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GROUND. SISTER: Jennatt, of Galloway, Scotland.
OTHER KINSHIP: John Kerr (?-ca. 1780), of Queen
Anne's County, who married Ann Coursey, widow
of William Coursey. David Kerr signed the in-
ventory of John as kin, but their specific rela-
tionship is unknown. MARRIED first, in March 1773,
Hamutal (1756-1775), daughter of William Bishop
(?-by 1783) and wife Rebecca Homewood (1738-
?). Her brother was William (1758-?), who went
"beyond sea" ca. 1779 and was presumed dead
by 1783. Her sister was Ann (1760-by 1783), who
married Samuel Norwood. ADDITIONAL COM-
MENT: Hamutal was the principal heir of her great-
grandfather, Charles Hammond (1692/93-1772),
with whom she lived. MARRIED second, on April
17, 1777, Rachel (1755-1830), widow of James
Edmondson (?-ca. 1774), son of Pollard Ed-
mondson (ca. 1718-1794). Rachel was the daugh-
ter of John Bozman (?-1767) and wife Lucretia
Leeds (?-1789), and the granddaughter of Thomas
Bozman (ca. 1693-1752). Her brother was John
Leeds (1757-1823), a lawyer, historian, and au-
thor, who was deputy attorney general from 1789
to 1807, and who wrote a history of Maryland,
1633-1660, that was published in 1837. CHIL-
DREN. SONS: Charles Hammond (1774-1774); John
Leeds (1780-1844), a lawyer and member U.S.
House of Representatives, 1825-1829, 1831-1833,
and the U.S. Senate, 1841-1843, who married
first, in 1801, Sarah Hollyday Chamberlaine (1781-
1820), daughter of Samuel Chamberlaine (1742-
1811), and second, in 1828, Elizabeth Greenbury
Goldsborough; David (1782-1814), a member of
the Maryland General Assembly, 1806-1809, who
married in 1804 Maria Perry, daughter of William
Perry (1746-1799); and James (1785-1826), who
was "afflicted" and incapable of managing his
own affairs. DAUGHTER: Sophia (1778-1830), who
married in 1797 Dr. Joseph Ennalls Muse of Cam-
bridge, Dorchester County. STEPDAUGHTER: Lu-
cretia Edmondson, who married William Barroll
of Chestertown, Kent County. PRIVATE CAREER.
EDUCATION: literate; apprenticed as a merchant's
clerk in Scotland. RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: An-
glican, St. Peter's Parish, Talbot County; lay del-
egate from St. Peter's Parish to conventions of
the Protestant Episcopal Church, 1790, 1793, 1794.
SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Gent., by 1785;
Esq., by 1789; Mason, St. Thomas's Lodge, Eas-
ton, master of Lodge 34, 1787, grand treasurer,
1791, deputy grand master, 1794, grand master,
1795, 17%, grand high priest of the Grand Royal
Arch Chapter of Maryland, 1797. ADDITIONAL
COMMENT: On November 5, 1803, Kerr was thrown
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from his carriage by a runaway horse and was
unconscious for ten days. He received a serious
eye injury and thereafter wore a green silk patch
over that eye. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE, mer-
chant, planter; partner in a mercantile firm with
Robert Lloyd Nicols and Thomas Chamberlaine,
ca. 1789. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE:
Lower House, Talbot County, 1788, 1789, 1790,
1791-1792, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1797, 1798 (did not
attend; election declared invalid). LOCAL OF-
FICES: justice, Anne Arundel County, appointed
1773 (probably did not serve), Talbot County,
1788, 1789, 1791-1801; justice. Orphans' Court,
Talbot County, 1791-1792 (resigned), 1793-1794
(resigned), 1796, 1802; St. Peter's Parish Vestry,
Talbot County, 1788-1791, 1793-1795; commis-
sioner to establish a courthouse in Easton, Talbot
County, 1789; commissioner to build a gaol in
Easton, 1797; commissioner of the town of Eas-
ton, 1801; associate judge, Talbot County, 1801.
MILITARY SERVICE: 1st lieutenant in Capt. George
Watts's Independent Company of Militia, Anne
Arundel County, commissioned February 22, 1776.
WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. PERSONAL PROPERTY:
assessed value £1,480.16.3, including 26 slaves
and over 204 oz. plate, Anne Arundel County,
1783; 18 slaves, Talbot County, 1790; assessed
value £1,202.15.0, including 46 slaves and 207 oz.
plate, Districts 1 and 2 only, Talbot County, 1798;
assessed value £1,550.1.8, including 45 slaves and
185 oz. plate, Districts 1, 2, and 3, Talbot County,
1804; assessed value $3,108.00, including 31 slaves
and 165 oz. plate, Districts 1 and 3 only, Talbot
County, 1813. ANNUAL INCOME: owned rental
property in Easton with at least 4 tenants, 1798.
LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: held a 99-year lease
on at least 2 lots in Talbot County Court House
(later Easton), and a life estate in 979 acres in
Anne Arundel and Talbot counties (796 acres on
Greenberry Point, Anne Arundel County, in-
herited by first wife Hamutal from her great-
grandfather Charles Hammond (1692/93-1772);
and 183 acres in Talbot County inherited by sec-
ond wife Rachel from her father; the lots in Tal-
bot County Court House were sublet with an op-
tion to purchase by the lessee). SIGNIFICANT
CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND
DEATH: continued to purchase or take long-term
leases on lots in Easton throughout the 1790s,
and controlled at least 11 Easton lots by 1800;
purchased ca. 25 acres in Talbot County in 1792
and sold part of it in 1799 and the remainder in
1813; patented 16 acres in Talbot County, 1800;
released right to Anne Arundel County land to
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