Prince George's-Montgomery County MD Archives History .....John McClain Of Prince George's Co ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/md/mdfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Garry Brown gsbrown4@yahoo.com June 15, 2005, 1:52 pm Book Title: There is a remarkable document trail concerning the John McClain family of Prince George’s County, Maryland that serves as the cornerstone for research into that family. The spelling of the times was inconsistent at best. All conceivable forms of McClain can be found in the records but McClain seems to be their preferred spelling. John McClain was born in Prince George’s County Maryland in 1712(Ref 1,2) . He was the son of John and Margaret McClain (Ref 1,2) who arrived in Maryland about 1711 (Ref 3). In 1739 he purchased a farm known as The Gleanings in a part of Prince George’s County that subsequently became Montgomery County and is now down town Washington DC near the White House (Ref 3,4). When the real estate deal was put together to form the District of Columbia the brokers secured options to buy much of the land involved. John McClain had executed two bonds to sell The Gleanings but he died in 1790 (Ref 5)before the deal was consummated (Ref 3. In his will (Ref 5) he left most of his property to his children who were unnamed. The investors had to track down each of the children and purchase their interest in the estate. I first learned of this document trail from the research of Don Wolf and Charles Barnes (Ref 3). I subsequently found transcripts of these deeds in the District of Columbia Land Office adjacent to the DC Court House at 5th and E NW, Washington DC. They were probably typed as a WPA project. I know that no one in the Land Office has any idea where the originals are; the National Archives are a possibility. I found no record of these deeds in any of the pertinent Maryland Court Houses, Archives, or Libraries. I have abstracted these deeds as follows using the spellings as they appeared in the documents. Of all the children and sons-in-law, only Joseph McClain and Samuel Dobbyns signed their name. All the others used their mark. No indication was made for the witnesses. 1. Prince George’s County Maryland Deed Books; Liber A, Part II (1792-1793) p. 6-7: Deed recorded July 5, 1793. Transaction made on April 11, 1793. John and Joseph McLain of the State of NC, sons of John McClain (deceased), sold to Charles Beatty of Georgetown, Montgomery County MD their 1/10th interests in John McLain’s farm, The Gleanings, for thirty pounds. (All the Maryland farms of this era were identified by name rather than by survey) This deed says John McLain left ten children. John and Joseph came to Maryland and appeared before two Prince George’s County JPs to close this deal. Signed by: Witnessed by: John McClain Wm. King Joseph McClain Richard Johns On the back of this deed was a statement that they had been paid 30 Pounds. It was signed and witnessed by the same four people. 2. Prince George’s County Maryland Deed Books; Liber A, Part II (1792-1793) p. -99: Deed recorded March 21, 1794. Transaction made November 20, 1793. This deed was made to Charles Beatty of Montgomery County MD and was signed by five of John McClain’s children, George McClain (son of John deceased) of NC Margaret Hedrick (dau of John) of NC Ann Dobbyns (dau of John)and Samuel Dobbyns of NC Mary Ralph (dau of John) and husband Lewis Ralph of NC Eleanor Sace (dau of John) and husband Shadrick Scace of NC They were paid 90 pounds for their interest in The Gleanings. The deed was witnessed by E. N. Horbin Joseph McClain Curthbert Thompson Joseph McClain John Ralph Joseph McClain Tom Son Linns The deed states Joseph McClain came to Prince George’s County MD on March 17, 1794 and swore an oath he saw all the above sign the deed and the attached power of attorney. There was a statement in the deed book that the above signers and witnesses (with the exception of Linns) signed an acknowledgement of payment. This deed was accompanied by a power of attorney that says “we the within named George McClain, Margaret Hedrick, Samuel Dobbns & Ann his wife, Lewis Ralph & Mary his wife, Thomas Norton and Catherine his wife, and Shadrick Scace and Eleanor his wife, do hereby nominate and appoint William King, Daniel Reintzel, Thomas Barclay, George Thompson, and Capt. Thomas Beatty all of George Town, Montgomery County and State of Maryland our true and lawful attorneys,…” This document was signed (marked) by: and witnessed by: George McClain E.N. Horbin Margaret Hedrick Joseph McClain Samuel Dobbyns Cuthbert Thompson Ann Dobbyns Jos. McClain Lewis Ralph John Ralph Mary Ralph Joseph McClain Shadrick Scace Ellender Scace Also on March 17, 1794, Joseph McClain swore in Prince George’s County that he had witnessed the above sign the power of attorney. It is worth noting here that the first deed implies a 1/10th share to be worth 15 pounds. Deed two was signed by five heirs and mentions a sixth, Catherine Norton, and is thus consistent with a 1/10th share being worth 15 pounds. This accounts for eight of the ten heirs. 3. Prince George’s County Maryland Deed Books; Liber B, Part II p. -96A: Deed recorded March 30, 1796. Transaction made October 22, 1795. James Gammon, grandson of John McClain, deceased, of Montgomery County MD and son of Casey McClain Gammon, deceased, daughter of John McClain, sold to Charles Beatty his 1/10th interest in The Gleanings for 13 Pounds 14 Shillings. Signed by: Witnessed by: James Gammon J. Wilson Henry O. Dyer 4. Prince George’s County Maryland Deed Books; Liber G, p. 181-182: Deed recorded June 12, 1801. Transaction made on June 9, 1801. The deed was from James Clark and wife, Elizabeth, daughter of John McClain (deceased), to Charles Beatty of Montgomery County, MD. The Clarks lived in Bedford County, PA. They sold their interest in The Gleanings for 14 Pounds. Signed by: Witnessed by: James Clark Danl. Reintzel Elizabeth Clark Thomas Corcoran There was also a receipt recorded for the 14 Pounds and signed by all the above at the same time. The above document trail is important because all but one of these children moved to other states. Margaret b.1750 mar Anthony Hedrick Living in NC in 1793 Eleanor mar Shadrick Scarce Lived in Pittsylvania Co VA after 1782 Casey d.bef 1795 mar ? Gammon probably died in MD, son may have lived in Pittsylvania County VA Elizabeth mar James Clark Living in Bedford County PA in 1801 John Living in NC in 1793 Ann mar Samuel Dobbins Living in NC in 1793 Catherine b.1747 mar Thomas Norton Lived in Pittsylvania Co VA from 1785 to 1792. Then moved to Spartanburg Co SC George b. 1749 mar Mary Ann Baker Living in NC in 1793 Joseph bef 1755-1805 mar Nancy ? Lived in NE Rockingham Co NC from about 1783 until his death in 1805. Mary b 1756 mar Lewis Ralph Lived in Rockingham Co NC from about 1785 until after 1800. Then lived in Pittsylvania Co VA until after 1816. REFERENCES 1. Prince George's County Maryland, Indexes of Church Registers 1686-1885; Volume I; Protestant Episcoplal Church St. Paul's Parrish Prince George's Parrish p.383 2. Elise Grenup Jourdan, Colonial Settlers of Prince George's County Marryland in no series (Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 1998), p 222 3. Don Wolf w/Charles Barnes, "McClain Exchange” 903 East Main Street Mexia, TX 76667 Volume 5 Special Issue 1984 4. Prince George's County Land Records 1739-1743 Abstracts Page 47 5. Melloy et al, Abstract of Wills Montgomery County Maryland 1776-1825 ; Libre B folio 416 This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mdfiles/ File size: 8.4 Kb