Additional information
by Henry C. Peden (Author)
The inspiration for this book, Colonial Maryland Commissions, Appointments, and Other Proceedings, 1726-1776, came from listings published in the Maryland Historical Magazine in 1931 and 1932. The information in those articles was gleaned from Maryland Commission Book No. 82, 1733-1773, being one of the records of the Council of Maryland. They contained primarily commissions for public service and appointments to various offices. There were also ship registrations with the name of the ship, its weight, when and where it was built, its master, its owner(s), and the date of registration. Inductions of clergyman and their licenses to preach, and convicted felons, their crimes, punishments and/or pardons, were included, mostly African Americans. There were also a number of naturalizations and denizations as well. Additional civil servants were subsequently found in selected county court minutes and proceedings for this book and any clarification of the information has been inserted in brackets herein and are comments of the author.
Another Maryland Commission Record book at the Maryland State Archives, titled "Governor and Council Commissioner Records, 1726-1794," and Calendar of Maryland State Papers, were reviewed and information was gleaned pertaining to commissioners of the peace, committee appointments, justices, sheriffs, constables, coroners, rangers, and convicted felons. More information was also gleaned from various volumes of the Archives of Maryland, and some other published sources, to fill in the unexplained gap between 1751 and 1761 in Maryland Commission Book No. 82.
All persons have been arranged alphabetically herein and names within the text have been cross-referenced, thus precluding the necessity for a separate index. In many cases their years of birth and death have been included. Information is documented with the reference cited after each entry. This book will be especially useful to family historians and those seeking a qualifying ancestor for membership in various colonial patriotic societies.
