Jonathan Ridgway (II)

1716-1807

Jonathan Ridgway was born on March 23, 1716/17 in King George's Parish in Prince George's County, Maryland.(1) The uncertainty in the year is due to differences between the older Julian calendar, then in common use in the English colonies, and the modern Gregorian calendar, which was not in general use until after 1752. Jonathan married a woman named Elizabeth whose maiden name is not known.

He served in Captain Samuel Magruder's Company of colonial militia from Prince George's County, and is listed on the 1749 muster roll for that unit.(2) Jonathan and Elizabeth are listed in the 1776 census for St. John's (King George's) and Prince George's Parish, where both their ages are given as 57 years. In this census they have two male children ages 16 and 21. Jonathan is listed in the 1794 and 1796 Personal Property Tax Lists for Piscataway & Hynson Hundreds in Prince George's County. He is not listed in the tax list for the year 1800. It is not known how many children Jonathan and Elizabeth had, though they had at least five, including three sons and two daughters. It is believed that one of the two males listed in Jonathan's household for the 1776 census was Benjamin, who married Mary Hardy on December 14, 1779,(3) and the other male is Basil, who married Elizabeth Brashears in January of 1779.

In a will dated 1806 and probated in Prince George's County, Jonathan names daughters Elizabeth Willet and Margery Nichols, and sons Richard (executor), Benjamin and Basil. Richard received all of his father's estate, both real and personal, while sons Benjamin and Basil received 1 shilling sterling each.(4)

Children of Jonathan & Elizabeth Ridgway

  1. Richard Ridgway (b.ca.1752) Richard was probably the oldest child, as he served as executor on his father's will. He married a woman named Charity (b.ca.1748), and is listed in the 1776 census for Prince George's County with two males, age 4 and 1, and two females, age 8 and 6. Richard shows up in the Real Property Tax List for Prince George's County from 1804 to 1808 (extant records) with three tracts of land, Sandy Thicket, Tadock's Lot and Friendship, for a total of 305 acres.
  2. Elizabeth Ridgway (b.Aft.1750) Married a man named Willet some time before 1776. Mentioned in her father's will dated 1806.
  3. Margery Ridgway (b. Aft.1750) Married a man named Nichols some time before 1776. Mentioned in her father's will.
  4. Benjamin Ridgway (b.ca.1755) Married Mary Hardy in Prince George's County on December 14, 1779.
  5. Basil Ridgway (III) (ca.1760-ca.1840) Married Elizabeth Brashears (b.ca.1761) in Prince George's County. Basil moved with his extended family to Virginia between 1807 and 1810. The family eventually settled in that part of Shenandoah County which is now part of Warren County and lies between the North and South forks of the Shenandoah River. Basil and Elizabeth had 10 children, John, Nancy Millie, Mary "Polli", Richard, Joseph, Elizabeth, Judson, Basil Jr. and William.


Footnotes

1. 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.

2. Colonial Wars Record Group, Prince George's County, Box 1, Folder 8, Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, MD.

3. Index to Prince George's County Marriage Records, Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, MD.

4. Prince George's County Wills, Liber T #1 (1770-1808), Folio 645, Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, MD.