Hello Toby and Connie.
Sorry, as I mentioned before my posting, the two or three generations
between William Lord Burliegh's son Thomas Earl Exeter -- [ we are pretty
definitely NOT descended from the younger son Richard ,Earl Salisbury] ---
and our KNOWN ancestor William Cecil Sessell b.1665, are not to MY
knowledge documented.
The documentation for OUR William and his three children came to me from the
Guru's on this very list over a period of 10 years. Here is some of what I
have in my FTM re: our William. I believe these are direct quotes....please
correct me if I am wrong.
These notes below are not new, notice the date of Randy's posting, but in
case you
two and others are newer to the list I thought you might like to see these.
SPCecil
-------------------------------------
Randy Jones randyj2222(a)yahoo.com 10/10/2004 to CECIL-L(a)rootsweb.com
I think it is pretty clear that John Cecil was the son of William Cecil.
The big mystery is who William's parents were.
According to Elise Greenup Jourdan, nothing has been determined to date
regarding his ancestors. He does appear to be connected to the Catholic
Cissell's in SMC, MD. He had some education as he could write his name. He
lived with Dr. Richard Pile in 1706/1707, a member of PGC, MD gentry. He was
Protestant and bound his children to a Protestant family. There are no
indications he owned land. He stated that it was his wife's deathbed request
that the children be bound to Mr. Mareen Duvall-probably because his wife
knew him to be unwilling or incapable of caring for the children. Duvall
researchers have not come up with any blood or marriage link between the
Cecil and Duvall families. It was said he was known to associate with
disreputable characters. Dr. Pile does not seem to be a very nice man
either. William did have servants, a horse and nice things. By mid 1700's he
appears to have been living with a grandchild in Frederick Co, MD
from Elise Jourdan's book:
"Greenup Witten Cecil" (Gateway Press 1989) regarding our William:
"..There were at least two distinct lines of Maryland Cecils: The Catholic
Cecils of St. Mary's County and the Protestant Cecils of Prince George's
County. William Cecil, ancestor of at least part of the line which
intermarried with the Witten and Greenup lines, was a Protestant. These
Cecils all came from England where Cecil was not an unusual name and some
Cecils were quite prominent and close to the crown. Sir Thomas Cecil, the
London Engraver, was given a vast tract of land in Maryland for making the
first map of the colony in 1638. His landholdings in St. Mary's County were
managed by his son, John Cecil, who is believed to have married a
Calvert..." From p. 224 of her book.
In March of 1697/98 as recorded in the annals of Prince George's County, a
William Cecil (Sessell) "...by the request of my wife as she lay upon her
deathbed" disposed of his children John, age 7, Phillip, age 5 and Susan,
age 2, to Mareen Duval (the Elder) and his wife.
Also: "March 1697/8 Court. To the Commissioners of PGCo. These are to humbly
Sattisfie you that William Sessell, by the request of my wife as she lay
upon her deathbed, I have disposed of my children to Marreen Douall (Duvall)
and his heirs, till they are of age. John Sessell, aged seven years the 24th
of December last past, Phillip Sessell aged 5 years the 28th day of this
instant and Susan Sessell aged 2 years of Jan. last. These are humbly to
request your Lordships to bind these Ch. This Ct. to the aforesaid Douall
(Duvall) and his heirs to the age of 21 and the girle to the age of 16 as
witness my hand and Seale the day and year above written.
/s/William Sessell
Wit. Alex Beall, Solomon /X/ Simpson "
Proposed parents of William:
1. John CECIL(b.1620) who m.c.1638 in VA Mary (______). This is unproven,
and the William who was the son of John (b.1620) died c.1744, so the link to
the Prince George's Cecils to the St. Mary's Cecil's is unlikely.
2. John CECIL(b.c.1635 d.6-Jun 1698) who m.c.1664 Mary SHIRCLIFF. This John
was the son or Sir Thomas and Susan (Oxenbridge) CECIL. Is this the same
John as the prior one. ?
Our William Cecil (or Sessell) appears in Prince George's County and later
Frederick County (created from PGC) on several occasions from 1697 to 1749.
This William was a witness in a trial in PGC in March of 1706, donated 50
pounds of tobacco to Queen Anne's Parish (Anglican) in 1708, and was
involved in other court documents in 1710, 1714 and 1729. He witnessed wills
in 1731 and 1732. His estate was probated in 1749, and grandchildren Thomas,
Sabret and Samuel were administrators. These grandchildren are sons of John
and Elizabeth (Sollars) Cecil.
Both William Cecil and William Cissell had sons named John. John Cecil
married Elizabeth Sollars, who survived him at his death in 1759 per his
will. John Cissell married an Elizabeth also, but this John died in 1742,
and his widow married one Charles Neale.
We haven't a shred of evidence about who William Cecil married, what he did,
or where he came from. (Lots of IDEAS but no proof!]