Holbrook line: James Amos 1721-1805

At first I was excited to realize I could write a blog post (maybe) about James Amos or Amoss.  I had basic information about him, I've written about his father, and I've stood at the grave of his great granddaughter.  I felt a personal connection to this man, who had Quaker ancestors and family, and was part of what was apparently a well respected family in Harford (then it was Baltimore) county, Maryland.  And when I found that he was recognized as a patriot during the Revolutionary War, I thought there must be more to his story. 

There is indeed more.  Some of it is speculation, there is much I don't yet know, and some of it is cold, hard, hurtful facts.  But it's family history and we need to know about it. 

James Amos was born or baptized February 10, 1721 in Baltimore County, Maryland.  He was the son of William and Ann Mauldin Amoss (not sure exactly when the second "s" got dropped.  I am finding it both ways in records).  He married Hannah Clarke, daughter of Robert and Selina Smith Clarke, on January 22, 1739 at St George's Parish in Baltimore County, Maryland.  This would put him slightly under 18 years old, which makes me think the 1721 birth date might actually be a baptismal or christening date, and he may have been a bit older than that.  Hannah was also just slightly younger than 18 years old at the time of the marriage.  Their first child was born about two years later, and they had seven known children together. 

The family actually lived in what is now Harford County, Maryland, not far from the town of Joppa.  Joppa was established as a "port of entry" city on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay.  When it was founded in 1671, there was a good business there.  Ships came to load tobacco and traded needed goods with the farmers there.  It was actually the capital of Baltimore County until 1768, when the port at Joppa silted over and the advantages of Baltimore's port became more obvious.  Fifty years later, there was almost nothing left of Joppa. 

I think the Amos family lived outside of town, on one of the "plantations" that the area supported.  The area was far enough east that it doesn't appear to have suffered during the French and Indian war, although it's possible that our ancestor, or his brothers, may have served in the militia and would have gone to the frontier to protect against violent incursions from the native Americans. This is my speculation only-I haven't found his name on any list as of yet.  Other than that possibility, the Amos family probably just stayed put and raised their crops. 

Of course, raising crops meant raising tobacco, and raising tobacco meant having either indentured servants or slaves, as labor for the crops.  Sure enough, in the 1790 census Janes has 23 slaves and in the 1800 census he has (possibly) 14.  I'm not sure what that column represents in the census but it seems that 14 represents the number of enslaved people.  It may be that his land had become worn out and he was winding down farm operations by the year 1800.  One wonders what happened to the others: were they sold, or did they die natural deaths, or what happened to them? 

I've seen it noted that James Amos took the Oath of Fidelity required by the Colony of Maryland in 1778, which is the basis for his being listed as a patriot by the Daughters of the American Revolution.  I've not seen the actual documentation for this, so I'm just putting it out there as a possibility. 

The next word we have of him, other than that 1790 census, is also from 1790.  Apparently the Amos family had fallen on hard times, because they were behind on their tax payments. James and two of his sons had sheriff's auctions threatened, which is sort of a good thing because we know a little about James's holdings in 1790.  The Maryland Gazette of September 23, 1790 lists the properties in question as : one tract of land called James's Care, containing 135 acres; one other tract of land called Branston Ridge, containing 95 acres; part of one other tract of land called For Hills; one other trace of land called Shaw's Dependence, containing 12; and one other tract of land called Shaw's Privilege, containing 71 acres.  So James had been acquiring land by bits and pieces, apparently, and now he was in a bit of trouble.  Until I can find land records to review, I have no way of knowing whether he saved the land but my guess is that he did. 

For a death date, I've seen everything from April 1, 1797 to sometime in 1805.  I'm still searching for an accurate source to pin down the death date.  If we take the 1797 date as correct, he was 76 years old when he died, which was old age at that time.  Hannah is believed to have died about 1776, and it is possible that he married again, to a Martha Bradford. 

Obviously there is much to learn about James Amos.  There are stories to be told and and questions to be answered/  I would especially like to find his will or otherwise determine what happened to the slaves.  For now, this is what I know about our ancestor, James Amos.

The line of descent is
James Amos-Hannah Clarke
Robert Amos Martha McComas
Robert Amos-Elizabeth Amos (yes, first cousins)
Martha Amos-Peter Black
Elizabeth Black-Isaac Hetrick
Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

George Smith 1639-1704 Immigrant

Some of our ancestors are relatively easy to find; some like to play hide and seek.  And some seem to have clones, just to confuse us.  So, I think I'm tracking George Smith of Maryland, but perhaps I'm wrong.  So, here goes...

Many sites show that George's parents are Richard Smith and Elizabeth Halford, and give a birth date and location for George as February of 1639, in Shepshed, Leicestershire, England.  I found a birth record for that date for George Smith, but it shows his parents as Richard Smith and Margery.  Since Richard Smith and Elizabeth Halford seem to have ended up in Connecticut, I'm not convinced that Richard and Elizabeth are correct.  Let's go with Richard and Margery for now. 

The first thing we know of George is that he is shows up in Maryland in 1663.  If our 1639 date is correct, he would be about 24 years old, and he may or may not be the George Smith who married Anne Webster in 1656 in Leicestershire, England.  If this is our couple, he would have been 17 and she just fourteen, so I have my doubts.  He is reported to have had two sons with Anne, Richard and George, before she died in 1675, possibly in Cecil County, Maryland.    George waited about 20 years before marrying Hannah, possibly Hannah Freeborne, in 1694 in Baltimore, Maryland.  He and Hannah had at least two children, William and Selina, with time between the two children for another who may not have lived long (my speculation, no documentation for that).

We see only bits and pieces of George Smith in Maryland.  He may be the man who was elected vestryman of St Georges Parish, Baltimore County, in 1692.  This would have been his church and tithing area.  His tax district was the Spesutia Huntred and in 1692 he was taxed on three males, himself and also Joseph Lee and John Howard.  They were possibly indentured servants, but their term of service was up, or sold to others, by 1695 when George Smith was taxed on George Smith Junior and one slave.  (He may well have had more slaves, especially younger than 16, or women.  It seems not unreasonable to wonder whether he had a slave family under his control by this time.) 

That is all I could find about George Smith until his death April 20, 1704.  I haven't yet found a will or inventory that I feel confident belongs to our George, although surely either a will, or an inventory, or both, should have been prepared.  Someone important enough to be a vestryman, and to "own" a slave, would have wanted to make sure his property was passed on to his family.  I'll keep looking for that. 

I don't really think I have a grasp of this man or his life at all.  Did he fight in any battles, serve in the militia, hold any offices other than that of vestryman?  Was he of low economic status, or did he have at least some goods to leave his family?  We know from the term "vestryman" that he was of the Church of England, which leads one to wonder how his birth family fared during the English Civil War.  He would have lived in England through the reign of Oliver Cromwell, and then the Restoration of Charles II.  How did those experiences influence his thinking?  This man generates questions, but the answers are sadly lacking. 

Our line of descent is:

George Smith-Hannah Freeborne
Selina Smith-Robert Clarke
Hannah Clarke-James Amos
Robert Amos-Martha McComas
Robert Amos-Elizabeth Amos (yes, cousins)
Martha Amos-Peter Black
Elizabeth Black-Isaac Hetrick
Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

Holbrook line: William Amos about 1690-1759, Immigrant

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)

Holbrook line: Thurston Clarke, Immigrant, abt 1590-1661

 Update 8/11/2022  This man is not our ancestor.  I am leaving the post up, however, in case someone is interested in reading about him.  The error is that Sarah Doty did not marry Josiah Standish, according to current research.

Sadly, I don't know the parentage of Thurston (aka Tristam) Clarke.  He is believed to have come from Ipswich, Suffolk, England, but even with that clue no one has found his birth or christening record yet.  There are a few trees that give his birth date as 1574 and give him parents, but those parents were also born in the 1570s and as such, are probably too young to be Thurston's parents.  So the search goes on. 

We know very little of Thurstan's life in England.  He married a woman named Faith, possibly Faith Loes, and they had six children.  Two died in England and one died when she was about twelve, so there were three children who came to America.  We can't trace the arrival of anyone other than Thurstan and Faith the daughter, who came to America on the Francis in 1634.  It appears that his wife, Faith, stayed in England until after Abigail died in 1637.  Perhaps the boys stayed behind, too, to help their mother with all that was needed during the time of Abigail's illness. 

The early death of Mary Clarke, daughter of Thurstan and Faith, who only lived about a month, resulted in a sentence of death by hanging of Anna Puse, wife of Richard Puse of Ipswich.  She was tried as a witch for having caused the death of Mary, by "inchantments, witchcraftes and charmes".   I have not been able to verify that she actually was hanged, but it's possible.  From the books I've read, it was somewhat unusual for a married woman to be accused of such a crime, and this was a little late in the witchcraft scare, but someone had to be one of the last to be hanged, I suppose. 

Thurstan had been a husbandman in England and was a husbandman again in his new home of Plymouth Colony, in what became Duxbury.  He was a neighbor of William Brewster and Miles Standish, but was not nearly as prominent in the running of the colony.  He was educated to a certain point, or at least his inventory included a Bible and a psalmbook.  His sons were admonished in 1644 for not frequenting the public assemblies on the Lord's Day.  From this, we can conclude that Thurstan and Faith did attend, and that they didn't have total control over their sons.  That second factor mught have made them feel uncomfortable in a conformist colony like Plymouth. 

The only evidence we have of participating in colony life was that he was appointed a surveyor of highways in 1655. 

His death on December 6, 1661 was sad.  The jury determined that he had died of cold and exposure, as his body was found covered in ice.  It is also possible that he had a heart attack or other life ending event, and that the body froze after his death, but we will never know for sure.  He had been traveling on foot between Duxbury and Plymouth when he died. 

His estate was quite small, only 97 pounds.  His wife died in 1663 and at that time daughter Faith was granted 1/4 of the estate, with the balance going to the sons Henry and Thurstan Jr.  Henry and Thurstan were found in 1690 to be impoverished and unable to take care of their needs, so arrangements were made that they would be cared for.  John Doty, their nephew, was directed to care for them. 

Thurstan had a difficult life.  He lost three children young, his sons didn't amount to much, as we would say today, and he didn't built much of an estate.  However, he came to America with his three children, and built a home and a life here, and for that, we can be grateful. 

I would certainly like to know what his thoughts were about the witchcraft trial for the woman accused of killing his daughter.  Did he instigate the charge, or did his wife?  What was the relationship between these families?  Why would the court have found the woman guilty?  If there was a hanging, did Thurstan and his wife attend?  This part of his life is difficult to comprehend, but it is part of his story.

The line of descent is:

Thurstan Clarke-Faith possibly Loes
Faith Clarke-Edward Doty
Samuel Doty-Jane Harman
Sarah Doty-Josiah Standish
Hannah Standish-Nathan Foster
Nathan Foster Elizabeth Lansford
Jude Foster-Lydia M
Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore
Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Allen line: Frances Mauldin Holbrook line: Francis Mauldin 1600-1644

I'm counting this ancestor, my 8th and 9th great grandfather, under the Allen line, simply because I have very few Allen ancestors left to write about  However, he is also an ancestor in our Holbrook line, which technically means, I think, that we who have both Allen and Holbrook lines are our own cousins.  Hmmm...It's a good thing that's a long way back!

Of course frustratingly little is known of our double ancestor, Francis Mauldin.  He is said to have been born in 1600 in London, England, the son of another Francis Mauldin.  He emigrated from England to New Norfolk County, Virginia, with his wife, believed to be Katherine Sutton, and their daughter Margaret.  Katherine was probably dead by 637 or 1638, and Francis then married Grace Bennett, and had at least one child, grace, with her.  There may have been more children with Grace, and the mother of son Francis Mauldin is, as of this writing, not identified, at least not to my satisfaction. 

Francis, his wife Katherine and daughter Margaret came to Virginia in 1634.  He paid passage for his wife plus six other persons, some or all of whom would have worked for him as indentured servants until their labor paid francis for the cost of the passage, plus completing whatever the other terms of the indentureship were.  The length of any indentureship would have depended partly on the age of the men and partly on what skills they brought with them.  Francis initially would have had help in settling and farming the 450 acres he received as headrights for his family and the other six men.  This land was on the north side of the Nansemod River.  .

After the loss of his first wife, he married Grace Bennett and in just a few years, imported two servants, and received headrights for them.  It is thought that he also acquired additional land before his death.  Given the locations of the land, it is likely that at least one of the crops Mauldin raised was tobacco.  

This is what is known of Francis Mauldin, the first of the name in America.  His son Francis Mauldin became a carpenter, and his widow went to Maryland about 1649, possibly in search of religious freedom. 

Our lines of descent are:

Allen line:

Francis Mauldin-Katherine probably Sutton
Margaret Mauldin-Samuel Lane
Dutton Lane-Pretitia Tydings
Samuel Lane-Mary Jane Corbin
Lambert Lane Nancy Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George R Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants

The Holbrook line is

Francis Mauldin-Grace Bennett
Francis Mauldin-Elizabeth Mackall
Ann Maulden-William Amos
James Amos-Hannah Clarke
Benjamin Amos-Sarah Bussey
Elizabeth Amos-Robert Amos
Martha Amos-Peter Black
Elizabeth Black-Isaac Hetrick
Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

Holbrook line: James Mackall, Scottish Immigrant, 1630-1693

This is the stuff of which legends are made.  The question is, is it true?  Was James Mackall a prisoner of war sent to Maryland by the British, or did he come of his own will and volition?  It depends on what you want to believe, I guess, because I'm not finding documentation that says that the James Mackall born in 1630 in Scotland was the same James Mackall who arrived in Calvert County in about 1666.  I'm not finding that his wife was Mary Grahame, although many, many sites list it as such.  But what I am finding is intriguing.

Our James was in Maryland by 1666, and I do believe he was of Scottish origin.  His wife's name was Mary and she may have been Mary Grahame, the daughter of John Grahame and Barbara Stewart.  If this is the same James Mackall, he has quite an interesting line in Scotland which includes some of the great names of Caithness.  The problem is, there was another James MacKall who was born about the same time, who went to New England about the same time and who others have given the parents as James Mackall and Mary Grahame.  This James's life in New England is fairly well documented.  Of course, the two James Mackalls could well have come from the same family, but it is difficult to find proof.

The New England James Mackall was definitely a prisoner of war of the English, sent to New England to work as an ironworker.  Our James Mackall of Maryland may also have been a prisoner of war, but he also may have been a free Scotsman, coming to Maryland because of economic opportunity as well as religious freedom.  He is reported to have received a land grant of 30,000 acres in Calvert County, which is exceptionally large and indicates that he was a person of some prestige when he arrived here. 

Our James was a planter, with a large plantation called "The Clifts" in Calvert County, Maryland. He also purchased another plantation called "The Cage."  It seems to have been a matter of debate as to the number of his children. The most inclusive list I've seen lists eight children, with two named Anne and two named Elizabeth, plus John, James, Benjamin, and Martha.  He  left a will at his death in 1693 which mentioned specifically one slave, Tobe, who was to go to his wife and then his youngest son, Benjamin.  It is likely that with land as vast as his was, there would have been more slaves. Mary died in 1718. 

The confusing part of all this, as far as our family goes, is that what I have found doesn't give Elizabeth Mackall Mauldin as a child in the will.  Of course it is possible that she was given land at the time of her marriage to Frances Mauldin in 1687.  Oftentimes such gifts are noted in the will but there seems to be no mention of it in this instance. 

There are so many mysteries about this man.  What was his background?  Was he really granted 30,000 acres in Calvert County?  Was he a Covenanter, or a Roman Catholic, or was he Anglican?  Did he and Ninian Beall know each other in Scotland?  And was his wife really from the famous Grahame family?  I've presented various theories here, but other than his arrival date, his land, and his will, much of his life is still open for further research.  It would be fascinating to learn the answers!

Our proposed line of descent is:

James Mackall-Mary Grahame
Elizabeth Mackall-Frances Mauldin
Ann Mauldin-William Amos
James Amos-Hannah Clarke
Robert Amos-Martha McComas
Robert Amos-Elizabeth Amos
Martha Amos-Peter Black
Elizabeth Black-Isaac Hetrick
Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

Holbrook line: Ralph Wheelock abt 1600-1683 Immigrant

There is so much written about Ralph Wheelock, including an easily accessible article on Wikipedia, that I am not sure why I am writing this post.  However, because my family may not be aware of their connection to him, I will give just the bare outlines of his life.  We need to know our past, so we can walk proudly into the future.

It seems most likely, although unproven, that Ralph Wheelock was born or christened on May 14, 1600 in Donington, Shropshire, England.  He know that his parents must have had money, because he was educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, with John Milton and John Elliot as classmates.  He enrolled in 1623 and obtained a bachelor of arts degree in 1626 and a master of arts in 1630 or 1631.  Cambridge was a center for Puritan thought and he participated in that movement while there.

Less than two weeks after obtaining his master of arts degree, and being ordained by Francis White, biship of Norfolk, he married Rebecca Clarke, daughter of Thomas Clarke and Mary Canne, in the church of Wramplingham St. Peter and Paul, Wramplingham, England.  It appears that he served as local curate in Banham, Norfolk, and then in some capacity in Eccles.  We don't know when or whether his beliefs as a Puritan brought him up against the requirements of the Church of England, but it is believed that he, along with his wife and three children Mary, Gershom and Rebecca, sailed to Boston in 1637.  There may have been a daughter, Peregrina, born at sea, also. 

They first settled in Watertown, but by 1638 Rev. Wheelock was one of the founding fathers and first settlers at Dedham, Massachusetts.  Four children were born to the couple there, Benjamin, Samuel, Record, and Experience.  In 1639, he was chosen to be one of eight town 'assayers', or selectmen, and was also made a freeman.  In 1642 he was appointed the General Court Clerk of Writs, which was included legal duties and also the authority to dispense lands. 

Rev. Wheelock's first love was teaching school, and he may have been the first teacher of a public school in America.  The school was voted on February 1, 1644 and Wheelock was the first teacher, but it's not clear exactly when the school began. 

In 1651, the family was preparing to move again, to a settlement they helped found that became the town of Medfield.  The last son, Eleazur, was born there, and the Wheelocks had finally found their permanent home.  Rev. Wheelock was the leader of the committee of seven that founded the town, and received the first house lot there.  He served on the board of selectmen for several years, and was a representative to the General Court in Massachusetts five different times.  He was also the first school teacher there.

Rebecca Clarke Wheeler died January 1, 1680 and Reverend Ralph died January 11,1683.  His will gave several grants of land to his sons and sons in law, and added a comment that "Further my will is that my books not formerly disposed of shall after my decease shall be Devided amongst my children."  I would love to find an inventory of his books, to see what was important in his life besides the Bible, and what he used to teach his family and his students.

We have had a lot of schoolteachers in our family, and it's fascinating to think that somehow some of this man's influence reached to his descendents, many generations later. 

The line of descent is:

Ralph Wheelock-Rebecca Clarke
Benjamin Wheelock-Elizabeth Bullen
Benjamin Wheelock-Huldah Thayer
Mary Wheelock-Ebenezer Thayer
Abigail Thayer-Jesse Holbrook
Amariah Holbrook-Molly Wright
Nahum Holbrook-Susanna Rockwood
Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendents

Since Molly Wright is mentioned in this descent, the update is that there is no update.  I am supposed to hear something from NEHGS this week, but thus far, all is silent.  Soon, very soon! 

Holbrook line: Robert Clarke Surveyor-General to Lord Baltimore

This ancestor doesn't fit the mold of most of the family. He wasn't Puritan, he didn't go to New England, and he apparently died with much less than he had owned earlier in his lifetime.  It's more of a riches to rags story, and much of it has to do with the fact that he wasn't Puritan. In fact, he was a Roman Catholic and narrowly escaped being hanged. 

Let's start at the beginning, which seems to be not as pinpointed as we would like.  He was born either in London or Rotherhithe, County Surrey, England, the son of Robert Clarke and Mary Futter, in either 1610 or 1611.  There is a Robert Clarke, son of Robert Clarke, baptized March 28, 1610 at St Mary, Islington, Middlesex.  Islington is now a part of London, and at the time Robert was born, still had a genteel, affluent feel to it.  I think this is a possible candidate for being our Robert.

We know nothing of his life for the next 27 or so years.  In 1637, he arrived at St Mary's City in Maryland on board the ship Unity.  St Mary's was founded in 1627 as a religious haven for both Catholics and Protestants, and toleration did mark the first years of the colony.  By 1638 he was a freeman and a member of the Privy Council of Maryland, and he was made Surveyor General of Lord Baltimore.  This indicates to me that he was a man with "good connections" if not money.  He seems to have had represented Father Thomas Copley, a Roman Catholic missionary, in dealings with the native Americans, and was on good terms with them. 

He sat in the House of the Assembly in 1649 and frequently thereafter, and several documents from his time as Surveyor-General still exist and bear his signature.  He must have been an educated man, to hold these positions and to be able to sign his name.  At various times, he was a privy councillor, a burgess, and a judge, so he was highly respected.  In 1651, was was a steward of Calverton, which was a 10,000 acre property reserved for a secure "habitation" for the tribes of six Indian nations. 

Maryland was not exempt from the disputes in England that caused the Civil War there, which (to over-simplify) was a religious war between the Catholics and the Protestants.  After England's troubles were settled, Maryland was still at war and the battle of Severn in 1655 is considered the last of the battles of the English civil war. Once again, it was Puritans (who had taken control of Maryland earlier) versus the Catholics, whose leadership had gone to Virginia.  We don't know where Robert was during this time, but we know that when the Catholics attacked to retake "their" land, Robert was one of those captured and sentenced to death.  Some of the prisoners were hanged, but women of the area petitioned to stop the killings and the remaining prisoners basically had to pay a ransom for their freedom. Robert's ransom was 10,000 pounds of tobacco.  He did not have that amount, so he ended up losing his land on Britton's Bay.

Robert had married three times.  His first wife was believed to have been Eleanor, but no further information is available regarding her surname or family.  He is believed to have married about 1640, and to have had two children with Eleanor, John and Mary.  By his second wife, Winifred Seybourne, whom he married in 1651, he had two additional children, Robert and Thomas.  He married again to Jane Hicks in 1661, but had no children from that marriage.  His will lists his children as John, Robert, Thomas and Mary. John had reached his majority but Robert was 12 and Thomas was 10 when the will was written.

Robert died July 21, 1664 in Charles County, Maryland. He mentions giving John all his "lands, tenements and herediments whatsoever" but it doesn't appear that he had title to any remaining property in Maryland.

So, here we have a faithful Catholic, a prominent gentleman, and a public servant for much of his life. There is much to honor here, even if he doesn't quite fit into our family mold.  Here's the line of descent:

Robert Clarke-Eleanor
John Clarke-Ann possibly Dent
Robert Clarke-Selina Smith
Hannah Clarke-James Amos
Robert Amos-Martha McComas
Robert Amos-Elizabeth Amos (yes, they were cousins)
Martha Amos-Peter Black
Elizabeth Black-Isaac Hetrick
Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendents

Holbrook line: Robert Amos 1771-1826

Robert Amos was born in 1771 and died in 1826.  He was born in Baltimore County, Maryland and died in Harford County, Md., but these were probably the same, or very close to the same, locations.  Harford County was formed from part of Baltimore County in 1774.  There are indications that at one time the family estate was very large, and based on the early land records I've found, that is probably the case.  My deduction is that the family probably raised tobacco, as that is the main crop cash of Maryland during this time period.  My question about this would involve slaves: Did this family own them?  If not, how was the land planted, tended, and harvested?  I know that at least some of the Amos family were Quakers, which would make it difficult to reconcile slavery with the family holdings.

As usual, I don't know much about this man.  He was born May 6, 1771 in Baltimore County to Robert Amos and Martha McComas, the second of 10 children.  He married Elizabeth Amos on January 2, 1792, in Harford County.  As the daughter of Benjamin Amos and Sarah Bussey, she was his first cousin.  Their common grandparents were James Amos and Hannah Clarke. 

He must have been a highly respected man, because beginning in 1796 he was sheriff of the county,  and held that position for 20 years.  I've not yet found any record of him in military records, so I don't know whether he served in the military during the war of 1812, or not. 

He and Elizabeth had at least 8 children:  Martha, Sarah, Benjamin, Mary Ann, Elizabeth, Ellen, Corbin, and Robert.  Martha was born in 1792. I believe Robert was the last child.  The birth date I have for him is a bit hazy, "about 1818" but if that is so, his birth may have contributed to Elizabeth's death in 1818.

Robert and Elizabeth are both buried in the Amos Family Cemetery on the old Corbin Amos farm, on Baldwin Mill road in Harford County.  This is a small family cemetery, that also includes the burial site of Robert's parents and  Robert Jr.'s brother, Daniel, and his wife, Sarah.  Also buried there is Robert Jr.'s sister, Martha Amos McComas, and her husband, Aquila McComas.  It is possible that other family members are buried there, also, but this is the only record we have. 

Of course, there is more that I would love to know, much of which I've already mentioned. Was he in the War of 1812? Were there slaves? Is my assumption that the main crop was tobacco correct? What religion was he?  Is there a will? What was the cause of death? He died at age 55, which is somewhat young.  I'd love to go to Harford County and do more research on this family!

Our line of descent is:

Robert Amos-Elizabeth Amos
Martha Amos-Peter Black
Elizabeth Black-Isaac Hetrick
Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Lois/Gladys/Ray/Howard
children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of Lois and of Gladys.