The Odd Deeds of Anthony Fox of Baltimore County, Maryland (October – December 1796)

 

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, 3^rd 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, 3^rd, 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 3^rd 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.

[6]  Montgomery  County Court (Land Records), I:199, Robertson 3rd to Robertson, Archives of Maryland; MDLANDREC.net

[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 6^th 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 4^th 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 6^th Regiment and identified him and his wife Sarah Kemp as the parents of Clarissa Fox, wife of Thomas Wyatt.

 

 

 

 

Anthony Fox: A Meritorious Soldier of the American Revolution in the Maryland 6th Regiment

 

Anthony Fox:  A Meritorious Soldier of the American Revolution in the Maryland 6^th Regiment

  

Anthony Fox was “a meritorious soldier in the revolutionary war” and a sergeant in the Maryland 6^th Regiment. He enlisted in the 6^th Regiment on 20 April 1777 and was discharged on 21 April 1780. [REF 1]. The Maryland 6^th Regiment fought in the battles of Brandywine Creek (11 September 1777), Germantown (4 October 1777), and Monmouth Court House (28 June 1778). Sergeant Fox was on the 10 September 1778 muster roll of Lieut. Nathan Williams’ Company under the command of Col. Otho Holland Williams. [REF 2]

After the Revolutionary War, in 1805, Sgt. Anthony Fox petitioned the State of Maryland for a pension and it was resolved “that 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.”

On the left is the original record of Musters of Maryland Troops, 6th Regiment showing the entry for Anthony Fox, Sergt [DAR GRC Image Doc #: 13820573, Roll M1017, Maryland Revolutionary Muster Rolls, 1776-1780.
The image below is a transcription of the same record found in the Maryland State Archives: Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, Archives of Maryland, Volume 18, S152-2, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and German Regiments, Film SCM 1017-2.
https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol

 

Anthony Fox is listed on line 2. “Lieut. Nathan Williams’ Company in the Sixth Maryland Reg’t of foot in there Service of the United States of America Comman’d by Col. Otho Holland Williams
On Roll 10 September 1778”  Listed as a Sergeant, present at the roll and “On Command.”[United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, Familysearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2068326 : accessed 1 December 2022) Anthony Fox, Sergeant, 1777-80; FHL: 830,313.

The Maryland 6^th Regiment was formed 27 March 1776 and was comprised of eight companies of volunteers from Prince Georges, Queen Anne's, Fredrick, Cecil, Harford, and Ann Arundel counties in Maryland. On 22 May 1777, the regiment was assigned to the 2^nd Maryland Brigade.

The Maryland 6^th Regiment saw its first action at the Battle of Brandywine on 11 September 1777 as part of the 2nd Maryland Brigade led by Brigadier General Chevalier Philippe Hubert Preudhomme de Borr. The 6^th Regiment and the 2^nd Maryland Brigade were part of a division known as Sullivan’s Wing after the division commander Major-General John Sullivan. As part of Sullivan’s wing, the 6^th Regiment was deployed to prevent General Cornwallis’s forces from advancing and enabling a retreat. [REF 3] More troops fought at the battle of Brandywine than any other battle of the Revolution. It was the second longest single-day battle after the Battle of Monmouth, with continuous fighting for 11 hours

The Maryland 6th Regiment was attached to the 2nd Maryland Brigade under the command of Major-General John Sullivan - History Department, United States Military Academy; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brandywine   Sgt. Anthony Fox and the Maryland 6th Regiment next saw action at the Battle of Germantown on 4 October 1777. Originally the plan, drawn up by Washington himself, called for a four prong attack on Germantown in which Sullivan's wing, and the Maryland 2nd Brigade, would take the center-right column and directly assault the camp. However, due to a thick fog, Sullivan's wing was unable to properly navigate and became trapped in the line of fire from a heavily fortified mansion. The 1st and 2nd Maryland Brigades ultimately ran out of ammunition after firing volleys into the fog along with the rest of the wing, and was forced to retreat. This initial retreat led to an eventual army-wide retreat in which, coupled with the battle, 152 American soldiers died. The British were able to keep Philadelphia and the Americans were forced to set up winter camp at Valley Forge.   The Maryland 6th Regiment was again attached to the 2nd Maryland Brigade under the command of Major-General John Sullivan - History Department, United States Military Academy; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Germantown   The two Maryland Brigades, which included the Maryland 6th Regiment camped at Wilmington, Delaware under General William Smallwood, while the bulk of Washington’s forces made their winter camp at Valley Forge in 1777-78. After coming out of the winter camp, the Maryland 6th regiment and Sgt. Fox rejoined Washington’s main army and fought at the Battle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778. [REF 4] The Maryland 6th was led by Colonel Otho Holland Williams and fought alongside the 4th Maryland Regiment and 2nd Maryland Regiment, which made up Major General Nathanael Greene’s right wing.     The Maryland 6th Regiment was attached to Major-General Nathaneal Greene's right wing at the Battle of Monmouth. - History Department, United States Military Academy; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Monmouth   Anthony Fox after the Revolution Information about Anthony Fox Revolutionary War service was initially brought to light by a Sons of the American Revolution membership application, which provides his service and genealogical information such as his marriage to Sarah Kemp and a daughter, Clarisa [sic] that married Thomas Wyatt. [REF 5] Genealogical data from the SAR application #16317. Service information about Anthony Fox was from the Maryland State Archives as shown above. Family information was from a Mrs. Margaret Wyatt of Easton, Talbot County, Maryland.   There is no information on Anthony Fox before the war. A search of probate records and land transactions in Ann Arundel, Baltimore, Caroline and other counties in Maryland has not yielded any results.  He was likely born in Maryland about 1760. Since the 6th Regiment was formed of volunteers from Prince Georges, Queen Anne's, Fredrick, Cecil, Harford, and Ann Arundel counties, it is likely he was from one of these counties. There is also very little information on Sgt. Anthony Fox after the war. He was in Baltimore County in 1780 when he married his first wife, Eleanor Collins [REF 6] and in 1782 when he married his second wife, Sarah Kemp. [REF 7]   Anthony Fox also appears in the 1790 Federal Census for Baltimore County. [REF 8] In the household he is listed as one male over the age of 16 and 4 females, presumably his daughters as they are mentioned in his pension proceedings. Anthony Fox next appears in the 1800 Federal Census for Ann Arundel County where he is the only male over the age of 45 with four females, 2 under 10 and 2 age 10-15. [REF 9]   On 28 April 1790, Anthony Fox administers the estate of John Beach. He and John Welsh of Ann Arundel County set a bond of £100. He signs and seals the document as “A. Fox.” [REF 10]. Anthony Fox files a first (and final?) administration account on 20 October 1790 in the amount of £33.10.0. [REF 11] Who John Beach was and what his relationship to Anthony Fox is unknown, but the following entry by the Maryland State Treasurer provides a possible clue. On 1 May 1790, the Maryland State Treasurer was “to pay Anthony Fox, Administrator of John Beach, late a Drum Major in the 4th Maryland Regiment, Thirteen pounds, fifteen shillings for his pay from the 1st August to the thirty first December 1780 per Certificate of Auditor." [REF 12]   John Beach may have been a fellow soldier and comrade of Anthony Fox as the 4th Maryland Regiment fought alongside the 6th Regiment.   In 1805, Anthony Fox filed a petition for a pension for his service in the Revolutionary War. In the 1805 November session, the House of Delegates took up a petition from Anthony Fox “of Anne-Arundel county, praying lo be placed upon the pension list, was preferred, read, and referred to Mr. Higgins, Mr. Chapman and Mr. Dorsey, to consider and report thereon." [REF 13] In the November 1806 session, his petition was approved and resolved “that the treasurer of the western shore be and he is hereby directed and required to pay to Anthony Fox, of Anne-Arundel county, late soldier in the revolutionary war, or to his order, in half yearly payments, a sum of money equal to the half pay of a sergeant." [REF 14]   Also in the November 1806 session, the House of Delegates further added “….Anthony Fox, of Anne-Arundel county, late a meritorious soldier in the revolutionary war, or to his order, in half yearly payments, a sum of money equal to the half pay of a sergeant, as a provision to him in his indigent situation when advanced in life, and as a further remuneration to him for those services by which his country has been so essentially benefitted." [REF 15]   In 1806, the House of Delegates, at the Votes and Proceedings Session, reported on the petition of Anthony Fox of Ann Arundel County and a former soldier in the Revolutionary War.  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 16] The description of his plight matches what is recorded in the 1790 and 1800 Federal census; that Anthony Fox was a single male with four young females in his household. One of these females is evidently Clarissa or Clara Fox (born 1790). She married Thomas Wyatt of Caroline County, Maryland in 1806 in Ann Arundel County, Maryland. By 31 July 1807, the Treasurer paid Anthony Fox a sum of £15..00..00 every six months. The entire resolution reads as follows: Mr. Williams, from the committee, delivers to the speaker the following report:   THE committee to whom was referred the petition of Anthony Fox, of Anne-Arundel county, 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, recommend the following resolution:   RESOLVED, That the treasurer of the western shore be and he is hereby directed and required to pay to Anthony Fox, of Anne-Arundel county, late soldier in the revolutionary war, or to his order, in half yearly payments, a sum of money equal to the half pay of a sergeant.   By order, J. S. SKINNER, clk.   Which was read the first and second time by especial order, and the question put, That the house concur with the said report, and assent to the resolution therein contained? Resolved in the affirmative. Maryland State Archives. Journal of the House of Delegates, 1806. Volume 554, p. 19, Votes And Proceedings, November Session, 1806   [1] 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.   [2] United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, Familysearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2068326) Anthony Fox, Sergeant, 1777-80; Maryland jackets 18-1 - 35-3 1775-1783 (NARA Series M246, Roll 34 [FHL 830,313] [3] Wood, William J. Battles of the Revolutionary War: 1775–1781. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books, 1990. (92-115).   [4] Michael C. Harris and Gary Ecelbarger. “A Reconsideration of Continental Army Numerical Strength at Valley Forge, J. American Revolution,” 18 May 2021. https://allthingsliberty.com/2021/05/a-reconsideration-of-continental-army-numerical-strength-at-valley-forge/   [5]  U.S. Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) Membership Applications, 1889-1970, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2204/) SAR Application File, #16317, Accepted 28 Oct 1909. [6]  Maryland Marriages, 1666-1970, Family Search (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1675199), Marriage of Anthony Fox and Eleanor Collins, 25 May 1780, Baltimore County, p. 153, image 521  [FHL 004254885]   [7] Maryland Marriages, 1666-1970, Family Search (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1675199), Marriage of Anthony Fox and Sarah Kemp, 16 August 1782, Baltimore County, p. 157, image 523 [FHL 004254885].   [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, digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7590/).   [10] Ann Arundel County, Maryland Testamentary Papers, C149, Box 10, Folder 35, Estate of John Beach, Administration Bond, 28 April 1790 [DGS: 105512185].   [11] Ann Arundel County, Maryland Testamentary Papers, C149, Box 12, Folder 41, Estate of John Beach, First Account, 20 October 1790 [DGS: 105512187].   [12] Maryland State Archives, Journal and Correspondence of the Council of Maryland, 1789-1793, Volume 72, p.99, Session "14 Nov. 1788—12 Nov. 1791.”     [13] Maryland State Archives, Journal of the House of Delegates, 1805, Volume 553, page 68. Votes And Proceedings, November Session, 1805.    [14]  William Kilty et. al., (eds).The Laws of Maryland from the End of the Year 1799, Vol. 92, p. 2933. November Session 1806.    [15]  Maryland State Archives. Journal of the House of Delegates, 1805. Volume 553, p. 76, Votes And Proceedings, November Session, 1805.   [16] Maryland State Archives. Journal of the House of Delegates, 1806. Volume 554, p. 19, Votes And Proceedings, November Session, 1806.