William Moubray, the Jacobite

William Moubray was born in Abercorn, West Lothian Scotland to John and Mary Moubray. The best time estimate is about 1698 or 1699 since he was about 18 when he came to America.

Abercorn

Abercorn, a small village about 14 miles west by northwest of Edinburgh, is close to the south coast of the Firth of Forth.  Abercorn is a Cumbric place-name meaning "mouth of the river Cornie."

King James II

Scotland had been a part of the United Kingdom since the 14th century. In 1603, King James Stuart II who was also held the title of King James VI of Scotland, was made King of England placing Scottish lineage on the throne...that is until the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Dutch King William of Orange married Mary, daughter of England's ruling King James II.  James II was deposed by Parliament.  It is important to note that William and Mary were Protestants and King James II was Catholic.  In 1690, William and Mary made Presbyterianism the religion of Scotland.  William ruled until his death in 1702 and was succeeded by Mary's sister, Queen Anne. 

Queen Anne lost 18 children so she had no heirs and her third cousin George succeeded her in 1714. The Whigs took over Parliament and quickly started prosecuting Tories.  Leaders in the Tory party escaped to France and petitioned the Pope to stir up opposition to Protestantism with the real goal of returning deposed King James II to the English throne and the Whigs back to power.  The revolting Scots were called "Jacobites" the Latin name for James.  The first Jacobite rebellion is referred to as The Fifteen or Lord Mar's Revolt.  Fighting erupted in the late summer of 1715.  While Northern Scotland Jacobites were successful, those along the Firth of Forth were not successful.  By February of 1716, the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 was put down.

Chester Castle

Young William Moubray, (also spelled Mowbray) fought in the Jacobite War of 1715 and was captured at the battle of Preston in Northern England on November 14, 1715. He was jailed in Chester Castle, (which has a fascinating and long history!) In 1716, he was transported aboard the vessel “Friendship,” captained by Michael Mankin sailing from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He arrived at Annapolis on August 20.

Annapolis was settled in the the latter half of the 1600s and after several name changes, was incorporated in 1708 as Annapolis after Queen Anne.  When Moubray arrived, it was little more than a village but would soon grow to be a political and administrative capital of the New World.

Moubray served as an indentured servant for seven years to Henry Trippe of Dorchester County.  It is interesting to note that Trippe also came from Scotland and may have been a Jacobite sympathizer.  He would have had to make a special trip to Annapolis to purchase William Maubray as his indentured servant.
 

Following his indentureship, he married Mary Beckwith. The marriage was sometime between 1725 and 1730.  We don't know if Mary was related to the Beckwiths of which we are descended or if it was a married name and she had become widowed.  The Moubrays had at least six children, There does not seem to be information available on the first

Todd's Point

two children: Clare and Milcah. The other known children are Aaron (1727-1789), Anna (1730-1756), William (1730-1800) and Thomas (1734-1820).

On August 14, 1740,  Henry Trippe sold William a tract of land which was a part of Trippe’s Regulation (50 acres). It was on the south side of the Choptank River near a cove called Mitchell’s Cove. This property is on what is known today as Todd’s Point.

On Nov. 10, 1748 William purchased part of a tract of land called “Danby” in what is now Caroline County. This was on a branch of Watt’s Creek adjoining lands of Robert Bishop and containing 115 acres.

William Mowbray died in 1760. His will is on file at the Hall of Records, Annapolis, Maryland (Dorchester County 1760, Lib. 31 – Folio 159.  William left “Danby” to his sons Aaron and Thomas. He left “Trippe’s Regulation” to his son William.  Our ancestor is Anna Maubray and she married Henry Beckwith III.

Much of the specific data on William Mowbray came from Electric Scotland

James Seaborn Dozier 1737-1808

James Seaborn Dozier was born September 2, 1737.  His parents were Leonard Dozier III and Anne Gayle Marks.  The first Dozier, James's great-great grandfather Leonard Dozier I, received his naturalization papers January 28, 1683.  He was a French Huguenot and settled in Westmoreland County Virginia, near the Manakin French Huguenot settlement and what would become Richmond.  The City of Richmond, like James,  was "born" in 1737, the official year it was laid out.

The Doziers did well in Virginia, apparently from tobacco.  When James's mother passed, it was noted that his brothers John and Thomas used their tobacco stamps to execute the will.

In 1759, James married Mary Dunwoody the daughter of Scottish immigrants Lawrence Dinwiddie and Elizabeth Kennedy.  James and Mary had nine children that lived to adulthood.  James and Mary were married  about 45 years.

James served as a sergeant in the Revolutionary War with the Virginia Militia and Artillery.  Men often joined a company within a regiment that originated in their county.  The 5th Virginia Regiment and the 15th Virginia Regiment (10th Company) originated in Westmoreland County so we may assume that James joined one of these.  The two regiments fought in similar battles including the Battle of Brandywine, Battle of Germantown, Battle of Monmouth and the Siege of Charleston..   As part of the militia, James was likely allowed to time to go home for planting and harvesting seasons.

James and Mary had nine children that lived to adulthood, seven boys and two girls.  Most were born before the Revolutionary war started but two, possibly three children were born during the war, including our direct ancestor, Thomas Dozier, born September 22, 1776.

It is not clear if James received a Revolutionary War land grant that took him and Mary to Warren County Georgia but it is possible. His brothers moved to Bute County, NC which was renamed Warren County, NC.  There is documentation that his brother John and John's son James participated in the land grants lottery with no success.  I have not been able to find a record of James Seaborn Dozier participating in the land grants.

James and Mary prospered in Warren County.  At his death on January 2, 1808 at age 70, his will leaves land to all the sons, and all of his offspring received a slave.  His son John had already died so James left property to John's children. Property that went to the males included either land that a son already inhabited or 100 acres. Dunwoody "Woody" Dozier received "the plantation", which I am interpreting meant the home. he also inherited six plates, six knives and six forks.  He was to share the plantation with his mother Mary as long as she lived.

The family's good fortune continued through the generations. Some of the belongings of Augustus Dozier, James and Mary's grandson, are featured in the Georgia Decorative Arts collection at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, NC.  You can find a write up, along with a picture of Augustus's corner cupboard here, about halfway down the web page.  It cites that the size of Augustus's property and holdings placed him in the upper crust of Georgia's society.

Augustus's brother, Seaborn, moved southwest to Schley County.  More on Seaborn and his father Thomas, as well as other direct ancestors, will be in future blogs.