John Ridgway (I)

bef 1690-aft 1733

John Ridgway was born sometime prior to 1690, most likely in Charles County, Maryland. He married Elizabeth Simmons, the daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth Simmons, about 1712.⁽¹⁾ John is listed as the father of five children in the King George's Parish register,⁽²⁾ and was apparently a man of some wealth for that time period.

In a Prince George's County deed dated April 23, 1715, Robert Clark, a lawyer of said county, conveyed to John Ridgway, planter, for the sum of 26 pounds "lawful money of Great Brittaine", a tract of land on Broad Creek below the mouth of Clash Creek, called Clarkson's Purchase. This tract lies in an area which was formerly part of Charles County, adjacent to the Potomac River south of present day Washington, D.C.⁽³⁾ This property contained 192 acres, a dwelling house, out house, barns, stables, gardens, and orchards, and bordered two other tracts, Addison's Expedition and Batchelour's Harbour. Clarkson's Purchase was originally a proprietary land grant to William Clarkson, dated July 18, 1687,⁽⁴⁾ and shortly thereafter deeded to Robert Clark. In a deed dated July 12, 1718 John Ridgway sold Clarkson's Purchase to William Tyler, carpenter of Prince George's County, for 8000 pounds of tobacco.⁽⁵⁾ During this period, tobacco was often used as currency, since it was the most important commodity in the southern colonies. This deed was acknowledged by John's wife Elizabeth, and witnessed by Thomas Addison and Albania Batlett.

John appears just once more in the land records of Prince George's County, on August 22, 1733, when he conveys "for love and natural affection," unto his oldest son Robert, "my goods chattels, leases, household stuff, bed's & bedding, utensils, brass, pewter, veal cattle, sheep, hogs & all other my substance..." in return for which Robert and his heirs must provide "a good convenient bed, board and clothing for the remainder of his (John's) natural life."⁽⁶⁾ John's wife Elizabeth was not mentioned in this deed, and is assumed to have died sometime previously. The date of John's death is unknown. John and Elizabeth had five known children whose birth records are to be found in the register of King George's Parish:

Children of John & Elizabeth Ridgway

1. Robert Ridgway (1713-1781) Married a woman named Sarah and had six children. Robert, as mentioned above, inherited his father's estate in 1733. Robert's will was probated on June 9, 1781 in Montgomery County, Maryland.
   
2. Elizabeth Ridgway (b.1714)
   
3. John Ridgway (II) (1716-ca.1793) Married Mary Tenley.⁽⁷⁾ Had at least one son, John Jr., born in 1757 in Prince George's County.
   
4. Jonathan Ridgway (II) (1716/17-1807) Jonathan married a woman named Elizabeth and resided his entire life in Prince George's County, Maryland. They had five known children, Richard, Benjamin, Basil, Elizabeth and Margery.
   
5. Rebecca Ridgway (b.1721)

Footnotes

1. Ancestral File ver. 4.12, John Ridgway (AFN:M2GF-9K) and Elizabeth Simmons (AFN:M2GF-BQ), LDS Family History Center.

2. Indexes of Church Registers 1686-1885, Vol. 1, King George's or St. John's Parish, compiled by Helen W. Brown, Prince George's County Historical Society.

3. Prince George's County Land Records, Liber F, Folio 473, Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, MD.

4. ibid, Liber 22, Folio 319.

5. ibid, microfilm records, CR 49,516-2, Folio 690.

6. ibid, Liber Q, Folio 690/1.

7. reference 1, John Ridgway (AFN:9PQJ-WV) and Mary Tenley (AFN:9PQJ-X2).