Geddes in 18th century mid-Atlantic America.....

[Linda Kemp]

Geddes is my "adopted" family. That is, I bought an historic c1755 house on the Eastern Shore of Maryland (www.geddeshouse.com [some info out of date, sorry]), am tracing the history of the house and its first owner Capt Willliam Geddes Esq, and am looking for Geddes ancestors & descendents. William and his father Robert recorded their nationality as Scottish on multiple records. Extended family locations included London ENG, Philadelphia PA, Wilmington DE, Baltimore MD, & Charleston SC. I strongly suspect a Capt William Geddes of Barbados (late 17th century), who had dealings in Philadelphia, was related. Possibly also John Geddes, a 19th century governor of South Carolina.


GENERATION 1:

Robert GEDDES/GADDIS, b.~1702 place unk, d.1767 Somerset Co MD. Married Susannah/Susan BURDEN, b.~1702 likely Philadelphia PA, d.1754 Somerset Co MD. (Susannah's father was Thomas BURDEN of Philadelphia.) Robert was an innkeeper in Princess Anne MD (county seat of Somerset Co) and likely also a landowner/planter as well as merchant/shipper. Children include William, Alexander of London, Margaret of Philadelphia, Sarah, and Jane GEDDES.


GENERATION 2:

William GEDDES Esq, b.1738 Somerset Co MD, d.likely 1801 Philadelphia PA (perhaps earlier in Delaware).
First marriage 1759 Somerset Co MD: Mary HANDY, b.1740/41 likely Somerset Co MD, d.1766 Somerset Co MD. (Mary's parents were Capt John HANDY + Jane/Jean DASHIELL. The Handys & Dashiells were prominent Lower Eastern Shore families.) Children include Robert, Jane, and 3 more GEDDES.
Second marriage 1768 Kent Co MD: Mary WILMER, b.1737/38 Kent Co MD, d.1803 Wilmington DE. (Mary's parents were Simon WILMER of Philadelphia + Mary PRICE. The Wilmers were a prominent mid-Atlantic family. Mary's stepfather was Rev Hugh JONES of Cecil Co MD.) Children include Robert, William, Susannah, Simon Wilmer, Anna Maria, Alexander, and Mary GEDDES .

Alexander GEDDES, b.likely 1723-38 NewCastle Co DE, d.unk. Marriage unk. In 1767, living in London ENG.

Jane GEDDES, b.~1724 NewCastle Co DE, d.1748 likely NewCastle Co DE. Married George STEVENSON, b.1718 Ireland. Children include Henry STEVENSON.

Sarah GEDDES, b.1727 likely NewCastle Co DE, d.1813 Philadelphia PA. Married James LATIMER, b.1719 Ireland, d.1807 Wilmington DE. Children include George, Henry, Margaret, Sarah, James, Jean, Thomas, Susanna, and William Geddes LATIMER.

Margaret GEDDES, b.~1739 likely NewCastle Co DE, d.1803 Philadelphia PA or Wilmington DE. Married unk HAMILTON. Children unk.


GENERATION 3 (from William Geddes):

Robert GEDDES (son of Mary HANDY), b.1761 Somerset Co MD. I believe he was the Dr Robert Geddes of Chestertown (Kent Co) MD who married Elizabeth WRIGHT and had children William Robert, Juliet, Thomas Sydenham, Jane, Mary, Robert, and Louisa GEDDES.

Jane GEDDES (dau of Mary HANDY), b.1763 Somerset Co MD, d.1791 Wicomico Co MD. Married Col Levin HANDY, b.1755 Somerset Co MD, d.1795 Somerset Co MD. Children include Harriet HANDY.

Susannah GEDDES (dau of Mary WILMER), b.1772 Kent Co MD, d.1801. Married Tristram THOMAS, b.1769 Talbot Co MD, d.1847. Children include Elizabeth Martin, William (Geddes?), Susan, William Henry, and Margaret Eliza THOMAS.

Anna Maria GEDDES (dau of Mary WILMER), b.1775 Kent Co MD, d.aft.1830. Married Col Anne Louis de TOUSARD, b.1748/49 Paris FR, d.1817 Paris FR. (Louis' parents were Gen Charles Germain de TOUSSARD + Marie Antoinette Francoise de POITTERIN. Louis' first wife was Marie Francoise Reine JOUBERT, which produced children Louise Caroline Francoise & Josephine Elisabeth Laurette TOUSARD.) Anna Maria's children unk.

Mary GEDDES (dau of Mary WILMER), b.1778 Kent Co MD. Married Dr George GILLESPIE, b.1774 likely New York NY. Children include Mary Caroline GILLESPIE.

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William Geddes Esq ran in "jet set" business & political circles of the time. He was a merchant and ship captain in Princess Anne MD. Later in Chestertown MD he served about 10 years as Custom Collector for the Royal Port of Chester. After the Revolution broke out, he served for a year as officer in the Continental Navy. Then for about 10 years he served in a staff position in the Continental Congress. He "retired" to manage his farms in the Wilmington (NewCastle Co) DE area.

About 6 months after the Boston Tea Party, a similar incident happened in Chestertown. While William was still Custom Collector, his brigantine Geddes, in port at Chester, was raided by townspeople and had its small cargo of tea tossed into the Chester River. Since 1975, every Memorial Day weekend (end of May) the town celebrates the Chestertown Tea Party festival, during which folks dressed in 18th century garb reenact the tea tossing off of the sides of the schooner Sultana, which plays the part of the Geddes.

In 1775, William and about 20 of his closest business buddies (including an English nobleman or two) formed a land speculation joint venture to purchase from about a dozen Indian chiefs a tract of land along both sides of the Wabash River in "Illinois country"--an enormous tract that today comprises a significant portion of the states of Illinois & Indiana. Timing was bad. Neither England nor the new US ratified the deal, so from then on the group of speculators suffered severe financial drain to defend their claim. The case was eventually decided in 1832 by the Supreme Court under Justice Marshall. The decision established multiple precedents in US law, including being one of three key cases that framed US relations with the Indian nations (this case and its implications are still hotly debated today). (BTW, good to know that the group did not cheat the Indians. In 1832 descendents of the chiefs came to Washington to testify they had been treated fairly and indeed received the entire amount due them from Geddes et al.)

William's daughter Anna Maria is interesting. Her husband Louis de Tousard, French refugee from the Santo Domingo uprising, artillery expert, and hero of the American Revolution serving under Lafayette, was buddies with DuPont and worked with him to start a "little" gunpowder business in Delaware. Louis also managed the affairs of Betsy Patterson of Baltimore, wife of Napoleon's brother Jerome. Anna Maria corresponded with Mme Bonaparte for about 30 years (letters in Univ of Michigan archives at Ann Arbor). It was Louis who proposed to Congress the establishment of a world-class military academy: West Point. He subsequently cofounded it with Ben Franklin's grandnephew. Louis' multivolume artillery textbook was first to advocate for standardized, interchangeable parts for firearms--a key idea that fueled the Industrial Revolution. Anna Maria lived for a while in Baltimore and New Orleans LA while Louis served there in multiple French consul positions. Anna Maria might have died in Paris.

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If you think you might have a connection to this extended family, I'd LOVE to hear from you!!

Thanks, Linda

[CatrionaL]

Hullo Linda

I came across your post while browsing the site.

Thank you for an interesting read.

Have you been able to find the link back to Scotland yet?

Best wishes

Catriona

[Skene Dhu]

Hi Linda,
Looked at your post with interest, and if there is a Scottish connection with the Geddes family, I would tend to opt for the fishing port of Portgordon in Banffshire. Many families there, including GEDDES, INNES, REID, COULL and SUDING (SUDINCK) were not only fishermen, but shipowners, and traded in the Baltic and the Americas. There is a web site http://www.portgordon.org, but the earliest GEDDES`s are around 1750`s, a note to the webmaster, who, I believe is Dr. Peter Reid may be of some help to you.

Good Luck
John

[Linda Kemp]

Catriona,

No, unfortunately I have not yet made the link to Scotland. But I also haven't been working at it--trying to stay focused on getting my dissertation completed.

I see you're from France. Tousard/Toussard was relatively famous in the US and stemmed from French elite. I look forward to having the time to pursue that line, and hopefully find out if Anna Maria died there.

Mmmm.... France. Your note prompted me to get a glass of wine.

Best regards, Linda


John,

Edinburgh! Oh how I hope to someday get there. Thanks for the lead. Will definitely follow it up. I'm certain that my Geddes is from a long line of shippers/merchants from Scotland from at least the 17th century. E.g., I found a Capt Alexander Geddes from Scotland (17th century) who I suspect could have been related. And there was a Capt Henry Geddes, an American Revolution War hero from the Philadelphia/Wilmington area, who I strongly suspect was related, but so far I've been unable to find evidence of any connection other than shared name & vicinity & circle of associates (e.g., Henry was awarded a medal by the Continental Congress for service during the Revolution).

Again, thanks for the info!

Linda

[Thrall]

Catriona,

No, unfortunately I have not yet made the link to Scotland. But I also haven't been working at it--trying to stay focused on getting my dissertation completed.

Edinburgh! Oh how I hope to someday get there. Thanks for the lead. Will definitely follow it up. I'm certain that my Geddes is from a long line of shippers/merchants from Scotland from at least the 17th century. E.g., I found a Capt Alexander Geddes from Scotland (17th century) who I suspect could have been related.

Jist dinna forget Jenny!......................(Geddes)

Whae hid ra biceps......................and ra stool!.............

Good hunting,

Thrall