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RIED on October 6, 1765, Deborah (?-1810),
daughter of William Lynch (?-1751) of Baltimore
County and wife Elinor (1715/16-1760), who was
the widow of Thomas Todd (?-1739) and the
daughter of Caleb Dorsey (1683-1742). Deborah
was the niece of Edward Dorsey (1718-1760); Mary
Dorsey (1725-ca. 1786), who married John Ridgely
(by 1724-1771). Her brothers were William;
Joshua. Her half brother was Thomas Todd. Her
sisters were Sarah; Nelly; and Ann. Her half sis-
ters were Elizabeth Todd, who married John
Cromwell; Elinor Todd, who married John En-
sor, Jr.; Frances Todd, who married George Ris-
teau (?-1792); and Mary Todd, who married John
Worthington. Her first cousins were Henry Wood-
ward (1733-1761); Eleanor Dorsey, who married
Upton Sheredine (1740-1800); Thomas Dorsey (?-
1790); Harry Dorsey Gough (ca. 1745-1808);
Achsah Dorsey (1746-1799), who married Ephraim
Howard (1745-1788); Rebecca Dorsey (1739-
1812), who married Charles Ridgely (1733-1790);
Eleanor Dorsey (ca. 1739-1805), who married
John Hall (1729-1797); Mary Dorsey (?-1816),
who married John Weems (1727-1794); Elizabeth
Dorsey (?-ca. 1811), who married Richard Ridgely
(1755-1824); Charles Ridgely, of John (ca. 1749-
1786); Deborah Ridgely (1749-1807), who mar-
ried John Sterett (1750/51-1787) ; and Mary Ridgely
(?-1804), who married Benjamin Nicholson (?-
1792). CHILDREN. SONS. William (1767-1825), who
married Ann Halderman; Samuel (1770-1828),
who married in 1791 Ruth Cockey (?-1834); Beale
(1791-1820), who married first, Eleanor Magru-
der, and second, in 1814, Eleanor Brooke.
DAUGHTERS: Urath (1769-1838), who married in
1787 Dr. John Cromwell (?-1832); Eleanor (1772-
1853), who married in 1793 Thomas Moale, son
of John Moale (ca. 1731-1798); Sarah (1773-?),
who married in 1793 James Winchester; Rebecca
(1776-1828), who needed care and maintenance
for life; Deborah (1777-?), who married in 1799
Peter Hoffman, Jr.; Frances (1779-?), who mar-
ried in 1801 Robert North Moale, son of John
Moale (ca. 1731-1798); Rachel (1781-1782); Mary
(1784-?), who married in 1800 Richard Crom-
well. Jr.; and Ann (1785-?), who married in 1809
George Winchester. PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCA
TION literate. RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Anglican.
SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Gent., by 1770;
Esq., by 1787. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE, miller,
planter, merchant, land speculator. Owings in-
herited his father's sawmill in 1775 and developed
it into a major milling operation on the Gwynn's
Falls in Baltimore County. Described as the "hy-
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draulic expert of his time," Owings built at least
three mills along the falls: the lower mill; the
middle mill, probably built after 1787; and the
upper mill, built during the 1790s. One of these
was a grist mill, while the others were flour mills,
which produced flour for commercial trade under
the ULM (for Upper, Lower, and Middle mills)
trademark. By 1785 Owings was calling himself
a merchant and was building warehouses in Bal-
timore Town, apparently to facilitate shipment of
his flour. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE:
Lower House, Baltimore County, 1771, 1786-
1787 (Claims 2). LOCAL OFFICES, justice, Balti-
more County, 1766-1769, by 1771-1773 (quo-
rum 1772-1773), 1775; commissioner of the tax,
Baltimore County, appointed 1783, 1785, 1786,
1790, 1792; St. Thomas' Parish Vestry, Baltimore
County, 1792-1803. MILITARY SERVICE: captain,
Second Company, Baltimore County Militia, by
May 13, 1776; lieutenant colonel, Soldier's De-
light Battalion, Baltimore County Militia, com-
missioned May 25, 1776; colonel, Soldier's De-
light Battalion, Baltimore County Militia,
commissioned June 3, 1777. WEALTH DURING LIFE-
TIME. PERSON AL PROPERTY: 13 Slaves, 1790. LAND
AT FIRST ELECTION: 11,938 acres in Baltimore and
Frederick counties, plus lots in Taneytown, Fred-
erick County, and 1 lot in Baltimore Town (11,774
acres in Baltimore and Frederick counties by pat-
ent, 164 acres and all of the lots in Baltimore and
Frederick counties by purchase). SIGNIFICANT
CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND
DEATH: received 250 acres in Baltimore County
as a gift from his father, 1772; patented 150 acres
in 1773 and five small tracts totaling 145 acres in
1774, all in Baltimore County; sold 1,400 acres
in Frederick County and 246 acres in Baltimore
County, 1773-1775; inherited 100 acres in Bal-
timore County at his father's death, 1775; leased
two lots in Baltimore Town, 1775; resurveyed and
patented a small tract in Baltimore County for a
net gain of 628 acres, 1770; bought 250 acres in
Baltimore County, 1776; sold 1,255 acres in four-
teen transactions of less than 100 acres each,
Frederick County, 1776; acquired 1 lot in Balti-
more Town in the division of his wife's deceased
brother's estate, 1780; purchased 947 acres in 1779
and 18 acres in 1781, all in Baltimore County;
leased 2 lots in Baltimore Town, 1781, and bought
the fee simple title to one of them, 1783; sold 50
acres in Baltimore County, 1783; resurveyed and
patented a large tract in Frederick County for a
total of 8,081 acres and a net gain of 1,601 acres,
1783; leased out part of his wife's Baltimore Town
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