Nancy Porter

Notes:

Information is from Pioneer Families of Colonial America by Mary Ann Doty Rizzo, Volume 2-227. She was living in Knox County, Ohio on 12 Jul 1825.

Family/Spouse: Peter Horn. Peter died in UNKNOWN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married Mary Nancy Logsdon on 21 Nov 1796 in Allegany County, Maryland. Mary (daughter of William Logsdon and Margaret Logue) was born about 1776; died before 12 Jul 1825. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Information is from Pioneer Families of Colonial America by Mary Ann Doty Rizzo, Volume 2-227.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: John Porter
• Death: 1810, , Allegany, Maryland

Notes:

See the notes asociated with John's alleged father, John Porter (b. abt. 1690) for the questions which exist as to whether John Thomas Porter, Jr. was the father of Gabriel McKenzie Porter.

Regarding Rose Meadows:

John Porter settled between Cumberland and Frostburg in 1792 on a farm known as Rose Meadows, from the profusion of wild roses which grew there. John built a substantial house on a south slope which remained in the family until about 1864. At that time, the owner, William R. Porter, sold it to a mining company who wanted it for the coal and tan-bark. The homestead came back into the family about 1916 when it was purchased by Walter and Celia Porter Engle. There is no trace of the house today, but a sketch painting thereof is in the possession of the Engle family. The Porter Cemetery, sometimes called the Rose Meadows Cemetery, is located a short distance north of the site. (From the book "A Genealogy of the Porter Family of Maryland, West Virginia, Michigan" by Samuel Doak Porter.

The John Porter and his brother Moses who helped survey the Mason-Dixon Line served in the Revolutionary War in Capt. Paxton's Bedford County militia (The John Porter and his brother Moses who helped survey the Mason-Dixon
Line served in the Revolutionary War in Capt. Paxton's Bedford County militia(Pa. Archives, 5th Series, Vol. V. page 116) (Pa. Archives, 5th Series, Vol. V. page 116)

The following email was sent to Don Kagle by Alan Williams on September 10, 2018. In essence the hunt for the parents of John, Moses and Henry Porter goes on as of September, 2018.

I do appreciate that info Dick, I was unaware of the Scritchfield effort.

We are cousins of the Scritchfields through Margaret Porter, born in Bedford County PA 1805 and died there in 1852, my 2nd Cousin 4 x removed. She married John Burley, and one of their children, Catherine, born 1838, married Samuel Scritchfield in 1863.

Margaret Porter was a child of William Porter and Mary Nelson and a granddaughter of Moses Porter and Margaret McKenzie.

John, Moses and Henry, Porter Brothers, are the oldest verifiable links in our line. Samuel Doak Porter (SDP) and Col. McKenzie (whose notes we hope will yield insight into their thinking) recounted the idea of the Singing Emigrant, John Porter, Catholic/Jacobite protester landing in Maryland @1715 and marrying the Huguenot of Swiss origin, Elinor Durier.

That story has been in dispute since it first saw print, and a Baltimore Sun article in 1912 that claimed John was an ‘Irish immigrant who landed in Boston’ got an angry rebuke in the next week’s letters to the editors from Glissan T. Porter, lawyer and newspaperman of Allegany County, who faithfully recounted the story SDP printed in the Bluebook.

Since then, based on a baptismal record for a John Porter 1697 found in England, people have ‘built trees’ going back to Charlemagne. (I don’t know why it’s always Charlemagne, apparently he was father to us all.)

We’ve got so many lines of investigation open into who Henry John and Moses parents were! But its far to early to burden you all with the possibilities. I am certain that

A. They had parents.
B. They are Brothers.
C. We have dug into many of the same ‘suspects’ that SDP and others have examined. So many, in fact, that I’ve become only too conversant with all the Porter/Portes/Borter lines of the Mid-Atlantic. I’ve had to build so many family trees to keep track of them so we can avoid running over old clues and thinking them to be fresh.

That said, we don’t think we’re at a brick wall. Now with DNA and better organized records, we’re able to fairly quickly rule a theory in or out of play. Part of the problem is that SDP claimed many children for our First John, quickly announced that ‘nothing more is known of them’ for 4, and then also passed Henry quickly out of view, so the bulk of his work revolves around (solely) John and Moses in Allegany County and their descendants.

People have long associated John Henry and Moses with the ‘Arnold Settlement’ and had assumed a bridge back to Carrollton. That’s where we are. Asserting anything back to the 15th Century is wishful thinking.

John married Nancy Ann McKenzie in 1767 in Carroll County, Maryland. Nancy (daughter of Moses Sr. McKenzie and Nancy Jane (Rachel) Porter) was born in Hopson's Choice, Maryland; died after 1789 in Allegany County, Maryland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The followig information was sent to the author in Augsut, 2018 by Phil Brode. As one will see after reviewing the information, the location of the grave of Nancy Ann Porter is in dispute. Michael A. McKenzie August 27, 2018

The Nancy Ann (McKenzie) Porter burial site has "wandered" a bit over the years for the 'assignment' in my records. For years I just assumed it was in a now unmarked grave at Porter Cemetery at Rose Meadow. Seemed reasonable when we thought the old story about John Porter's pioneer movements from Wellersburg Pa, to Mount Savage MD to ultimately getting Rose Meadow as Revolutionary War service payment, occurred much earlier than her death. Why not? (And, not unexpected that her marker would be 'lost' considering she died earlier than John & his marker is so small & primitive as well.)

But then two things challenged this idea and sent me on a search. Thanks to the superman abilities with deed searching by Scott et. al. of the Williams clan, we learned that the two 50 acre plots that were Rose Meadow proper, were not originally owned by John Porter as per the old story of his selection, BUT were purchased by John Porter from John Matthews in the mid to late 1790's. My wobbly records for Nancy Ann's death include dates of 1786 or 1788 or 1789 depending on the source, all before John bought and settled Rose Meadow. In addition, for some time, Find-A-Grave had her place of burial as Allegany County Cemetery, Cumberland MD. While visiting western Maryland one time, my mother & I took off to find this site. We found a well kept cemetery, with very few marked graves, but many many graves without markers; only to learn that this was the Potter's/Pauper's cemetery, hence unmarked graves. Suddenly this seemed to be a dead-end; no pun was intended or noticed until I typed those words. Why would someone as well off as John Porter be burying his wife there? And, why there instead of close to one of his western Maryland residences at the time of her death. I won't believe that source, until supported with cemetery records if they exist. So, she's most likely not at PC@RM if the deed records & her death dates are correct, but where is she?

The following information was sent to the writer, Michael A. Mckenzie by Scott Carter Williams in August, 2018:

All,

We have always been dependent on Samuel Doak Porters' (SDP) book for information about Nancy McKenzie (b. 1746, m 1767, d. no given). Phil Brode believes that her passing was in either 1786, 88, or 89. I am hopeful that the Colonel Gabriel T. MacKenzie’s microfilm will yield something more like source material. We know from SDP's book that he and the Colonel corresponded and the notes that I have seen so far support that. Attached is some of the Colonel’s notes regarding Nancy and John Porter Jr, plus a published page that he references in his notes regarding Gabriel McKenzie's early presence in Western Maryland - perhaps predating the end of the French and Indian War (1763). We see elsewhere that Gabriel is selling land on Pipe Creek, and this may (or may not) indicate a move in the making.

I am also attaching a resource written by SDP on the history of the Sloan family. The Sloans and the Percys were Scottish families who immigrated to WM in the 1830s and assisted the Porters in making the coal mines on Federal Hill (Rose Meadow) viable. The families soon intermarried (see a pattern?? :).

The hand written notes by the Colonel in the first attachment are from an informant named "Ann Sloan" who is referenced in the second document as a granddaughter of John M. Porter (Squire Jack). This makes her the grand-grand daughter of John Porter Jr. (b. 1737). The reason that I share this article is this quote from SDP:

"Several of his (John Porter Jr's) and Nancy's brothers came with him to Allegany County and settled near him."

Gabriel and sons may have been settled west of Fort Cumberland as early as the 1750s or 60s according the Century of Growth book. We know from Bedford Co Census documents that both John Porter and Gabriel McKenzie (and sons) were there just before the war broke out. We also know that the identified sons of Moses Sr (Moses Jr, Joshua, and Jessie) enlisted and served in Frederick County during the war (not near Fort Cumberland). Therefore, if Nancy came west with John Porter and her brothers at the same time (pre-war) it would follow that "Nancy's brothers" may have been Gabriel's sons, not Moses Sr's. The theory, however, could be negated if Moses Sr had older sons (closer to Nancy's age) that moved at the same time as Gabriel.

We have much to learn, and I am hopeful that the Colonel’ss notes will bear more fruit for us.

Best Regards,

Scott Williams

The writer, Michael A. Mckenzie responded to Scott with the following email. This information is being placed here so that current and future researchers will know and understand the thought processes that played out w/r/t to the topic of just whom was Nancy Ann McKenzie's father.

Here is the reply email:

Hi All:

So many emails, so much to think about.

I am still going through emails from the past few days and reflecting on what was written.

Scott stated below: "Several of his (John Porter Jr's) and Nancy's brothers came with him to Allegany County and settled near him."

Gabriel and sons may have been settled west of Fort Cumberland as early as the 1750s or 60s according the Century of Growth book. We know from Bedford Co Census documents that both John Porter and Gabriel (and sons) were there just before the war broke out. We also know that the identified sons of Moses Sr (Moses Jr, Joshua, and Jessie) enlisted and served in Frederick County during the war (not near Fort Cumberland). Therefore, if Nancy came west with John Porter and her brothers at the same time (pre-war) it would follow that "Nancy's brothers" may have been Gabriel's sons, not Moses Sr's. The theory, however, could be negated if Moses Sr had older sons (closer to Nancy's age) that moved at the same time as Gabriel.

I would like to explore this for a minute because I think Scott may have hit upon something that would cause me to put Nancy Ann McKenzie as the daughter of Gabriel and not Moses, Sr.

Here is my thinking: If SDP is correct and Nancy’s brothers travelled west with them, the ages of the respective brothers make me lean towards them being the sons of Gabriel.

Let’s pick a date, say 1772. Gabriel’s son’s, Samuel and Daniel, would be 21 and 20 respectively.

Picking the same date, 1772, Moses Sr.’s sons would be 12, 10 and 8.

If one is travelling west with their brothers, I tend to lean to the older brothers and not a group of youngsters aged 8-12. Also, men in their 20’s would be “settling near her”, whereas youngsters aged 8-12 would need to be taken care of by others. When we couple this analysis with Racheal (Rachill) McKenzie placing Joshua in indentureship in 1768, it seems to support the hypothesis that Nancy was the daughter of Gabriel and not of Moses, Sr.

Just food for thought as we continue our quest.

Thoughts anyone?

Regards

Mike McKenzie

And, just to make certain we were well grounded, Ann Stansbarger wrote in response:

Hi All,

I recommend caution when it comes to Nancy Ann and here is why. We have to think about what was happening with the two brothers, Gabriel McKenzie and Moses McKenzie Sr. Gabriel began selling his properties one by one in Frederick Co at about the time of the end of the French and Indian War (1763). He had plans to move his family to western MD, which we know he ultimately did. His brother Moses, according to legend, sold his farm and was robbed and killed on the road. This would have been sometime after Joshua was conceived 1763-64 and before Joshua went into indenture, 1768 — exactly the same time Gabriel was getting ready for his move.

When Moses Sr was killed his family was thrown into turmoil. Rachel pleaded for her widow’s share of Moses’ inheritance. She said in the petition she had small children to take care of and had no money. Any older children of Moses, if there had been any, must have had to find their own way.

Were there older children? There had to have been. I don’t have the reference handy but I know it is on the MOEM site. There was “old John” McKenzie who died in Allegany Co in the mid 1790s. His estate was administered by Moses McKenzie Jr. Old John could not have been a son of Gab’l because Gab’l already had a son John. This Old John was in all likelihood a brother of Moses Jr (b1760). Since he was “old” in the mid 1790s, that says he was probably born in the mid 1740’s - about the time of Nancy Ann’s birth.

After Moses Sr died I think there was work for the older children of Moses with their uncle Gabriel. He would have needed help to clear land on his new farm in western MD, and he would have needed help farming his old lands left behind in Frederick Co, until they were eventually all sold off.

Nancy Ann, if she was a daughter of Moses, would have gotten married as soon as possible after her father’s death.

Sorry it isn’t more concrete.

Best, Ann

Then Nathan Williams added:

Ann and all,

Very important facts to keep in mind concerning Moses and family structure. I have a few points of concern over Moses Sr. being daddy based on what we know, and don't know.

- Moses' wife was said to be a Porter, daughter of John Porter, emigrant. Like other myths, we can't confirm or refute it but if true, it would mean Nancy Ann McKenzie was the niece of her husband, John Porter of Bedford/Allegany. People married close relatives, we have our share, but marrying a niece would seem strange.

- As researchers, we struggle mightly with the reality we can't place ANY of our known Porters in Maryland before they show up in Bedford, PA. Their PA record is the first confirmed appearance of John and Moses Porter. Henry is in Maryland for the 1776 loyalty oath. I will let my Uncle Scott answer Allan specifically about John Porter, emigrant, but to be honest, he is a ghost. We have no records in the US to show he existed. Our paper trail starts with his alleged sons John, Moses, and Henry Porter on the frontier.

I think that is why Moses causes us some problems. We can't really place any Porters down near the McKenzies in downstate Maryland, despite the oral stories that they were multi-generational connections between them. We are more in our comfort zone with Gabe, since he was a known neighbor, and the relationship could have started in PA, not downstate Maryland.

Now, none of that means Nancy couldn't have been living with Gabe on the frontier, or that the Porter brothers did live near Hobson's Choice, but left no records. The lack of hard dates matter too. For instance, MOEM, speculates the Porter-McKenzie marriage took place before Moses Sr's death on the road. Although, I think all those dates are estimates.

https://mckenziesofearlymaryland.com/getperson.php?personID=I00129&tree=McKenzie1
Moses Sr. McKenzie b. Abt 1720 Hopson's Choice, Maryland d. Abt 1767: The McKenzies of Early Maryland
mckenziesofearlymaryland.com
Moses Sr. McKenzie b. Abt 1720 Hopson's Choice, Maryland d. Abt 1767: The McKenzies of Early Maryland


Nathan

And, to stir the pot one more time, Scott Williams added:

Ann,

As you can imagine, the "ick" factor of niece/uncle thing has probably been of more concern to our side of the tree than yours *smile*, but I have an (almost) elegant solution that solves several problems at once:

•Moses Sr has a first marriage (to a non-Porter :)) that produces Nancy McKenzie and *some* older brothers
•Moses Sr has a later marriage to a Porter (Nancy Jane Rachel?) that produces the younger brothers (Moses Jr, Jessie, and Joshua)

Problem solved - and all very speculative. BUT I have noted that something changed Col. GT Mack's mind from Gabe to Moses Sr as the father of Nancy during the course of his research - so (again) time for us (the ATL gang) to better review the Col's material and get it into a format where it can be useful in research.

What you have shown, however, in these first emails is your perception of a family in crisis due to the death of a father and documented responses to duress. So if the speculation above is accurate, and we have documented Porters (Philip and maybe an older Nancy) in proximity to the Moses Sr family in about 1768 acting as part of the solution, we have really moved the ball.

I ask one question - does Team McKenzie know the origin of the Moses Sr murder story, or have an "earliest source" record of it? In my newspaper searches I found a plaintive request from a reader to the weekly column of legendary Cumberland Md columnist J. William Hunt in the 1950s seeking information on the incident. The reader's name was included and if that adds some value, I could try to find the original item and share it with you. Mr. Hunt requested that responses go directly to the reader, and not to the newspaper - ARGH!

Beyond that, I am going to leave the topic for awhile, having sufficiently stirred the pot for now :)

Scott

On September 17, 2018 the writer, Michael A. McKenzie wrote to the Porter/McKenzie Research Group and asked if anyone was aware of any primary source documents concerning Nancy McKenzie Porter. The reply later that day from Alan Williams was as follows:

My short answer is that I am not (aware of any primary source documents). One thing that’s certain is that it’s in the naming of her children that we encounter the name confusion as we had last night. Assuming Nancy to be a McKenzie (a very safe bet, I think) she names children after her husband, her father, and her uncle. No Jessies or Joshua’s though. One of the results is that Porters and McKenzie’s are shot through for generations with Gabriel, Moses, Michael and Samuels.

Porters have no first name ‘Bennett’, Rachel and Harriet (as well as Eleanor and Mary and Sarah) are popular for girls.

Both Moses and John Porter also favored Samuel in their boys, and Moses line later introduces ‘Scott’ as a frequent middle name and well as Ellis. Scott appears at a time that it may reference General Winfield Scott, the Military hero (1812 through the Mexican War) and 1852 Presidential candidate.


Needless to say, the writer concludes after these great exchanges, that something "more" will need to be located/discovered before the answer to the question posed will be known once and for all. Was Nancy the daughter of Moses (b. abt. 1720) or was she the daughter of Gabriel (b. abt. 1715)? That remains the question. Michael A. McKenzie, September 18, 2018

William + Margaret Logue. Margaret was born about 1753; died in UNKNOWN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The earliest ancestor known in our direct Porter line was John Porter. He was born in England in 1694 and came to America in 1715 from "Glouchester near Bristol." He died in 1776. According to accounts, it is believed he was a member of the "Jacobite" party or movement in England. This was a Catholic political party in opposition to King George 1. John Porter is reported to have fled England about 1715 because he "made himself obnoxious to the party in power by singing his own composition(song) at a gathering of his neighbors, which was very uncomplimentary to the ruling monarch, King George 1", on which account he was obliged to flee the country. He settled in Carrollton, which was in Baltimore, about 1715.(The area where he settled is now Carroll Co., MD) Information found in "A Genealogy of the Porter Family of Maryland, West Virginia, Michigan" by Samuel Doak Porter 1896-1966

The information written above was pulled by the writer, Michael A. McKenzie from some secondary source when he first started his genealogical research. In August, 2018, the writer became acquainted with the Williams family, Dave, Alan and Scott and Dave's son, Nathan. They are prodigious researchers of all things Porter, as well as McKenzie. As of August, they had searched for primary sources to try to corroborate what is written above.

In their/our quest for genealogical accuracy, Scott wrote to the writer in August 2018, as follows:

But I recognize and appreciate the need for accuracy and precision. Gotta have that. We owe much to the Scharfs and others who published what we call the "local vanity histories" beginning in the 1870s or so. Great, broad pieces of history captured there, seems like every county has one. In general they are accurate as to when people arrived, generally who they were, and which ones of them became doctors and lawyers :)

These vanity histories have begun to appear as brick walls to us in our research, though. Scharf 1883 is the oldest reference we can find for John Porter, the Singing Jacobite of 1715. The tome below is the oldest print reference that we can point to for the "M" in Gabriel M. Porter's moniker. (Writer's note: the "tome" referenced is Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Fayette County PA., by Samuel T. Wiley. Published 1889. Inside the cover, there is a reference to it being located at the Cornell University Library. Scott found it on Google Books and sent it to the writer.) He is the only one of John Porter Jr's children to have a middle name in SDP's book and it is "McKenzie".

So genealogy will always have these uncertainties and they should be carefully footnoted. I guess that my focus on the larger sweep of history and context is a sort of balm against the burns caused by all those courthouse fires.

In the end we may have to say with regard to John Thomas Porter, Jr.:

"Legend has it that John Porter swung aboard a ship in Bristol Harbor in 1715 one step ahead of the law. History shows that people believed to be descended from him were among the early settlers of the Maryland colony and their subsequent descendents were witnesses to and participants in the founding of the United States of America. Genealogists have documented the following facts regarding your ancestors.". . or words to that effect :)

Writer's note: As of August, 2018, the secondary source listed above concerning Fayette County, Pennsylvania is the earliest known version of the "Singing Jacobite" story.

Scott Williams' brother Dave responded in August, 2018 with the following:

Schooled as an anthropologist and employed in the marketing communications biz for three decades, I am a student of spin in all things...even in reference to the science of antiquity.

Historical facts have always been somewhat variable, based on who assembled them and why. God love our so-far mythical "John Porter The Emigrant" ancestor. I mean who wouldn't love to have a bawdy bold ancestor who was shipped to our shores for raising musical cane against the King in an English pub. What could be more American.

Scott's on the money. Much of America's self-view can be traced back to a boom in publishing that followed the Civil War. Standard perspectives on virtually everything from the heroes of the Revolution to Annie Oakley are linked to the 1880s and were carried into public education and popular media well into this century, without any large concern that these were all second hand histories.

The rise of blue blood aristocracy fervor over family heritage seems to take off in the 1920s as both an object of family pride and a formal pedigree game.

Luckily, we all live in the golden age of available source records, aided by the Internet and encouraged by a new generation of biographers led by David McCullough who reject second hand histories and directly seek records and correspondence "from the day."

This is great fun to actually unite the superpowers of MOEM and the Porters of Federal Hill into a search for clarification as to exactly how close these families were in colonial times in Western Maryland.

Dave Williams

Nathan Williams added:

Alright time to let the cat out of the bag. Nobody to our knowledge has ever found a single documented piece of evidence about John Porter, emigrant. No evidence of: port of departure, port of arrival, birth, baptism, marriage, kids, land ownership, indenture, will, probate, nothing, nada, zero. Yes, there was a John Porter who lived in Gloucestershire and has records in Bishop Cleeves church, but we have no idea how or why some researcher decided this was our John Porter. We literally can not prove our John Porter existed, other than the reality that John Jr. (who never goes by "Jr." in any record I have seen), Moses, and Henry Porter shared the same father, and he likely had a first and last name ??

To the best our knowledge, what is known about him was oral history until the historian Scharf recorded the story of "The Singing Patriot" in his History of Western Maryland in the 1880s. The story was specifically attached to the biography of Glissan Porter, a descendant of John Porter-Bedford/Allegany. Glissan wrote a letter to the editor of the Cumberland paper telling the story in a nearly identical way, which makes us believe he was the source for the historian, Scharf. Glissan is one of three Porter cousins (the others are Frank Porter and Ellsworth Porter,) who wrote down family histories at roughly the same time. All there agree on some points of the story, but disagree on others. So, there is likely at least a seed of truth to the story of John "The Signing Patriot" Porter, but we have opened our research and are exploring angles not related to the first name "John"nor the state of Maryland because years and years of research by dozens of people have failed to turn up anything here at al

Likewise, we can find no records of the three brothers, John, Moses, and Henry Porter, until they appear in Bedford/Allegany County in the 1770s. This is despite the claims that John Porter Jr. bought land from Charles Carroll, lived in Carrolton, married Nancy McKenzie down there, worked for Mason and Dixon, etc. etc. To be blunt, we have no proof these people ever did anything in Maryland before they show up in our neck of the woods........and two were in PA, not Maryland.

The obvious problem here is that early Porter oral history claims 4 marriages between Porters and McKenzies.

Daniel McKenzie (1715-1783) + Mary (Molly) Porter (1719-1784)
Moses McKenzie Sr. (1720-1774) + Nancy Jane Rachael Porter (take your pick of first name)
Margaret McKenzie + Moses Porter (1735-1794) (this Moses Porter is the one whose will Aaron McKenzie is witness to.)
John Porter Jr. (1737-1810) + Nancy Ann McKenzie (supposed niece of Porter based on the 'standard mode" view of her being Moses Sr. and Nancy Porter's daughter.)

I personally cringe that despite this number of supposed connections, and the rich oral history saying these two families were fellow travelers, and we can't find a single primary source record for ANY of it on the Porter end.

which is why.............


Writer’s note: the bottom line as of August, 2018 is that although the Williams’ have struggled mightily to locate primary source documentation concerning John Porter (b. abt. 1690) and John Thomas Porter, Jr. (b. 1737), nephew Nathan Williams summed it best when he wrote in late August, 2018: "As researchers, we struggle mightily with the reality we can't place ANY of our known Porters in Maryland before they show up in Bedford, PA. Their PA record is the first confirmed appearance of John and Moses Porter. Henry is in Maryland for the 1776 loyalty oath. I will let my Uncle Scott answer Allan (McKenzie) specifically about John Porter, emigrant, but to be honest, he is a ghost. We have no records in the US to show he existed. Our paper trail starts with his alleged sons John, Moses, and Henry Porter on the frontier."

W/r/t the sons of this John Porter (b. abt. 1690), Nathan Williams wrote in August, 2018, as follows: Likewise, we can find no records of the three brothers, John, Moses, and Henry Porter, until they appear in Bedford/Allegany County in the 1770s. This is despite the claims that John Porter Jr. bought land from Charles Carroll, lived in Carrolton, married Nancy McKenzie down there, worked for Mason and Dixon, etc. etc. To be blunt, we have no proof these people ever did anything in Maryland before they show up in our neck of the woods........and two were in PA, not Maryland.

Alan Williams wrote: Only John, Moses and Henry can be verified. The others are all names tagged on by Samuel Doak Porter on the flimsiest of claims. “Mrs. Barcus said she saw an Old Family Bible that said…” That is the same source of the ‘Elinor Durier’ said to be the first John Porter’s wife. mother of John, Moses and Henry.

Gabriel is in my tree only because I initially (several years ago!) used SDP at face value. In his own work, SDP names the others and then says words to effect, ‘sadly no more is known of them’.

John + Eleanor Durier. Eleanor was born in May 1704 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; died in 1778 in Baltimore County, Maryland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

There are no known primary sources establishing Eleanor Durier as the wife of John Porter (b. abt. 1690)

Notes:

From the notes of Philip J. Dietz, Jr. of McLean, Virginia:

Moses inherited 96 acres of McKenzie's Discovery from his father John II in 1758. He was murdered near Cumberland by a robber on returning home with the proceeds from having sold a farm.

Children of Moses McKenzie and Nancy Porter are:
i.   Nancy Ann McKenzie, born 1741 in Hopson's Choice, Baltimore Co.,Md.; died Aft 1786 in Allegany Co., Md.; married John Porter 1765 in Carroll Co., Md..
ii.   Samuel McKenzie, born 1759 in Frederick Co., Md..
iii.   Moses McKenzie,Jr., born 1760 in Frederick Co., Md.; died March 24, 1824 in Cresaptown, Md.; married Sarah McKenzie December 1784 in Hampshire Co., Va.
iv.   Jesse McKenzie, born 1762 in Frederick Co., Md.; died 1818; married Catherine Jones January 22, 1787.
v.   John McKenzie, born 1773.

From Bobbie McKenzie:

I hired Ann Silva, a professional genealogist, about 20 years ago. She found thisin a box of loose papers at the archives. Thisis verbatim ofwhat she sent me. Too fragile to let her Xerox it.

----- Original Message -----
From: Michael McKenzie
To: 'bobbie mckenzie'
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 9:08 PM
Subject: RE: Moses of John 1758

All new to me as well. First I’ve seen that Moses may have been married twice. Racheal MacKenzie’s letter to the “Comacar of Annarandel County” is great. Do you have the document that reflects that language so that I can post it on the web site? Let me know.

Regards

Mike

From: bobbie mckenzie [mailto:dmckenzie@charter.net]
Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2011 6:05 PM
To: Michael McKenzie
Subject: Moses of John 1758

Moses
B. ca 1720
M 1) ? ca 1745-50
M 2) by 1758 Rachael ______
D. by 1767
Issue M 1)
1. Nancy m Porter (per Samuel Doak Porter’s book, no proof)
2. Jonathan per Doak
3. Bennett ( name in Durbin line.
4. George H. per Doak
5. Margaret per undocumented sources
Issue M 2)
Moses b. 1760
Joshua
Jesse
DATA
Received 96 a of McKenzie’s Discovery in will of father John 1758

Box 90 Anne Arundel Co Testamony Bond
“To Goldis Bary, Comacar of Annarandel County Piston (?)
I the wife of Mosses Mackenzie ounble begs that you not alaw any admenatrator n my husbands for he is now dead.. James Cord wonst to admanstor I bag you will not let him if you administrator, let me have the….of it but if their moust administrator it roun me and my small children, to what I have. I have what little I have taken away from the hole a state will a mount to about 20 pounds. My husband paid all his debts before he died as I know of but if their should any to pay I will pay them although neather cattle nor hogs nor norses only one old mare to help my self with. From me Richell Mackenzie”

30 May 1767 p.684 BB No 3 Rachael, widow of Moses, sold 32 acres of MacKenzie’s Discovery to John Cord, a blacksmith. (This would be her widow’s third.)

There is no record of the inventory or administration of the estate of Moses so this sale was probably negated.

26 Aug 1783 Moses of Moses sold all of McKenzie’s Discovery to James Cord
Evidently Rachael is dead by then, but again no inventory or administration unless she married again and those records would be under another surname. Possibility that Moses was with her on the home place, as youngest or oldest. He did not marry until 1785. No Equity Case found so evidently other children of Moses of John d. 1758 did not protest sale.

1790 Allegheny Co Pa census, portion taken from Washington Co
Jesse McKenzie 1 m 16+
John McKenzie 1 m 16+, 1 f 16+, 1m under 16

1785 Joshua m. Mary Jones

22 Jan. 1787 Jesse. M Catherine Jones Pitsburg, PA.

10 July 1794 Aaron witnesses will of Moses Porter (shows our McKenzie line was in Allegheny Co., PA)

25 Sept. 1814 Penn Archvies 6th Series, vol8, p 807 Jesse McKensey and Thos Jones 65th Reg., Capt Marcus Hook
vol 7, p 147 Jesse McKensey served 1st Brig 2nd Div Capt Samuel Flack reg, War if 1812, from Bucks and Montgomery counties

1791 Penn Archives Third Series, Vol. 22 Jesse McKenzie pd taxes Mifflin Twp Allegheny Co.

Jonathan: 1810 taxlist Green Co. (formed 9Feb. 1796 from Washington) PENN Archives Series 2, p. 45 Jefferson Twp, northeast corner next to Washington and Fayette Cos.)

Moses: PENN Archives Series 2, 1800 Somerset Co. (formed from Bedford 17 April 1795) census. P. 558 2 males 10-16, 1 m 26-45, 2 females under 10, 3 females 10-16, 1 female 26-45 (Moses RW listed from Bedford Co in 1796 sale of land in Allegany Co. MD)

Bennett: 1776 Bedford Co., PA tax list so born at least by 1755.

Both Jesse and Joshua, sons of Moses 1720, have sons named Bennett.

Bennett common name in Logsdon and Durbin lines.

George H. ( Must be confused with great-grandson of Moses 1720. First George McKenzie in records was the one born 1815, son of Joshua and Catherine Winters. This Joshua was son of Moses RW who was son of Moses 1720. Catherine Winters was the daughter of Geo Winter, perhaps the source of the name. Name Geo first appears in a chart by Samuel Doak Porter who shows Nicholas as son of Geo of Moses 1720. Actually Nicholas was son of Geo and Catherine and administered Geo’s estate.

Suggest: Bennett, Jonathan, Joshua, Jesse and Moses all end up in Pa.Coincidence? Jonathan, Joshua, Jesse all end up in Ohio.

From Ann Stansbarger:

With regard to the death date for Moses 1720, he was clearly dead long before 1779. I have Rachel Mckinsie listed as owing a debt to the estate of William Hall on 18 September 1771. I have Rachel selling Joshua into indenture in BA Co in 1768. And according to Bobbie, on 30 May 1767 AA Co Land Records P 684, BB No. 3 Rachel sold (unsuccessfully?) a portion of Mackenzie’s Discovery to James Cord. I don’t have this document. Have you ever seen it?

Based on everything I’ve seen, I do believe Moses was dead by 1767.

Ann

Thoughts from Ann McKenzie Stansbarger in an email to the author September 13, 2018:

Hi Mike,

The others will give you there own view on research objectives but I for one am thinking that Moses McKenzie became acquainted with the Porters because they had tenant farms near each other. This would answer the question about when and where the Mackenzies first met the Porters.

My working hypothesis is that Moses was working a tenant farm prior to his father’s death. After his father’s death in ‘58, he had access to an additional 96 acres which was part of Mackenzie’s Discovery. I suspect there was no house on this plot, so Moses and the family may have continued to live on the tenant farm for a time. If the tenant farm was in AA, they could have worked the two farms easily.

If the legend has a grain of truth in it, then Moses decided to sell his additions to the tenant farm (improvements, animals) and move on to a new stage in his life, either in AA, making due with 96 acres, or ultimately cashing out and moving west. That is when disaster struck and he died unexpectedly.

My hypotheses is that he died on the road alone and his body was never found. The story of the murder is one that the Porters have preserved. I believe that is what Rachel thought.

Anyway, it is a lot of conjecture on my part, but it makes sense to me. It would be nice to find something that would allow us to put this story to rest once and for all.

Also it would be great if we could find a connection between the families within the enclave of tenant farmers on one of the Charles Carroll parcels.

Best, Ann

Moses + Nancy Jane (Rachel) Porter. Nancy was born in 1725; died after 1767. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

It’s exciting that Don Kagle was able to find this document (i.e. the letter from Rachel McKenzie to the administrator of Moses' estate). In the typed copy I got from a professional researcher the date was given as 1767. As I understand Testamentary Papers are the minutes of the Prerogative Court which functioned until the Revolution handling probate so Rachel’s letter would have been read at an early 1767 meeting of the Prerogative Court. We can probably shore up the date with the document, probably Orphans Court, that Ann Stansbarger found apprenticing Joshua age 3 or 4 .In May, 1767 Rachael, listed as widow of Moses, sold 32 acres (her widow’s third) of McKenzie’s Discovery to John Cord. p684 BB No 3 Anne Arundel Co.

The file information pertaining to the aforementioned letter dated 1767 is: Prerogative Court (Testamentary Papers) 90 (MdHR 1331; 1-13-13-1) Letter re Moses MacKenzie, n.d. Box 90 Folder 9, Front Only [1] 04/21/88 Tracking No.: 35845. PD No.: 88-02158.

Notes:

John Logsdon, born in 1716, marries Margaret Wooley 10/ 9/1735 in Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore. According to a number of court documents, he was a prominent surveyor, who lived after 1750 at "Fanny's Meadow," his new homestead, now a part of Westminister, Md. Margaret died 1781-87 and John in 1797. They had eight children, three daughters and five sons, one of whom was Ralph.

The children's names listed here come from John Logsdon, Ralph Logsdon, Joseph Ellis & wife & Edward Logsdon vs. Jeremiah Blubaugh, Mary Logue, James Logue, George Payne, Rachel Payne, Ralph Payne and Others, Maryland Chancery Court Proceedings Ck Bk Liber 138, Folio 413-443 December Term 1828

John married Margaret Wooley on 9 Oct 1735 in St. Paul's Church, Baltimore, Maryland. Margaret was born about 1717; died after 1781. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]