An American Family History

Planter and Merchant, Colonel James Maxwell, was born about 1661 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He was the only child of James and Mary Maxwell of Herring Creek Hundred, Anne Arundel County. Patrick Hall was his stepfather. He was a gentleman.

The Maxwells were Protestant, although James apparently did not sign the Protestant petition to William and Mary in 1689.

In 1683, was appointed as an executor of the will of his brother-in-law, Henry Everett.

James, Jr. was living in Baltimore County by May, 1689, when he was proposed as one of the appraisers of John Taylor's estate.

On May 19, 1691, James sold Lucy Evans (executrix of Lewis Evans, of Anne Arundel County), 200 acres on the West Side of Chesapeake Bay, and on the South Side of Herring Creek that he inherited from his father.

He was taxed as a resident of the North Side of Gunpowder River Hundred in June, 1692.

James was appointed as a captain in the rangers in 1691/92 by the Council of Maryland. His district was from the Falls of the Patapsco to the Susquehanna. In colonial Maryland, rangers patrolled the frontier and warned of Native American war parties. James was made major, by 1694 and colonel, by 1706/7.

On September 21, 1694, James Maxwell of Baltimore County signed the following

Wee the Subscribers doe declare that wee doe believe that there is not any transubstantiation in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper or in the Elements of bread & Wine at or after the Consecration thereof by any person whatsoever.

On November 10, 1695, a grant of 553 acres called Major's Choice was made to Major James Maxwell.

He was sheriff of Baltimore County from 1696 to 1699 and again from 1701 to 1703.

He was a justice in Baltimore County in 1690/91, 1696, and from 1706 to 1727/28. He was a Justice of the Quorum from 1694 to 1696 and from 1706 to 1727/28. He was chief justice from 1715 to 1727/28.

He was a member of the Lower House, Baltimore County from 1694 to 1696, from 1704 to 1727. His nine terms in the legislature were one of the longest tenures in the Assembly's first century. The Assembly Proceedings, March 10, 1697/8-April 4, 1698 read:

It being moved to the house that Major James Maxwell high Sherriffe of Baltimore County lyes dangerously sick. The sending for the said Maxwell before this house is deferred till the next sessions.

In 1696 he signed the Association Address of support for King William III after the failed Jacobite plot.

. . .Tis the Remoteness of our habitations and not the less fervency of our Affections which makes Us (perhaps) later than others in Addressing yor Ma[ges]ty and Joyning with the rest of yor Loyall Subjects in Congratulating yor deliverance from the horrid designed Assassination against yor Sacred person . . .

His first wife was Mary Harmer. She had been married before to Benjamin Gundry and already had a son, Sprye Godfrey Gundry. She received land from her family that would be called Maxwell's Conclusion.

James Maxwell, the elder was born about 1700.

Eliza Ann Maxwell Ricketts was born about 1706.

Mary Harmer died about 1707.

His second wife was the widow, Anne Groome Richardson.

They were married by 1709 when Anne's sister, Elizabeth's husband, John Ewings, named James and Anne's brother, Moses, as guardians of his daughter, Dorcas.

Ashael Maxwell (married Hannah). Died 1729.

Elizabeth Maxwell

James Maxwell, the younger

Ann Maxwell Matthews was born about 1715.

Robert Maxwell.

James may also have been the father of Philixanna Maxwell Smithers who died before 1718.

The March Court of 1709 awarded James a contract to build a courthouse in Joppa Town on land that was owned by his son, James. The building was controversial and James was the leader of the movement to build it. The courthouse was built without the proper legal authority,

In 1712, James outlined the area of Joppa Town, Maryland on his own land. He, at first, declined the offer of three pounds per acre for home lots, but agreed to the price of one pound, seven shillings for each half acre lot when the court condemned him.

On September 30, 1712, James conveyed 100 acres of Jullican or Galleon Bay to his step-son, Spry Godfrey Gundry, for his natural life (Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin, Volume 30).

Their son, Robert, died and was buried January 12, 1718/19.

In August, 1719 James was reimbursed by the County Court for having cared for the child of Elizabeth Kitchin.

In 1720 Anne (Groome) Felkes (or Phelks) left Anne and James, Taylor's Choice which was 300 acres at the head of the Gunpowder River during their lives. After they died, it was go to to Anne's oldest son, Asacle. She also left personal property to Ann and her children: Asacle, Elizabeth, James, Anne and Robert Maxwell.

In 1724, James contracted with the St. John's Parish Vestry to build St. John's Church at Joppa for 24,000 pounds of tobacco. That year he also have built a brick mansion (the old Rumsey house) with bricks imported from England.

He made his will on January 4, 1727/28 and died the next day on January 5, 1727/28 when he was 67. His death was recorded in the St. John's Parish Register.

At his death he had £1,403.5.9 current money including old books. He had five servants and had enslaved 12 people.

After his death his widow married William Savory who administered his estate.

Gunpowder Neck, was in Baltimore, County but is now in Harford County, Maryland. Joppa was a major seaport and the county seat of Baltimore County from 1712 to 1769. St. John's Parish was in Joppa, but later moved to Kingsville, Maryland. Robins Point, Rickett Point Road, Maxwell Point Road, and Ford Point are south of the current Joppatowne on Gunpowder Neck. Spry Shoal is just off Rickett Point.

Holland's Adventure - in part of Baltimore County, Maryland that became Harford County. 1676 - surveyed for John Holland who assigned it to Francis Watkins who sold it to Robert Cutchin in 1705. Robert sold 20 acres to James Maxwell. Ashael Maxwell inherited those acres and his widow, Hannah, married John Hall who renamed it Hall's Pasture.