If you have Ancestry.com, you can search the first several volumes of the Maryland Calendar of Wills. For those unfamiliar with this, it's a long series of will abstracts from Colonial Maryland, from the 17th and 18th Centuries, begun by Jane Baldwin Cotton, and I think recently continued further forward. This shows that there was a Richard Evans "of the Cliffs" whose will was proved in 1675. However, if memory serves I don't believe he had any children. Bear in mind that Evans is a more common name in Wales than Smith is today, and Richard was one of the most common English names. At least three different men named Richard Evans entered Maryland during the same period, and there's no evidence that any of them were related. However, there's enough circumstantial evidence to suggest which one was our Richard Evans, and that he was probably a minor traveling with a widowed mother and some siblings. Returning to the question of chronology: I originally supposed that the 1714 guardianship petition might have been occasioned by Elizabeth's marriage to James Kingsbury. However, one of the messages previously sent to this group showed that James and Elizabeth were married within a year or two of Richard's death. That did make the chronology of Elizabeth's children more reasonable, but it left open the question of the 1714 guardianship petition. My feeling is that in 1714 some or all of the family wanted to sell, lease, or in some other way encumber the land left to the children by Richard Evans. The three who were still minors could only do that through a guardian, and the guardian had to be someone who could not personally benefit at the expense of the children, which in theory their stepfather might have done. For this reason, their uncle, who could not benefit directly, was nominated guardian. Somewhere or other in my files, I believe have a photocopy of Richard Evans' will. But the Maryland Calendar of Wills also lists executors. James Kingsbury was not executor; Elizabeth was appointed executrix of her husband's will. Now, some later document executed after Elizabeth's marriage to James Kingsbury might erroneously refer to him as an executor, since if the estate was still open, he would have had some control over his wife's actions. But technically, an executor is nominated by the testator (the person who makes a will), and Richard Evans did not nominate James Kingsbury. A court may have later appointed him administrator, or associated him with Elizabeth as executor, but that's a different issue. I don't think we can infer anything from how John Kingsbury is described in a deed from his father. It would be perfectly reasonable to refer to John as a son of James and Elizabeth even if he were actually Elizabeth's stepson; these terms were used loosely then, and we continue to use them somewhat loosely today. So my answer is simply that we don't have enough information to determine if he was Elizabeth's son. I'm sure you've already noticed that he wasn't executor of Ann Evans Pottenger's will, but only a witness. The purpose of an executor is to carry out, or execute, the testator's wishes. The purpose of a witness is just to prove that the testator's will is valid, usually by testifying before a court that he was of sound mind, and that he signed the will. Witnesses can't benefit from the terms of a will, so normally they wouldn't be close relatives of the testator, but would be more distant relations, in-laws, or friends. I have no doubt that the illustration of arms belonging to the Hall family of Walton-on-the-Hill is accurate, and no reason to doubt their ancestry. But we also have absolutely no reason to believe that they were any relation to Richard Hall. I seem to recall that there was a Quaker record from 1694 or 1695 mentioning Elizabeth Hall Evans, proving that she was married by that point. Otherwise there's nothing to indicate when they were married, except that if Christopher Johnson's estimate for her birth is correct, then she would have been about twenty-two in 1695. Paul > From: dhr1953@hotmail.com > To: evans-richard@rootsweb.com > Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:10:36 -0600 > Subject: Re: [EVANS-RICHARD] Richard, Elizabeth, Kingsbury & John Evans > > Paul, thanks for your response. Whether we sort this out or not, we > certainly are getting some air in the linen. I have been pouring through > the foggy cobwebs of my brain and trying to resurrect some old documents I > accumulated perhaps as much as 35 years ago. I am not quickly laying my > hands on the information I am looking for. > > I don't know if anyone is aware of this or not, but transcriptions from the > Maryland Historical Magazine and published as Maryland Genealogies, states > Robert Dixon and Elizabeth Dixon "of the Cliffs," Calvert County, appear in > the records of that county in June 1675 as witnesses to the will of Richard > Evans "of the Cliff." WHO IN THE WORLD IS THIS RICHARD EVANS? > > Another area of these publications states Elizabeth Hall 1673 - 1743 m. 1st > Richard Evans d. 1702 - m 2nd Dr. James Kingsbury d. 1725. No other > details. Nothing new or helpful there. > > A publication of "A History of Calvert County Maryland," by Charles Francis > Stein, states, according to Burke illustrated arms are those of the Hall of > family of Walton-on-the-Hill of Surrey, England. The family is said to be > Norman and descended from Richard de Aula, on of several brothers who > accompanied William the Conqueror to England in 1066. Probably everyone > already has this but since we are discussing his daughter, I thought to > include it. Again, information published by someone and not provable. > > However, a thought comes to mind on some of the current material we are > reviewing. Even though, some speculate the marriage of the widow Elizabeth > Evans to James Kingsbury as much earlier, might the 1714 guardianship > occurrence been prompted by this marriage. I realize this statement would > certainly add more problem to the coming paragraph speaking of James Jr. & > John Kingsbury being sons of Elizabeth. > > Some transcriptions relate Dr. James Kingsbury as Executor of Richard Evans > estate and state he holds several tracts of land for Richard's orphans. > First, I don't know that Dr. James Kingsbury was the executor, but if he > was, and held in trust the lands for the orphans, a marriage to Elizabeth > would have brought about a change. > > This would still not explain the deed of land to "sons," James and John > Kingsbury by Dr. James Kingsbury and Elizabeth (Hall) Evans- Kingsbury. If > we can accept that this transcribed document does indeed identify these > children as sons of both Dr. James and Elizabeth. If we don't accept this > statement, we logically can't accept some of the other records referring to > children. > > The fact that James Jr. named a son John, could explain the executor named > John Kingsbury on Anne Pottenger's will. > > Bottom line to all this is that without additional source documents to > review, we are stirring the same old pot and it still comes up stew. I > have a small book of data on this one family and still can't say with any > certainty how to structure this family. Don > > -----Original Message----- > From: Paul Thorn > Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 11:09 PM > To: evans-richard@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [EVANS-RICHARD] Richard, Elizabeth, Kingsbury & John Evans > > > In reply to questions posed by both Renée and Don: > > With respect to guardianship proceedings: there are two different reasons > for appointing guardians. One is to place someone else, such as a > stepfather, in the legal position of a parent. Since James Kingsbury was > not the father of the Evans children, he probably needed to be appointed > their guardian in order to represent them in day-to-day matters. This kind > of guardianship would necessarily have been created soon after his marriage > to the children's mother, Elizabeth Hall Evans. This is the kind of > guardianship most people are familiar with today. > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > EVANS-RICHARD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > EVANS-RICHARD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to EVANS-RICHARD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

FYI.... three pages of Richard's will is on our Myfamily site in the Files section. R On 12/16/10Thursday 10:05 PM, Paul Thorn wrote: > > Somewhere or other in my files, I believe have a photocopy of Richard Evans' will.

According to the book "Early Families of Southern Maryland" Volume 1, by Elise Greenup Jourdan, page 91, "Around 70 persons named Evans was transported to Maryland before 1700." So you can see it was a common name in Maryland. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Thorn" <p_aculeius@hotmail.com> To: <evans-richard@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2010 11:05 PM Subject: Re: [EVANS-RICHARD] Richard, Elizabeth, Kingsbury & John Evans If you have Ancestry.com, you can search the first several volumes of the Maryland Calendar of Wills. For those unfamiliar with this, it's a long series of will abstracts from Colonial Maryland, from the 17th and 18th Centuries, begun by Jane Baldwin Cotton, and I think recently continued further forward. This shows that there was a Richard Evans "of the Cliffs" whose will was proved in 1675. However, if memory serves I don't believe he had any children. Bear in mind that Evans is a more common name in Wales than Smith is today, and Richard was one of the most common English names. At least three different men named Richard Evans entered Maryland during the same period, and there's no evidence that any of them were related. However, there's enough circumstantial evidence to suggest which one was our Richard Evans, and that he was probably a minor traveling with a widowed mother and some siblings. Returning to the question of chronology: I originally supposed that the 1714 guardianship petition might have been occasioned by Elizabeth's marriage to James Kingsbury. However, one of the messages previously sent to this group showed that James and Elizabeth were married within a year or two of Richard's death. That did make the chronology of Elizabeth's children more reasonable, but it left open the question of the 1714 guardianship petition. My feeling is that in 1714 some or all of the family wanted to sell, lease, or in some other way encumber the land left to the children by Richard Evans. The three who were still minors could only do that through a guardian, and the guardian had to be someone who could not personally benefit at the expense of the children, which in theory their stepfather might have done. For this reason, their uncle, who could not benefit directly, was nominated guardian. Somewhere or other in my files, I believe have a photocopy of Richard Evans' will. But the Maryland Calendar of Wills also lists executors. James Kingsbury was not executor; Elizabeth was appointed executrix of her husband's will. Now, some later document executed after Elizabeth's marriage to James Kingsbury might erroneously refer to him as an executor, since if the estate was still open, he would have had some control over his wife's actions. But technically, an executor is nominated by the testator (the person who makes a will), and Richard Evans did not nominate James Kingsbury. A court may have later appointed him administrator, or associated him with Elizabeth as executor, but that's a different issue. I don't think we can infer anything from how John Kingsbury is described in a deed from his father. It would be perfectly reasonable to refer to John as a son of James and Elizabeth even if he were actually Elizabeth's stepson; these terms were used loosely then, and we continue to use them somewhat loosely today. So my answer is simply that we don't have enough information to determine if he was Elizabeth's son. I'm sure you've already noticed that he wasn't executor of Ann Evans Pottenger's will, but only a witness. The purpose of an executor is to carry out, or execute, the testator's wishes. The purpose of a witness is just to prove that the testator's will is valid, usually by testifying before a court that he was of sound mind, and that he signed the will. Witnesses can't benefit from the terms of a will, so normally they wouldn't be close relatives of the testator, but would be more distant relations, in-laws, or friends. I have no doubt that the illustration of arms belonging to the Hall family of Walton-on-the-Hill is accurate, and no reason to doubt their ancestry. But we also have absolutely no reason to believe that they were any relation to Richard Hall. I seem to recall that there was a Quaker record from 1694 or 1695 mentioning Elizabeth Hall Evans, proving that she was married by that point. Otherwise there's nothing to indicate when they were married, except that if Christopher Johnson's estimate for her birth is correct, then she would have been about twenty-two in 1695. Paul > From: dhr1953@hotmail.com > To: evans-richard@rootsweb.com > Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:10:36 -0600 > Subject: Re: [EVANS-RICHARD] Richard, Elizabeth, Kingsbury & John Evans > > Paul, thanks for your response. Whether we sort this out or not, we > certainly are getting some air in the linen. I have been pouring through > the foggy cobwebs of my brain and trying to resurrect some old documents I > accumulated perhaps as much as 35 years ago. I am not quickly laying my > hands on the information I am looking for. > > I don't know if anyone is aware of this or not, but transcriptions from > the > Maryland Historical Magazine and published as Maryland Genealogies, states > Robert Dixon and Elizabeth Dixon "of the Cliffs," Calvert County, appear > in > the records of that county in June 1675 as witnesses to the will of > Richard > Evans "of the Cliff." WHO IN THE WORLD IS THIS RICHARD EVANS? > > Another area of these publications states Elizabeth Hall 1673 - 1743 m. > 1st > Richard Evans d. 1702 - m 2nd Dr. James Kingsbury d. 1725. No other > details. Nothing new or helpful there. > > A publication of "A History of Calvert County Maryland," by Charles > Francis > Stein, states, according to Burke illustrated arms are those of the Hall > of > family of Walton-on-the-Hill of Surrey, England. The family is said to be > Norman and descended from Richard de Aula, on of several brothers who > accompanied William the Conqueror to England in 1066. Probably everyone > already has this but since we are discussing his daughter, I thought to > include it. Again, information published by someone and not provable. > > However, a thought comes to mind on some of the current material we are > reviewing. Even though, some speculate the marriage of the widow > Elizabeth > Evans to James Kingsbury as much earlier, might the 1714 guardianship > occurrence been prompted by this marriage. I realize this statement would > certainly add more problem to the coming paragraph speaking of James Jr. & > John Kingsbury being sons of Elizabeth. > > Some transcriptions relate Dr. James Kingsbury as Executor of Richard > Evans > estate and state he holds several tracts of land for Richard's orphans. > First, I don't know that Dr. James Kingsbury was the executor, but if he > was, and held in trust the lands for the orphans, a marriage to Elizabeth > would have brought about a change. > > This would still not explain the deed of land to "sons," James and John > Kingsbury by Dr. James Kingsbury and Elizabeth (Hall) Evans- Kingsbury. > If > we can accept that this transcribed document does indeed identify these > children as sons of both Dr. James and Elizabeth. If we don't accept this > statement, we logically can't accept some of the other records referring > to > children. > > The fact that James Jr. named a son John, could explain the executor named > John Kingsbury on Anne Pottenger's will. > > Bottom line to all this is that without additional source documents to > review, we are stirring the same old pot and it still comes up stew. I > have a small book of data on this one family and still can't say with any > certainty how to structure this family. Don > > -----Original Message----- > From: Paul Thorn > Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 11:09 PM > To: evans-richard@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [EVANS-RICHARD] Richard, Elizabeth, Kingsbury & John Evans > > > In reply to questions posed by both Renée and Don: > > With respect to guardianship proceedings: there are two different reasons > for appointing guardians. One is to place someone else, such as a > stepfather, in the legal position of a parent. Since James Kingsbury was > not the father of the Evans children, he probably needed to be appointed > their guardian in order to represent them in day-to-day matters. This > kind > of guardianship would necessarily have been created soon after his > marriage > to the children's mother, Elizabeth Hall Evans. This is the kind of > guardianship most people are familiar with today. > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > EVANS-RICHARD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > > the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > EVANS-RICHARD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > EVANS-RICHARD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to EVANS-RICHARD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message