Ricketts is also spelled Rickeots, Rickeotts, Rickett, Rickets, Ricket, Rickel, Rickle, Rickels, and
Rickles.
Queen Anne Parish, Prince George's County, Maryland was established in 1704 when St. Paul's Parish was divided.
Queen Anne's town was created in 1706 on the Patuxent River.
Bedford County, Pennsylvania was created on March 9, 1771 from part of Cumberland County.
Marylandwas established with religious freedom for Catholics. The colonial economy was based on tobacco cultivated by Africans who had been enslaved.
The rod or perch or pole is a surveyor's tool equal to 5 1⁄2 yards.
Edward Ricketts was born in Maryland on September 15, 1706. His birth was recorded at Queen Anne Parish in Prince George's County, Maryland. His parents were Thomas Ricketts, Jr. and Rebecca Nicholson.
He (Edward Rickeots) married Mary Ann Cheney (Chaney) on February 3, 1729 in Anne Arundel, Maryland in All Hallows or South River Parish. Mary Ann Cheney was born at Anne Arundel, Maryland about 1706. She was the daughter of Charles Cheney and Ann Jones.
Edward and Mary Ann's children probably included:
Ann Ricketts (December 26, 1730), Cheney Ricketts (1732),
William Ricketts (1734), Edward Ricketts, Jr. (1736), Richard Ricketts (1738),
Thomas Ricketts (1740),
Reason Ricketts (1744),
John Ricketts (1752)
and
Hezekiah Ricketts (1754).
In 1744, Mary inherited 1 schilling sterling from her father. According to Karl Larew:
Mary's father did not approve of the match, however, and he cut Mary off with only one shilling in his will. Edward luckily, was himself a wealthy man.
It is not likely that Edward was wealthy when they married, since his father was having money problems at the time they married. A shilling was a common bequest to a daughter. A one shilling bequest may signify that an heir has already received a portion of the estate and the small bequest ensures that the heir is assumed not forgotten.
They settled in Shaver's Creek Valley in Pennsylvania. Shaver's Creek Manor in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania was reserved by the proprietaries of the province for heir own use. The warrant for its survey was dated October 30, 1760. Edward and Cheney Ricketts received Lot 8 which was 284 acres and 50 perches.
Bedford County was created in 1771 from part of Cumberland County.
In 1771, Edward Ricketts had 300 acres with one acre cleared. He lived on Standing Stone Creek.
Rickett’s Fort was located about midway between Saulsburg and Manor Hill. Captain William Haymond (1740) was in command at Rickett's Fort from June 12, to July 12, 1777.
A 1778 Bedford County, Pennsylvania roster of men who swore an oath of fidelity during the revolution included Cheney, Edward, Jr., Edwards, Sr., Hezekiah, Richard, Zachariah, and Jeremiah Ricketts.
Hezekiah, Nathan, Edward, Thomas and Robert Ricketts were rangers on the frontier with the Bedford County militia between 1778 and 1783. Edward was a lieutenant in the Second Battalion under Hugh Davidson. Edward and Thomas Ricketts were Captains in 1779 in the fighting at Frankstown and the lead mines.
In 1784 members of the Ricketts family received land warrants in Bedford County, which later became Huntingdon County.
Jeremiah Nov. 10 144 acres Nov. 12 150 acres
Cheney, Sr.
Dec 2. 400
Edward, Jr. Dec. 2 400
Thomas Dec. 2 150
Edward Dec. 2 400
Edward died in 1786.
Huntingdon County was created in 1787 from part of Bedford County.
In 1762 the town of Elizabethtown was founded in Frederick County, Maryland.. In 1786 it became the county seat of newly created Washington County. In 1813 the name was changed to Hagerstown.
Shays's Rebellion was an armed uprising in Massachusetts in 1786 and 1787. Daniel Shays led four thousand rebels (Shaysites) in rising up against perceived economic injustices.
Daniel Shays and Job Shattuck
from Bickerstaff's Boston Almanack
Prince George's County, Maryland was created in 1696 from portions of Charles, and Calvert Counties. It was divided into six districts called hundreds: Mattapany, Patuxant, Collington, Mount Calvert, Piscattoway, and New Scotland. A part the county became Frederick County in 1748.
The first European settlements in Maryland were made in 1634 when English settlers created a permanent colony.
Early European settlers in the American colonies were mostly farmers and craftsmen. They had to work hard to provide daily neccesities for themselves.
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.
