Hannah Scarbrough[1] (ca. 1677-aft. 1 Jul 1725)
Hannah Scarbrough was most likely born in Accomack County, Virginia, in the mid-to-late 1670s. Her parents were Matthew Scarbrough and Hannah Wise, who lived there then.[2]
On July 27, 1680, Matthew Scarbrough was granted land in Somerset County, Maryland, for importing himself, his family, and 17 servants.[3] His family was listed as his wife Hannah and his daughters Hannah and Dennis. This suggests that Hannah was born before that date and that the family relocated to Somerset County around that time.
Matthew Scarbrough was a prominent and wealthy figure. For several years, he represented Somerset County in the Maryland Assembly.[4] In 1693, he was appointed Constable.[5] He served as a court justice in 1697.[6]
Matthew owned a significant amount of land in Mattapony Hundred.[7] In 17th-century Maryland, a hundred was an administrative division within a county. Somerset County, established in 1666, was initially divided into six hundreds: Mattapony, Pocomoke, Boquetenorton, Wicomico, and Baltimore.[8] After American independence, Maryland's hundreds were reorganized into election districts, with Mattapony becoming the Sandy Hill district, later known as the Stockton election district.[9]
The identity of Matthew’s parents is unclear. He does not seem to be closely related to the descendants of Captain Edmund Scarbrough, who, as Justice of the Peace, established the first court in what was then known as Accawmacke Shire on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.[10] Captain Scarbrough’s son, Colonel Edmund Scarbrough, was one of the most notable and ruthless politicians in Accomack County.[11]
Matthew was probably a distant relative since the surname Scarbrough (more commonly spelled Scarborough) is an English place name indicating that someone is from the town in Yorkshire, Northern England, where the manor of Scarborough is located. This family settled in Orkney, Scotland, from Norway in the 15th century. They took their name from lands at Scarth or Settiscarth in the Orkneys.[12]
Hannah’s mother was Hannah Wise, the daughter of Hannah Scarbrough and John Wise. John Wise was born in England in 1617 and died in Accomack County, Virginia, in 1695.[13] He served as a justice of the general court and was a colonel in the Accomac Militia.[14] Hannah Scarbrough was the granddaughter of Captain Edmund Scarbrough, as mentioned previously.
Hannah’s first husband was James Maynard, who lived in Somerset County. While the exact date of their marriage remains unknown, court records from 1694 pertain to his estate after his death.[15] Hannah’s father helped pay the administration bond for the estate, and Hannah is listed as the executor.[16] In 1696, Hannah, identified as the administrator of the estate of James Maynard, deceased from Somerset County, filed a lawsuit in Accomack County, Virginia, against John Barrow for debts owed to Maynard’s estate.[17]
Hannah married Daniel Paine sometime before October 8, 1702, when her father granted her 109 acres of land called Islington in Somerset County, Maryland.[18] We know she married Daniel Paine from Virginia because the deed refers to his daughter Hannah, the now wife of Mr. Daniel Payne of Northampton County in Virginia. Given Hannah's ties with Accomack County, Virginia, through her parents and former husband, it is unsurprising that she would have met Daniel despite living about one day’s journey away from each other.
Hannah and Daniel had three children: Daniel, John, and Esther. We know this since Daniel refers to them in his will.[19] Daniel died between writing his will on May 9, 1709, and the county court probating his estate on July 28, 1709.[20]
Soon after Daniel’s death, Hannah married William Foster. We know this because on March 28, 1710, the Northampton County Court divided Daniel’s estate between William Foster, identified as Hannah’s husband, and Benjamin Straton.[21] Hannah and William had two children, William and Mary.[22] Hannah obtained an allowance from William Foster’s estate on July 1, 1725, so William Foster died sometime before then.[23]
Hanna’s father wrote his will on February 11, 1718. While he granted land to his son, John, and four sons-in-law, he did not mention Hannah or her husband, William Foster. She was still alive when Matthew wrote his will, as she received an allowance from William Foster’s estate in 1725. William Foster may have died before 1718, but it is unlikely that Hannah waited seven years to request an allowance from his estate. It could be that Matthew disapproved of William Foster or thought William owned enough land. Regardless, we will probably never know why Matthew excluded Hannah from his will.
It is unclear when and where Hannah died. She may have moved with her son John Pain to Maryland, who appeared on the tax list in Mattapony Hundred in 1724.[24] Her son William Foster does not mention her in his will dated March 9, 1736.[25]
Footnotes
[1] While the modern spelling of her surname is Scarborough, I’m spelling it the way it appears most often in official documents.
[2] Virginia, Accomack County. Orders 1676-1678. FamilySearch, film # 008357973, image 4 of 762 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSY6-MVR5?lang=en&i=3, p. 29, image 34 of 762 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSY6-MVT9?lang=en&i=33.
[3] Skordas, Gust. The early settlers of Maryland; an index to names of immigrants compiled from records of land patents, 1633-1680, in the Hall of Records, Annapolis, Maryland. (Baltimore MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1968) 407.
[4] Maryland. Proceedings and acts of the General Assembly of Maryland, FamilySearch, film #007564322, p. 169, image 97 of 321 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-9966-SFPM?lang=en&i=96, p. 172, image 99 of 321 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L966-SKMS?lang=en&i=98.
[5] Maryland, Somerset County. Deeds 1691-1703. FamilySearch, film #007575971, image 3 of 738 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99XH-NZ88?i=2, p. 1, image 5 of 738 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99XH-NZ25?i=4.
[6] Maryland. Proceedings of the Council of Maryland 1696/7-1698. FamilySearch, film #007940625, image 360 of 732 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSZZ-6QCK-3?lang=en&i=359, p. 128, image 454 of 732 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSZZ-6QZ3-H?lang=en&i=454.
[7] Matthew Scarbrough’s land ownership appears in multiple entries in Maryland Patent Certificates & Warrants, Somerset County Rent Rolls, and Somerset County Deeds.
[8] Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_(county_division)
[9] Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattapony
[10] Wise, Jennings C. Ye kingdome of Accawmacke; or, the Eastern Shore of Virginia in the seventeenth century. (Richmond, Virginia: The Bell Book and Stationery Co., 1911) 81. https://archive.org/details/cu31924076360118/page/n93/mode/2up.
[11] Wikipedia, Text (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Scarborough : accessed 19 December 2024), Entry for Colonel Edmund Scarborough.
[12] Scarth History, Family Cre & Coats of Arms. https://www.houseofnames.com/scarth-family-crest
[13] Find a Grave, database (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8972942/john-wise%7C : accessed 10 February 2025), memorial 8972942, entry for John Wise, Wise Cemetery, Onancock, Accomack, Virginia, USA.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Maryland. Ac. 1249 Inventories and Accounts. Vol. 17, 1694-1698 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C914-KBNW?i=30, pp. 41-47, images 49-52 of 722 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C914-KBVL?i=48.
[16] Maryland. Ac. 971 Testamentary Proceedings. Vol. 15, 169?-1694 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C914-GW65-4?i=90, p. 47, image 164 of 1,211 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C914-GW6P-Z?i=163.
[17] Virginia, Accomack County. Orders 1690-1697. FamilySearch, film #008357973, image 118 of 762 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSY6-MVGF?i=117, pp. 189-190, images 212-213 of 280 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSY6-MKZG.
[18] Maryland, Somerset County. Deeds 1691-1703. FamilySearch, film #007575971, image 3 of 738 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99XH-NZ88?i=2, p. 699, image 386 of 738 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9XH-NHKZ?i=385.
[19] Virginia, Northampton County. Orders, Wills & C No. 14 1698-1710. FamilySearch, Film #007645502, image 4 of 1,174. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-YCMV?i=3&cat=372292, p. 483, Image 256 of 1174 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-Y4DZ?i=255&cat=372292
[20] Ibid.
[21] Virginia, Northampton County. Orders, Wills & C No. 14 1698-1710, p. 527, image 277 of 1174 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-Y4DZ?i=255&cat=372292.
[22] MilesFiles 23.0, online database at https://espl-genealogy.org/familygroup.php?familyID=F27529&tree=1.
[23] Virginia, Northampton County. Order Book No. 18 1722-1729. FamilySearch, Film #007645502, Image 753 of 1174 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-YHWG?cat=399930&i=752, pp 194-196, images 952-954 of 1,174 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-YCHH?cat=399930&i=951.
[24] John E. Jacob, Somerset County tax list for year 1724, p. 2, Worcester County Public Library, Snow Hill, Maryland.
[25] Virginia, Northampton County. Wills & Inventories No. 18 1733-1740 Part 1. FamilySearch, film #007676192, image 359 of 568 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TC-NSQX-F?lang=en&i=358, pp. 165-166, images 527-528 of 568 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TC-NSQS-C?lang=en.
