William Amos's story is a little different than some of our other immigrant stories. He arrived in the Colonies roughly 100 years later than many of our immigrants did, and he apparently went straight to Maryland, if he didn't land there. At least, so far, I haven't found records of his immigration, or of his birth, or even of his parents, for that matter. He is thought to have been born about 1689-1690, and the report on Ancestry about the Amos name (possibly Amiss in England) says the family lived primarily in southeastern England.
The first records that we find are from 1730, when he purchased land in what was then Baltimore County but is now Harford County, Maryland. So had he already been here several years, working to save enough to purchase land, or was he a new immigrant? Records sure would be nice. He came from England, as his headstone states, and he was a member of the Church of England at a time when there were other choices in Maryland. (Son William became a Quaker and served as a minister in that movement for many years.)
Many trees state that his wife was Ann Mauldin and that seems reasonable to me but it isn't proven. So we'll just say that his wife's name was Ann. The couple had six sons and one daughter that are known, and as with any long ago family, there may have been others. We can guess that he was a tobacco farmer, because the excerpt from his will that I have seen gives Ann "one negro girl named Feebe" and the use of "all my negroes" while she remained unmarried. It's hard to accept that we had slave-owning ancestors but these are not our only ancestors who did this.
William acquired several parcels of land during his lifetime, beginning with Branter's Ridge and Joshua's Forest which were recorded November 9, 1730. As I think about it, this could very well indicate that William had been in the country longer, simply because many times deeds weren't recorded right away. It's a possibility, anyway. I found one statement that he acquired more than 1300 acres so he was either successful or in debt, or both.
His plantation was known as "Mount Soma" (Soma being Amos spelled backwards) and this remained in the family for generations. It was given to Harford County with the understanding that it would be kept as a park/historical site but most of the land was sold to a private water company for development as a reservoir after the house was burned by vandals. The stone barn, at least part of which was constructed by William Amos, is badly deteriorating but is in the process of restoration at this time, and it, at least, is still owned by the county.
William's will was written 9/24/1757 and proven 3/10/1759. I haven't seen the book myself, but it is documented as being Baltimore Co. Will Book 2, page 317, and I'd love to have a copy of it!
The line of descent is:
William Amos-Ann
James Amos-Hannah Clarke
Benjamin Amos-Sarah Bussey
Elizabeth Amos-Robert Amos (yes, cousins)
Martha Amos-Peter Black
Elizabeth Black-Isaac Hetrick
Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
The second line is
William Amos-Ann
James Amos-Hannah Clarke
Robert Amos-Martha McComas
Robert Amos-Elizabeth Amos (cousins, see above)
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