Sim

compiled and copyright by MJP Grundy, 2002
Nicotiana tabacum, from Chambers's Encyclopædia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge for the People
(Phila.: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1885), 9:462.

This page explores what little information I've been able to discover about Patrick Sim (d. 1740) and his daughter, Christian (d. 1762). I am hopeful that readers may be able to help me fill in some of the missing information about their lives and immediate families. If you have documentaion, I would be very grateful if you would e mail me at kwg at po.cwru.edu, substituting the familiar @ for "at".

First Known Generation

Dr. Patrick Sim¹ emigrated to Maryland from Scotland. Although there are pretty complete records of emigration from that country, the only record I have found is of a Patrick Syme transported 7 December 1665 from Leith to Barbados.[1] But this seems too early for our man. An entry in the LDS International Genealogical Index gives an approximate birth year of 1680 for Patrick, in Kilgairn, Scotland. However it has no documentation, and of the 40 entries for men named Patrick Sim (with various spellings) between 1640 and 1700, this Patrick is the only one from Kilgairn. The rest are mostly from Perth, West Lothian, Banff, Aberdeen, Fife, and Edinborough. According to Effie Gwynn Bowie in Across the Years in Prince George’s County Dr. Patrick Sim fled from Scotland where it was said he was implicated in the Rebellion of 1715. Kilcairn was given as the name of his Scottish estate. He settled in Prince George’s County, Maryland.[2]

However, there is a deed recorded 10 September 1799 in which Patrick’s son Joseph claims that he is disposing of land from his grandfather, Col. Joseph Sim. “Sim’s Delight” was sold for £375 to Benjamin ODEN. This seems like a promising lead that so far has not gone anywhere.[3] It is quite possible that the "grandfather Joseph" mentioned in the deed is actually the son of our Patrick; our Patrick would then be the great grandfather rather than the father of Joseph the seller. The late date of 1799 makes this a real possibility.

We are on more firmly documented footing for Patrick’s marriage to Mary Brooke, daughter of Thomas Brooke (ca. 1659 -1730/1) and his wife Barbara (Dent). Patrick’s father-in-law was an important man both politically and economically, and his story is given in the Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 1635-1789.[4] However, to emphasize the elusive nature of the Sim line, Effie Gwynn Bowie writes that Mary was the daughter of Thomas Brooke and his first wife, the unknown Ann (__). Bowie also holds that Mary was married about 1729, the year in which Thomas Brooke deeded to her “Grove Landing”, near Upper Marlborough.[5] Barbara Sikora informs me that the fifty acre “Grove Landing” was a wedding gift. [e mail 1m/10/2005.]

In 1735 Patrick built “Sim’s Delight”, on the south shore of the Patuxent, up on high land, back from the river. It has been described as “one of the finer specimens of provincial building.” It was later sold for £375 current money by Patrick’s eldest son, Joseph Sim, to Benjamin ODEN, in a deed recorded 10 September 1799. The deed identifies it as “being that part of the tract conveyed to Joseph Sim by his grandfather, Colonel Joseph Sim by deed bearing date May 10, 1779”. Patrick had earlier relinquished all his interest in “Sim’s Delight” to Benjamin Oden, as recorded 3 December 1794. Benjamin Oden renamed it “Bellefields”. In 1940 it was owned by Lt-Col. Marcel Keene of New York and Maryland, who worked to restore it.[6]

Thomas BROOKE bequeathed one and a half acres of land in Nottingham to Patrick (the rest of the land there, called “Prospect”, going to other sons-in-law and sons of Thomas Brooke). However, as the estate was heavily in debt, it is unlikely that Patrick actually received title to the land.[7]

Patrick Sim is frustratingly elusive. Among the few traces he left are financial dealings. He was a creditor (either lent money or they owed him for professional services) of two Prince George’s Countians, Richard BEAVAN and Mrs. Margaret SPRIGG. Debt was not merely a problem for those without resources. There were no banks. Especially with the seasonal and unpredictable nature of the tobacco economy, people at all economic levels of society lent and borrowed money. Beavan’s estate was inventoried in 1739 at over £445. Sprigg’s in 1740 for £175. Two years later Mary Sim was a creditor to Ann WRIGHT/WHITE, whose estate was valued at almost £250.[8]

Patrick died 24 October 1740 in Prince George’s County.[9] His estate was inventoried soon after, valued at £1,692.9.1. On 28 March 1741 the inventory and valuation was approved by his major creditors, Daniel CARROLL and John HEPBURN, and by Thomas GANTT and William Sim representing his next of kin. Mary Sim was named executrix.[10] Thomas Gantt (d. 1765) married as his first wife Priscilla BROOKE, half sister of Mary (Brooke) Sim. It is unclear to me just how William Sim was related to Patrick.

Mary signed her will on 16 February 1758, and she apparently died that year. She left things to grandchildren Thomas Sim Lee, Patrick Sim, and Sarah Brooke Lee; to daughters Barbara Smith and Christian Smith; and to son Joseph Walter Smith. She specified that her grandson Thomas Sim Lee should have the armchair that Mary had bought from the estate of Thomas HODGKIN, 6 leather chairs, and the house in Marlboro to be in the possession of his mother Christian Smith after Mary's death.[11]

Children of Patrick and Mary (Brooke) Sim:[12]

1. Joseph Sim², aka Joseph Walter Sim, b. in Prince George’s Co., the only son; m (1) by 1754 Catherine MURDOCK (d. Friday, 29 Mar. 1771) second daughter of William Murdock (ca. 1710-1769) and Ann (ADDISON). Catherine’s father served in the Maryland legislature; her maternal grandfather was Thomas Addison (1679-1727). Catherine’s obituary in 1771 said Joseph was “of Prince George’s Co.”. Joseph m (2) ca. 1775 as her third husband, Lettice LEE (d. 3 Apr. 1776), daughter of Philip Lee (ca. 1681-1744) who served in the Md. legislature. She was the sister of Joseph’s sister Christian's first husband, Thomas Lee. Lettice had married first James WARDROP (d. 1760) and their home, “Darnall’s Chance” is now a house museum decorated as of the estate inventory in 1760. Lettice m(2) Dr. Adam THOMSON (d. 1767), creator of the “American method” of smallpox innoculation. By Nov. 1779 Joseph res. on “Addison’s Choice” in Frederick Co.; he was there in the 1790 census, enumerated with 2 free white males over the age of 16, one under 16, and a free white female. Joseph reached the rank of Major in the militia.[13] Joseph served as executor for his sister Christian’s will, and he and his wife Catherine were bequeathed china, dishes, and other things.


2. ??Walter Sim??[14] If the proof of his existence is the phrase in the abstract of his mother’s will, “To brother Joseph Walter Sim, set of china.” then it seems to me that there is one man, with two names, not two men with one name apiece. The Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature does not list Walter.


3. Barbara Sim, m. Dr. Clement SMITH, Jr. (1718-1792). Clement was the son of Walter Smith Jr. who was the brother of Richard Smith, the father of Walter who m. Christian Sim. Barbara was remembered in her sister Christian’s will. Barbara and Clement had 10 children: Patrick Sim Smith (b. 174_; d. 1792); Dr. Walter Smith of Georgetown (d. 29 Aug. 1796; m. Esther BELT); Richard Smith (d. 14 Mar. 1787; m. Mary CHEW); Lt. Col. Alexander lawson Smith (b. 1754; d. 1802); Dr. Clement Smith, Jr.; Dr. Joseph Sim Smith (d. 6 Sept. 1822 at Taneytown); John Addison Smith (sea captain, d. unmar.); Mary Sim Smith; Susanna Smith; Rachel Smith.[15]


4. Christian Sim; d. 1762; m (1) Thomas LEE (d. 1749), the son of Philip Lee and brother of Lettice Lee who was the second wife of Christian’s brother Joseph; m (2) Walter SMITH, the first cousin of her sister Barbara’s husband Clement Smith. See below.

Second Known Generation

Christian Sim², the daughter of Dr. Patrick Sim and his wife Mary (Brooke), died in 1762.[16] She married her first cousin Thomas LEE, the son of the politically prominent Philip Lee (ca. 1681-1744) and his wife Sarah BROOKE, widow of William DENT (ca. 1660-1704). Thomas died in 1749.[17]

Christian married for the second time Walter SMITH, the eldest son of Richard and Elinor (Addison) Smith. Walter helped raise his step-son, Thomas. He and Christian also had a daughter, named for his mother, Eleanor (Addison) Smith.[18]

Walter died early in 1755. Christian survived him by seven years. She signed her will 12 February 1762, and it was proved 24 March.[19] An abstract of her will reads:

I, Christian Smith, Widow of Walter Smith . . . To my son, Thomas Sim Lee . . . To my daughter Sara Brooke Lee . . . To Mrs. Eliza Contee, tea chest etc. To sister-in-law Mrs. Catherine Sim, dishes etc. To Lucy Boteler . . . To sister Barbara Smith, . . . To friend, Mrs. Ann Hollyday . . . To Mrs. Sarah Chilton, silver. To brother Joseph Walter Sim, set of china. Remaining portion of estate to my daughter Eleanor Addison Smith, said daughter to be brought up under the care of Mr. Theodore Contee.

The executor was Christian's brother, Joseph Sim. The will follows a familiar woman’s pattern of leaving things to her female friends and relatives. Ann HOLLYDAY may have had a connection to Margery Hollyday (d. 1764), the daughter of Thomas (ca. 1661-1702/3), widow of Levin COVINGTON (d. 1725), and the second wife of Thomas GANTT. His first wife had been Mary's half sister Priscilla BROOKE. Theodore CONTEE (b. 1736), who was to care for Christian’s minor daughter, Eleanor Addision Smith, was Mary's nephew, the son of Alexander and Jane (Brooke) Contee (Mary's sister). Theodore was an attorney-at-law, married to Elizabeth SMITH of Calvert County. Elizabeth was bequeathed a tea chest, among other things, by Christian Sim.

Children of Thomas and Christian (Sim) Lee:

1. Thomas Sim Lee³, b. 29 Oct. 1745 in Prince George's Co.; d. 19 Oct. 1819 at Needwood; m. 27 Oct. 1771 at Mellwood Park, Prince George's Co., Mary DIGGS or DIGGES (1745-21/1/1805) only child of Ignatius (d. 1785) and his wife Elizabeth Parnham CRAYCROFT. Mary was the step-daughter of Mary Carroll (b. 1733), grand daughter of William Digges and Elinor (Brooke). The photo, from Bowie’s Across the Years in Prince George’s County, opp. p. 521, shows Mellwood Park, home of William Digges (d. 1740), his son Ignatius Digges, and his daughter Mary; Ignatius bequeathed it to Mary’s son, Ignatius Digges Lee.
   Thomas Sim Lee spent 2 years in Bath, Eng. 1769-70. Thomas was raised Anglican, but converted to Roman Catholicism. Some historians claim his conversion was upon his marriage; but it appears to have been in 1788. This would lend support to the reference that he signed a pre-nuptial agreement with his father-in-law, Ignatius Digges, to raise their children Catholic and allow any slaves of his wife to worship as Catholics. Thomas had St. Mary’s Church in Petersville, Frederick Co., constructed; there is now a memorial tablet on a wall honoring him. Thomas was clerk of the county court 1757-76, and Governor of Maryland 1779-83, 1792-94; delegate to Congress 1783-84; in 1798 was elected both to the US Senate and as Governor of Maryland, but declined both honors. Thomas and Mary had 6 sons and 2 daughters.[20]


2. Sara[h] Brooke Lee, mentioned in her mother’s and grandmother’s wills.

Child of Walter and Christian (Sim) Lee Smith:

3. Eleanor Addison Smith, b. 1752; d. 8 July 1798; m. ca. 1778 John Robert HOLLIDAY of Epsom, Baltimore County, Md.[21]

To continue the story of this family, go to the Smith and Holliday pages.

If you have additions or corrections to this web page, I would be delighted to hear from you. Contact me via e mail at kwg "at" cwru.edu just substituting the familiar "@" for "at".

See some other colonial Maryland families that link one way or another with these Sims:
Addison,  Bale,  Brooke,  Browne,  Dent,  Dorsey,  Ely,   Hall,  Hatton,  Holliday,  Howard,  Isaac,  Molton,  Norwood,  Owings,  Randall,  Ridgely,  Smith,  Stone,  Tasker.  Warfield.  and Wilkinson. 

Go to the index of Other Lines that are included in this website (not all of them have been posted yet).

Go to the Paxson home page.

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Notes

The full bibliographical citation is given the first time a source is mentioned, but is not repeated each time that source is cited. Scroll up til you find the first mention and there you will find the complete citation.

1. David Dobson, The Original Scots Colonists of Early America, 1612-1783 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc. 1989), 325, citing ETR 104.



2. Effie Gwynn Bowie, Across the Years in Prince George’s County (Richmond VA: Garrett & Massie, Inc., reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., 1975), 298. I am indebted to Harold D. Smith for bringing this to my attention, and for supplying copies of the pages that were missing from the volume I obtained on interlibrary loan.



3. Bowie, Across the Years in Prince George’s County, 766, citing J.R.M 7.328, and C.C. 2. 617 Land Office, Marlboro.



4. Edward C. Papenfuse, Alan F. Day, David W. Jordan, and Gregory A. Stiverson, A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 1635-1789 (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979) 2 vols., 2:736.



5. Bowie, Across the Years in Prince George’s County, 84.



6. Bowie, Across the Years in Prince George’s County, 766, citing J.R.M. 7.328, CC 2.617 Land Office, Marlboro, and J.R.M. 3, 260 Land Office, Marlboro; Paul Wilstach, Tidewater Maryland (New York: Tudor Publishing Co., 1945), 297.



7. Bowie, Across the Years in Prince George’s County, 83.



8. Skinner, Abstracts of the Inventories of the Prerogative Court of Maryland, vol. 24-28 (1738-1744):10, 27, 72. The exact amounts were £3445.10.11, £175.3.6, and £248.1.6.



9. George Norbury MacKenzie, Colonial Families of the United States of America: in which is given the history, genealogy and armorial bearings of colonial families who settled in the American colonies from the time of the settlement of Jamestown, 13th May, 1607, to the Battle of Lexington, 19th April, 1775, 6 vols. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1996; originally pub. 1912), 1:43. Bowie, Across the Years in Prince George’s County, 300, gives his date of death as 24 Oct. 1745, with the inventory returned in 1741. Clearly a typographical error.



10. Skinner, Abstracts of the Inventories of the Prerogative Court of Maryland, vol. 24-28 (1738-1744):50, citing Lib. 26, fol. 41. The Abstract reports the administration mentions Dr. John Hamilton and Charles Stuart, but does not say anything more.



11. Bowie, Across the Years in Prince George’s County, 300, citing Annapolis Lib. 30, fol. 475.



12. Papenfuse, et al, A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 2:736.



13. Bowie, Across the Years in Prince George’s County, 298 gives an obviously incorrect birth date of 27 Nov. 1793 for Joseph. The obit. says Catherine was "in her 86th year”. Robert Barnes, comp., Marriages and Deaths from the Maryland Gazette, 1727-1839 (Balt.: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1973), 167. The date of the newspaper was 5 Dec. 1771. Alternatively, Biog. Dic. of Md. Legis., 2:736 would have Catherine younger, suggesting she was b. ca. 1735, which makes more sense if her father was b. ca. 1710. For more on Philip Lee see Biog. Dic. of Md. Legis, 2:526-27. For William Murdock, see Biog. Dic. of Md. Legis, 2:606-7.



14. Walter is not mentioned in the Biog. Dic. of Md. Legis., but is given on Harold Smith’s web page on Ancestry.com, following Bowie, Across the Years in Prince George’s County, 298. I have not done the primary research to document his existence, and acknowledge that it is easier to prove someone was born than that he was not born into a given family. My own guess is that Walter did not exist but was the middle name of son Joseph.



15. Bowie, Across the Years in Prince George’s County, 298, 300.



16. Johnston, "Smith Family”, 2:382.



17. Papenfuse, et al, A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature.




18. Johnston, "Smith Family”, 2:382.




19. Johnston, "Smith Family”, 2:382. The abstract is from Bowie, Across the Years in Prince George’s County (1975 reprint), 299-300.



20. Papenfuse, et al, A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 2:529-30; Md. Gen, 2:382; Johnston, "Smith Family”, 2:382; Bowie, Across the Years in Prince George’s County, 524-25. Barbara Sikora, of Darnall’s Chance House Museum in Upper Marlboro, Prince George’s County, informed me of a letter from the Rev. John Carroll to Charles Plowden, 1 June 1792, in which Carroll refers to Thomas Sim Lee’s conversion "four years ago". E mail 1m/5/2004. Barbara also located the document in which Thomas Sim Lee promised to his soon-to-be father-in-law that he will raise the children Catholic. It is in the Outerbridge Horsey collection of Horsey, Lee and Carroll family papers at the Maryland Historical Society. [e mail 1m/10/2005.] I am grateful for this documentation.



21. Robert Barnes, comp., Maryland Marriages, 1634-1777 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1976), 164, citing All Hallows Parish rec., Prince George's Co.

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If you have additions or corrections to this web page, I would be delighted to hear from you. Contact me via e mail to kwg "at" cwru.edu just substituting the familiar "@" for "at".