Particularly Interesting "Family" Members

• Thomas Ward Veazey - Governor of MD 1836-39. Son of Edward Veazey and Elizabeth De Coursey, grandson of Col. John Veazey Jr. and Rebecca Ward, great grandson of Col. John Ward and Alice.

• Augustine Herman (spellings also found – Hermann and Hermen). Herman is one of Cecil County’s founding fathers, and he lived at his treasured homestead "Bohemia Manor", on the Bohemia River, until his death in 1686. His second marriage was to Catherine Ward. One of his daughters from his first marriage, Anna Margaretta Hermen, married Henry Ward and then Matthias Vanderheyden, after Henry died.

• George Read - Signer of the Declaration of Independence; 1733 – 1798; He was a judge and Revolutionary War Statesman. He was born in Cecil County, and later moved to Delaware. He served as a member of the 2nd Continental Congress, and became a US Senator and State Chief Justice.

• Judge Jehu Davis was not only a judge, he served in the Delaware General Assembly and is listed as the ninth President of Delaware. He is an ancestor of Henrietta George Davis who married Thomas Ward "Sixth of Woodlawn".

• Betsy Ross who sewed the first American flag. Elizabeth Griscom married John Ross, son of Aeneas and Sarah (Leach) Ross, grandson of George and Joanna (Williams) Ross.

• Francis Scott Key is the son of John Ross Key and grandson of Francis Key and Anne Arnold Ross.

• Peter MacEwan My great-grandfather was not only a brilliant chemist; he had literary abilities of a high order. During his residence in Edinburgh he published a considerable number of original papers, the result of research on chemical and pharmaceutical subjects, and he was elected a Fellow of the Chemical Society in 1886.

• How the Veazeys and Wards are related to President George Bush.
  Some Wards have a closer connection for Thomas Davis and his wife Rebecca Gregory/MacGregor were parents of Rebecca Davis who married William Ward "Third of Woodlawn", born 1727/8. Thomas and Rebecca were also parents of William Davis, an ancestor of Presidents Bush.

  The tale of George E. Walker, ancestor of the Presidents Bush, is interesting and involves a lot of your relatives and connections. After George was orphaned before he reached his majority his brother-in-law Dr. James Scanlan, a grandson of William Matthews, became his legal guardian and made an effort to give him a Catholic education. George married Harriet Mercer who had inherited a 321 acre farm, Chew's Resurvey, located near Frisby's Prime Choice. However, the family could not make a go of farming and fell upon hard times, deciding to travel by wagon to Illinois in the fall of 1838.

  Thanks to Alice Davis Cates for this information! She is a descendant of Ann Mercer 1796-1851 who married Dr. David Davis. The Bush family are descendants of Ann's sister Harriet. Harriet's family tree is often completely wrong in Presidential genealogies.

• Kitty Knight (1775 - 1855) An early American Heroine, Kitty Knight was credited with saving part of Georgetown during the War of 1812. She was the daughter of John and Catherine Knight, both prominent and active citizens of the area. Her uncle served in the General Assembly and was a member of the United States House of Representatives.

• Colonel Harry Gilmor; After homesteading in Wisconsin and Nebraska, he returned to Maryland in time to join the newly formed Baltimore County Horse Guards as a corporal. The mission of that horse column is the subject of one of the most unique cavalry raids of the Civil War. He was elected colonel of cavalry in the Maryland National Guard. He also served as Baltimore City Police Commissioner from 1874 to 1879. He was a member of the Society of the Army and Navy of the Confederate States in Maryland and it's Vice-President in 1882. A fascinating read about local history for Baltimoreans: Gilmor's Ride Around Baltimore.

• John Jabez Caldwell (1836-1910/1920) formerly associated with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore and at one time Health Officer of the Republic of Baltimore.

• Jonathan Caldwell and the "Blue Hen's Chickens" of Delaware

• Matthew Tilghman Ward - "Tilghman Island" was originally called Choptank Island and subsequently called Ward's Island, having belonged to Matthew Tilghman Ward. Finally it was called Tilghman's Island, from having been the property of the Hon. Matthew Tilghman. He is not a Ward of Cecil County family member except through marriages and descent. He is from another line of Wards in Southern Maryland.

• Lieutenant Colonel Tench Tilghman

• Colonel Allan McLane was an officer and Revolutionary War Hero of the Revolution of 1776. He saved Lafayette from capture by the English when Lafayette came to America in 1824 and visited Allan McLane. Mary Thomspon McLane sat in his lap! [Information from Bill Ward, son of Allan McLane Ward who was my grandfather's brother.]