From: Pence234(a)aol.com
In a message dated 9/3/99 6:56:16 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
rjones(a)charweb.org writes:
<<
The point of the "day laborer" reference is that William clearly worked,
even
perhaps farmed and either grew or was paid in kind, e.g. tobacco as he paid
tithes to the QueenAnne's Parish in tobacco. I don't believe that he owned
any real property and we don't know that he was an artisan of any kind. We
have a hint that he might have been able to sign his name. He may have been
indentured but that is not clear.
>
Hi Walt:
I was just making the "day laborer" point because I think that a lot of early
genealogists have really taken a stand against our Old William. We haven't a
clue about what he did. A literate man of his age was probably not a day
laborer in the fields. It is much more likely that he was an overseer or
merchant of some sort.
I did find a 1690 reference to a William Cecil who owned land in Pennsylvania
(5 years after the "First Purchaser" died). Also--the early records of
Calvert County were lost. We do know that Joshua Cecil probably came to
America in 1695 or so as a indentured goldsmith...Joshua became the first
lawyer in Prince George's County, and was a bit of a scoundrel. My
examination of PGC records shows that he was indicted for collecting too much
in taxes, and relieved of his duties as Court Clerk in 1697/8 because of
illness.
Ah well--it just bugs me that the old genealogists fall all over the place on
"gentleman" Joshua (who sounds like a scoundrel) and condemn Old William as a
perjurer and "day laborer" because they cannot find any exalted ancestors or
land ownership for him. We don't know what he did--but he died with two
slaves, horses, household goods, etc. and 113 pounds of property which put
him in the middle class of his day.
I suppose that we'll all have to wait until the "next world"...but believe
me, I'm going to find Old William and give him a piece of my mind!!
It is frustrating to think that we might never know much about him or his
wife.....
Til later, Penny