Once again, this comes down to the 1714 guardianship papers, which we absolutely need to see. According to "Orphans and Infants of Prince George's County, 1696-1750" (1976) by Dorothy H. Smith, these entries appear under the November, 1714 term of court, liber G, folio 691: EVANS, Elizabeth: - comes into open Court and Chuses Mr. Benjamine Hall Guardian:...said Elizabeth Evans being above the age of fourteene years- EVANS, Richard: - Mrs. Elizabeth Evans comes into open Court and prays that Mr. Benjamin Hall may be appointed Guardian to Richard Evans her Sonn; he being under the age of fourteene years; And accordingly the said Benjamin Hall is appointed by the Curt [sic] to be Guardian to the said Richard Evans- EVANS, Samuell: - Comes into open Court and Chuses Mr. Benjamine Hall Guardian:...said Samuell Evans being above the Age of fourteene years- I borrowed these from a message board posting at this address, although I have seen these entries or transcriptions of them before. I just needed to find them quickly. http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.evans/4380.1.2/mb.ashx The author raises the question, which I have also raised on several occasions: can we be certain that these belong under November, 1714, and not 1704? At the moment I am leaning towards 1714, for a number of reasons. If these entries are grouped individually, it does not seem likely to be a typo repeated three times. If they're grouped chronologically, it would be almost impossible to shift them by ten years. Also, from the dates of marriage and/or births of children of Ann, Elizabeth, and Samuel, it seems highly unlikely that they were all ten years older than we currently think. Also there would have to be a gap of thirteen years between the births of the last of these three and Richard Evans' youngest child, which seems very unlikely too. Ann isn't mentioned at all, so it seems safe to conclude that she was over the age of sixteen, the age of majority specified in her father's will. I think that these records, whichever year they belong to, indicate that Richard and Elizabeth's children were Ann, Elizabeth, Samuel, and Richard, Richard being the one born in 1703. If Priscilla were Richard's daughter, a guardian would have to have been appointed for her. We know who Benjamin Hall was; he was Elizabeth Hall Evans Kingsbury's brother. He would have been a logical choice to be appointed guardian, because the reason for appointing a guardian was to protect the children's legal interests from their stepfather, James Kingsbury. That isn't to say that Kingsbury's actions were suspect; but a guardian was legally required because he wasn't a blood relative of the children, and from a legal standpoint was presumed to act in the interests of his own children, not his stepchildren. He had, however, been appointed their guardian on another occasion, back in 1704 or 1705. This was a different type of guardianship, the type we're familiar with today. Benjamin Hall would have been appointed guardian to look after the children's property interest in their father's estate. James Kingsbury acquired no legal interest in that, as his wife held only a dower interest after the death of Richard Evans. Incidentally, these records also show that the Evans and Hall families were more liberal than many families of the era; as has previously been discussed on this board, people who married out of the Quaker faith were often ostracized by their families, and Catholics in particular were viewed with suspicion by the Colonial authorities. But Benjamin Hall was a Catholic in a Quaker family, and he was still chosen as guardian by his Quaker or Anglican relatives. So our ancestors appear to have held the bonds of family above the social strictures of their religious affiliation. I think that's a heartwarming thought. Now, what became of Richard Evans, the son? I think he died without issue, and perhaps without marrying. He isn't named in the wills of his mother or any of his siblings. Of course, that only means that he probably died before 1743, or before the age of forty. That would hardly be unusual in Colonial Maryland. Once again, we need to see, if possible, the original records of the Orphans and Infants Court, to ensure that these records are indeed from 1714. It might also be worthwhile to see if there are any entries under the name of Kingsbury, in case there's a mention of James Kingsbury being appointed the children's guardian in 1704 or 1705. The full text of any entries is what we'd like to have, even if it's just a careful transcription from the original. No guardian would have been necessary for James Kingsbury's minor children, if indeed they were minors at the time of his death about 1727. His widow did not remarry. His will leaves all his property to his wife, from which one might infer either that any children not born to Elizabeth had already been provided for, or that there were none. However, as Elizabeth Kingsbury provided for all of her known children in her 1743 will, except for Richard, who was probably dead, it seems quite unlikely that she had a son, John Kingsbury, who was still living in 1767. I think that the John Kingsbury mentioned as a witness in the will of Ann Pottenger may have been some other relative of James Kingsbury, but not Ann's brother. She mentions Samuel and Priscilla as siblings, even though Priscilla was technically her half-sister, but makes no mention of John as a brother (I think that Elizabeth and James were also dead by 1767). Also, if he had been her brother, he could not have been a witness and still receive a bequest under the will. It seems unlikely that she would have asked her brother to witness the will instead of leaving him a bequest. Thus, my outline of the Evans-Kingsbury family is: Richard Evans m. Elizabeth Hall 1. Ann Evans, b. before November 16982. Samuel Evans, b. November 1696-November, 17003. Elizabeth Evans, b. November, 1698-November, 17004. Richard Evans, b. after January, 1703 James Kingsbury m. Elizabeth Hall 5. James Kingsbury, b. after 17036. Priscilla Kingsbury, b. after 1703 Paul > Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 06:18:34 -0600 > From: listadministratorevans@earthlink.net > To: evans-richard@rootsweb.com > Subject: [EVANS-RICHARD] The children of Richard and Elizabeth; the children of Elizabeth and James > > Well, this is confusing, indeed. The following is how I have it: > > I have the children of Elizabeth Hall Evans Kingsberry and Dr. James > Kingsberry as James and John. [The book/The Genealogy of the Descendants > of Henry Kingsbury of Ipswich and Haverhill, Mass /from the collections > made by Frederick John Kingsbury, LL.D. Hartford Press: The Case, > Lockwood & Brainard Company, 1905. > tells us that Elizabeth and James had another son, named John. [I have a > note to myself: "Get more on this"] > > I have Priscilla as the child of Elizabeth and Richard and the child > Elizabeth was pregnant with when Richard died. > > ["Richard Evans made his last will 7 Jan 1702, proved in Calvert Co, Md > 25 Apr 1703 in which he mentions his wife Elizabeth, as Exec; she to > have his dwelling place and part of 'Hall's Hill' which land he had > purchased from his brother-in-law, Elisha Hall; she also to have the 150 > acres called 'Johnson's place' during her lifetime, then it to go to > their son Samuel Evans. Son Samuel also to have the 300 acres called > 'The Hope,' which was located on the Susquehanna River in Cecil Co, Md. > 'If my unborn child be a dau, she to share equally with my dau Elizabeth > in the 400 acre tract called 'Evans Range'; to his dau Ann the survey > called 'Green's Delight' in Prince George Co, his daus to be over 16 yrs > of age when they receive their property. He appoints his > brothers-in-law, Walter Smith and Benjamin Hall, as overseers. [See Md > Cal of Wills vol 3 p 1]. His unborn child was a dau, Priscilla who mar > [1] a mr. Groome; mar [2] a Mr. McClain."] > > Also note, in the following will, a John Kingsbury is mentioned as witness: > > "From the Early Families of Southern Maryland, Vol 6 by Elise Greenup > Jourdan, page 194 > Will of ANNE POTTENGER, widow, written 18 May 1767; probate 3 Feb 1768 > ?25 to build a stone wall around the graveyard on dwelling plantation > 4 daus.: Eliza. Cramphin, Ann Beall, Rachel Magruder, Eleanor MacGill > Granddau.: Ann Pottenger, d/o my son Robert, dec'd > Bro: Samuel Evans; sister Priscilla MacClain > Grandchild.: Robert, Ann and Rachel [children of Robert, dec'd] > To grandsons: Allin and John Bowie, Robert Cramphin, Basil Cramphin, & > Richard Pottenger Cramphin, sons of dau. Elizabeth Cramphin, 1/6 > To dau. Ann Beall, wife of James Beal, ?64 and 1/6 > To dau. Rachel Magruder, wife of Zadock ?64 and 1/6 > To dau. Eleanor MacGill, wife of Thomas, ?64 and 1/6 > To granddaus.: Elizabeth and Sarah Smith, daus. of my dau. Mary Congrove > [?], 1/6 > To Rachell & Robt. Pottenger, widow and son of son Robert, 1/6 > Ex: Son-in-law Thomas MacGill > Wit: John Kingsbury, Thomas Cramphin, Jr. > [PG Wills, 1.603; MCW XIV .35; Wills, 36.361]" > > > ------------------------------- > 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

Where are the guardianship papers? Are they at the Maryland Archives? I'll write away for them. On 12/13/10Monday 8:21 AM, Paul Thorn wrote: > Once again, this comes down to the 1714 guardianship papers, which we absolutely need to see.