Jack Day's Worlds -- -- -- Browningsville Connections

Birth and Parentage

Katherine Brent's first proved appearance in history is in 1664 when, as the wife of Richard Marsham, she assigns to David Bowing the right to fifty acres of land due to her for her time of service to Major Thomas Brooke.⁽¹⁾ At that date she was of sufficient age to be married and to sign such a release, and to have completed a typical seven year period of servitude. Given the shortage of women in the early colony and the acceptance of marriage as soon as girls achieved physical adulthood, she could have been as young as 12 on this date. Since Katherine's daughter Sarah herself married young, it is possible that Katherine was pregnant with Sarah in 1664, which would suggest her being a little older, perhaps 14. This would place Katherine Brent's birth at about 1649 or 1650.

Numerous secondary writings describe Katherine Brent as a daughter of Giles Brent and Mary Kittamaquund, which would place her birth at the "Peace Plantation", in now Stafford Co, VA.⁽²⁾.

One secondary writing,⁽³⁾ for instance, states, "and here his wife bore six children, of whom four lived. The eldest, a daughter Mary, later married the Englishman, John Fitzherbert..... The others were named Giles, Richard, Katherine, Henry and Margaret. Henry and Margaret died young. Katherine married Richard Marsham."

By contrast, Charles Horton Brent states that "no authority can be found for these three children given to the first Giles Brent: Katherine, Henry and Margaret. They are not named in the father's will, nor in that of his sister, Margaret. Katherine is given as marrying Richard Marsham.⁽⁴⁾

Reginald Wilson, a descendant and genealogist, writes, "Catherine was not included in Giles Sr.'s will because she died before he did. Also note that to his living daughter, Mary, he only left a few silver spoons and a few sheep!....Everything else was left to his son Giles, Jr. I have heard that in the will of Giles' second wife, Frances Harrison, Catherine is mentioned in such a way that it would indicate that she was a daughter of Giles Sr.⁽⁵⁾ Wilson also notes that while Giles' will names only two of his children, his sister Margaret's will names three, indicating at least one proven child exists who is not named in Giles' will.

Adolescence and Servitude

As a teenager, Katherine Brent was an indentured as a servant to Maj. Thomas Brooke and living on the Patuxent River. Major Brooke immigrated with 10 children and 20 servants.⁽⁶⁾ Assuming Katherine to be a daughter of Mary Kittamaquund, the possible death of Mary Kittamaquund ca 1654 would have left Katherine aged 4 without mother to care for her, and a father who soon married a new wife. "Thomas Brooke, Leonard Calvert and Giles Brent had very close family ties."⁽⁷⁾ On the other hand, there are those who believe Mary Kittamaquund, having been cast aside by her husband, lived until 1700. Previously rejected by her Piscataway tribe, she would have had few resources. It would therefore not be inconsistent with proved facts and extant theories for Katherine Brent to have been placed in the home of Maj. Thomas Brooke, there to be sheltered and properly raised.

Alternatively, Katherine could have been born in England, and her servitude to Maj. Brooke the price of her passage. The record permits this, but does not prove it. Skordas lists the land claims of both Katherine (Liber 12, folio 512) and Richard Marsham, (Liber 4, folio 4). Under remarks, Katherine is listed as "service 1670, Wife of Richard of Calvert Co. (7, folio 530), and Richard as Transported 1658. Servant. (5, folio 205)..⁽⁸⁾ These terms have particular meanings. "Transported" indicates that the arrival's way to Maryland was paid by someone else, unlike an "Immigrant" who paid his own way. One who was transported agreed to be an indentured servant for a number of years, as Richard did, at the end of which the person would be entitled to 50 acres of land. A claim based on indenture was listed by Skordas as "service", which does not necessarily indicate that the individual was an immigrant.⁽⁹⁾

Whatever the cause of her servitude, it did not afford Katherine Brent the ability to read or write, as witnessed that any instruments she signed were signed with an "X". ⁽¹⁰⁾

Marriage to Richard Marsham

By 1664 when she first appears in documents, Katherine Brent is married to Richard Marsham. "Know all to whom these presents may concern that I Katherine Marsham do assign all my right and title of a right due to me the sd Catherin for fifty acres of land unto David Bowing as witness my hand this Eleventh of March one thousd Six hundred Sixty four. [Signed] Katherine Marsham, her mark. Witness: Richard Marsham, Robert Turner.⁽¹¹⁾

Richard Marsham was born ca. 1630, and died 1713, son of Thomas Marsham of London.⁽¹²⁾ Thomas was registrant at the 1633-35 Visitation of London.⁽¹³⁾ In 1658 he came to Maryland as an indentured servant of John Horne⁽¹⁴⁾ He served an indenture of three years. "In a later document he describes himself as a carpenter as well as a farmer and trader. This would explain the relatively short period, three years, of his indenture. The usual term of service for unskilled immigrants was six or more years.'⁽¹⁵⁾

On January 18, 1663 Marsham purchased 750 acres called Marsham's Rest on the Patuxent River.⁽¹⁶⁾ They lived in Bladensburg, Maryland where Richard engaged in shipping and commerce, operating through the port of Bladensburg.⁽¹⁷⁾

Death of Katherine Brent

About 1670, Katherine Brent died in Calvert Co., Md.⁽¹⁸⁾ Assuming her birth in 1649 or 1650, she would have been only 20 or 21 years of age, and left either two or three children, none older than six. Assuming that her father was Giles Brent, Katherine's death came one year before he wrote his own will in August, 1671, thus possibly accounting for the absence of any mention of her, her husband, or their children in her father's will. Or, as others have argued, she may not be mentioned in the will because Giles was not her father.

On May 11, 1670 "Richard Marsham of Calvert County....proved right to fifty acres of land it being due to him for the time of Service of Katherine his Wife performed to Major Thomas Brooke...Warr't then issued in the name of the sd Richard Marsham for fifty Acres of land.⁽¹⁹⁾ This land Marsham named St. Katherine's, in honor of his late wife.

Richard Marsham, Widower

Records show a number of Richard Marsham's land transactions along the Patuxent River as late as 1700. All told, the land Richard Marsham accumulated through 1701 included Marsham's Rest (750 acres, 1663), Black Walnut Thicket (300 acres, 1670), St. Katherine's (50 acres, 1670), The Content (300 acres, 1679), Black Walnut Thicket (300 acres, 1680), His Lordship's Favour (150 acres, 1681), The Ware (300 acres, 1681), Barren Point, (50 acres, 1696) and Troublesome (325 acres, 1701).⁽²⁰⁾

"On 2 October 1678 and again on 10 October 1678, a man by the name of William Collins accused Richard Marsham of beating one of his servants to death and stated he could prove it. Richard sued him for libel. On 13 February 1679 the jury found William Collins guilty and Richard Marsham was awarded 1600 lbs of tobacco for damage to his reputation."⁽²¹⁾

From 1679 to 1681 Richard Marsham was Justice of the Quorum for Calvert County.⁽²²⁾

"What was called the 'Glorious Revolution' in England commenced in December of 1688 when James II, King of England and a Roman Catholic, was overthrown and replaced by the Protestant regime of William and Mary. When the news reached Maryland, they had a revolution of their own...Troops were raised which took control and petitioned the king to assume dominion over Maryland, thus overthrowing the proprietary system of government for the next twenty-five years......It appears that guns and ammunition were commandeered from at least some of the residents of Maryland to support the revolution and Richard Marsham subsequently (Thursday, February the15^th, 1693) made application for the return of these items."⁽²³⁾ The court ruled that Marsham could have one of four guns back, but the other three would be "lodged still where they are until the said Marsham can dispose & make Sale of the same to his owne Advantage." ⁽²⁴⁾

Richard Marsham and Ann Calvert

In 1699, Richard Marsham, Gent., married Ann, daughter of Governor Leonard Calvert, and granddaughter of Lord Baltimore. He had been a widower for almost 30 years. Ann Calvert's previous marriages had been first in 1664 to "Colonel Baker Brooke, Esq, [1628-1679] fully 33 years of age at the time and the son and heir of Robert Brooke, Esq., of Brooke Place Manor, Calvert County, one time an ordained clergyman of the Church of England. Her second husband was Henry Brent [d. 1694, son of George], a kinsman of the astonishing Mistress Margaret Brent.....Issue resulted, however, only from the first marriage.⁽²⁵⁾

Effectively, Ann was not only Richard's second wife, but his second marriage to a woman named Brent. As Ann Calvert, she had married Baker Brooke; as Ann Brooke she then married Henry Brent, and it was as Ann Brent that she then married Richard Marsham.⁽²⁶⁾

Randolph's account is not so certain of the marriage taking place in 1699, placing it between 1694 and 1700. Randolph adds the information that by Ann's "first marriage to Baker Brooke, Sr, she had four children - Charles, Leonard, Baker, and Mary. Her son Baker had married Richard Marsham's daughter, Katherine, around 1689. Her second marriage was to Henry Brent, son of George Brent and Marianna Peyton, but she had no children by this marriage. Henry Brent died in January 1694.⁽²⁷⁾

Marsham's Will: children of Katherine Brent and Richard Marsham

Richard Marsham died in 1713. Reginald Wilson⁽²⁸⁾ names three children of Katherine and Richard, but Richard's lengthy will, written and proved in that year, names Sarah and Katherine and their children, but does not include a daughter Mary.⁽²⁹⁾

1. Sarah, b. in Maryland ca 1664, m. (1) Basil Waring, (2^nd) William Barton, (3) Rev. James Haddock.⁽³⁰⁾

2. Katherine b. Calvert Co. ca 1666, m. (1) Baker Brooke [1666-1698, son of Baker Brooke, 1628-1679 of De La Brooke Manor and his wife Anne Calvert, 1644-1714] (2) Samuel Queen.⁽³¹⁾ and d. in Prince Georges Co. 1712.

3. Mary, believed by Reginald Wilson to also be a child of Katherine Brent and Richard Marsham, was b. ca 1668 or 1669, and d. 1712 or 1713, prior to her father's death; in 1685 married Charles Beaven (1645-1699)⁽³²⁾. Their children were Richard, Charles, Sara, Margaret, Elizabeth, and Catherine (1694-1762) who married Henry Culver. Since Richard Marsham's lengthy will names children and grandchildren, Mary's death prior to the will cannot be the sole reason for the lack of mention of her, her husband, or their children in Marsham's will.

Line of Descent from Sarah Marsham and Basil Waring to John Duckett King

1. Sarah Marsham, daughter of Richard Marsham and Katherine Brent, was born in Calvert County. Her birth year has been listed variously as early as 1662 and as late as 1669. If she first married in 1679, the 1669 date is too recent making her aged 10 at the time of marriage. Her mother first appears in the records, already married, in 1664. If Sarah Marsham were born that year, she would have been 15 at her own marriage, which is plausible. Sarah Marsham married (1) Basil Waring, 1^st, son of Captain Sampson Waring and his wife Sarah, around 1679. She married 2) William Barton; and 3) Col. James Haddock, prior to 1713. She had two children, Marsham Waring, b. ca 1680 and Basil Waring, b. ca 1683⁽³³⁾ Sarah was married to Haddock at the time of her father's death in 1713: "I give and bequeath to my Daughter Sarah Haddock one Gold Ring of twenty Shillings prise....I give unto the Reverend James Haddock five pounds Sterling"⁽³⁴⁾

2. Basil Waring, son of Sarah Marsham and her second husband Basil Waring, was born around 1683 in Calvert county, Maryland, now Prince Georges County; married Martha Greenfield, daughter of Col. Thomas Greenfield, on 31 January 1708/1709; died 1733 in Prince George's County, Maryland.⁽³⁵⁾. She died in Prince Georges County in 1758. Basil is mentioned in the will of Richard Marsham, "unto my Grand Son Basill Waring Two Tracts of Land One Called Strife or Troublesome Containing three hundred thirtye five acres and the Other Tract of Land Called Childrens Loss"⁽³⁶⁾ They had seven children, among whom was Sarah Haddock Waring.

3. Sarah Haddock Waring, born April 11, 1721, married John Duckett, born April 10, 1707 in All Hallows Parish, Anne Arundel Co, MD, and died in Prince Georges County in May 1784. Among their 10 children was Rebecca Duckett

4. Rebecca Duckett, born 1742, married Edward King. Among their 8 children was John Duckett King, born June 20, 1778.

5. John Duckett King of King's Valley, who married Jemima Miles, daughter of Charles Miles.

1. Patent recorded in Land Office, Vol 7, p. 530, Maryland State Archives, Hall of Records, Annapolis, Maryland, cited in E. F. Randolph, "Richard Marsham" 3 December 1986, in Marsham File at Tennessee State Archives, Nashville, p. 10.

2. A genealogist's account of the descent of Catherine Belt, via Katherine Brent and Giles Brent, from Charlemagne, in the possession of Reginald Wilson, cites the following sources for the belief in Katherine Brent's descent from Giles Brent and Mary Kittamaquund:

• Md. Hist. Magazine, Vol I, pp. 70, 285; Vol 17, p., 296; Vol 25, p. 268; Vol 29, p. 221; Vol 50, p. 221
• Harry Wright Newman, Maureen DuVall of Middle Plantation, (1952), pp. 164, 167, ref #1, Pr. Georg. Co. MD Deeds Liber A, Folio 368
• Virkus Vol I, p. 788, Vol 3, p. 448; Vol 6, p. 738
• Will of Richard Marsham (see Jane Baldwin, Md Calendar of Wills),. Liber 13, Folio 514, Hall of Records, Annapolis; Wills & Inventories & Accounts Liber 35a, folio 299.