THE EARLY WARD FAMILIES OF SOUTHERN MARYLAND. Vol. 1. Being primarily the records of John Ward of Charles Co., Md. (immigrated 1646, d. 1687), his wife Damaris, and 6 of their children: Mary Ward, John Ward [Jr.], Thomas Ward, James Ward, Henry Ward, and Catherine Ward. Allied Families: Benson, Plummer, Sanders, Sergeant, Shepherd, Swanston and Wells. Ralph D. Smith July 1998 TX7W;?/ THE EARLY WARD FAMILIES OF SOUTHERN MARYLAND. Vol. 1. Being primarily the records of John Ward of Charles Co., Md. (immigrated 1646, d. 1687), his wife Damaris, and 6 of their children: Mary Ward, John Ward [Jr.], Thomas Ward, James Ward, Henry Ward, and Catherine Ward. Allied Families: Benson, Plummer, Sanders, Sergeant, Shepherd, Swanston and Wells. Ralph D. Smith July 1998 V'- ' V FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY 35 NORTH WEST TEMPLE SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84150 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction. p. 1 John Ward of 1634. p. 2 Edmond Ward of 1641. p. 4 Chapter 1. John Ward, Sr., and wife Damaris. p. 5 Includes records of Damaris' 2nd and 3rd husbands, Charles Shepherd and William Sergeant. Chapter 2. Mary Ward and husband William Wells. p. 31 Chapter 3. John Ward, Jr., and wife Agnes. p. 41 Chapter 4. Thomas Ward, wife unknown. p. 51 Chapter 5. James Ward and wife Susanna Plummer. p. 58 Includes records of Susanna's 1st and 3rd husbands, Francis Swanston, Jr., and George Wells. Chapter 6. Henry Ward and wife Margaret Sanders. p. 71 Chapter 7. Catherine Ward, husband William Benson. p. 86 Appendix 1. Early John Wards in Virginia. p. 91 Appendix 2. Lands of John Ward, Sr. p. 94 Index. p. 106 INTRODUCTION. This book begins a planned series on the early Ward families of Southern Maryland. By "early" I mean Wards who arrived in Southern Maryland before 1700 and their descendants though about 1750. By "Southern Maryland" I mean St. Mary's, Charles and Prince George's Co. Keep in mind however, that between 1654 and 1696 "Southern Maryland" included the portion of Calvert Co. that was south and west of the Patuxent River. Prior to 1654 and after 1696 this land was in St. Mary's Co. As it happens the first three Wards to arrive anywhere in the Colony of Maryland lived in Southern Maryland. They were: John Ward in 1634, Edmond Ward in 1641, and John Ward in 1646. The first two are discussed below. The remainder of this book is devoted to the records of the 1646 John Ward and his children. I have set forth every record I have found for each of the Wards covered in this book. This results in perhaps exhausting detail, much of which is more important or interesting from a historical and biographical standpoint than from a purely genealogical one. At the end of this book are two appendixes: one concerning persons named John Ward who lived in Virginia at an early day, and the other concerning the lands that were owned by John Ward of 1646. Subsequent volumes in this series will cover additional early Wards of Southern Maryland. 1634 John Ward. The first Ward to arrive in Md. was John Ward. He arrived on the "Ark" and "Dove," the very first two ships to bring settlers to Maryland. The 2 ships left England (Cowes) in Nov. 1633 and after a rough Atlantic crossing, landed in Maryland on Mar. 25, 1634, which was New Year's Day on the calendar then in effect. En route, the ships had stopped at the Canaries, the West Indies, and Virginia. It is estimated that the "Ark" and "Dove" carried a total of 175-200 persons. John Ward was part of a group of 6 aboard these ships, the group consisting of Richard Gerard, Esq. (aged about 20, a Catholic, and a young son of Sir Thomas Gerard, Bart., of Lancashire), and 5 indentured servants whose passage he had paid: John Ward, Thomas Minnus, Thomas Gregson/Grigston, Robert Edwards and William Edwin. Under the Terms of Plantation, Gerard was entitled to 100 acres of land for each man he transported. Gerard, however, apparently did not find Maryland to his liking, and he returned to England (probably about 1635 and at any rate by Jan. 1637/8) without having exercised his land rights. Land rights did not have to be exercised by the person who had earned them but could be sold (assigned) to someone else who was willing to pay for the right to exercise the land rights. This Gerard did, assigning to Father Andrew White the right to 500 acres of land for the 5 men, including John Ward, whom he (Gerard) had transported. Father White, a Jesuit who was aboard the "Ark" and "Dove", reassigned the right to the 500 acres to another Jesuit, Ferdinando Pulton who was also called Father John Brock, and who had arrived in Maryland in 1638. It was thus Pulton who (in 1639) exercised the land rights for John Ward and the four other servants who had been transported by Richard Gerard. Pulton also received assignments for land rights for many other persons who had earlier been transported to Maryland. Under the terms of the Conditions of Plantation, Richard Gerard was also entitled to a manor. This right he also sold (at a "dear rate") to the Jesuits, and in 1641, the Jesuits were granted the 3000 acre Manor of St. Inigo's (St. Mary's Co.) which they still own today. In Oct. 1639, when Pulton made his claims for all the land rights he had acquired (transportation of 57 different servants) and when in Nov. 1639 the lands (a total of 12,1000 acres) were issued to him, the documents filed show each of the persons for whom he claimed a land right, when that person came into Maryland, who transported him, and that an assignment had been received by Pulton from the transporter. Those 1639 records are how we know that John Ward and his 4 compatriots were transported to Maryland in 1633/4 by Richard Gerard, and that Gerard assigned the land rights for these men to the Jesuits. The citation to these records is Maryland Land Office, Patent Records, Liber 1, pp. 36-39, and Liber ABH, pp. 65-67. For the intermediate pp. JD-J^, ana LiDer ADH, pp. o_> — o/. ror tne intermediate assignmen^^^-,*«„m^r,+t- betweeK^l-,, n^rn. FatheI7^+-U„r_ Andre\ „ A .- m.w , WhitUK ,* 4- e-> anr^^dA FerdinandT? n v A 1 T> ^ r. o Pulton, and the background information on Richard Gerard, see Newman, Harry W., "The Flowering of the Maryland Palatinate," pp. 79-80. persons transported uy ueraiu, nowevei, to tne e 5 were even still alive when Gerard abandoned his plans to remain in Maryland (discussed below), one cannot discount that possibility. The two Patent Records citations above are the only record; ever found for John Ward. The are also the only records ever found for 2 of the other persons transported with John: Thomas Gregson/Grigston, and Thomas Minnus. It seems most likely that the three probably died not long after their arrival in Maryland for 2 reasons: (1) there are no further records of any kind for any of these men, and (2) the death toll among early immigrants to Maryland was very high. A „ *-~ T„U„ \.1„~.A T\T„,,m., „ „ a> „ «, „ „ /„ OAO\. »U~ •P-J-l-,-. <- ~ ^.UUa^VJ. J- 11 al. \J -T I . As to mortality generally among the passengers aboard the Ark and Dove, Newman states (p. 161) that "relative! f ou onrul tror. t- Vi o f . ret- 1-hroo v a -a r a Ho nrn' nt-c r. 11 1- hhal" 1641 Edmond Ward. The 2nd Ward to arrive in Maryland was Edmond Ward. Only one record has ever been found for Edmond Ward, as follows: 1641 - Edmond Ward and 10 other persons were transported to Mary land by Thomas Cornwallis, Esq. The others transported with Ed mond were Francis Arthill? [Anctill?], Richard Harvey, Charles Rawlinson, Richard Harris, Thomas Harrison, Robert King, M ary Phillips, John Wheatley, and his wife and son. Sour ce: Maryland Land Office, Patent Records, Liber ABH, p. 244. Comm ent: Cornwallis was aboard the Ark and Dove with the very fi rst group of settlers to Maryla nd in 1633/4. He was very pr ominent in early Maryland affai rs, and transported a great number of persons to Maryland over the years. He built h is manor house outside St. Mary 's City on a manor called "Cornwalys' Crosse," the house being the oldest house still s tanding in Maryland. Thomas Co rnwallis was also granted seignory on a number of other manors. Source for Cornwal lis information: Newman, Harry W. , "The Flowering of the Maryland Palatinate," pp. 188-9 The above information places Edmond Ward in St. Mary's Co. in 1641. I have found no further record for him. I can onl y presume that he did not live long, and probably did not marry, or even if married, had no children, Ther e are no records of an Edmond W ard in Virginia by 1660 (N ugent and Coldham), so it seems that he neither came to Mary land from Vriginia, nor moved t here after his period of serv itude was completed. CHAPTER 1. JOHN WARD, SR., AND WIFE DAMARIS. Introduction. Since John Ward transported himself to Maryland in 1646 (see below), one assumes he was of age at the time, and thus b. by 1625. Further, since John transported only himself in 1646, and never transported others later, one also assumes that John was still single when he came to Maryland.