I guess it would work better if I added my essay.
There are twoways of finding the connection between our Zachariah Wells and his
ancestor,Thomas Wells Sr., of Prince George’s County, Maryland. One is to find thefather
of Zachariah, which all of us have been looking for with no success. Thesecond way is to
trace the children and grandchildren of Thomas Sr. and see ifwe can find the right one
that will lead us to Zachariah. After a 10+ year gapin progress I want to review where we
stand. I am going to write up a list ofThomas’ sons and then after that a list of the
grandsons.
In 2007 PatriciaStraube provided this information on Thomas’ will.
Wells, Thomas, Sr.,planter,Prince George's Co.,26th Sept., 1718;
5th Jan., 1718.
To wife Frances, dwelling plantation, ––,"Strife," and adj. tract
"Something," in all 218 A., during life; at herdecease to four sons,
Thomas, Robert, Nathan and Joseph. Shd. all of sd. sons,Thomas,
Nathan and Robert, die without issue, lands to descend toson Joseph;
shd. he die without issue, to 4 daus. equally, viz.:Frances, Mary,
Sarah and Elizabeth, and their hrs. To sd. daus.,personalty.
To son George, 5s.
To wife Frances, extx., and hrs., house and lot in QueenAnn's Town
and residue of estate.
Test: Richard Duckett, Wm. John Black, Thomas Howell.
14. 724.
MARYLAND CALENDAR OF WILLS: Volume 4
This will is nowavailable on line and it goes on to say that the sons could only sell
theirportion to a brother.
We have 5 sons tostart with: Thomas, Robert, Nathan, Joseph and George. All but
Joseph arementioned in the St. Barnabas Church records in Prince George’s County. Thereis
also a John Wells mentioned in the church records when he married MargaretParsfield on
October 12, 1715. There are no children mentioned in the churchrecords and being John is
not listed in Thomas’ will I will leave him out ofthe discussion for now.
THOMAS WELLS,JR.: Three children are mentioned in the St. Barnabas Church records:
Thomas,b. 1710, John born 1712 and Mary born 1715. His wife is listed as Martha
andtradition has it her maiden name was Boyd. These three children are mentionedin his
will which left all of his property to Thomas III including the landwhere his brother John
lived. As far as I know nothing is known about ThomasIII and John although I have seen
some references to a John Boyd Wells.
GEORGE WELLS:There are no children listed in the church records but his marriage to
SusannahWard on 16 June 1725 is. We all know the story about George’s relationship
withSusannah and I will not go into that here. DNA has proven that he is probablythe
father of Nathan Ward. I have seen listed that he had two others sons,George Jr. and
William, but I am not certain of any documentation.
NATHAN WELLS:According to the church records Nathan married Mary Duckett on 13
December1716. There are 5 sons and 6 daughters listed. The sons are Nathan born
1723,Richard born 1726, Joseph born 1728, John Duckett Wells born 1733 and JacobWells born
1735. I have found no will for Nathan Sr., but there is one forNathan Jr. who left
everything to his parents. There was a later dispute overthis will and I will discuss this
later on in an article just about Nathan andhis children.
ROBERT WELLS:Robert and his wife Ann have 9 children listed in the St. Barnabas
records.Robert died in 1777 in Frederick County and his will lists 13 children. I have6
sons; Thomas born 1717, Nathan born 1722, Robert Jr. born 1729, William born1731, Jeremiah
born 1732?, Joseph and Benjamin. Robert will be discussed inmore detail in another
article.
JOSEPH WELLS: Weare going to have to start completely over on Joseph. As far as I
know we knowthree things about him. According to St. Barnabas church records he was born
30September 1697. According to All Hallows church records in Anne Arundel County,Maryland
he married Margaret Swanson on 11 April 1721. He was living in AnneArundel County on the
property of his brother George’s stepson Thomas Ward in1726. DNA has proven that the
Joseph Wells of Orange County, North Carolina isnot related.
I will be workingon each son next. I have this on a file and if anyone wants it just
contact meAJWEYER(a)aol.com