Notes |
- "ANNE ARUNDEL GENTRY--DORSEY FAMILY" p. 11 "Wyatt, a wealthy
planter was first in Virginia and came up the Severn with the
non-conformists. In some manner he became 'convinced' of the Quaker
beliefs and refused to take the oath. He died in 1674 and during his
residence in Anne Arundel County he acquired one of the most affluent
estates of his day. At his death the personal estate alone was
appraised at L 65,788. His will was dated Dec. 10, 1671 and was
written by Conrelius Howard, Gent. After probation which occurred on
Jan 22, 1673/4. Cornelius Howard testified that Wyatt could not
remember 'all what he had'. Plantations were left to his minor son,
Samuel who died soon thereafter and to his daughter Sarah, with his
wife, Damaris as the residuary heir. "The inventory was taken roon
by room which indicates the pretentiousness of his estate...personalty
at the Outward Plantation, in the hall at the Lower Plantation, in the
parlour, in the hall chamber, in the porch chamber, in the staire
case, in the parlour Chamber, in the kitchin chamber, in the kitchin
loft, in the kitchin, in the quarters, in the milk house, in the
cellar, in the cellar loft, in the kitchin bittry, and in the Landing.
There were books, six framed pictures, also three other pictures, and
silver plate. At the Landing there were one servant man, on servant
woman and one negro slave. Also at the Landing were one boat 17
ft.long, appraised at L800, one 10 ft. appraised at L500, one large
canoe at L200, and an ould boate at L100. (Wills, Liber 1, folio 596)"
"THE DORSEY FAMILY" by Dorsey and Nimmo, 1947 (Allen County Public Lib.,
Ft. Wayne, IN) d. 1673 Anne Arundel County; m. Damaris---- widow, before
1653, prob. in Va. "Being a Quaker, he refused to take the oath of
Plantation, therefore had no right to sell land....in 1659, when he
was ordered to refund 510 pounds of tobacco, which he had received for
the sale of ten acres of land...On Oct. 10, 1662, Nicholas Wyatt was
one of the Quakers brought before the court. (Besse's Sufferings,
Vol.2, f. 381). He also refused to take the oath in 1668, when he was
summoned as one of the Grand Jury. (Prov. Ct. Rec. F.F., f. 654)"
"In 1671 Nicholas Wyatt became ill and his wife Damaris, becoming
alarmed, sent for Cornelius Howard to make a will for her husband.
Alto Nicholas Wyatt was very weak and sick and in no condition to make
a will, he said he would give unto his son Samuel Wyatt his plantation
and unto his daughter Sarah, 100 pounds, but when his wife interposed
and asked if he did not remember that she was to be given the Lower
plantation, Nicholas answered that he had forgot that. When his
friends asked if he intended to leave his only son a bare plantation
with neither a cow to give him milk nor a servant to wait on him,
Nicholas seemed indifferent and answered that his son was as much his
wife's son as his. As a result, the greater part of the estate was
left to Damaris. Dec. 10, 1671 Will of Nicholas Wyatt: To my son
Samuel Wyatt at 18 yrs. of age, the Quarter. In the event of
death without heirs, next of kin to inherit same To daughter
Sarah, Lower plantation where the widow Gibbons lives To wife
Damaris, Executrix and residuary legatee (Wills, 1, f.596) Nicholas
Wyatt, afterwards recovering from his illness, was urged by his
friends who thought his will unfair to his children, to destroy it and
make another one. When the subject came up while he was riding in the
woods with his friend Cornelius Howard, Nicholas at last appreciating
the situation, turned to his friend and said, "Do you think I am in my
right senses to leave my only son a bare plantation?" Cornelius
Howard suggested he take his will and burn it, but he did not follow
his advice. Later on much trouble arose in court, when Edward Dorsey
and his wife Sarah brought suit against Damaris, and her then husband,
Thomas Bland, causing the will to be thrown out of court. (Test. Proc.
4 B, folios 1-4) (Test. Papers, Box 3, Folder 30)" "Items of
interest (inventory) were tables, turky work charyes, leather chayres,
Chest of drawers, side cupboards, bedsteads, ruggs, Curtains and
valances, couches, trundle beds, brass and irons, tongs etc., looking
glasses, 20 framed pictures, silver tankard, cups and spoons, books,
nest of Houre glasses, linens, seal skin trunk, 20 pewter dishes, 14
porringers, pewter and brass candlesticks, cups, etc. (Invts. & Accts.
2, f. 263)"
Birth date taken from Ancestral file
Born: about 1620
Married: Damaris ?Stockett/Stockwell.
He died before January 22, 1673 leaving a wife, Damaras, a son, Samuel, and a dau., Sarah. He was granted by patent (surveyed 1651) land on the south side of the Servern, all in the middle neck hundred. [TQFOAAC].
Her unusual name also appears in Powell family of which a Damaris b about 1640 m Charles Fowkes. This is compatible with the description in Maryland Archive "....Damaris Wyatt, who took Attorney Thomas Bland as her third husband, was an approve d midwife. She and Nicholas Wyatt, her second husband, with a daughter by her first husband, had come from Virginia into Maryland, and settled on the Severn River. Wyatt, who may have been a surveyor, had laid out for him several parcels of lan d on the south side of the river, and there they lived. He died late in 1672 or early in 1673, for his will was probated in January 1673. Damaris went on living in the same place, and, on October 4, 1673, she took ?One Dorothy Bruton into her ho use who was then very sick and bigg with Child? (post, p. 261) and cared for her for three weeks. Edward Gardner, whose interest in Dorothy is nowhere explained, had especially asked Damaris to do this, and he had ?faithfully promise[d] to satis fie the said Damoris what she Should reasonably deserve? (ibid.). There may have been some connection between Gardner and Dorothy Bruton: she was never called Mrs., and never said to have had a husband. When she died, in July 1675, she left tw o daughters, and she made Gardner her executor. ...."
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