long
search culminated in a connection between the Spaldings
of St.
Mary's County, Maryland, and the Spauldings of Campbell
County, Kentucky. Biography of Gen Links Webmaster
Pat has ancestral roots on
both
sides of the Ohio River. On a visit to a genealogy
library, Pat found Judge
Charles Warren Spalding's Spalding Family of New England's biography of Aaron Spalding of Campbell
County, Ky, and his son, William DeCoursey Spalding.
A long
search culminated in a connection between the Spaldings
of St.
Mary's County, Maryland, and the Spauldings of Campbell
County, Kentucky.
Maryland Spaldings originated in Fornham All Saints, county Suffolk, England, in the eastern part of England called East Anglia. East Anglia was the home of the Puritans of New England, but also the home of many recusants who remained faithful to the old religion during the English Civil War. Lord Baltimore founded Maryland as a haven for Catholics; Thomas Spalding & his cousin John Shircliffe were among Maryland's 1657 colonists.
In 1998, Pat stopped in London, England, and drove northeast to visit the town of Spalding. Walking the streets of the ancient city, Pat felt very much at home. The townspeople resembled her mother and daughters. East Anglia contains many beautiful cathedrals, priories, castles and manors, some connected to the Anglo-Saxon Spaldings who were called in ancient Roman times, the Spaldas, meaning the tribe who lived at the edge of the marsh. Since Pat has an affinity for lake and marsh, the meaning of the surname was not a complete surprise!
Today, many descendants wonder about the added "u" in the surname. Pat has found the surname spelled variously: Spaldwin, Spoldon, Saulden, Spalden, and Spelding, variants which came about because of regional dialect spoken by the householder and translated phonically into the census.
After the break-through with the Spalding family, Pat turned to her
Minnie Dawson. Every lead for the Dawson's allied family, Redden & Kellam, led
through the Eastern-shore of Maryland & Delaware. Pat remembered childhood
stories of her Aunt Alma Spaulding of Brown County, Ohio,
telling of a neighbor named
Jump. She speculated the
two families knew each other in Ohio's pioneer days. On the marriage bond for Daniel Dawson & Catherine
Kellam, William S. Jump signed as groom's
witness. On the 1820 Census for Lewis Twp, Brown County, Ohio, Isaac J.
Dawson and William S. Jump were neighbors.
In 1995, Pat sat next to Bob Shearer at a microfilm reader in the Kenton County Public Library. Bob Shearer of Brookfield, WI, author of "The Jump Family of Maryland," was in town for a few days. Bob offered to send a copy of the Jump genealogy, privately published & unavailable except to Jump cousins. When the genealogy arrived, Pat turned to the Maryland Jumps and read: Ann Jump, d/o Isaac & Sophia Smith Jump, married an unknown Dawson in Dorchester/Caroline Cos. The missing link which unlocked the Dawson heritage and paved a new path of inquiry.
In 2000, Pat & her granddaughter journeyed to Leonardtown, St. Mary's Co., Md., for the Kentucky
Pioneers Reunion Year 2000, visiting many of the historic sites of
her Spalding-Dawson heritage: Port Tobacco; Maddox stained-glass window
in Chaptico's Christ Church; Haberdeventure,
home of a Maryland signer of Declaration of Independence; Historic St. Mary's City
which included the Dove, a ship which brought Lord
Baltimore's
colonists to the shores of Maryland in 1634; Chesapeake Marine Museum on
Solomon's Island, and Accomack County, Va., site of Kellam's
manor house Windingdale.
Pat is a proud member of Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) on service of Md. militiaman Pvt. Moses Clarke Spalding of St. Mary's Co, Md., and Franklin Co, Ky. She has DAR Supplementals for the following Patriots: Nehemiah Redden, Josiah Herbert, Charles Harris, William Kellam, Notley Maddox Sr., Notley Maddox Jr., Phillip Carl Shinkle, Phillip Jacob Shinkle. Pat was accepted into the Order of the First Families of Maryland by descent from Thomas Spalding I (c1640-1711/12) of St. Mary's County, Md., and Robert Clarke, Surveyor-General of Maryland. FFM http://www.rootsweb.com/~mdoffmd/ See "Surnames."
Gen Links is the result of many hours of research in local libraries, as well as those in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. If you are related to either the Spalding or Dawson family of Md., Del., Ky., Ohio or Indiana, please contact this avid genealogist who has helped many people find their roots.
May you have many years of genealogy research which begins, but not ends, with Gen Links!
The Extended Doster Family