Note: Narrative histories are "evergreen' documents - constantly growing with additions, updates, corrections... Please email [email protected] if you have any data/information to add or correct. Christopher [1642] Christopher [1642] Choate/Chotte/Chote/Choote/Choak/Chotle/Shoates1 immigrated as an indentured servant to the Province of Maryland in 16762 and is identified by researchers as the first in the line of the “Choates of the South”. There is conjecture that Christopher [1642] was born in Rivenhall Parish, Essex County, England (approx. 35 miles NE of London) and is one of the children of Christopher Choate and Jane (buried: 10 Nov 1667) who resided there. Their children (baptism) were: Edward (29 Apr 1639), Christopher (4 Sep 1642), and John (3 Nov 1644 d. 15 Aug 1717).3 It is hard to imagine the true reasons why a man of 34 would be inspired or compelled to leave the Old World for the New World. Indentured servants were typically bound for a period of 4-7 years after which they became “freemen” and then had the opportunity for upward mobility in the Province. Christopher [1642] acquired 11 acres of land, “Chootes His Chance,” in 1681 and died before November 16, 1692 when an appraisement of his estate was made. There is no record of Christopher [1642] marrying and the name of his wife is not known. The 1706 records indicate a Choate orphan guardian and two Choates, Christopher [~1685] and Edward [~1686], appear on the tax lists indicating they are probably 16-21 years old. It is assumed these two boys are the second generation of "Choates of the South". Figure 1- 1676 Cheseapeake Bay 4 Christopher [1642] “Chotte” was one of thirty persons transported by Captain John Boddy, Commander of the "Cecilous" which arrived in Maryland on or before 15 April 1676.5 The "Cecilous" was owned by Cecilius (Cecil) Calvert (8 Aug 1605 - 30 Nov 1675) and is believed to have set sail from London. Cecil Calvert was the firstborn son and heir of Sir George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, 8th Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland (1579–15 April 1632).6 An Atlantic crossing from London could take from 50 to 125 days. Crown or Royal colonies were property of the king and ruled by a governor appointed by the king. Maryland was a Proprietary Colony were land was granted from the king to an individual or company (group of individuals). These grants gave the proprietor the rights to establish a colony but also required the proprietor to provide the costs of settlement. The proprietor could appoint managing officials, create courts, make laws, raise and command militia, and establish churches, ports, and towns. Proprietors recovered their costs plus profit by collecting “quitrents” —annual land fees/taxes— from the settlers who had acquired land in the provence/colony. The Calverts, and other colonizers,www.choatesofthesouth.org had to encourage immigration in order to expand the colony and make it thrive. Wealth creation was based on exports, mainly tobacco. One of the main obstacles to immigration was the high cost of transportation. Plantation labor was essential for economic survival and growth, so incentives were provided for planters to 2/12/14 __Christopher 1642_09.pages 1 import workers and for workers to eventually become landowners - Indentured Servitude. The “headright’ system provided that for each laborer (head) brought across the Atlantic, the master was rewarded with the rights to 50 acres of land and the services of the worker for the duration of the indenture. The servant would be supplied room and board while working on the master's property. Upon completion of an indenture contract, the servant would receive "freedom dues" as specified in the contract which might include land, money, tools, clothes... Once a “freeman” the former servant had opportunity for upward mobility in the colony. Transportation costs were provided by the planter and/or ship’s company and the indentured servant would be contractually required to work for typically 4-7 years. These contracts (indentures) with associated land rights were sold/ traded by the transport agent to the highest bidder upon arrival. Prices paid for indentured servants varied depending on age and skills. Some indentured servants had a trade (e.g., bricklayer, joiner, carpenter, plasterer, cobbler, cooper, baker, potter, smithy...) making them more valuable than a field laborer. Female indentured servants performed domestic chores like laundry, sewing, and housekeeping. However, labor-intensive tobacco was what Maryland had to offer the world and no matter what the skill or trade tobacco farming was usually part or all of indentured servant work. Indentured servants consisted of adventurous “willing migrants” who wanted to start a new life in the New World, “unwilling migrants” who needed to escape poverty, religious persecution or forced by other reasons, or in some cases individual chose indentureship rather than prison (Maryland outlawed the immigration of prisoners in 1676). Why Christopher [1642] alone at age 34 would be inspired or compelled to leave England and start a new life is unknown. Maybe, he lost his family in "The Great Plague of 1665"? The Plague began in February and peaked in September 1665 killing over 100,000 Londoners (20% of the population) in its first year. Plague continued at a much lower pace until 1679. Maybe the "Great Fire" which began 2 September 1666 and lasted for four+ days, destroying 52 livery companies (trade, craft and profession halls), and making 100,000 Londoners homeless drove him to travel? It has been estimated that indentured servants comprised almost eighty per cent of the total British and continental immigration to America until the start of the Revolution. Only about 40 percent of indentured servants lived to complete the terms of their contracts (hard labor combined with malaria, dysentery, typhoid, and other diseases took a heavy toll). During the time of indentureship the servant was considered his master’s personal property and his contract could be inherited or sold. Indentured servants had few rights, they could not vote, they were not allowed to marry or to leave their houses and travel without permission. They were not allowed to buy or sell anything. The record7 of Christopher’s [1642] arrival in the Province of Maryland reads: Richd Benton Tho Yeasley Mary Smith Ann Wilson R. Hulbert Chr. Chotte 16 afod Hastings Pitts John Lewis Richd Chandler Frances Ann Wheener to WelsH John Willoby James Pauley Sarah Clary Beatsone Henry Parsons John Paeston Geo. Garrish Ann Glover Jn. Farebrother Jona England Tho. Fisher Robt. Owings James Barnes John Hawkins Don Chipman Geo Olaroc Robert Hilton Tho: Fuller Tho: Pickasgill Hen. Oswaid 15th. April 1676 In all thirty transported at the charge of Capt. John Boddy Commander of the good ship Cecilous, the rights due being this day proved before me by the same body. Ch. Baltimore On the backside of the aforegoing list of rights was written: Know all men by these presents That I do assign over, unto John Welsh of Ann Arundel County sixteen of these within specified rights, which are thirty in all as witness my hand June 24th 1776 John Boddy 16th August 1676 Warrant then granted to John Welsh of Ann Arundel County for eight hundred acres of land due him by the above af from John Boddy Warrant then Granted to John Boddy for seven hundred acres of land due him for transporting the fourteen last named persons into this province to inhabite Christopher [1642] most likely embarked at Saint Mary’s the largest settlement and the Capital of Maryland. He was one of 16 persons from the "Cecilius"www.choatesofthesouth.org assigned to John Welsh the owner of “Burrage, Burrage Blossom, and Burrage End” a 300 acre plantation on the northeast branch of Herring Creek (near Herrington in Figure 1) which was bought from 2/12/14 __Christopher 1642_09.pages 2 John Burrage 9 Dec 1668 for 4,000 pounds of marketable casque tobacco. This plantation was about 40 miles from Saint Mary’s. Welsh obtained an additional 800 acres of land with the assignment of Christopher [1642] and the other 15 newly arrived indentured servants. Herring Creek is likely where Christopher [1642] first settled and worked. When Christopher [1645] arrived the Province of Maryland, which was nearly twice as large as the current state, it was inhabited by less than 18,000 with only about 7,000 tithable (i.e., tax payers – basically males over the age of 16). The population of the colony is estimated at 4,500 in 1650, 13,200 in 1670 and 24,000 in 1690.8 Men out numbered women by roughly six to one, in the 1630s and 1640s. The ratio improved throughout the end of the seventeenth century as two or three men immigrated to the colony for every female and by the first decade of the eighteenth century there were about three men for every two women. The seventeenth century the population of Maryland was not in the majority native born, but the result of immigration. In the 1710s there were about 17,474 women to 26,209 men in the colony, many of them native-born. Roughly 85 percent of all female immigrants were indentured servants who could not marry or have children until completing their indenture contract or unless the interested male was willing and able to buy the woman’s contract. A woman who became pregnant as an indentured servant often had years tacked on to the end of her service time. Christopher [1642] as an indentured servant in the Province would have been at the bottom level of society having neither freedom or capital. The