Maryland:  1650 - 1734

Why did Henry decide to make the trip to the New World? Why were any of the people in England leaving their homes and making the dangerous 3,000 mile voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to America? Many of them were seeking the religious freedom that was the main idea behind the founding of Maryland. Some immigrants, though, had more practical reasons for moving to the New World. Any man who paid his own way to Maryland would receive 100 acres. A man who paid the way of five other colonists who receive 2,000 acres. Other immigrants hoped to become wealthy in the New World by way of the silver and gold deposits abundant on the East coast at that time or by trading with the Indians for furs. Still others came out of a spirit of adventure or because they wanted to make a fresh start in life. In some way, though, all of them were dissatisfied with life in the Old World and wanted to make a better life in the New World.

Exactly what Henry’s reasons were, we don’t know, but it’s pretty safe to say that his voyage across the Atlantic and his first few years in America were not easy ones. According to The Early Settlers of Maryland, Henry Pennington came to America in 1650. He was listed as a "transported (or indentured) servant". An indentured servant was someone who worked without wages for a period of time in exchange for passage to the American Colonies. Englanders would sign a contract to work a term of years, usually four to seven, in return for payment of their voyage, food, clothing and shelter. The contract was called an "indenture". Most indentured servants were young men between the ages of 15 and 25 looking for jobs and a better life. Henry was about 18 years old when he came to America.

Captains of ships carrying indentured servants to Maryland often treated their passengers viciously, both during the eight to twelve week voyage and upon arrival. One man on such a voyage across the Atlantic wrote about what he saw. "The journey is made amid such hardships as no one is able to describe". But he did describe it to the best of his ability and the account is horrifying.

He wrote of the vile conditions in which the immigrants lived. The rations were scanty, stale and had a sharp smell. Some of the meat was so putrid that a dog would have turned up his nose at it. Warm food was served only three times a week. The water was often black and full of worms. A foul stench filled the passengers’ quarters. Almost all were sick at one time or another. Many were seasick and, unable to reach the upper deck in time, vomited in their bunks. On the stormy Atlantic, when a gale rose, conditions were made worse. As the vessel rolled and pitched, plunging down deep into the troughs between the tremendous seas, people were thrown about helter-skelter. In their terror, they cried and prayed to be saved. The many people that died were heaved overboard without ceremony.

At last, after what must have seemed an eternity, land was sighted. But this was not the end of hard times for the indentured servants. Upon arrival, they began their term of servitude. Maryland required that all male servants over the age of eighteen should serve four years. The servitude was hard for strong, young men. In the land where tobacco was king, they were needed in the fields. Tobacco required more effort to grow than any other Maryland crop. Workers were busy in the fields from early spring to late fall, and tobacco-related tasks filled their winter hours, as well. They cleared land for the crops by cutting a groove around tree trunks, thereby killing the trees. The dead trees were left standing, but they produced no leaves that would keep sunlight from reaching the tobacco plants. In early spring, seeds saved from the previous year’s crop were sown in a special bed, and by June, the plants were large enough to be moved, on a damp day, to the cleared field. Seedlings were planted four feet apart among the trees. Every day, workers hoed the fields to kill weeds and pick tobacco worms off the plants. When enough leaves had formed on the tobacco plants, workers pinched off the tops of the plants to keep them from flowering. In the when the tobacco was fully ripe, the entire plant was cut, carried to the tobacco house, and hung to dry for about six weeks. When the leaves had dried enough to prevent rotting but not enough to crumble, they were stripped from the stalk and packed in large barrels known as hogsheads. The hogsheads were then rolled to the waterfront to be loaded on the ships that would take them to England. During the winter, workers cleared new fields and prepared hogsheads for the next years crops. Some of the owners were compassionate and fair to their servants. Many others, though, were cruel and hardhearted. Henry’s "owner" was said to be a man named William Cole.

A law of 1640 in Maryland required that when an indentured servant’s term was up, his owner must provide freedom dues of one new suit of broadcloth, one new shirt, one pair of new shoes and stockings and a Monmouth cap, much worn in Maryland and Virginia in colonial days, made of wool with a brim and a tasseled, peaked top that hung to one side. Also to be furnished were two hoes, an ax, three barrels of corn and fifty acres of land.

Between 1654 and 1657, Henry’s contract would have been fulfilled. By 1658, he had married a girl named Rachel who was also a former indentured servant. In 1662 and 1667 Henry and Rachel were known to be on St. Jerome’s Creek in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Rachel must have died between 1667 and 1670 because in about 1670, Henry married for a second time. His second wife was named Elizabeth.. Shortly afterwards, there first son, Abraham was born. A year later, in 1671, Henry purchased some land on the north side of the Sassafras River in Cecil County, Maryland. This area became a town which was sometimes called Pennington’s Point and at other times, Happy Harbor. Its name was changed to Fredericktown on December 11, 1736, and it is still called that today .

Children of Henry and Elizabeth Pennington

1.  * Abraham Pennington born c. 1670

2.   Rebecka Pennington born c. 1673

3.   William Pennington born c. 1675

Note:  Some records refer to eleven children being born into this family.

Colonial households were large. Some of them included grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins living together in one home. The colonies had plenty of wood frame houses with wood shingle roofs, making use of the abundant forests in the area. Most houses had 1½ stories. A typical New England house of the 1600’s had two stories in front and one in back. The furnishings were homemade, plain and strong. Thick wooden planks, set on sturdy supports, served as a table. Blocks of wood, small barrels or rough benches and stools were used as chairs. Mattresses consisted of canvas bags stuffed with straw and were placed on the floor or on bedsteads made of log slabs. Life in most colonial homes centered around the fireplace. The women prepared food there, and cooking utensils hung nearby. The fireplace provided most of the family’s heat and light and everyone gathered in front of it to eat, work, relax or entertain visitors. A spinning wheel stood on the hearth.

Clothing in colonial times varied according to a person’s occupation or position in the community. Members of a farming family wore rough, homemade garments. Making clothing was an important task in most colonial households. On small farms, women planted and tended a patch of flax, harvested the crop, spun the yarn, and wove it into linen. They wove woolen cloth from yarn spun from the fleece of sheep. Linens and woolens were colored with dye made from certain berries, barks or roots. The colonists tanned cowhide and deerskin and made the leather into shoes or leggings.

On their farms, the colonists raised grain, cattle, hogs, sheep, chickens, fruits and vegetables. In the fields and woodlands, they hunted deer, pigeons, squirrels, wild turkey and other game. From the river and ocean waters, they took clams, oysters, lobsters and many kinds of fish. Corn was a basic food in almost every household and the people ate it in many forms. Meat was usually cooked with vegetables into a stew. Women made the stew in a large iron pot that hung over the fire on a pothook, fastened to a crane or a chimney bar. The iron pot had short legs and sometimes was placed on a bed of coals. Most families ate bread and cold meat for breakfast and supper. Dinner was served at noon or early in the afternoon. The colonists drank large amounts of beer, cider, rum or wine with all their meals. By the 1700’s, tea, coffee and hot chocolate had become popular.

The colonists combined work with play whenever they could. They often gathered to perform some task together and, at the same time, to enjoy games, contests, and other recreation. Neighbors got together to help a newcomer build a barn or a house. They also competed in plowing or corn husking contests and the women and girls held quilting bees. Almost every household had several cats and dogs and children who lived in the country made pets of young farm animals.

By 1670, about 8,000 people lived in Maryland, mainly along rivers that, like the Sassafras, empty into the Chesapeake Bay. Nearly all of those 8,000 people grew tobacco because of the high demand for it in England. Tobacco dominated nearly every aspect of life in early Maryland. Since little money was in circulation, people used tobacco as money. Tobacco was used to buy goods and to pay rents, debts, court fees and taxes. Land was bought with tobacco, estates were valued in the number of pounds of tobacco they were worth and hired laborers were paid about 15 pounds of tobacco a day. Since ministers were paid in tobacco, people complained that areas with poor tobacco couldn't get good preachers!

Henry’s son Abraham eventually became a yeoman and an Indian trader probably with the Susquehanna Indians who lived in that area. A yeoman is defined as a farmer who owns his own land as opposed to a sharecropper, which was someone who worked a piece of another man’s land for a share of the crop. There were several social "classes" at that time. At the top class were the wealthy merchants and plantations owners. They were called the "gentry" or the "better sort". They lived in mansions and most often traveled in comfortable carriages. Below the gentry were members of the "middling sort". Most of them were farmers or shopkeepers who owned property but were not wealthy. This is the class a "yeoman" would fall into. The next lowest rank was called the "lower sort" or the "meaner sort". It consisted of poor people, such as unskilled laborers. At the bottom of society were people were lacked freedom, such as slaves and indentured servants. This seems to indicate that Abraham, son of an indentured servant, did fairly well for himself.

Sometime around the year 1690, Abraham married Mary Elkton. Abraham and Mary had five children together. Their third child was a son born on October 6, 1694, and they named him Abraham, after his father. From this point on, for clarity's sake, we will refer to the father as "Abraham(1)" and the son as "Abraham(2)".

Childrem of Abraham(1) and Mary Pennington

1.  John Pennington born c. 1690

2.  William Pennington born c. 1692

3.  *Abraham(2) Pennington born c. 1694

4.  Isabella Pennington born c. 1697

5.  Keziah Pennington born c. 1704

In around 1702, Abraham(1)’s father, Henry, died.

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF HENRY PENNINGTON

On September 14, 1713, Abraham(2)’s brother, William, married Mary Atkey at St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Earleville, Cecil County, Maryland. This church was established in 1692 and is still active today. The original church building no longer stands. The present church, pictured at right, was built in 1824, at the same location.

On August 16, 1714, Abraham(2) married Katerina Weister who was an immigrant from Hilsbach, Baden, Germany. Abraham(2) is referred to variously in deeds a yeoman and Indian Trader, the identical occupations of his father. Abraham(2) and Katerina had five children together.

Some people believe that Abraham(2) had a second wife, Catherine Williams. Since Katerina died in 1744 and Abraham lived another 12 years, he could have remarried. Interestingly, one Catherine Williams paid a "bastard fee" in 1735 which indicates that she had an illegitimate child. In Abraham(2)’s will, he makes reference to "the boy, Thomas Largent, which I brought up" which could have been Catherine’s illegitimate child. However, others believe that Katerina and Catherine are the same person because their names sound so similar. At that time, it was common to "anglicize" names, in other words, change the name to make it sound more English.

Children of Abraham(2) and Katerina Pennington

1.   *Jacob Pennington born c. 1716

2.   Abraham Pennington born c. 1718

3.   (Captain) Issac Pennington born c. 1731

4.  John Pennington born c. 1731

5.   Abigail Pennington born c. 1732

By 1728, the Penningtons had moved westward to Frederick County, Maryland. This area, in the Catoctin Creek valley, is where Brunswick, Maryland, is located today. Indian Trader Abraham(1), who was the first recorded white man in the area, built his family’s log cabin on a tract of land named "Coxon Rest" and ran a trading post and ferry there. This tract of land stretched along the Potomac as a thin, narrow bank nearly three miles long and less than a quarter of a mile deep. Through its length would later run the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. The Catoctin Creek, which curves its way between the Catoctin Mountains and South Mountains, was Abraham’s special hunting ground and was referred to in those days as "Abraham’s Creek". Nearby waterfalls in the Potomac River were called "Abraham’s Falls".

In 1730, Abraham’s first neighbor moved in to the west of him, Flayle Payne.

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