I descend from the Elliott and Melson families on my maternal side. Both of these families have proven difficult to research in early times but I have proven without doubt a link back to Daniel Elliott (c1730-1810) who owned called “Daniel’s Beginning” and “Elliott’s Addition” in what is now Sussex Co., Delaware. These tracts are located on the modern map in Sussex Co., about a mile east of the Town of Delmar and ¼ mile north of the MD/DE state line. When he procured them, the land was located in Worcester Co., Maryland because the MD/DE line (then called the “West Line”) was not recognized in full until about 1775. Nearby to Daniel are supposed brothers Joseph (c 1731-aft 1785), Jacob (c1745-1842) and Melson Elliott (c 1740-aft 1785). But Daniel is as far back as I had been able to travel in my Elliott lineage. Most extant Elliott genealogies have listed his parents as John Elliott and Mary Melson through loose circumstantial evidence, the greatest being a son named Melson Elliott and his close proximity in age and location (as well as the same for the Melson family) to Daniel Elliott in the mid-18th century. But these were very weak suppositions so, I have conducted more research which I present herein.
During my research, I stumbled across an unpublished manuscript, "The Melson Family of America" by Lewis Melson, 1992, is a well-researched, voluminous document with lots of great Melson information. However, it states that Mary Melson, d/o John Melson married Robert Elliott in Accomack Co., VA citing a tertiary source record, "Mark Lewis' Melson Family Journal," Accomack County Public Library, Onancock, VA. This is propagated to the Virginia Public Library website that sponsors the venerable "Miles Files" on-line (2018). The latter is a very helpful collection of Eastern Shore of Virginia family history information that, in some areas is extremely well-researched/documented and, in others, much more loosely researched and largely undocumented. So, it provides excellent clues in most cases that can lead a genealogical investigation into deeper research.
The conjecture surrounding our aforementioned Mary Melson seems to have originated from Ralph Whitelaw's excellent treatise of the Eastern Shore of Virginia land records that he compiled in 1968 in 2 volumes. Whitelaw did an astounding job on the land records, sprinkling in pertinent family genealogical information in many places providing a valuable resource for historical investigation. Unfortunately, the family genealogy side of his work, while extensive, is quite full of errors. So, the researcher has to be careful to follow-up any of his assertions with their own primary records investigation.
This writer believes, and will show herein, that the assertion Whitelaw states that Mary Melson married Robert Elliott and, that was propagated to several other genealogical repositories, is entirely incorrect. The only thing Whitelaw used to "prove" his connection was two sparse pieces of information: (1) John Melson mentions his daughter Mary ELLIOTT is his will written in Accomack on Dec 30 1736 and Robert Elliott names a wife as Mary Elliott in his will on Jan 20 1734 in Accomack. A terribly dubious conclusion that Mary Elliott, wife of Robert, was daughter of John Melson as there is no proof of a connection. All we really know from these two records is that Mary Melson, daughter of John, married an Elliott. PERIOD.
Furthermore, Robert is listed as born prior to 1672 to "Great" John Elliott and, Mary Melson is born c1704, a full generation+ apart. When reviewing this, I found it much more likely that Mary Melson had married a different Elliott, perhaps of the same "Great" John Elliott line but a generation younger. Robert Elliott apparently had no issue or, at least he denotes no legatees except his wife, Mary (?), in his will. So, this compiler threw out the notion that Mary Melson married Robert Elliott of Accomack and started over knowing that she did indeed have a husband with surname Elliott.
My hypothesis shifted to be that one of the Accomack Elliott lines ended up in Somerset Co. (prior to 1742), later Worcester Co., MD (1742-c1775) and still later Sussex Co., DE (after 1775) where my 7x great grandfather, Daniel Elliott, is located in the mid-18th century. The line may descend from the Elliotts of Elliott’s Island, Dorchester Co., MD or, more likely, the Elliotts in Accomack Co., VA, which could possibly be one-in-the-same family. These lines of the Melson/Elliott families seemed to be traveling quite a bit in the late 17th and early 18th centuries between Accomack in Virginia and the Maryland counties AND we also know that the Elliotts and Melsons both had lines that moved from Accomack to old Somerset (includes modern Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester Co., MD) in the early 18th century. The following will lay a case for Mary Melson to have married John Elliott who had a son named Daniel Elliott, named after Mary's brother Daniel Melson Sr. There is not enough definitive proof to be 100% certain this the case but the circumstantial evidence is very compelling and I rate the probability very high. Here are some known facts:
MELSON
From John Melson's (c1675-c1737) will of 1736 in Accomack mentions wife Mary and sons John Melson, Daniel Melson, Joshua Melson, Smith Melson with daughters Elizabeth Lewis, Mary Elliott, Adra Gunter, Tabitha Carey and Abigail Melson (see below for full transcription)
John Melson is listed as a servant of John Renny in 1666, in Accomack[1] and Elizabeth Painter (as Penter) is also mentioned in this same reference. She had first appeared in the records as a headright of John Renny on Feb 16 1663/4[2].
John Melson is listed as marrying Elizabeth Painter on Apr 4 1672 at "Rehobeth Plantation" in the old Somerset Co., MD land records Liber IKL. In the same reference, we find, “Came John Reny of Somerset County and proved his right to Three hundred acres of Land to him for transporting John Reny Mary Reny John Melson Elizabeth Melson Henry Allen and Warren Day to this Province to inhabit Somerset County in the Province of Maryland planter… this 12th day of June 1672”
Daniel Melson (c1713-1791), son of John/Mary Melson moves to Somerset Co., MD in 1735. This becomes Worcester Co. in 1742 and then Sussex Co., DE a couple of decades later.
ELLIOTT
A John Elliott had land surveyed/patented land on Elliott’s Island, Dorchester Co., MD starting with the "Ferny Point" tract for 84a on Jan 4 1707 (DoRR-10:483-3) and "Fishing Point" on Apr 28 1714 for 356a, 2 roods, 36 perches (DoCert:450). Was this John Elliott of the Elliott’s of Accomack Co., VA? Elliott’s Island is on the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Nanticoke River, just across from Somerset Co., MD and downriver from Sussex Co., DE so it could be plausible.
John Elliott and Mary Melson likely married in Accomack in the early 18th century and they seem to be the parents of the Elliott boys up in Sussex (then Somerset/Worcester)
Daniel Elliott and siblings are patenting land further inland, in modern lower Sussex Co., DE in the 1750s adjacent to the lands of Daniel Melson from above.
From the above Melson facts, we know that John Melson and Elizabeth Painter came to the New World early – Elizabeth prior to 1664 and John Melson probably about the same time. Their sponsor to the colonies, probably serving terms of indenture, was John Renny who went first to Accomack Co. and then patented land in southern old Somerset in Maryland. John Melson was freed from indenture about 1671 and married Elizabeth Painter at the Rehobeth plantation in Somerset, MD in 1672. The Rehobeth plantation was located only about 2 miles north of the Somerset, MD/Accomack, VA boundary line.
The Melson’s were back and forth between MD and VA in those days but lived in Virginia at least through about 1685 (John Melson shows on the Tax Lists for Accomack for the years 1675-1683). On Nov 2 1685, John Melson “of Accomack” had a land tract called “The Gore” surveyed for him in Somerset Co. (later Worcester) for 200a but it is unclear whether he actually relocated to reside there but he did gain patent for the land on Jan 6 1686/7. John Melson left no will that is known but, from various VA court and land records, we can glean that he and wife Elizabeth had three known sons; Samuel, John and Joseph Melson. The elder John probably died in Accomack sometime in the 1690s (Melson genealogies state c1694).
Of John/Elizabeth Melson’s three sons, Samuel and John Jr. are relevant for this project as they began plying northward into Maryland, seemingly up the Nanticoke River. Samuel Melson remained in Accomack until c1719 when he and wife Margaret “of Nanticoke” sold 75a of land to Thomas Wilkinson. At the same time, on Jul 10 1719, Samuel Melson purchased land in the tract "Partners Choice" from William Robinson, the only son of Elizabeth Green, for 4000 pounds of tobacco in Somerset Co., MD[3]. We researchers are lucky in this transaction as eighteen days later, there is a boundary dispute in this tract noted in the Land Commission Office of Somerset, Samuel Melson vs. Robert Bloyce, which includes a plat and depiction of Samuel Melson's house and a deposition by William Green[4]. “Partner’s Choice” is located on the modern map straddling and including US Route 50 about 1 mile west of Mardela Springs, MD in Wicomico Co. with its southern border along the north side of Barren Creek (See the green rectangle in Figure 1 later for the location of this tract on the map). This place was even called Melson's Landing in the mid-18th century[5].
On Oct 11 1728, Samuel Melson had a 150a land tract surveyed for him called "Poplar Ridge" in Somerset Co. for which he was granted a patent on Jan 27 1729/30. This land lies east of Laurel in Sussex Co., DE in the modern day about halfway to Millsboro, DE on the main road between the two. This tract is the one he leaves to sons Joseph and Benjamin is his will proved in 1740. However, his "dwelling plantation" remained as "Partners Choice" back in the western part of modern-day Wicomico Co., MD. Samuel Melson’s will was probated in Somerset in 1740[6] and his dwelling plantation was left to son Samuel. The other tract, up in Sussex, goes to sons Benjamin and Joseph and both the Maryland and Delaware bequests establish a foothold for this Melson line in these areas.
For this writer, however, the more important Melson son of the John and Elizabeth union is John Melson Jr. (c1675-1737). Born c1675, he remains in Accomack, VA but seems to be doing business in Somerset Co., MD. A John Melson, this one or his son, are shown in the Somerset Tax Lists for Pocomoke Hundred in 1725 and 1727 (no 1726 list survives). This writer thinks that this is the son John Melson Jr. as the family was vying back-and-forth into MD in the very early 18th century. We have already shown that John Jr.’s uncle Samuel Melson was living in MD by 1719 and while John Sr. stayed in Accomack we know for sure his son, Daniel Melson, left to live in MD as will be covered later in this article.
John Melson Sr. married Mary Smith in about 1700, daughter of Joshua Smith (c1620-1683), as shown by land transactions in Accomack, VA. Joshua Smith left his 200 acre plantation[7] in 1683 to his sons John and Joshua. Both later died and so the land transferred to Mary (Smith) Melson. This tract is located modern-day about mid-county in Accomack on the southern edge of Parksley, VA. The 200 acres Mary inherited was part of the larger 400 acre Whitelaw A100 tract and John Melson had already purchased 50 acres of the same from Jeremiah and Sarah Carey in 1702[7].
When John Melson died in 1737, he leaves this 50 acres to his son John Melson (c1696-1758). The elder John Melson’s will is as follows from Accomack Co.:
Will of John Melson In the name of God Amen the Thirtieth Day of December in the Year of our Lord one thousand Seven hundred and Thirty Six I John Melson of Virginia in the County of Accomack being very Sick and Week in Body but of perfect mind and memory thanks be Given unto God therefore Calling unto mind the mortality of my Body and Knowing that it is appointed for all men to die to make and Ordain this my Last Will and Testament that is to say Principally I Give my Soul into the hands of God that Gave it and for my Body I Recommend it to the Earth to be buried in a Christian Like and Decent manner at the Discretion of my Executors nothing Doubting but at a General Resurrection I Shall receive the Same again by the mighty power of God as Touching such worldly Estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me in this Life I Give and Devise and Dispose of the Same in the following manner and form
-Impremis I give and bequeth unto my beloved son John Melson a certain Tract of Land whereon he now Lives Called and Commonly Known by the name Hunting Creek Containing Fifty Acres to him and his heirs for Ever
-Item I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Elizabeth Lewis one shilling Sterling in full of her portion
-Item I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Mary Elliot one Shilling Sterling in full of her portion
-Item I Give to my son Daniel Melson one old musquet that he hath now in possession to him and his heirs
-Item I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Adra Gunter one Shilling Sterling in full of her portion
-Item I give and bequeath unto my Loving son Joshua Melson one Shilling Sterling in full of his portion
-Item I Give and bequeath unto my Loving Daughter Tabitha Cary one Shilling Sterling in full of her portion
-Item I give and bequeath unto my Loving Son Smith one Small Gun in full of his portion
-Item I Give and Bequeath unto my Daughter Abigail the best Bed upstairs and furniture in full of her portion
-Item I Lend unto Mary my Dearly Beloved Wife all the Remainder of my estate untill the Day of Marriage or Death and then to be divided among my children that are not Named whom I also Constitute,make and Ordain my only and Sole Executrix of This my Last Will and Testament and I do hereby utterly Disallow revoke and Disannull all and Every other former Testament Wills and Legacies and Executors by me in any ways before this time named willed and bequeathed Ratifying & Confirming this and no other to be my Last Will and Testament in Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal the Day and Year above written Signed Sealed published and Declared by the sd his John Melson as his Last Will and Testament in John x (his mark) Melson
the presence of us the Subcribers Vis:Test Robt Caldwell Henry White Sarah x (her mark) White
It also is my will that the Day of my Wifes Marriage or Death that Tobias Bull Roger Abbott John Simpson and Thomas Riley any three or four of them Shall then divide the Estate and What ever They do Shall Stand Also my Will if I die at the house of my son Daniel Melson that he may have my Coate and Vest a pr of Shoes and Stockens a fine Shirt and hat
At a Court held and Continued for Accomack County the 3rd Day of August 1737. The then Last Will and Testament of John Melson Deceased was presented in open Court and proved by the Oaths of Henry White and Sarah White two of the Witnesses to the Same and Joshua Melson being Heir at Law having Consented to the Same it is ordered to be Recorded.
From the will, we see the 50 acres of land “known by the name Hunting Creek” that John Sr. leaves to his son Jr., this the land on the south side of Parksley, VA. Plus we get to see the rest of the children in the family INCLUDING Mary (Melson) Elliott whom this writer believes married John Elliott, father of Daniel Elliott. Still, perhaps the most interesting item here is this; “Also my Will if I die at the house of my son Daniel Melson that he may have my Coate and Vest a pr of Shoes and Stockens a fine Shirt and hat.” This is highly unusual for a will to declare and begs the question, where was Daniel Melson living when this will was written by his father on Dec 13 1736? He must have been at a location rather distant from John Sr.’s home plantation but where and, did he die at his son Daniel’s house?
Daniel Melson (c1713-1791) was born at Hunting Creek, Accomack Co., VA about 1713 and was about age 24 when his father John Melson Sr. died. By 1735, Daniel is living in Wicomico Hundred, Somerset Co., MD as evidenced by his appearance in the Tax Lists for same from 1735-1740. He does not appear in later Lists because there is no List surviving for 1741 and in 1742 Worcester Co. was formed that included the area in which he was living and there are no lists for that county. Daniel Melson’s last appearance in the records of Accomack Co. was on Aug 13 1734, when we find court records that Edward Ironmonger and his wife, Daniel Melson and his wife and Charles White acknowledged that they had received their portions of the estate of Charles White, deceased. This verifies that Daniel was married by then and to Mary, the daughter of Charles White of Accomack. THIS IS IMPORTANT - most Melson genealogies state that Daniel Melson Sr. married Mary Cary in Accomack but this court record seems to put the lie to that assertion.
Figure 1 - Map of the land tracts of Daniel Melson and his uncle Samuel Melson (PARTNERS CHOICE is green and MELALYS FOLLY is the tiny blue one to its SW). The "home" tract (GOOD HOPE) of Daniel Melson is depicted by the maroon triangle straddling the MD/DE line. His house was within that tract near the top within modern day Delaware.
We can get an idea of where Daniel Melson was living in 1735 Wicomico Hundred by looking at the land he began to accumulate so thereafter. Daniel Melson has surveyed for him the following tracts, all in Worcester Co. which at the time included lower Sussex, DE roughly to the east of modern US 13:
GOOD HOPE - surveyed Aug 10 1743, patent Aug 10 1745 for 100a "near Melson's old field" (Worcester Land Certificate 1092)
GLADY GROUND - surveyed Jul 17 1750, patent Mar 25 1754 for 50a “near Good Hope" (Ibid:1070)
MELSONS ADDITION - survey Sep 28 1763, patent Mar 20 1773 for 50a “near Stephen Philips survey ("Stephens Security") (Ibid:1654)
See Figure 1 for a map – these tracts were in Worcester Co. at the time but in southwestern Sussex Co., DE and north central Wicomico Co., MD in the modern day, east of Delmar, MD/DE. Tract "Good Hope" actually straddles the MD/DE line with "Glady Ground" adjoining to the north in Delaware and the other “Melsons Addition” to the south in Maryland. Daniel Melson seems to have built a house c1735, and lived on, the "Good Hope" tract (This was Wicomico Hundred Somerset Co. to 1742), the one he had first surveyed in 1743. It is almost certain that this is where Daniel Melson’s father, John, was visiting when he wrote his will in very late 1736. It is also highly possible that John Melson died at the house of Daniel Melson as his will was probated in Accomack in August of 1737. Were John Melson sick and weak at the time he wrote his will, he probably would not have travelled back to his house near Parksley, VA which would have been an arduous two-day trip back then.
Daniel Melson was literally living on the border between Maryland and Delaware when the first attempt to confirm the border occurred in 1750. The surveyors that year kept a journal of their work on what they called the "West Line," the Transpeninsular Line forming the northern boundary of Maryland. To make matters more complicated, at that time Delaware was considered to be part of the lower counties of Pennsylvania! An entry from that journal for May 21 1751 describes the placement of the 25 Mile Stone (25 miles from the ocean) fixed in a field belonging to "Dan'll Melson" where the chimney is N38.25E 31 perches, 16.8 links from the marker. From this, we can get and EXACT placement of where Melson’s house was located just to the north of the eventual MD/DE line - about 400' north of the line probably on modern Pepperbox Rd.
Figure 2 - Delaware land tracts of Daniel Elliott and his uncle, Daniel Melson, near Delmar, MD/DE. The location of Melson's house in 1751, which he built c1735, can be determined from the Surveyor's Journal when the Transpeninsular Line was commissioned in 1750
Daniel Melson’s sister, Mary (Melson) Elliott who had married John Elliott decided to name one of her sons Daniel as well. Daniel Elliott (c1730-1810) lived very near to Daniel Melson as we see when he had land surveyed for him called "Daniels Beginning" on Mar 24 1756. It is listed in the Sussex Co., DE Records (Rownds Surveys, Book A:189) but the actual record indicates it as being in Worcester Co., MD (again, it's in that area of Maryland that became Delaware). A very simple tract described as beginning at a white oak near a small glade on the north side of a tract belonging to Daniel Melson running N50W 130 perches, N40E 64 perches, S30E 130 perches with a right line to the beginning containing 51 acres. Daniel Elliott had secured a piece of land next to his uncle Daniel Melson. On Nov 24 1760, Daniel Elliott had another survey done for "Elliott’s Addition" for 50 acres (Rownds Surveys and Worcester Land Certificate 866). See Figure 2 illustrating the location of these tracts.
The Melsons and Elliotts and then the Gordy, Hastings, Freeny and other families populated this area and intermingled into the melting pot of what has become the layout of descendants in and around Delmar MD/DE to this day.
This article has presented the hypothesis, and supporting evidence, that John Elliott married Mary Melson in Accomack, VA and became the parents of Daniel Elliott who lived in Sussex Co., DE. The probability is very high but lacking definitive proof, is not quite to the level of certainty but it is as close as we may ever get. I also suggested earlier herein that the John Elliott of Elliott’s Island in Dorchester Co., MD may have a connection to the Sussex Co. Elliott family. I do not believe this to be the case given the very weak evidence. Instead, it seems that the John Elliott who married Mary Melson came from Accomack Co., VA. Is it possible that the John Elliott of Elliott’s Island is somehow connected to this family? Yes, but evidence is sparse and lacking to prove, or even suggest a connection.
THANK YOU FOR READING!
[1] Accomack Co., VA Court Order Abstracts 1666-1670, Vol.2, JoAnn Riley McKey, pgs 13-15
[2] Maryland Hall of Records, "Somerset County General Index to Warrants & Assignments, Earliest-1680," Liber 7 transcribed from old Liber CC:88
[3] Somerset Land Records, Liber IK, Folio 179
[4] Somerset Land Commission Files, Folio 41
[5] See tract "Melalys Folly" surveyed on Jun 29 1763 for a mention of the landing - SoCert:1604
[6] Maryland Wills, Volume VIII, Folio 70
[7] See Whitelaw, “Virginia’s Eastern Shore – Volume II”, 1968, pgs. 1077-78, tract A100.
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