John Burgin (1704 - abt. 1753)

Born 14 Sep 1704 in Shrewsbury Parish, Kent, Maryland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1753 at about age 48 in Shrewsbury Parish, Kent, Maryland

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Kate Burgin [send private message]

Biography

John was the son of Phillip Burgan and Rosamond Queeney and was born September 14, 1704 in Shrewsbury Parish of Kent County, Maryland. ^[1]

John married Martha Davis before 1738 (time of their first child's birth). Martha was not a Chrisfield/Crisfield (see research notes).

Peggy Silvers in her book Echoes in the Mist has the following to say about John Burgan^[2]

About the time of their marriage, Phillip Chrisfield deeded land to John Burgin, Sr. and later in his estate records, Ben Crisfield is listed as "kin" along with Sutton and others. In a transaction dated September 3, 1753, John sold to John Tilden, 100 acres, IVINGO. John Burgin died between September 3, 1753 and January 4, 1754, and in March of 1754 John Tilden deeded 100 acres of IVINGO back to Martha Burgin and her son John Burgin. Later in 1754 the deeds show Sutton Burgin with 110 acres of Ivingo and Martha Burgin and her son John Burgin with the other 100 acres. John must had died the last of December 1753 or the first days of January 1754, for Martha was bound in the amount of F1000 Sterling on January 4, 1754, as the adminstratirx of John's estate. Phillip Davies and Benjamin Vansant were her sureties. John's estate (goods and chattel) were appraised at F132.94 by Isaac Freeman and Richard Usilton. His creditors were Sam Church, Benjamin Crisfield and Sutton Burgin and were listed as kin. Martha made the final disposition of the estate according to law on May 22, 1755, and in that record the court states that the representatives (heirs) are unknown to that office.

John's death is recorded on Find-A-Grave, but the biography is not correct on his wife's surname. ^[3]

Acknowledgement
WikiTree profile Burgin-158 created through the import of HHenderson Family Tree dated Jul 24, 2011 by Herb Henderson.

Sources

1. ↑ "Maryland Births and Christenings, 1650-1995" "Maryland Births and Christenings, 1650-1995", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HYPM-6WN2 : 12 February 2020), John Burgan, 1704.
2. ↑ Silvers, Peggy. “Echoes in the Mist”, Nebo, North Carolina, 1989, Page 8
3. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43981929/john-burgin : accessed 15 January 2022), memorial page for John Burgin Sr. (14 Sep 1704–1753), Find A Grave: Memorial #43981929, citing Shrewsbury Cemetery, Kennedyville, Kent County, Maryland, USA ; Maintained by S. Fuller (contributor 47195777).

Research Notes

In a research document authored by Becky Burgin titled Davis, Crisfield and Vansant: How many Martha's?

Becky explains that Ivingo was Phillip Burgin's house in Maryland, built before 1686 and as time went by it became known as the William Merritt Farmhouse and it survived until the mid 1950's.

After John Burgin died his wife Martha Davis married this William Merritt.

So the answer to the question of how many Martha's were married to John Burgin? Only one, Martha Davis. How many Martha's were married to William Merritt? Two: Davis (Burgin) and Vansant.

What about Martha Crisfield, who many people have listed as John Burgin's wife on their family trees?

There is only ONE document that shows any information about this possibility, and it states that Phillip and Rosamond (Burgin) Crisfield "conveyed to John Burgin Sr. a tract of land called Invingo, being that part of the tract which the same Phillip Burgan, late of Kent County deceased" (Quote from conveyance) The assumption is that this conveyance is an indication that this was a dowry for "Martha Crisfield." The problem with this theory is that Phillip and Rosamond Crisfield had no daughters. John was Rosamond's brother, but this Martha definitely appears to be Martha Davis, which was found on a document by researcher, Emily Burgin. The only fact that can be shown is that Martha was 29 when she married John Burgin. For early 18th century, this would have been considered an old age for a young woman to marry, implying that perhaps John was not her first husband. Phillip and Rosamond had five sons and their is absolutely no information on two of the sons, no birth or death dates. What if Martha Davis was married to one of them and he died young, leaving no children and the gift was in honor of that lost son? Or what if Martha was never a Crisfield at all since there is not a single document with that name and it's been assumed that she was a Crisfield because of the conveyance?