John Parnham (1748-1713)
MSA SC 3520-968
Biography
Born: ca.
1748 near Newport, Charles County.
Native: third generation.
Resided: in Newport West Hundred,
Charles County.
Died: in 1813; inventory recorded August 10, 1813, in Charles County.
Family Background
Father: Dr. Francis Parnham (?-ca. 1756), of Charles
County, son of John Parnham
(?-1738) and wife Elizabeth Pile.
Mother: Mary.
Sisters: probably Anna Maria (1739/40-?), who married Robert
Brent (1733/34-1790).
Other Kinship: great-grandfathers, Joseph Pile (?-1692), William Dent (ca. 1660-1704) and
William Harbert (?-1718); great-uncles, Thomas
Trueman Greenfield (1682-1733) and Thomas
Greenfield (ca. 1649-1715); second cousins,
Thomas Greenfield (ca. 1715-1774), Francis Waring (1715-1769), and Marianne Greenfield, who
married John Stoddert (?- 1767).
Married: Ann,
daughter of George Dent (?-1785) and wife Eleanor
Hawkins. Ann was the granddaughter of both
Henry Holland Hawkins (1683-1751) and George
Dent (1690- 1754). She was the niece of John Dent,
of George (ca. 1733-1809); Josias Hawkins (ca.
1735-1789); Elizabeth Dent (?-1781), widow of
William Penn, who married second, Richard Harrison (?-1780); and Rebecca Dent (1735-1770),
who married Thomas Hanson Marshall (1731-1801). Her brothers were Henry; George. Her
sisters were Elander (Eleanor) (?-1819); Joanna
(Johanna); Jane (?-1827); and Mary. Her first
cousins were George Dent (ca. 1758-1813); Anne
Herbert (1756- 1813), who married William Mackall
Wilkinson (1751-1799).
Children
Sons: George Dent, eldest; John Pile.
Daughters: Mary; Eleanor Ann Hawkins Dent; Susannah Ann.
Private Career
Education: studied medicine at
the University of Edinburgh, graduated 1772;
wrote his thesis on "De Cystirrhoea."
Religious Affiliation: Anglican.
Social Status and Activities: Esq., by 1790.
Occupational Profile: physician; founded the Medical
and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, 1799.
Public Career
Legislative Service: 9th Convention, Charles County, 1776; House of Delegates, Charles
County, 1787-1788, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1794
(speaker), 1795. 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799, 1801 (did
not serve), 1808-1809, 1809, 1810 (did not serve).
Other State Offices: Constitution Ratification
Convention, 1788.
Local Offices: Committee of
Observation, Charles County, elected 1776; Trinity Parish Vestry, 1779-1797; justice, Charles
County, 1777-1780, 1782-1784, 1785-1791, 1793,
1794, 1796; justice, Orphans Court, Charles
County, appointed November 6, 1794, resigned
four days later to take his seat as a delegate from
Charles County; Maryland Senate Elector, Charles
County, 1791, 1801, 1806.
Military Service: captain, 12th Battalion of Milita, 1776, resigned March 1781.
Out of State Service: presidential elector, 1804.
Wealth During Lifetime
Personal Property: assessed value £889.10.0, including 11 slaves and 18 oz. plate,
1783; 26 slaves, 1790.
Land at First Election: 1,420 acres in Charles County, plus 5 lots in Port
Tobacco, Charles County (962 acres plus 5 lots
from father, including his father's tavern and
warehouse at Newport; purchased 458 acres).
Significant Changes in Land Between First Election and Death: purchased ca. 500 acres
and sold his lots in Port Tobacco, ca. 1800.
Wealth at Death
Personal Property: total estate value, at least $13,279.80 current money
(including 64 slaves, ca. 62 books, and plate valued at $62.00).
Land: ca. 1,800 acres in Charles
County.
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