Was Clarissa Fox the Daughter of Revolutionary War soldier Sgt. Anthony Fox?
The birth of Clarissa (variously Clara, Clariassa, Clarisa, etc.) Fox was recorded as 1790 in the family bible fragment of the “Moore, Wyatt, Lacey, Rogers” families and that she was the wife of Thomas Wyatt. [REF 1]
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| Clariassa Fox birth record in Moore, Wyatt, Lacey, Rogers Bible fragment |
Clarissa Fox was of Ann Arundel County, Maryland and married Thomas Wyatt of Caroline County, Maryland on 19 Feb 1806. [REF 2] The only evidence of Clarissa Fox’s father comes from the genealogy of the descendants of Revolutionary War soldier, Anthony Fox (see: https://grmgenes.blogspot.com/2023/01/anthony-fox-meritorious-soldier-of.html), as documentation in an application for membership to the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). [REF 3]
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| Descendants of Anthony Fox from SAR application #16317 |
The source of the information was given as a Margaret Wyatt of Easton, Talbot County, Maryland. She was an unmarried daughter of Thomas Wyatt and Clarissa (and therefore the granddaughter of Anthony Fox), and evidently had documentary evidence that Clarissa was the daughter of Anthony Fox and his wife Sarah Kemp. [REF 4]. Anthony Fox and Sarah Kemp were married on 16 August 1782 in Baltimore Co., Md. [REF 5]
Margaret Wyatt (age 30) appears with her parents and siblings, Thomas and Clarissa, in the 1850 census for Caroline Co., Md [REF 6] By 1910, she is an 80-year old “inmate” in a Home for the Aged on North Street in Easton, Talbot Co., Md. [REF 7] She died before 1920.
No other source has come to light as to whether Clarissa was indeed a daughter of Anthony Fox. The source of the information, a granddaughter, would certainly have first-hand knowledge and may have had a family bible or some other personal source of information.
However, lacking a primary source for confirming that Clarissa was a daughter of Anthony Fox, there are other clues.
Clue #1. The 1790 and 1800 Census.
Although no names are other than head of household are given in these early census returns, the number and ages of males and females can be a clue.
Anthony Fox appears in the 1790 Federal Census for Baltimore Co., Md [REF 8]. In the household he is listed as one male over the age of 16 and 4 females; one of the females is likely his wife. Anthony Fox next appears in the 1800 Federal Census for Ann Arundel Co., Md. where he is the only male over the age of 45 with four females, 2 under 10 and 2 age 10-15 [REF 9]. These four females appear to be his daughters as they are all under the age of 15 (although other scenarios are possible).
Clue #2. The Petition of Anthony Fox for Pension.
However, in 1805 and 1806, Anthony Fox, now of Ann Arundel Co., Md. petitions the Maryland State House of Delegates to grant him a pension for his service in the Revolutionary War [REF 10].
He had been wounded “when fighting battles of his country.” He was of “advanced age” and apparently because of his wounds, he needed support for his four “helpless daughters.” [REF 11]
The description of his plight and that he had four daughters, matches what is recorded in the 1800 Federal census; that Anthony Fox was a single male with four young females in his household.
One of these daughters, could have been Clarissa as she did not marry until February 1806. His wife, Sarah, likely died by 1800. No record of his death exists, but Anthony Fox likely died sometime after 1807 when he was awarded his pension and likely before 1810 as he does not appear in that census.
In summary, although there is a lack of primary evidence that Clarissa Fox was the daughter of Anthony Fox, there does appear to be some clues that corroborate that she was indeed his daughter.
1. Margaret Wyatt, a daughter of Thomas Wyatt and Clarissa Fox, and granddaughter of Anthony Fox, is a source of information on a 1907 SAR membership application, documenting that Clarissa Fox was a daughter of Anthony Fox.
2. A Bible record informs that Clarissa Fox, wife of Thomas Wyatt was born in 1790.
3. Thomas Wyatt of Caroline Co., Md married Clarissa Fox of Ann Arundel Co., Md in 1806. Anthony Fox was known to be from Ann Arundel Co., Md at least from 1800 on and the marriage record of Clarissa Fox to Thomas Wyatt is recorded in the Ann Arundel marriage records.
4. Anthony Fox is enumerated in the 1790 Baltimore Co., Census with 4 females. One of which may be his wife and 3 daughters.
5. Anthony Fox is enumerated in Ann Arundel Co., Md with four females, likely his daughters. He is over the age of 45 and two females are under 10 and two females aged 10-15. One of these is likely Clarissa. All four females were born after 1782, which would be compatible with the date that Anthony Fox and Sarah Kemp were married.
6. The petition of Anthony Fox to the Maryland House of Delegates documents that, in 1805/1806, he had “four helpless daughters.” That he had four daughters seems to corroborate the four females/daughters enumerated with him in the 1800 Ann Arundel census.
References
1. Gene R. Major, “A Delaware Record: Kent County Families: Moore, Wyatt, Lacey, Rogers," Delaware Genealogical Society Journal 4 (April 1987): 18-20.
2. Maryland County Marriages, 1658-1940, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2523377, accessed 1 December 2022), Marriage of Thomas Wyatt and Clara Fox, 19 February 1806, in Marriage Records, 1777-1896, Arundel, Maryland [Ann Arundel County] [FHL 13243], p. 91.
3. U.S. Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) Membership Applications, 1889-1970, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2204/, accessed 1 December 2022) SAR Application File, #16317, Accepted 28 Oct 1909, Anthony Fox. Anthony Fox was listed as a sergeant on the muster rolls and was in the Maryland Sixth Regiment from 20 April 1777 – January 1780. The Maryland Sixth Regiment fought at the Battle of Brandywine (1777), the Battle of Germantown (1777), and the Battle of Monmouth (1778). The Maryland Sixth did not winter at Valley Forge, but at Wilmington, Delaware (1777-1778). See: Maryland Revolutionary Muster Rolls, 1776-1780, Roll M1017. Musters of Maryland Troops, p. 48. Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, 1775-1783. Transcribed: Archives of Maryland. Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, 1775-1783, Volume 18 (Baltimore, Maryland Historical Society, 1900), 206.
4. Queries to the SAR revealed that, at that time of the Application (1909), documentation for SAR applications were not kept.
5. Maryland Marriages, 1666-1970, Family Search (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1675199, accessed 1 December 2022), Marriage of Anthony Fox and Sarah Kemp, 16 August 1782, Baltimore County, p. 157, image 523, FHL 004254885.
6. 1850
U.S. census, Caroline County, Maryland, p. 82b, dwelling 244, family 244, line
17, Charles T. Wyatt household. The family are all living in the houshold of Charles T. Wyatt, son of Thomas Wyatt and Clarissa.
7. 1910 U.S. census, Talbot County, Maryland, Easton, p. 2A, dwelling 34, family 34, line 40, ED 93, Margaret J. Wyatt, inmate.
8. 1790 United States Federal Census. Maryland.
U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of Census (Washington, DC ; Government Printing Office, 1907). Baltimore County, Maryland, p. 24. Anthony Fox.
9. 1800 U.S. census, Ann Arundel County, Maryland, p. 96, line 3, Anthony Fox. The ages of the four females, likely daughters, indicate they were born after 1782 and after Anthony Fox married Sarah Kemp.
