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4 - Price Family History

In the previous tale we identified the mother of Jesse Tracy as Nancy Ann Price and determined that she was born in Maryland before migrating to Kentucky with her family.

Let's now explore the Price ancestry of Nancy Ann Price. 

William Price

The first of the Price ancestors to arrive in the New World was William Price. He was born about 1630 in  Wales and it appears that he arrived in the colonial Province of Maryland in 1653, based on surviving immigration lists. He settled in what was then the northern part of Kent County (founded 1642) “south of the Bohemian River and east of the Elk River” (Crain) and became a planter. 

As you can see from the map below, at that time Kent County included almost the entire eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. The colony itself did not, at least officially, extend much beyond where William Price established his home. 

Map of Maryland Counties in 1654
Approximate location of William Price's settlement in the 1650s

Historically, Maryland was settled as a safe haven for English Catholics tired of the religious wars between Catholics and Protestants in the mother country. Lord Baltimore, a Catholic and the first Proprietor of the Province of Maryland, even went so far as to issue the Maryland Toleration Act in 1649 to ensure that Catholics and Protestants could live together peacefully. However, in 1652, following the English Civil War, Protestants took control of the colony and barred Catholics from openly practicing their religion. The Maryland Toleration Act was repealed in 1654.

William Price was a Protestant and, as such, it is unlikely that he was affected much by these political maneuvers. 

In the meantime, more immigrants arrived and county lines were drawn and redrawn, and Price eventually found himself in Cecil County. Cecil County was formed from Baltimore County in 1672 and named after the 2nd Lord Baltimore’s given name, Cecil Calvert. Lord Baltimore managed the Province from his home in North Yorkshire, England, and never once stepped foot in North America. Talk about your absentee landlord.

Cecil Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore
Cecil Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore
By Florence MacKubin - Maryland State Archives, Annapolis Collection MSA SC 1545-1126, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=783336

Thomas Price I

William Price married a woman named Margaret (origins mostly unknown). Among their children was Thomas Price I, born about 1675 in Cecil County. 

By deed of gift, Thomas received 100 acres of land adjoining his father's homestead and originally part of a larger 600 acre tract called "The Dividing".

Back in England, in 1688, the Catholic King James II was removed from the throne and replaced by the Protestant William and Mary in what was called the “Glorious Revolution”. This event had significant implications for the Province of Maryland that was now populated by a majority of puritans. The following year, 1689, the puritans successfully revolted against the proprietary government led by Charles Calvert, the 3rd Baron Baltimore. Whatever uneasy religious toleration existed under the Calverts was quickly abolished as Catholicism became outlawed in the colony and Catholics barred from holding public office.

As far as the Prices were concerned, this was probably welcomed news or met with indifference.

Saint Stephen’s Church

In 1692, as the culmination of this “protestant revolution”, the Church of England (or Anglican) became the official established church in Maryland. That same year, the General Assembly divided the 10 counties that existed at that time into 30 parishes. Cecil County was divided into two parishes with the Sassafras River running between them - the North Sassafras Parish and South Sassafras Parish.

The Prices now belonged to the North Sassafras Parish. It encompassed the Bohemia and Elk "Hundreds", which was the civil division within counties at the time. In 1693 there were 321 taxable residents in North Sassafras. 

A parish church was subsequently erected in what is now the village of Earleville and dedicated to the honor of Saint Stephen in 1706. This church became an important source for local records as it soon began recording births, marriages, and deaths among the parish population, including the Prices.

North Sassafras Parish Historical Marker
North Sassafras Parish historical marker


Thomas Price I married a woman named Mary in 1701. In 1720, they sold the 100 acres of land on which they had lived for 84 pounds. The deed of sale notes that the tract was on the Elk River “near the mouth of” Cabin John Creek. It is unclear where they lived subsequently, although it appears that they remained in the county.

North Sassafras Parish Map
The blue star shows the approximate location of the Price Plantation near St. Stephen's Church

Thomas Price II

Several of the children of Thomas Price I and Mary were registered with Saint Stephen’s Church. A son, Thomas Price II, was born on March 29th, 1711. The register reads, “Thomas Price, son of Thomas Price and Mary his wife was born the twenty ninth day of March Anno Dom. 1711.”

Entry for the birth of Thomas Price in the registry of St. Stephen's


Thomas Price II married Eleanor Veazey about 1740 (Crain). The Veazey's lived just north of the Prices on a plantation named Cherry Grove and were also affiliated with the same St. Stephen's church. This union of the Veazey and Price families produced a son named for them both, Veazey Price, the father of our Nancy Ann Price.

In the next tale, we shall take a closer look at the Veazey's - another old Maryland family - before catching up again with Nancy Ann Price and John Tracy.

Read the next tale - The Veazey Family of Cherry Grove

Sources


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