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DOUGLASS, JOHN (ca. 1636-ca. 1678/79).
BORN: ca. 1636, probably in England. IMMI-
GRATED, in 1659 as a free adult. RESIDED: in
Charles County. MARRIED Sarah Bouls, possibly a
daughter of John Bouls. She subsequently married
Ralph Smith. CHILDREN. SONS: John; Robert (?-
1694), who married Mary, widow of Richard
Beaumont; Charles (?-1703); Joseph; and Benja-
min. DAUGHTERS: Elizabeth (1673-?); Sarah. PRI-
VATE CAREER. EDUCATION: literate. SOCIAL STA-
TUS AND ACTIVITIES: no title upon arrival; sons
held no offices. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: planter.
PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Lower
House, Charles County, 1676-1678 (Accounts 1;
Defense 2; died before the 3rd session). LOCAL
OFFICE: justice, Charles County, 1672-1678. MILI-
TARY SERVICE: captain, 1675; major and colonel,
1676. WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. LAND AT
FIRST ELECTION over 450 acres; acquired Cold
Spring Manor, 1,050 acres, in 1677. WEALTH AT
DEATH. DIED between December 14, 1678, and
January 27, 1678/79. LAND: 1,600 acres.
DOUGLASS (DOUGLAS), WILLIAM (?-1782)
BORN possibly in Pennsylvania, of age by 1763.
IMMIGRATED: by 1763, possibly from Kent
County, Delaware. RESIDED: in Caernarvon Town-
ship, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; possibly
Kent County, Delaware; Worcester County, 1763;
Dorchester County (later became part of Caroline
County), 1771; Great Choptank Hundred, Caro-
line County, 1778. MARRIED Sarah, who subse-
quently married by March 1785 William Carpen-
ter, Sr., of Kent County, Delaware. CHILDREN.
SON James (?-ca. 1799), of Kent County, Dela-
ware; possibly others. PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCA-
TION literate. SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES:
Gent., 1763. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: ironmaster,
in partnership with Jonathan Vaughan and six
Pennsylvania businessmen in the Nanticoke Forge
and Deep Creek Furnace, ca. 1763. This iron-
works was the first to be formed in Worcester
County. It was a large operation with ca. 7,000
acres of land on the Eastern Shore plus sawmills,
gristmills, water mills, corn mills, coal, slaves, ser-
vants, and merchandise which was shipped di-
rectly to England. When the Revolution broke out
the Chesapeake Bay was blockaded and business
was suspended. The ironworks never recovered
from this interruption and the operation was not
resumed after the war. The ironworks' property,
however, remained in the hands of the company
until an act of the legislature was passed in 1802
to divide it among the heirs of the original owners.
The furnace tract and other lands on Deep Creek
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went to Douglass's grandsons. He was also a part-
ner with John Douglass, of Chester County, Penn-
sylvania, in a waterworks and a small forge from
ca. 1770 to 1776, when the partnership was dis-
solved. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE:
Lower House, Caroline County, 1777, 1777-1778
(Manufactories 3). LOCAL OFFICES: commissioner
of tax, Caroline County, commissioned 1779; com-
missary of horses, Caroline County, commissioned
1781 (but "refused to act being in a bad state of
health" ). WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. LAND AT
FIRST ELECTION: held partnership with seven
other people in ca. 7,000 acres in Worcester and
Dorchester counties, and in Sussex County, Dela-
ware; a partner, with one other person, in ca.
1,600 acres in Caroline County. SIGNIFICANT
CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION
AND DEATH: bought out his partner's interest in
the ca. 1,600 acres in Caroline County between
1776 and 1782. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: in 1782
in Caroline County. PERSONAL PROPERTY: TEV,
£1,469.5.7 (including 8 slaves, 10 oz. plate, and
books); FB, £1,289.6.9. LAND. 1,517 acres in Car-
oline County, plus his part of ca. 7,000 acres in
Worcester and Dorchester counties, and in Sussex
County, Delaware, belonging to the Deep Creek
Ironworks.
DOWNES (DOWNS), HENRY (ca. 1748-1816).
BORN: ca. 1748, probably in Queen Anne's
County; younger son. NATIVE: at least third gener-
ation. RESIDED: in Queen Anne's County (later
became part of Caroline County); Hillsborough,
Caroline County. FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER:
Henry Downes (1707-by 1772), of Queen Anne's
County, son of John Downes (?-1707), of Talbot
County. MOTHER: Frances Noble (?-by 1775).
BROTHER: Philemon Downes (ca. 1741-ca. 1796).
FIRST COUSIN: Henrietta Downes (1739-1812),
who married Thomas Hardcastle (ca. 1737-1808).
MARRIED first, by 1769 Margaret (1752-by 1788),
daughter of Thomas Baynard (?-1753), of Talbot
County, a planter who died as a minor under 21-
years of age, and wife Hannah Clarke; stepdaugh-
ter of Henry Thompson; niece of both Joshua
Clarke (?-1781) and Margaret Baynard (?-by
1777), who married second Matthew Driver (1740-
1798). Her sisters were Elizabeth (1748-1809),
who married first, John Tillotson, Jr. (?-by 1777),
and second, Philemon Downes (ca. 1741-ca. 1796);
Lydia (1750-by 1769). Her first cousin was
Elizabeth Driver (by 1777-?), who married Peter
Edmondson (ca. 1753-1819). MARRIED second, in
November 1788 Margaret Green. CHILDREN.
DAUGHTERS: Elizabeth (?-by 1816), who married
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