Gerry, I would imagine that John Scarborough obtained his status as colonel from being in the militia.  Males between 16 and 60 were required to serve in the militia for a certain period of time as needed.  I'm no expert on this.  He could have just been in the Worcester County Militia and stayed local or, less likely, been in the militia and perhaps was called to serve outside of Maryland at some point.  See http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/refserv/bulldog/bull87/html/bull87b.html from MSA The Archivist's Bulldog for a very general idea of where the militia might serve. I recorded this on Col. John Scarborough in 1755: D.r The Publick by the Act for purchasing Provisions for his Majestys Forces on the Canada Expedition To Money paid Col John Scarborough & Captain Thomas Robins two of the Agents appointed by f 1000: 8:4 said Act as p Receipt . Archives of Maryland, Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, 1755-1756, Volume 52, Page 126. I know the MSA has colonial militia lists because I have a couple on which men in whom I am interested were listed.  Whether these lists are available online, I don't know; I got mine at the archives many years ago. Also, from Bacon's Laws of Maryland (online at MSA) you could search for specifics about the militia.  In your research about Scarborough, if you could determine when you first see him called colonel, then you could research backward and maybe get a sense of his military career.  My sense of the militia as it pertains to Somerset and Worcester Counties is that the officers were selected as to their social position. Hope this helps somewhat.

Thank you. Big help. Will proceed from here. -----Original Message----- From: Miller's Choice Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 2:53 PM To: lower-delmarva-roots@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [LDR] Col. John Scarborough Gerry, I would imagine that John Scarborough obtained his status as colonel from being in the militia. Males between 16 and 60 were required to serve in the militia for a certain period of time as needed. I'm no expert on this. He could have just been in the Worcester County Militia and stayed local or, less likely, been in the militia and perhaps was called to serve outside of Maryland at some point. See http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/refserv/bulldog/bull87/html/bull87b.html from MSA The Archivist's Bulldog for a very general idea of where the militia might serve. I recorded this on Col. John Scarborough in 1755: D.r The Publick by the Act for purchasing Provisions for his Majestys Forces on the Canada Expedition To Money paid Col John Scarborough & Captain Thomas Robins two of the Agents appointed by f 1000: 8:4 said Act as p Receipt . Archives of Maryland, Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, 1755-1756, Volume 52, Page 126. I know the MSA has colonial militia lists because I have a couple on which men in whom I am interested were listed. Whether these lists are available online, I don't know; I got mine at the archives many years ago. Also, from Bacon's Laws of Maryland (online at MSA) you could search for specifics about the militia. In your research about Scarborough, if you could determine when you first see him called colonel, then you could research backward and maybe get a sense of his military career. My sense of the militia as it pertains to Somerset and Worcester Counties is that the officers were selected as to their social position. Hope this helps somewhat. *************************************** 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