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John Chenoweth, Sr.
b.Abt 1682 St Martins, Menage, Cornwall, Wales
d.Bef 11 Jun 1745 Frederick County, Virginia
Family tree▼ (edit)
m. Abt 1706
Facts and Events
[edit] About John Chenoweth
John CHINOWETH was born at St. Martins in Meneage, Cornwall County, Wales (now England) about 1682-3. There is a dispute as to which of two brothers, William or John, was his father. He married Mary Calvert about 1705, possibly the daughter of John Calvert, born 1648 near Belfast, and Judith Stamper. Their children were:
John and Mary probably emigrated from the British Isles about 1715, and settled on Gunpowder River, near Joppa, Baltimore County, Maryland, on an estate belonging to the Calverts which was called "Gunpowder Manor," possibly heired by Mary and her father. John and Mary lived there almost thirty years and raised their family of eight children and, because of their long residence here, the place gradually became known as Chenoweth Manor. He was identified as a gentleman, blacksmith and surveyor. "John was a skilled blacksmith, and to us that term today would mean he was a manufacturer, for in those days every article used that was made of iron was made in the blacksmith shops: farming implements, plows, wagons, harrows, etc., axes, hammers, shovels, spades, etc., all kinds of chains, and even the nails were made at the shops and sold at 25 cents per 100. Many men worked at the shops and there were always apprentice boys learning the trade. Such was the life of John and his sons, while the farming was done mostly by the negro slaves. "John always appeared as a man of means, and after his children were married, and the grandchildren began to fill the Old Manor house, it was decided that the different families must have homes of their own. So it was arranged that his eldest son, whose name was also John, and his two youngest sons, William and Thomas, should go to Virginia, where it seemed a good place to locate. "Here is where the division of the family came, and a century later tradition said there were three brothers, who came from Wales and settled in Virginia, while another version was that John Chinoweth and his two sons, Arthur and Richard, had come and settled in Maryland. These traditional stories were not cleared up until a few years ago, when a synopsis of the will of John was secured, which gave the names of all his children. It was given thus: In Frederick County, Virginia, on April 11, 1746, John Chinoweth, blacksmith, made his will, probated May 6, 1746. Witnesses were Joseph Stanley, Mary Stanley and William Jolliffe. He mentions wife (not by name), children, John (eldest), Richard, Arthur, William, Thomas, Mary Watson, Hannah Carter, and Ruth Petitt; grandson, John Watson, Jr.; son-in-law John Petitt. Son, Thomas Chinoweth, and James Carter were appointed executors. "From this will it is shown that he must have been visiting his sons in Virginia, for there are no land grants, patents, or deeds showing that he ever purchased any land there, while the grants, patents and deeds do show the land possessions belonging to the sons in Virginia, also, of the two sons who remained in Maryland. "John died leaving his family well provided for." References
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