Allen line: Dutton Lane 1670-1726

 Dutton Lane-I wonder where he got the name "Dutton"?  I have names for 6 of his 8 great grand parents, and none were named Dutton.  There was an English family in the 16th century with a Sir DuttonSir Piers Dutton, but he died in 1545 so any "proof" that our Dutton ties into that family would likelyh bew difficult indeed.  Perhaps it was just a distinctive name at the time.  

Dutton Lane, however he acquired his name, was born in September 1670 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, the son of Major Samuel and Margaret Mauldin Lane.  (Margaret is also seen as Margaret Evans and as Margaret Burrage.  Her full name would be Margaret Mauldin Burrage Lane Evans.)  Dutton had at least three Burrage half siblings, two full brothers and a sister, and one half brother.  He would have lived in several different homes, first one that originally had belonged to his father, then later to one that belonged to his mother and had earlier belonged to her first husband, and finally probably on that of his step father, Job Evans.  (I say 'probably" because I've not yet found a date for Dutton's marriage.  Margaret married her third husband in 1695, and the dates I have for Dutton's children start in 1700, but those dates vary from site to site so I don't think the dates are well researched. 

We do know that Dutton's wife was Pretitia (various spellings) Tydings, daughter of Richard and possibly Charity Sparrows Tydings.  (The jury is still out on the name of RIchard's wife, but many researchers have accepted Charity as the mother.  New England has good records, those that survived, because the vital records were kept by the towns.  In Maryland, they were kept by the parishes.  If those records survived, they were generally not complete and they often didn't survive.)  

I have seen Dutton referred to as a "Reverend" but I believe that title goes to a grandson.  Dutton probably started out as a member of the Church of England, but he may (or may not) have become a Quaker.  His name is seen on several lists of wedding witnesses, but I haven't found him listed anywhere as a part of the Society of Friends, so the most we can say is that he had friends or relatives who were Quaker.  

Dutton ran into financial difficulties in the early years of his marriage.  We don't know what they were-whether he had lost money to an agent, whether crops failed, whether he had signed notes for someone who couldn't or didn't meet their obligations, or whether perhaps he had lost money in land speculation.  Whatever happened, he had to sell most of the properties that he had inherited, as well as those of his wife, and about 1703 he and his family went to the Carolinas for a while.  (I've not been able to verify this with any documents so it's possible that he merely took an "extended business trip", but the financial difficulty and the Carolinas residence is mentioned in "The Lane Family: The Descendants of Major Samuel Lane" compiled by Larry A James in 1986.  I have not seen the book so I don't know what his references are.)

Dutton was back in Baltimore County by 1708 and he was a deputy sheriff in 1713.  He may have had an illness or close call in 1716 when he wrote his will, but he lived until October 8, 1726.  He still owned two tracts of land, one of which he left to his sons and one he left to his daughters.  Five of the seven children he and Pretitia had are mentioned in the will.  Perhaps the others had died young.  Pretitia had died in 1716; perhaps that explains why he wrote his will then.  

Since he owned two tracts of land when he died, and had earlier owned several others, the probability exists that he was a slaveholder.   That is one avenue for further research.  Others would be the cause of his financial difficulties, where he was and what he was doing during his time in the "Carolinas", and his religious beliefs.  Since some of his land was considered frontier, it would be interesting to know whether he was part of any militia and whether he was ever on active duty.  

Dutton left a legacy of patriot sons and grandsons.  We can thank him for his contribution to our country, while we continue to look for more information about his life, and about his ancestors, and about where the name of "Dutton" originated.

The line of descent is:

Dutton Lane-Pretitia Tydings

Samuel Lane-Mary Jane Corbin

Lambert Lane-Nancy Anne Anderson

Nancy Lane-James McCoy

Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson

Nancy McCoy-George Allen

Edward Allen-Edith Knott 

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants