William Marshall V

• General Notes
  • WILL of William Marshall
    
    "In the name of God amen William Marshall of Frederick County of State
    of Maryland being sick and weak of Body but of Sound mind and memory do
    make this my Last Will and Testament revoking and making void all other
    Wills heretofore made by me.  (Its?) in manner following Viz,
    
    Item I give and bequeath to my daughter Grace, one negro child named
    Nell to her and her Heirs and assigns forever.
    
    Item I give & bequeath to my son Alexander Marshall ten pounds currant
    Money to be paid by my Executors hereafter named.
    
    (?Likewise) leave to my son George Marshell Twelve Pounds current Money
    to be paid in like manner when he arrives to the age of Twenty one.
    
    Item I leave to my daughter Anne Toliver three pound currant Money to
    be paid by my executors.
    
    Them I give & bequeath to my son William Marshell my Goodwill of my
    dwelling Plantation I now live on, on his taking his Brother, George &
    Sister Grace Marshall home and taking care of them & their estates and
    giving them Education sufficient for (?conducting Business after my
    just debts and funeral expenses is paid.
    
    I leave the remainder part of my Estate to be equally divided amongst
    my Children & one Grand Child.  James Marshall, William Marshall*,
    Alexander Marshell**, George Marshell.  (Bressilah? Graves? Margrett
    Willson, Grace Marshall & Anne Tolever. I appoint & declare my two sons
    James Marshell & William Marshell my whole & sole Executors of my last
    Will & Testament.  In Writings whereof I have hereunto sett my hand &
    seal this Twelfth day of March one Thousand Seven hundred & seventy
    Eight.
    
    Signed and sealed in presence of:          William (his mark) Marshell
    Arth Nelson (may be Wilson)
    Jeremiah Steaker (?Stoker)
    Benjamin Grant
    
    Here is the only part I KNOW.
    
    Source: Rust family book, RUST OF VIRGINIA:
    
    William Marshall, b. est 1750..d. 10 Jun 1810 ***
      + Elizabeth (?Nee)
    
    Children of Wm. & Elizabeth (?Nee) Marshall
    1. Elizabeth Marshall b.1779 + John Rust (m'd 1797) ****
            John Bushrod Rust + Julia Ann Burgess
                Edward Scott Rust + Anna Virginia Massie
                  Julia C Rust (1875)+ Alva Benton Russell (grandparents.)
    
    2. Martha Marshall, b.1790 + George Rust (bro. of John.)
        Married in Frederick Co., VA. in 1815.
        Bondsman was a William Marshall .
       They had one daughter who died at 19. She lived with my John Bushrod
        Rust for the 1860 census.  Believe she had no other family at this
    time.
       The bondsman, William Marshall, who was alive in 1815, is a mystery.
    
    * Found an 'account' after his death, but no will.
    
    ** Alexander Marshall married Susannah Pearl.  Do either of you know
    her
    family?
    
    **** Recently found an account of their marriage in Frederick Co, MD.
           This is my line..Elizabeth (Marshall) & John Rust.
    
    The book of the Rust family intimated this family was from Marshall
    Hall, Charles Co. Md. (the community, not the mansion)  Yet when he
    reported the death of Elizabeth, mother of Elizabeth and Martha, he
    stopped mid-sentence..saying she died 1823 in Marshall.
    
    I'm sure there are more Marshall's than the Marshall Hall family; but
    so far, I haven't found them to be mine.  Before I go much deeper with
    Charles Co. Marshalls, I thought I needed to find the marriage record
    for John and Elizabeth (Marshall) Rust. At last, after many stops and
    starts, I found my search in Frederick County.
    
    With the help of a local Fred. Co. researcher, I have eliminated James
    Marshall, who had so much land in Fred. as one of my ancestors. He was
    a contemporary of the son, William of the Will. But he was very
    wealthy..and according to one lady, that James was not related to the
    Marshells/Marshalls who intermarried with the Pearls.
    
    I have probably stressed your eyes enough for now.  I have come to the
    conclusion that the only way to prove my line of Marshalls is to try to
    untangle the Pearls also.
    
    Oh, almost forgot!  Please take note of Edw. "Scott" Rust who married
    Anna Virginia Massie.  Anna V., was my father's grandmother.  He is 98
    and still of agile mind.  He remembers her well.  She lived with his
    family for one year.
    
    When I read the stories you kindly told about William Marshall, a
    bright light bulb went off.  I asked my dad again.. What was the story
    your Grandmother told about the Indian heritage?
    
    This is a paraphrase:
    Grandmama used to talk about one of the family way back, married an
    Indian.
    I don't remember now whether it was on Mama's father's or mother's
    side. (Father=Rust or Mother=Massie)  She just said there was someone
    way back who married an Indian.
    
    So, IF the Fred. Co, MD Marshall-Pearl lineage proves out, I may have
    found the Indian heritage. Back in my Great G'mother & even in my
    Grandmother's time, an Indian background wasn't celebrated like it is
    today.  Elizabeth Marshall Rust would have been a Grandmother of
    "Scott" Rust..my Dad's Grandfather.  (I believe the William of the Will
    was the one imprisoned. Not sure though.)
    
    I tend to believe the Pearl & Marshall families were not one of 'real
    low' circumstance; for Elizabeth & John Rust lived in a 12 room (forget
    if brick or stone) house on the banks of the Shenandoah River.  He was
    a  Chief Justice and Warren Co. Judge.
    
    Would love to share information with you.  Most of all, I'd like to get
    the Pearls straight as much as I'd like to find the Marshalls.
    
    I am very curious to know about some of them going to PA.  Wonder if
    there were family ties up there.
    
    Another Rust descendant said someone had found a marriage record for
    William, d. 1810 & Elizabeth Marshall (Parents of my Elizabeth)
    somewhere in PA.   That person thought it was malarky..since the person
    who told about it tended to make a lot of sloppy errors.
    
    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    
    Message from Joan Moore - 11 Jan 2007
    
    We have another problem -- Robert Pearl's wife or wives??? See below.
    What do we make of that. I thought that Nannie was just shortened to
    Anne after she was freed. Now I don't know what to think. Also, if they
    are two different people, some of the children might be by Nannie &
    some by Anne.
    
    Liber T, Pg. 423
    Recorded at request of Henry Holland Hawkins, 26 Nov 1736:
    26 Nov 1736; Indenture between Robert Pearle, planter, and Henry
    Holland Hawkins of Charles Co., Gent.; for &10 and 650# tobacco; a
    parcel called Archer�s Pasture; near Cabbin Branch; containing 44
    acres; /s/ Robert Pearl; wit. Jno. Hepburn, Jno. Fraser; ack. Robert
    Pearl and Anne his wife.
    
    Robert's wife Nanny, who as a free mulatto was also taxable on the 1733
    Tax Assessment, does not appear on the assessment, suggesting she may
    have already been deceased.
    
    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    
    Message from Joan Moore - 13 Jan 2007
      
    I looked in Calvert Co., MD & they only had 3 or 4 books & there was
    one thing that I didn't have & now I know how Mary Jeske determined
    that Richard Marsham wasn't such a great person regarding his slaves &
    servants:
    
    Settlers of Colonial Calvert Co., MD by Elise Greenup Jourdan, pg. 222:
    Marsham, Richard, killed servant Jenkin Rice; 1669; Provincial Court
    (AM 57.597)
    
    Same book, pg. 106: I don't know what this would be: Cranford, James;
    deposition in 1682 (MD PC 271).
    
    I don't know if you knew this:
    
    To Maryland From Overseas by Harry Wright Newman Marsham
    
    Richard Marsham who became one of the husbands of Anne Calvert,
    granddaughter of George, 1st Baron of Baltimore, is placed as a younger
    son of Thomas Marsham, of London, registrant at the 1633-35 Visitation
    of London. Ref: Harleian Soc. Pub., Vol. 17.
    
    Settlers of Colonial Calvert Co., MD by Elise Greenup Jourdon, pg. 82:
    Brent, Henry,; acct., 10 Nov. 1698; adm. Ann Marsham (relict) wife of
    Richard Marsham (I&A 17.144)
    
    I didn't find anything more for Robert or his kids or grand kids.
    
    One thing -- that property that Robert Pearl got from John Cranford --
    it says Beaver Dam. Apparently there are a lot of properties on Beaver
    Dam. I don't know why it didn't tell the name of the property?
    
    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    From Joan Moore - 18 Jan 2007 -
    
    The following is one of the things that Beverly Peoples sent me:
    Excerpt from book Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland A Carroll
    Saga, 1500-1782 by Ronald Hoffman in Collaboration with Sally D. Mason,
    pgs. 221-222: "Organizing Johnson's information into a series of
    statements and questions, Charley (Carroll)then sought clarification
    from his father; by carefully recording Papa's replies, he not only
    found ways of resolving the present difficulties but also created a
    compact guide for subsequent dealings with other Carroll tenants. The
    plight of newcomers who had purchased tenements from their occupants
    without following established procedures did not elicit the elder
    Carroll's sympathy. Such people "ought to have known my terms before
    they purchased & not given Slater & Foster {the former tenants} what
    was due to me." Tenants who had destroyed timber received an equally
    stern response: he had no intention of allowing them to remain on his
    property if they committed similar violations in the future. Nor did
    Papa look kindly on tenant BASIL PEARLE, who according to Charley's
    notes, had forsaken his tenement and "gone to his father's ROB: PEARL'S
    place." Papa's reaction was curt: "BASIL PEARLE has no better right to
    his father's place than he has to the 50 acres} he took of me; if
    therefore he does not chuse to hold the 50a{cres} I do not chuse he
    shall hold his father's place."(6)
    
    As subsequent records confirm, BASIL PEARLE accepted Papa's dictum and
    continued to farm 150 acres on Carrollton until 1775. Most of the other
    difficulties uncovered by Charley's investigation were also
    satisfactorily resolved, as an analysis of the tenant population in
    1771 reveals a remarkable stability, with more than 85 percent (fifty-
    four) of the sixty-two renters having taken up their tenements before
    1760.(7) Rent collections for 1771 suggest that this stability
    translated into productivity: according to the balances recorded on
    September 29, the Carrolls received tobacco rents amounting to 57,260
    pounds, just over 1,100 pounds more than the 56,076 pounds annually
    due. Although impressive, these figures do not tell the whole story:
    the tobacco paid by their leaseholders still fell nearly 26,000 pounds
    short of the cumulative total the Carroll's noted was actually owed
    them. The acreage probably represented both the lingering effects of
    the problems Charley addressed in the 1760s and a more general pattern.
    As Papa had observed a decade earlier, no one could realistically
    expect to collect all that was due him every year. Despite such
    deficits, Carrollton's contribution to the family coffers continued to
    please both father and son: upon settling accounts with steward
    Joseph Johnson in September 1772, Papa happily informed Charley, "Yr
    Estate at Monnoccasi has Produced this Year upwards of 680 pounds
    sterling.(8)
    
    NOTES: (6) Ibid.
    (7) BASIL PEARLE's father, ROBERT PEARLE {PEARL,PERLE}, leased two
    hundred acres on Carrollton in March 1745 for a term of seventeen and a
    half years (Prince George's County Land Records, liber B.B. no. 1,
    fols. 264-265, MdAA. BASIL'S decision to move was probably occasioned
    by ROBERT'S death in 1765. In addition to BASIL, ROBERT PEARLE left at
    least one other son, DANIEL (d. 1774), who farmed one hundred acres on
    Carrollton from the 1740s or 1750s until his death.
    
    Two other tenants with similar tenures -- JAMES PEARLE (d. 1774) and
    THOMAS PEARLE, who was still on the manor in 1779 -- were also sons of
    ROBERT PEARLE. (CCA, Account Book and Index, 1754-1784, fols. 33, 41,
    42, 45, MdHi; (CCA), account with DANLL. PEARLE 1752-1759, Carroll
    Papers, MS 216; rent roll and list of balances due on Carrollton, Sept.
    29, 1771, and rent roll for Carrollton, Sep. 29, 1777, Carroll-
    Maccubbin Papers. Probate records exist for James Pearle: Frederick
    County Inventories, box 8, folder 44; and for Daniel Pearle: Frederick
    County Wills, box 5, folder 77, MDAA.) James Pearle's will names his
    wife, Elizabeth, executrix, lists no children, and designates Basil and
    Thomas Pearle as "next of kin." For a fascinating account of the
    Pearles, a mulatto family, see Mary C. Jeske, "Autonomy and
    Opportunity: Carrollton Manor Tenants, 1734-1790" (Ph.D. diss.,
    University of Maryland, 1999), chap. 1.
    
    The persistence of tenures on Carrollton has been calculated using
    Charles Carroll of Annapolis's Account Book and Index, 1754-1784 (a
    ledger titled MT) in conjunction with the 1768-1771, and 1777
    Carrollton rent rolls, the only documents of this kind that have been
    found. Ledger MT was begun by Charles Carroll of Annapolis in the mid-
    1750's, when an earlier book, liber T., had been completely filled.
    Although liber T., presumably standing for Tenants' Book and containing
    records of all Carroll leaseholders, has not survived, the accounts of
    Carrollton tenants carried from that ledger into the new one (MT, for
    Monocacy Tenants) are designated as coming from liber T. Although the
    bulk of the transfers (forty) were made in 1767, one account, that
    of Thomas Brashears (fol. 64) was entered in 1754. Entries in ledger MT
    to 1782 are in CCA's hand.
    
    (8) Carrollton rent roll, Sept. 29, 1771, Carroll-Maccubbin Papers; CCA
    to Clement Hill and Basil Waring, Nov. 21, 1760, CCA, letterbook 1757-
    1761, fol. 19, MdHi; CCA to CCC, Sept. 10, 1772, Carroll Papers, MS
    206. Comparing rent roll summaries with specific entries in ledger
    MT, Jeske concludes that arrearages fluctuated, with tenants making up
    deficits in some years and incurring them in others ("Autonomy and
    Opportunity," chap. 7).
    
    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    
    From Joan Moore - 19 Jan 2007 -
    
    I don't have the actual deeds, just the General Index to Deeds in
    Allegany Co., MD
    1. Thomas Purl from James Purl et al, Deed, Book E. pg, 555, 1810
    2. Mary & James Purl to Thomas Purl, Deed, Book E, pg. 55, 1810
    3. Thomas Purl From John Purl et ux, Deed, Book E, pg. 55, 1810
    4. Hannah & John Purl to Thomas Purl, Deed, Book E, pg. 556, 1810
    5. Charles Purl from Margaret A. Purl, Deed, Book F, pg. 180, 1811
    6. Margaret A. Purl to Charles Purl, Deed, Book F, pg. 180, 1811
    7. Charles Purrell, from Charles McAtee, Deed, Book IJ, pg. 537, 1818
    8. Charles Purl from James Purl, Deed, Book O, pg. 271, 1828
    9. James Purl to Charles Purl, Deed, Book O., pg. 271, 1828
    l0. Charles Perrill, from Seth Perrill et ux, Deed, Book P, pg. 209,
    1830
    11. Seth & Susan Perrill to Charles Perrill, Deed, Book P, pg 209, 1830
    12. Charles Perrile from Elizabeth Perrile et al, Deed, Book P, pg.
    287, 1831
    13. Elizabeth Perrille to Charles Perrile, Deed, Book P, pg. 287, 1831
    14. Mary Ann & James P., & Thomas C. Purl to Charles Bucy et al, Deed,
    Book 5, pg. 632, 1850
    15. Elizabeth & Charles Purl to Charles Bucy et al, Deed, Book 5, pg.
    635, 1850
    16. Susan K. Pirl from Daniel F. McMullen et ux, Deed, Book 205, pg.
    269, 1945
    
    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    
    From Joan Moore - 6 Feb 2007
    
    At the request of Robert Pearl the Following was Enrolled May the
    Twenty Eighth Seventeen hundred and Twenty three.
    
    MARYLAND
    
    TO ALL CHRISTIAN PEOPLE to whom these presents within shall come KNOW
    YEE that I John Cranford formerly of Calvert County but now of prince
    George's County son and heir of James Cranford send greeting in our
    Lord God Everlasting know yee that I the said John Cranford have made
    ordained and constituted in my stead in my behalf and in my place but
    and deputed and by these presents do make and ordain and constitute in
    my stead on my behalf and in my place my well beloved and asteemed
    Friend Robert Pearl of prince George's County Carpenter alias Molatto
    Robin my true and Lawful atty to act and do form and to take possession
    and seizure of all and every part of that Tract or parcell of land
    lying and being in prince George's County in the woods from Potuxcent
    river near adjoining to a branch called beaver damm branch and I do
    Firmly by these presents Imperver? my well beloved Friend Robert
    Pearl to take seizure of the aforesaid Tract of parcell of Land and if
    any prohibiting of any person or persons thereunto relating then it
    shall and may be Lawfull for my Trusty Friend Robert Pearl to take any
    course of Law for the recovery of the said land as to him shall think
    necessary and shall there and then at the recovery of the said Land
    peaceably occupy and enjoy them as his own proper right to him the said
    Pearl and his heirs forever without any molestation or claiming by from
    or under me note that if the said Pearl finds or discovers more land in
    the aforesaid Tract of land then 300 Acres then the said Pearl is to
    pay to said Cranford's _____* an acre for all the mainder of such land
    as Witness my hand and seal the 24th January AD 1722/3.
    
    NOTE: *I can't make this out is could be 20 pounds but it is NOT clear
    at all.
    
    *****************************
    
    Message from Mary Jeske to Joan Moore, Feb 2007
    
    Hi Joan
    Sorry I have been so long getting back to you. I finally had a chance
    to read through everything and to check all my own notes.
    
    First of all, I have nothing on Lawrence Pearle. You and others have
    done far more research in the later generations than I did. I think it
    is quite likely he was the grandson of Robert/Robin (d. 1765), and
    quite possibly the son of Basil. But I can't add anything to what
    you've already found.
    
    Second. I checked the original record for the Robert Pearle who
    supposedly was going to England (PG Co. Land Records, Liber M [1726-
    1730], fol. 433. I don't know where your transcript of the record came
    from, or if there is another record that I did not see, but the one I
    am looking at (the original) says: "At the request of Charles
    Pembrook the Following Discharge was Enrolled June the Seventeenth Day
    Anno Domi Seventeen hundred & Twenty Nine "Whereas Robert Pearle hath
    entered into Bond dated the 14th day of May last to pay me or my heirs
    the Sum of thrity five pounds Sterl in the manner expressed in the
    Condition to the said Bond & whereas I am now going to
    reside in Lond & cannot reasonably take Charles Pembrooke with me from
    his wife & children & as he has faithfully & honestly served me
    hitherto & is not able nor I willing he should be put to an hard
    labour. These are therefore to certifie all whom it may concern that on
    these considerations I have discharged & do hereby freely discharge
    him the said Charles Pembrooke from all further Service & give him
    intire libery & freedom Witness my hand & Seal this 9th Day of June
    1729. [Signed] Henry Darnall.
    Tested [witnesses] Henry Darnall Junr[;] Charles Neale"
    
    As you can see, it is Henry Darnall, not Robert Pearle, who was going
    to England.
    
    Apparently Robert Pearle was going to buy Pembrooke but had not been
    able to by the time Darnall left for England and Darnall, for whatever
    reason, decided to free Pembrooke.
    
    So, unless there is some other record, this dispenses with a Robert
    Pearle who was going to England.
    
    Third. Unless I am missing something, I see no reason to think that the
    "negro man Robin" in James Cranford's 1699 inventory was mulatto
    Robin/Robert Pearle. Robin was not an uncommon name and the Robin in
    the inventory is not referred to as a mulatto, a carpenter, or as
    Robert Pearle (unless there is something missing from the transcript
    you sent me; I have not looked at the original). I don't see any
    connection between negro Robin and the Robert Pearle/mulatto Robin in
    John Cranford's 1722 power of attorney from Cranford to Pearle. There
    is no evidence to connect the two. How Pearle became Cranford's
    esteemed friend is certainly intriguing, but there is no evidence that
    he had been James Cranford's servant. According to Richard Marsham's
    will, Robert Pearle/mulatto Robin was born about 1685 (and we know he
    died 1765, so unlikely he was born much earlier). So he was only 14
    when James Cranford's inventory was made, and so unlikely to have been
    referred to as a negro man. If there is something about the 1699
    Inventory, or the 1722 release, that I am missing, please let me know.
    
    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    Joan
    Now that I�ve mulled this thing over a bit, I come to the same
    conclusion I did at first reading. Basically, Robin the slave of James
    Cranford and Robert Pearle, mulatto Robin, friend of John Cranford are
    2 entirely different people.
    
    Mary�s assessment seems to me to be correct. This is supported by the
    fact that I�ve seen many �Robins� as slaves in that time in Maryland.
    Additionally, when reading the Maryland Archives online for all
    references for the names Cranford and Marsham(there were quite a lot)
    I found a number of situations that indicate that these families knew
    each other and likely would have often had contact with each other.
    That would account for how John Cranford came to know Robert Pearl.
    They seem to be contemporaries and it is interesting the degree of
    confidence Cranford had in Pearl. Just another of things that indicate
    Pearl�s unusual position.