Dear Barb, Cousins on the list,and Jim Cookman, funny guy! It seems likely to me that the first William the Anne Arundel County, MD Puritan, came up from Virginia with the other Virginia puritans in 1649 . Barb, read the last major page I put up: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads/Wmaa/index.html The standard, classic reference for Maryland immigrants has been Gust Skordas' "Early Maryland Immigrants," which was based on records at the Maryland Archives where Skordas was an associate archivist. Skordas gives the date 1658 for William the Puritan, but in my most recent research on these fascinating people, I learned that the correct terminology should be, "by 1658." It makes quite a difference in establishing the identity of William and his descendants, and I am sure that understanding and applying the correct terminology for countless other Maryland immigrants is equally important. The book I'm using, "First Families of Anne Arundel County MD, 1649-1658, The Landowners" gives short biographies of these earliest people who were part of the Puritan immigration, occurring at the time Charles I had been defeated and beheaded by Richard Cromwell, the "Roundhead" leader. Isaac Pennington the Elder was one of Charles' principal persecutors. He was "an ardent Puritan," (all those Puritan guys were ardent, weren't they?) sat on the long and rump Parliaments, and was among those who tried Charles I for treason. He did not sign the death warrant for Charles, however, as did few other than the bloody coterie around Richard Cromwell. Only 45 people signed, and this hard core group are called "The Regicides." But technically, Isaac "the Elder" was certainly a regicide by intention and behavior. Charles II accorded him among the worst of his father's persecutors, and had him imprisoned in the tower where died at the end of 1660 before being executed. There is an especially good website "The British Civil Wars & Commonwealth," which details each of the 59 regicide signatories, and others who may not have signed but who nevertheless were prominent in bringing about Charles' execution. http://www.skyhook.co.uk/civwar/biog/regicides1.htm Characteristic of the pitiful quality of research on the early Penningtons (even the most prominent, which this family is) is the information contained in the LDS Ancestral file for Isaac the Alderman, and Isaac the Quaker. Children are ascribed where none of those names existed in the family, and one takes the nickname "Ned" for Edward and turns it into another child of Isaac the Q. Dates are wrong -- on and on. American Crossroads has published two pages with accurate information on this family. 1. The Inward Journey of Isaac Pennington, pages 1and 2, Page two includes a chart prepared by a London genealogist. http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads/Pennington/isaacpen.html http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads/Pennington/ipen2.html 2. Old Philadelphia Families XLVII Penington by Frank Willing Leach in 1908, which our cousin Marilyn Kucera had obtained from the Chester County Historical Society and passed on to me and our cousin Jim "Funny Guy" Cookman, who is a descendant of Isaac the Q, and of course, Isaac the Alderman. http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads/Isaac/isaac.html Why is this all important? Because the political and religious involvement (one and the same thing) -- or the HISTORY of Isaac (The A) in England suggests a connection to the HISTORY of William the AA County Puritan arriving in 1649, likely from Virginia, along with the fomenters of an "echo" revolution in Maryland. Just as Jim states in his last message. Now Jim, tell us what information has inspired your comment! Henry Pennington, who also immigrated to St. Mary's County (Catholic beginning) Maryland at about the same time, was the ancestor of the Sassafras Penningtons in Cecil County, from whom I believe I descend, while two other batches of Cecil located families seem likelier to be connected to William of AA county. These are Robert, John and William Pennington who all married around 1711-1715 and lived on Bohemia Neck of Cecil County. The other batch is Abraham the Trader and his brother John of North East, who lived near the Susquehanna River on the Western Shore, near Harford County. Henry possibly has been misinterpreted too, as a person transported for service, when some of the things I find at the Maryland archives suggest that was not the case. In the early 1660's he served on juries, and even brought a defamation suit, which alludes to his house, so it doesn't appear to me that he was a servant. There are many inferences of connection between Henry's descendants and Williams' and this is part of what I am currently working on. It could be simply proximity rather than relationship. There is yet another Pennington -- James -- in Calvert and AA county who may have connection as well, and so far as I know, he has never been explored as a progenitor. A Thomas, Richard, Henry and a possibly misidentified John appear on the 1701-1706 Baltimore County tax lists. I feel Thomas is a descendant of William the Puritan, and also a good candidate for Abraham and John's father or brother. He was in Spesutie Hundred which was in their neck of the woods. The others? -- I'm working on it. If anyone has printed copies of the Baltimore County tax lists for this period, I could sure use some help. Also, AA County in 1730's. I have a good chart which depicts most of the early Maryland families, but needs some revision for William now that I know that Skordas meant "by 1658" not "in 1658." And some other things, too. http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads/Baltimore/index.html Barb, I have indication of Pennington - Roberts connection in Cecil County and in Pennsylvania and one AA county baptism in 1695 for a Roberds, but I don't have anything that indicates a predilection toward that spelling. I have had terrific success using multiple keyword searches in Google. A last thought on all of this: All these people moved UPSTREAM! Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn