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A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature 1635-1789 by Edward C. Papenfuse, et. al.
Volume 426, Page 248   View pdf image (33K)
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DAL BIOGRAPHIES

County, 1775; Transquakin Hundred, Dorchester
County, 1776. FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER.
George Daffin, of St. Mary's County. MOTHER:
Susannah, widow of William Aisquith (?-ca.
1741), of St. Mary's County. BROTHERS: Charles
Daffin (?-1794); John, who probably died without
progeny; and George, who died without progeny.
HALF BROTHERS: William Aisquith (?-1804), of
Baltimore County; Thomas Aisquith (ca. 1740-ca.
1770), who died without progeny. HALF SISTERS:
Mary Aisquith (?-by 1770), who married (first
name unknown) Piercy; Ann Aisquith, who mar-
ried Nicholas Sherwood; and Susannah Aisquith,
who married David Hellen. MARRIED in 1775 Eli-
nor (ca. 1738-1793), daughter of Col. Joseph En-
nails (1702-1759) and wife Mary; granddaughter
of Joseph Ennalls (?-1709); niece of William En-
nails (?-1731), Bartholomew Ennalls (ca. 1700-
1783), Elizabeth Ennalls (?-by 1739), who married
Charles Goldsborough (1707-1767), and Mary En-
nalls, who married Henry Hooper (ca. 1687-1767).
Her brothers were John Ennalls (by 1746-1778);
William Ennalls (?-1785). Her sisters were Mary
(?-by 1766), who married David Murray; Ann
(Nancy) (1750-1803), who married Thomas Muse;
and Elizabeth. Her first cousins were Joseph En-
nails (ca. 1745-1779); Henry Hooper, Jr. (ca.
1727-1790); Robert Goldsborough (1733-1788);
Mary Ennalls, who married Ennalls Hooper (?-ca.
1763); Ann Ennalls (ca. 1729-by 1790), who mar-
ried Henry Hooper, Jr. (ca. 1727-1790); and
Elizabeth Greenberry Goldsborough (ca. 1731-
1820), who married William Ennalls (?-1785).
CHILDREN. Died without progeny. PRIVATE CA-
REER. EDUCATION: literate. RELIGIOUS AFFILIA-
TION: Anglican, Great Choptank Parish, Dorches-
ter County. SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES:

Gent., 1778; Esq., 1786. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE:
merchant, in partnership with his brother Charles
Baffin (?-1794), by 1775. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGIS-
LATIVE SERVICE: Lower House, Dorchester
County, 1777-1778, 1793. LOCAL OFFICES. Com-
mittee of Observation, Dorchester County, elected
1775; justice, Dorchester County, ca. 1783-1788
(did not qualify in 1788); trustee for the poor,
Dorchester County, appointed 1785 (refused to
serve); justice, Orphans' Court, Dorchester
County, 1786-1788 (did not qualify in 1788);
Great Choptank Parish Vestry, Dorchester
County, in office 1788-1790, 1790-1792, 1795.
MILITARY SERVICE captain, by 1776; major, by
1786; colonel, by 1795. STANDS ON PUBLIC/PRI-
VATE ISSUES manumitted several slaves in his will,
requesting that those slave families not manumit-
ted be kept as closely connected as possible.

WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. PERSONAL PROP-
ERTY: 40 slaves, 1776; assessed value £1,883.11.8,
including 43 slaves and 35 oz. plate, 1783. LAND
AT FIRST ELECTION: 644 acres in Dorchester
County (all acquired through marriage). SIGNIFI-
CANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELEC-
TION AND DEATH: purchased 150 acres in St.
Mary's County, date unknown; acquired 800 addi-
tional acres in Dorchester County, which his wife
inherited from her brother John Ennalls (by 1746-
1778), ca. 1780. At his wife's death Daffin became
heir to one-fourth part of 11,009 acres in Dorches-
ter County, which he would have inherited
through the Ennalls family after the death of his
sister-in-law, Elizabeth Greenberry Goldsborough
Ennalls (1731-1820). Elizabeth outlived him, how-
ever, and he never obtained actual possession of
this land. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: will probated
on June 27, 1796, in Dorchester County. PER-
SONAL PROPERTY: size of estate unknown. LAND:
1,601 acres in Dorchester and St. Mary's counties,
plus a lot in Cambridge and a water lot in Vienna,
Dorchester County. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
Daffin appears to have been a man of colorful lan-
guage. In explaining why he did not leave more
land to a nephew who already had a large estate,
he told his executor that he did not "think it
worthwhile to greese a fat Sow in the Arse." In his
will Daffin manumitted several slaves, bequeath-
ing them to themselves and the devil, the prince of
darkness, or the Knight of LaMancha. Daffin even
provided an expense account for one of the slaves
to be used during his journeys through the pluto-
nian regions. This apparently was a ruse to ensure
that no other person would interfere with their
freedom.

DALLAM, RICHARD (1743-1820). BORN, on
September 24, 1743, in St. John's Parish,
Baltimore County; second of three surviving sons.
NATIVE: third generation. RESIDED: in Baltimore
County (later became Harford County); Abing-
don, Harford County, until ca. 1807 when he
moved to Logan County, Kentucky. FAMILY
BACKGROUND. FATHER: Maj. William Dallam (ca.
1706-1761), of Baltimore County; son of Richard
Dallam (?-1714), a lawyer of Calvert County who
immigrated by May 1701, served as clerk of the
Lower House from 1708 to 1713 and deputy com-
missary of Calvert County in 1713, and who mar-
ried Elizabeth (Betty), daughter of William Mar-
tin, of Calvert County. Elizabeth Martin Dallam
subsequently married William Smith, Gent. (?-
1731), of Calvert County and later of Baltimore
County. MOTHER: Elizabeth (?-1748), daughter of

248



 

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Please view image to verify text. To report an error, please contact us.
A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature 1635-1789 by Edward C. Papenfuse, et. al.
Volume 426, Page 248   View pdf image (33K)
 Jump to  
  << PREVIOUS  NEXT >>


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