At 11:42 AM 7/26/02 -0600, you wrote: >Yes, the CHEW family was Quaker in its early days in MD. The group with which William AYRES allegedly fought with from MD at the Battle of the Severn was led by William FULLER, a Puritan. Correct or not, the entire group has been termed "Puritan" by historians. Sorry if this was misunderstood as implying that William AYRES was Puritan because he allegedly fought with them. > >See below just a few of the numerous places that the MD Archives calls the group "Puritan," which has been copied in many other publications. > >Archives of MD 156:128b >http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001 /000156/html/am156--128b.html > >Archives of MD 112:7 >http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001 /000112/html/am112--7.html > >Archives of MD 118:91 >http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001 /000118/html/am118--91.html A little history here, the migration of people from Virginia to "Providence" aka Anne Arundel Co MD occured in the era of the English Civil war. Governor Berkley of VA was a loyal supporter of the Crown (King Charles) and certainly did not recognize Cromwell..Berkely was also strong in his beliefgs for the state church (of England). So in general most of the people in VA (lower Norfolk County in particular) who supported Cromwell, were "Puritans" or "Independents" and were among the settlers who came to Anne Arundel Co. ca 1650-1651. One has to realize that among the Puritan leaders, William Durrand, Edward Lloyd and Cornelius Lloyd were fined and persecuted in VA for preacher counter to the church of England and were among the leaders of the settlers that came to Anne Arundle Co. at the invitation of Gov William Stone. As things heated up with Cromwell in England there was fall out in MD with the "puritans" in Anne Arundel Co rebelling against the "rule/ownership" of the Lord Baltimore (a Papist) and Wm Stone.. I think the Battle of the Severn was basically fall out of the English Civil war. It appears from what I have read, that with the influence of Quaker missionaries in MD in the mid 1650s, several of the "puritans" or independents adopted the Quaker beliefs. Of course the "Puritans" in power at the time seemed to be as intolerant of other beliefs and Gov Berkley was intolerant of them... So I would say it would be hard to determine when some of the MD Quaker families became Quakers, it may have been after they arrived in MD and as the reign of Cromwell was in decline or over.. of course within 40 years MD adopted the CoE as the state church..more of less. So at that point (ca. 1690s) it seems people were either CoE, Catholic (particular in Southern MD), or Quakers... Lee