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OCCUPATION AL PROFILE: planter. PUBLIC CAREER.
LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Lower House, Dorchester
County, 1676-1682. WEALTH DURING LIFETIME.
LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: 1,050 acres in Dor-
chester County. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: will pro-
bated on November 7,1692, in Dorchester County.
LAND: at least 4,566 acres (of which 3,180 acres
later became part of Sussex County, Delaware).
STEVENS, JOHN (?-1785). BORN: in Dorchester
(later became Caroline) County. NATIVE: fifth
generation. RESIDED: on a 470-acre plantation
named "Retaliation" on Hog Creek off of the
Choptank River in Caroline County. FAMILY
BACKGROUND. FATHER: Walter Stevens (?-ca. 1776)
of Caroline County. MOTHER: Rachel, daughter
of Hugh Eccleston (?-1710/11). BROTHER: Wil-
liam (?-1773). SISTERS: Mary; Anne, who mar-
ried Joseph Richardson; and Sarah. FIRST COU-
SIN: Thomas Firmin Eccleston (ca. 1738-1785).
MARRIED by 1785 Ann. She subsequently married
by 1790 Charles Blair. CHILDREN. SONS: William;
John. DAUGHTERS: two mentioned, but not named,
in will. ADDITIONAL COMMENT. Stevens men-
tioned an unborn child in his will. PRIVATE CA-
REER. EDUCATION: literate. RELIGIOUS AFFILIA-
TION: Anglican; owned a pew in Hunting Creek
Church, Caroline County. SOCIAL STATUS AND
ACTIVITIES: Gent., by 1783; Esq., by 1783. OC-
CUPATIONAL PROFILE: planter. PUBLIC CAREER.
LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: 5th Convention, Caroline
County, 1775. LOCAL OFFICES: Committee of Ob-
servation, Caroline County, in office 1775; jus-
tice, Caroline County, 1783-1785. WEALTH DUR-
ING LIFETIME. PERSONAL PROPERTY: assessed Value
£742.0.0, including 11 slaves and 27 oz. plate,
1783. LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: at least 470 acres
in Caroline County (inherited from his brother
in 1773). SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BE-
TWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: inherited 1,241
acres in Caroline County from his father and his
brother, 1776-1783. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: be-
tween February 21 and April 14, 1785, in Caroline
County. PERSONAL PROPERTY: TEV, £1,694.12.4
current money (including 18 slaves, books, and
48 oz. plate); FB, £1,485.8.10. LAND: 1,711 acres
in Caroline County.
STEVENS, JOHN (ca. 1735-1794). BORN: in
March, ca. 1735, in Talbot County; probably eld-
est son. NATIVE: at least fifth generation. RE-
SIDED: near Dividing Creek, Third District, Tal-
bot County. FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER:
Thomas Stevens (1710-ca. 1782) of Talbot County,
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Gent., planter, son of John Stevens (?-ca. 1742)
and wife Elizabeth. MOTHER: Juliana (ca. 1707-
?), widow of William Stevens (?-ca. 1733),
daughter of William Thomas (1669-1740) and
wife Jean Riddell. UNCLE: William Thomas (1705-
1767). AUNT: Elizabeth Thomas (ca. 1701-1755),
who married Edward Needles (1695/96-1751/52).
BROTHERS: Samuel; William; and Tristram. HALF
BROTHERS: William Stevens; Peter Stevens (1729-
?). HALF SISTERS: Elizabeth Stevens (1730-?);
Anne Stevens (1732-?). FIRST COUSIN John Allen
Thomas (1734-ca. 1797); Nicholas Thomas (?-ca.
1784). MARRIED by 1765 Elizabeth (?-1791),
probably the daughter of Terrence Connolly (?-
1750) of Talbot County, Gent., and his wife Mary.
Elizabeth was the stepdaughter of Matthew Lewis
Barnett. Her brothers were probably John; Wil-
liam (?-ca. 1751). Her sisters were probably Mary;
Sarah. ADDITIONAL COMMENT: Terrence Con-
nolly directed in his will that his children were to
be brought up in the Roman Catholic faith. CHIL-
DREN. SONS: Samuel (1778-1860), a member of
the Maryland House of Delegates, governor of
Maryland from 1822 to 1826, who married in 1804
Eliza (?-1834), daughter of Col. Robert May and
Rebecca Potts of Chester, Pennsylvania; Benja-
min (?-1794); and Thomas (?-1796). DAUGH-
TERS: Juliana (1765-1823), who married Joseph
Martin; Mary (?-1828), who married first, in 1794,
Nathaniel Manning (?-1796), and second, in 1797,
Rev. James Thomas (1765-1827); Eliza, who
married first, John R. Downes, and second, Fran-
cis Rochester; Sarah, who married by 1794 James
Nabb; and Henrietta (Henry) (1776-1809), who
married in 1795 John Thomas, Jr. (ca. 1763-1802).
PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION: literate. RELIGIOUS
AFFILIATION: Anglican by 1781; father was a
Quaker; wife was probably a Roman Catholic.
May have been the John Stevens dismissed from
the Society of Friends in 1759 because he had
"suffered a Dark and Libertine spirit to prevail
over him in allowing of fiddling and dancing (at
his house)......." SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES:
Gent., by 1765; Esq., at death. OCCUPATIONAL
PROFILE: planter. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE
SERVICE: Lower House, Talbot County, 1778
(election to the 1778-1779 Assembly voided by
the House on November 7, 1778, because of im-
proper election procedures by the Talbot County
sheriff), 1786-1787. OTHER STATE OFFICE: Con-
stitution Ratification Convention, Talbot County,
1788. LOCAL OFFICES: justice, Talbot County,
1770-1774, 1777; sheriff, Talbot County, ap-
pointed 1774, resigned November 1775; Corn-
775
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