An American Family History

James Maxwell was probably born in the mid 1630s in England. He was a planter who immigrated to Maryland in 1658 .

His wife was named Mary and he brought her to America about 1659 and they settled in Maryland.

James and Mary's son, James Maxwell, was born about 1661.

On November 1, 1667, James bought 200 acres west of the Chesapeake Bay and south of Herring Creek from William Parker.

James, Sr. died before February 10, 1669/70, when his estate was probated He died with at least 200 acres and a personal estate of 22,087 pounds of tobacco.

After his death, Mary married Patrick Hall, of Anne Arundel County. He was the executor of James' estate. James' daughter (and heir) was Mary Hall Everett (d. 1698). She married Henry Everett.

Patrick Hall bought the 300 acres of Gowry Banks in the Herring Creek Hundred (near Friendship, Maryland) from Thomas Ford in 1677, and sold it the next year to William Powell.

Patrick Hall patented 150 acres of Hall’s Park on October 10, 1671. It was located in Calvert County on the east side of the Patuxent River. Hall’s Park was next to Hall’s Hills which patented by Richard Hall, a Quaker, in 1666, based, in part, on his reward for transporting Colonel Ninian Beall (1625) into Maryland. Ninan was Richard's indentured servant.

Patrick died in 1678 and Mary married John Spencer.

A land patent is an exclusive land grant made by the government. The certificate that grants the land rights is also called first-title deed and final certificate. In the United States, all land can be traced back to the original land patent.