From the author's announcement of the book:

The history begins with a Prince George's County court proceeding of 24 June 1712, when "William Webster servant to Thomas Middleton, adjudged to be 14 years of age, [is] ordered to serve til he attains the age of 22." William lived until 1777, leaving a detailed and interesting will disposing of his 675 acres to his five sons -- Thomas, William, Jr., John, James and Philip -- each of whom is profiled here. Biographical sketches of two daughters, Mary and Sarah, also are included. William and Elizabeth had 11 children in all, and their descendants were early settlers of Washington, D.C., Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois and a great many other states.

A few of the allied families included are: Adams, Baden, Downing, Dyer, Garner, Greer, Gibbs, Hyde, Jenkins, Latham, Mercer, Mudd, Rawlings, Stockman, Stup, Surratt, Tenley, Tomlinson and Tonry.

Of particular interest to historians is the inclusion of Mary E. Surratt, a principal in the Lincoln assassination trial, her maternal Webster line and her married children, Anna and John Harrison Surratt, Jr.

This hard-cover volume of 182 pages contains 62 profiles, a complete name index, a Maryland land tract index, indexes of military service and the 1788 oaths of fidelity, and is fully annotated.

Edythe Maxey Clark, November 1993

To read online with an Internet browser, go to usgwarchives.net, choose "Maryland T.O.C.", find "Edythe Maxey Clark".