Samuel Dryden (abt. 1732 - abt. 1796)

Born about 1732 in Somerset County, Province of Maryland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1796 at about age 64 in Worcester County, Maryland, United States

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Biography

As quoted from Leslie P. Dryden's Dryden Family and Descendants: Book I, pp 39-40. I claim no responsibility for possible errors in the book's text.

^[1]65. Samuel Dryden, son of William Dryden [23], was born about 1732/3 in Somerset Co. MD. He appears in the 1749 Somerset County tax list in Pocomoke Hundred with his father William. From 1750 through 1753, he was living in the household of Capt. John Williams, during which time he probably learned his trade of shipwright. Then in 1756, he was in Nanticoke Hundred living in the household of Joshua Whittington.

Shortly after that, Samuel moved to Worcester County, where he settled in Acquango Hundred. About this time, he married Jane (Jennie) Coulbourn, daughter of Solomon and Rachel (Handy) Coulbourn. Solomon Coulbourn (1684-1749) was the son of William Coulbourn (1658-1701) and Anne (Revell) Coulbourn. Rachel Coulbourn (1693-1771) was the daughter of Samuel and Mary (Sewell) Handy. Jane (Coulbourn) Dryden's mother, Rachel Coulbourn, in her will dated Dec. 22, 1770, and probated on Sept. 27, 1771, left her grandson, Sewell Dreding, two young breeding cows, one feather bed and a negro (the latter provided her son Isaac Coulbourn should die without issue) and various other items of personal property (to go to him at her daughter, Ann Coulbourn's death). She also provided that her son, Isaac Coulbourn, should give her grandson, Sewell "Dreding", two year's schooling out of his part of the estate. To her daughter, "Jane Dreding, wife of Samuel Dreding", she left one feather bed and furniture, six pewter plates, one dish, one basin, one small iron pot, four head of sheep and one old side saddle. Jane also shared in the division of Rachel's clothes among her daughters. [MD.Wills 38: 484].

On March 10, 1758, Samuel Dryden purchased from Peter Chaille 50 acres Chailles Neck [Wor. Deeds D: 253]. He then patented a 50 acre tract about one mile east of Nassawango Creek on Nov. 9, 1762. He called it Drydens (Dreadings) Chance [MD. Patents BC&GS#20: 459]. In 1785 he resurveyed his Chailles Neck tract as 78 acres by adding vacant land and called it Addition to Chailles Neck [MD. Patents IC#A: 473]. In 1788 he resurveyed Drydens Chance as 122 acres, renaming it Addition to Drydens (Dreadons) Chance [MD. Patents IC#C: 394].

Samuel followed the trade of a shipwright or carpenter, as he was referred to in the Worcester Co. Debt Books (1762-74). In 1783, he was charged tax on his land and on two slaves, three horses and 16 black cattle. His family at the time consisted of five males and one female. Samuel witnessed the will of Nicholas Fontaine in 1777 and was appointed by Michael Vestry in 1784 as one of the trustees of his estate, along with Benjamin Dennis. Michael described him as his friend. [Wor. Wills JW13: 38]. In 1782, Samuel served on the orphans jury. In the 1790 census, his family consisted of two males over 16, two females and four slaves.

In early 1777, Tories in Somerset and Worcester Counties were reported to have refused to take the oath of allegiance to Maryland, to have cut down Liberty poles, to have erected the King's standard and to have openly drunk to his health and success and to the destruction of Congress. Military officers were reported to have headed the insurgents who were able to supply the King's ships with provisions. An expedition of militia under Brigadier-General Henry Hooper and a naval force from Hooper's Straits, commanded by Capt. James Campbell of Dorchester County and Col. Southey Simpson of Virginia, arrested a large number of the Tories and placed them in the Cambridge jail for several months. In 1778 they petitioned Gov. Johnson for a special hearing to determine the offence for which they were being held. Upon taking the oath of allegiance, they were released from custody. Samuel Dryden was one of those held and among those taking the oath of allegiance at this time. ^[2][3]

On July 26, 1786, Samuel Dryden (Dreaden), aged 54 years, deposed that he had been told by his father, as well as by Thomas Benston (father of the present Thomas Benston) that a certain pine stump was the second bounder of the tract Caldicot and that he had known of the bounder for more than thirty years, On May 18, 1787, he deposed that about 35 years earlier, he was told by his father that a white oak on Kerseys Branch was a bounder of Caldicot and that Thomas Benston, father of the present Thomas Benston, told him that he had been at the running of the tract and that the white oak was the third bounder of Caldicot [Som. Jud. Rec. 1786/88: 162].

Samuel Dryden signed the inventories of his brother, Joshua Dryden, in 1785 and of his own son, William Dryden, as one of the next of kin. [Wor. Invent. JW11: 120, 509]. On March 10, 1759, he joined with James Ward in signing the inventory of Richard Ward as the next of kin [Wor. Invent. JW8: 400]. In 1790, Samuel Dryden and his son, Sewell Dryden, witnessed the will of Priscilla Ward, widow of Richard Ward's son, James Ward.

Samuel died in Worcester County in 1796. His will was written on April 25, 1793, and submitted for probate on March 4, 1796 [Wor. Wills JW18: 239]. He left his wife Jennie a negro and certain personal estate during her widowhood, He gave his son Sewell 78 acres Chailles Addition (i.e. Addition to Chailles Neck) and Addition to Drydens Chance. He devised to his son Samuel 100 acres of the latter tract. His older sons, Isaac and Thomas, received only one bed and one shilling each. Sewell was named executor. Samuel's widow Jane elected to take her dower rights.

The census of 1800 suggests that Jane was living with Nancy Dryden, widow of her son, Isaac Dryden. Jane died 1800/01. In her will written on March 7, 1797, and probated on Jan. 2, 1801, Jane left a bedto her son Sewell whom she named executor. The rest of her property she left to her grandchildren Polly Dryden, Sally Dryden, Betsey Drden, Joshua Dryden and Samuel Dryden [Wor. Wills JBR1: 271],

Children: 1. William Dryden (124)

2. Isaac Dryden (125)

3. Thomas Handy Dryden (126)

4. Sewell Dryden (127)

5. Samuel Dryden (128)

Sources

1. ↑ Dryden, Leslie Powell. Dryden Family and Descendants. San Diego, CA: Ruth T. Dryden, 1992. Book 1, pp 39-40.
2. ↑ Footnote 42 of Leslie P. Dryden's Dryden Family and Descendants: Book I: Elias Jones, Revised History of Dorchester Co., Md.,Baltimore: Read-Taylor Press, 1925, p. 224
3. ↑ Footnote 42 of Leslie P. Dryden's Dryden Family and Descendants: Book I: Esther M. Dole, Maryland During the American Revolution, Chesterton, Md., 1941, p. 209.