The Huguenots were 16th and 17th century French protestants. About 500,000 Huguenots fled France because of religious persecution. They relocated to Protestant nations.
Estate inventories give us a glance into the home life of Colonial Americans.
Susannah Duvall (1677),
Mareen Duvall, the Younger (1680),
Catherine Duvall,
Elizabeth Duvall,
Mary Duvall,
Johanna Duvall (1685), and
Benjamin Duvall.
He married Mary about 1693-1694
He arrived in the colonies between 1652-1659. He was a Huguenot. He was transported by William Burgess to Maryland and was an indentured servant to John Covell.
On July 25, 1659, he demanded 50 acres for performing his term of service with John Covell. He received 100 acres of land he named Laval.
In 1664, he had Middle Plantation surveyed. John Ewen gave him 250 acres, Thomas Parsons gave him 50 acres, and Andrew Skinner gave him 300 acres.
In 1665, he and William Young received a land patent for 200 acres called Rich Neck.
In March, 1677/78 he obtained 375 acres in what was then Calvert County, Maryland from Thomas Bowdle for 4,000 pounds of tobacco. He also bought Essington, Morley's Grove, and Howerton's Range.
He left a will in Anne Arundel County in 1694. He left:
his wife, Mary, Middle Plantation for her lifetime
his son, Lewis 300 acres on the south end of Middle Plantation.
his daughter, Elizabeth Duvall, 375 acres called Bowdel's Choice.
Benjamin and Katherine received equal shares of Howerton's Range.
Mareen Duvall "the Younger" by his wife Susannah received The Plains in Calvert County.
Mary received Morley's Grove and Marley's Lot in Anne Arundel County
Joanna received Larkins Choice and Duvall's Range in Anne Arundel County
John, Eleanor Roberts, Samuel, and Mareen "the eldest" received 5 shillings sterling
Elizabeth Duvall, Johanna Duvall, Mary Duvall, Katherine Duvall, Mareen "the younger," Benjamin, and Lewis. received 150£ sterling
John. received his wearing apparel and silver tobacco box.
In 1754 when Duvall's Range was sold the description said:
To be Sold by Public Vendue On Wedneday the 12th of June, at the house of Charles Wallace, in Annapolis. The following tracts of land belonging to the estate of William Peele, deceased, viz. Duvall s Range, containing 200 Acres, lying in Anne Arundel county, near the great falls of Patuxent River, on both Sides of a Branch called Hankes's Branch.
An indenture is a legal contract for labor or land. Two copies on the same sheet were separated with a jagged edge so that the two parts could be refitted to confirm authenticity. An indentured servant worked without wages for a specified time to pay a debt and was bound to the employer. In the 17th century, nearly two-thirds of settlers came as indentured servants to pay for their passage.
Anne Arundel County, Maryland was established in 1650.
The first European settlements in Maryland were made in 1634 when English settlers created a permanent colony.
Many young healthy people died in colonial Maryland due to outbreaks of malaria and yellow fever.
Figurine found at Middle Plantation
by William P. Doepkens
A pirate attacks and robs at sea. A privateer is a pirate with a commission from a government. Buccaneers were pirates in Caribbean in the 17th century.
John Duvall was born in 1652 and was the son of Mareen Duvall.
On August 17, 1685 her father gave them the 200 acre plantation, Wilson's Grove, in Anne Arundel at the head of South River.
Elizabeth and John's children included: Elizabeth Duvall Warfield Gaither (1687, married Benjamin Warfield and John Gaither),
Sarah Duvall Farmer (1689, married Samuel Farmer),
Mary Duvall Gaither (1690, married Edward Gaither),
John Duvall (1693),
Mountmillion Duvall (1698, died as an infant),
Mareen Duvall (1698, died as an infant),
Comfort Duvall Griffith (1700, married William Griffith),
Lewis Duvall (1703, married Eleanor Farmer),
Rachel Duvall Waters (1705, married William Waters),
Samuel Duvall (1708), and
Alexander Duvall (1710).
On November 16, 1694, owned Duvall's Range which was 708 acres.
In 1696 John was an officer in the Anne Arundel militia.
On December 10, 1695, owned Duvall's Delight which was 1,000 acres.
In 1698 John was a member of the grand jury.
On June 1, 1700 he owned What You Will which was 373 acres.
In 1702 he bought Lugg Ox which was a tract of 780 acres in the forks of the Patuxent River. It became their daughter, Elizabeth's dowry.
Before 1705 they donated land for the Church of St. Barnabas.
When her father died in 1705, she received one shilling. Her daughter, Mary, inherited a cow and calf.
In 1705, with his wife's permission, he gave his mistress 233 acres called Burgess Choice.
On July 22, 1707 he owned Honest Man's Lot which was 110 acres.
In 1708 he was an advisor to the council regarding Richard Clark's treason.
In October, 1710, he petitioned the Grand Jury about excessive fees being levied by the court.
John died on April 19, 1711 when he was 59 years old.
On April 10, 1715, John, Jr. inherited or sold 3,108 acres of Duvall's Delight.
Amos Simpson married an Elizabeth Duvall on April 24, 1716 at All Hallows Parish. Amos was born on December 9, 1690. Elizabeth would have been about 50 and Amos about 25.
A militia is a military unit composed of citizens who are called up in time of need.
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.
Mareen Duvall (the younger) was born about 1680 at Middle Plantation in Ann Arundel, County, Maryland
In 1696 he petitioned the court to allow him to choose his own guardian, but Governor Francis Nicholson denied his request and ordered Henry Ridgely and his step-mother, Mary, to continue as guardians.
On October 21, 1701, he married Elizabeth Jacob. She was the daughter of John Jacob and Ann Cheney.
Mareen Duvall (1702, married Ruth Howard),
Susannah Duvall (1704, married William Fowler),
Elizabeth Duvall (1706, married William Denune),
Samuel Duvall (1707, married Elizabeth Mullikin),
Anne Duvall (1709, married John Carrick),
Benjamin Duvall (1711, married Mary Wells),
John Duvall (1712, married Anne Fowler),
Jacob Duvall (1715, married Mary),
Mary Duvall (1717, married Joshua Clark),
Lewis Duvall (1721, married Alice Brown), and
Gabriel Duvall (1724).
In 1700, he captured escaped prisoners of the province and received £2 as a reward.
On July 12, 1701, Mareen was accused of making "false, scandalous, and infamous libel" against Mistress Eagle. He hired William Dent as his attorney. He won the case.
On January 30, 1723/4, Rev. Jacob Henderson granted his "well beloved kinsman," Mareen Duvall at Great Marsh, the plantation Pleasant Grove.
He died in 1741.
American colonists continued to use British monetary units, namely the pound, shilling and pence for which £1 (orli) equalled 20s and 1s equalled 12d. In 1792 the dollar was established as the basic unit of currency.
Jeremiah Duvall was born in 1750 in Price George's County, Maryland. He was the son of Benjamin Duvall and Mary Wells.
He married Sarah Penn on July 23, 1752 in Queene Ann's Parish, Prince George's County, Maryland.
About 1787 he led a band of about 30 families (including many of the Cheney family) from Ann Arundel County to Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
Aquilla Duvall was born about 1730. He was the son of Lewis Duvall and Eleanor Farmer. He married Elizabeth Ridgely. Elizabeth was born on October 11, 1737 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
Aquailla and Elizabeth's children may have included:
Frederick Duvall (1755),
Rachel Duvall (1758),
Lewis Duvall (1760),
Zadock Duvall (1762),
Elinor Duvall (1764),
Elizabeth Duvall (1766),
William Duvall (1768),
Aquilla Duvall (1772),
Claudius Duvall (1777).
Aquilla died in 1783 in Montgomery County, Maryland.
At the time of the 1790 census, Frederick, Lewis, William were in Montgomery County.
Prince George's County
At the March 1742/1743 term of Court, John Hepburn served as Sheriff; Thomas Lee, as Clerk of the Court; and John Smith, Foreman of the Grand Jury. . . .
At the August term for that year, summons were issued for the Reverend Jacob Henderson, William Bowie, and John Duvall to testify before the Grand Jury.
Let us take a look at the Maryland Gazette under date of August 17, 1748, and we read: "John Duvall advertises for sale 375 acres of land situated IV2 miles of Queen Anne Town being the property of Mrs. Susannah Brown now living in Virginia.
In 1749, "Sarah Duvall appeared before the Court and told them that she was a cripple and not able to get a living. She further told the Court that she was slighted and turned out of doors by her father and was in danger of perishing unless helped by charity. The Court granted her 300 pounds of tobacco in the next levy."
In 1749 "The next petition the Court took up was that of Sarah Duvall, and it read, "I have been afflicted with Rhumatick pains that have deprived me of the use of my limbs as is obvious to your worships, and although I have parents they are so poor that I cannot get the necessarys of life among them as I am ready to declare on oath if required nicessity obliged me to hoble amongest the good people in the County to find relief but I met with none but what said they would not keep me with accomodations under twenty shillings a month and your worships very well know that the County is too open and the weather too cold for an alian body to go around naked. Some doctors—especially Dr. Brooke saith they can bring me to the use of my limbs your petitioner humbly submits to your great wisdom how and in what manner you will provide for me which I humbly pray and implore your great levity and compassion otherwise I must perish."
The Court ordered that she be allowed 1000 pounds of tobacco in the next County levy for her support until next November Court.
Mareen Duvall, Jr., agreed in November, 1747, to nurse a mulatto and child until the November Court in 1748 for ten pounds paper currency which "your worships neglected to issue. Therefore we hope that your worships will take this into consideration this autumn and issue.
The March term of the County Court for the year 1750 convened on the 27th with John Cooke as Sheriff, Joseph Sim as Clerk, and James Magruder as Foreman of the Grand Jury.
Sarah Duvall was again before the Court and this time her petition showed that she was grievously afflicted with pains in her limbs and that she was thinking she might be relieved by the help of a doctor and most humbly prayed that the Court might order that she might be granted a small allowance to pay a doctor. She was granted 200 pounds of tobacco until the next November Court.
from The Founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland by Joshua Dorsey Warfield
Mareen Duvall, The Huguenot
No more striking figure in colonial history is found than the personal achievements of this fleeing immigrant from Nantes, about 1650.
He came as one of the one hundred and fifty adventurers, brought over by Colonel William Burgess. He settled near Colonel Burgess, in Anne Arundel County, on the south side of South River and became one of the most successful merchants and planters of that favored section.
When political influences were most active during the revolution of 1689, Mareen Duvall was among the leaders who sustained the Lord Proprietary. His name is found in Colonel Greenberry's letter to Governor Copley, as one of the Jacobin party, whose mysterious meetings he could not solve.
The land records of Anne Arundel and Prince George Counties show that this Huguenot planter and merchant held a vast estate, and left his widow and third wife so attractive as to become the third wife of Colonel Henry Ridgely, and later the wife of Rev. Mr. Henderson, the commissary of the Church of England. Together they built old Trinity, or Forest Chapel, near Collington, in Prince George County.
The will of Mareen Duvall is an intelligent one. It was probated, in 1694; about the time of the removal of the Capitol from St. Mary's to Annapolis.
It is not known who were his first wives. One of them was closely allied to the celebrated John Larkin, a neighbor and enduring friend of Mareen Duvall. .
Mister ( Mr.) was derived from master and Mrs. and Miss were derived from mistress. They indicated people of superior social status in colonial America.
All Hallows or South River Parish, Anne Arundel County, Maryland was created in 1672.
Captain John Duvall, who held another large estate, married Elizabeth Jones, daughter of William Jones, Sr. of Anne Arundel County. She added considerably to his estate.
Their daughter, Elizabeth, became the wife of Benjamin Warfield, the youngest son of Richard, the immigrant. Her wedding gift was 780 acres of Lugg Ox, in the forks of the Patuxent.
Her sister, Comfort, became Mrs. William Griffith, of Frederick County.
