In just a few years, it will be the 400th anniversary of this ancestor's birth, and in ensuing years, much of his history has been lost. Court records were burned, church records apparently are gone, and even in London, his records have not been located, or at least not made easily available. This post will merely lay out possibilities for the mother (possibly plural) of his children, and speculation about one of the children. We are on fairly solid ground for two of the children, anyway.
Samuel was born about 1628 in England, possibly London, and went with his family to Providence Island in the Bahamas until sometime later. He was a Puritan and returned to England, possibly under the Cromwell rule, and became a pastor there. His first marriage was to Barbara Roddam, the daughter of Edmund Roddam, who was also a pastor. Then things get murky. Samuel was in Anne Arundel County, Maryland by 1663, when there are a few records available. The Maryland records show that his wife was Margaret, the daughter of Frances and Katherine (possibly Dudley) Mauldin. But the dates are all over the place. Barbara died in 1664, or 1671, or some other date. He married Margaret in either 1669 or 1679. So it is theoretically possible that he was a bigamist, although given that this was a man of some social standing, that seems unlikely to me. It's possible that the children's birth dates (all in the 1670s) are incorrect, and that they were born earlier, to Barbara. It's possible that there was a second wife between Barbara and Margaret, who is yet unknown. Or it's possible that the date of 1669 for his marriage to Margaret is correct, and that the children are hers. Samuel died in 1681, probably in Lord Baltimore's War, It has been suggested that he died in a skirmish with members of the Seneca tribe, but I've not been able to verify that.
At any rate, there are three children listed in Samuel's will.
Dutton was probably the first born son, born about 1670.. I have been unable to find an earlier "Dutton" in the family of Lane, Roddam, or Mauldin, so I am uncertain where this name came from. He married Pretitia (various spellings; I chose the easiest one) Tydings, the daughter of Richard and Charity Sparrow Tydings. Their children are Samuel, Dutton, Richard, Margaret, and Sarah. Dutton died in 1726 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and I will follow this family further in my next post.
Samuel was born about 1672. He married Sarah Harrison, the daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Smith Harrison. Their children are Richard, Joseph, Nathan, Samuel, Benjamin, Thomas, Elizabeth, Harrison, and Sarah. He died in 1719 in Anne Arundel County.
There was also a daughter, Sarah, mentioned in her father's will. I am not sure what happened to her. Some say she married a Thomas Hooker in New Jersey, but I am not convinced this is the same Sarah. Her story still needs to be found and told.
I should mention that some trees also show him as a father to Elizabeth and Grace. I think it's more likely that these were step-children, so I've not attempted to learn more of their stories.
I mentioned that Samuel was a man of some social standing. He apparently did not have a congregation in Maryland; perhaps his first wife's death had something to do with that. He was referred to as a gentleman, chirurgeon (surgeon, but not trained to our understanding of the word), doctor, doctor of physics, justice of the peace, gentleman of the quorum, and a military major, as well as a planter. I just wish we knew more about his wives and children, however many there were.
