Thomas, William, Jane; 1700-1750, Calvert County, MD

Thomas Edmonds wrote his will on October 13, 1740 in Christ Church Parish of Calvert County, Maryland. He mentioned his wife Mary, a granddaughter (name apparently unreadable, per Maryland Calendar of Wills), and "all grandchildren". The executor was Abraham Bowen and two of the four witnesses were James Bowen and Jacob Bowen.

Thomas apparently died within the next 18 months, because his will was probated on April 3, 1742. He left 60 acres of a tract named "Cuckolds Miss" to his grandaughter. Apparently there is some administrative report concerning his estate from 1743, and it either states (or permits the inference) that Thomas's granddaguther Jane had married James Bowen (seemingly the same one who was a witness).

Thomas had owned other land in Calvert County. There is a record from the Calvert County Rent Rolls (from about 1725??) that he possessed a 200-acre portion of the 500-acre (resurveyed and found to be 600) tract called "Magruder", near Buzzards Island, in Hunting Creek Hundred.

Thomas also appeared on the 1733 Calvert County tax list, along with a William Edmonds.

From my research on the Bowen family of Calvert County, I am reasonably sure that the executor of Thomas Edmonds's will was the Abraham Bowen born to Charles Bowen Sr. This Abraham married a Sarah (maiden name Young, I believe), and wrote his own will in 1760. The James and Jacob Bowen who were witnesses were nephews of Abraham, sons of Abraham's brother, Charles Bowen, Jr. (who had died in 1738). I believe that the James Bowen who married Jane Edmonds was this witness James Bowen, born ca. 1712-1716 there in Calvert County.

I am reasonably sure (but not absolutely certain) that James and Jane (Edmonds) Bowen had sons William and James (b. ca. 1742-1745), and that Jane then died. James remarried, to a Mary Meade, and had a son named Thomas Meade Bowen.

The fact that James and Jane (Edmonds) Bowen named their first son William suggests to me that Jane's father was the William Edmonds who had appeared on the 1733 tax list, but who had apparently died before the 1740 will of Thomas Edmonds.

Thus, this Edmonds family of Calvert County would be Thomas, b. ca. 1665-1678, place unknown, but probably Maryland, Virginia or the British Isles, who married a Mary (maiden name unknown), had a son William, b. ca. 1688-1700, who then married some unknown woman and had a daughter Jane, b. ca. 1718-1722. Jane married, between 1740 and 1743, James Bowen. Jane may have had sisters, as inferred from the reference to "all grandchildren" in Thomas Edmonds's will, but it sees unlikely that there were any grandson (or else they would have been first in line for legacies of land). Therefore, it is possible that this particular line of male Edmonds ended in 1742 with the death of Thomas.

Does anyone have any other or better information about Thomas, William or Jane Edmonds of Calvert County, MD? If so, please contact me directly at [email protected]


The following source provides additional information on this Edmonds family.

Abstracts of the administration accounts of the Prerogative Court of Maryland, by V. L. Skinner, Vol. 4, p. 159

Thomas Edmonds[Liber] 20.16 [folio]ACA[lvert]pounds 372.12.1 pounds 361.7.9Sept 26, 1743
Payments to: Joseph Lewis, John Edmonds, Samuel Robinson, John Wilkinson, Edward Wood, Mary Parker, John Wade, William Deaver, Thomas Crompton, George Denton, John Hance, William Reeves, Black Jack, Adderton Skinner, Gabriel Parker, William Trover (merchant in London), Isaac Naller who married Margaret Edmonds (granddaughter), widow (unnamed, 1/3)
Payments to: (granddaughters, in equal amounts): Masey Edmonds, Catherine Edmonds, Jane Edmonds wife of James Bowen, Mary Edmonds wife of Thomas Aterbury
Administratrix: Mary Edmonds


Does anyone know who the John Edmonds was? Was he a relative? Son, brother, nephew or cousin?

Thomas's son William had predeceased him (and was apparently the father of these granddaughters). The following refers to William and his widow Ann (maiden name unknown, and who remarried to Stephen Dickinson).

Abstracts of the administration accounts of the Prerogative Court of Maryland, by V. L. Skinner, Vol. 3, p. 64

William Edmonds12.399ACApounds 66.11.4pounds 20.7.4July 29, 1734
Received from: Joseph Freeman, John Taylor and Richard Hudson, Aaron Barrs, Mathew Waller
Payments to: Edward Wood, Isaac Waller, executor of Isaac Johns, Mary Barker, Thomas Sedwick, Mary (negro), Gabriel Parker
Administratrix: Ann Edmonds

http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/stagser/s500/s538/html/s538-23.htmlhttp://www.msa.md.gov/msa/stagser/s500/s538/html/s538-23.html

Liber 23, folio 699
7 May ----
DICKISON, STEVEN, Calvert Co.
To dau.-in-law [i.e., step-daughter] Mary Edmans, negro boy Gabriel.
To dau-in-law [i.e., step-daughter] Cateran Edmans, after the d. of her mother, negro girl Moll.
To William Hutson, 1 cow & calf.
To wife & extrx., Ann Dickinson, remainder of my p. e.
Witn: Sarah Brooke, John Brooke.
16 Feb. 1744, sworn to by John Brooke.


1734 Estate Accounts: Liber 12, folio 399

Does anyone know Ann's maiden name?

Please contact me directly at [email protected] if you have further information.