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6 - John Tracy

Now we can finally turn our attention to John Tracy. 

This is as far back as I can reliably trace the paternal Tracy line. The fact of the matter is, John Tracy's parents are unknown. However, we can make some inferences.

First let's start with some facts. We know that John Tracy, like Nancy Ann Price, was from Maryland. According to the genealogical researcher Charles Crain, John and Nancy Ann Price were married in 1793 in Maryland. We also know that Nancy Ann Price was living in Harford County, east of Baltimore County.

Finally, we know from the 1810 US Federal Census that John Tracy was between the ages of 26 and 45 in 1810 (only age ranges were tallied at that time). This puts his birth between 1765 and 1784. Given that he was married in 1793, it seems likely that he was born closer to 1765 to 1770 or so.

If John Tracy was from nearby Baltimore County then it is possible that he was a son of Benjamin Tracy (b. 1730), who is a descendent of Teague Tracy (b. before 1665) and Mary James (b. 1672). Benjamin had a brother named John and appears to have one or two relations named Bazil. 

In the 1783 tax assessment list for the Black River Upper Hundred/Middle River Upper Hundred, Benjamin is listed alongside a Benjamin Tracy Jr., Bazil Tracy, and Edward Tracy. At that time, Maryland tax districts were divided into "Hundreds" - or a region of land that supported approximately one hundred families.

Benjamin Jr. is almost certainly the son of Benjamin Sr., while Bazil could be a son or a brother. There is another Bazil Tracey listed for the North Hundred alongside Tego Tracy, John Tracy, and Warnell Tracy. Both Tego and John (not our John in question) are known to be brothers of Benjamin Sr., while Warnell is inferred. We don’t know if these two Bazil Tracy’s are the same person or not but we may infer an association with the family of Benjamin Tracy Sr. 

The fact that John and Nancy Tracy named one of their sons Bazil is suggestive of a familial link between our John Tracy and Benjamin Tracy, as the name Bazil does not appear anywhere in Nancy’s side of the family.

Baltimore County Hundreds
Relative Locations of Tracy and Price Families as of 1783

The Benjamin Tracy Sr. in question here was born in 1730 and Benjamin Tracy Jr. in 1752. Benjamin Tracy Jr died in 1815 in Harford County, where he left a will.

Both are decedents of Teague Tracy, who was likely transported to Maryland in 1675. Teague settled in Ann Arundel County where he married Mary James in 1694. Their children were recorded in St. James's Parish in Ann Arundel. The family moved to Baltimore County about 1700 and Teague died by 1712. It's possible that the couple had more children in Baltimore County, but the records are now lost. Mary was remarried to a George Hitchcock, a Quaker, in 1713.

Tracey's Landing is a locality in southern Anne Arundel County along with Tracey's Creek, a tributary of Herring Creek. It seems likely that both were named by or for Teague Tracy, as these are located among lands once owned by Richard James, the father of Mary James.

So at best we can say that the John Tracy married to Nancy Ann Price was very likely a member of the branch of Maryland Tracy's that were descendants of Teague Tracy. 

Sources





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