John* Elliott ¹

*This compiler had conjectured that Daniel Elliott's mother's maiden name as Melson based upon naming one child Melson Elliott and then found an on-line Elliott genealogy that showed parents as John and Mary (Melson) Elliott! No sources, but promising work but very speculative until further proof is found (or not). The Melson and Elliott families lived in close proximity to one another in both Maryland and Virginia. Mary Melson has a brother named Daniel Melson Sr. and it is likely that she named her son Daniel Elliott after that brother.

Further research finds a John Elliott surveying and patenting land on Elliotts Island, Dorchester Co., MD starting with the "Ferny Point" tract for 84a on Jan 4 1707 (DoRR-10:483-3) and "Fishing Point" on Apr 28 1714 for 356a, 2 roods, 36 perches (DoCert:450). Was this John Elliott of the Elliotts of Accomack Co., VA? The contemporary Melson boys were plying back-and-forth from Somerset in Maryland to Accomack in VA so the Elliotts may have been doing the same.

"The Melson Family of America" by Lewis Melson, 1992, states that Mary Melson, d/o John Melson married Robert Elliott in Accomack Co., VA citing a tertiary source record, "Mark Lewis' Melson Family Journal," Accomack County Public Library, Onancock, VA; thus adding an Elliott-Melson union to the mix. This is corraborated on the Virginia Public Library website that places the venerable "Miles Files" on-line (2017).

However, all this conjecture seems to have originated from Ralph Whitelaw's excellent treatise of the Eastern Shore of VA land records that he compiled in 1968 in 2 volumes. Whitelaw did a remarkable job on the land and he also added some valuable family genealogical information in many places. Unfortunately, the family genealogy side of his work, while extensive, is error prone and so the researcher has to be careful to follow-up any of his assertions with their own primary records investigation.

This writer believes that the assertion Whitelaw states that Mary Melson married Robert Elliott is entirely incorrect. The only thing Whitelaw used to "prove" his connection was two sparse pieces of information: (1) John Melson mentions his daughter Mary ELLIOTT is his will written in Accomack on Dec 30 1736 and Robert Elliott names a wife as Mary Elliott in his will on Jan 20 1734 in Accomack. A terribly dubious conclusion as there is no proof of a connection therein given; i.e., we know Mary married an Elliott and that is all, based upon her father's will. Plus, Robert is listed as born prior to 1672 to "Great" John Elliott and, Mary Melson is born c1704, a full generation+ apart. This compiler finds it more likely that Mary Melson had married a different Elliott, perhaps of the same "Great" John Elliott line but a generation younger. Robert Elliott apparently had no issue or, at least he denotes no legatees except his wife in his will. We have no better proof, other than some very weak circumstantial tidbits, than that of the claim she married Robert Elliott of Accomack.

This compiler's current strong hypothesis is that this Elliott line that ends up in Somerset (prior to 1742), later Worcester Co., MD (1742-c1775) and still later Sussex Co., DE (after 1775) in the mid-18th century (the line was in 3 different counties without ever physically moving). The line descends from the Elliotts of Elliotts Island, Dorchester Co., MD or, more likely, the Elliotts in Accomack Co., VA, which may indeed be one-in-the-same as the families were travelling quite a bit back then between Accomack and the Maryland counties AND the Elliotts and Melsons both had lines that moved from Accomack in VA to Old Somerset in Maryland in the early 18th century. More research working.

John* married Mary Melson, daughter of John Melson and Mary Smith, about 1734. (Mary Melson was born about 1704 in Accomack Co., VA and died about 1775 in Sussex Co., DE.)