
Philip Richard Fendall (?-?); John; Benjamin;
Rev. Henry, rector of Durham Parish, Charles
County from 1767 to 1775; and Samuel. Her first
cousins were Josias Beall (ca. 1725-1803); Samuel
Hanson, Jr. (?-1817); Philip Thomas Lee (1738-
1778); Thomas Sim Lee (1745-1819); Richard
Potts (1753-1808); Sarah Lettice Lee (?-1761),
who married Philip Richard Fendall (?-?); Han-
nah Lee (?-ca. 1763), who married George Plater
(1735-1792), and Alice Lee (?-1789), who married
John Weems (1737-1813). Sarah Fendall Contee
died at "Brookefield," Prince George's County.
CHILDREN. SONS: Alexander (ca. 1755-1810), who
was a merchant and never married; Rev. Benjamin
(1755-1815), a merchant and lawyer, born at
"Brookefield," near Nottingham, Prince George's
County, served as a lieutenant and captain in the
Third Maryland Battalion during the Revolution,
served as a delegate to the Continental Congress
from 1787 to 1788 and as a representative to the
U.S. Congress from 1789 to 1791, declared insol-
vency due to "mishaps in trade" by 1799, or-
dained as an Anglican minister in 1803, served as
pastor of the Port Tobacco Church, Charles
County, presiding judge of Charles County Or-
phans' Court at death, he married in 1794 Sarah
Russell (ca. 1767-1810), daughter of Philip
Thomas Lee (1738-1778). ADDITIONAL COM-
MENTS Alexander and Benjamin were partners in
London in a merchantile business, ca. 1784, with
stores in Nottingham, Queen Anne, and Upper
Marlboro, Prince George's County. DAUGHTERS
Eleanor Lee (1758-1787), who married Dr. Mi-
chael Wallace (1749-1794), of Elkton, Cecil
County; Jane (1761-1825), who married in 1782
William Worthington, of Anne Arundel County;
and Sarah, who married (first name unknown)
Slater. PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION: literate. RE-
LIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Anglican, St. Paul's Parish,
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Prince George's County. SOCIAL STATUS AND
ACTIVITIES: Esq., by 1758. ADDITIONAL COM-
MENTS: Contee was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsyl-
vania, to confer with the Continental Congress
about the organization of the army and the general
plans for defense. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: mer-
chant, by 1764; attorney in fact for William Molle-
son, of London, England, merchant, by 1766; in
business in Nottingham, Prince George's County,
with Fielder Bowie (ca. 1745-1794) in a firm en-
gaged in the tobacco trade with Europe and the
importation of large quantities of goods until the
firm advertised its dissolution in 1775; had the
management of a store at Pig Point, Prince
George's County, ca. 1772-1775; agent for his
sons Alexander and Benjamin, London merchants,
for their stores in Nottingham, Queen Anne, and
Upper Marlboro, Prince George's County, ca.
1784; attorney in fact for both John Yerbury &
Company and John Walker, of London, merchant,
by 1785; probably also a planter. PUBLIC CAREER.
LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Lower House, Prince
George's County, 1769-1770 (elected to the 2nd
session to fill vacancy; Claims 3, 4), 1771
(Claims), 1773-1774 (Accounts 1; Claims Cv, 2,
3); Conventions, Prince George's County, 4th,
1775, 5th, 1775, 6th-8th, 1775-1776 (Claims 6th-
8th); Senate, Western Shore, Term of 1776-1781:
1777, 1777-1778, 1778 (did not serve; resigned on
November 20, 1778). OTHER STATE OFFICE: 5th
Council of Safety, Western Shore, 1776-1777
(elected on November 11, 1776, to fill vacancy).
LOCAL OFFICES: St. Paul's Parish Vestry, Prince
George's County, 1755-1758, 1770-1774, 1779-
1780, 1782 (excused from service), 1793-1796,
1798-1800, 1802, 1804-1806; sheriff, Prince
George's County, 1757; justice, Prince George's
County, in office 1757, 1794-1801; receiver or col-
lector of land tax, Prince George's County, gave
bond 1757; collector of excise, Prince George's
County, gave bond 1757; churchwarden, St. Paul's
Parish, Prince George's County, in office 1758,
1775, 1777, and 1792; justice, Charles County,
1764-1769; trustee from Prince George's County
for Charlotte Hall Free School, St. Mary's
County, which served Prince George's, Charles,
and St. Mary's counties; Committee of Observa-
tion, Prince George's County, elected 1775; Levy
Court, Upper Marlboro. Prince George's County,
1795-1796; election official, First District, Prince
George's County, appointed 1801; associate jus-
tice, First District Court, Prince George's County,
1802-1805. MILITARY SERVICE: major, militia, by
1776; lieutenant colonel, First District Militia, ca.
1776. WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. PERSONAL
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