Charles County is in south central Maryland and was created in 1658. The first settlers were mainly English tobacco planters, their indentured servants and enslaved people. Many of of the settlers were Roman Catholic.
The county, as originally laid out, also included parts of present
day Calvert, Prince George's and St. Mary's Counties.
In 1714 Benjamin sold his share in Cold Spring Manor to Francis Collier.
A letter dated March 24, 1717/18 from Thomas Pallin to Walter Story mentioned that Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Douglas were bound for Jamaica, then Liverpoole, and then Virginia.
John Douglas married in 1734 in Charles County. Mary Douglas married in 1740 in Charles County.
In 1738 George Thomas made him the guardian of his son, Benjamin.
Benjamin and Elizabeth both died about 1749.
He died before February 13, 1749/50 at Causine's Manor [also known as Causin's Manor or Mount Air], Charles County, Maryland. Causine's Manor was originally 1,000 acres granted to Nicholas Causine It was in Port Tobacco Lower Hundred, five miles from the town of Portobacco.
Benjamin's estate was probated on October 13, 1749. His wife, Elizabeth. was the executrix. She received her dower right of one third the estate. He left his son, John, Blythswood and he left his son, Benjamin, part of Causine's Manor with the stipulation that his wife, Elizabeth, could use the land while she remained a widow. He passed on to his daughter, Penelope, an enslaved woman named, Jane. The remainder of the estate went to his children.
The tax list of 1783 shows that Richard Land Douglas was taxed for 157 acres of Causine's Manor.
Planter is an archaic term for a settler. Plantation was a method of colonization where settlers were "planted" abroad. A plantation is also the kind of large farm that was the economical basis of many American Colonies and owners of these farms were also called planters.
John Douglas (1636) boughtCold Spring Manor on May 10, 1677 from Josias Fendall for 22,000 pounds of tobacco. It consisted of a home on 1,050 acres on the west side of the Patuxent River in Mt. Calvert Hundred (now part of Patuxent Hundred) in Prince George's County, Maryland. The manor came with all rights of "Lord of the Manor."
500 acres was inherited by his John's son John Douglas (1664) who left it to his son, Benjamin Douglas (1685) who sold part in 1705. The residue of Cold Spring was inherited by John's younger sons, Joseph Douglas (1675) and Charles Douglas (1678).
Blythswood Manor (Blithwood, Blythwood) was surveyed on May 10, 1667 for John Douglas (b. 1636). It was a 100 acre plantation on the north side of the Potomac River in the Piccowaxon area. Blythswood may have been the name of the family manor house in Scotland. Inherited by his son, Robert Douglas then by Benjamin Douglas (b. 1685) then his son, John Douglas (1709) who sold it in 1769.
The first European settlements in Maryland were made in 1634 when English settlers created a permanent colony.
Marylandwas established with religious freedom for Catholics. The colonial economy was based on tobacco cultivated by Africans who had been enslaved.
Guardianship is when a court gives an adult custody of a child and/or the responsibility of managing the child's property. Before women could own property, guardians were appointed for their minor children if their husband died.
