John Gilbert, who arrived in the province in the 1660s, also fell victim to his own ambitions. He may have first tried his luck in England's newly conquered colony of Jamaica, for Gilbert not only served as an agent of a Jamaican merchant but also named his 300-acre tract on the Sassafras River "Jamaica." Like Gunnell, Gilbert had little interest in improving the land he patneted. Rather he hoped to establish an independent trading operation on the basis of a partnership with Philip Shapleigh of St. Mary's County.

From Gentlemen to Townsmen The Gentry of Baltimore County Maryland, 1660-1776 by Charles G. Steffen, p. 20.