By the mid-1700s, the Appalachian frontier beckoned. Gilbert and Martha Cheney—our fifth great-grandparents—joined the wave of settlers seeking land and opportunity in the remote valleys of central Pennsylvania.
Their story unfolds on Warrior’s Ridge, between Shaver’s Creek and Standing Stone Creek, where wilderness met perseverance.
Gilbert and Martha Cheney are our 5th great-grandparents. We’re sure of that. We have a paper trail from Gilbert and Martha to our present-day Cheneys.
But we have a problem. We don’t know Gilbert Cheney’s parents.
Continue readingCharles Cheney’s neighbor Col. William Burgess had built a wharf on the South River and laid out some lots for a town. He named it London Town.
Charles Cheney and his family were second generation tobacco planters.
In 1700, tobacco was Maryland’s dominant cash crop, particularly in Southern Maryland, which was ideal for its growth with its suitable soil, ample rain, and river access for transportation.
The crop was so central to Maryland’s society that it was used as currency to pay taxes, debts, and even official salaries.
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.
In 17th-century Maryland, disease, childbirth, and the harsh conditions of frontier living claimed lives early and often.
Charity Cheney, wife of Richard, was an unfortunate victim.
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Anne Arundel County, Maryland, requires an archaeological survey before any new construction project begins.
In 1998, a routine survey for a housing subdivision near Riva Road uncovered something extraordinary: the remains of the 1658-era homestead of Richard and Charity Cheney.
What began as a compliance dig quickly evolved into a landmark discovery—Cheney Hill, perched atop a steep knoll overlooking the South River.
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Richard and Charity Cheney lived near the South River in Anne Arundel County in the Province of Maryland.
In 1659, they had been granted one hundred acres of land, a grant named Cheney Hill.
Continue readingWe’ve written stories about three of our ancestor family pairs – Jarvis/Webb, Teply/Kloppenberg, and Gallagher/Riley. We’re exploring one more family pair – Cheney and Maninger.
In our last series, we followed our Maninger family from 1700s Germany to 1920 Kansas.
Now we’ll turn to stories of our Cheney family.
In this series, we’ll follow the Cheney family from their arrival in colonial Maryland in the mid-1600s, tracing their path through land grants, settlement records, and family trees. Their legacy begins on the banks of the South River, in a province founded on religious tolerance and new beginnings.
If you don’t know about Cross Plains, Indiana or the 1811 price of peach brandy, you need this book.
If you want a look at Baptists and Methodists in 1820 Kentucky, you can find it here.
If you want to know how William and Margaret Jarvis moved family and household goods and animals down the Ohio River, this book’s for you.
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Family Nibbles 