| State | Maryland |
|---|---|
| County (Primary) | Somerset |
| Other Counties | Sussex |
| Family Name | Dutton |
| Family History Notes | Members of the Dutton family in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia were 1 i. Mary, born say 1740. 2 ii. Isaac, born say 1742. iii. Stephen1, born say 1744, had an illegitimate child by Easly Wright, a spinster of Coventry Parish, Somerset County, before June 1767 [Judicial Record 1766-7, 152]. 3 iv. David1, born say 1745. v. Stephen3, born about 1769, an eight-year-old "negro" bound apprentice in Harford County to Benjamin Richardson in October 1777 [Maryland Historical Society Bulletin, vol. 35, no.3]. vi. Guy, born before 1776, head of a Harford County household of 6 "free colored" in 1830. vii. Eleanor, "free negro" head of a Fairfax County, Virginia household of 2 "other free" and a slave in 1810 [VA:251]. viii. Levin, born about 1793, obtained a certificate of freedom in Somerset County on 4 June 1821: born free ... dark brown complexion ... in the twenty eighth year of his age [Certificates of Freedom 1821-32, 1-2]. 1. Mary Dutton, born say 1740, was a "Mulatto" who registered the 13 June 1759 birth of her daughter Leah and the 18 August 1762 birth of her son Stephen in Stepney Parish, Somerset County [Wright, Maryland Eastern Shore Vital Records, III:43, 46]. She was a spinster of Coventry Parish on 16 June 1767 when she confessed to the Somerset County court that she had an illegitimate child (by an unnamed free person) and was fined three pounds [Judicial Record 1766-7, 152]. She was the mother of i. Leah, born 13 June 1759. ii. Stephen2, born 18 August 1762. He was taxable on 100 acres in Wicomico Hundred, Somerset County, in 1783 [MSA S1161-9-10, p.68], head of a Sussex County, Delaware household of 5 "other free" in 1800 [DE:391], 7 in 1810 [DE:325], and 6 "free colored" in 1820 [DE:396]. iii. ?David3, born before 1776, head of a Sussex County, Delaware household of 3 "other free" in 1810 [DE:307] and 4 "free colored" in 1820 [DE:414]. iv. ?Hanabel, born before 1776, head of a Nanticoke, Sussex County, Delaware household of 6 "free colored" in 1820 [DE:224]. 2. Isaac Dutton, born say 1742, was bound as an apprentice blacksmith in Somerset County in 1759 [Judicial Record 1757-61, 225]. He married Elizabeth Hill, "(both free Mulattoes)," on 13 October 1763 in Stepney Parish, Somerset County [Wright, Maryland Eastern Shore Vital Records, 47]. They may have been the parents of i. David2, head of a Sussex County, Delaware household of 6 "other free" in 1810 [DE:321]. 3. David1 Dutton, born say 1745, married Bethia Bibbons on 17 September 1766 at Stepney Parish, Somerset County [Wright, Maryland Eastern Shore Vital Records, 49]. He sued Benjamin Gilliss (blacksmith) for seven pounds, four shillings in Somerset County court on 19 November 1771 [Judicial Record 1769-72, 268]. He was a "free Mulatto" who purchased a total of 91 acres in 1772 and 1775 in the part of Somerset County which later became Wicomico County, Maryland. He was taxable on 50 acres, called "Crooked Chance," and 40 acres, called "Poor Chance," in Rewastico, Somerset County, in 1783 [MSA S1161-9-10, p.40]. David died in 1798 not long after purchasing a larger tract of land in Nanticoke Hundred, Somerset County [Land Records Liber F-2, 395; Liber O-32, 206]. David and Bethia were the parents of i. Nancy, born 7 August 1768, "daughter of David and Bethier," registered in Stepney Parish. ii. Suckey, born 14 March 1771, "daughter of David and Bethyer," registered in Stepney Parish. iii. Betheyer, born 20 January 1774, "daughter of David and Betheyer," registered in Stepney Parish [Wright, Maryland Eastern Shore Vital Records, 49, 50, 52, 53]. |
| Additional Notes | – |
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[Author (if known)], Free Black Families of Colonial Delmarva (abstracted by Paul Heinegg), [Date (if known)], Enduring Connections: Exploring Delmarva’s Black History, Nabb Research Center, Salisbury University.
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