Multiple Anthony Hollands have muddied the waters as I have tried to determine whether there was one generation or two between Anthony who left a will in 1702 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland and Anthony Holland who died in 1799 in Scott County, Kentucky.

Part of the problem is a lack of fixed birth years for either man. The senior Anthony patented land in 1670, so it is safe to assume that he was at least 21 years old at the time so born no later than 1649. Anthony could have been quite a bit older, but likely was not, given that birth estimates for children by his first wife are in the 1670s.

The biggest difficulty, though, is not with when this Anthony was born, but when my husband’s Anthony was born. I found a few crumbs in Anne Arundel County land deeds that have added new details to my knowledge of this family.

My research goal right now is to identify the parents of Anthony Holland who migrated to Kentucky. I would also love to determine whether my husband Dave’s Anthony was the grandson or great grandson of the first Anthony.

First, here is a recap of the first Anthony’s children, the first four by his first (unknown) wife, the others were children of Isabella Parsons, his second wife:

Eliza, born about 1672; married to Richard Gott, about 1691, based on the birth of son Richard on 2 May 1692
John, born about 1674; married Ann Spicer, 11 December 1701, Anne Arundel County, MD
Benjamin, born about 1676; married Mary Wilson, 6 January 1703, Anne Arundel County, MD
Anthony, born about 1678; died after his father’s 1702 will

Thomas, born 20 January 1686; married Margaret Waters, 3 April 1712, Anne Arundel County, MD; recorded Quaker marriage
Richard, born 1 March 1687; died after his father’s 1702 will. No marriage record has been found for him and he is not mentioned in Benjamin Capell’s 1711 will.
Jacob, born 2 May 1690; married Margaret Medcalf, 11 Nov 1714, Anne Arundel County, MD
Capell, born 10 June 1692; married Katherine Eldridge, 27 May 1718, Anne Arundel County, MD
Susanna, born 24 April 1694; died after 20 August 1711, when Benjamin Capell’s will was probated and she was mentioned, unmarried at that time;  possibly the Susanna who married John Sunderland, 9 September 1731, Anne Arundel County, MD
Abraham, born 13 June 1698; died after his father’s 1702 will, but probably before April 1715.

Next, I am going to focus just on the sons, but knowing the daughters is important because of land deeds that have been found. We have:

John – had one known son, William plus several daughters
Benjamin – left no descendants and his brother, Jacob, inherited his estate
Anthony – named in a few land deeds in the 1730s and 1740s, but left no will. Wife and children are unknown.

Thomas – no known sons, one known daughter
Richard – apparently lost at sea years before; see deed abstract under Abraham
Jacob – no known sons, two known daughters
Capell – two known sons from land records, Abraham and William
Abraham – died young with proof found in this abstract:

Now, the list of possibilities to connect Anthony the first with my husband’s Anthony can be narrowed down even more, assuming that there are no identified sons lurking in the background.

The new scaled back list consists only of John (son William), Anthony (unknown children) and Capell (sons Abraham and William). It doesn’t look like any of the Holland brothers named a son Anthony, so I am going to assume for the moment that Anthony survived and had an unidentified family.

This Anthony is also going to be the focus of my research in the hopes that I can determine if he lived a long life or died young without issue. The most tantalizing bits of information I have uncovered are the will of John Scrivener written in 1783 and probated in 1789 and one entry in the Anne Arundel rent roll records. First – the rent roll:

Anne Arundel Rent Roll

Notice that there was a conveyance and re-survey from Anthony Holland and wife AND John Scrivener and wife to John Wilmot, Jr. on 12 December 1707. This can only be the 1703 Anthony’s son. There is a further entry again from Anthony Holland and wife AND John Scrivener and wife dated 12 Oct 1764.

The Maryland State Archives helped with the details:

John Scrivener, schoolmaster, of AA Co., in 1764 conveyed to Anthony Holland 39 acres of Disappointment (part of Brown’s Enlargement) and 4 acres of Brown’s Enlargement ({AALR BB#3:278). In 1764, his wife Rebecca joined him, and Anthony Holland and wife Mary, in selling 264 acres of Harness’ Range to John Wilmot (AALR BB#3:335).

NOTE: I found a mention in a book about Anne Arundel County that one Anthony Holland might have married a Mary Howard, daughter of Gideon Howard.

Further –

In 1783 John Scrivener was listed as owning 125 a., pt. Birkheads Advise, in Lyons Creek Hundred (1783 AL:3). He was also listed as owning 183 a., part Disappointment, and 6 a. Brown’s Enlargement, in Upper Fork & Bear Ground Hundred:5 (1783 AL).

Here is the will of John Scrivener, written in 1783 and probated in 1789:

John Scrivener’s Will, 1783

This will is important because it places the births of both Ephraim and John Holland no later than 1762 and possibly a bit earlier. Ephraim was listed above Henry, so perhaps we can assume he was older and born no later than about 1760.

This, in turn, would place the middle Anthony’s year of birth no later than about 1735 and possibly quite a bit earlier. I am thinking right now that these three Anthonys were grandfather, father and son, but it still needs to be proven.

It is also very important because not one, but three Hollands witnessed this will. My question is whether the three men of legal majority were just handy as nearby neighbors or if there was a familial relationship there. It is possible that Ephraim or Henry Howard married a Scrivener or that the two families were just very good friends.

The fourth witness was Vachel Warfield. John Scrivener’s daughter, Elizabeth, married Absolem Warfield.

Lastly, I found two land deeds, one for Joseph Nicholson dated 1738 that mentioned his property was bounded by that of Anthony Holland. The second deed was for Nathan Todd, dated 1745, that also mentioned Anthony Holland as owning a bordering property.

There is one more clue. In 1791, preparing to migrate to Kentucky, Anthony Holland sold off his land, which included property called Far Enough, but re-surveyed and now the whole called Brown’s Enlargement.

Portion of the 1791 Land Deed

Did Anthony Holland who went to Kentucky buy up the rest of Brown’s Enlargement from John Scrivener’s sons, William, Benjamin and John, who inherited the property after the death of their mother?

I still have no firm answers. This puzzle will take more rounds of intensive research, but at this moment, my belief that Anthony 1, 2 and 3 are three consecutive direct generations is getting stronger.