The Odd Deeds of Anthony Fox of Baltimore County, Maryland (October – December 1796)
On 12 October 1796, Anthony Fox, yeoman of Baltimore County, Maryland sells all of his goods and chattels to John Welsh, also of Baltimore Co., including two tracts of land in Montgomery Co., Maryland, called "Dantzick" and "Boyd's Delay," for £250. [REF 1] The total acreage is described as being 100 acres. This Bill of Sale transaction is recorded on the same day, 12 October 1796, in Baltimore County.
However, Anthony Fox does not purchase these lands in Montgomery County until 8 December 1796, almost two months later. [REF 2] Anthony Fox, Gentleman, of Baltimore County, Maryland bought these lands from Turner Wooton, Planter, of Prince Georges County, Maryland, in a transaction dated 9 December 1796 and recorded 5 June 1797 (as requested by Anthony Fox) in Montgomery County, Maryland for £100. The lands are described as being part of a tract called “Dantzick” and a part of a tract called “Boyd’s Delay,” which Abraham Boyd had sold to Thomas Sprigg Wooton. [REF 3]
Then, the very next day, on 10 December 1796, Anthony Fox of Baltimore County, Maryland sells these very same two tracts of land, “Dantzick” and “Boyd’s Delay” to Samuel Robertson, 3rd of Montgomery County, Maryland for £221, 8 shillings. [REF 4] This transaction describes, in metes and bounds, the two lands with “Dantzick” at 60 ½ acres and “Boyd’s Delay,” which is adjacent, at 31 ¾ acres. The description of “Boyd’s Delay” also mentions that this is the land that Abraham Boyd had sold to Thomas Sprigg Wooton and that Thomas Sprigg Wooton bequeathed to his nephew Turner Wooton. [REF 5] In addition, the wife of Anthony Fox, Sarah, relinquishes her dower rights before the Justices of the Peace of Montgomery County. At the request of Samuel Robertson, 3rd, this transaction, although dated 10 December 1796, was not recorded until 6 June 1797 in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Oddly, both of these transactions for “Dantzick” and “Boyd’s Delay” are dated AFTER Anthony Fox conveyed these lands as part of the Bill of Sale of his goods and chattels to John Welsh in Baltimore County, Maryland. Why were the Montgomery County transactions dated after Anthony Fox allegedly sold them to John Welsh?
Prior to 12 October 1796, Anthony Fox may have made an agreement with Turner Wooton to purchase these lands in Montgomery County. He may have told John Welsh that he had possession of these lands when he did not, or, John Welsh knew that he did not have these lands, and that Anthony Fox (and or Welsh) had no intention of selling/accepting these lands.
Anthony Fox likely needed the money as he was selling all his goods and chattels to John Welsh. He may have taken the money from the Bill of Sale with John Welsh to then purchase the lands from Turner Wooton (assuming he had made a deal to do so). The actual purchase may have indeed occurred in December 1796, two months after he allegedly sold these lands to Welsh. Then Anthony Fox immediately sells the same lands to Samuel Robertson 3rd (with his wife Sarah Fox relinquishing her dower rights) for a profit of about £120.
Samuel Robertson 3rd sold both of these lands to Susannah Robertson (no relationship defined, but may be kin) on 4 September 1803 for £221 8 shillings. [REF 6]
So, John Welsh really never had possession of these lands. John Welsh appears to be an acquaintance or relative as he was surety for Anthony Fox in the administration of the estate of John Beach in 1790 and may have served with Anthony Fox in the Continental Army. [REF 7] So, Fox and Welsh may have had an understanding regarding these transactions and perhaps Welsh was helping out a friend.
The motivation for the actions of Anthony Fox in these land transactions is not known. What led him to sell all of his possessions in 1796 can only be speculated. He relocated from Baltimore County to Anne Arundel County shortly after these transactions, and by 1800, he was living with his four daughters; apparently his wife Sarah has passed away by then. Perhaps he was in severe debt and need to pay his creditors.
Whatever the reason, Anthony Fox was poor and
destitute by 1805 when he petitioned the Maryland court for a pension. [REF 8]
His petition was
granted and he was awarded half-yearly pay of a sergeant being resolved as “late
a soldier in the revolutionary-war, report, that they have had the same under
consideration, and find, from ample testimony, that the petitioner was wounded
when fighting the battles of his country, which secured liberty and independence
to America, the effects of which have rendered him unable, in his advanced
age, to procure a support for himself and four helpless daughters, dependent
on him for their subsistence; with this view of his case, your committee,
under the impression that it becomes the duty of the state to provide for the
unfortunate and meritorious soldier, who has spent the prime of his life, and
nobly shed his blood, in her cause..." [REF 9]. See blog: https://grmgenes.blogspot.com/2023/01/anthony-fox-meritorious-soldier-of.html.
No record of Anthony Fox exists beyond the 1806 House of Delegates resolution. No probate record exists in Anne Arundel or surrounding counties, which is not surprising since he sold all of his good and likely had no property at all when he died. The only link to any of his daughters is to Clarissa Fox, who married Thomas Wyatt, is documented in an SAR membership application, which identifies Anthony Fox as her father. [REF 10]
REFERENCES
[1] Baltimore County Court (Land Records), XX:324, Fox to Welsh, Archives of Maryland; MDLANDREC.net.
[2] Montgomery County Court (Land Records), G:519, Wotton to Fox, Archives of Maryland; MDLANDREC.net.
[3] Maryland State Archives, General Court of the Western Shore, 1783-1786, Volume TBH, 178:234. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000728/html/index.html
[4] Montgomery County Court (Land Records), G:520, Fox to Robertson, Archives of Maryland; MDLANDREC.net.
[5] Montgomery County Wills, FamilySearch, (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/51655), Will Book B:410, Thomas S. Wooton, will.
[7] Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops In the American Revolution 1775-1783, Archives of Maryland, Volume XVIII (18), Volume II. (Baltimore, Maryland Historical Society, 1900] 206. Anthony Fox served in the Maryland 6th Regiment and was a sergeant when discharged after serving his three year enlistment from April 1777 to April 1780. A John Welsh served in the 4th Maryland Regiment, the same regiment as John Beach, which both Anthony Fox and Welsh provided bond and administered his estate in 1790.
[8] Maryland State Archives, Votes and Proceedings of the House of Delegates, November, 1805.Journal of the House of Delegates, 1805, 553:68. Maryland State Archives Online: https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000553/html/am553--68.html
[9] Maryland State Archives, Votes and Proceedings of the House of Delegates, November, 1806. Journal of the House of Delegates, 1806, 554:17. Maryland State Archives Online: https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000554/html/am554--17.html
[10] Membership Application, Albert Keith Trout, SAR National No. 16317, on Anthony Fox (~1760-~1806), Maryland, Approved 28 Oct 1909; National Society Sons of the American Revolution, Louisville, Kentucky. The SAR documentation identifies Anthony Fox as a sergeant in the Maryland 6th Regiment and identified him and his wife Sarah Kemp as the parents of Clarissa Fox, wife of Thomas Wyatt.
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