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Elizabeth (Lee) Beale (abt. 1655 - aft. 1736)

Elizabeth Beale formerly Lee
Born about in Waterford, Hertfordshire, Englandmap
Daughter of and [mother unknown]
Sister of
Wife of — married about 1672 in St. Mary's County, Province of Marylandmap [uncertain]
Descendants descendants
Mother of
Died after after about age 81 in St. Mary's County, Province of Marylandmap
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Profile last modified | Created 16 Dec 2011
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Contents

Biography

Elizabeth Beale of St. Mary's County, Province of Maryland and wife of Thomas Beale, is believed to be Elizabeth Lee of Waterford, England.

1687 Robert Lee's Will tells us about Elizabeth's Marriage

The major documentation providing inferences into Elizabeth's life is the 1687 will of Robert Lee of St. Mary's County. The will was written 28th Dec., 1687 and proved several days later on 4th Jan., 1687. (In this time period the New Year began on March 25th, not January 1). It contained the following items:[1]

  • Bequests of personalty to Henry Darnall and wife, Col. Diggs and Wife, Maj. Nicholas Sewall and wife, Mrs. Eliza.: Baker, Mrs. Eliza: Beale, Mr. Heath, Thomas Grunwin, John Powell, Mrs. Van Sweringen., Maria Van Sweringen, Francis Pennington, Mrs. Ellinor Brookes and her sister Mary Darnall, and to Henry Darnall, Jr.
  • Bequest of personalty to 'father and mother, Michael and Christian Lee, in Waterford, Eng.
  • 200 acres of "Low's Gift in Dorchester County to John Beall, Jr., son of Thomas Beall, and hrs.,
  • Ex.: CoL Henry Darnall. 4. 280

On 7 Jan 1686/7 Robert Lee's inventory, St. Mary's Co, came to £54.16.5. Appraisers were Garratt Vansweringen and Thomas Beal. Debts were owed to Michall Taney, Robert Carvile, Col. Diggs, Anthony Underwood for note on Michael Taney, Thomas Marshall, George Sulivan, John Kock, George Coome, Gilbert Clark, John Skreech, John Harris, Samson Stoddart. [2]

The following observations can be made from these documents:

  1. It is not unusual in this period for the same family name to be spelled differently even within the same document, i.e. Beale and Beall. We can assume that the Thomas Beale named as appraiser in the estate settlement and the Thomas Beall named in the will as father of John are the same person.
  2. Robert Lee does not name a living wife or children in this will, but his parents are living in 1687. From this we can infer he was a relatively young man at his death.
  3. The will lists a Mrs. Eliza Beale among others to receive bequests of personalty. It is generally assumed that she is the wife of Thomas Beale and the mother of John.
  4. Marshall shows Elizabeth as the sister of Robert [1] Michael and Christian Lee of Waterford, Hertfordshire [Marshall says "Herefordshire," but that is erroneous as there is no village of Waterford in Herefords.], named as Robert Lee's parents, were thus Elizabeth Beale's parents as well.

In fact, Skordas shows an Elizabeth Lee transported in 1672 (liber 16, folio 529.) [3] This opens the possibility that she arrived in Maryland, also perhaps aged 17 with an indenture available for purchase, in the same year that Thomas Beale, age 22, having served his indenture, was a free man. A reasonable assumption would be that Thomas Beale assumed her transportation debt and married her that same year, 1672.

Robert Lee's will makes a separate provision to confer property in Dorchester County, across the Chesapeake Bay, to John Beall, Jr, son of Thomas Beall. This would appear to be Thomas Beale and his son John. If John were born in 1673, the year after Thomas' 1672 marriage, he would have been a minor aged 14 at the time of the 1687 will, hence the need to name John's father also, in the will.

Life Summary Drawn from Will Analysis

  • Birth: 1655 in Waterford, Hertfordshire, England, to Michael and Christian Lee
  • Brother: Robert Lee of Saint Mary's County, Died 1687.
  • Immigrated to Saint Mary's County, 1672
  • Married Thomas Beale of Saint Mary's County, 1672
  • Son John born, 1673

1736 Death

Marshall shows Elizabeth dying before 1713. [1]

Children

Assume that Elizabeth Beale is the mother of the children of Thomas Beale:

  1. John Beale, born 1673
  2. Elizabeth

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mike Marshall. "Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck Counties" Profile for Elizabeth Lee Marshall provides commendable documentation of wills, estates and property records, but unfortunately does not show the source of some of the relational data in his database. Accessed 13 November 2021 jhd
  2. Abstracts of the Inventories and Accounts of the Prerogative Court of Maryland. 1685-1701 Libers 9,10,101C, 11A, 11B Volume 3 Compiled by V.L. Skinner. Published by Family Line Publications. Copied by Robert Berenger
  3. Gust Skordas. The Early Settlers of Maryland. Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co, Inc. 1968. Page 285

Acknowledgments

  • WikiTree profile Lee-3470 created through the import of Mulkerin Family History Site.ged on Dec 15, 2011 by Samantha Mulkerin. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Samantha and others.




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Comments: 3

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I have completed the merger of the Elizabeth (Lee) Beall profiles. In the biography, I have inserted a chart into the Biography. It came from the

Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck Counties source, with marriage data added. Only the life events for Euphen(sp) and Elizabeth align with their WikiTree profiles. The others should be reconciled to the same source. A merger of the Thomas Beall profiles should also be proposed. David

posted by David Richards
Thanks for your extensive work on this profile. The Thomas Beall profiles, however, reflect the fact that they are two entirely different people, and merging them would undo years of hard work. There is considerable misinformation abroad about the early Bealls and their relatives, which makes in-line citation of every fact mandatory. It has been several years since I have worked on these profiles and I will see what further contribution I can add.
posted by Jack Day
edited by Jack Day
Lee-27693 and Lee-3470 appear to represent the same person because: Duplicate

L  >  Lee  |  B  >  Beale  >  Elizabeth (Lee) Beale

Categories: St. Mary's County, Province of Maryland | Waterford, Hertfordshire