Richard Cheney died in early 1685. He was probably in his 60s. He’d lived in the South River Hundred in Maryland for 35 years.
This story traces the final mentions of Richard, the inheritance left to his children, and the legacy that endured beyond his burial.
Here lyeth Richard Cheney
Richard was buried in the cemetery at the original All Hallows churchyard. We don’t know the location of that original cemetery.
… somewhere in the parish there is a large 17th century graveyard. Early parish burial records note the burial of hundreds of people during the period of the 1690s until 1729 and the construction of the current brick church.
Stories Dead Men Tell: Geophysical Survey In The All Hallows Graveyard, Anne Arundel County, Maryland – Lost Towns Project
Will
Here’s Richard Cheney’s will. I’ve transcribed his main bequests.
Richard Cheney’s will had specific bequests.
- Eldest son Richard inherits Cheney’s Rest
- Sons Charles and Thomas each inherit half of Cheney’s Resolution
- Daughters Elizabeth, Mary, and Anne receive five shillings each
- Wife Eleanor and sons Charles and Thomas share the remainder of the estate
- Charles and Thomas are to be in the care of mother Eleanor until they are age 16
Richard left land to sons Richard, Charles and Thomas. He had earlier given land to his daughters and their husbands, 100 acres each to Elizabeth and husband William Ijams and also Anne and husband John Jacobs. I don’t know the details about Mary.
A Problem
But there was a problem. Richard made his will in 1675, some ten years before his death. From 1675 to his death in 1685, he and Eleanor had five more children. Richard never updated his will, so those children weren’t mentioned.
The five youngest Cheney children weren’t in the will, as they were born after the will was written. At Richard’s death, they ranged in age from one to eight years. They no doubt stayed with their mother Eleanor, who shared some of Richard’s estate with sons Charles and Thomas.
A lawsuit
Richard’s will was contested many years after his death. I don’t know if the plaintiffs were among his youngest children, but it’s possible.
Forty-one years after his death a law suit developed over the parental dwelling and plantation. His son in law and daughter, John Jacob and his wife Anne, appeared in court as well as his widowed daughter, Elizabeth Iiams.
John Jacob stated that on March 6, 1675, he happened to be at the home of Colonel William Burgess and a certain William Cocks drew up a will for Richard Cheney. He heard Richard Cheney dictate to William Cocks that the homestead was to be inherited by his two sons, Thomas and Charles. He saw Richard Cheney sign the will and testified that he, with Colonel William Burgess and William Cocks, signed their names as witnesses.
Anne, the wife of John Jacobs, asserted that she heard her husband say many times that her father, Richard Cheney, made a will at the home of William Burgess. She was left five shillings but did not remember receiving them. Elizabeth Iiams practically made the same assertion as that of her sister Anne.
Anne Arundel Gentry: A Genealogical History of Twenty-two Pioneers of Anne Arundel County, Md., and Their Descendants
Inventory
The Probate Court required an inventory of a deceased person’s belongings. Here’s Richard’s inventory after his bequests had been made. It’s a modest list of belongings for a prominent planter.
Servant or slave?
Notice that among Richard’s belongings are “A woman servant.” Is she an indentured servant, or is she a slave?
If we look at other inventories, we can see that servants were listed differently from slaves. I believe Richard Cheney’s woman servant was an indentured servant, not a slave.
Also note that Richard’s will didn’t mention any slaves.
A legacy
Richard’s death closed a chapter, but the Cheney name would continue to echo through the records of Anne Arundel County.
In the next post, we’ll follow the lives of Charles Cheney and his siblings as the second generation of Maryland tobacco planters.
Timeline
Sources:
- Image – family mourning death of father – Google Gemini
- Image – cemetery – Image from Google
- Quote – Unknown location of All Hallows original cemetery – Stories Dead Men Tell: Geophysical Survey In The All Hallows Graveyard, Anne Arundel County, Maryland – Lost Towns Project – https://www.losttownsproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/allhallows.pdf
- Family Tree diagrams – Ancestry.com and Mark Jarvis
- Image – Richard Cheney Will – Maryland, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1777 – Wills, Vol 4-10, 1670, 1676-1679, 1682-1700 – page 311 – Ancestry.com – https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9068/images/007737515_00161?pId=461346
- Image – Richard Cheney spouses and children diagram – Mark Jarvis
- Quote – Lawsuit of Richard Cheney will – Anne Arundel Gentry: A Genealogical History of Twenty-two Pioneers of Anne Arundel County, Md., and Their Descendants – Harry Wright Newman – Page 348 – https://archive.org/details/annearundelgentr00newm_0/page/348/mode/2up?q=cheney
- Image – Richard Cheney Inventory from Probate – Maryland, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1777 – Inventories and Accounts of Estates, Vol 8-11, 1683-1692 and 1700 – page 609 – Ancestry.com – https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9068/images/007737556_00609?usePUB=true&_phsrc=DRe3474
- Image – Various Inventories listing servants and slaves – composite from Inventories similar to Richard Cheney – Inventories and Accounts of Estates, Vol 8-11, 1683-1692 and 1700 – page 609 – Ancestry.com
- Audio – Trio for Two Violins and Violoncello in E-flat Major, Opus 3 – Adagio – Karl Krueger – Music In America – 1959 – https://archive.org/details/lp_instrumental-music-in-colonial-america-t_karl-krueger-sebastian-caratelli-john-ante/disc1/01.01.+Trio+for+Two+Violins+and+Violoncello+in+E-flat+Major%2C+Opus+3+-+Adagio.mp3
Family Nibbles 