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of Nathaniel Dare (?-1742); and Mary, who mar-
ried first, Michael Jenifer, and second, James
Smith. MARRIED second, by December 1749 Mary
(?-1769), widow of both (first name unknown)
Wheeler and Thomas Crompton (Compton).
CHILDREN. SONS: William Loch (?-1783) of Prince
George's County, who married Amelia Chapman
of Virginia; James; and John Weems (1737-1813).
STEPSON: Roger Wheeler (?-1763), a merchant
of Calvert County, who married Susannah,
daughter of James Weems (ca. 1707-1781).
DAUGHTERS: Susannah, who married Roger
Wheeler (?-1763); Sarah (?-1763), who married
in 1763 Samuel Chew (1737-1790); and Margaret
(?-1783), who married first, (first name un-
known) Elsey, and second, Joseph Sprigg (1736-
1800). PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION: literate,
possibly studied medicine with Dr. William Loch.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Anglican. SOCIAL STA-
TUS AND ACTIVITIES: Hon. and Esq., by 1766.
OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE, merchant; physician;
planter. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE:
Lower House, Calvert County, 1738, 1739-1741
(Bills of Credit 3); 1742-1744 (Bills of Credit 1,
2). OTHER PROVINCIAL OFFICE: justice, Provincial
Court, 1766 (quorum). LOCAL OFFICES: sheriff,
Calvert County, 1734-1737; justice, Calvert
County, 1738-at least 1743, 1746-1747, 1751-at
least 1752, 1754-at least 1756, 1758-at least 1761,
1763. WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. PERSONAL PROP-
ERTY: Administered the estate of his stepson and
son-in-law, Roger Wheeler (?-1763), which to-
talled at least £244.6.9 sterling and £934.4.8 cur-
rent money after the first account, plus perhaps
£500.0.0 current money in debts due the estate.
In a Chancery Court case brought against Weems's
estate by Wheeler's heirs in 1788, it was charged
that although James had paid for the care and
schooling of Wheeler's four children, he had done
so cheaply and that they were entitled to a fair
distribution of Wheeler's estate. The court agreed
and ordered James Weems's executor to pay at
least one of Wheeler's heirs ca. £394.0.0 current
money. LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: 334 acres in
Anne Arundel County and perhaps as much as
500 acres in Calvert County (the Anne Arundel
County land and probably most, if not all, of the
Calvert County land by personal acquisition, the
remainder of Calvert County land possibly in-
herited from uncle Dr. William Loch), plus land
in Virginia (inherited from Dr. William Loch).
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST
ELECTION AND DEATH: purchased 1,069 acres in
Prince George's County in 1740; patented 46 acres
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in Calvert County in 1751. By 1753 Weems was
taxed on 1,499 acres in Calvert County, 1,069
acres in Prince George's County, and 334 acres
in Anne Arundel County, plus 1,055 acres in Cal-
vert County that he held for the heirs of his wife
Mary Compton's first husband. In 1759 he sold
the 334 acres in Anne Arundel County, and within
the next two years also sold 220 acres in Calvert
County and gave 535 acres in Prince George's
County to his son William Loch Weems. By 1761
he had purchased 548 acres in Calvert County
and 1 lot in Huntingtown, Calvert County. By
1765 he had purchased an additional 330 acres in
Calvert County. Between 1763 and 1771, Weems
controlled 870 acres in Calvert County for the
heirs of Roger Wheeler (?-1763). He sold 657
acres in Calvert County and lost control of Comp-
ton's 1,055 acres by 1770. He gave his son William
Loch Weems the rest of his Prince George's County
land by 1772 and by 1774 had sold 160 acres and
purchased 50 acres in Calvert County. During the
1760s and 1770s James Weems was taxed for vary-
ing amounts of two tracts of land totalling about
764 acres in Anne Arundel County, which he and
his brother David had inherited under the terms
of the will of their uncle Dr. William Loch. Loch's
will had directed that if his son William had no
direct heirs, the land would pass to James and
David Weems. William Loch died in 1750. His
will specifically denied the Weemses' right to his
father's land and devises it to his Chew relatives.
For the next thirty years ownership of the land
was under litigation. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: will
probated on September 10, 1781, in Calvert
County. PERSON AL PROPERTY: estimated at £20,000
sterling in a later court case. LAND: probably about
1,290 acres in Calvert County, 1 lot in Hunting-
ton, Calvert County, and land in Virginia.
WEEMS, JOHN (1727-1794). BORN: on March
26, 1727, in St. James' Parish, Anne Arundel
County; second son. NATIVE: third generation.
RESIDED: on "Portland Manor," St. James' Par-
ish, Herring Creek Hundred, Anne Arundel
County. FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER: David
Weems (1706-1779) of Anne Arundel County,
who immigrated with his mother and sister, and
possibly with his brother, in the early 1720s to
live with his uncle, Dr. William Loch (?-1732).
MOTHER: Elizabeth (?-1738), daughter of Sam-
uel Lane (?-1715), a Quaker, and wife Sarah
Harrison. Elizabeth was the stepdaughter of Dr.
William Loch (?-1732). STEPMOTHER: after 1742,
Esther (Hester) (1717-1776), daughter of Abell
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