A couple of years ago I attempted to map out the current location of Maidstone by inputting the metes & bounds of various tracts found in deeds & surveys into a program called Deed Mapper. I'd also purchased several plat maps for Charles Co. to help place the tracts. Over the years, many tracts or parts of the original tract, were resurveyed & combined with other tracts & vacant land into new patents with new names. As these larger tracts were sold off or divided, the names changed once again in the deeds. Bristol was patented in 1679 for John Waters with 100 acres. By his will in 1692 he left 50 acres of Bristol to sons James, Joseph & Lewis. The 1783 Assessment shows Joseph Waters in possession of 50 acres part of Bristol & in 1795 Joseph sold 43 acres to his son Zephania Waters & 3 acres to James Waters Sr (his brother?) I've traced this further, but that is another story. In 1783 John O'Bryan was possessed with 47 acres of part of Bristol. Don't know what happened to the other 3 acres of the 50 mention in William O'Bryan's will, nor have I figured out how William came to own it. Also in 1783 John O'Bryan had 60 acres of Bryans Hazard, 60 acres of Piney Level & 10 acres of Grays Enlargement. I don't know anything about Bryans Hazard (can't even find a patent for it), but John had purchased Piney Level & Grays Enlargement from Samuel Hanson in 1780 (Deed bk V 3 folio 473) John O'Bryan wrote his will 29 Dec 1783 and was probated 10 Feb 1784. He mentions wife Mary & sons William & Charles. Executors were his wife & brother Basil O'Bryan. Witnessed by James Carrico son of John & Timothy Farrand. Deed Book IB 10 folio 297 in 1813 shows Reverend William O'Bryan, Mary Ann O'Bryan & Basil O'Bryan selling Bristol, Piney Level & Grays Enlargement to Thomas Gibbons Waters & Vincent King both of Georgetown, Washington, DC. The deed states that Bristol contained 156 acres, mentions a Mill Seat & also Waters Mill. (The 3 acres of Bristol mentioned above as being sold by Joseph Waters to James Waters contained a mill.) Deed also shows Piney Level being 64 acres & Grays Enlargement as 14 acres. In 1827 Thomas G. Waters recevied a patent for Three Brothers containing 532 acres. This was a resurvey of numerous tracts including Bristol, Piney Level & Grays Enlargement. The patent records at Plats.net contains 42 pages. on the 21st page is a drawing of the metes & bounds of the following adjoining tracts: Bristol, Piney Level, Grays Enlargement, Loving Brothers, Farrands Fortune, Thomas' Folly, Thomas' Begining, & Dispute. In 1828 Thomas Carrico started buying up tracts of land in Charles Co., MD. In the 1840's, by 3 different deeds from heirs of Thomas G. Waters, he had come to own 344 acres of the Three Brothers. By the time he died in 1881, he owned, or had owned much of the land west of Hughesville including parts of Gates Range, Maidstone, Loving Brothers etc. which were then devided amongst his many children. His daughter Servilla recieved the 344 acres of Three Brothers as part of her share. I was able to track the sale of Three Brothers down to the current owner. One of the deeds indicated it was on both sides of the road from Dentsville to Hughsville which appears to be Burnt Store Rd. Again, looking at my plat maps, the land is on Burnt Store Rd, just east of Oliver Shop Rd & North west of Gilbert Pond. Gates Range was just west of Hughesville with the eastern shape following the same course as Rt. 5 almost like a backwards C (not sure how else to describe.) Maidstone was towards the center of Gates Range (along with Canterbury) just north or perhaps even including part of present day Gilbert Pond. So, to make a long story short, Bristol was in the near vicinity of the land I mentioned below. AND, I think the William Bryan who married Elizabeth Douglass is a different William Byran than the William O'Bryan who owned Bristol. Linda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jamey McLoughlin" <jameymclo@comcast.net> To: <mdstmary@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2013 7:43 PM Subject: Re: [MDSTMARY] O'Bryan in Maryland > William Bryan who married Elizabeth Douglass owned "Bristol". Is that part > of this land? > > -----Original Message----- > > In 1779 Rev. Bennet Neal sold to Thomas Withenton (Wethington) 79 acres of > Gates Range. book V 3 folio 389. > In 1794 Thomas Wethington's son finalized a resurvey of the 79 acres into > Withintons Chance with a anew total of 139 acres. > In 1795 Thomas Wethington's descendants sold to Thomas Water's 2/3 of this > land Book N 4 folio 363. > Among the heirs were Ignatius O'Bryan & Rhoday his wife, Basil O"Bryan & > Eleanor his wife. > > I've more, but to conclude, I think the William Bryan we are discussing > lived in Trinity Parish all or most of his life and couldn't be the William > Bryant who married Elizabeth Douglas. > > Linda