Cruising the Choptank River

I am completely amazed that it has been almost 3 weeks since I posted anything here. So much for that resolution about advancing my research every week. Ah, well....I did learn how to knit socks.

Anyway, when last I worked on the research, I was trying to find out where the early Dehorty lands were after attending a wonderful workshop in Maryland. One of the earliest land records that I have for this family is for a George Dehorty who had a survey in 1715 for 100 acres of land called Venture "beginning at a white oak standing in the woods on the North side of Ingrams Creek that (?) out of the south side of Great Choptanks River" (my translation of a Maryland land record, liber FF7, page 121). My thought was to try to figure out where this might be....not that I expect that old white oak to still be there. Googling "Ingram's Creek Choptank River" leads me to a wonderful site called the Choptank River Heritage Center. Here I find that I can take a virtual tour of the entire length of the river. Apparently, Ingram's Creek is now called the Chapel Branch, and there is a historic site called Melville's Warehouse which was an early county seat for Caroline County in the late 1700's. I know I've seen the name Melville somewhere, and checking my notes, I see that George Dehorty's daughter Herodias, mentioned in probate records in 1754 for her brother Absalom, was married to a Melvill. Could there be a connection? I'll certainly have to research this! It certainly looks like they were at least neighbors.
It's the side trips in genealogy that make research so much fun. They are also why it takes me so long to get anywhere....

Can't Wait for the Weekend!

The earliest records that I have in my Dehority research are land records from Maryland. The Maryland State Archives has a wonderful resource at MdLandRec.net that allows searching for old land records from the comfort of your home. You have to sign up for a username and password, but the record access is free. Here is a sample image. It is an order dated 1715 for a survey of land for one George Dehorty. It is really exciting to come across these old documents. I am lucky enough to live close to Maryland, so this weekend I will be able to attend a workshop given by someone with a lot of experience with these old documents. I hope to maybe find out where these lands were, and how to get the most out of this type of record. Even though I can't directly link my family to this group yet, I know I will someday, as soon as I get over my brick wall.
Happy hunting!