Henry Ward 1638-1683

 

Henry Ward was probably born in England before 1647, and died in New Castle County, Delaware, about 1683/84.

 

Henry's daughter Rebecca's will transcriptions frequently mention that he was "of Somerset". Please note that this may refer to Somersetshire, England, not Somerset County, Maryland and did not appear in the original. Need to work further on this to make sure.

 

Rebecca Ward, the only daughter of Henry Ward, dec., - (nunc.), left a will proved on 9 August 1695. To Johannes Vanderheyden, brother to testatrix's father in law, Matthias Vanderheyden, personalty. To brothers and sisters (unnamed), residue of estate. Witnessed by Matthew Vanderheyden, Edward Jones, Edward Larrimore, Matthew Chapman, Angell Mayr. [Maryland Will Books 7:116]

 

In his early years, Henry Ward is difficult to track through the colonial records. Several Ward families resided in Maryland and even in Cecil County during the first decades of European settlement.

 

• The name Henry Ward appears in the Middle Atlantic region at least as early as 1637 when one of that name emigrated to Virginia (George Cabell Greer, Early Virginia Immigrants, 1623-1666 [1912; repr. ed., Baltimore, 1989], 343). 
• On 22 September 1658, Henry Ward had 550 acres surveyed in the "County of Baltemore" on the Susquehanna River called Montserado.
• On 4 November 1662, a Henry Ward had 550 acres surveyed in Spesutia Hundred, Baltimore County, on the Susquehanna River at the northern-most bounds of Stockets Chance, called Mount Surredoe [note Mountserado ] (Maryland Rent Rolls: Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties, 1700-1707, 1705-1724.
• A Consolidation of Articles from the Maryland Historical Magazine 1924-1931; reprint ed., Baltimore, 1976], 20). On 4 July 1665 a Henry Ward claimed a land patent for transporting himself and 20 others to Maryland (Maryland Hall of Records, Patents, 8:484).

 

 

22 September 1658 - Henry Ward had the twenty second of September Anno Dom one thousand six hundred & fifty eight surveyed for him a tract of Land Called Mountserado in the County of Baltemore upon the west side of Susquehana River begining at a marked Chesnutt Oak standing on the side of a hill and runing from the said Tree up the River North two hundred and seventy five perches to a marked Birtch tree standing on a point and from the said Birtch west unto the woods three hundred and twenty perches bounded on the west by a Line draw south south east two hund.^d and seventy five perches bounded on the south south east by a Line drawne east to the first marked oake cont.^a and Laid out for five hundred and fifty acres and patt.^t

http://aomol.net/000001/000720/html/am720--24.html

 

On 4 November 1662, Henry Ward had 550 acres surveyed in Spesutia Hundred, Baltimore County, on the Susquehanna River at the northern-most bounds of Stockets Chance, called Mount Surredoe (Maryland Rent Rolls: Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties, 1700-1707, 1705-1724. [2 Nov 1710: Henry Ward of Cecil County, conveyed 250 acres Montserada to Edward Parrish of AA Co., cooper, in exchange for 300 acres of Hay Down, located on the south side of Capt. John's Creek on the south side of the Elk River.9TR#A:463)]

 

From the year 1659 to 1674, the land that had been taken up and patented on the Western Shore from the mouth of the Patapsco River to the head of the bay, and on the Eastern Shore from the head of the bay as far south as Worten Creek, as well as that along the rivers on the Eastern Shore was described as being in Baltimore County.  The boundaries of Baltimore County originally took in all of present day Baltimore, Harford and Cecil counties, as well as parts of Carroll and Anne Arundel counties.

 

Baltimore County, in the period from 1665 to 1667, was a portion of the great colonial frontier. Such settlement as there was lay along the tidal rivers and creeks of the upper Bay. The canoe was the chief transportation agency. Immediately to the east and west were the half-friendly Maryland tribesmen of the Eastern Shore and Pascataway. To the northward were the Susquehannas, kept in amity by careful diplomacy, and beyond them the Iroquois, whose war parties sometimes raided the county. Immigration was filtering into the region in a slowly increasing stream but the population was yet small. For most of those who had come the obvious means of livelihood was tobacco growing. A smaller number lived by logging, carpentry, and cooperage. There seems to have been a storekeeper or two, and at least one physician. [Source: Baltimore County records of 1665-1667 contributed by Louis Dow Scisco]

 

 

 

Career

In 1664, Henry Ward may have been a part of the English military who captured Delaware from the Dutch.

In 1666, he is listed as a "marriner" in the deed for Poplar Neck.

In 1672, he was a part of the military expedition to the Whorekill in Delaware.

In 1674, he was a member of the Lower House of Maryland.

In 1675, he was a soldier at age 37.

In 1678, he was paid for his services in the late Expedition against the Nanticoke Indians.

In 1681, at age 43, he was a captain of a company of foot soldiers.

 

"Both before and after the Duke of York assumed jurisdiction of the Three Lower Counties [on Delaware] in 1664 Lord Baltimore continued to assert his right to these counties against the Duke, Swedes and Dutch. A few grants of land were made along the near coast by the governors of the Duke of York ... Penn, except along the coast, exercised no authority, not made any grants of land in Sussex [County] until after the boundary lines had been established in 1767."

 

In 1666

Maryland's first road law requires the State's counties to create roads passable by horse or by foot.

Assembly agrees to 1-year "stint" on tobacco growing, but Lord Baltimore vetoes bill.

Somerset County established by order in council.

Augustine Herman applied for naturalization. His naturalization was confirmed in 1676.

 

 

18 Assembly Proceedings, April — May 1666.

Monday the 16^th April 1666 In the Lower House of Assembly

Was read the Petition of William Gallowayfor Boat hire 

The Petition of Henry Ward for Boat hire & 1 2 pair of Shoes

 

78 Assembly Proceedings, April — May 1666.

Was Read the Pet.ⁿ of Will^m Galloway for Boate hyre &c :

And the Petⁿ of Henry Ward for payre of Stockins.

 

 

The first certain record of our Henry Ward is the 24 August 1666 survey of 1400 acres on the south side of the Elk River in Cecil County called Poplar Neck. This tract was owned by William Fisher of Virginia and his wife Elizabeth but "possesst by Henry Ward," apparently as a tenant (Cecil County Rent Roll, 1658-1707, microfilm at Maryland Historical Society). Six months later, Fisher and his wife sold Poplar Neck to Henry Ward for 21,700 pounds of tobacco (Maryland Hall of Records, Land Office, 18:274) and it became Henry's principal residence for the rest of his life. After he died, Poplar Neck passed to his only son and then continued in the family into the 19th century. The 1666/67 survey describes Henry as "Henry Ward marriner of Baltimore county," [Cecil County was not created from Baltimore County until 1676.], perhaps significant since a "Henry Ward of London, marriner" is listed in the Mayor's Court of London as having signed a financial obligation on 3 January 1657 (Coldham, Emigrants 1607-1660, 405). In November 1675 Henry Ward had a patent for land at Reedon Point, near New Castle, Delaware, confirmed by Edmund Andros for the Duke of York, and thereafter his name appears frequently in the Delaware records (Original Land Titles in Delaware Commonly Known as the Duke of York Record, 1646-1679 [Wilmington, n.d.], 163).

 

On 4 Mar 1667 (at about age 29) he owned 100 acres formerly taken up by Thomas Cauker; Baltimore County (now Cecil County), Maryland.

 

 

In 1668, Philip Calvert obtained recognition from Virginia of Maryland's claims to what is now Somerset County and actually participated in the survey of the dividing line between the two colonies with the Surveyor General of Virginia, Edmund Scarborough. At about the same time, he negotiated treaties with Lower Eastern Shore Indian tribes who were harassing English settlers. The terms of these treaties established rules of behavior in Indian-English relations that applied to whites as well as Indians, and on the whole, kept peace in the area thereafter.

 

 

1669 - Between 1669 and the overthrow of the proprietary government in 1689 the system of family government, with accompanying privileges and cliques, was at its height. During a part of this time Charles Calvert and his brother Philip were on bad terms and acted to an extent as rivals. In 1669, among the members of the council—which was also the upper house—were Charles Calvert, Philip Calvert, and William Calvert, Baker Brooke, who was brother-in-law of William Calvert, and the firm friends of the family, Jerome White and William Coursey.¹ Soon after the arrival of Charles Calvert in the province, his intimate friend, Henry Sewall, was made² secretary and a member of the council. Sewall married a daughter of Vincent Lowe, who was later a councillor and surveyor-general.³ By her he had four daughters and one son. On Sewall’s death Charles Calvert married the widow. In due course the children all married, and the husbands of the daughters—Dr. Jesse Wharton, Colonel Benjamin Rozier, Colonel William Chandler, and Philip Calvert—found their way either into the council, the provincial court, or the offices of sheriff and colonel of militia. William Burgess, whose daughter Nicholas Sewall, the son, married, became a councillor. Thomas Notley, a strong friend of the proprietor, was for some time speaker of the lower house and later became a member of the council.

 

February 10, 1669/70 - Henry Ward of Baltimore County on February 10, 1669/70, had an allowance made to him in the public levy of 1090 pounds of tobacco for the accommodation at the “Barrones” of Jerome WhiteSurveyor-General of the Province, and for his expenses at “Amickinn”, as well as for boat-hire and “3 horses prest 7 dayes” (pp. 523-524). These charges were for part of the expenses of the expedition which White had been ordered by the Council to make to lay out the northern bounds of the province as near as possible to the fortieth degree of latitude (Arch. Md. V, 56, 58). The “Barrones” were unquestionably the Barrens, an unforested band of territory some eight or nine miles in width which extended from a point near where Deer Creek flows into the Susquehanna River southwesterly across Baltimore County and beyond. These barrens antedated the settlement of the Province, and an interesting account of them will be found in a paper by William B. Marye published in the Maryland Historical Magazine in 1935 (XXX, 120-122). Amickinn has not been identified; it may lie within the bounds of what is now Pennsylvania or Delaware.

 

Deed. 1 Mar 1669-70 (age 32) Henry Ward was a witness with Augustine Herrman. John Vanheeke, gentleman, conveying to Thomas Hawker, 300 acres at Fendalls Creek, adjoining Capt. Josias Fendall’s land. Baltimore County (now Cecil County), Maryland

 

 

 

Deed, March 1, 1669-70, Thomas Howell, gentleman, and wife Elizabeth, conveying to Henry Eldesley, planter, 275 acres on the south side and a little within the mouth of Sassafras River, adjoining land taken up by William Fisher. Witnesses, John Vanheecke, Henry Ward.

 

 

Deed. 11 May 1670 (age 32), Richard Low, gentleman, conveying to John Gilbert and Abraham Wild, merchants, the tract "The Grove" of 1000 acres, bought from Philip Calvert, and also the adjoining tract “Haslemore" of 600 acres, both tracts being on the south side of the Elk River adjoining land taken up by Mounse Anderson and land of Mr. James Frisbie. Witnesses, Henry Ward, William Dunkerton. Notation “Acknowledged by Dunkerton Attrny to Captn Loe.”; Baltimore County (now Cecil County), Maryland.

 

 

Between 25 July 1670 and probably by 1675, when Henry was about 23, he first married Mary Dyer, daughter of Captain William Dyer and Mary Barrett. Mary was born ca 1639 in Boston, Massachusetts or Newport, Rhode Island. Mary's mother, Mary Barrett Dyer, was hanged on June 1, 1660 in Boston, Massachusetts for repeatedly defying a law banning Quakers from the colony. She is one of the four executed Quakers known as the Boston martyrs.

 

It is not certain how Mary Dyre and Henry Ward met but it seems likely that the common link was Mary's brother William, who was a close friend of Edmund Andros, the Governor of New York and of the former Dutch holdings in Delaware. As Collector of the Customs and a member of the Council of New York, William was concerned with the mercantile affairs of Delaware and probably had cause to visit the small settlements there (see NY Hist. Records, 12:536, 537, 540, 542, etc.). A memo by Henry Ward notes that in 1680 he sent seven hogsheads of tobacco to William Dyre at New York (Maryland Hall of Records, Testamentary Papers, Henry Ward, Box 5, Folder 8) and we can safely conclude that Dyre not only served occasionally as Ward's attorney but also that they were business associates.

 

On 26 January 1679, Henry Ward appointed Mary his attorney. She died probably in Delaware not long after 26 January 1679 at about age 39/40.   

 

 

In 1671, according to History of Cecil County by Johnston, page 76-77: Hermen obtained the grant of St. Augustine Manor from Lord Baltimore. It extended from the mouth of St. George’s Creek southward along the Delaware River, to the mouth of the Appoquinimink Creek, and west from the Delaware River to the ancient boundary of Bohemia Manor, and included the country east of Bohemia Manor from the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to the head of Appoquinimink Creek, and from the ancient eastern boundary of Bohemia Manor eastwardly to the Delaware River. Though the manor of St. Augustine was within the limits of Lord Baltimore’s charter there is reason to believe that Hermen never had possession of any part of it, except a few hundred acres on the river bank opposite Reedy Island, and probably a small tract lying near the head of the branches of Drawyer’s Creek. For it appears from an examination of a paper in the volume of Penn manuscripts in possession of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, that Hermen the next year took possession under a license from Governor Carr, of a tract of land on the river side opposite Reedy Island, and that his sons, Ephraim George, and Casparus, settled there. Their object seems to have been by so doing to claim possession of the whole manor, if Lord Baltimore succeeded in making good his whole claim as far east as the Delaware River. The authorities of Maryland having failed to extend their jurisdiction over the country claimed by Lord Baltimore by peaceable means, resolved to try the effect of force. Accordingly a military expedition was fitted out in the year 1672 and placed under the command of one Jones, who proceeded to the settlement at the Whorekill and laid waste the country and devastated it terribly.

 

1671 - Henry Ward was a tobacco planter, a dry goods merchant, and a substantial landowner in both northeast Maryland, where he was a neighbor to Augustine Herman, and in New Castle, Delaware. On 27 March 1671 Henry Ward was appointed a deputy from Cecil County to the Lower House of Assembly (William Hand Browne, ed., Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly of Maryland, 1666-1676 Baltimore, 1894 hereinafter cited as Assembly, 2:422), a position he held until 1676.

 

Deed. January 3, 1670-71, Oliver Mathiason conveying to James Frisbie, for 3,530 pounds of tobacco, 100 acres at Sassafras River bought August 4, 1667, from Peter Mounson, and adjoining the tract "Freeman" owned by Hendrick Matson. Witnesses, Henry Ward, T. Salmon. Notation of acknowledement on same date. [NOTE from author, Louis Dow Scisco: When Thomas Salmon is witness his initials  are mere convolutions, probably originating in freehand copies of his signature. In an instance on liber page 103 his initials are copied with some apparent fidelity.]

 

Letter of Attorney, May 12, 1670, Adam Claxton, mariner of Plymouth, England, appointing William Salsbury, planter, his attorney to collect from Mr. Godfrey Baylye on a bill of debt for 2,120 pounds of tobacco. Witnesses, Henry Ward, Thomas Long.

 

Deed. June 7, 1671, William Palmer, gentleman, conveying to Richard Boyer and Francis Robinson, planters, part of a tract "Plumb Park" on the south side of Sassafras River. Witnesses, John Collier, Henry Ward. Notation "June Court Anno 1671".

 

Deed, June 7, 1671, William Palmer, gentleman, conveying to John Ryley and John Webster, planters, land on west side of Swan Creek on south side of Sassafras River, with 60 perches of river frontage. Witnesses, John Collier, Henry Ward.

 

Deed, November 5, 1672, James Magreegory, planter, conveying to Hugh Fouch, planter, 200 acres on west side of Bohemia River, lately in possession of Thomas Bostwick and adjoining to land of Bryant Omeely.  Witnesses, Henry Ward, T. Salmon.

 

Deed, November 5, 1672, James Wrath, planter, and wife Elizabeth conveying to Henry Eldesley 100 acres at Sassafras River, adjoining land formerly taken up by William Fisher. Witnesses, Henry Ward, James Frisbie.

 

In 1672 (at about age 34) Henry Ward was a part of the military expedition to the Whorekill, Maryland/Delaware. According to George Johnston's History of Cecil County (Elkton: Published by author, 1881.), page 77-78. The authorities of Maryland having failed to extend their jurisdiction over the country claimed by Lord Baltimore by peacable means, resolved to try the effect of force. Accordingly a military expedition was fitted out in the year 1672 and placed under the command of one Jones, who proceeded to the settlement at the Whorekill and laid waste the country and devastated it terribly. The Dutch settlers there were more successful in their agricultural pursuits that the colonists in Maryland. And while the latter devoted all their energies to the production of tobacco, the former turned their attention to the cultivation of wheat, and were in the habit of supplying the Marylanders with it. It is said that this malignant and vindictive expedition led to the punishment of those who sent it, and that the colonists of Maryland suffered much for want of food a few years afterward when their crops failed.

 

Deed, March 2, 1672-73, Nathaniel Utie, gentleman, for 3,ooo pounds of tobacco, conveying to Rutten Garret, planter, a 300-acre portion of the 800-acre tract "Oakinton" on the north side of Swan Creek. Witnesses, Thomas Long, Henry Ward. Interpolated entry that Sheriff Thomas Carleton on March 13, 1673-74, has received from Edward Bedell, for credit of Rutgers Garret, 36 pounds of tobacco for alienation, and entry is certified by Clerk Thomas Hedge.

 

Deed, April 6, 1672, John Browning, planter, and wife Elizabeth, for 28,000 pounds of tobacco, conveying to Richard Nash, of Kent County 300 acres near Bohemia River, called Browning Plantation, patented July 21, 1664, to Abraham Morgan, who conveyed it to Thomas Browning, father of the grantor; by same deed, Henry Ward, esquire, is named attorney to record the deed. Witnesses, Augustine Herman, Rowland Williams, Thomas Shelton. Appendant certificate, April 6, that grantors have delivered seisin to Nash, signed by same witnesses.

 

Deed, August 2, 1673, William Salsbury, planter, and wife Sarah, for 6,000 pounds of tobacco, conveying to William Morgan and William Welsh, planters, the 200-acre tract "Fawmouth" on Worton Creek, adjoining land, formerly taken up by Capt. Cornwallis, patented on May 1, 1672, to Salsbury. Witnesses, Henry Ward, T. Salmon.

 

In December 1673, when Holland was briefly reasserting its sovereignty over New York and Delaware, Henry Ward joined Captain Thomas Howell of Baltimore County and 40 men in the brutal surprise attack on the Whorekill, a small, mostly Dutch settlement near present-day Lewes, Delaware (John Munroe, Colonial Delaware: A History [Milwood, N.Y., 1978], 70). Howell burned the entire town, except a small barn that had thrice resisted the torch (ibid.). In October of 1675, the Council of Maryland awarded Henry Ward 1800 pounds of tobacco for the loss of his horse at the Whorekill (Proceedings of the Council of Maryland Baltimore, 1896 hereinafter cited as Council, 15:50).

 

The original boundaries of Cecil County, as created in 1674, by proclamation of Governor Charles Calvert, are described as follows: "From the mouth of the Susquehanna River down the eastern side of the bay to Swan Point, thence to Hell Point, and so up Chester River to the head thereof." Nothing appears to have been said about the eastern or northern bounds of the county, because they were in dispute, nevertheless the lord proprietary still claimed to the Delaware and to the fortieth degree of north latitude. These bounds were slightly varied by another proclamation issued a few days afterwards, which there is reason to believe threw a small part of what is now the extreme southwestern part of Kent County under the jurisdiction of the authorities of Kent Island.

 

On 17 Nov 1674 (age 36) he witnessed a deed from Thomas Wamsley to Joseph Herrenden for part of Hasell Branch; Cecil County, Maryland

 

1674 - Nicholas Fouey [Fovey, Tobey] of the parish of St. Georges in Somersetshire, England, Mariner. Will dated 9th day of January 1674; proved at London last day of June, 1675. To my brother Robert 20/- for a ring. To my brother George Whiting 15/- ditto. To my brother GEorge Irish 16/- ditto. To my cousin Robert Whiting after my death and my wifes death a house in the Marsh of City of Bristol in King Street. To my friend Samuel Gibbons 4 pounds for a ring. To my loving wife Anne Fovey all of the rest and executrix. Samuel Gibbon to sell my estate etc. in CEcil County Maryland and to send it home to my wife. He refused to "intermeddle" and gave power of attorney to said John Ward. Witnesses: Henry Ward, John Gilbert, John Moll. [This will is prefaced by letters of administration granted to John Ward of Cecil County by Cecil, Lord Baltimore and witnessed by our dear brother Philip Calvert, Commisary General.] Dycer, 71.

[A brief abstract of this will is given in Baldwin's Calendar, i, 87, where the name of the testator appears as Nicholas Tobey.]

[This is something I need to follow-up on since the John Ward mentioned here must not be the original settler that I have listed in Cecil County as Col. John Ward. Was there an earlier John Ward, perhaps a brother to Henry Ward? Was William also a brother? Since Henry was also supposed to be from "Somerset" perhaps there are other records of the family there that can be pursued.]

 

Clerk's minutes, undated, that at the same time Joseph Gallyan has appeared before Mr. George Utie, Mr. John Waterton, and Mr. Thomas Hedge, and to stop an execution for debts has made an assignment to William Palmer, who is attorney for Robert Langley, Edward Bleake & Co., John Desjardins, Edward Williams, Henry Warde, and William Darnall, Gallyan assigning to Palmer his home plantation at Bush River and his cattle running in the Neck. [NOTE that this item came from pages 55 to 58 of Liber I S No. I K, which embraces a transcript of the older book I C No. A. These papers apparently came from a court book now lost. Four of them are undated but their time of record is indicated by their position in the record book.]

 

In 1676, Henry Ward was a witness to the will of Captain John Carr. In about 1665 Captain John Carr married Petronella Ollesdotter, daughter of Olof Olleson Toarson (Thorsson) and his wife Elizabeth. They lived in New Castle. Captain John Carr was Chief Officer for New York’s possessions on the Delaware. After the Dutch recapture of former New Netherland in 1673, they fled with their children and Patrick Carr, John’s bachelor brother, to Cecil County where they were granted a 2000 acre tract known as St. John’s Manor on the west side of the Elk River. After a prolonged illness, Carr died in 1676 and Petronella married George Oldfield, also English.

 

It appears that Henry was an unscrupulous character [this is George Johnston's characterization of Henry - not mine. I think it will be interesting to look into his character a little more and see if this is a true representation of his character or if there was some misrepresentation of the facts at the time or what else might be relevant.] In May 1676 the Assembly of Maryland found him and two of his neighbors "guilty of a Ryot" in forcibly cutting down the timber of his Quaker neighbor, James Frisby (Assembly, 2:480). A month later the Assembly determined that Henry's claim of a lost horse at Whorekill was a deception. Outraged that one of their own members should so conduct himself, the Assembly fined him 4000 pounds of tobacco. Henry managed to keep the fine collectors from his door for several years and as late as August 1681 he was petitioning the General Assembly for relief (ibid., 7:122).

 

In September 1681 William Penn wrote Augustine Herrman, Henry Ward, and several other neighbors (James Frisby, Edward Jones, George Oldfield, and Henry Johnson) asserting that their Border Dispute and that they should not pay taxes to Maryland (Council, 5:285, 375). Maryland, of course, was displeased with what it perceived as encroachment by Penn in his desire to obtain a good harbor for his colony.

 

 

According to Alice E. Miller in her book Cecil County Maryland A Study in Local History, pages 18-20, "It was during the time of George Talbot's residence in Maryland that William Penn received a grant of territory including land claimed by Maryland. William Penn arrived at the present town of New Castle on the Delaware in October 1682, to take possession of his grant. Talbot visited William Penn in 1683 to demand that Penn relinquish the part which belonged to Maryland. He was not successful in his mission. Upon his return to Maryland, Talbot gave up part of his original claim, probably because he felt unable to maintain it. The famous Talbot line, though a rude one marked only by blazed trees, was destined to play an important part in the long and involved controversy over the boundary line, perhaps one of the most vexatious of all inter-state boundaries. It will be seen that it was far below the fortieth parallel. Penn and his successors claimed, and apparently Cecilius Calvert thought, that the line represented the northern boundary of Maryland. An examination of the first map of Pennsylvania under William Penn shows that he claimed much of the land in Cecil County. Perhaps owing to ignorance of a new country William Penn really thought he had a right to all of this. In any case he caused a great deal of alarm by the letters he wrote to the Maryland Province, to Augustine Herman, James Frisby, Edward Jones, George Oldfield, Henry Ward and Henry Johnson. These letters were addressed to them at their plantations in Pennsylvania and contained this startling news - "I think fitt to caution you  ... that none of you pay any more taxes or Sessments by any order or Law of Maryland ... You shall finde me and my Government easy, free and just.

 

After Mary's death, Henry Ward married Anna Margaret Herrman, the oldest daughter of his neighbor, Augustine Herrman of Bohemia Manor. She was baptized as Anna Margaretta Heermaans in New Amsterdam 10 March 1658 (Baptisms and Marriages in the Dutch Church Before the Revolution New York, 1862-1864, 773).

 

In 1682, the Delaware area was ceded by the Duke to William Penn, the Proprietor of Pennsylvania, who referred to his acquisition as the Three Lower Counties on the Delaware. In the ensuing three years, Penn estimated that over 7,000 immigrants settled in Pennsylvania, a substantial number of whom were English Quakers who would disperse among the Swedish and Dutch inhabitants of New Castle County, the northern-most of the three Delaware counties.

 

"Cobham" 1000 acres surveyed for him January 7, 1682.

 

"Long Acre" 900 acres surveyed for him October 19, 1682.  

 

"The Levels" 500 acres surveyed for him May 15, 1683.

 

In about 1740, there were attempts to prove settlements of land under Maryland rights, as opposed to Pennsylvania rights. Five total witnesses spoke to Henry Ward's land.

 

1. Benjamin Pierce (Pearce), aged 28, said he had dwelt for over 20 years in Cecil County and that he was married to Henry Ward's daughter and he was heir-at-law. He found in Henry Ward's papers a Deposition, dated in March 1724, made by the said Henry Ward, the purport of which Deposition was that one Evan James had taken a lease of the said Ward of certain lands bordering upon Newcastle County, claimed by the said Ward under Maryland rights.
2. Richard Thompson, aged 55,  said he had dwelt in Cecil County for 20 years. Knows of no encroachments made by Marylanders on the inhabitants od Pennsylvania, or their land, bordering on or in the Lower Counties. But says that since 1723 and above 6 years ago, David Lewis and several other persons have under colour of Pennsilvania Rights, taken possession of about 400 acres (part of two tracts containing 2500) granted above 60 years ago, as he has reason to belive, having seen the Grant under Maryland Rights, to one Henry Ward. And that the said Lewis and others hold the said lands as in Newcastle County. That the Deponent, at the request of Henry Ward, son of the said Henry, went to assist him in aking a Re-survey of the said land but was , bythe Pennsivanians prevented. Says the people of Newcastle County, above 16 years ago, attempted to take some of the lands whereon the deponent now lives from him by running lines through his plantation but he by threats has held his possession. Says there formerly was a main road through part of the said land of Henry Ward, cleared and kept up by the people of Cecil County but that the inhabitants of Newcastle County now prevent their keeping it up, and clear it themselves. [Note that it says that the documents claim that there is no proof that Henry Ward or any in his right had ever settled on this land or made any improvement on it and that they had proved how Maryland Grants are made.]
3. Laurence Guilshiott, of Maryland, aged 60 has dwelt 20 years in the borders of Cecil County and knows that two settlements have been made within 10-12 years by Pennsylvanians on land that had for 40 years supposed to be within the limits of Maryland, one about a mile to the South and another about a mile to the North of where the deponent lives. The last of which was formerly surveyed and pateneted for Henry Ward under a Maryland Right. Twenty years ago, this deponent and Richard Thompson carryed the chain in surveying the said land for the said Henry Ward. He knows of no encroachments by the Marylanders on the Pennsylvanians. That one Thomas Noxon, a Surveyor under the Pennsylvania government surveyed the said land, to the south of where the deponent lives, for John Toland who settled the same. He or his family now lives at the same under the government of Pennsylvania.
4. Thomas Price, of Maryland, the Defendant's own witness only, aged 64, [Lib. G. fol. 86 Int. 21. fol. 86] Has dwelt for over 20 years in Cecil County. About 15 years ago, one Edwards, and several other Welsh people since, have, seated under the Pennsylvania Proprietors, part of a tract of land taken up under Maryland Rights, for one Ward, under the Lord Baltimore, and reputed to lie in Cecil County in Maryland, and then help by one Vander Skeyden, Mother and Guardian of Henry Ward, a Minor. That the Deponent at her request, forbid two of the said people to seat on the land, and by the son of one of them who persisted in doing it, he was told that his Father who could not speak English would carry the Deponent to the Goal of Newcastle County, if he gave him any hindrance in seating the said lands.He does not know whether the said lands are in, adjoining to, either of the 3 Lower Counties but the People seating the said land under the Pennsylvania Proprietors are under the government of the said 3 Lower Counties.
5. Obed. Obediance, of Maryland, the Defendant's own Witness only, aged 70, [Lib. G. fol. 55. Int. 21. fol. 56] He has dwelt for 20 years at Back Creek in Cecil County. Since 1723, he knows that one Edwards and other Welsh people have entered and possessed themselves of some lands under pretense of a right from the Pennsylvania Proprietors which were thentofore surveyed for one Ward, Father of Henry Ward, under a Maryland Right. The said land was called Long Acre. Mr. Vander Skeydon, guardian of the said Henry Ward, informed this deponent that he paid the duties for the said land to the Proprietor of Maryland during the minority of the said Ward and that the said Edward's children and others who now live on said land, told this deponent that one Evans, a Magistrate of Newcastle County, gave them a Warrant for the said land; but never heard the said land was surveyed under a Pennsylvania Right; and believes that there are near twenty settlements on the said land. Knows of no encroachments on lands of Pennsylvania.
6. Instances of this sort being extremely scarce, the Defendant has bestowed five witnesses on this single tract of Henry Ward's, no one of which pretends that Ward had ever settled a single foot of this land nor does any one of them venture to say it was in Newcastle County. Some say it was in Cecil County, some that it was reputed to be in Maryland, or within the limits of Maryland, another that it was bordering upon Newcastle County. If it had been in Newcastle County, we had a Right to it, if it was not in Newcastle County, why then no survey of it nor even settlement if such had been actually made under Maryland, was any assertion of the Maryland claim. 

 

 

By 29 April 1684 Henry Ward was dead at about 45 years old, as noted in the filing of his inventory (MHR, Inventories & Accounts, Cecil County, 8:163). His large estate included his properties at Poplar Neck and Reedon Point, a store house, dairy barn, a variety of livestock, several books, including Michael Dalton's The Countrye Justice (London, 1618) and two by Ogilby "concerning East India company," four servants, nine slaves, one free Negro, tobacco and book debts owed him, and a debt of 30 pounds 5s 5d owed by William Dyre. In total the estate was valued at 631 pounds 13 shillings in money and 52,817 pounds of tobacco in hogsheads. The administration was delayed until 2 November 1686 by a caveat exercised by William Dyre, who was perhaps dissatisfied with his deceased sister's interest in the disposition of the estate (New Castle Co., Probate, A, 1:77, original missing; this information from Card Catalogue at Delaware State Archives, Dover). The administrators were Anna Margaret Vanderheyden, Henry's second wife and widow, and her second husband, Mathias Vanderheyden (ibid.).

 

Cornelius Johnson and Henry Harman are listed as debtors to the estate of Henry Ward of Cecil County, Maryland on an inventory of the latter's estate, dated 29 April 1684. (Prerogative Court Abstracts 1679-1686, by Vernon L. Skinner, Jr., Family Line Publications, pub. 1992, pg. 50)  Also listed on this document were Hermanus Willtbank and Otto Wolegaft (Wolegast) both of whom are known to have been of Sussex County. In a later probate record of Henry Ward's estate it lists these fellows as "Cornelius Johnson & Hen. Harmanus" also listed in both records was a Matthew Harman / Harmanus.  (Prerogative Court Abstracts 1688-1698, by Vernon L. Skinner, Jr., Family Line Publications, pub. 1992, pg. 50)   http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~carolines/cornelius-johnson-1.htm

 

Deed, June 4, 1684, John Larkin, innholder, of Anne Arundel County, conveying to James Phillips, innholder, the 400-acre tract "Eaton" on the west side of Susquehanna River, adjoining to land formerly laid out for Thomas Griffeth, gentleman, and to the tract [illegible] formerly surveyed for Henry Ward, gentleman. Signed by Thomas Hedge,. No witnesses recorded. Thomas Hedge on September 6 declares himself attrney of grantor and acknowledges conveyance before George Wells and John Boreing, commissioners.

 

Anna Margaretta died after 27 August 1724, after having married second, between 1684 and 1686, Mathias Vanderheyden (MHR, Maryland Prerogative Court Wills, 1728-30, 19:776). Anna Margaret had by her second marriage four daughters, three of whom are mentioned as sisters in the wills of Henry Ward's children.

 

The children are as follows:

 

Henry Ward (<1678-1734); only son, born before 1678 (not noted as a minor in his sister's 1695 will); married Elizabeth Pearce.

Rebecca Ward (<1678->1695); only daughter, b. before 1678 (not noted as a minor when she made her noncupative will); d. unmarried shortly after 4 August 1695 "being sick and weak in Body"...speaking to her father-in-law, Mr. Mathias Vanderheyden.

 

Sources:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nwa/dyer.html

 

 

http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1371/context/archive

 

 

Baltimore County Land Records 1665-1687 from the Maryland Historical Magazine Louis Dow Scisco; published by the Genealogical Publishing Company in 1992.

 

Maryland Historical Chronology

http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/chron/html/chron16.html#1600

 

 

"Escheat" means land is previously rented or leased property which has reverted to the Lords Baltimore because of lapses in leases, lack of heirs or qualified claimants, or abandonment.

 

 

Eyla, Henry Ward, 90 Acres	1683/02/06	Unpatented Certificate 93	5	0	MSA S 1217-104
Poplar Neck, 1400 Acres; Certificate Deed to Henry Ward, Liber 18, folio 274 Developer/Owner: Fisher, William	1666	Patent Record 10, p. 623	0	0	MSA S 1586-2747

 

Knolemans Desire, 100 Acres; Not a patent name but a part of "Bluntvile", Rent Roll 5, p. 6.; Certificate	1659	Rent Rolls 5, p. 6	0	0	MSA S 1594-1464
Knolemans Desire, 100 Acres; Not a patent name but a part of "Bluntvile", Rent Roll 5, p. 6.; Patent	1659	Rent Rolls 5, p. 6	0	0	MSA S 1594-1465

Blountville, 175 Acres; Certificate Developer/Owner: Blunt, Richard	1659	Patent Record 4, p. 237	0	0	MSA S 1594-304
Blountville, 175 Acres; Patent Developer/Owner: Blunt, Richard	1659	Patent Record 4, p. 353	0	0	MSA S 1594-305

Deed, April 6, 1672, John Browning, planter, and wife Elizabeth, for 28,000 pounds of tobacco, conveying to Richard Nash, of Kent County 300 acres near Bohemia River, called Browning Plantation, patented July 21, 1664, to Abraham Morgan, who conveyed it to Thomas Browning, father of the grantor; by same deed, Henry Ward, esquire, is named attorney to record the deed. Witnesses, Augustine Herman, Rowland Williams, Thomas Shelton. Appendant certificate, April 6, that grantors have delivered seisin to Nash, signed by same witnesses.