Prompt: Unusual Name
My Sappington Family
The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde
All Sappingtons in the US descend from Nataniel Sappington, who was first found in Maryland in 1695. It is such an unusual name I hired Heritage Consulting to research the parentage. The following report comes from Raquel Lindaas, President of Heritage Consulting. The search for Nathaniel Sappington’s parents continues. This time the research was divided into two investigative fronts, Colonial Virginia and Britain. Historic English church and court records were searched in British archives by Paul Blake, and early colonial histories of Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware were searched by Renee Furgeson. This report will focus on Renee Furgeson’s findings. The British findings will be presented under a different cover. The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde
Valuable information was found in this session to geographically map the families of Sappington and Sapp in the 1700s. It is necessary to learn about communities and families in America to verify family connections in England. The same society of extended families usually migrated as groups. Both families were found on the Delmarva Peninsula within a fifty-mile radius. The Delmarva Peninsula is surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay on the west and the Delaware Bay on the east. It is occupied by the state of Delaware, as well as portions of Maryland and Virginia. It was a cradle for the beginnings of Middle and Southern States colonization. The families that settled these communities can be defined as to nativity by scholars that have researched their journals, charters, and court recordings. The origins of the English colonists can often be identified by learning about the towns they settled. The naming patterns of the counties, cities, rivers, and inlets often reflect a specific area of their homeland.
The land these settlers obtained came from charters issued by monarchs to land speculators, known as the headright system. This was a grant of land given to anyone willing to cross the Atlantic Ocean and help populate the colonies. These men were granted land if they would pay for the transportation costs of laborers or indentured servants to work the land. The land grants consisted of 50 acres per person transported. Headrights for Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware helped populate the thirteen British colonies. These grants were found for both the Sapp and Sappington families. Clues are given, and discoveries revealed will be explained and plotted on maps in the following report.
This report will build upon the course outlined in the previous report of January 2011. A search began in published abstracts of records for the original shires of Virginia and led on a trail up the Delmarva Peninsula into Delaware and Maryland. The Sappington and Sapp communities of the 1700s will be defined. This report will be divided into three sections. First, the findings on the Sapp families of Virginia and Delaware will be explained; next, the Sappingtons of Maryland will be documented; then, the information will be brought together, connected, and mapped in conclusion. This total picture will assist with any future research in England.
Sapp families of Virginia and Delaware
Land grant records are a prime resource for finding early colonists of Virginia. A standard published work that holds abstracts of the calendars for these recordings is Cavaliers and Pioneers: A Calendar of Virginia Land Grants, 1623-1800. This work was searched, and there is no recording for the surname Sapp, but there are recordings for Elizabeth Sope, which could be a mistranscription of the name. In 1672, five thousand acres in Accomack County between Great and Little Matomikin Creek, owned by Captain Edmund Scarburgh, were apportioned, and tracts of land were granted to Elizabeth Sope. She also received land from Captain John Armstead in Gloucester County, Kingstone Parish.[1] Then in 1674, nine hundred acres in Middlesex County on a branch of Perrot’s Creek under the care of Thomas Lowe were divided into tracts, and a portion was granted to Elizabeth Sope.[2] These tracts of land are located at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay with access to major shipping ports. It is very unusual for a woman to accumulate this much land.
A John Sop received an apportionment of the land from the six hundred ninety-nine acres owned by John Taylor in Northumberland County on the Wicomico Swamp in 1666. He also acquired land in Gloucester County from William Collaine Jr.[3] Northampton and Gloucester County are on the western side of the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. These findings of land grants for those with surnames similar to Sapp may prove valuable as research proceeds.
No other references to the Sope, Sop, or Sapp name were found in compiled Virginia colonial registers. The name Sapp was taken northward in a radial search of Delaware history books and registers. An estate settlement was found for John Newell, who died before August of 1764. His niece Rachel Newell was the wife of Henry Sapp. John Newell was the brother of William Newell, who was Rachel’s father. In this same document, John was referred to as the guardian of Rachel.[4] His tract of land was in the Mispillion Hundred in Delaware. Delaware did not divide legal jurisdictions into counties at that time but instead used the practice of England. These governmental districts were called “hundreds,” which are an area capable of producing one hundred men for military duty.[5] (See a map of Delaware Hundreds, Figure No. 1) This Henry Sapp, husband of Rachel, was the third generation of Henry Sapps living in the Mispillion Hundred. A will left by his great-grandfather Henry Sapp I in 1743 named his male heirs as Henry, James, Benjamin, John, and Edward. His daughters, titled under their married names, were Johannah Bradley, Anne Thistlewood, and unmarried Elizabeth Sapp.[6] In 1750 William Sapp, bachelor of Duck Creek [Hundred] in Delaware, left his worldly goods to brother Isaac and sister Esther Sap.[7] Isaac Sapp was called a yeoman in this will. A yeoman is a farmer who owned his plot of land, not one who leased. Duck Creek is north of Murderkill Hundred. It was also very interesting to find that in 1787, Elijah Dill and his wife Sarah of Kent County, Delaware, sold land to George Cubbage called “Sapps Folly,” this land is in the Murderkill Hundred bordering Mispillion. The relationship of these tracts of land can be understood by viewing the map of Delaware Hundreds. (See Fig. No. 1)[8] Members of the Sapp family were in Delaware on the Delmarva peninsula by the year 1743. No land entries were verified before this year.
Now that the Sapp settlements were verified, it was necessary to define where these families might have originated. The history of Delaware has a very tumultuous struggle of powers for a claim of this land before 1700. In 1629, Peter Minuit of the New Netherlands West Indies Company claimed the land. Later in about 1637, Minuit had a falling out with the Dutch and turned his business ventures to the Swedes. He led a group of Swedes on a voyage to the Delaware River in 1638.[9] In 1655 Peter Stuyvesant led a Dutch expedition to the Delaware River and forcibly ended the Swedish colony and claimed it for the Dutch. A Swedish governor, Johan Rising,[10]fighting to regain power, sent a letter in July 1655 to all who had gone to Maryland and Virginia to return. Residents who returned were given free land by the Swedes. This enforces the premise of the migration path from Virginia to Delaware.
In 1664 the Dutch were forcibly removed by the English, and James, Duke of York, brother of King Charles II, outfitted an expedition to settle the area.[11] William Penn inherited James, Duke of York’s claims. When Penn arrived in America, he wanted an outlet to the sea from his new province, so he claimed land in the lower counties of Delaware. He sponsored ships from England, bringing persecuted Quakers who, with him, were escaping to practice their religion of love and tolerance for all and were hostile to formal doctrine and creeds. They settled all along the Delaware coast, including the hundreds of Duck Creek, Murderkill, and Mispillion.
Ship manifests for a few of these Quaker voyages remain. The earliest passenger list that has been reconstructed is from the ship “Welcome,” which William Penn directed himself into the Delaware harbor in 1682.[12] There was no recording of a family with the surname of Sapp or Sappington on this ship. These families were from England, and most immigrants came from Sussex, Surrey, or Middlesex. Their counties of nativity would fit the areas where Sapp family probates were found in the previous report. The possibility of the Sapp family converting to Quakerism was considered, so church records for Quaker movements were sought. The Quaker or “Friends” religion kept excellent meeting records, including removal records when a member moved from England to America, with the county of origin. Meeting records for Duck Creek and Murderkill Hundred is available and were searched for the years 1698-1800.[13] There was no Quaker meeting documentation for the Sapp family.
A land area on the east side of Delaware called the “Milford Neck” juts into the Delaware Bay and includes the Mispillion Hundred. A history of Mildford Neck states that:
“The early settlers of Milford Neck were mostly of English origin . . . in large measure from the eastern shore of Maryland and Virginia and brought with them their manners and customs as well as their slaves. The early settlers are Bowman, Clark, Davis, Emerson, Hall, Fisher, Minors, Molleston, Manlove, Smith, and Young.[14]
The Sapp family living on this land in 1743 would have known these names as members of their community. Any record that includes family names could verify communities coming to America together.
Sappington's of Maryland
The earliest record found for Nathaniel Sappington was a tax list of the Spesutie Hundred for 1695 in “Old Baltimore,” Maryland. The Spesutie Hundred was established as a governmental division or “township” on Spesutie Island in about 1650.[15] The tract encompassed an island named Spesutie Island, named after Colonel Nathaniel Utie (a Virginian), who purchased the island in the 1650s.[16] This hundred was a political division in the original settlement of “Old Baltimore County.” The territory of the Spesutie Hundred became a legally recognized political unit in Baltimore County in 1693.[17] The geographic description was a tract midway of the Bush River Neck near the coast from Church Creek down the eastern side of that river.[18] This area was also the port of entry for the territory and became the governmental seat, with the first court held here in 1661. Baltimore County at this time encompassed Harford, Cecil, and Kent counties, so all tax record accounts were held here.[19] Thus, Nathaniel was probably not living on the island but sent his taxes to the county seat.
Early settlers of this Spesutia island community were identified in a local county history written by Wright. He noted that George Goldsmith arrived in 1659, William Palmer in 1673, James Philips in 1672, Edward Boothby in 1695, Colonel George Wells in 1678, the Reverend John Yeo in 1681 and Garrett Fitzgerald in 1682.[20] There was no arrival noted for a Sappington. The land entries for Nathaniel were found in Cecil County, across the Chesapeake Bay from Spesutia. In 1715 he was settled near the Sassafras River in a tract called Dayley’s Desire, where he purchased one hundred acres in exchange for 6,000 pounds of tobacco he had grown on the land.[21] This area is marked and located in Old Baltimore City. (See Figure No.2). He purchased the land from Thomas Smith. Nathaniel’s name was also written in the church vestry book of the St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church of Cecil in 1701. A rebuilt structure from the foundation of this original church stands in Earlville, Maryland, today.
This area was governed by several magistrates appointed by the British Crown during this decade. As the country developed along the waterfronts, there was constant commerce exchange between Virginia and Maryland. Kent County, Maryland’s first governor in 1674, was appointed by the Legislative Assembly of Virginia.[22] These facts can be correlated to understanding Nathaniel Sappington’s community origins. Nathaniel lived in a community that mirrored English life, as did the Virginian culture. His Episcopal convictions were nourished, and the land entry of 1715 defines his occupation as a planter.[23] The tobacco crops introduced in Virginia were carried up the banks and inlets of the Chesapeake Bay. The origin of many of these planters of Virginia and Maryland has been defined in work by David Hackett Fischer as coming from the south and west of England.[24] This would include the counties of Surrey, Kent, Middlesex, and Essex, the same as for the origins of the Sapp family. A map can now be outlined for both the Sapp and Sappington families in North America from 1693 to 1773.
Conclusion
Nathaniel Sappington’s home in the American colonies can be mapped along the banks of the Sassafras River on a small coastal plain between the inlets of the Chesapeake Bay. The tract was known as Dayley’s Desire and was in the original County of Old Baltimore, later divided into Cecil and Kent, Maryland. He purchased his land in 1715 from Thomas Smith with money earned from planting and harvesting tobacco, which means he lived on this land at least one year before the harvest. His occupation as a planter does not verify that he actually worked the ground, as most planters in the south were overseers with slave labor. He, or his father Nathaniel, lived within the County of Old Baltimore before 1693. He attended church at the Saint Stephens Episcopal Church. The Sassafras River was used to approximate his home on the map. The facts about his life open an understanding of his socioeconomic status and religion in England. He knew how to manage a plantation and produce crops to sustain his family. His land can now be defined in relation to the Sapp community on the same peninsula.
The Sapp family of Delaware was documented as living in the Mispillion Hundred. A Henry Sapp lived here before 1743 as an abstract of his will was found in a Delaware colonial history. He had a family of five sons and three daughters that lived in this area for three generations as Henry Sapp III married Rachel Newell in 1764. William Sapp, a bachelor, lived in the Duck Creek Hundred of Delaware until he died in about 1750. He left his personal estate to Isaac Sapp, his brother. Isaac was noted to be a yeoman or farmer. Both the Sappingtons and Sapps probably owned and worked plantations with tobacco crops. By 1787 a parcel of land in Murderkill Hundred, which borders Mispillion, was dubbed the name Sapps Folly. Other community surnames for this early settlement were Bowman, Clark, Davis, Emerson, Hall Fisher, Minors, Molleston, Manlove, Smith, Young, and Harrington, as brought forth in local history. These surnames are all English.
With the details of these two families well-substantiated, the relationship of their homes on the Delmarva Peninsula can be recognized. A historical map was located for the area. It was found online in a digitized format from a collection at the University of Maryland Archives. This map of 1685 for the upper bay of the Delmarva Peninsula shows the site of Old Baltimore County, Cecil County, Maryland, and the Duck Creek, Murder Creek and Mispillion Creek Hundred. (See Figure No. 3)[25]The Sassafras River was labeled as Turkey’s Creek on this map. The map is not drawn to scale, but the close relationship of the Cecil County, Maryland Sappingtons to the Delaware Sapps can easily be visualized. The Mason Dixon line that separated the two states was not drawn until 1763. The borders were fluid, and residents easily traveled in and out of the counties.
In summary, a definite link between the Sappington and Sapp families cannot be substantiated by vital record documents, but they did live near one another. Both families shared common occupations, backgrounds and could have both come from Virginia. The English research findings should be weighed against the details validated in their lives on the Delmarva Peninsula. The additional names found from land grants and community histories should be correlated with names found on records in England. The estimated arrival dates for both families can be derived from the years noted on the land grants and wills. Vital elements about this family history are now clear and provide an open link that waits to be joined with parents in England.
Renee Furgeson, Professional Genealogist
Heritage Consulting
[1]Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers: A Calendar of Virginia Land Grants, 1623-1800(Originally published, Richmond, Virginia: Dietz Print Co. 1929) Patent book Abstracts: V. 4 pp 155-157 (See Ref. No. 2)
[2]Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers: A Calendar of Virginia Land Grants, 1623-1800V. 3 pp 147-149 (See Ref. No. 1)
[3]Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants. Indexed by Claudia B. Grundman. (Originally published Richmond, Virginia: Dietz Print Co. 1929) Virginia State Library Richmond, 1977. pp 49, 361. (See Ref. No. 3)
[4]F. Edward Wright, Colonial Families of Delaware V. 1(Westminster Maryland: Willow Bend Books, 1998, Lewes, Delaware: Colonial roots, c2006) pp vi, 29. (See Ref. No 4&5)
[5]C. Milton Wright, Our Harford Heritage: A History of Harford County, Maryland(Glen Burnie, Maryland : French-Bray Printing Co., 1980, c1967) pp 72-73. (See Ref. No. 22)
[6]F. Edward Wright, Colonial Families of Delaware V. 2(Westminster Maryland: Willow Bend Books, 1998, Lewes, Delaware: Colonial roots, c2006) P 159-161. (See Ref. No. 6)
[7]Wright, Colonial Families of Delaware V. 2p. 159. (See Ref. No. 6)
[8]Map of Delaware Hundreds, Colonial Kent County(Online historical maps, Delaware Historical Society http://www.hsdorg/dhe/images/map) (See Ref. No. 23)
[9]John Thomas Scharf, History of Delaware, 1609-1888(Tuscon, Arizona: W.C. Cox Co. 1974) p 31.
[10]Scharf, History of Delaware, 1609-1888, p 55.
[11]Scharf, History of Delaware, 1609-1888, P. 81.
[12]Joe Beine, The Ship Welcome of William Penn's Fleet, Reconstructed Ship Passenger List: Deal to Pennsylvania, 1682 (online database genealogybranches.com, posted 2010) http://www.genealogybranches.comAccessed 5 May 2011. (See Ref. No. 26)
[13]Society of Friends, Murderkill Monthly Meetings and Duck Creek Monthly Meeting of Friends Having United Under the Name of Camden Monthly Meeting. (Original records in Friends Historical Library in Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania) (Microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1949) Microfilm 6321.
[14]L. Roland Beebe, Milford Neck: a Short History(Dover, Delaware: Dover Litho Printing, 1990) p 70. (See Ref. No. 24)
[15]C. Milton Wright, Our Harford Heritage: A History of Harford County, Maryland(Glen Burnie, Maryland: French-Bray Printing Co., 1980, c1967) pp 72-73. (See Ref. No. 20)
[16]Sappingtons of America, 1695-1995, Personal publication held in the Historical Society of Cecil County, Maryland under Sappington. Miscellaneous Documents. The Historical Society of Cecil County. (See Ref. No. 18)
[17]C. Milton Wright, Our Harford Heritage: A History of Harford County, Maryland (Glen Burnie, Maryland: French-Bray Printing Co., 1980, c1967) pp 19-21 (See Ref. No. 20)
[18]C. Milton Wright: Our Harford Heritage: A History of Harford County, Maryland (Glen Burnie, Maryland: French-Bray Printing Co., 1980, c1967) pp 19-21 (See Ref. No. 20)
[19]John Thomas Scharf, History of Baltimore City and County from the Earliest Period to the Present Day; Including Biographical Sketches of Their Representative Men (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: L.H. Everts, 1881) p 42.
[20]C. Milton Wright, Our Harford Heritage: A History of Harford County, Maryland(Glen Burnie, Maryland: French-Bray Printing Co., 1980, c1967 pp 19-21. (See Ref. No. 21)
[21]June D. Brown, Abstracts of Cecil County, Maryland Land Records, 1673-1751(Westminster, Maryland: Family Line, 1998) P 104, 162. (See Ref. No. 10)
[22]George A. Hanson, Old Kent: The Eastern Shore of Maryland(Baltimore, Maryland: Regional Publishing Company, 1967) p. 1. (See Ref. No. 14)
[23]June D. Brown, Abstracts of Cecil County, Maryland Land Records, 1673-1751(Westminster, Maryland: Family Line, 1998) P 104, 162. (See Ref. No. 10)
[24]David Hackett Fischer, Albion's Seed(New York City, New York: Oxford University Press, 1989) pp 236-238.
[25]Historical Digitized Maps, University of Maryland Archives (University of Maryland Libraries, map of Virginia and Maryland, 1685, Call# CMD/VA 029, 2008) http://libraries.umd.edu/uploadedimages/librariesumdedu/Maryland_Maps/Maps. Accessed 28 March 2011. (See Ref. No. 15)
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