WILL OF MARMADUKE SEMMES,
ST. MARY'S COUNTY, VOLUME 6, PAGE 33
HALL OF RECORDS, MARYLAND STATE ARCHIVES, ANNAPOLIS, MD
In the Name of God Amen I Marmaduke Simms of St. Mary’s County in the Province of Maryland plantor
being sick & weak in body but blessed be almighty God of good & sound & perfect memory knowing there
is a time for all men to die do make ordain & appoint this my last will & testament to be my whole & sole
will & testament revoking all former wills verbal & in writings & this only to stand in force first my will is I
bequeath my Soul into the hands of Almighty God from whom I received it & my body to the earth from
whence it came to be buried at the discretion of my Executors hereafter named Fortuna Simms my will is
that my just debts be fully discharged & paid so soon as possible... Impris
Item ~ I give & bequeath to my loving Son Anthony Simms two hundred acres of land out of my tract of
land I bought of Mr. Thomas lying in St. Mary’s County & take his length bounding upon Westwood Manor
to my exterior tree of that north Line & so bounding upon Major Boarman & my long line to West Wood
Manor to make up his two hundred acres...
Item ~ I also give & bequeath unto my loving son Anthony Simms four hundred acres of land lying in Cecil
County & called Simms Forest this tract of land with the other two hundred acres above written I give to
my son Anthony his heirs & assignees forever...
Item ~ My will is that my loving wife Fortuna Simms enjoys the plantation I now live on with all the rest of
the land belonging with said land except what I had given my son Anthony during her natural life...
Item ~ I give & bequeath unto my son James Simms three hundred acres of land I bought of Andrew
Woodberry lying in Cecil County & commonly known & called Middle Plantation to my son James his
heirs & assigns forever...
Item ~ I give & bequeath unto my loving sons John Simms & Marmaduke Simms after the decease of my
loving wife & there loving mother Fortuna Simms all the remainder of my tract of land I now live on which
is unbequeathed to be equally divided between my said sons John & Marmaduke to be equally divided
between them at their coming to age my son John having his first choice to them & their heirs forever...
Item ~ My will is that as to the personal estate goods & chattels it hath pleased the Almighty God to
bestow upon me that they be equally divided between my loving wife Fortuna son Anthony son James
son John & son Marmaduke revoking all former wills to this only & sit my hand & Seale this 14th of
August 1690.
MARMADU (SEAL)
Signed Sealed & Declared in the presence of John Cornish, Tho. Simpson, Sarah (her mark) Graves,
Richard Edelen
Memdm....whereas in this my written will I have made my loving wife & loving children equal partners in
my goods & chattels my will is & would have this so taken to be my will that my son Anthony has no share
no part of my house or money as witness my hand this 14th of August 1690...
MARMADUKE SEMME
Testes: Richard Edelen, Thomas Cullam
These are to certify that there came before me (viz) Richard Edelen on the fourth day of this instant
March & also John Cornish & Thomas Simpson on the twentieth of the month & there took their corporal
oaths that the within written will & testament & that they knew no other as witnesses my hand this 20th
day of March 1692/3.
PHILLIP BRIS...
The forth day of this instant March 1692/3 came before me Richard Edelen & Thomas Cullum & took their
corporal oaths that the memorandum on the back of this will was the will of the testator as witness my
hand the day & year first above written.
PHILLIP BRIS...

Washington County, Kentucky Bicentennial History 1792-1992, “…Marmaduke Semmes, who emigrated from Gloucestershire, England to Lord Baltimore’s Maryland Colony before 1662. He proved his claim to 50 acres of land and was sworn in as doorkeeper to the Upper House of the General Assembly. In 1668, he married Madam Fortuna Mitford who bore four sons: Anthony, James, John, and Marmaduke. Anthony married Ann Sissons; their son, Fidelmus Simms [my ancestor and presumably yours also] married Elizabeth Bryan who were parents of the pioneer settler, John Simms. Before the Revolution the family owned the plantations, ‘St. George’, ‘Simms Forrest’ and ‘Middle Plantation’ in St. Mary’s, St. Charles and Cecil Counties, MD. In 1778, John Simms took the Patriot’s Oath of Allegiance and furnished wagons and oxen teams for the War of Independence… In 1790, he left the home plantation, ‘St. George’, and joined the third league of Catholic families moving westward. With his wife, Elizabeth Wathen and ten children, he journeyed to the new country [Washington County, Kentucky]…”