|
ginia with his family. STEPFATHER Thomas Black-
well (?-1700), of Anne Arundel County, a carpen-
ter and an innholder. MOTHER: Sarah, daughter of
Lawrence Richardson and wife Elizabeth. UNCLES:
Edward Dorsey (?-1705); John Dorsey (ca. 1645-
1714/15). MARRIED on August 22, 1702, Comfort
(ca. 1684-ca. 1747), daughter of John Stimpson,
Gent. (?-by 1692), of Anne Arundel County, and
wife Rachel (?-after 1724), widow of Neale Clarke
(?-1676); stepdaughter of Robert Proctor (?-by
1695), Richard Kilburne (?-by 1698), and Thomas
Freeborne (?-1713); granddaughter of Richard
Beard (?-1681). Her brother was John (?-by
1718). Her sister was Rachel (?-1748/49), who
married first, Charles Greenberry (1672-1713), and
second, Charles Hammond (1692/93-1772). Her
niece was Ann Hammond (1716-?), who married
second, William Govane (1716/17-1768). CHIL-
DREN. SONS: Joshua (1711-by 1784), who married
Flora Fitzsimmons; Green bury (1711-?), who
married Mary Belt; Vincent (?-1753), who married
Sarah Day; and John Hammond Dorsey (1718-
1774). DAUGHTERS: Sarah (?-died young); Venetia
(?-died young); Comfort (1710-?), who married
Joseph Cromwell; Sarah (?-by 1788), who married
Alexander Cromwell and died in Edgecombe
County, North Carolina; and Venetia, who mar-
ried Woodquist Cromwell. PRIVATE CAREER. EDU-
CATION, apprenticed to William Dent (ca. 1660-
1704), a lawyer, ca. 1698. RELIGIOUS AFFILIA-
TION: Anglican. SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES.
Gent., by 1708; Esq., by 1715. OCCUPATIONAL
PROFILE: planter; surveyor, laid out Joppa Town,
Baltimore County. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE
SERVICE. Lower House, Baltimore County,
1721/22 (elected to the 5th session to fill vacancy).
LOCAL OFFICES: sheriff, Baltimore County, 1713-
1715; justice, Baltimore County, 1716-at least
1727 (quorum, 1727); justice, Court of Oyer and
Terminer and Gaol Delivery, Baltimore County,
commissioned 1718 and 1722; deputy surveyor,
Baltimore County, commissioned 1720; "commit-
tee for laying the county levy," Baltimore County,
appointed 1721; coroner, Baltimore County, in
office 1722; commissioner, Baltimore County, by
1724. MILITARY SERVICE: captain, Baltimore
County Militia, by 1717; colonel, by 1724.
WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. PERSONAL PROP-
ERTY: gave livestock, books, and musical instru-
ments to his son Greenbury at the time of his mar-
riage, 1726. A chancery case in 1733 described
Dorsey as having a lower court judgment against
him for £70.13.7 sterling and 8,713 pounds of to-
bacco that was owed to John Stokes, sheriff of
Baltimore County from 1718 to 1721, and accused
|
Dorsey of leaving Maryland ca. 1727 "in a private
and clandestine manner" to escape payment.
Comfort Dorsey, his wife, denied that Dorsey left
secretly, but other witnesses refuted her statement.
Stokes's widow wanted Dorsey's land sold to pay
his debts, but John Hammond proved his owner-
ship and the case was dismissed in 1737. LAND AT
FIRST ELECTION: ca. 1,150 acres in Baltimore
County (probably inherited 598 acres, at least 148
from his stepfather; 559 acres through his mar-
riage). SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN
FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: patented 1,145
acres and purchased 815 acres in Baltimore
County between 1720 and 1725; sold 198 acres in
Baltimore County during this period. By March
1726 Dorsey and his family were living with John
Hammond, of Cecil County, to whom Dorsey
deeded his dwelling plantation a few months later.
Testimony in the 1733 Chancery Court case stated
that the transfer to Hammond was made to pro-
tect the property from Dorsey's creditors and
Hammond's will devised the land back to Dor-
sey's family. Dorsey mortgaged 1,725 acres in
Baltimore County in August 1726 and January
1726/27. Soon after that he left Maryland, possi-
bly for the Carolinas.
DORSEY, JOHN (1734-1779). BORN: on July 3,
1734, in Anne Arundel County; eldest son. NA-
TIVE: at least fourth generation. RESIDED: in Upper
Fork Hundred or Bearground Hundred, Anne
Arundel County. FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER:
Michael Dorsey (1712-1776), son of John Dorsey
and wife Honor Elder. MOTHER: Ruth, daughter
of Lancelot Todd and wife Elizabeth. BROTHERS:
Lancelot (1742-?), who married Sarah Warfield;
Michael, who married Honor Howard. SISTERS:
Elizabeth (1735-?), who married John Burgess;
Sarah (1739-?), who married Richard Berry, of
Prince George's County; Ruth (1743-?), who mar-
ried Ely Dorsey; Honor Elder (1737-?), who mar-
ried John Elder; Anne Elder; and Lydia, who mar-
ried (first name unknown) Talbott. MARRIED by
1771 Anne (1740-1795), daughter of Philemon
Dorsey (1714-1772) and wife Catherine (1723-ca.
1751); stepdaughter of Rachel Lawrence; grand-
daughter of Henry Ridgely; niece of Henry Ridgely
(1728-1791), Elizabeth Ridgely, who married
Thomas Dorsey (?-1790), Anne Ridgely, who mar-
ried Brice T. B. Worthington (1727-1794), and
Sarah Ridgely, who married Charles Greenbury
Griffith (1744-1792). Her brother was Philemon
(1743/44-1806). Her half brother was Joshua Dor-
sey (?-1818). Her sisters were Elizabeth (1742-?),
who married William Ridgely; Catherine (1745-
276
|
