Beeks line: Abraham Lakin 1695-1745

Abraham Lakin was born in 1675-77 in Shenstone Parish, Staffordshire, England, or in 1695 in Lakins Heath, England, depending on which records you believe.  Most trees show the 1695 birthdate and location, but Robert Barnes, a highly respected genealogist and historian, uses the 1675 birthdate.  Given the dates that Abraham began acquiring land, the earlier date seems more likely to be correct.

His parents were William Lakin and Elizabeth Symons, who were married in Shenstone Parish Church on May 2, 1671.  Abraham was listed in the inventory of Joseph Hanslap, Gentleman, of Anne Arundel County, Maryland in 1702/1703, so this may be where he served his indentureship, as mentioned by Robert Barnes in "Bound and Determined". In 1712, Abraham is listed as a debtor in the administrative accounting of William Greenshap of Prince George's County.

Abraham "Laking" and Martha Lee were married in Queen Anne's Parish, Prince Georges County, Maryland on October 10, 1717.  This marriage date could be used to support either birth date, but there is always the possibility that this wasn't Abraham's first marriage.  At any rate, he began acquiring land about 1717.  He was granted a land warrant of 200 acres on June 11, 1717. Then he patented 100 acres in Prince Georges County, called "Abraham's Fancie" . He purchased a tract of 100 acres called "Joseph and Margaret's Rest" from Joseph Gould in 1739.  He also patented a tract of land on Catoctic Creek north of the Potomac called "Two Brothers" in what would become Frederick County, Md.  A quote from a younger Abraham Lakin says "Our great grand sires, as the Indians were driven back, took up the land spoken of in the grant from King George III of England and known as "The Old Homestead" by blazing through the forest with a tomahawk. It was called in that day a "Tomahawk or Hatchet Claim." 

Abraham and Martha had at least 10 children together. Since the first child listed was born in 1722 and they were married in 1717, it is possible that there were more children who did not survive. The children we know of are Abraham, Martha, Sarah, Joseph, Deborah, Elizabeth, Rachel, Ruth, Mary, and Benjamin.

Abraham died before December 16, 1744.   Abraham and Joseph and their heirs were willed the land known as "Two Brothers." Benjamin and his heirs were willed "Joseph and Margaret's Rest", after the death of Martha, who had a life estate.  Martha was named as executrix of the will , and she filed an administration account on May 14, 1745.   John Dickeson and Larkin Pierpoint appraised the estate on May 13, 1745, and assigned a value of almost 193 pounds to Abraham's personal property.

In researching this post, I realized I have what is probably an error in the on line tree.  Besides the line shown below, which I believe to be correct, I also show Abraham and Martha as parents of Parnell, who was born in 1705.  Now I need to research her, to see if she was Abraham's daughter at all, or whether she came through another Lakin line.  Meanwhile, I need to remove some names from the tree, until I have better information.

Most of the material for this post came from "British Roots of Maryland Familes II,", by Robert Barnes, "Bound and Determined," by Robert Barnes, and a "Forsythe-Deaver-Person Sheet, found on line at photosbymardi.com/deaver.  

The line of descent is:

Abraham Lakin-Martha Lee
Joseph Lakin-Elizabeth Parnell Fee
Mary Lakin-John Simpson Aldridge Sr
John Simpson Aldridge Jr-Lucinda Wheeler
Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Dunham
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Beeks children, grandchildren, great grandhildren, and great great grandchildren