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The children whose births were registered at St. James were: Charles, born 12 May 1780, William, born 20 October 1782, and Sarah, born 23 August 1790. Other children are believed to be: Samuel Francis, possibly the eldest; James Francis, born about 1785; Thomas Francis, born 18 June 1787; and possibly Susanna Francis. If these identifications are all correct, there may have been seven children in all. Some early records spelled the surname "France" or sometimes "Frances." Later, "Francis" seems to have become the more common spelling. There is one explanation that in England, all of these similar surnames referred to a person who originally came from France (Elsdon C. Smith, American Surnames, New York: Chilton, 1969). Oral tradition in Wayne Francis's family (William's line) says that both "Francis" and "France" were used interchangeably up to fairly recent times. Francis men worked and lived at Hampton, the plantation and iron furnace owned by the Ridgely family, now a National Historic Site located near Towson, MD. A Samuel Francis appeared in a number of transactions in February and March 1790, buying large quantities of fish, pork, and beef and paying for them by cutting 39 cords of wood. It seems likely that this man was the same one whose children were recorded at St. James. Later, accounts for Samuel, William, Charles and Thomas France appear in Ridgely family ledgers from 1806 until the 1830s. While some of the earlier accounts may refer to Samuel the father, these entries probably refer to the Samuel's sons. In addition to their employment, Thomas and William also rented farms from the Ridgelys. Later, in the 1830s, William's sons James and Augustus later appear in the ledgers as both renters and employees. Augustus continues to appear through 1870. In 1871, a "Charley France," possibly Augustus's son Charles, is mentioned in a letter from the estate manager to Ridgely. Thus, it seems likely that four generations of Francis men worked at Hampton from 1790 to 1871. Samuel's sons interrupted their work at Hampton to serve in the War of 1812: William, Samuel and James in the Maryland Militia, Randall's Rifle Battalion, Captain Henry Fowler's Rifle Company; Charles and Thomas in the 41st Regiment, Captain Joshua Taylor's Company. Thomas's widow, Priscilla Chenoweth Francis, applied several times for a War of 1812 pension in Thomas's name. We do not know who the elder Samuel's parents were or where he came from. Presumably, he was English. An 1897 genealogy of Richard C. Francis (a son of Thomas Francies) says (without evidence) that "Samuel Francis was born in England, and was one of five brothers who came to America, settling in Baltimore County." There is an oral tradition in Wayne Francis's family (descends from William, born 1782) that Samuel was one of five brothers from England and that he settled in Baltimore County, while the other four went west. There is also a possibility that Samuel was one of three orphan boys - Henry (aged 16), William (14), and Samuel (9) - who were indentured to Dr. Orlando Griffith in Frederick County, MD in March 1749/50. Dr. Griffith had taken in the boys and their mother Mary and she died in his care. Court records say that Griffith petitioned for the indenture of the boys to repay him for his efforts. Later, in 1761, the same Dr. Griffith petitioned the court for reimbursement of the terminal expenses of a John Francis who also died in the doctor's care after an illness of 30 days. We do not know whether the orphans and John were related. Some of the descendants of Revolutionary War hero Captain Henry Francis of Virginia believe that he was the eldest Griffith orphan. According to colonial Virginia records, this Henry Francis apparently had brothers named John and William. The names William, Charles, and James recur in the early generations of the family. (There are, however, no Henry's.) Early members of the family often lived near each other. For example, in the 1850 census, Charles' sons Charles, Jr., Joshua, and Isaac were living in the 2nd District of Baltimore County. In the 1860 census, William's son James W. and Charles' son Isaac were living near each other in the 9th District. In 1870, Isaac, Charles, Jr. and James W. lived near each other in the 9th District. In 1880, Charles, Jr. and James W. both lived in Woodberry in the 9th District. In the first few generations, Francis family members married spouses with surnames: PICKETT, PLOWMAN, CARTER, PROCTOR, HANCOCK, BALDWIN, SIMMS, BLAKELY, CHANCE, BISHOP, AKEHURST, MULLEN, MARSH, CHENOWETH, WILLINGHAM, GRAY, and HOOPER. William's children, James W., Augustus, Elizabeth, and Berthier, seem to have married four siblings from the Richard and Elizabeth (Corbin) Blakely family between 1844 and 1851. Many Francis family members are buried in Methodist country cemeteries in northern Baltimore County: Fork Chapel, Waugh Chapel, Camp Chapel, and Providence Burying Ground. |
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Children and Grandchildren of Samuel and Ann Francis
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