Charles Allison (abt. 1721 - abt. 1800)

Born about 1721 in Charles County, Maryland, British Colonial America

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1800 at about age 79 in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Kirk Haggerty [send private message]

Biography

Charles Allison performed Patriotic Service in Maryland in the American Revolution.

Charles Allison is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A001953.

Charles Allison was the great-grandson of Thomas Allison, Lord of Christian Temple Manor of Charles County, Maryland Colony. His estate was on the Mattawoman Creek, very close to Swedish Point.

By the 1730s or 1740s, The Tobacco Industry in Maryland as a whole was on the decline. But it appears that Charles left the manor house as a young man and moved to Montgomery County.

Charles lived through historic times in Maryland. He was around when Britain and the Colonies changed to the Gregorian Calender in Sept 1752 (and lost 11 days).

Charles' wife, Barbara Moore, most likely had a distant lineage to Scottish royalty, (see family lines of Moore, Magruder, Campbell, and Stewart family lines).

He witnessed the 'French and Indian War' (1754 - 1763) and may had been aware of General Edward Braddock's doomed march in 1755.

Charles and his Family may had seen Haley's Comet fly over the North American skys in 1759.

Charles and his family would have been aware of the border dispute between Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the 1760s. A compromise border line was surveyed and established, better known today as the 'Mason-Dixon Line'.

Charles and his family were certainly aware of the events that led up to the American Revolutionary War (April 1775) and the Declaration of Independence (Jul 1776).

Even though he was 56 years old, Charles (as well as his sons) volunteed with the Patriots and joined the Maryland Militia.

Charles must have been shocked when he learned that 2 of his sons were taken prisoner after the Battle of Camden in South Carolina (Aug 1780), and one of them had perished as a prisoner! Somehow, he gathered enough money to pay ransome for his surviving son, James to be free in 1781.

During this time, (most likely) Charles had sold the old property of Christian Temple Manor and moved to Montgomery County, Maryland. It is possible that he had sold the manor house to William Smallwood, a General of the 1st Maryland Regiment and later governor of Maryland. My theory was based on the assumption that Charles Allison had debts to pay off and he desparately needed money to pay ransome to save his surviving son James from British captivity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Smallwood

Charles was now an older man when the war had ended (1783) and a constitutional convention convened (1787), and the Republic's first president sworn in (1789).

Charles died in Montgomery County, Maryland in 1800. It is possible that Charles was buried at Rock Creek Cemetery, (in present day Washington DC). Another posibility is that he is buried at the parish cemetery at Rockville, Maryland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Creek_Cemetery

Shortly after his death, his son James and his family first moved to Western Pennsylvania, then later settled in western Virginia.

OATH: March 1778, Oath of Fidelity, p.5, No. 128. Joe Wilson, Clerk.

CENSUS: 1791 Census of Montgomery Co., MD. Three males over 16, one male under 16, two females.

DEEDS: Montgomery Co., MD, D 525-3/15/1791. Charles and Barbara Allison to John Fitzgerald, shoemaker. Montgomery Co., MD, 11 Nov 1791, 50 A of Allison Park and 37 A of Packs Lot to son Benjamin.

(Information courtesy of George Alexander Allison)

Sources

• Tim Dowling's Family Tree: https://gw.geneanet.org/tdowling?lang=en&pz=timothy+michael&nz=dowling&ocz=0&p=charles&n=allison&oc=1

• Link to 'Find-a-Grave. (Charles Allison, 1720-1800. Montgomery County, Maryland): http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=55541355

• Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck Counties. http://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I007546&tree=tree1