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LIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Catholic, attended Sacred
Heart Chapel at "Bushwood." SOCIAL STATUS AND
ACTIVITIES: Gent., by 1784; Esq., by 1791. Plow-
den was the great-grandson of Sir Edmund Plow-
den, Earl of Albion, who in 1634 received a charter
from Charles I to establish a proprietary colony
in the area presently occupied by New Jersey and
Delaware. Sir Edmund's colonization attempt
failed, and the palatinate, which was to have been
called New Albion, never materialized. OCCU-
PATIONAL PROFILE, planter. PUBLIC CAREER. LEG-
ISLATIVE SERVICE: Lower House, St. Mary's
County, 1777-1778, 1780-1781, 1781-1782, 1783,
1784, 1792, 1797. LOCAL OFFICES: Maryland Sen-
ate elector, St. Mary's County, elected 1786, 1791,
1796, and 1801; justice, St. Mary's County, 1787-
at least 1796; justice, Orphans' Court, St. Mary's
County, 1791-1804. MILITARY SERVICE: captain,
Upper Battalion, St. Mary's County Militia, by
1776. OUT OF STATE SERVICE: presidential elector,
1800. WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. PERSONAL PROP-
ERTY: 64 slaves, 1790; assessed value £1,619.9.10,
including 47 slaves and 130 oz. plate, 1793, 1794,
and 1796; assessed value £2,345.11.3, including
64 slaves and 295 oz. plate, 1801. LAND AT FIRST
ELECTION: 1,387 acres in St. Mary's County (in-
herited from uncle). SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN
LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: ac-
quired by purchase and inheritance 1,161 acres
in St. Mary's County and 11 lots in Washington,
D.C., 1796-1804; sold 233 acres in St. Mary's
County, 1785-1803. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED, on
April 20, 1804, in St. Mary's County. PERSONAL
PROPERTY: TEV, £10,766.17.6 current money
(including 58 slaves, books, Columbia Bank Stock,
and Eastern Branch Bridge Stock); FB,
£6,746.16.3. LAND: 2,315 acres in St. Mary's County
and 11 lots in Washington, D.C.
POLK, GILLIS (?-1793). BORN: in Somerset
County. NATIVE: fourth generation. RESIDED: in
Wicomico Hundred, Somerset County, 1783.
FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER: David Polk (ca.
1705-1778), Gent., a planter of Somerset County.
MOTHER: Elizabeth Gillis. BROTHERS: Josiah Polk
(?-1784); William Polk (1752-1812); and James
(?-1795), who married Nancy (last name un-
known) , who subsequently married William Mor-
ris (?-ca. 1799). SISTER: Sinah (?-by 1807), who
married Esme Bayly (?-1801). FIRST COUSINS:
John Williams (1739-1797); William Strawbridge
(?-by 1796). NIECE: Patience Bayly, who married
John Done (ca. 1747-1831). MARRIED Hannah (last
name unknown). CHILDREN. SONS: Gillis Wash-
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ington Morris Rounds (?-by 1806), who in 1801
married Hetty Sitler of Baltimore; Josiah.
DAUGHTERS: Nancy; Elizabeth; Sarah; and Cata
(Caty). PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION: literate; his
elder brother Josiah Polk (?-1784) helped pay
for his education; provided money in his will for
the education of his sons, 1784. RELIGIOUS AF-
FILIATION: Presbyterian, Manokin Presbyterian
Church, Somerset County. OCCUPATIONAL PRO-
FILE: owned a gristmill, sawmill, and bolting mill
in partnership with his brother Josiah Polk (?-
1784) and Littleton Dennis (ca. 1728-1774). The
mills were located just north of Salisbury on the
main branch of the Wicomico River. PUBLIC CA-
REER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Lower House, Som-
erset County, 1782-1783 (elected, but did not
attend), 1783, 1786-1787, 1787-1788, 1788. LO-
CAL OFFICES: justice, Somerset County, 1777-1791;
commissioner of the tax, Somerset County, ap-
pointed 1781, 1782; trustee, Washington Acad-
emy, Somerset County, 1785-1793; justice, Or-
phans' Court, Somerset County, 1786-1791
(associate justice, 1791); elder, Manokin Pres-
byterian Church, 1789-1793. MILITARY SERVICE:
1st lieutenant, Black Water Company of the Sal-
isbury Battalion of Militia, Somerset County, 1777;
captain, Black Water Company of the Salisbury
Battalion of Militia, Somerset County, 1781.
STANDS ON PUBLIC/PRIVATE ISSUES, subscriber to
Washington College, 1783. WEALTH DURING LIFE-
TIME. PERSONAL PROPERTY. assessed value
£356.0.0, including 5 slaves, 1783. LAND AT FIRST
ELECTION: at least 430 acres in Somerset County
(150 acres by purchase, at least 210 acres by deed
of gift from his father in 1776, and ca. 70 acres
held in partnership with his brother Josiah and
Littleton Dennis (ca. 1728-1774). SIGNIFICANT
CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND
DEATH: added at least 570 acres to his holdings
in Somerset County through patent and inherit-
ance, 1783-1784. Upon the death of his brother
Josiah Polk (?-1784) he received Josiah's share
of the mills and surrounding lands. In 1790 he
took out a warrant to resurvey a large portion of
his property, and a patent for 821 acres in Som-
erset County was issued to his wife Hannah in
1806. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: between AugUSt
9 and Septemer 25, 1793, in Somerset County.
PERSONAL PROPERTY: size of estate unknown.
LAND: ca. 1,000 acres in Somerset County.
POLK, JOSIAH (?-1784). BORN: in Somerset
County. NATIVE: fourth generation. RESIDED: in
Wicomico Hundred, Somerset County, 1783.
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