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ING LIFETIME. PERSONAL PROPERTY: assessed
value £1,160.0.0, including 27 Slaves and 48 oz.
plate, Anne Arundel County, 1783. LAND AT
FIRST ELECTION, at least 15,657 acres in Anne
Arundel and Frederick counties, plus 1 lot in An-
napolis (10,649 acres in Frederick County and 1
lot in Annapolis inherited from his uncle Edward
Dorsey; most of his land in Anne Arundel County
was inherited from his father). SIGNIFICANT
CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION
AND DEATH: About 1778 Dorsey formed a mer-
cantile partnership with John Dorsey, Samuel
Chase (1741-1811), and later, Luke Wheeler. They
dealt in state bonds as early as 1781 and by Dor-
sey's death the firm owed the state over £15,000
current money. The partnership also had dealings
with Evelyn Pierpont, of Virginia and Delaware,
to whom Dorsey mortgaged property in 1784. By
1789 Dorsey's company had property worth less
than £5,000 current money and owed more than
£42,000 in debts. Dorsey signed a statement with
Chase on November 19, 1789, saying that he had
paid or secured £30,000 of the company's debt
and was insolvent (as were John Dorsey and Luke
Wheeler). Chase agreed to turn over his property
to Dorsey, but had not done so by Dorsey's death.
Sold ca. 8,700 acres in Anne Arundel and Freder-
ick counties, plus 1 lot in Annapolis, and mort-
gaged his remaining land, 1784-1789; purchased
and patented ca. 20,000 acres in Kentucky, date
unknown. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: will pro-
bated on October 30, 1790, in Anne Arundel
County. PERSONAL PROPERTY: TEV, £5,071.15.1
current money; FB, estate overpaid £10,157.11.3.
LAND: probably none with clear title in Maryland,
but he had nearly 20,000 acres in Kentucky. ADDI-
TIONAL COMMENTS: In his will Dorsey stated that
he had lost a "liberal fortune" by "indiscretion
and ill-judged confidence."
DORSEY, WILLIAM HAMMOND (1764-ca.
1819). BORN: on February 12, 1764, at "Oak-
lands," in the Elkridge section of Anne Arundel or
Baltimore counties; fourth son. NATIVE, at least
third generation. RESIDED, in Georgetown, D.C.,
and Montgomery County. FAMILY BACKGROUND.
FATHER: Col. John Dorsey (ca. 1736-1810),
amassed a fortune from iron deposits on Curtis
Creek in Anne Arundel County, which enabled
him to establish John Dorsey & Co. in Baltimore
Town; eventually his company became insolvent
and he lost practically all of his former wealth.
MOTHER: Mary (ca. 1738-?), daughter of Col. Wil-
liam Hammond and wife Elizabeth Hughes.
BROTHERS: Robert (1758-1841); Larkin (1760-?),
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a captain in the Revolution who died in the West
Indies; Alexander (1762-1813); Walter (1771-?), a
merchant, who married Hopewell, daughter of
Vernon Hebb, of St. Mary's County; John E.
(1773-?), a merchant, who married Margaret,
widow of (first name unknown) Hudson; and
Clement (1773-1848), a major in the militia from
1812 to 1818, judge of the Fifth Circuit Court of
Maryland, who married first, Priscilla, daughter of
Vernon Hebb, of St. Mary's County, and second,
Decandia, widow of Henry Smith and daughter of
Henry Ireland and wife Susannah Reeder. SISTERS:
Elizabeth (1766-?), who married Edward Dorsey;
Sarah (1768-1846). MARRIED first, in 1789 Ann
(ca. 1773-by 1815), daughter of Richard Brooke
(1736-1788). MARRIED second, by 1815 Rosetta.
CHILDREN. SONS: Robert E. (?-1876), a physician,
who married on July 20, 1826, Sarah Duvall;
Rjchard Brooke (1790-?), who married his first
cousin Anne, daughter of Clement Dorsey; James
M. (1798-1808); and William Hammond (1800-?),
who married on October 31, 1825, Susan Robert-
son. DAUGHTERS: Anne (1792-died young); Maria
A. (1794-?), who married William Johnson. PRI-
VATE CAREER. EDUCATION: literate. SOCIAL STA-
TUS AND ACTIVITIES: Esq., 1798. OCCUPATIONAL
PROFILE, ironmaster; joint partner in the Etna
Furnace with his brothers Walter and John. Heav-
ily in debt, the business was sold for $102,697.70
in 1813. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE:
Lower House, Montgomery County, 1788; Senate,
Western Shore, Term of 1796-1801: 1796, 1797,
1798, 1799, 1800. OUT OF STATE SERVICE, judge,
Orphans' Court, Washington, D.C., appointed
1801. WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. PERSONAL
PROPERTY: 18 slaves, 1790; assessed value
£593.0.0, including 15 slaves, 1798-1812; assessed
value £483.5.0, including 3 slaves, 1813. SIGNIFI-
CANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELEC-
TION AND DEATH: acquired at least 4,500 acres in
Montgomery County through his marriage in
1789. Between 1794 and 1802 he sold or mort-
gaged all except ca. 500 acres. Purchased 792 acres
in Montgomery County (592 acres of this between
1813 and 1816) and sold 246 acres between 1815
and 1818; the sale of the ironworks owned by him
and his two brothers included 5,810 acres in Anne
Arundel and Baltimore counties, 1813. WEALTH
AT DEATH. DIED: administration bond granted on
January 24, 1819, in Montgomery County. PER-
SONAL PROPERTY: TEV, $13,031.31 (including 3
slaves, more than 48 books, and plate); FB,
$10,481.23. LAND: probably ca. 1,050 acres in
Montgomery County.
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