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trolled for his son also came through this mar-
riage; 50 acres, plus 2 lots, by purchase). SIGNIF-
ICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION
AND DEATH: acquired approximately 3,850 ad-
ditional acres in Dorchester County. WEALTH AT
DEATH. DIED: on February 5, 1782, in Dorchester
County; buried at "Weston," near Vienna, Dor-
chester County, but remains were later removed
to Christ Church Graveyard, Cambridge, Dor-
chester County. PERSONAL PROPERTY: under his
widow's name, assessed value £4,788.15.0, in-
cluding 86 slaves and 345 oz. plate, 1783. LAND.
under his widow's name, 8,697 acres in Dor-
chester County, plus one-half of 2 lots in Vienna,
Dorchester County, 1783; this total included the
lands controlled for their son James Steele (ca.
1760-1816).
STEELE (STEEL, STEELL), JAMES (1760-
1816). BORN: March 16, 1760, in Dorchester
County; eldest son. NATIVE: second generation.
RESIDED: at "Weston," near Vienna, Dorchester
County; Cambridge, Dorchester County, by 1813;
Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, at death. FAM-
ILY BACKGROUND. FATHER: Henry Steele (ca. 1715-
1782). MOTHER: Ann Billings. BROTHERS: Peter
(1762-?); John (1765-?); Charles (1767-?); Isaac
(1769-1806); and Henry (1772-?). SISTER: (first
name unknown) (ca. 1758-1768). MARRIED in 1789
Mary, daughter of John Rider Nevett (ca. 1747-
1772), who drowned at age 25, and wife Sarah
Maynadier (1751-1837). Mary was the step-
daughter of Dr. James Murray (ca. 1741-1819).
She was the granddaughter of both Thomas Nev-
ett and wife Sarah Rider and Rev. Daniel May-
nadier (?-1772), rector of Great Choptank Par-
ish, Dorchester County, and wife Mary Murray
(1729-?). She was the niece of William Maynadier
(1747-1795). CHILDREN. SONS: James Billings (?-
1861), who married first, Milcah (ca. 1791-1836),
and second, in 1839, Sarah Y. Goldsborough
(1815-1888); John Rider Nevett (1796-1853), a
member of the Maryland General Assembly, 1822-
1824, 1829, 1830, and a member of the U.S. House
of Representatives, 1834-1837, who married in
1819 Ann Ogle (?-1839), daughter of Hon.
Thomas Buchanan; Dr. Charles Hutchins, of West
River, Anne Arundel County; Henry Maynadier
(1798-?), who married Maria Lloyd, daughter of
Francis Scott Key; and Isaac Nevett, of Balti-
more, a lawyer. DAUGHTERS: Mary Nevett (1789-
1873), who married John Campbell Henry (1787-
1857), son of John Henry, Jr. (ca. 1750-1798);
Ann Billings, who married Arthur Upshur; Cath-
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erine Sarah Maria; Sarah; and Isabella Elizabeth
(?-1825). PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION: literate.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Anglican, Great Chop-
tank Parish, Dorchester County. SOCIAL STATUS
AND ACTIVITIES: Gent., by 1784; Esq., by 1792;
subscribed £15.0.0 to Washington College, date
unknown. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: probably
planter. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE:
Lower House, Dorchester County, 1784, 1786-
1787, 1787-1788, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1795. LOCAL
OFFICES: justice, Dorchester County, in office ca.
1784-1788, 1798-at least 1800; justice, Orphans'
Court, Dorchester County, appointed 1785 (de-
clined); trustee of the poor, Dorchester County,
in office ca. 1785; Great Choptank Parish Vestry,
elected 1793, 1799, 1801, and 1804; commissioner
for building a new jail in Cambridge, Dorchester
County, in office 1801; trustee to manage school
in Cambridge, Dorchester County, in office 1810.
WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. LAND AT FIRST ELEC-
TION: at least 2,227 acres in Dorchester County,
plus probably controlled 6,470 additional acres in
Dorchester County as heir-at-law of his father
(2,227 acres by deed of trust from parents in 1761,
but the land remained under the control of his
father and after his father's death was listed under
his mother's name in 1783; James probably ac-
quired control of the land at about the time of
his first election when he would have been ap-
proximately 23 years old). SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH:
purchased at least 1,637 acres in Dorchester and
Somerset counties, and several lots in the towns
of Cambridge and Vienna, Dorchester County,
plus 2 lots on College Avenue (between Prince
George's and King George Street), Annapolis;
sold 1,768 acres in Dorchester County, 1784-1816;
2,504 acres in Dorchester County acquired through
his marriage in 1789 placed in trust for four of
his children, 1813, but probably continued to con-
trol it until his death. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED:
on September 21, 1816, at Boonsboro, Washing-
ton County, on his return from the springs; he
had long been afflicted with a painful illness; bur-
ied in St. Anne's Cemetery, Annapolis. PER-
SONAL PROPERTY: size of estate unknown. LAND:
approximately 8,213 acres in Dorchester and
Somerset counties, including lots in Cambridge,
Dorchester County, plus one-half of 2 lots in Vi-
enna, Dorchester County, plus 2 lots in Annap-
olis (this total includes most of the land owned
by James's father, which James would have in-
herited as the eldest son; unknown what portion,
if any, went to his brothers); also probably con-
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