found the following post in the archives and thought it was so interesting. From: Lisa Simms <lsimms@world.std.com> Fun Facts about Ninian Beall: Ninian was a very tall man, 6' 7" with flaming red hair. While this had been oral history, they exhumed his body at some point because of DC urbanization and confirmed these facts at that time. If memory serves me correctly, his relatives replaced him in a concrete resting place with a tall spire. After his indenture to Robert Hall (Quaker) was completed, Ninian was hired to defend the populace against Indian attack. He was a Green Ranger who roamed the forests between 4 forts in MD. .. As early as 1692, it had been considered wise to establish a chain of fortifications in our colony, from Piscataway in Charles County on the south to the Pennsylvania line on the north. The sites of these forts, and the lists of their officers and rangers may be followed today, and under the leadership of the canny Scot, Col. Ninian Beall, and the discipline of Col. John Addison, the people were ready to encounter "the copper-colored cannibal, or the wily French savage"...The range had on it two cabins at fifteen miles interval toward the Susquehanna and two at ten miles interval toward the Patapsco To add just a bit more spice to the lonely Ranger life the state of MD proffered: when they be Required to Range out of Public Service...they were given...2 Holy Bibles, 2 bookes of the Whole Duty of man, 2 Books of Catechism, a Brief Discourse on the Whole Duty of Man. (all of above from Old Baltimore, Sioussant, Annie Leakin, Macmillan, New York, 1931, p 41.) Ninian was taken prisoner in the Cromwell uprising and was transported as a "political prisoner" to Maryland (with perhaps a side trip to Barbados.) Rumor has it, he brought his armor with him and he frequently wore it around town. You can imagine what native Americans might have thought of that...or anyone else for that matter. In the Catholic-baiting times of the Protestant Revolution in MD, Ninian is credited with the idea of compromise by creating the Church of England as the state religion... thinking it to be a good solution as the Anglicans are "one step from Rome." Ninian is known as the "Father of American Presbyterianism" and much can be found about him in their literature. Recently, I came across a chatty Presbyterian newsletter from a church in OH on the Web which mentions the Beall Fund still doing good works (might not be Ninian's per se, but certainly one of his kin.) Ninian created a Scottish empire in MD by convincing his relatives to emigrate. He received land (as lawful) for every emigration. All this land was needed because all of the Bealls consistently had large families, 10 or more children is not unusual. Not unlike many Colonial families, the Bealls gave new meaning to the term "kissin' cousins." The Beall line is filled with Beall-Beall marriages. They also were so united that they named their children after each other....so there are at least 15 Ninians in the family. A genealogist's nightmare. Ninian's son George is thought to be the namesake for Georgetown, DC. George's brother Thomas built a house in Georgetown which was purchased by Jackie after President Kennedy's assassination in Dec. 1963. Now, I am, by no means a Beall genealogist that can help you with your family because I'm hopelessly ensnarled, but I do have more Ninian Beall info from original sources that I can send as attachments. So, give me a holler.