Guide Introduction: Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations–Series M:

Mss1J4105a, Jenings Family Papers, 1737-1837,
Virginia, Maryland, and England

Description of the Collection

This collection comprises twenty-one items that are arranged in sections by name of individual and type of document.

Section 1, Jenings, Edmund (1703-1756), Letterbook, 1753-1769

This section consists of one item, a letterbook, 17 November 1753-29 July 1769, of Edmund Jenings. The volume has been indexed by the staff of the Virginia Historical Society. The letterbook was kept in London, England, and Richmond, Virginia.

Letters concern the Board of Trade of Great Britain, Jewish immigration to Great Britain, the Maryland Land Office, Negroes, paper currency in Virginia and Maryland, pistole fee, plantations in Virginia and Maryland, salt, the Seven Years' War, tobacco, and the Virginia and Maryland boundary.

Correspondents (pp. 1-157 of the letterbook) include Thomas Bacon, Elizabeth (Brockenbrough) Beckwith, Sir Marmaduke Beckwith, William Beverley (of Blandfield, Essex County, Virginia), Sir Thomas Bladen, John Beale Bordley, Matthias Bordley, Stephen Bordley (concerning Horatio Sharpe), [first name unknown] Bowes, John Brice ([d. 1766] concerning Richard Lee and Horatio Sharpe), John Brice ([1738-1820] concerning Edward Braddock's campaign in 1755), Doctor [first name unknown] Brown, John Bullen, [first name unknown] Butler, William Byrd III (of Westover, Charles City County, Virginia), [first name unknown] Calvert (concerning horse racing in Virginia), Benedict Calvert (concerning Frederick Lord Baltimore and Horatio Sharpe), Cecilius Calvert, Charles Carter (of Cleve, King George County, Virginia, concerning Frederick Lord Baltimore, the Earl of Halifax, the Duke of Newcastle, and John Randolph), Landon Carter (of Sabine Hall, Richmond County, Virginia), [first name unknown] Carteret, Samuel Chamberlaine, Doctor Daniel Cheston (concerning Frederick Lord Baltimore and the Earl of Halifax), Francina Augustina (Frisby) Stephenson Cheston, Gawin Corbin, Richard Corbin (of Laneville, King and Queen County, Virginia, concerning Frederick Lord Baltimore, William Byrd III, John Randolph, Peter Randolph, Peyton Randolph, and the Ohio Company), [first name unknown] Cruiksshanks, Robert Dinwiddie (concerning James Abercrombie, John Randolph, Peter Randolph, and Peyton Randolph), Michael Edwards, Benjamin Fendall (concerning Horatio Sharpe), Samuel Galloway, Charles Goldsborough, [first name unknown] Gordon, Anne [Guith?], Philip Hammond, Mathias Harris, [first name unknown] Hepburne, Matthew Hutton (as Archbishop of York), [first name unknown] Hyland, Michael Inman, Robert Janssen, Stephen Theodore Janssen, Doctor [first name unknown] Jeffery, Edmund Jenings Jr., Edmund Jenings (1731-1819), [first name unknown] Key, Mrs. [first name unknown] Lambert, Philip Ludwell Lee, Richard Lee (concerning Horatio Sharpe), John Leids, [first name unknown] Lidderdale, Edward Lloyd, Philip Ludwell III (of Green Springs, James City County, Virginia, concerning John Randolph), [John Miller], George Plater (concerning Horatio Sharpe), [first name unknown] Porteus, Beilby Porteus, Elizabeth (Jenings) Porteus, Nancy Porteus, Ariana (Jenings) Randolph, John Randolph (of Williamsburg, Virginia, concerning Robert Dinwiddie, the Earl of Halifax, Peter Randolph, and Peyton Randolph), Peter Randolph (concerning John Randolph), Peyton Randolph (concerning John Randolph and Horatio Sharpe), Onoria Razalini (concerning Frederick Lord Baltimore, the Earl of Halifax, and the Duke of Newcastle), Mrs. [first name unknown] Rogers, Doctor David Ross (concerning Horatio Sharpe and a prescription), John Ross, Horatio Sharpe, William Sharpe (concerning John Blair, John Randolph, and Horatio Sharpe), William Smythies, [first name unknown] Snowden, [first name unknown] Stewart, Doctor George Steuart, Robert Stevenson, Benjamin Tasker, John Tayloe, Edward Thompson (concerning John Randolph), Presley Thornton, unidentified addressees (concerning William Byrd III, Edmund Jenings [1731-1819], John Randolph, Peter Randolph, Peyton Randolph, Horatio Sharpe, and Ralph Wormeley), [James] Wardrof, John Williams, [first name unknown] Williamson, John Wollaston, Mrs. John Wollaston, Ralph Wormeley, Chessley & Co. of Bristol, England, Hill & Co. of [location unknown], and Sedgeley & Co. of Bristol, England.

Letters (pp. 161-368 of the letterbook) of Edmund Jenings ([1731-1819] of London, England) also concern the Board of Trade of Great Britain, Brafferton, Yorkshire, England, copper mines, the East India Company, slavery, pamphlets of Edmund Jenings (1731-1819) and Doctor John Mitchell, paper currency, a portrait of William Pitt, the Seven Years' War, the Stamp Act of 1765, taxation, tobacco, the Townshend Acts of 1767, and the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.

Correspondents include Sir Marmaduke Beckwith (of Richmond County, Virginia), Robert Beverley (of Blandfield, Essex County, Virginia, concerning William Pitt), John Beale Bordley (concerning Frederick Lord Baltimore, Robert Eden, the Earl of Hillsborough, Edmund Jenings Jr., Philip Ludwell Lee, William Pitt, Horatio Sharpe, and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts of London, England), Sarah (Frisby) Brice, John Brice ([d. 1766] concerning Edmund Jenings [1703-1756] and Horatio Sharpe), John Brice (1738-1820), William Byrd III (of Westover, Charles City County, Virginia), Charles Carroll (concerning Frederick Lord Baltimore, the Earl of Hillsborough, Philip Ludwell III, and William Pitt), Francina Augustina (Frisby) Stephenson Cheston, Gawin Corbin (concerning Doctor Arthur Lee and William Pitt), Richard Corbin (of Laneville, King and Queen County, Virginia, concerning Robert Beverley, William Byrd III, the Earl of Halifax, Benjamin Harrison, the Earl of Hillsborough, Edmund Jenings [1703-1756], William Lee, Philip Ludwell III, William Pitt, John Randolph, Horatio Sharpe, John Tayloe, George Washington, and Ralph Wormeley), John Dickinson, George Lee Mason Fitzhugh, Benjamin Harrison (of Lower Brandon, Prince George County, Virginia), Edmund Jenings Jr., [first name unknown] Jordan (concerning Robert Eden and William Pitt), Doctor Arthur Lee (of London, England, and Williamsburg, Virginia, concerning the Earl of Hillsborough, Philip Ludwell III, and William Pitt), Richard Henry Lee (of Chantilly, Westmoreland County, Virginia, concerning Doctor Arthur Lee and Benjamin West and a portrait of the Earl of Camden), Richard Ludwell Lee (i.e., Philip Ludwell Lee or Richard Henry Lee concerning Robert Boyle, John Randolph, and John Tayloe), Thompson Moses, George Plater (concerning William Pitt), Beilby Porteus, Robert Porteus, Ariana (Jenings) Randolph (of Williamsburg, Virginia, concerning Robert Dinwiddie, Philip Ludwell III, John Randolph, Peyton Randolph, and John Tayloe), John Randolph (of Williamsburg, Virginia, concerning Edmund Jenings [1703-1756], Doctor Arthur Lee, Richard Henry Lee, William Pitt, Edmund Randolph, Peyton Randolph, and John Tayloe), [first name unknown] Reynard, Gregory Rhodes, Christopher Robinson, Doctor David Ross, Danson Roundall, William Smythies, William Stevenson (concerning Horatio Sharpe), John Tayloe (of Mount Airy, Richmond County, Virginia, concerning Doctor Arthur Lee, Richard Henry Lee, John Randolph, William Sharpe, and Presley Thornton), Edward Thompson (concerning the Earl of Halifax), Presley Thornton, unidentified addressees (concerning William Pitt and the Quartering Act of 1766), Edm. Wilcox, and Ralph Wormeley (of Rosegill, Middlesex County, Virginia, concerning the Earl of Hillsborough).

Section 2, Jenings, Edmund (1731-1819), Correspondence, 1789-1819

This section consists of eight items, letters, 1789-1818, written to Edmund Jenings of London, England. Letters concern land in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Correspondents include John Brice (of Baltimore, Maryland), W. Cooke (bears endorsement of James Brooks), Thomas Land Emory (of Baltimore, Maryland), Eliphalet Pearson (of Cambridge, Massachusetts, concerning the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston, Massachusetts), David Ross (of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania), and Ralph Randolph Wormeley (of Blackheath, England, and Winchester, Virginia, bears letters [copies] of Thomas Lane Emory and Doctor Gerard Hopkins Snowden and seal of Wormeley).

Section 3, Jenings, Edmund (1731-1819), Land Papers, 1783-1795

This section consists of two items, a letter, 1783, written by Lloyd Kenyon (of London, England, and bears seal) to John Randolph Grymes (of London, England) concerning American property rights in England; and an act (copy made by John Gwinn), 1795, of the Maryland General Assembly concerning land of Edmund Jenings in Anne Arundel County, Maryland (by authority of William Harwood, John Hoskins Stone, and Henry Warfield).

Section 4, Various Persons, Legal Papers, 1737-1790

This section consists of five items, legal papers, 1737-1790, of various persons. Items include a will (copy made by Benjamin Waller), 1737, of John Clayton (1665-1737) probated in the James City County, Virginia (witnessed by Solomon Heathcote, Benjamin Needler, and William Robertson and recorded by Matthew Kemp); a will (copy made by Christopher Pryor), 1774, of John Clayton (1694-1773) probated in Gloucester County, Virginia (witnessed by John James Beckley, Augustine Curtis, and Michael Driskill; recorded by Thomas Nelson; and bears affidavit of Machen Boswell); and affidavits, 1790, of John Bacon (of New Kent County, Virginia, concerning John Clayton [1694-1773] and William Clayton), Charles Hay (bears seal), and Beverley Randolph (concerning John Bacon, Machen Boswell, Charles Hay, and Benjamin Waller and bears seal of Virginia).

Section 5, Various Persons, Letters, 1837 and Undated

This section consists of two items, a letter, undated, of Margy [last name unknown] written to Charlie [last name unknown] concerning the Jennings family coat of arms and Jennings Hall, Yorkshire, England; and a letter, 1837, of E. J. Jenings (of London, England) written to John Richard Walbran (of Ripon, Yorkshire, England, concerning the Jenings family).

Section 6, Jenings Family, Miscellany, 1821 and Undated

This section consists of three items, a biographical sketch, 1821, of Edmund Jenings (1731-1819); notes on the Jennings family; and tombstone inscriptions at Kensington Church, London, England (concerning John Randolph Grymes, Susanna Beverley (Randolph) Grymes, Edmund Jenings [1731-1819], Mrs. Elizabeth Jenings, and Ariana (Jenings) Randolph).