1 Gary surname
1650 Stephen Gary – immigrated to Maryland: He was christened Steephen Gerry 2 May 1624 at Talland, Cornwall County, England, the son of John and Elizabeth Gerry (Gary). (Talland parish records, LDS film #0916986)) He and John Withers were first granted 1000 acres of land in Westmoreland County, VA ;on October 6, 1654, the land bounded on the N.E. by land of Capt. Brent and S.W. with a branch of the Petomeck Creek, for the transportation of 20 persons, including a Cleare Browne. (VA Land Patent Book 3, p. 373; also “Cavaliers and Pioneers,” Vol. 1, p. 315).
Cleare Browne could well be Stephen’s future wife, Clare. Patent Book 5 records that on March 18, 1662, Col. Vallentine Peyton was granted 500 acres on the N. side of the branch of the Petomecke Creek and on the N.E. side of the land of Capt. Brent; and 150 acres upon the head of a branch of said Petomecke Cr. and E. upon land of Capt. Brent; 500 acres being the moiety of 1000 acres granted to Withers and Garey.
Clare (Browne??) Gary, wife of Stephen, immigrated in 1653 (Liber Q, Folio 204) Stephen Gary immigrated in 1650, was referred to as “Gent.” with commission to survey 1500 acres on the Eastern Shore (Maryland) (Liber 7, Folio 581).
Stephen Gary and Arthur Wright were appraisers of the estate of Thomas Skinner, Henry Beckwith, bondsman, 10 Feb 1675.
Stephen Gary and William Stevens and others were appointed to keep the peace in Dorchester County in 1669. (History of Dorchester County, MD, p. 31)
On June 14, 1674, Stephen Gary and William Stevens and others were appointed Justices of the county, and on August 9, 1676, Stephen was appointed one of the justices. (Hist. of Dorchester Co., pp. 38, 39)
On October 28, 1678, Stephen Gary was paid 85 pounds of tobacco for serving in the campaign or aiding the troops against the Nanticoke Indians. (HIst. of Dorchester Co., p. 40, 41)
At a Colonial Council in 1681, a petition was presented by James Peterkin against Stephen Gary, Sheriff of Dorchester County, that Gary and others had combined to defraud and deceive him of his just rights and property; that they illegally proceeded in the execution of a warrant; for summoning a jury to lay out the bounds of Capt. Anthony Dawson’s land in Transquaking River, by compelling jurors excepted by Peterkin, and that damage had almost ruined him. An investigation was ordered. (Hist. Of Dorchester Co,, p. 43.)
27 Oct 1675 From will of Stephen Gary- to my grandchild Mary Warner Refuse Neck, 50 acres adjoining my plantation.
Dorchester County is one of the original counties of Maryland, formed before April 13, 1669. Before its formation, the area was already surveyed and home to early settlers such as Anthony LeCompte, William Chaplin, Richard Bentley, Thomas Stone, Thomas Stillington, John Gary and Stephen Gary, Francis Armstrong, Peter Sharpe, John Felton, William Stevens, Thomas Powell, John Hudson, and others. Nearly 500 settlers lived in the area by the time of the county’s formation. The area was also home to Nanticoke and Abacos indians.
“For George M. Radcliffe of Cambridge, Md., farming goes beyond simple dollars and cents. It’s a way of life, seeped in family history. Radcliffe traces his connection to the farm more than 300 years – back to ancestor Stephen Gary, one of Dorchester County’s first “gentlemen justices” who in 1662 made claim to what is now Radcliffe’s land and about 1,250 surrounding acres.”
From the College of Journalism, Capitol News Service on, Friday, February 24, 1995.
Spocott Windmill – In 1663 Stephen Gary of Cornwall, England, secured a patent from Lord Baltimore for approximately 250 acres of land named Spocott on the Little Choptank River. After his death, a descendent, John Anthony LeCompte Radcliffe, built a self-contained community consisting of saw mills, blacksmith shops, shipyards, etc. One project was the erection of a post mill in 1850, at approximately the same site as an earlier windmill. The mill continued to operate until it was blown down in March of 1888. Both the millstones and the original set of interior stairs from the mill were saved as well as certain of the timbers. In 1971 a windmill was reconstructed on Gary’s Creek about 100 feet from the site of the original Spocott Windmill.
27 Feb 1667: Stephen Gary of Little Choptank River to John Gary of Calvert Co and John Stevens of Talbot poa. Wt.: Robt. Turner & Thos Skinner. Vol. I:33.
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=markfreeman&id=I376136
1651 John Gary to MD:
JOHN GARY, SR. b. ca 1600 of Cornwall, England, migrated with his family about 1650 and settled in Calvert, Co., MD. He md. Judith in England and had a family when he arrived. I have not found when he died; however, his widow, Judith GARY, Sr. md. 2nd: prior to 23 March 1672, Dr. Peter SHARP, a physician of Calvert Co. John GARY had a brother, Stephen GARY, who also settled in MD about the same time. Dr. SHARP recited John GARY, Jr., his son-in-law; however, it is not known if John GARY, Jr. md. the dtr. of Dr. Peter SHARP. Dr. Peter SHARP’s will, 23 March 1672, Dorchester Co., MD, prob. 28 March 1672: “To John GARY and wife, Alice, land on Tuckahoe and four thousand pounds tobacco. To Robert HARWOOD and wife, Elizabeth, and children. To Judith HARWOOD, no more than I have given her. To my children, Mary and William SHARP, and my widow to live with them and be a mother to them and at her decease, estate to return to my children, only I give her permission to give her two children, John and Eliz., ten thousand pounds of tobacco. To my dtr., Mary, wife of William STEVENS.” Ex. friend John GARY, William BERRY, William STEVENS, Jr. and William SHARP. REF: Early Settlers List, bk. O (p.204), Dorchester Co., MD Will Bk. 1 (p.495); Deed Bk. 1 (p.33); Land Grants; MD Hist. Mag. v.37 (pp.316,320,321,326).
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/GARY/2000-03/0954567035
Goyen Family Tree 