Chat
|
Daily Search
|
My GenForum
|
Community Standards
|
Terms of Service
|
|
|
Some have written to me as concerns my ongoing research of the Joseph Longfellow family of Maryland.
I have not much to add to that already posted on this site, but will pass on these limited remarks as to where I am and where I am focused. I am certainly not annointing myself as some Longfellow messiah; but as always offer the results of my research of this puzzeling family to other researchers looking to reinvent the wheel:
1. In Feb 2008 I spent a week at the Maryland State Archives [MSA]. I was disappointed, considering what I did not find, despite devouring all available indices. Nothing was found in land indices; but I remain convinced of the need to look at deeds in the 1709-1712 era [without regard to surnames of grantor/grantees]; which can be accessed on the internet. I am looking for clues and possible mention of Joseph as an abutter, petitioner, etc., that may be buried in the text. Very common.
2. I was struck to learn of Joseph and Thomas Longfellow being found among a 1748/49 list of militia soldiers. Not in Queen Anne County, but north in Cecil County! They would appear to be putative sons of the immigrant Joseph, and probably ages 20-30. This places these [second generation] Maryland Longfellow's in two counties and offer new migration patterns. It could explain the absence of burial records [sites] of the first generation immigrants south in Queen Ann county.
3. In this respect, there was a long-standing border dispute among Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware about state boundaries. Coincidently, Cecil County is right in the middle of the dispute among Catholics and Protestants.
4. I purchased a new book, How the States Got Their Shapes [Mark Stein, Smithsonian Books, 2008, and reviewed in the Wall Street Journal], in hopes of learning something new about Longfellow migration patterns. In 1732 Lord Baltimore, Maryland's Governor, was in London negotiating Maryland boundaries. He agreed to a Pennsylvania proposal that Maryland's northern border [Cecil County]be relocated 15 miles south of South Street in Philadelphia. Lord Baltimore later learned he succeeded with this dispute only because of an erroneous location of Cape Henlopen on a map. So the period was rife with mistakes.
5. I purchased another book, History of Cecil County, Maryland [George Johnston, 1881, republished 1967, 1972 and 1989 by Clearfield, GPC, softcover, 576pp]. I am still wading through this to get an understanding of the mindset in the era of say 1710-1740.
6. It is difficult to say at this point what impact Cecil County and the two Longfellow's presence there could have on other clues as concerns boundaries as we know them today; migration patterns, etc. But especially considering the absence among early Queen Ann County records of Longfellow's. We could be spending time in the wrong places.
7. The land deed of 1757 cited in Prather has not been found; what has been found is an indenture of 18 Feb 1769 in which John and Elizabeth Longfellow passed the property known as "Tuckahoo Neck...commonly called and known by the name of Joseph's Hope..." to William Knotts for 20 pds. But no 1757 transaction.
8. There is a Maryland Land Patent Lieber E5:655-656 dated 18 Jul 1737; warranted to Joseph 22 May 1731; it notes that Joseph "Longfello" was granted 50 acres known as Joseph's Hope. As I have stated earlier, we do NOT know if this was the SON or FATHER. But we can see the property was passed down to John [but no record it was passed from Joseph1 to Joseph2] but clearing defining these as legitimate generations. The land may not have been recorded from Joseph1 to Joseph2.
Obviously future research can not be limited to Queen Ann County. For that matter, I have not overlooked Virginia as a possible landing place of Joseph; but nothing has yet to turn up.
I still am of the strong belief the solution to this perplexing question is in England. I resist at this stage the temptation to advance $500 for a 10-hour search of English archives without something more tangible to go on. This retainer is for the eminent scholar [FASG, CG] in America who happens to be an attorney and is expert on English archives. I need more evidence before I would think of such an advance.
Notify Administrator about this message?
Followups:
|
| http://genforum.genealogy.com/longfellow/messages/631.html | ||
 |
Link to GenForum Add Forum |
|