Thomas Marsh (abt. 1615 - 1656)

Born about 1615 in England

Husband of Sarah (Etheridge) Marsh — married 1 Jun 1636 in London, England

Descendants

Died 1656 at about age 41 in Anne Arundel, Maryland

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Biography

Thomas Marsh migrated from England to Virginia.

Thomas Marsh migrated from Virginia to Maryland.

He was a Puritan. Came from England to settle in Virginia; later moved to Maryland (for religious reasons). Thomas settled in Herring Creek Hundred and held more than 1,000 acres of land. He is mentioned as both planter and merchant of Severn and was appointed Justice of the Peace for Anne Arundel Co. and later a Commissioner of the county. He is said to have been a merchant with a vessel engaged in New England trade.

When Gov. Berkely arrived in Virginia he began to persecute the Puritans; he forced them to give tithes to the Established Church and read from the Book of Common Prayer. Since they had come to the New World for freedom of religion, they resisted. When Lord Baltimore was given the land north of the Potomac, he stated that he would grant freedom of religion, appointed a Protestant Governor who heard of the Virginia persecution, and invited the Puritans to move, giving them what is now Anne Arundel County. The Baltimore representatives in St. Mary's County refused to recognize the Puritan government and attacked the Maryland Puritans on the Severn River in Anne Arundel Co. The Puritans won, although some on both sides were killed and wounded, Thomas Marsh being one of them.

Thomas Marsh appears first to have come to Virginia in 1636 (or earlier) – one of those brought in by Thomas Holt. He returned to England for a brief visit and returned with a number of persons, among them Margaret Harford, whom he subsequently married. No one as yet seems to have seriously studied his English origins.

Thomas first settled in New Norfolk County, where there are numerous court references to him. He is mentioned several times as “alias Thomas Rivers,” but the Virginia records yield no reason for this usage. It seems that the English records would have to be perused in an attempt to discover the reason for this. The Virginia court references are:

22 May 1636 land grant – To Thomas Holt, 500 acres in the Upper County of New Norfolk, 50 acres for transporting himself, and 450 acres for nine persons, viz. Thomas Marsh, James Arundell, Yoeman Gibson, John Drabe, William Smith, Toby Smith, Samuel Taylor, George Taylor and Natl. Corder.

7 Jul 1637 - Thomas Rivers, alias Marsh, deposition at Linhaven, Lower County of Norfolk, age 21.

6 Jan 1638 land grant – Thomas Marsh, alias Rivers, 150 acres, Upper County of New Norfolk, northerly upon Elizabeth River. Assigned by Peter Montague and payment to be made seven years after 22 Aug 1637 for transportation of William Jones, Thomas Redby and Margaret Harford.

2 Apr 1638 Court – Thomas Marsh and George Lowe, as to the division of certain land.

2 Apr 1638, Lower Norfolk County Court – “Whereas it doth appear that Richard Loe, planter, hath bought of Thomas Marsh, planter, all his estate whatsoever here resident in Virginia …but Richard Loe not giving security, it remains in Thomas Marsh.”

21 Mar 1639 – Thomas Marsh alias Rivers was assigned a patent for 150 acres granted Peter Montague on 22 Aug 1637.

8 Apr 1639 Court – Thomas Marsh, “being about to go for England.”

6 Sep 1641 Court – Thomas Marsh, constable, applies for 150 acres for transportation of self and wife, and also William Smith whom he bought of Mr. Flood

4 Oct 1641 Court – “Thomas Marsh hath made appear to this Court that he hath due him 150 acres of land for the transportation of himself and his wife unto this colony as also one William Smith.”

16 Nov 1641 Court – Deposition of Thomas Marsh, aged 26 years.

15 Dec 1642 Court – Thomas Marsh, juryman.

16 Jun 1643 Court at Thomas Meares’ – Thomas Marsh to pay an old bill.

15 Jun 1646 Court – Thomas Marsh, the settlement of a debt.

1 Nov 1647 – Thomas Etheridge given patent to land adjoining Thomas Marsh.

20 Oct 1648 – John Clarke obtained patent to 250 acres adjacent to Thomas Marsh.

18 Jun 1650 – “Whereas Mr. Thos. Marsh hath transported divers persons out of this colony, Lower Norfolk Court ordered Mr. Marsh to pay their Debts.”

30 Oct 1651 – “Whereas Thos. Marsh, Gent., both … deserted this colony” …attachment granted by Lower Norfolk Court against estate of Marsh.

The foregoing records are taken from the unpublished manuscript copy of the Court Record, as well as additional court and land grant records, now in the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond.

Thomas Marsh was a Puritan, and in Virginia he resided in the Puritan settlement. Surrounded by Royalists who were vastly in the majority and totally in control of the affairs of the colony, the Virginia puritans were subjected to a persecution which was sufficiently stringent to result in their seeking new homes in Maryland, where there was no persecution on account of religion. The 1649 Tolerance Act in Maryland and 1649 entry in the records of Lower Norfolk County help explain why he left Virginia and moved to Maryland:

Several persons including Thomas Marsh were “presented to ye board by ye Sheriff for seditious sectuaries for not repairing to their Church, and for refusing to hear Common Prayer, liberty is granted till October next to informant their judgments and to conform themselves to the established law…”.

Before the expiration of the time allotted, Thomas Marsh and several of the others mentioned had moved to Maryland and established themselves in Calvert and Anne Arundel counties.

Thomas settled in Herring Creek Hundred and held more than 1,000 acres of land. He is mentioned as both a planter and a merchant of Severn and was appointed Justice of the Peace for Anne Arundel County and later a Commissioner of the county.

His tact as a judicial officer is reflected in the report of one of the cases he tried. After effecting an arbitration between the two parties, and giving his award, he added, as his own donation, a hogshead of sack, to be drunk between the parties.” (Davis, Daystar of American Freedom, p. 120) Of sack, we remember what Falstaff said, “If I had a thousand sons, the first human principle I would teach them should be to forswear thin potations, and to addict themselves to sack.”

30 Jul 1650 – Thomas Marsh appointed by Governor Stone and the Council as one of the commissioners of Anne Arundel Co.

22 Jan 1651 – Thomas Marsh, Gent., of Kent, registers cattle mark.

· 24 Oct 1651 – Survey of 150 acres called Marsh’s Seat in Anne Arundel Co. for Thomas Marsh.

28 Jun 1652 – Petition that Thomas Marsh “or some other fitting and able person” be appointed to the office of Commander of the Isle of Kent.

20 Aug 1652 – Survey of 300 acres called Poplar Neck in Kent Co. for Thomas Marsh.

There is some question over the marriages of Thomas Marsh. One source states he married on 1 Jun 1636 in London, England to Sarah Etheridge. As noted above, there was a Thomas Etheridge who owned land adjacent to Thomas Marsh in Virginia. If Thomas was married to Sarah Etheridge, she evidently died very soon thereafter. Thomas Marsh's older children were by his wife Margaret Harford and included (birth order unknown):

• Thomas Marsh, born circa 1643.
• Margaret Marsh, born ?, died 16 Feb 1688 Third Haven, Talbot Co., Maryland. She first married Richard Preston, Jr., son of 'The Great Quaker', Richard Preston, who had settled first in Virginia, then on the Patuxent, and during the Puritan regime was the most powerful man in Maryland. Later the Prestons moved to the region of the Choptank and the eastern shore. Richard Preston, Jr. died in 1669, and his widow, Margaret, married in 1670 to William Berry, of Poplar Neck, of another distinguished Puritan family that had come from Virginia with the migration.
  • Children of Margaret Marsh and William Berry:
    • Benjamin Berry, b. 23 Oct 1670
    • Joseph Berry, b. 24 Feb 1673
    • Richard Berry (twin), b. 19 Nov 1678
    • Thomas Berry (twin), b. 19 Nov 1678.

This first Commissioner of Anne Arundel, coming up from Virginia with William Durand, he surveyed lands, first upon Herring Creek, but later became a merchant of the Severn.

He was an active member in every movement of the early settlers. Having become prominent in the Severn contest, the proprietary government, in 1658, refused to recognize his right to lands.

His tract known as "Majors Choice" became historic as a long disputed line dividing the Counties of Anne Arundel and Calvert. He assigned a hundred acres upon the Chesapeake to Edward Dorsey and Thomas Manning. The latter in his petition for a title to the land, recorded that it was taken up by Thomas Marsh, who, on account of his rebellion, was unable to secure title to the same. Thomas Marsh assigned, also, to William Ayres, a tract upon Herring Creek.

The original and indefinite act of 1650, setting off Anne Arundel County, "embraced all that part of the province, on the west side of the Chesapeake Bay, over against the Isle of Kent, called Providence by the people thereof."

The land grants show that the people of Providence extended from Herring Creek on the south, to the Patapsco River on the north, with the Severn as a central meeting place.

During 1650, an order was passed erecting Charles County out of the territory on the south side of the Patuxent. This order was a county grant to Hon. Robert Brooke, a special friend of Lord Baltimore, who with his family of forty persons, including his servants, had seated himself about twenty miles north of the mouth of the Patuxent. When Robert Brooke later became a leader in the independent movement of the Virginia settlers, he was deprived of his command by changing the name of Charles County to Calvert County, which had its northern limit at "a creek on the west side of the Chesapeake Bay, called Herring Bay."

After the Commissioners of Parliament had, in the ensuing October, 1654, displaced Governor Stone, an ordinance was passed declaring that "all the lands extending from Marshe's Creek down the bay, including all the lands on the south side of the bay and cliffs, with the north and south sides of the Patuxent River, shall constitute a county, to be called, as it is, "Patuxent County."

Upon the restoration of the proprietary grovernment, in 1658, all of the previous acts were annulled, and the boundaries and the names made by the Council of July 3rd, 1654, were restored. The question so rested until 1674, when the proprietary declared by proclamation, "That the north side of the Patuxent River, beginning at the north side of Lyon's Creek, shall be added to Anne Arundel County."

One hundred years later, 1777, in order to determine the eligibility of Mr. Mackall, the House of Delegates declared, "that the creek, at present called Fishing Creek, was the reputed and long received boundary between the two counties."

Nearly a half century later, 1832, an act was passed, appointing commissioners to ascertain and establish the divisional lines.

In 1823, the commissioners reported a compromise line beginning at the mouth of Muddy, or Red Lion's Creek. Anne Arundel County did not claim that its limits extended to Herring Creek, the boundary assigned by the order of 1652, but that Marsh's Creek, being the conceded boundary, the dispute was as to the true location of that creek.

Calvert County claimed that Marsh's Creek, named for Thomas Marsh, the first Anne Arundel commissioner, was a creek falling into Herring Creek, near its mouth, and extending westwardly with that creek to one of the heads of Lyon's Creek, and thence with Lyon's Creek to the Patuxent.

Anne Arundel County claimed that Marsh's Creek was what is now known as Fishing Creek. By the act of 1824, Fishing Creek was made the division line on the bay and the south, or middle creek, on the Patuxent."

In duration and the difficulty of arriving at a satisfactory result, the contest between Anne Arundel and Calvert was not unlike that between Lord Baltimore and the Penns. "

But the identity of Marsh's Creek, (the admitted boundary), with Fishing Creek, is clearly proved by the records in the land office. The history of the title to " Majors Choice," taken up by the Honorable Thomas Marsh, near the Cliffs of Calvert, will readily develop all the evidence upon this knotty question."—(DAVIS.)

In 1695, Prince George County was formed out of its northern territory, extending south as far as Mattawoman Creek, and a straight line drawn thence to the head of the Swanson's Creek, and with that creek to the Patuxent. The present divisional line of Charles and Prince George slightly varies to the west by an artificial line running from the Mattawoman to a given point on the Potomac, nearly opposite Mount Vernon.—(Act of 1748, Chapter 14.) The creation of Charles County in 1658, had no northern limit except " as far as the settlements extended."

On the north and east, Prince George has always been separated from Anne Arundel and Charles by the Patuxent River. Extending from the Patuxent to the Potomac, Prince George received its definite western limits, in 1748, by the creation of Frederick County, from which it was separated by a straight line, beginning at the lower side of the mouth of Rock Creek, and running thence north with Hyatt's plantation to the Patuxent River, at Crow's mill, west of Laurel.

Death

Thomas died intestate sometime in 1656 from wounds received at the Battle of Severn. Estate administered by Sarah Marsh 20 Mar 1656.

Sources

• Early Families of Southern Maryland, Vol. 3, Marsh, pp. 61-63
• The Founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland by Joshua Dorsey Warfield, publ. 1905 by Kohn & Pollock.

Research Notes

Information received from Jo Anne Mackby in March 2004 - Albertus:

Thomas Marsh, alias Rivers, Physician of Poplar Neck, Kent Island, was born about 1615 in England.

Thomas wed firstly Sarah Etheridge on 1 June 1636 in London.

He married secondly Margaret Hartford, who bore him a daughter:

1. Elizabeth Marsh, baptised 14 Apr 1634. (sic)

He married thirdly Sarah Pitt, who bore him a daughter, Sarah Marsh.