Individual Details
Mary Calvert
(19 Dec 1687 - Bef 1737)
The following are excerpts from the Chenoweth Web Page, please visit this site for full information:
"Early family accounts by Alexander Crawford Chenoweth and Cora Hiatt give Mary as a daughter of Charles, the Third Lord of Baltimore. None of the known Calvert family history supports this tradition. Cora gave her mother as Mary Banks, the third of four wives of Charles Calvert, but this Mary was married to Charles only about 5 years before the traditional date of marriage of Mary Calvert to John Chenoweth in 1705. Involved in this tradition and controversy are the mythical vast holdings of the Chenoweths in Maryland, which evolved into a legal battle in the early part of this century. Where Mary's name came from itself is a mystery. A wife is mentioned in John's will, though not specifically by name. Cora Hiatt stated Mary's name is found in two diaries belonging to the families of John's sons, Arthur and Thomas, and an entry in a Bible which came from the family of John's eldest son John. No existing copies of these have been found. The earliest mention of Mary Calvert's name that I can find is 1894 in Alexander Crawford Chenoweth's genealogy study of the Chenoweths and Cromwells. The modern theory is given best by J. Richard Buckey in "The History of the Calverts Who Were Quakers". Here Buckey traces Mary through John Calvert and Judith Stamper who settled in Pennsylvania back to Leonard Calvert, the father of the First Lord of Baltimore, George.
Buckey's theory has the merit of having "time and location" agreement. In the early part of his life in America, John Chenoweth is found in the Philadelphia area, reasonably close to where Mary's parents settled. Families of these Calverts later relocated to the Frederick County area of Virginia as did John Chenoweth and three of his sons. Family tradition has it that William Chenoweth, the first born grandson, married Ruth Calvert, the daughter of Isaac Calvert, then of Frederick County. This Isaac, was a nephew of the Mary Calvert that Buckey has found. Like Mary, no written documentation has been found proving the family tradition at William's wife was indeed Ruth Calvert. William, Jr. did however name one of his sons, Isaac Calvert Chenoweth.
The origins of Mary will probably never be resolved to anyone's satisfaction, but the claimed relationship to the Lords of Baltimore is surely impossible."
Mary Calvert and John Chenoweth
By Gregory George "Greg" Wulker
(Margaret Mary8 Lacy, Charles Edgar7 Lacy, Martha Jane6 Chenoweth, Joseph5, Absolom4, William3, William2, John1)
Mary Calvert, wife of John Chenoweth, was born 19 February 1687 in Upper Providence Township, (later became Delaware County), Pennsylvania in 1789. According to J.R. Buckey, who wrote "The Calverts Who Were Quakers" Mary was the daughter of John Calvert and Judith Stamper, and not the daughter of Charles Calvert, the third Lord Baltimore. I believe this is the accurate placement for Mary who married John Chenoweth.
John Calvert, her father, was born the 6th of October 1648, near Belfast, Ireland. He was married on 29th of May 1673 in Stranmillis, Belfast to Judith Stamper, the daughter of Hugh Stamper and his wife Briget. John Calvert was later living in county Armagh, Ireland and began to embrace the Quaker faith, along with his future brother-in-law Valentine Hollingsworth. Both men were living in the town of Lurgan, Calvert listed as a landowner, and Hollingsworth as a yeoman. A map of Lurgan dated 1703, still showed the name Calvert on a town lot, possibly a brother to John.
The immigration of this Calvert line into Ireland from Yorkshire, England was purely for religious freedom, as this line had chosen to follow the Quaker faith. Quakers were being persecuted and jailed for their beliefs.
Hugh Stamper, Mary Chenoweths' grandfather had been imprisoned in Carlisle Castle Prison in 1663 (Cumbria County, England) for his beliefs, and also fined. Shortly after, he must have fled to Ireland.
County Armagh had become somewhat of a safe haven for Quakers, but still with much prejudice. As the number of Quakers grew, they had established themselves in industries such as linen and wool manufacturing. Although their numbers were small, they controlled a good portion of the economy.
Our Calvert family line along with other Lurgan Quakers were instrumental in helping to perpetuate the Quaker religion in County Armagh and the rest of Ireland. Armagh saw more Quaker immigrants come to America than any other county in Ireland, and John Calvert was among them. He came with William Penn's Quakers into Pennsylvania in 1683.
John Calverts' father and mother-in-law, Hugh and Briget Stamper continued to follow Quaker teachings, and both remained near Lurgan. When they died, they were buried in what is believed to be the oldest Quaker burial ground in Ireland. The graveyard called Lynastown, was begun by Thomas Lynas, for the purpose of burying his father, William, in 1658. Burials numbering about 200 continued there until 1967. The graveyard wall has been repaired, a new gate was in recent years rebuilt, and a large plaque inside the burial ground has the 200 names engraved on it. Both John Calvert and Valentine Hollingsworth were listed as "commissioners" of the graveyard at one time.
Hugh Stamper was buried in 1676, Briget in 1681, a son Daniel in 1684, and daughter Sarah in 1674. There are no gravestones, reflecting the early Quaker belief.
When Mary Calverts father, John, arrived in Pennsylvania in 1683, he purchased of William Penn, land in Upper Providence Township. He became one of the largest landowners in what became Delaware County, PA. After his arrival, he brought his father, Thomas Calvert, and wife, Jane Glassford, to America. Thomas had purchased another 300 acres, but died shortly after arriving. His will, dated 1685 in Philadelphia, mentions his wife Jane, but that is the last we hear of her.
John Calvert acquired upwards of 800 acres from his original purchase, his father's land and sisters. The location of the property can be seen today along the Providence Road, just north of Media, PA. At least 120 acres of the Calvert land is now a municipal park called Rose Tree Park.
This land became the focus of a dispute between John Calvert and his Hollingsworth in-laws. At the same time, the Quakers asked John Calvert to settle the dispute .... he refused to answer them and this must have been the reason for John Calvert to leave the Quaker faith. He had been elected constable of Upper Providence in 1687. There is no other indication that John joined another church. When he died however in September 1699, the Philadelphia Quaker Meeting graveyard recorded his burial as one not of the Quaker faith.
Judith Calvert, however, had joined another faith, and in 1697 she was baptized in Ridley Creek, near her home, by Thomas Martin. She was baptized into the Seventh Day Baptist Church but this union did not last long. About 1700, a difference arose about which day to observe the Sabbath, and the society was dissolved.
In 1702, and before, a group was forming; some from Christ Church, Philadelphia and many who were former Quakers. They started a church near the Delaware River and the church was to be called St Paul's Episcopal on the Delaware.
In the records of the church are found Judith Calvert and her son Isaac, both who became wardens of the church. They are found on a list dated 1704. St Paul's Episcopal (Anglican) Church was erected about 1702, and consecrated by the Rev. John Talbot in January 1703. John Talbot had been a ship's chaplain, and later came to America from England as the first missionary for The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. This was the missionary branch of the Anglican Church.
Another who would become instrumental in this church was the Rev. Evan Evans, a Welshman, formerly of Christ Church. He had been a missionary traveling about Philadelphia and the surrounding churches, and preached at St. David's at Radnor in Welsh. Maybe John Chenoweth had been present at one of these churches.
At St. Paul's however, Rev. Evans was listed as the occasional minister for the church through 1703. It is my belief that Rev. Evan Evans was the one who married John Chenoweth and Mary Calvert, at the church of her mother, St. Pauls Episcopal, sometime in the year 1703.
In 1704, John Talbot had removed to Burlington, New Jersey, some 20 miles up the Delaware River. His missionary position was all that was needed to spearhead an already eager group of Episcopalian followers. In 1702, the congregation had begun a church call St. Anne's in the earliest records, but was shortly changed to St. Mary's.
It is here that John Chenoweth and Mary Calvert Chenoweth followed, and in the records of the church, completed in 1705, is listed a son William Chenoweth, christened in 1704. Land records of Bristol, PA across the Delaware River from Burlington, record the name of John Chenoweth as a witness to three separate land transactions, dated 1706, 1707, and 1708. I believe he was living in Bristol, PA, crossing over by way of ferry to St. Mary's church.
John Talbot had become the rector of St Mary's, and in 1712, a new Episcopal church named St. James (the Greater) was built in Bristol. Rev. Talbot also became the rector there. St Mary's in Burlington is still there, the original part of the church built 1702-1705, with many additions over the years. This is the oldest Episcopal Church in New Jersey, and a newer church is across the graveyard, which was built in the mid 1800's. I have no doubt that the children of John and Mary Chenoweth were christened in these two churches.
There are two things which may have precipitated John and Mary's move from this area. One, a great fire broke out in Bristol in 1724, and nearly leveled the town. Being the early county seat, it was afterwards removed to Doylestown.
Secondly, the death of Rev. John Talbot took place in 1727, about the same time we found John Chenoweth and his son, John, Jr, as a witness to the Bowen/Kirk marriage down in Nottingham, now Cecil Co., PA.
I am inclined to believe the former date, as John Chenoweth, Jr is found to have been married in 1730 at St John's Episcopal Church, Copley Parish in which congregation was forming in 1724. St Johns was completed in 1729/30 and located near Joppa, now called Joppatown, and located on what is now called Rumsey Island, a newer church constructed in the 1970s is on the site of the former St John's; it is called Church of the Resurrection. When contractors were excavating the site, they found the old foundation of St. John's. It is now roped off to show the outline of the original church.
Also a reminder that Baltimore City was not laid out until 1729. The Joppa wharf was silting up, and thus prompted the demise of the town. By 1768 Joppa was in ruins.
I have been giving you this information which I started to accumulate before the 2006 Chenoweth Family Reunion. I spent several days visiting the above mentioned sites prior to the reunion, and have found it interesting again to find that our Chenoweth ancestors were always "on the frontier". They are truly pioneers in every sense of the word.
"Early family accounts by Alexander Crawford Chenoweth and Cora Hiatt give Mary as a daughter of Charles, the Third Lord of Baltimore. None of the known Calvert family history supports this tradition. Cora gave her mother as Mary Banks, the third of four wives of Charles Calvert, but this Mary was married to Charles only about 5 years before the traditional date of marriage of Mary Calvert to John Chenoweth in 1705. Involved in this tradition and controversy are the mythical vast holdings of the Chenoweths in Maryland, which evolved into a legal battle in the early part of this century. Where Mary's name came from itself is a mystery. A wife is mentioned in John's will, though not specifically by name. Cora Hiatt stated Mary's name is found in two diaries belonging to the families of John's sons, Arthur and Thomas, and an entry in a Bible which came from the family of John's eldest son John. No existing copies of these have been found. The earliest mention of Mary Calvert's name that I can find is 1894 in Alexander Crawford Chenoweth's genealogy study of the Chenoweths and Cromwells. The modern theory is given best by J. Richard Buckey in "The History of the Calverts Who Were Quakers". Here Buckey traces Mary through John Calvert and Judith Stamper who settled in Pennsylvania back to Leonard Calvert, the father of the First Lord of Baltimore, George.
Buckey's theory has the merit of having "time and location" agreement. In the early part of his life in America, John Chenoweth is found in the Philadelphia area, reasonably close to where Mary's parents settled. Families of these Calverts later relocated to the Frederick County area of Virginia as did John Chenoweth and three of his sons. Family tradition has it that William Chenoweth, the first born grandson, married Ruth Calvert, the daughter of Isaac Calvert, then of Frederick County. This Isaac, was a nephew of the Mary Calvert that Buckey has found. Like Mary, no written documentation has been found proving the family tradition at William's wife was indeed Ruth Calvert. William, Jr. did however name one of his sons, Isaac Calvert Chenoweth.
The origins of Mary will probably never be resolved to anyone's satisfaction, but the claimed relationship to the Lords of Baltimore is surely impossible."
Mary Calvert and John Chenoweth
By Gregory George "Greg" Wulker
(Margaret Mary8 Lacy, Charles Edgar7 Lacy, Martha Jane6 Chenoweth, Joseph5, Absolom4, William3, William2, John1)
Mary Calvert, wife of John Chenoweth, was born 19 February 1687 in Upper Providence Township, (later became Delaware County), Pennsylvania in 1789. According to J.R. Buckey, who wrote "The Calverts Who Were Quakers" Mary was the daughter of John Calvert and Judith Stamper, and not the daughter of Charles Calvert, the third Lord Baltimore. I believe this is the accurate placement for Mary who married John Chenoweth.
John Calvert, her father, was born the 6th of October 1648, near Belfast, Ireland. He was married on 29th of May 1673 in Stranmillis, Belfast to Judith Stamper, the daughter of Hugh Stamper and his wife Briget. John Calvert was later living in county Armagh, Ireland and began to embrace the Quaker faith, along with his future brother-in-law Valentine Hollingsworth. Both men were living in the town of Lurgan, Calvert listed as a landowner, and Hollingsworth as a yeoman. A map of Lurgan dated 1703, still showed the name Calvert on a town lot, possibly a brother to John.
The immigration of this Calvert line into Ireland from Yorkshire, England was purely for religious freedom, as this line had chosen to follow the Quaker faith. Quakers were being persecuted and jailed for their beliefs.
Hugh Stamper, Mary Chenoweths' grandfather had been imprisoned in Carlisle Castle Prison in 1663 (Cumbria County, England) for his beliefs, and also fined. Shortly after, he must have fled to Ireland.
County Armagh had become somewhat of a safe haven for Quakers, but still with much prejudice. As the number of Quakers grew, they had established themselves in industries such as linen and wool manufacturing. Although their numbers were small, they controlled a good portion of the economy.
Our Calvert family line along with other Lurgan Quakers were instrumental in helping to perpetuate the Quaker religion in County Armagh and the rest of Ireland. Armagh saw more Quaker immigrants come to America than any other county in Ireland, and John Calvert was among them. He came with William Penn's Quakers into Pennsylvania in 1683.
John Calverts' father and mother-in-law, Hugh and Briget Stamper continued to follow Quaker teachings, and both remained near Lurgan. When they died, they were buried in what is believed to be the oldest Quaker burial ground in Ireland. The graveyard called Lynastown, was begun by Thomas Lynas, for the purpose of burying his father, William, in 1658. Burials numbering about 200 continued there until 1967. The graveyard wall has been repaired, a new gate was in recent years rebuilt, and a large plaque inside the burial ground has the 200 names engraved on it. Both John Calvert and Valentine Hollingsworth were listed as "commissioners" of the graveyard at one time.
Hugh Stamper was buried in 1676, Briget in 1681, a son Daniel in 1684, and daughter Sarah in 1674. There are no gravestones, reflecting the early Quaker belief.
When Mary Calverts father, John, arrived in Pennsylvania in 1683, he purchased of William Penn, land in Upper Providence Township. He became one of the largest landowners in what became Delaware County, PA. After his arrival, he brought his father, Thomas Calvert, and wife, Jane Glassford, to America. Thomas had purchased another 300 acres, but died shortly after arriving. His will, dated 1685 in Philadelphia, mentions his wife Jane, but that is the last we hear of her.
John Calvert acquired upwards of 800 acres from his original purchase, his father's land and sisters. The location of the property can be seen today along the Providence Road, just north of Media, PA. At least 120 acres of the Calvert land is now a municipal park called Rose Tree Park.
This land became the focus of a dispute between John Calvert and his Hollingsworth in-laws. At the same time, the Quakers asked John Calvert to settle the dispute .... he refused to answer them and this must have been the reason for John Calvert to leave the Quaker faith. He had been elected constable of Upper Providence in 1687. There is no other indication that John joined another church. When he died however in September 1699, the Philadelphia Quaker Meeting graveyard recorded his burial as one not of the Quaker faith.
Judith Calvert, however, had joined another faith, and in 1697 she was baptized in Ridley Creek, near her home, by Thomas Martin. She was baptized into the Seventh Day Baptist Church but this union did not last long. About 1700, a difference arose about which day to observe the Sabbath, and the society was dissolved.
In 1702, and before, a group was forming; some from Christ Church, Philadelphia and many who were former Quakers. They started a church near the Delaware River and the church was to be called St Paul's Episcopal on the Delaware.
In the records of the church are found Judith Calvert and her son Isaac, both who became wardens of the church. They are found on a list dated 1704. St Paul's Episcopal (Anglican) Church was erected about 1702, and consecrated by the Rev. John Talbot in January 1703. John Talbot had been a ship's chaplain, and later came to America from England as the first missionary for The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. This was the missionary branch of the Anglican Church.
Another who would become instrumental in this church was the Rev. Evan Evans, a Welshman, formerly of Christ Church. He had been a missionary traveling about Philadelphia and the surrounding churches, and preached at St. David's at Radnor in Welsh. Maybe John Chenoweth had been present at one of these churches.
At St. Paul's however, Rev. Evans was listed as the occasional minister for the church through 1703. It is my belief that Rev. Evan Evans was the one who married John Chenoweth and Mary Calvert, at the church of her mother, St. Pauls Episcopal, sometime in the year 1703.
In 1704, John Talbot had removed to Burlington, New Jersey, some 20 miles up the Delaware River. His missionary position was all that was needed to spearhead an already eager group of Episcopalian followers. In 1702, the congregation had begun a church call St. Anne's in the earliest records, but was shortly changed to St. Mary's.
It is here that John Chenoweth and Mary Calvert Chenoweth followed, and in the records of the church, completed in 1705, is listed a son William Chenoweth, christened in 1704. Land records of Bristol, PA across the Delaware River from Burlington, record the name of John Chenoweth as a witness to three separate land transactions, dated 1706, 1707, and 1708. I believe he was living in Bristol, PA, crossing over by way of ferry to St. Mary's church.
John Talbot had become the rector of St Mary's, and in 1712, a new Episcopal church named St. James (the Greater) was built in Bristol. Rev. Talbot also became the rector there. St Mary's in Burlington is still there, the original part of the church built 1702-1705, with many additions over the years. This is the oldest Episcopal Church in New Jersey, and a newer church is across the graveyard, which was built in the mid 1800's. I have no doubt that the children of John and Mary Chenoweth were christened in these two churches.
There are two things which may have precipitated John and Mary's move from this area. One, a great fire broke out in Bristol in 1724, and nearly leveled the town. Being the early county seat, it was afterwards removed to Doylestown.
Secondly, the death of Rev. John Talbot took place in 1727, about the same time we found John Chenoweth and his son, John, Jr, as a witness to the Bowen/Kirk marriage down in Nottingham, now Cecil Co., PA.
I am inclined to believe the former date, as John Chenoweth, Jr is found to have been married in 1730 at St John's Episcopal Church, Copley Parish in which congregation was forming in 1724. St Johns was completed in 1729/30 and located near Joppa, now called Joppatown, and located on what is now called Rumsey Island, a newer church constructed in the 1970s is on the site of the former St John's; it is called Church of the Resurrection. When contractors were excavating the site, they found the old foundation of St. John's. It is now roped off to show the outline of the original church.
Also a reminder that Baltimore City was not laid out until 1729. The Joppa wharf was silting up, and thus prompted the demise of the town. By 1768 Joppa was in ruins.
I have been giving you this information which I started to accumulate before the 2006 Chenoweth Family Reunion. I spent several days visiting the above mentioned sites prior to the reunion, and have found it interesting again to find that our Chenoweth ancestors were always "on the frontier". They are truly pioneers in every sense of the word.
Events
| Birth | 19 Dec 1687 | (later became Delaware Co., Pennsylvania), Upper Providence Township, Pennsylvania, British America |  | ||
| Marriage | Abt 1703 | Pennsylvania, British America - John Chenoweth |  | | |
| Death | Bef 1737 | Maryland, British America | |
Families
| Spouse | John Chenoweth (1682 - 1746) |
| Child | John Chenoweth (1706 - 1771) |
| Child | Mary Chenoweth (1708 - 1746) |
| Child | Richard Chenoweth (1710 - 1781) |
| Child | Hannah Chenoweth (1713 - 1764) |
| Child | Arthur Chenoweth Sr. (1716 - 1802) |
| Child | William Chenoweth (1718 - 1785) |
| Child | Thomas Chenoweth (1720 - 1778) |
| Child | Ruth Chenoweth (1722 - 1760) |
| Father | John Calvert (1648 - ) |
| Mother | Judith Stamper (1650 - ) |
| Sibling | Isaac Calvert ( - ) |
Notes
Marriage
probably in the home of one of Mary's relatives*2nd Wife of John Chenoweth:
m: Jane (Wood) ? b: Bet. 1690 - 1710 m: December 16, 1736 in St. Paul's Parish, Baltimore Co., MD d: Unknown Comment: Widow of William Wood
Endnotes
1. Chenoweth Family Site from Colonial times to present day, Descendants of John Chenoweth & Mary Calvert, Jon D. Egge online [http://chenowethsite.com/], accessed 9/2006.
2. Gregory George "Greg" Wulker, "Mary Calvert and John Chenoweth," e-mail message from <> (Milford, OH) to CHENOWETH FAMILY NEWSLETTER, Dec 2006.
3. Chenoweth Family Site from Colonial times to present day, Descendants of John Chenoweth & Mary Calvert, Jon D. Egge online [http://chenowethsite.com/], accessed 9/2006.
4. Chenoweth Family Site from Colonial times to present day, Descendants of John Chenoweth & Mary Calvert, Jon D. Egge online [http://chenowethsite.com/], accessed 9/2006.