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1795). CHILDREN. SONS: Montesquieu; William
White (?-by 1836). DAUGHTER: Sophia (1794-
1874), who married Daniel McHenry (1786-1814),
son of James McHenry (ca. 1752-1816). PRIVATE
CAREER. EDUCATION: graduated from Princeton
in 1767; after graduation he read law. RELIGIOUS
AFFILIATION: Presbyterian. SOCIAL STATUS AND
ACTIVITIES: Esq., by 1781; member of the Society
of the Cincinnati. OCCUPATION AL PROFILE: planter;
lawyer, admitted to the following courts: Cecil
County in March 1771; Provincial Court in Sep-
tember 1772; Harford County in August 1774.
PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Conven-
tions, Cecil County, 4th, 1775, 5th, 1775, 6th-
8th, 1775-1776 (did not attend the 7th and 8th
Conventions); Lower House, Cecil County, 1785
(Elections; Claims), 1789 (elected but did not at-
tend; resigned on November 7, 1789). OTHER
STATE OFFICES: commissioner of confiscated Brit-
ish property, 1781-at least 1783; U.S. marshal
for Maryland, 1790-1798; naval officer, port of
Baltimore, 1794-1817. LOCAL OFFICES: justice,
Cecil County, 1785-1788 (resigned); justice, Or-
phans' Court, Cecil County, 1785-1788. MILI-
TARY SERVICE: captain of Smallwood's Maryland
Regiment, January 14, 1776; lieutenant colonel,
Third Maryland Regiment, December 10, 1776;
wounded and taken prisoner at Monmouth, June
28, 1778; on parole until exchanged, December
14, 1780; retired January 1, 1781. ADDITIONAL
COMMENT: Ramsay was with the army at Valley
Forge during part of the winter of 1777-1778. He
and his wife lived there in a log hut. When the
American and English forces met in New Jersey
at the Battle of Monmouth, Ramsay performed
heroically, helping to stem the British advance
caused by the retreat of Gen. Charles Lee. OUT
OF STATE SERVICE: delegate. Continental Con-
gress, 1785- 1787 (elected in November 1785, but
did not attend until June 1786; reelected in De-
cember 1786). In 1789 Ramsay made an unsuc-
cessful bid to run as a Federalist for Congress.
STANDS ON PUBLIC/PRIVATE ISSUES: Ramsay be-
longed to the Whig Club of Baltimore, a group
whose members took an oath "to detect all trai-
tors." In March of 1777 Ramsay and other club
members were responsible for assaulting William
Goddard, a newspaper publisher. Their actions
were declared by the General Assembly to be an
infringement of the Declaration of Rights. WEALTH
DURING LIFETIME. PERSONAL PROPERTY: assessed
value £524.0.0, including 10 slaves and 140 oz.
plate, Annapolis Hundred, Anne Arundel County,
1783; 26 slaves, Cecil County, 1790; 29 slaves.
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Cecil county, 1815. LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: no
evidence of land ownership. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH:
acquired 4,223 acres in Frederick, Cecil, Balti-
more, and Allegany counties, 1780-1812; sold
577 acres in Frederick and Cecil counties, 1791-
1800. All acreage was acquired by purchase, ex-
cept for 400 acres in Allegany county that he
received from Maryland for service during the
Revolution. In 1783 Ramsay lived in a house on
2.5 lots in Annapolis. The house and lots were
confiscated British property which had been sold
to Col. John Stuart, who assigned his claim to
Ramsay. Ramsay later assigned the property to
Charles Wallace (1727-1812), who acquired title.
Between 1781 and 1783 Ramsay bought several
lots in Baltimore Town. In 1783 Ramsay and
Thomas Yates purchased a 99-year lease on 15
lots in Baltimore. Most of Ramsay's Maryland
land was confiscated British property. He also
owned 500 acres of federal bounty land (location
unknown), which he received in 1791. WEALTH
AT DEATH. DIED: on October 23, 1817, in Balti-
more; buried in the graveyard of the Westminster
Presbyterian Church, corner of Green and Fay-
ette streets, Baltimore. PERSONAL PROPERTY.
administration bond in the amount of $50,000
posted November 13, 1817; requested no inven-
tory or appraisal of estate. LAND: 3,646 acres in
Frederick, Cecil, Baltimore, and Allegany coun-
ties, several lots in Baltimore City, and 500 acres
of federal bounty land.
RANDOLPH, EDWARD (1632-1703). BORN: in
1632, in Kent, England. IMMIGRATED: in 1692 as
a free adult, but never settled permanently in
Maryland. FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER: (name
unknown), a physician and younger son of Her-
bert Randolph, who was a wealthy landowner of
Kent, England. MARRIED first, Jane Gibbon. MAR-
RIED second, by 1681, Grace Granville (?-1682).
MARRIED third, by 1687, Sarah (last name un-
known). CHILDREN. Four daughters by first wife
and at least one child by third wife. PRIVATE CA-
REER. EDUCATION: literate; Gray's Inn, 1650, en-
tered Queen's College, Cambridge, 1651. RELI-
GIOUS AFFILIATION: Anglican. SOCIAL STATUS AND
ACTIVITIES: Randolph energetically worked his
way up in the colonial customs bureaucracy, gain-
ing appointment to numerous councils to assist
in his enforcement of the navigation acts. He re-
turned to England 1695-1697 and 1700-1702.
OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: royal placeman. PUBLIC
CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Upper House,
672
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