• General Notes

  NOTE:
  Francis Posey obtained passage through William Farrar, Sr. whose family was associated
  with the Virginia Company, and landed in Henrico Co. , Va. in 1636. He moved into what is
  now Charles Co., Md. by 1640 where he aquired land and became representative of his
  district, known as St. Clements Hundred, in the Maryland legislature, known as the House of
  Burgesses.
  NOTE:
  Planter, land owner, 1175 acres. Held political offices. A.K.A. Francis Poschet. Parents: Marteyn Poschet & Anne de Colne.
  
  His wife, Elizabeth, surname as yet unknown, was brought to America
  by Cuthbert Fynwick as an indentured servent (one who contracted to work
  for a specific time for repayment for boat passage). Her debt was paid
  off by her husband, Francis Posey. Whether she married Francis in
  England before she came to the colonies, or in Maryland after she came is
  not known, but the marrage likely occured in Maryland. Francis died in
  1654 leaving his wife and three children, Benjamin, John, and Anne,
  perhaps named for Anne de Colnet Poschet of  France.
  Elizabeth is said to be the Granddaughter of Laurence Humphrey of
  Oxford, England Elizabeth's father's name is not known. The name
  "Humphrey " has been used for a given name for at least 15 Posey sons,
  somehow suggesting that it is connected with an early Posey.
  NOTE:
  Original surname may have been Poschet. However, this (and the birth data on Francis) is entirely speculative and not proven. From http://genforum.genealogy.com/posey/messages/933.html:
  (There is) a rather startling expose of the alleged noble POSCHET ancestry. The book is entitled "Les Polchet, Poschet ou Poschet, une Dynastie de Maitres de Forges de L'entre-Sambre-et-Meuse". Publisher: Genealogicum Belgicum, Brussells, Belgium, 1983. This work builds a solid case against the possibility that the alleged noble Poschet ancestry has a grain of truth in it.
  Unbeknownst to many, that illustrious POSCHET pedigree many of us embrace is not so ancient at all. It was not established until 1749 by PIERRE JOSEPH POSCHET who presented records in attempt to get a letter patent of nobility. You see, there was NO noble lineage before 1749 and Pierre's effort to become a nobleman. Somehow he pulled it off. On July 9, 1749, Sir Andre-Francois Jauerens, Knight, Counselor to Her Imperial Majesty the Queen, Executor of the position of King of Arms, approved the application for a title, in spite of the fact that even then the Poschet family's alleged noble ancestry was PROTESTED as invalid (in 1749!). But the deal went through in spite of arguments against it. Apparently, the French government was besieged at that time with wealthy families wanting titles of nobility and they were churning out titles left and right.
  But not everyone fell for the scam. Apparently there were two attempts to get the title of nobility, the first in the 1660's, referenced by the following note: On May 28, 1665, Mr. Can den Leene, Knight, Councilor to His Majesty the King and his first King-at-Arms, reported that he was not able to authenticate the Poschet's claim of nobility. He stated that he had not found any verified, legal titles in the Poschet's history. Eighty years later, the French genealogist, Bernard Cherin, who later became appointed as historian to His Majesty the King, wrote a letter on January 9, 1746 stating that the documents used to establish the noble lineage were, in so many words, fakes that had been given the appearance of authentic documents.
  

Details of Francis *'s family with Elizabeth * (HUMPHREY?)(FOSTER?)