Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Daniel Dulany, Jr. (1722-1797)
MSA SC 3520-372

Biography:

BORN:  on June 28, 1722, in St. Anne’s Parish, Annapolis, Anne Arundel County; eldest son.
NATIVE:  second generation.
RESIDED:  in Annapolis, 1722-1776; “Hunting Ridge,” Baltimore County, 1776-1781; Baltimore Town, 1781-1797.

FAMILY BACKGROUND.
FATHER:  Daniel Dulany (1685-1753).
MOTHER:  Rebecca (ca. 1695-1737), daughter of Walter Smith (?-1711) and wife Rachel Hall.
STEPMOTHER:  Henrietta Maria (?-1766), widow of Samuel Chew (1704-1736/37); daughter of Philemon Lloyd (ca. 1674-1732/33).
AUNTS:  Lucy Smith (1688-1770), who married Thomas Brooke (1683-1744); Eleanor Smith (1690-1761), who married Thomas Addison (1679-1727); and Anne Smith (1694-1759), who married second, Thomas Trueman Greenfield (1682-1733).
BROTHERS:  Walter Dulany (?-1773); Dennis (1730-1779).
HALF BROTHERS:  Lloyd (1742-1782); Richard (1745-died in infancy).
STEPBROTHERS:  Samuel Chew (by 1734-1786); Philemon Lloyd Chew (?- 1770); and Bennett Chew (?-1793).
SISTERS:  Rebecca; Rachel; Margaret, who married first, Dr. Alexander Hamilton (1712-1756), and second, William Murdock (?-1769); and Mary. STEPSISTERS:  Henrietta Maria Chew (1731-1762), who married Edward Dorsey (1718-1760); Margaret Chew (?-1773), who married John Beale Bordley (1726/27-1804); and Ann Mary Chew (1736-1774), who married William Paca (1740-1799).
FIRST COUSINS:  Richard Brooke (1716-1783); Eleanor Brooke, who married Samuel Beall (ca. 1713-ca. 1778); John Addison (1713-1764); Rebecca Addison (1703-?), who married first, James Bowles (?-ca. 1727/28), and second, George Plater (1695-1755); Eleanor Addison (l705-?) who married fourth, Corbin Lee (?-1774); Ann Addison (1711/12-1753), who married William Murdock (?-1769); and Marianne Greenfield, who married John Stoddert (?-l 767).
NEPHEW:  James Heath (?-1766).
OTHER KINSHIP:  his great-grandfather was Richard Smith (?-ca. 1690).
MARRIED:  on September 16, 1749, Rebecca (1724-1822) daughter of Benjamin Tasker (ca. 1690-1768); granddaughter of William Bladen (1670-1718); niece of Thomas Bladen (1698-1780). Her brothers were Benjamin Tasker, Jr. (1720/21-1760); and four others who died young.  Her sisters were Ann (1723-1817), who married Samuel Ogle (1694-1752); Elizabeth (1726-?); and Frances. Her nephew was Benjamin Ogle (1748/49-1809). Her niece was Mary Ogle, who married John Ridout (1732-1797).
SONS:  Daniel (1750-1824), who closed his law practice and sailed for London, England, in 1774. As a result, his extensive properties in the province were confiscated during the Revolution. He later became a barrister of Lincoln’s Inn, London, England; Benjamin Tasker Dulany (1752-1816).
DAUGHTER:  Ann (?- 1828), who married on April 21, 1784, William Delasserre; divorced by May 1800, when she petitioned for a change of surname for herself and her daughter Rebecca.

PRIVATE CAREER.
EDUCATION:  completed Eton, 1738; entered Clare College, Cambridge University, in January 1739 as a pensioner; entered Middle Temple, 1742; called to the bar in 1746, a form of recognition rarely accorded a colonist.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION:  Anglican. St. Anne’s Parish, Annapolis.
SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES:  member of a prominent and affluent family
OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE:  lawyer, admitted to the following courts: Provinical Court in October 1747; Anne Arundel County in November 1747; Prince George’s County in November 1747; Court of Chancery by December 1747; Frederick County in March 1748/49. Retired from active practice in 1763; planter. Daniel and his brother Walter Dulany (?-l773) jointly held one share in the Baltimore Ironworks Company, which they had inherited from their father, and they controlled another share held by the Tasker family. The Carroll family, which owned three shares, frequently combined to outvote the Dulanys. There was a history of ill-feelings between the Dulany and the Carroll families that worsened over time.

PUBLIC CAREER.
LEGISLATIVE SERVICE:  Lower House, Frederick County, 1749 (election voided on June 8, 1749), 1751-1754 (Laws 1-6), Annapolis, 1756-1757 (elected to the 5th session to fill vacancy); Upper House, 1757-1758, 1758-1761, 1762-1763, 1765-1766, 1768-1770, 1771, 1773-1774.
OTHER PROVINCIAL OFFICES:  commissary general, commissioned jointly with Benjamin Tasker (ca. 1690-1768), in 1754, resigned 1756, commissioned again in 1759, resigned 1761; Council, 1757-1776 (appointed and qualified on June 12, 1757); secretary of Maryland, sworn 1761, re-commissioned 1773, office abolished 1776; commissioner for the sale of proprietary manors and reserved lands, 1766-1771.
LOCAL OFFICES:  justice, Frederick County, in office at least by 1749-out of office by 1751 (quorum, at least 1749-1751); recorder, Annapolis, 1754-1765; mayor, Annapolis, 1764-1765.
STANDS ON PUBLIC/PRIVATE ISSUES:  argued against the Stamp Act, but was opposed to the actions of the Sons of Liberty; under the pseudonym “Antilon,” he debated Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832) in a series of newspaper articles concerning the Fee Bill controversy, 1773; espoused neutrality during the Revolution.

WEALTH DURING LIFETIME
PERSONAL PROPERTY:  6 slaves, 1790; as part of their one share of the Baltimore Ironworks, be and his brother Walter Dulany (?-1773) had an interest in the company’s furnaces, forges, slaves, indentured servants, and the sloop Baltimore
LAND AT FIRST ELECTION:  14,000 acres in Frederick County, plus 170 town lots in Frederick Town, Frederick County (deed of gift from his father, 1748); owned one-half share, or a ten percent interest, in the Baltimore Ironworks, which comprised 20,000 acres in Baltimore County.
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: controlled 2,150 acres in Kent and Frederick counties as guardian of his half brother Lloyd, 1752; sold 3,300 acres composed of farmsteads, consisting of 50-acre to 300-acre lots for cash or on credit, plus 144 lots in Frederick Town, Fred­erick County, 1769; deeded all of his remaining real property to his sons, except for 3,000 acres, 1.7721775.

WEALTH AT DEATH
DIED: on March 17, 1797, in Baltimore City; buried at St. Paul’s Church, Baltimore City.
LAND: Ca. 3,000 acres in Frederick and Anne Arundel counties.

Source:  Papenfuse, Edward C., et al. A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature 1635-1789, Vol. I, A-H.  (Baltimore:  The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979), 286-287.

Other Biographical Sources:

Spencer, Richard Henry.  "Hon. Daniel Dulany, 1722-1797 (The Younger),"  Maryland Historical Magazine.  Volume XIII  (Baltimore, 1918), 143-160.

New Dictionary of National Biography Entry

Return to Daniel Dulany, Jr.'s Introductory Page


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