3048480 - Davis Moebus Tree

Major John Welsh (1), ; died 1686, Maryland

In the 1650s, when Lord Baltimore was looking for settlers for his proprietorship... he advertised his religious tolerance as one of the incentives to colonists from any other country or New World settlement. As a result, the Annapolis area of Anne Arundel County was soon populated with virginia Non-Conformists (the Lloyds, Owens, Bennetts and others), with Quakers such as the Galloways (Calloways), with Huguenots (the Duvall family) and with Welshmen (Snowden, Davis, Griffith and Welsh). However, many of the Welshmen were not religious dissenters: they conformed to the doctrine of the Church of England and established St. Anne’s and All Hallows Parishes in their settlement.

In the 1660s, John Welsh immigrated to this community, probably directly from Wales. There is no record that he went first to Virginia. John Welsh is one of the earliest officials of Anne Arundel County government. In 1667 he served as a ,Justice, and again in 1676, at which time he was called Major John Welsh and was a member of the Quorum. In 1678-79, Major John Welsh was the Sherriff of Anne Arundel County, and his son, called Captain John, was a member of the Quorum. (J. D. Warfield, A. M., The Founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland. Baltimore, 1973, pp. 37-40) The earliest record of land owned by John Welsh (Welch) is a survey dated June 1, 1669 for 65-acre parcel named “Preston’s Enlargement,” bounded by “Burrages End.” (Maryland Historical Magazine, “Maryland Rent Rolls for Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties.” Baltimore, 1976, p. 129.) In1681, “at a plantation of Major Welsh’s” the Indians killed and wounded both Negroes and Englishmen, according to the old Anne Arundel County records (Warfield, p. 51).

Major John Welsh’s first wife was the widow of Hon. Roger Grosse <http://www.mosesrawlings.freeservers.com/davidselleck.html>, an early settler and large landholder of Anne Arundel County. Anne unknown surname Grosse died in 1675, and part of her inheritance devolved upon her surviving husband and executor of the estate, Major John Welsh. Later that year, he married Mary, a stepdaughter of Nicholas Wyatt. After John Welsh’s death, Mary Wyatt Welsh married James Ellis (
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The land for St. Anne’s Church <../Media/queenannechurchannapolis.jpg> and for the Peggy Stewart house in Annapolis were once owned by Major John Welsh and some of his heirs. Both of these buildings are national historical sites (Warfield, p. 93, 195).

 

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Last Will & Testament of Major John Welsh of Anne Arundel County
Made on January 6, 1683, Recorded on March 3, 1683/4

In the name of God, Amen
I, John Welsh, of ye County of Ann Arundel in ye Province of Maryland, Gent, being sick and weak in body but of sound and perfect Memory (praised be God for ye same) and considering ye fraile state and condition of human nature and ye certainty of death and ye uncertainty of ye time thereof, do make and constitute ordain and appoint this my last will and test in manner and forme fol ye 6 January anno Doin 1683, making void and null all former and other wills by me made.
Impremis: I bequeath my soul to Almighty God my Creator from whom I received same, faithfully trusting to his infinite and unbounded mercies through Jesus Christ my Savior and Redeemer to obtain forgiveness of all my sins great and many fold and a blessed and glorious resurrection amongst the faithful at ye last day and a happy and blessed state of inheritance in the world to come which shall endure to all eternity (???) and my body to ye Earth whence it came: and as for such wordly goods as it hath pleased God of his goodness here to intrust me withall I will and dispose of same in manner and forme following (that is to say):
2nd. I give and bequeath to my two eldest sons Silvester Welsh and John Welsh all ye my tract and plantation called Arnold Gray lying near South River in Ann Arundel Co. aforesaid(???)