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Gene - I think that you and I corresponded a few years ago. Have you considered participating in the Speer/Spear DNA project? You are just who they need.... a male from the MD/NC line with the surname. They have an Irish line that immigrated about 200 years after our family. It would be very interesting to see if we are indeed related to them!
As far as the guy who you refer to as Andrew Speer, Sr - there is not one piece of evidence that I have seen that shows that he existed. If anyone has evidence, I would dearly love to know what it is.... and not just what someone wrote in a book. I mean a deed, a will, a passenger list, a headright - anything.
Somerset was opened for settlement in 1661, so if Andrew wasn't our immigrant we would have to look elsewhere for him. (See Rent Rolls below) Accomack Co, VA was where many of Somerset's settlers came from. I have not had an opportunity to look at their records. It is likely that Andrew was living on his land a few years before it was granted to him. He would have needed to enter for the land, a survey would be ordered, and finally a grant was made. All of that took time. He would have been among Somerset's first colonists.
Our Andrew (before 1645 - c 1723), who shows up in the Somerset Co records, belonged to the Stepney Parish, was married to a Jane and then to a Priscilla Waller, and had children Elizabeth, Henry, Andrew, and Mary - is documented. But we don't know where he came from.
Rent Rolls show that Andrew was in possession of the land named "Donegal" from 1666 - 1723. So we know that he was an adult when he was granted the land and was therefore born before 1645. We also know that he died c 1723. We know that our Andrew and Jane had a son Andrew born 7/10/1688 and christened in the Stepney Parish. To my knowledge nothing else is know about this Andrew and he may have died young. (Thomas's deed mentioned later refers to Henry as the eldest son of Andrew which leads me to believe that at least one other son of Andrew was alive in 1723.)
Some people have split the original man into 2 Andrews, one born c 1640 and one born c 1660. This is not correct according to the land ownership trail - to follow...
In March of 1693, Elizabeth, daughter of "Andrew Spear," was involved in a nasty court case where Thomas Williams was accused of raping or attempting to rape her. Andrew was alive at that time. (Williams was later accused of having a child with a married woman and that the two of them murdered the child and fed it to the hogs. They were turned in by the woman's husband. No verdict was recorded. He was an awful man!)
The first mention that I find of Henry was in 1709 when he accused Lawrence "Doile" of stealing "two dollars out of a chest that he had at Dr Robert Catherwoods' house." Henry would have been an adult and was born before 1688.
The next court mention of Henry is when the Queen took a personal interest in his life.... "Her Majesty VS Henry Speer - Somerset County - the jurors of our Sovereign lady the Queen that now is etc. on their oaths do present for our said Lady the Queen Henry Speere of Somerset Parish in the county aforesaid carpenter otherways called Henry Speere of Monocan Hundred in the Parish and county aforesaid Carpenter for that he the said Henry Speere the fear of God before his eyes not having but being seduced by the instigation of the devil on or about the seventh day of July 1710 at Stepney Parish in the county aforesaid hath committed fornication with a certain Margret Buckley Widow of the county aforesaid and on her body hath begot a bastard child the great dishonor of Almighty God and the breach of her Majestys good laws of this province. Worthington Clk. of Indictments"
Young Henry confessed and was fined 600 pounds of tobacco.
In 1753, Henry conveyed to his son Jacob Speer land which "ANDREW SPEAR was in his lifetime seized of a tract of land called "Donagaull" in Somerset Co and died without disposing of this land by his will or otherwise, therefore HENRY SPEAR as eldest son and heir-at-law is now in possession of the tract."
I don't know if Henry only conveyed a portion of Donegal to Jacob because in 1764 "THOMAS SPEERE of Somerset Co to LEVIN FLETCHER: for ~10, a tract called "Donegal" containing 100 acres, originally granted to ANDREW SPEER which at his death became the property of his eldest son HENRY SPEERE & which sd HENRY by his last will & testament left to his son THOMAS SPEERE, he being the eldest son of the eldest son."
The abstract that I have of Henry's will is dated 7/19/1768 but the above 1764 deed indicates that Henry is dead. Which one of these is dated wrong? My abstract also does not name Thomas. Does anyone out there have a copy of Henry's complete will?
Anyway, we can trace Donegal through 3 generations of Speer men with no evidence of an older Andrew. I too would like to find the father of Andrew and where he came from, but we need to stop perpetuating the mythical Andrew that we have no proof existed.
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