DAFFIN, CHARLES (?-1794).
BORN: in St. Mary's County, of age by 1775.
NATIVE: at least second generation.
RESIDED: in St. Mary's County; Dorchester County, June 1775; Bay
Hundred, Talbot County, December 1775; Caroline County, 1778; River
District, Caroline County, 1783.
FAMILY BACKGROUND.
FATHER George Daffin (?-probably by 1758), of St. Mary's County.
MOTHER: Susannah, widow of William Aisquith (?-ca. 1741), son of William
Aisquith (?-1719).
BROTHERS: Joseph Daffin (?-1796); John; and George.
HALF BROTHERS: William Aisquith (?-1804); Thomas Aisquith (ca. 1740-ca.
1770).
HALF SISTERS: Mary Aisquith (?-by 1770), who married (first name
unknown) Piercy; Ann Aisquith, who married Nicholas Sherwood; and
Susannah Aisquith, who married David Hellen. MARRIED in 1775 Mabel
(?-1796), widow of both (first name unknown) Ridgway and Risdon Bozman
(?-1774); daughter of Philip Sherwood (?-ca. 1789), of Talbot County.
Her brother was Nicholas. Her sisters were Frances, who married John
Stevens; Deborah, who married Joseph Yates; and Elizabeth, who married
Theophilus Marshall.
CHILDREN.
SONS: Capt. Thomas B., who married Rebecca (?-1812), daughter of Henry
Dickinson (?-1789); Joseph G., who married Elizabeth; and Charles (?-by
1801, in his minority).
STEPSON: William Ridgway.
DAUGHTER: Susannah, who married Francis J. Wilson, of Queen Anne's
County.
STEPDAUGHTER Sarah Ridgway (?-1798), who married William Ennalls Hooper
(?-1795).
PRIVATE CAREER.
EDUCATION: literate.
OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: merchant.
PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE Lower House, Caroline County,
1779-1780, 1782-
1783 (elected, but did not attend).
LOCAL OFFICES: justice, Caroline County, 1779-at least 1785 (out of the
county), commissioned 1793 and 1794; justice, Orphans' Court, Caroline
County, 1781 -at
least 1785.
WEALTH DURING LIFETIME,
PERSONAL PROPERTY: 26 slaves, 1776; assessed value £1,165.0.0, including
20 slaves and 60 oz. plate, 1783; 37 slaves, 1790; paid a debt of
£754.0.0 owed by the estate of his wife's former husband who had been
cosecurity on an unpaid bond, thereby attaining the right to collect
from the other two securities or their heirs.
LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: 1,052 acres in Caroline and Talbot counties (771
acres through his marriage, 281 acres by purchase), plus a 99- year
lease in Dorchester County, acreage unknown, held with his brother
Joseph Daffin (?-1796).
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH held the
same 99- year lease, but in his name only, 1786; acquired an additional
373 acres in Talbot County through his marriage, by 1783; purchased or
resurveyed at least 218 acres in Caroline, Dorchester, and Talbot
counties between 1786 and 1791; sold at least 12 acres in Dorchester
County between 1787 and 1790.
WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED:
administration bond granted November 19, 1794, in Caroline County.
PERSONAL PROPERTY TEV, £2,283.16.9 current money (including 30 slaves
and books); FB, £145.2.5. LAND: at least 1,496 acres in Talbot,
Caroline, and Dorchester counties.
DAFFIN, JOSEPH (?-1796).
BORN: probably in St. Mary's County, of age by 1775.
NATIVE: at least second generation.
RESIDED: in Dorchester County, 1775; Transquakin Hundred, Dorchester
County, 1776.
FAMILY BACKGROUND.
FATHER. George Daffin, of St. Mary's County.
MOTHER: Susannah, widow of William Aisquith (?-ca. 1741), of St. Mary's
County.
BROTHERS: Charles Daffin (?-1794); John, who probably died without
progeny; and George, who died without progeny.
HALF BROTHERS: William Aisquith (?-1804), of Baltimore County; Thomas
Aisquith (ca. 1740-ca. 1770), who died without progeny.
HALF SISTERS: Mary Aisquith (?-by 1770), who married (first name
unknown) Piercy; Ann Aisquith, who married Nicholas Sherwood; and
Susannah Aisquith, who married David Hellen. MARRIED in 1775 Elinor (ca.
1738-1793), daughter of Col. Joseph Ennails (1702-1759) and wife Mary;
granddaughter of Joseph Ennalls (?-1709); niece of William Ennalls
(?-1731), Bartholomew Ennalls (ca. 1700-1783), Elizabeth Ennalls (?-by
1739), who married
Charles Goldsborough (1707-1767), and Mary Ennalls, who married Henry
Hooper (ca. 1687-1767). Her brothers were John Ennalls (by
1746-1778); William Ennalls (?-1785). Her sisters were Mary (?-by 1766),
who married David Murray; Ann (Nancy) (1750-1803), who married Thomas
Muse; and Elizabeth. Her first cousins were Joseph Ennails (ca.
1745-1779); Henry Hooper, Jr. (ca. 1727-1790); Robert Goldsborough
(1733-1788); Mary Ennalls, who married Ennalls Hooper (?-ca.
1763); Ann Ennalls (ca. 1729-by 1790), who married Henry Hooper, Jr.
(ca. 1727-1790); and Elizabeth Greenberry Goldsborough (ca. 1731-1820),
who married William Ennalls (?-1785).
CHILDREN. Died without progeny.
PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION: literate.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Anglican, Great Choptank Parish, Dorchester
County.
SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Gent., 1778; Esq., 1786.
OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: merchant, in partnership with his brother Charles
Daffin (?-1794), by 1775.
PUBLIC CAREER.
LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Lower House, Dorchester County, 1777-1778, 1793.
LOCAL OFFICES. Committee of Observation, Dorchester County, elected
1775; justice, Dorchester County, ca. 1783-1788 (did not qualify in
1788); trustee for the poor, Dorchester County, appointed 1785 (refused
to serve); justice, Orphans' Court, Dorchester County, 1786-1788 (did
not qualify in 1788); Great Choptank Parish Vestry, Dorchester County,
in office 1788-1790, 1790-1792, 1795.
MILITARY SERVICE captain, by 1776; major, by 1786; colonel, by 1795.
STANDS ON PUBLIC/PRIVATE ISSUES manumitted several slaves in his will,
requesting that those slave families not manumitted be kept as closely
connected as possible.
WEALTH DURING LIFETIME.
PERSONAL PROPERTY: 40 slaves, 1776; assessed value £1,883.11.8,
including 43 slaves and 35 oz. plate, 1783.
LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: 644 acres in Dorchester County (all acquired
through marriage). SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION
AND DEATH: purchased 150 acres in St. Mary's County, date unknown;
acquired 800 additional acres in Dorchester County, which his wife
inherited from her brother John Ennalls (by 1746-1778), ca. 1780. At his
wife's death Daffin became heir to one-fourth part of 11,009 acres in
Dorchester County, which he would have inherited through the Ennalls
family after the death of his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Greenberry
Goldsborough Ennalls (1731-1820). Elizabeth outlived him, however, and
he never obtained actual possession of this land.
WEALTH AT DEATH.
DIED: will probated on June 27, 1796, in Dorchester County.
PERSONAL PROPERTY: size of estate unknown.
LAND: 1,601 acres in Dorchester and St. Mary's counties, plus a lot in
Cambridge and a water lot in Vienna, Dorchester County.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
Daffin appears to have been a man of colorful language. In explaining
why he did not leave more land to a nephew who already had a large
estate, he told his executor that he did not "think it worthwhile to
greese a fat Sow in the Arse." In his will Daffin manumitted several
slaves, bequeathing them to themselves and the devil, the prince of
darkness, or the Knight of LaMancha. Daffin even provided an expense
account for one of the slaves to be used during his journeys through the
plutonian regions. This apparently was a ruse to ensure
that no other person would interfere with their freedom.