Thomas Chenoweth

Notes:

The DAR lists him as a soldier in the Revolution based on his oath of loyalty taken in 1778 in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Born probably in Pennsylvania or New Jersey before the family removed to Maryland, he appears to have moved on to Frederick County, Virginia before the death of his father in 1746.

"On April 13, 1751 Thomas purchased 276 acres on north side of Back Creek in Frederick Co. The record states he was already living on this property at the time. He was a neighbor of James Breed, Abraham Sutton, who would marry his niece, and Abraham Pricket, his brother in-law. This area of Back Creek is believed to be near Glengarry in lands that would later become Berkeley Co., WV. In 1755 he is recorded as voting in a Burgess election. The Lord Fairfax grant for the property that Thomas lived on was finally issued on July 7, 1761. On Nov 2, 1762 he sold this property to Benjamin Haines. As no will for Thomas is found in Virginia like those found for his brothers, questions surround his later life. It is likely he left the Frederick Co., VA area in the 1760s. The family is known to have lived for a number of years near Old Town, located in present day Allegany Co., MD, but then in part of Washington Co. Harris states that Thomas died in Maryland about 1787; if so this was probably in this area of Allegeny Co., before his children started their move to Kentucky. This is corroborated by the writings of his grandson, Thomas Scott, who states that his grandfather Chenoweth died when he was a young boy on the North Branch of the Potomac River. As Thomas Scott was born in 1772 it would seem that the date was probably before the 1787 Harris gives. We do know that Thomas gave an oath of fidelity taken in Montgomery Co. in 1788. Thomas Scott also tells us that Mary, his grandmother died in Mason Co., KY after migrating there just before 1790." [Chenoweth Family site, citation details below]

Family/Spouse: Mary Prickett. Mary (daughter of John Pricket) was born in 1723 in Burlington County, New Jersey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Richard Chenoweth was born on 1 Apr 1758 in Frederick County, Virginia; died on 28 Dec 1847 in Tippecanoe County, Indiana; was buried in Salem, Tippecanoe, Indiana.

Notes:

He was a blacksmith, and almost certainly from Cornwall — Chenoweth is a Cornish name. He was not wealthy, he did not own vast tracts of land in any of the mid-Atlantic colonies in North America, and his wife was very certainly not related to the armigerous Calvert family of Maryland.

A vast quantity of romantic mythology has been spun out about him by various descendants. Despite the publication in the 20th century of two books of Chenowiths-in-America genealogy, the definitive work on the subject now is on the web, the Chenoweth Family Site by John D. Egge, which states that it has not been updated since 11 Jun 2012. It is an exemplary piece of work. Among other things, it dives deep into the history of Chenoweth research, chronicling the rise and fall of various myths, misapprehensions, and simple mistakes.

John married Mary. Mary died before 1737 in Maryland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Said, evidently without proof, to have been a daughter of John Calvert and Judith Stamper.