Most of the following taken from Abraham LeMaster (1638-1722) of Charles Co. MD and his Descendants – Vol. 1, by Ralph Smith, April 1997.
Abraham LeMaster was the son of John and Sarah Lemaistre. The surname of Lemaistre was French and means “the Master” probably a reference to him or his ancestors being a master craftsman. The name was angelized to LeMaster and later changed later in our line to LaMaster.
Transcription: Abraham Lemaistre the son of John and Sarah Lemaistre, aged eighty one years or thereabouts deposeth upon the Holy Evangel of Almighty God that he was born in the old Jerseys in the Parish of St Maries and further this deposition saith not.
Sworn before us this Twenty Seventh Day of June anno domini 1720 (Year of our Lord)
The June 1720 record establishes Abraham’s origins as Jersey in the Channel Islands. Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands, and Ste. Marie’s Parish is located on its northern coast. The Channel Islands are situated in the English Channel, but closer to France than to England.
Although originally settled by people from Normandy and Brittany, the Channel Islands have belonged to England since the Norman Conquest in 1066. Despite being part of Great Britain for over 900 years, French remained the official language there until fairly recent times. The Channel Islands were occupied by Nazi Germany during W.W. II. Today they are known as a tax haven.
Abraham’s Channel Islands origins coincide nicely with Lord Baltimore’s Amended Conditions of Plantation (discussed below) and further dispel the notion that Abraham might have been an immigrant from France. Thus, at the time of his emigration to Maryland, Abraham was a British subject, as were virtually all the settlers in Maryland at t his time, although he was of French descent and probably spoke French in addition to English. It would seem unlikely that Abraham came directly from Jersey to Maryland. More likely the ship he was on departed from an English port, and perhaps Abraham had a residence in England for a time prior to sailing for Maryland.
Although Abraham is generally claimed to have been a Protestant, there is really no evidence of his religious persuasion, and he may have been a Catholic. Although most of the earliest immigrants to Maryland were Catholic, by the time of Abraham’s arrival, there were considerable numbers of Protestants in Maryland owing to the confluence of Lord Baltimore’s practice of religious toleration, and the absence of same in Virginia . Because of religious problems associated with t he monarchy in England, it became vey difficult to be a Catholic in Maryland after 1689 , so that even if Abraham were originally Catholic it would not be surprising if the family be came Protestant there after. The Huguenot Society (French Protestants) has accepted descendants of Abraham for membership, but I know of no basis for their decision to do so. I have the notion that French Protestants were more likely to use Old Testament names (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) than their Catholic counterparts , but would need to have the advice of a Huguenot expert as to whether this is so. Not only did individuals, then as now, change their religious preference for reasons of conscience (or convenience), but with the unique religious status of Maryland for the first 50 years or so of its existence, there was considerable intermarriage between Catholics and Protestants. Abraham’s daughter, Sarah seems rather likely to have been a Catholic because she and her husband John Tennison named a son Ignatius, and her husband John was probably a Protestant. On the other hand, Abraham’s daughter Mary was surely a Protestant because her husband was an Anglican minister. At any rate, nearly all of Abraham’s later descendants were Protestants.
As to his occupation, Abraham is never called anything but “planter” (farmer). The words “planter” and “plantation” in earl y Maryland do not have the grandiose connotation we attribute to them in the Antebellum South, but applied to even small farmers barely eking out a living on their land. The records of Abraham indicate that he was literate, but some of his children were not.
When did Abraham come to Maryland?
We know that Abraham was in Maryland by Sep. 1662 when he witnessed the Houldcraft will. How much earlier was he there?
Under the terms of Lord Baltimore’s original Conditions of Plantation, a person received land for transporting himself and others to Maryland. Persons who were transported at someone else’s expense contracted to repay the cost of their transportation by agreeing to act as a servant for a period of years, and were called “indentured servants.” Indentured servants were not entitled to free land, and after completing their period of servitude they were expected to lease a tenancy.
In 1648, the Conditions of Plantation were amended to provide that indentured servants who had satisfactorily served out the contract with their transporter were entitled to claim 50 acres of land. The Amended Conditions of Plantation of 1648 also required that former indentured servant land applicants be of British or Irish lineage, that their period of servitude have been not less than 3 years, and that they apply for their land rights within one year after they finished their period of servitude.
This is the category that Abraham falls into. That is, he was an indentured servant who had come to Maryland after 1648, and having completed his period of servitude, he became entitled to 50 acres of free land. This he did in Nov. 1668. According to “The History of Charles County, Maryland,” by Margaret B. Klapthor and Paul D. Brown, p. 153, the cost of passage to Maryland was about six pounds sterling, and the period of servitude (the time in which the passage cost would be worked off) depended upon the skill, ability and value of the servant. The authors state that a period of five years was the usual indenture period for a farm worker or other unskilled person without a trade. Shorter indenture periods were generally for persons with a valuable skill, and longer indenture periods were generally for debtors, petty criminals or others being involuntarily transported to Maryland.
I did my own survey of the first 200 pages in the Skordas book and found 43 people who received land for service under the 1648 Amended Conditions of Plantation. There is a bell-shaped curve, peaking at 6 years’ servitude (7 men). 4 and 5 years servitude produced 5 men each, and 7 and 8 years’ service had 3 and 4 men respectively. 3 and 9 years’ service had only 1 man each. The results of this survey coincide pretty well with Klapthor and Brown’s conclusions.
Was this new benefit for servants after 1648 (free land) necessary because of a decrease in persons willing to serve under the former conditions, or had their numbers remained about the same, but increased immigration was wanted? And, in this regard, one wonders if the average period of servitude lengthened slightly after 1648 when free land became available to the servants.
From the 1662 and 1668 records of Abraham, we know that he had been in Maryland 6 years when he proved his land right, and if the terms of the Amended Conditions of Plantation were complied with (1 year to apply), then the end of Abraham’s period of servitude would have been between Nov. 1667 and Nov. 1668, and presumably closer to the latter date, since why wait around for a year to claim your entitlement? These dates already give us a 5-6 year period for Abraham’s servitude, and it seems unlikely to me that Abraham came to Maryland before 1661, and maybe not until 1662, because otherwise he would have had an unusually long period of servitude. That Abraham’s occupation was as a farmer seems consistent with a period of servitude of about 5-6 years.
The John Smith who transported Abraham to Maryland ca. 1662 was entitled to 50 acres of land for having transported Abraham. This would be in addition to the 50 acres each that John was entitled to for transporting himself and any others that came with him in addition to Abraham. However, no John Smith ever claimed land for having transported Abraham. This is unfortunate for us because had John Smith claimed the 50 acres due him for transporting Abraham, we would have a better date for the transportation, know the entire group of persons that came together, and know the location of the land that was granted to John Smith, which is probably where Abraham lived during his period of servitude. Nor does it appear that John Smith assigned (sold) his right to 50 acres for Abraham’s transportation to someone else because no one else ever claimed land for transporting Abraham either.
I have tried to do some John Smith research in early Maryland, but the name is just too common. There are so many John Smiths who came to Maryland at an early date that we cannot even conclude which John Smith was Abraham’s transporter. One assumes that the John Smith who transported Abraham lived in St. Mary’s Co. Unfortunately, the only source that shows the various John Smiths who came to Maryland (Skordas) does not indicate which county they came to. Nor can one just turn to the records of St. Mary’s Co. to find which John Smith(s) were there at the appropriate time because the early records of St. Mary’s Co. have all been lost.
I have a suspicion that the John Smith who transported Abraham died before he was able to claim land for Abraham’s transportation, and that the John Smith of whom we have some mention in the early records of the LeMaster was his son.
******************************************************************
Will of Abraham LeMaster
Liber 18, Folio 10, Hall of Records, Annapolis, MD
In the name of God Amen; I Abraham LeMaster being weak of body but being in perfect sense and memory, thanks be to the God of the same. Knowing that the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death, do make my last Will and Testament. I give and bequeath my soul to the Almighty God that gave it to me, hoping through the death and propitiation of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to have eternal life. I give my body to the earth to be decently buried at the discretion of my Executors hereafter named.
I give and bequeath to my loving son John LeMaster my dwelling plantation to him and the male heirs of his body forever, but in the case the son John should die without such heirs then it to fall and descend to the next heir of the LeMasters.
I give and bequeath to my loving son Isaac LeMaster all that tract of land whereon he now dwells, to him and his heirs forver.
I give and bequeath unto my loving daughters Sarah Teneson and Mary Barrone all that I have of land called Berry to be divided equally to them and their heirs forever.
LeMaster, Abraham, Charles Co.,
Maryland Calendar of Wills: Volume 5
20th Sept., 1722; 11th Dec., 1722
To son John, ex., and hrs., dwelling plantation.
To son Isaac and hrs., tract where he now lives.
To daus. Sarah Teneson and Mary Barron and their hrs., Berry equally.
Wife to have use of dwell. plan. during life. Dan. Anne to dwell on some pt. of land during her husband’s absence.
Test: Richard Edelen, James Ludwell, Thomas Reibird. 18, 10.
Children of Abraham LeMaster
