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Henry Acton (abt. 1677 - bef. 1747)

Henry Acton
Born about in Longnor, Shropshire, Englandmap [uncertain]
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 1703 in Charles County, Marylandmap
Husband of — married 1737 in Marylandmap
Husband of — married 26 May 1739 in Marylandmap
Descendants descendants
Died before before about age 69 in Prince George's, Province of Marylandmap
Profile last modified | Created 30 Dec 2010
This page has been accessed 3,785 times.

Contents

Biography

U.S. Southern Colonies Project logo
Henry Acton was a Maryland colonist.

Birth and Parentage

Some researchers believe the Henry of this profile was the son of Henry Acton and Hannah Corbet of Longnor Shropshire. Without a will in England identifying Henry as living in Maryland this relationship is not proven. The Henry of Longnor was baptised 11 Oct 1677 in Longnor, Shropshire. [1] It is very likely Henry is from the area of England where Longnor is located since he named a patent after the area, but the plantation name does not prove who his parents were.

Public Service

1706 He was commissioned Justice of Peace 1706. [citation needed]

Property

Henry Acton was living in Prince George's County on 16 FEB 1708 when Walter Bayne of the same county conveyed to him a 428 acre tract of land called Aberdeen for the sum of £80 sterling plus 11,000 pounds of tobacco. The land was located in Charles County on the main branch that flows into Mattawoman Creek which is the border between Charles and Prince George's County.[2]

On 8 NOV 1715 Henry Acton of Charles County conveyed 100 acres to William Marlow of Prince George's County that was part of a tract called Aberdeen for £50 sterling. Henry's wife, Anne Acton signed the deed to release her dower rights.[3]

Henry & Ann Acton of Charles County conveyed her dower right in the plantation called Battersea to her son Richard Gambra on 14 NOV 1726 for 1,500 pounds of tobacco. [4] This deed and the one above confirm the marriage of Ann Gambra to Henry Acton from 1715 to 1726.

Henry and his son John were called planters. Henry also owned Aberdeen, 428 acres, Dukes Delight, 40 acres, and Acton's Addition, all in Maryland. [citation needed]

Patent Records

Henry Acton was already a land owner in Charles County when he claimed a 100 acre tract he named Longnor on 13 JAN 1723. The land came to him by virtue of assignment from John Radford of Prince Georges County and was paid for in either pounds of tobacco or cash money; the patent doesn't say. The patent also states the land was laid out adjoining another parcel Henry owned called Aberdeen.[5]

Marriages

Henry Acton was married to the widow of Richard Gambra by 10 NOV 1707 when Henry entered his account of the deceased’s estate which was appraised on 21 APR 1704 and valued at £343.11.11. Payment are difficult to read, but there was a little paid out to creditors and the balance remaining was £293.5.4. [6] Henry is proved by deeds listed below to have been married to the widow of Richard Gambra between the years 1715 and 1726. Her maiden name is not proved. There is speculation Anne was the daughter of John Marriott and Sarah Acton of Anne Arundel County, but the case is weak for two reasons. 1) Anne is named in the 1716 will of her father as Anne Gambrell and the above proves she was married to Henry Acton 9 years before this year. 2) The distance between where Anne lived near the Severn River and where Henry Acton lived near Mattawoman Creek is very far during this time period. It would likely be a trip by boat south on the bay and north on the Potomac of several days.

Two other wives have been named, but sources are needed for Ann Penn, the widow of John Chandler married around 1737 and Johanna Edgar, the widow of Thomas Milstead.

Children

Henry was the father of four known children who are all mentioned in his will.

  1. Henry Acton, b 1709; m Eleanor Marlow.
  2. John Acton, b 1704; m Mary (???)
  3. Ann Acton, b 1705; m 1st James Dunning, 2nd Benjamin Higdon
  4. Barbara Acton b ca 1707; d June 1797 age 91 yr; m 1725 William McPherson b 1693 Scotland; d 1751 Maryland. All of Barbara's family were Episcopalians. Several served in the American Revolution. The father and son served in the same command.

Death

Henry Acton was living in Prince George's County when he died although there is no evidence he owned property in that county. He may have been living with one of his children at the time. An abstract of his will follows: 5 DEC 1743 I Henry Acton of Prince George’s County being very sick . . .

  • to my son Henry Acton all the plantation called Aberdeen and also one other tract called Acton’s Addition, and 1 negro man named Longinerst to be delivered by my executrix after the crop is finished.
  • to my son John Acton 1 negro man named Newsom to be delivered by my executrix after the crop is finished.
  • to my daughter Ann Dunning 1 negro man called Great Sheperd to be delivered by my executrix after the crop is finished.
  • to my daughter Barbary MacFearson 1 negro man called Nero my executrix after the crop is finished.
  • to my grand daughter Hannah Dunning a negro girl.
  • to my wife Hannah to whom I likewise make my sole executrix all my goods and chattles, negroes and my estate except the legacies before mentioned.

Signed and sealed by Henry Acton with a cursive signature and witnessed by (unreadable) Probated on 14 JAN 1747[7] (The microfilm of this will is very difficult to read).

Sources

  1. Actual date of baptism for Henry 11 October 1677 - son of Henry and Hanah Actun (sic) - courtesy of Shropshire Parish Registers society http://www.melocki.org.uk/salop/Longnor.html
  2. Charles County Land Records Liber C 2 folio 126
  3. Charles County Deeds Liber F 2 folio 79
  4. Prince George's County Deeds Liber M folio 99
  5. Maryland Patents IL A folio 517 [1]
  6. Inventories and Accounts of the Prerogative Court Liver 27 folio 262 available at Maryland State Archives, Annapolis.
  7. Prerogative Court Wills of Maryland Liber 23 folio 29 [2]

Research Notes

Some sources also show a John Austin as the son of Henry and Anne Acton. This John Austin cannot be the son of Henry and Anne Acton because (Research of A Tomkins):

  • He was born 1695, when Anne was only 13 (possible, but unlikely).
  • Also, Henry Acton was Anne's second husband, and they were married in 1703/04, 8-9 years after John's birth.
  • I believe that most people have mistaken John Austin for John Acton, Henry's "real" son.

Acknowledgments

  • Thank you, Heather Jenkinson, for providing the reference to Longnor Parish Registers.
  • Thank you to Donald Marlowe for creating WikiTree profile Acton-284 through the import of Don_Direct.ged on May 29, 2013.

Magna Carta Project

Since Henry Acton is not one of the 240 Gateway Ancestors documented by Douglas Richardson in Magna Carta Ancestry, he is not within the scope of the Magna Carta Project. To have him included in the project, primary sources would be needed to support parent/child relationships until his trail connects to someone who is documented by Richardson (in either Magna Carta Ancestry or Royal Ancestry - the latter being preferred as it was published in 2013 & MCA was published in 2011).
When the sub-project "Questionable Gateway Ancestors" was active, project member John Schmeeckle researched Henry Acton and made the following report:
He seems to be the proper social status for aristocratic ancestry, but a quick internet search didn't come up with any good secondary sources (let alone a baptism record) for his parentage. The marriage of his alleged maternal grandparents is mentioned in the Corbet genealogy, p. 203, at https://archive.org/stream/familyofcorbetit02corb#page/n69/mode/2up




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Henry by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Henry:

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Comments: 7

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Acton-463 and Acton-11 appear to represent the same person because: Duplicate profile.
posted by Jana Shea
Actual date of baptism for Henry 11 October 1677 - son of Henry and Hanah Actun (sic) - courtesy of Shropshire Parish Registers society http://www.melocki.org.uk/salop/Longnor.html
posted by Heather Jenkinson
I have no particular reason to doubt Henry Acton's parentage, but I would like to see some source documentation beyond an internet family tree that currently (Jan. 2018) can't be accessed.
posted by [Living Schmeeckle]
Acton-284 and Acton-11 appear to represent the same person because: Acton-284 was apparently created under the impression that Henry Acton was the wife of Mary Murlow. Actually, Henry Action was the step-father of Mary Murlow -- the same as Acton-11. Acton-284's profile has been corrected to be consistent with Acton-11, and the marriage connection to Mary Murlow has been removed.
posted by Jack Day
Okay. John Austin cannot be the son of Henry and Anne Acton because: He was born 1695, when Anne was only 13 (possible, but unlikely). Also, Henry Acton was Anne's second husband, and they were married in 1703/04, 8-9 years after John's birth. I believe that most people have mistaken John Austin for John Acton, Henry's "real" son.
posted by A. (Johnson) Tomkins
Yes, Ms Tomkins, this is exactly where any info that might be useful to someone of explains an edit is included.
Removed John Austin as son of Henry Acton. I had compiled a document listing several sources that disprove the connection, but I'm not sure it should be included here.
posted by A. (Johnson) Tomkins