Dr. John Pritchett

• Evidence needed to support as son of John Pritchett, of St. Mary’s County & Anna Pritchett
• Probably not the same as John Pritchett (son of John Pritchett, of Richards Castle)

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He was a chemist and/or doctor.

John was the first Pritchett ancestor to arrive in the Province of Maryland in 1670 as a Gentleman Adventurer from Wales. He is a registered Member of the provincial Families of Maryland. CHe settled first in Talbot County, Maryland. He'd moved to Dorchester County by 1669.

According to tradition Dr. John Pritchett used his professional skills to administer to the needs of the Indians as well as the white people. He may have named one of his sons "Phunback" after one of the Indian chiefs.

He acquired by patent or purchase a considerable amount of land in the general area of Hungar River on the Eastern Shores.

Information on this family came from First Dorchester Families by Mowbray, Vol 1 (RMD929.375227M} and Archives of MD., Vol. LIV, page 25.

Will

Maryland Calendar of Wills: Volume 5 Pr

• Maryland Calendar of Wills: Volume 5
• Pritchett, John, Chymist, Dorchester Col, 19th Dec, 1711; 3rd Mch., 1711.
• To son Zebulon and hrs., "Apes Hill," where he is now living.
• To other 4 sons, viz., Edward, John, Funbeck, Lott, residue of afsd. tract, "Hope", "Horsey Down" and "Edenborough" equally. Nopart of sd. land to be except to one another, personal estate.
• 3 youngest child., viz. Funbeck Margery and Lott, to be maintained out of estate until of age at 16.
• To daus. Mary Fisher, Jeane Leake, and Margery, personalty.
• To wife Abigall, her thirds.
• dau. Phillis to be maintained by and have 5s.
• Executives: Sons Edward and John
• Overseer: Son Zebulon
• Test: Michaell Todd, Thomas Pryer (Prier), Isabell Anderson.* 17,322.

Notes

for John Pritchett: From "Early Dorchester County History" by C. W. Mowbray and Maurice Rimpo

page 31

On March 10, 1672, a 50 acre tract called "Apes Hill" was surveyed for Richard Meekins. That tract is known today as Bishop's Head Point. Five years after he aquired it, Meekins transferred the tract to Timothy MacNamara. Descendants of Timothy MacNamara became owners of numerous tracts of land in South Dorchester and intermarried into such old-line families of the area as the Pritchetts, Stewarts, lakes, Hoopers, Traverses and others. On April 1, 1679, Timothy MacNamara sold "Apes Hill" to Dr. John Pritchett who had came from Talbot Co. where he had married Margery, daughter of John and Margery Price of that county. As shown in hs will Dr. Pritchett was the father of Zebulon, Edward, John, Phunback, Lott, Phillis, Margery, Mary who married Henry Fisher, and Jane who married Robert Lake. John Pritchett, on June 8, 1710, sold to Henry Lake, blacksmith, a 110 acre tract of land called "Long Acre" which was on Charles Creek. Robert Lake, blacksmith, the son of Henry lake, married Jane Pritchett. Henry Lake, through his son, Robert, was the progenitor of the Lake family of lower Dorchester CO.

Children of John Pritchett and Margery Price are:

• i. Phunback Pritchett, born Abt. 1700; died Unknown.
• ii. Zebulon Pritchett, died Unknown.
• iii. Edward Pritchett, died Unknown.
• iv. John Pritchett, died Unknown.
• v. Lott Pritchett, died Unknown.
• vi. Phillis Pritchett, died Unknown.
• vii. Mary Pritchett, died Unknown; married Henry Fisher; died Unknown. * viii. Jane Pritchett, died Unknown; married Robert Lake; died 1716.

John (sometimes spelled Prichard) was the founder of the large Dorchester County branch of Prichards. He bought various pieces of land as early as 1660. The sixty acres where they built a home was called "Apes Hill." Another tract contained 100 acres.

According to Paul Preston Prichard of El Paso, Texas, in his "The Prichard Family" published in 1976 John and his second wife, Abigail, recorded a will in 1685. Other sources listed John and Margery's wedding date in about 1685. This is obviously an area that needs confirmation. Are Abigail and Margery one and the same? Or is Abigail a second wife and the mother of Zebulon born in about 1690?

John Pritchett probably was born June 24, 1641, in Talbot County, Maryland. He died in 1711 in Apes Hill, Dorchester County, Maryland.(1)

Some information indicates John was the son of a John Pritchett who was born in 1610 in Herefordshire, Wales, who died in 1657, and whose wife was Anna. John's grandfather may have been a William Pritchett whose wife was Joan Rufford. This William Pritchett was born in 1582 in Richard's Castle, Worcester England. William married Joan Rufford in 1609. Joan was born about 1586 in Worcester, England.

The following excerpt is taken from Pritchett Family by Henry Downes Cranor:

(2) The Pritchett or Prichard family appears to have been of considerable antiquity in Wales, having an unbroken male descent from the Princes between Wye and Severn, a dynasty that lasted from Caradoc Vraich Vrais, A. D. 520 to the death of Bleddyn the last Prince, in 1190 (Cabrian Journal). The Genealogist, N. S., Vol. 8. John Pritchett(1) (Chemist), the progenitor of the Dorchester county branch, was in Maryland in 1669 as is shown by the following records of land grants, rent rolls and wills. He was probably the son of John Pritchett who was a witness to a receipt given by Margaret Brent, January 21, 1647 (Md. Arch., 4, 449), but as yet positive proof is lacking. John Pritchett the witness, died intestate in 1657. (Ibid., 10, 552.)

In 1669 John Pritchett(1) bought land called "Apes Hill" at mouth of Hunger river, Dorchester county, containing 50 acres for 3000 pounds of tobacco. (Land Records Dorchester county. Old Book No. 3, p. 156.) In 1697 John Pritchett (Chymist) purchased land from William Hopper, 50 acres more or less by patent, and another tract called Longacre and Bettys Chance, containing 110 acrres on Charles Creek, another from Ferguson, Ship Carpenter, all that part called Edinborough containing 100 acres (ibid.) This indenture made Eight day of June 1710, John Pritchett with Abigail his wife of the County of Dorchester in the province of Maryland of the one part and Henry Lake, Blacksmith of the other part, in same county. Witnesseth that the said John and Abigail Pritchett for and in consideration of the sum of six thousand pounds of Tobacco to them paid in hand for parcel of Land being partly belonging to a tract of Land called Longacre and partly to a tract of land called Bettys Chance. Beginniing at a marked white oak standing near the head of Charles Creek being the bounded tree of the land of Richard Kendall and running from thence south west eight perches to a marked oak standing by Hunger River running from thence up the river bounded therewith Two hundred and eighty seven perhces to the head of a small creek running up by a point commonly called Long Point and from thence north east to Charles Creek and from thence running up the Creek bounded therewith two hundred and Eighty seven perhces to the first marked post containing one hundred and ten acres (110). Signed John Pritchett Abigail X Pritchett (Ibid., Old Book, No. 6.)

The following entries may be found in the Rent Roll book of Dorchester and Somerset Counties, in the possession of Maryland Historical Society.

50 Acres. Rent 0-2-0. Apes Hill surveyed 10 March 1672 for Richard Mockins the upper side of the Straights of Hunger River. Possest by John Pritchett A 16 by seven Downward. 70 Acres. Rent 0-2-9. The Hope surveyed 17 Nov. 1677 for Timothy MacNamara on the east side Hungor River by the upper straights in possession of John Pritchett. 150 Acres. Rent 0-4-5. Longacre surveyed 13 Aug. 1678 for Andrew Jusloy on the east side of Hungor river the west side of Charles Creek sold to John Pritchett by Henry Lack but not yet made over. 50 Acres. Rent 0-6-0. Horseley down surveyed 28th Dec. 1679 for George Hopper on the south side of North East branch of Charles Creek in possession of John Pritchett. 50 Acres. Rent 0-2-0. Ringwood surveyed 20th Feby. 1680 for John Pritchard on the north side of a small Bay called Rohoby Bay. 100 Acres 0-4-0 qt. rent Ebenborough surveyed 29th April 1682 for George Ferguson on the West side of fox Creek in Ash Comos Marsh in possession of John Pritchett.

The date of John Pritchett's death is uncertain. His will made in 1711 and probated in 1723, bears the following note: 'The above will was found in August 1723 among some papers and ordered to be recorded by the Court at Annapolis, A. A. Co., Md.' The will mentions the following nine children by name and devises 'Apes Hill,' 'Horsey Doron' [Horseley Down?], 'Edinborough,' and 'Hope.' To his wife Abigail he left her thirds only." Another discussion of John Pritchett follows:(3) "The progenitor of the Dorchester County, Maryland, Pritchett Family was one Dr. John Pritchett, who according to The Early Settlers list, found in The Land Office of Maryland, came into the Province of Maryland, in 1670, as “a Gentleman Adventurer.” The Colonists of Maryland were divided into six classes. The first class was termed “Gentleman Adventurers”. These were persons who transported themselves, at their own expense, often bringing with them servants. For each person transported, the person transporting them received 50 acres of land. In the list of passengers arriving at the same time with Dr. Pritchett, was one William Pritchett Jr. perhaps the brother of Dr. John Pritchett, also Dr. Daniel Jenefer, who assigned his claim for 150 acres of land, for transporting three persons into the Province of Maryland, to Dr. John Pritchett. On July 19, 1670, came John Pritchett of Talbot County and proved right to 50 acres of land for transporting himself into this Province to inhabit. Warrant then issued in the name of the said John Pritchett for 50 acres of land due him for consideration aforesaid". True copy taken from Liber 12, folio 592, Land Office of Maryland. Dr. John Pritchett when he first came to Dorchester County, to live, he made the beautiful plantation 'Apes Hill' his home. Later, when his son Zebulon married he gave Zebulon 'Apes Hill' and he moved to his adjoining plantation 'The Hope'. These two plantations adjoining each other, on the Upper Straights of Hungar [Honga] River, almost out to the Chesapeake Bay, are still two of the finest locations in Dorchester County. Both of these properties are today owned by wealthy people who use them in Winter as gunning shores, and in Summer, as Summer homes. Both of these plantations remained in the Pritchett family for over 225 years, being entailed by their first owner Dr. John Pritchett. There is much tradition that has been handed down from one generation to another, how when Dr. John Pritchett first came to Dorchester County, that he was kind to the Indians, and administered to their needs, as well as the white man, and the Indians respected him and his family. To honor one of these old Indian Chiefs, it is said he named one of his sons 'Phunback'. Whether this tradition is true, we do not know, however we do know that he did name one of his sons 'Phunback'."(6) The locations of Apes Hill and The Hope are identified in the book The Early Settlers of Dorchester County and Their Lands by Calvin W. Mobray and Mary I. Mobray.

The following, from Early Dorchester County History, indicates that John Pritchett married a Margery Price:(4) "On March 10, 1672, a 50 acre tract called "Apes Hill" was surveyed for Richard Meekins. That tract is known today as Bishop's Head Point. Five years after he acquired it, Meekins transferred the tract to Timothy MacNamara. Descendants of Timothy MacNamara became owners of numerous tracts of land in South Dorchester and intermarried into such old-line families of the area as the Pritchetts, Stewarts, Lakes, Hoopers, Traverses and others. On April 1, 1679, Timothy MacNamara sold "Apes Hill" to Dr. John Pritchett who had came from Talbot County where he had married Margery, daughter of John and Margery Price of that county. As shown in his will Dr. Pritchett was the father of Zebulon, Edward, John, Phunback, Lott, Phillis, Margery, Mary who married Henry Fisher, and Jane who married Robert Lake. John Pritchett, on June 8, 1710, sold to Henry Lake, blacksmith, a 110 acre tract of land called "Long Acre" which was on Charles Creek. Robert Lake, blacksmith, the son of Henry Lake, married Jane Pritchett. Henry Lake, through his son, Robert, was the progenitor of the Lake family of lower Dorchester County." Perhaps Margery Price was the first wife of John Pritchett and Abigail with an unknown last name was the second wife of John Pritchett. There is a Meekins Neck Road that meets a Hoopers Island Road west of Golden Hill, Maryland. There is a Wroton Island not far from Lakesville, Maryland, perhaps named for the family of Rachel Wroughton who married John and/or Edward Pritchett, sons of John Pritchett the doctor or chemist. Perhaps Hoopersville, Hooper Island and Hoopers Island Road on the eastern shore of Maryland are named after the William Hooper family who sold a tract of land to John Pritchett in 1697 called Horse Downe. John Pritchett is mentioned in a number of land transactions and court records. It is clear that John Pritchett was married to a Margery and to an Abigail according to these records. The following list is not intended to be all inclusive: a. Made and recorded 1st April 1679, Folio 156, Timothy McNamara to John Pritchett land called "Apes Hill" containing 50A at the mouth of Hungar River. Witnesses: John Phillips, Tho. Pattison. b. Made and recorded 1st April 1679, Folio 158/59, John Pritchett to John Prout land called "Apes Hill" containing 16A. c. Made and recorded 1 Sept 1685, Folio 146, John Pritchett to William Warren land called "Little Goshen" containing 50A by patent to John Pritchett, Witnesses: Benja. Priesley, Hen. Howard, Margery Pritchett wife of John Pritchett gives up Dower rights. d. Made and recorded 28 May 1697, Folio 93, William Hooper, cooper to John Pritchett, chymist land called "Horse Downe" next to land called "Banbury". e. Made and recorded 27 Oct 1697, Folio 106, Andrew Insley and his wife Elizabeth to John Pritchett, chymist, land called "Long Acre" and "Betty's Chance" near head of Charles Creek by land of Richard Kendale containing 110A. Witnesses: Mathew Travers Sen., James Mandsly. f. Made and recorded 7 June 1698, Folio 111, George Ferguson to John Pritchett, chemist, land called "Edenburough" lying between the N.E. and Northern branches of Fox Creek that issuest out of Hungar River - mentions land of William Dean called "Northampton" - containing 100A. g. Made and recorded 8 June 1705; Folio 159; John Pritchett and Abigail his wife to Henry Leake, blacksmith, land called "Long Acre" and "Betty's Chance". Note: also refers to buyer as Henry Lake; Witnesses: Henry (X) Wingood, Philip (X) Wingood (name probably should be Wingate) h. Proceedings of the Court of Chancery, 1669-1679 Volume 51, Page 112, John Pritchett appointed Mr. Roge. Woollford Attorney on 8 June 1710, he appeared in Court 13 June 1710.

The following deposition was given by Henry Leak (or Lake) aged 72 in 1731. Henry Leak (or Lake) therefore was born about 1659. Recorded 28 Feb. 1731, Folio 453, A Deposition - of Henry Leak aged 72, RE: bounder of Northampton - he has known this place for 25 years. Henry Leak said that a Red Oak standing at a point on Hungar River was the second bounder of this land called "Northampton", and when he (meaning himself) bought the land from old Mr. John Pritchett the said Pritchett brought him down to the said Red Oak then standing and told him that was John Early's bounded tree of the land called "Northampton" and his bounded tree (namely Leak) allowed the said tree to be a division betwixt his land called "Long Acre" and "Northampton".

17, 322.MARYLAND CALENDAR OF WILLS: Volume 5

His son

https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/...

PRITCHETT (PRICHARD, PRICHETT, PRIT-CHARD), EDWARD (?-ca. 1761).
BORN: of age by 1711.
NATIVE: second generation.
RESIDED: in Dorchester County.
FAMILY BACKGROUND.
FATHER:
Dr. John Pritchett (?-1711), who immigrated to Dorchester County by 1669, a chemist.
MOTHER:
Margery, daughter of John Price of Talbot County.
STEPMOTHER: Abigail.
BROTHERS: Zebulon (1681-1741/42), eldest child, who married Margery; John; Phunback (Funback, Funbeck, Furbeck, Plum-beck); and Lott (?-1777), who married Ann.
SISTERS: Mary, who married Henry Fisher; Jane, who married first, Robert Leake, and second, ca. 1720, Timothy Macnemara; and Margery. HALFSISTER: Phillis. MARRIED probably never.
PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION: literate.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Protestant.
SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVI-
TIES: Gent., by 1727.
OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: planter.
PUBLIC CAREER.
LEGISLATIVE SERVICE:
Lower House, Dorchester County, 1722-1724,1725-1727. LOCAL OFFICE, justice, Dorchester
County, commissioned 1734.
WEALTH DURING LIFETIME.
LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: 202 acres in Dorchester County (70 acres inherited from father;132 acres, the remainder of 142 acres, by purchase or patent).
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: patented 40 acres in Dorchester County, 1724; sold 25 acres

Pritchett in America : Eldridge, Pritchard, Pritchart, Waller. Horlacher, Doris Melissa Pritchett, 1934- viewer page 463 http://www.familysearch.org/library/books/idviewer/205492/463

Origins

Name John Pritchett
Arrival Year 1670
Arrival Place Maryland
Primary Immigrant Pritchett, John
Source Publication Code 8510
Annotation Index from manuscript by Arthur Trader, Chief Clerk in the Maryland Land Commission, 1917. And see nos. 4507-4511, Land Notes.
Source Bibliography SKORDAS, GUST, editor. The Early Settlers of Maryland: an Index to Names of Immigrants, Compiled from Records of Land Patents, 1633-1680, in the Hall of Records, Annapolis, Maryland. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1968. 525p. Repr. 1986.
Household Members (Name)
John Pritchett

Maryland Historical Magazine, page 70. PRITCHETT FAMILY. Henry Downes Cranor. < PDF >

JOHN PRITCHETT 1 (Chemist), the progenitor of the Dorchester county branch, was in Maryland in 1669 as is shown by the following records of land grants, rent rolls and wills. He was probably the son of John Pritchett who was a witness to a receipt given by Margaret Brent, January 21, 1647, (Md. Arch., 4, 449), but as yet positive proof is lacking. John Pritchett the witness, died intestate in 1657. (Ibid., 10, 552.)

Comments

Birth seen as 06/24/1641 Talbot County, Maryland, United States Which is the same as reported for William Pritchett

References

• http://www.cloldergen.com/public/page78/page78.html
• https://pritcharddnaproject.com/web_documents/HTML/Patriarch_Page.htm
• https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/113626458?cid=mem_copy
• https://archive.org/stream/pritchettfamilyh00palm/pritchettfamilyh0...
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/L6JY-9TS
• https://gw.geneanet.org/tesg07?n=pritchett+jr.
• https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/...
• https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/113626458?cid=mem_copy
• Pritchett family pedigree (document attached) is the source of a baptism date of 24 June 1641, but we don’t know if it’s correct for this man.
• Pritchett in America : Eldridge, Pritchard, Pritchart, Waller. Horlacher, Doris Melissa Pritchett, 1934-
• viewer page 463 http://www.familysearch.org/library/books/idviewer/205492/463,
• viewer page 464 http://www.familysearch.org/library/books/idviewer/205492/464