The 'Importing' of Joseph Billiter to the Maryland Colony in 1671

Retrieval by Jim Billiter. Transcription by Jim Billiter. Pointer courtesy Marsha Bovey.

Source: Maryland State Archives, Land Patents, Liber 17, Folio 74. Underscores "_____" indicate unreadable text.

Transcription history:

3/5/2002 - Initial transcript.

3/9/2002 - Put into HTML format. No material changes. (Current)

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Page title: "( 74 ) 1679"

Placement. The entry in the land patent involving Joseph Billiter is near the middle of the page (folio) and its 10 lines comprise about 1/5th of the page's total content.

Margin entry: "( 145 )" on line 1.

Margin entry: "Talbot County" on line 2.

Centered on line 1: "August 20th 1679"

"Robert Farington[1][2] proved then five Rights due for Importing himself Ann his wife Jane his Daughter and Joseph Billiter & Phillip Sutton his Servants into this Province to inhabit in may 1671."

"_____ November 1679 ________ Matt Warde"

"Warrant then issued in the name of Robert Farrington[1] of Talbot County for two hundred and fifty acres of Land it being due to him for Transporting himself Ann his wife Jane his Daughter Joseph Billiter and Phillip Sutton into this Province to Inhabit."

"Certificate returnable the 7th of February next"

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Transcriber's notes:

[1] There are two differing spellings of Robert's surname: FaRington and FaRRington in the document. [ If one is inclined to choose between the FaRRington and FaRington surname spellings, I would suggest that FaRRington would be the best choice. From 1990 US census data FaRRington ranks 3009th (there are 3008 surnames more frequently occurring in the 1990 US census). The variant FaRington is 'not found'; either totally absent or so infrequent as to not register on the 1990 census' radar. Contrast that rank with the BillEter/BillIter surname ranks: billEter - 74926th, billIter - 32383rd. ]

[2] Others have mentioned that 'Farington/Farrington' could equally well be transcribed as 'Harington/Harrington'. I have chosen 'F' because the uppercase, old-style, script 'F' is certainly identical to that of the first letter in 'February', which appears at least twice elsewhere on folio 74.


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