Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History & Culture Enduring Connections: Exploring Delmarva's Black History

Record Detail

Record #74 from Free Black Families of Colonial Delmarva (abstracted by Paul Heinegg)

State Delaware
County (Primary) Sussex
Other Counties Dorchester
Family Name Parsons
Family History Notes 1 i. John, born say 1722. ii. Catherine, born say 1724, confessed to the Talbot County court in November 1745 that she had an illegitimate child by an Indian named William Asquash. The court ordered that she receive ten lashes [Judgment Record 1745-6, 246-7]. (A William Asquash was one of the Choptank Indians who sold land in Dorchester County in 1727 [Land Records 1720-32, Liber old 8, 153]). 2 iii. Thomas, born say 1726. 1. John Parsons, born say 1722, married Sabria Okey, daughter of Robert Okey, before 3 September 1745 when they petitioned the Sussex County, Delaware Orphans Court to divide her father's land among his heirs [Orphans Court 1744-51, 17]. John was called a "mulatto" on 16 May 1747 when his daughter Ann was baptized on 16 May 1747 at St. George's Protestant Episcopal Church, Indian River Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware [Wright, Vital Records of Kent and Sussex Counties, 92]. He was taxable in Lewes and Rehoboth Hundred, Sussex County in 1774. He was the father of i. Ann, born 16 May 1747. 2. Thomas Parsons, born say 1726, a "mulatto," registered the 18 March 1749 birth of his son John at St. George's Protestant Episcopal Church, Indian River Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware [Wright, Vital Records of Kent and Sussex Counties, 94]. He was the father of i. John2, born 18 March 1749.
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[Author (if known)], Free Black Families of Colonial Delmarva (abstracted by Paul Heinegg), [Date (if known)], Enduring Connections: Exploring Delmarva’s Black History, Nabb Research Center, Salisbury University.

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