|
|
m. Bef 1720 - John Semple, Jr.1720 - 1773
- Nancy SempleAbt 1721 -
Facts and Events
John Semple
- Charles County, Maryland Land Record Book O#3, 1765-1770; Page 86. Instrument of writing.
- This present contract of copartnership is agreed upon among John Semple Jr., merchant in Portobacco in Maryland, son to the decd John Semple Sr., merchant in Hamilton, James Lawson, merchant in Glasgow, and John Hamilton, writer in Maihline {Mouchline). Sd persons have agreed to be in company together, to carry on a joint trade to and from Virginia or Maryland. To do so, they have already purchased a ship called the Sallie and goods to send to Portobacco, to the value of 3000 £ The goods are to be under the trust and management of sd John Semple. It is hereby declared that sd Semple [have] 6 12th parts, being the one half of the sd trade, and sd Lawson in 5 12th parts, and sd Hamilton the other 12th of the same, with the option to add another 12th to the capitol stock, and trade when he sees fit, [by] next Jan 1. It is agreed that the capitol stock shall be 3000 £ This is a 3 year agreement, starting May 20, 1757 years, and SO long thereafter as the partners shall see fit. Lawson is to have the management and disposal for the company, of all the tobacco or other effects or sums that shall be transmitted by sd Semple to him on the company account, and is to keep exact books. Each partner will receive profit in proportion to his investment.
- Signed -
- Jo. Hamilton,
- James Lawson.
- James Montgomery, master of the ship Sally, and
- Joseph Marten, his mate, are witnesses to this agreement, at Maryland, on Aug 29, in the year afd [sic].
- Signed -
- James Lawson,
- Jo. Hamilton,
- John Semple.
- Wit - James Montgomerie,
- Joseph Martin,
- David Templeton,
- John Hamilton.
- Recorded Jul 15, 1766.
References
- William D. Theriault. History of Eastern Jefferson County, West Virginia. (Published by the Author)
Pages 37-44, 2009.
- Alan L. Karras. Sojourners in the Sun: Scottish Migrants in Jamaica and the Chesapeake, 1740 - 1800. (Cornell University Press)
Pages 93-99, 1992.
"The Tobacco Factor Run Amok" Page 93-99
Discusses John Semple and James Lawsons' business and mentions' James Lawsons' wife Nancy Semple, sister of John Semple. James does not blame wife Nancy for her brothers' bad business handling.
- Virginia, United States. Chancery Records Index. (Virginia, United States: Library of Virginia)
1780.
Frederick County (VA), Northwest, Chancery Records 1745-1926, Index No., 1780-009. Plaintiff EXR OF GERSHOM KEYES, HUMPHREY KEYES EXR, RUTH KEYES v. Defendent JOHN BALLANDINE
SURNAMES Within Documents - BALLANDINE, CARTER, KEYES, RICE, ROYCE, SAMPLE, SEMPLE, VESTAL.
- To George Washington from John Semple, 8 January 1770, in National Historical Publications & Records Commission. Founders Online: Correspondence and Other Writings of Six Major Shapers of the United States.
- Patrick Hogue (Samples). Semple & Lawson Tobacco Firm.
- Patrick Hogue (Samples). "Keep Tryst" Iron Works Furnace (Maryland & Virginia).
- Patrick Hogue (Samples). The Samples / Semples Family.
- John Semple was a Scott who became a partner of his brother- in-law James Lawson in a Maryland tobacco firm in 1750. By 1763, he had taken control of Ballendine's Occoquan operations. During the next 2 years, Semple acquired more than 20,000 acres of land in Maryland and Virginia (much of it on credit) and borrowed large sums of money from several Scottish merchants to finance the construction of mills, furnaces, and forges. Unable to pay his debts, Semple was forced to mortgage most of his property to Lawson in 1769. According to Lawson's reckoning, Semple's debts exceeded 24,000 pounds of British, Virginia, and Maryland currency and 114,000 pounds of crop tobacco. During the same period, Semple was also conferring with George Washington on methods of improving navigation on the Potomac and attempting to settle disputes with Ross and Company. Semple died in 1773, and many of his debts remained unsettled until 1793. See Richard F. McMaster and David C. Skaggs (eds.), "The Letterbooks of Alexander Hamilton, Piscataway Factor," Maryland Historical Magazine 63:28-29; Deed Book M, pp. 418-424, Frederick County Maryland; Fitzpatrick (ed.), Diaries of George Washington, 1:323; John C. Fitzpatrick (ed.), The Writings of George Washington (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1931-1944), 2:46, 52-53; 3:53; 30:276-277; 31:137-138, 145-146, 149-150; 32:332-336, 390-391, 410-411, 450-451; David C. Skaggs, "John Semple and the Development of the Potomac Valley," Va. Mag. Hist. Biog. 29(1984):282-308.
- Israel Friend - Part 3 of 3 – His Last Years and the Early Iron Industry - By Dan Guzy.
Israel Friend’s three sons sold off their inherited tracts before moving farther into the backcountry. Jacob Friend sold the orebank property to John Ballendine, who in turn sold it to his partner John Semple in 1763. Both Ballendine and Semple had been involved with iron furnace and forge operations at Occoquan Iron Works, off the lower Potomac River.
John Semple bought other land near Friend’s in Virginia and Maryland and built the Keep Tryst (also called Keep Triste or Keep Triest) Furnace at the mouth of Elk Run, just downstream of Friend’s tracts. (“Keep Tryst” is Semple’s Scottish clan motto meaning “always faithful.”) Semple also began building a forge, grist mill and dam at the mouth of Antietam Creek. Semple’s Antietam projects were unfinished when a group headed by David Ross bought them in 1764. These eventually were named the Antietam Iron Works and initially depended on pig iron from Semple’s Keep Tryst Furnace until they built their own iron furnaces at Antietam.
Transporting iron to forges and to the market was difficult and expensive over colonial dirt roads, so John Semple and John Ballendine both developed plans for opening the upper Potomac to navigation. George Washington reviewed those plans in developing his own Potomac Company navigational system.
In 1769, John Semple built a navigational sluice at House Falls (near the Maryland tract of Sarah Friend’s second husband, John House) to enable him to boat his pig iron upstream from the Keep Tryst Furnace to the forge at Antietam. The House Falls Sluice, also known as the “Cow Ring Sluice,” was later improved by the Potomac Company. This might be the oldest river navigational work still in use in this country. Israel Friend was an important pioneer of the upper Potomac valley—coming first as an Indian fur trader, obtaining the first land deed in the area, establishing a home nearby, guiding the 1736 Potomac River survey, and participating in (or at least anticipating) the early iron industry. The Swedish lad from the Delaware River shore did historic things and saw remarkable changes during his lifetime.
Israel Friend, a three-part series by Dan Guzy in Conococheague Institute Blog - Exploring the clash and integration of cultures on the Conococheague frontier.
|
|
