Ann Freeny

*Ann, wife of Samuel Elliott, is probably either nee Figgs or Freeny for reasons stated herein. She was originally loosely identified as nee Hall by this compiler based entirely upon on-line genealogy with no sources. From there, this compiler assumed she might have been a d/o Samuel Hall who was contemporary with Samuel Elliott's father Daniel Elliot and owned adjacent lands However, an exhaustive search yielded nothing to connect Ann with the Halls in the area (directly, anyway). She is NOT mentioned in Samuel Hall Sr.'s, will.

Looking elsewhere, Ann's husband, Samuel Elliott, began accumulating land and property beginning in 1800 including saw mills, etc. with one EXCEPTION to this where, on Jan 30 1818, he sold 111a of land to George Sanders (also Saunders) for $500, a Zephaniah Maddox tract called "Winter" where it states "this part" of the tract is called "Figgs Property" (SxLR-AK33:298). No where in the records can this compiler find out when/where he purchased the land. This particular portion of the land was denoted "Figgs Property," land surveyed for Thomas Figgs for 111 acres, and land that Figgs had disputed with Zephaniah Maddox. Maddox sells other parts of his lands nearby here to various members of the Hearn family in the late 18th century and those lands stay in the Hearn family as elders passed away.

Why is this potentially important? Somehow Samuel Ellliott gains possession of the Figgs land he sold in 1818, land not far from his collection of other lands but still not connected to same, and he does not show up as purchasing said land. So, these findings led this compiler to research the Maddox and Hearn families, their land transactions and wills, and found no obvious connection to a daughter that might have been named Ann and more importantly, might have claim to land that ends up in Elliott's possesion in 1818. So, back to Thomas Figgs - the land that Samuel Elliott sells in 1818 is EXACTLY the same land that Thomas Figgs had surveyed for him on Oct 29 1794 and for which he received a patent on Mar 22 1796 (SxCerts-V20:161) including metes and bounds and total acreage (111a). Thomas Figgs gets a deed for that 111a of land from Mitchell Kershaw on Jan 14 1802 for 50 pounds It is uncertain why this took place if he already owned the land (this is the same as "Figgs Property") unless this was to confirm his ownership or, more probably, this was a son of the elder Thomas Figgs and a possible brother of our hypothetical Ann Figgs (SxLR-X22:205). Then we lose track of Thomas Figgs except for the fact that he shows up from time to time in the Sussex County Tax Assessments for being delinquent through 1816, then he disappears from the record except for a younger Thomas in the 1820 census. Therefore, it seems that we have two Thomas Figgs, an elder who died before 1800 and another who was living in 1820 but who had finanicial troubles between 1816 and 1818 and his land was devised to an heir that happened to be a daughter named Ann who was married to Samuel Elliott. It would explain how they gain ownership of the land or simply we need to consider that Samuel Elliott was Sheriff at the time and that could explain why he was acting as seller of the Figgs land (my current thesis).

The other alternative is that Ann is Ann Freeny, d/o John & Elizabeth Freeny. John names a daughter Ann in his will written in 1786 and proven in 1796. At the time it was proven, Elizabeth Freeny, his wife, assigns a land warrant to Samuel Elliott that he turns into "Elliotts Adventure" surveyed in 1796 and patented 1799. Was Elizabeth doing this for her daughter? This would mean that Jacob Elliott, s/o Samuel, perhaps married his first cousin, Sarah Freeny, not unusual at all however for that time period. This compiler feels it more likely that Ann, wife of Samuel Elliott, was a Freeny.

For this compilation, I place Ann Elliott as nee Freeny as the most likely solution but with consideration that she may be nee Figgs.

Ann married Samuel Elliott, son of Daniel Elliott and Sarah Hall, about 1780. (Samuel Elliott was born about 1769 in Worcester Co., MD ^{1 2 3} and died on 28 Oct 1829 in Sussex Co., DE ⁴.)