| Notes |
- [[Category: First Families of Maryland]]
[[Category: Maiden's Choice Land Grant]]
==Biography==
===1652 Transported to Maryland===
Thomas Cole transported himself and Priscilla, his wife to Maryland. On 23 JUN 1652 he testified in open court that he was 34 years or thereabouts. He stated there was bond made & signed from Mrs. Susanna Warren to Capt. William Mitchill on their voyage coming to Virginia. Apparently, Mrs. Warren owed the Capt. 100 pounds when they got to Maryland or she would remain Mitchell's servant until such time the money was paid. He also, stated that Mrs. Warren tried to borrow the 100 pounds from Cole when they were in Portsmouth and he told her he had business with his money about Capt. Mitchill's affairs and couldn't spare it. (Capt. Mitchill's treatment of Mrs. Warren is notorious. This may not be the same Thomas Cole as our ancestor, this Thomas seems to have worked for Mitchill).<ref>Archives of Maryland Vol. 10, pg. 170</ref>
1666: Thomas Cole was living in Baltimore County when the general assembly granted him the sum of four thousand pounds of tobacco to be paid by the sheriff toward the repairing his great losses and damages systained by several robberies committed by the Indians who killed his stock.<ref>Archives of Maryland Vol. 2, pg. 540</ref>
===1668 Cole's Harbour===
He received a patent for 550 acs. of land in 1668 for land he called Cole’s Harbor <ref> MD Patent Records 12/134 </ref>. This is the land that is today the inner harbor area of Baltimore City.
===1674 Mayden's Choice===
Thomas Cole also patented a tract he called Maydens Choice for 450 acs. in 1674 <ref>MD Patent Records 17/537 </ref> and a tract called Saint Mary Borne for 200 acs. in 1675 <ref> MD Patent Records 17/83 </ref>.
===1672 Named in will of John Godfrey===
A careful reading of the complete will of John Godfrey should remove the theory that Priscilla Cole was his daughter. He left his plantation to someone else. The Coles and others mentioned in the will seem more like neighbors and friends. There is a patent record for John Godfrey showing he was transported to Maryland in 1662 <ref> MD Patent Records 5/413 </ref>.
In the name of God, amen. I John Godfrey of ye Province of Maryland in the county of Baltimore in Patapsco River, planter being very sick & weak but being yet in perfect sense and memory thought fit to order & devise of what —?— I have in my possession of my own and that this is my last will and testament. And this my will shall stand in full force and value against all other wills & of testament formerlly made by me, John Godfrey in manner as followth. . . .
Item, I give and bequeath unto John Malam, whom I do hereby appoint and make my true & lawfull executor, my now dwelling plantation in Patapsco River called (there is a large blank space here) and all my stock of hoggs & young cattle. The said Malam being at the charge of proving this my will and burying of me.
Item, I give unto Thomas Cole one sow and to Presella his wife a Silver Seal which I formerly received of her.
Item, I give & bequeath unto Edward Houghton one cow and all my moveable goods.
Item, I give and bequeath unto Sarah Colle one —?—
Item, I give and bequeath unto Ann White Thomas Cole’s maid servant, one cow.
Item, I give & bequeath unto Richard Kene formerly Thomas Coles servant, one cow.
Item, I give & bequeath unto John Kemp one cow.
And my will is ye John Malam shall pay all lawfull debts as shall come from any person as well as receive what it due to me from any person and that my last will and testament shall well & truly performed by the said John Mailum within six months after my decease. In witness whereof I have here unto set my hand and seal this 6th day of May 1672.
John Godfrey signed with his mark in the presence of Richard Ball and Richard Gwinn who swore to his signature on 19 JUN 1672.Charles Gorsuch & Nicholas Ruxton were named to appraise the estate.<ref>Testamentary Proceedings of the Prerogative Court Liber 5/291. Maryland State Archives</ref>
Between May & June of 1676 the General Assembly of Maryland Proceedings granted 4,000 pounds of tobacco to Thomas Cole::"of Baltemore County his Executors administrators or assignes towards the Repaireing his great losses and damages by him the said Cole Susteyned by Severall Robberies comittet by the Indians his stock being killed by them of which the said Coles losses & Damages."<ref>Archives of Maryland Vol. 2 pg. 540</ref>
===Death===
Thomas Cole was deceased by 1676 when Anthony Demondier of Baltimore Co. & Henry Howard of Anne Arundel County appeared in court as overseers named in the last will and testament of Thomas Cole (no copy of the will has been found). The overseers were ordered to provide an inventory of the estate and take care of the estate during the "nonage" of Sarah Cole, the daughter of the deceased named in his said will. The overseers were ordered to make bond in the usual form and report an inventory of the estate within 3 months. (no record of the inventory has been found) <ref> Testamentary Proceedings Liber 8 folio 422-423.</ref>
===1679 Land sold to David Jones===
Charles Gorsuch is proved the husband of Sarah Cole because the tracts of land mentioned above were all sold by Charles and Sarah Gorsuch to David Jones 8 DEC 1679. The deed states the tracts were inherited by Sarah Gorsuch by the will of her father Thomas Cole, but no will for Thomas Cole has ever been found.
In a Deed, December 8, 1679, Charles Gorsuch of Talbot County and his wife Sarah convey to his brother in law David Jones the three Baltimore County tracts, Cole’s Harbour, 550 acres, upon which Baltimore Town was later laid out; Maiden’s Choice, 450 acres, at the head of the Middle Branch of the Patapsco, and Marybourne, on Jones Falls in what is now North Baltimore, 200 acres, the deed reading, his wife Sarah “being heiress to said land, as ye last will and testament of Thomas Cole will make appear. “And again, in a confirmatiory deed to these same tracs executed by Sarah, with Charles Gorscuh, alone, August 1, 1682, she is described as “the only and sole heir of Thomas Cole, late of Patapsco River, Baltimore County, deceased. The Annapolis patent records show that Thomas Cole in 1649 transported himself and wife Priscilla into the Province and settled in Anne Arundel County on the Severn, but later patented Maiden’s Choice and Cole’s Harbour in Baltimore County.” <ref name="jhp"> J. H. P, Baltimore, MD. The Gorsuch and Lovelace Families. Pages 207-222 and 325-332. Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Published Quarterly by the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia. Volume XXVI for the year ending December 31, 1918. Richmond, Virginia: House of the Society. https://books.google.com/books?id=Tgc1AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA326&lpg=PA326&dq=land+OR+grant+OR+patent+OR+tract+%22Maiden%27s+Choice%22&source=bl&ots=dg_R9c78SM&sig=UFBwAVXNSgZWD28DsdbBGLgQYgw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZtvLo2aHRAhXE7iYKHXF5CisQ6AEIODAH#v=onepage&q=land%20OR%20grant%20OR%20patent%20OR%20tract%20%22Maiden's%20Choice%22&f=false.. Accessed January 1, 2017 </ref>
===1687 Maiden Choice===
John Gorsuch, carpenter, the oldest son of Charles Gorsuch and his wife Sarah Cole, apparently born between 1678 and 1679, jointly with his brother Thomas Gorsuch, planter, received the tract Maiden’s Choice, 450 acres, under the will of David Jones 1687. Jones was the second husband of their aunt Anna Gorsuch. They sold it in 1708-9. <ref name="jhp"/>
==Sources==
<references />
See also:
Barnes, Robert William. Baltimore County Families, 1659-1759. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub., 1989. 123. Print.
Gibb, Carson. "Supplement to Early Settlers Query." Supplement to Early Settlers Query. Archives of Maryland, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.
"Baltimore County Circuit Court Land Surveys." Archives of Maryland. N.p., n.d. Web.
Author: Seely Foley
Author: Seely Foley
Author: Jack Day
Author: Seely Foley
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My Family History
Abt 1618 - Bef 1676 (< 58 years)
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
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: Country
: Not Set