Grampy wrote: > The timing is off, but there is a listing of a marriage between Mathias > Johnston and Magdalene Poulson on Oct 30, 1716. This record is located in > the parish records of St. Mary Ann's Parish (North Elk) in Cecil County, > MD. It is conceivable that he was in Maryland and went back to England and > was then transported. Stranger things have happened. It's possible. There was a Captain William Johnson who sailed between England and Maryland, died before 1720, and had a son Matthias. I'm pretty sure, though, that Matthias the crook was the son of Matthias J. and Mary Jennings, and was baptized in London in 1714. -- T.M. Sommers -- tmsommers2@gmail.com -- ab2sb

Re: "Matthias the crook" (see below). No doubt you're already aware of the following, but in those days there were virtually no (repeat NO) human rights laws. A "peasant" class individual (& others) could be arrested and thrown in prison for things now considered ridiculous. "Matthias the crook" may have been transported (as a felon) but more info is needed to determine whether or not he was a "bad" character. :-) Joe Lake > Grampy wrote: >> The timing is off, but there is a listing of a marriage between Mathias >> Johnston and Magdalene Poulson on Oct 30, 1716. This record is located in >> the parish records of St. Mary Ann's Parish (North Elk) in Cecil County, >> MD. It is conceivable that he was in Maryland and went back to England and >> was then transported. Stranger things have happened. > > It's possible. There was a Captain William Johnson who sailed > between England and Maryland, died before 1720, and had a son > Matthias. I'm pretty sure, though, that Matthias the crook was > the son of Matthias J. and Mary Jennings, and was baptized in > London in 1714. > > -- > T.M. Sommers -- tmsommers2@gmail.com -- ab2sb > *************************************** > QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? > Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: > http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

joslake@sbcglobal.net wrote: > Re: "Matthias the crook" (see below). No doubt you're > already aware of the following, but in those days there were > virtually no (repeat NO) human rights laws. A "peasant" class > individual (& others) could be arrested and thrown in prison > for things now considered ridiculous. "Matthias the crook" > may have been transported (as a felon) but more info is needed > to determine whether or not he was a "bad" character. :-) Matthias was convicted of stealing 39 shillings worth of goods. The evidence, uncontradicted, was that he stole at least 180 shillings worth. As often happened, the jury reduced the amount to 39 s. to avoid the death penalty, which was automatic for thefts of 40 s. or more. He also was not a peasant, but was described at the trial as "a Gentleman and a Man of Credit". While I applied the epithet more than a little facetiously, he did steal, then lie about it, and attempt to pay off the pawnbroker who caught him. Regardless of his character, he was a crook, at least that one time. The account of the trial is here: http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/html_units/1730s/t17360505-53.html At to the general quality of the early 18th century justice system, it certainly left a lot to be desired, especially by our standards, but they generally did the best they could with what they had. In some ways they did better than we do: no 9-month O.J. trials for them. Months or years did not pass between indictment and trial. Decades did not pass between conviction and final determination of the case. Matthias's theft took place on 31 March 1736, he was tried on 5 May, and was on his way to Maryland before the month was out. Juries also tended to be lenient: of the 65 convictions on 5 May (I don't know how many courtrooms were in action), only 7 resulted in death penalties. -- T.M. Sommers -- tmsommers2@gmail.com -- ab2sb