An American Family History

Anthony Ricketts 1760

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves,
and, under a just God cannot retain it."
― Abraham Lincoln

Ricketts is also spelled Rickeots, Rickeotts, Rickett, Rickets, Ricket, Rickel, Rickle, Rickels, and Rickles.

Slavery is an immoral system of forced labor where people are treated as property to be bought and sold. It was legal in the American Colonies and the United States until the Civil War.

In the War of 1812 (1812-1815) the United States declared war on England because of trade restrictions, impressment, and British support for Indian attacks. They signed the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814 after reaching a stalemate.

Anthony Ricketts was born was born on February 07, 1760 in Elizabethtown (now Hagerstown), Frederick (then Montgomery) County, Maryland which is now Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland. His father was Anthony Ricketts. Karl Larew gives his birth date as 1748/49.

He married Margaret Wilson Briscoe. She was the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Wilson and the step-daughter of Captain Robert Briscoe.

Their children may have included,:

John Ricketts (1795, married Elizabeth Robinson) and
Nancy Ricketts (before 1798).

At the time of the 1790 census Anthony Ricketts, Jr. was in Montgomery County, Maryland. The household consisted of a man over 16, 3 females and 6 boys under 16.

When Margaret's mother, Sarah Wilson Briscoe, wrote her will in 1798, she left Anthony the crops from her deceased husband's plantation. She left Margaret "one half of all her estate of whatsoever kind or nature." That included an entire family she had enslaved. (John, his wife Catharine and their daughter Charity).

She mentioned her other children, Thomas, Alexander, John, and James Wilson and Sarah Wilson Boyd. She also mentioned her grandchildren Samuel Mount, Mary Ann Case, and Nancy Ricketts.

In 1800 the household was in District 1 of Montgomery County. It consisted of:

a man and a woman between 26 and 44 - Anthony age 40 and Margaret
a woman and a man between 16 and 25 -
1 boy between 10 and 15 -
1 girl and 3 boys under 10 and -
5 slaves.

In 1810 they were still in Maryland. The household consisted of:

a man and a woman over 45
2 women and 3 men between 16 and 25
a girl and a boy between 10 and 15 and
16 slaves.

In 1813, Anthony Ricketts was elected Vestryman at St. Bartholomew's Parish.

In 1820 the household consisted of:

a man and a woman over 45
a woman between 26 and 44
a man and a woman between 16 and 25
a boy and a girl under 10 and
14 slaves including 6 children.

About 1715 English, Scottish and German settlers found their way to the Montgomery County, Maryland area. It was officially established from Charles, Prince George's, and Frederick counties in 1776.

Marylandwas established with religious freedom for Catholics. The colonial economy was based on tobacco cultivated by Africans who had been enslaved.

The first European settlements in Maryland were made in 1634 when English settlers created a permanent colony.

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©Roberta Tuller 2025
tuller.roberta@gmail.com
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