William Fitzhugh (ca. 1722-1798)
MSA SC 3520-438
Biography:
Born c. 1722 in Virginia. Immigrated to Maryland c. 1752. Son of George Fitzhugh (c. 1690-1722) and Mary Mason Fitzhugh (c. 1697-1728). Married first wife, first name unknown (neé Lee), the widow of a George Turberville. Married second wife Ann (neé Frisby), widow of John Rousby, January 1752. Children: George, John, William Fitzhugh, Jr. (1761-1839), Peregrine (born c. 1760), Elizabeth Rousby (stepdaughter). Resided in Calvert County until c. 1793. Died February 10, 1798 in Washington County, Maryland.
William Fitzhugh was a lawyer and a close friend of George Washington and Thomas Sim Lee. He served in Maryland's Lower House representing Calvert County from 1754 to 1761 and again from 1777 to 1783. He was a member of the governor's council from 1769 to at least 1774. Fitzhugh also served in Maryland's upper house representing Calvert County from 1769 to 1771 and from 1773 to 1774. He was treasurer of the Western Shore in 1772 and 1773. In 1773 he was appointed commissary general of Maryland. Fitzhugh represented Calvert County in the ninth convention of 1776. He also served as chair of the Patuxent Association and was in office in 1781.
Fitzhugh's military career led to a legal case that was not to be settled until 62 years after his death. Fitzhugh was an officer in the English army, fighting in the French and Indian War and achieving the rank of colonel. Upon his retirement from the army he began receiving a pension of a captain's half pay from the British government. At the outbreak of the Revolution, Fitzhugh sided with the American independence movement, and decided to decline further pension payments, believing that continuing to receive them would have required him to remain neutral in the Revolution. Although he himself was too old to join the American army, he supported two of his sons during the war and served the colony of Maryland in the position of commissary general. The British government, however, expected him to remain loyal to the mother country and took vengeance on him by burning his houses and property at his estate at the mouth of the Patuxent River. In July 1780 and again in August 1781 the British burned and plundered his property, carried off at least 30 of his slaves, and drove him and his family from the home.
From 1783 until his death in 1798, Fitzhugh petitioned the Maryland legislature for redress by asking for back pay of his pension of captain's half pay. Resolution number 10 was passed in 1791 directing the treasurer of Maryland to pay Fitzhugh the pension plus interest, but for reasons unknown, the state never made the payment. At his death in 1798, Fitzhugh directed through his will that his heirs continue to petition the legislature for compensation until satisfaction was granted. In 1856, his administrator Henry M Fitzhugh called the legislature's attention to the claim and a resolution was passed directing the comptroller of Maryland to compute the amount due with interest and to file the paperwork with the state. Comptroller William H. Purnell computed the principal of the claim to be $3,261.18 and the interest to November 1, 1857 to be $12,914.27 for a total due Fitzhugh's estate of $16,175.45. Henry Fitzhugh, however, believed that the resolution of 1791 entitled him to a sum of $17,958.67 and asked the legislature to appropriate that amount. On March 10, 1858, the legislature passed chapter 261 of the Laws of Maryland directing the governor, comptroller, and treasurer to investigate whether any claim had ever been paid to the Fitzhugh estate and to report their findings to the next general assembly. The governor, comptroller, and treasurer found evidence that the treasurer had indeed recorded a certificate dated January 20, 1792 payable to William Fitzhugh, but they found no evidence that the payment was ever actually made, while at the same time finding evidence that other similar certificates had been issued to other parties for similar claims. On February 24, 1860, the Senate Finance Committee issued its report to the legislature stating that Fitzhugh's claim was legitimate and that the state should pay it to his heirs. By chapter 178 of the Laws of Maryland passed on March 8, 1860, the claim was finally settled when the treasurer was required and authorized to pay Henry M. Fitzhugh $16,632 as administrator of William Fitzhugh's estate.
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