Back in March 2003, on this web-site, questions were raised regarding William H. Paca, signer of the Declaration of Independence. I suppose it is the similarity in the names Paca and Pace that engendered the interest in the Paca name. There is the question of whether the name Paca can be related to Pace or more likely Pacey. It is shown below that a conclusive answer to this question cannot now be given. I am developing some family history or genealogies of individuals who are connected to my direct line through cousins and/or their marriages. Such information adds to the knowledge of the social and economic status of ancestors, particularly if such relationships involve historical figures. After all, even if one can place the dates of birth, death, marriage, and perhaps a few deeds, still not much is really known about a said ancestor. All of these results fit neatly into my genealogy data base. Thus, this is the basis of my interest in the Pacas. My great-grandmother, Mary Etta Lee, married James Hardy Pace (1860 - 1954). James Lee (1704 - 1778) of Harford Co., MD was Mary’s 2nd great-grandfather. James’s daughter Margaret Lee (1732 - Aft. Mar 30, 1762) married John Paca, Jr. (Apr 14, 1725 - Bef. Feb 1758). John Paca, the younger, was a cousin of William H. Paca, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Margaret’s grandfather was a Quaker, and Margaret, too, is said to be a Quaker in the will of her husband, John. John’s father, Aquila Paca, was also a Quaker. The common ancestor of William and John Jr. is Robert Paca, their great-grandfather. Robert Paca, of Anne Arundel Co., is presumably the immigrant, although there is no record of him having come into Maryland. Below I suggest a possible connection between Robert and immigrants from Virginia. Biographies of William Paca, the Signer, are available in many places. I choose to quote from an early work given below: Ref: Warfield, J. D., “The Founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland, A Genealogical and Biographical Review from wills, deeds, and church records,” Orig. Pub., Baltimore, 1905, reprinted, Baltimore, Regional Pub. Co., 1967, pp. 235-237. “Under: BIOGRAPHIES OF THE FOUNDERS OF ANN ARUNDEL CO. GOVERNOR WILLIAM PACA William Paca, signer of the Declaration and third Governor of Maryland was born October 31, 1740, at “Wye Hall,” Harford County, Maryland. He was the second son of John Paca; Bachelor of Arts from a college in Philadelphia in 1758, he was admitted to Middle Temple, London, after which he studied law with Stephen Bordley. He was admitted to the bar in 1764. Early in life he was sent to the Legislature, was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1774 - 1778, was appointed upon the Committee of Correspondence in 1774, was in the Council of Safety in 1775. On August 2, 1776, he affixed his signature tot he Declaration of Independence; on August 17, 1776 was elected on the Committee “to prepare a declaration and charter of rights and form a government for Maryland.” Upon the organization of the State he was elected to its first Senate. ....... ..... His wife was Mary Chew, daughter of Samuel and Henrietta Maria (Lloyd) Chew.” Only one of William’s children, John Philemon Paca, survived to adulthood. His portrait shows an aristocratic personage. If he had descendants, then they are eligible to join the Jamestown Society through descent from John Chew, of Jamestown, York Co., VA and Anne Arundel Co., MD. J. D. Warfield, the author of the above selection probably belongs to the family of Bessie Wallis Warfield, the Duchess of Windsor. I have a descent for Wallis Warfield from John Dorsey (abt. 1619 - 1659) and Matthew Howard (1609 - bef. 1659). John Dorsey, Matthew Howard, John Chew, possibly William Paca’s great-grandfather Robert, and others were religious Dissenters, who around 1649 moved from Virginia to Anne Arundel Co. They were Puritans and some Quakers. There they founded the town of Providence, later renamed Annapolis. Robert Paca was a resident of Anne Arundel Co. before about 1667. I have an interest in John Chew, John Dorsey and Matthew Howard as they are in my ancestry through the Lee line. There is a problem in Maryland genealogy. The ancestries of most of these Puritan-Quaker founders remain a mystery. Numerous attempts have been made to show noble or royal ancestry of Howard and Dorsey. The results are ambiguous at best. It is ironic that numerous Americans, including me, work hard to show their descent from the Plantagenet kings of England, while Bessie Warfield Simpson worked her way into the Saxe-Coburg – Windsor royalty by marrying King Edward VIII, and yet no one can show her English ancestry. That is, the ancestry of Matthew Howard and John Dorsey remain a mystery. The problem may be deeper than just a lack of information. It may involve the political situation in Colonial Maryland, the Irish question in Boston, the dark ominous clouds hanging over Europe in the 30's and 40's, or even perhaps the Immigration reform bill now stalled in Congress. So if Robert Paca, the immigrant, was among the group of Dissidents from Virginia or elsewhere who settled in Anne Arundel Co., MD, then tracing his ancestry will involve the same problems that are involved the Dorsey/Darcy-Howard problems. --------------------------------- How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger’s low PC-to-Phone call rates.