Elizabeth (Rousby) Bennett (abt. 1682 - 1740)

Born about 1682 in Calvert County, Maryland [uncertain]

Ancestors

Died 3 Apr 1740 at about age 58 in Queen Anne's, Maryland [uncertain]

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Biography

Elizabeth Rousby was the daughter of John Rousby and Barbara Morgan. ^[1]

She grew up on what is now known as Rousby Hall Road in southern Calvert County. Elizabeth's father died when she was young and her mother remarried to Richard Smith Jr. The family moved to the residence of Mr. Smith’s located on the land that is now Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum.

All of the land on Bennett’s Point, including that on which the chapel and the Bennett house resided, was inherited by Elizabeth Rousby from her maternal aunt.

Richard Bennett III, attended a Jesuit school in Paris, and at 19 conducted a general store in Wye Town. He married Elizabeth Rousby and lived most of his life at Bennett's Point. They had no children. His wife died 3 April 1740 ^[2]at 58, and Richard Bennett never remarried.

"Henrietta Maria Neale, eldest dau. of Capt. James and Anna Neale. m. 1st Richard Bennett, who was drowned in early manhood, and left two child., viz: Richard, who m. Elizabeth Rousby, and d. sine prole, and a dau who m. Darnall, or Lowe." ^[3]

Edward Lloyd (1711-1770), son of Edward Lloyd (1670-1718/19) who was son of Philemon Lloyd (1646-1685) MARRIED Anne Rousby (1721-1769), daughter of John Rousby. Anne was raised in the home of her aunt Elizabeth Rousby (1682-1740), who married Richard Bennett (1667-1749. ^[4]

Richard Bennett III was one of the wealthiest men in colonial history. By his death, he owned 23,000 acres, one of the only colonial merchant fleets, and the Wye Mill (famous for the Wye Oak, which was only 160 years old at the time). His influence was felt across the entirety of the Maryland Eastern Shore. ^[5]

Research Notes

By the same name: 1764 - George Plater III marries Elizabeth Rousby from Calvert County. They have five children, Ann, Rebecca, Thomas, George IV, and John Rousby.

Sources

1. ↑ The Invincible A Magazine of History. The Morgan Family. Google Books p 32-34.
2. ↑ Tombstone Inscription. Bennett's Point, Queen Anne's County MD. "Here Lyes Interr'd the Body of Elizabeth, Wife of Richard Bennett Esq. She was the Daughter of John Rousby Esq. by Barbara his Wife and Dyed the third day of April Anno Domini 1740 in the 58th Year of her Age very much lamented. Requiescat in pace."
3. ↑ George Hanson. "Old Kent on the Eastern Shore of Maryland" 1876. p 30. Google Books
4. ↑ Edward C. Papenfuse, et. al.. A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature 1635-1789. Vol. 426, p 535/6. Archives of Maryland Online
5. ↑ Patricia Samford. Richard Bennett III – Colonial Tycoon Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum - Maryland History by the Object. 28 May 2014.

See also:

• ColonialAmerica.com