If you are researching the Pennington line in Maryland, you will be astonished at all the information available and how confusing it is.
There has been a lot of interest in this family over the years. There are countless papers, copied and recopied, in the family folders of Maryland historical society libraries. Some of the information is well documented (land deeds, probates, and administrative accounts). A lot of the information is the researcher's own theory and conjecture. Even Peden's Colonial Families of the Eastern Shore Vol. 6, has some inaccuracies.
In researching my own "Robert of William" Pennington connections, I started by copying only things that pertained to those two names. I found that much to limiting to make the correct connections. So the project took on a larger goal; to find as much information on all the Penningtons in Cecil Co. MD as possible. Even that is too narrow since many of the family moved to Kent or Anne Arundel Counties in MD; New Castle, Kent and Sussex Counties in DE and so on and so on. It is scary! What have I created for my self to follow through on?
There is a mixed bag of information. Some of the information is based on primary sources (deeds, probates, etc.), some on secondary sources (other researcher's notes and theories). I enter these in my notes because it helps to target research and discussion among researchers.
My method is to list the first source where I find the name. Then if a subsequent source is found elsewhere that source was listed also. If there is more than one source listed under the main name it is a reflection of additional confirmation of this placement. Everyone using the information should weight the sources according to the quality, primary original documentation, or secondary, personal notes. A word to the wise: to make a positive connection in your own personal line - GO BACK TO ORIGINAL SOURCE DOCUMENTATION FOR CONFIRMATION.
It is my hope that those interested in the MD, DE Penningtons will contribute by contacting me about mistakes, misplacements, and best of all - additions. This is the only way to get it right. As additional research is added, the total picture can be established. You are more than welcome to contact me and help me get it right.
My research in Delaware is ongoing. However, my focus has shifted to MD and the land transfers in and around the St Stephens Parish in MD. I am still intrigued by the wonderful "Penington Chart" I was given some 25 years ago that traced my great grandfather Franklin J Penington to Sir Isaac Penington of London. The chart has been very accurate. It even omitted the birth of one of Capt. Samuel's sons because the chart was completed a few years prior. It used the present tense when referring to Hyland Biddle Penington, as a lawyer in Philadelphia. He was still alive when the chart was being compiled and hopefully contributing to its accuracy.
One of my theories is that this chart may have some "brother and sister charts" that would contain family details for the siblings of Samuel Penington ( Robert B, Hyland B, Wm. Benedict, and Mary) listed at the bottom of the page. I have not found proof of this.
Before I got into this research, I thought that maybe this chart was a part of a book located in some historical library in the Maryland area. I have yet to find any evidence of that nature.
The next theory was that many of these charts may have existed for the more well to do families of the Middletown, DE area. It may have been all the rage to trace you ancestry back to someone famous. Everyone hopes to have great stories to tell about their ancestors. I've found no other family charts formatted like this one.
I may never be able to confirm all the links.
I have only found one other reference to confirm my theory that another copy of this chart exist. At the MD Historical Library in Baltimore, the Pennington file contains a hand written copy of my chart. Some of the details were not transcribe, but it is clear that this was a copy of my chart. This hand copy was donated to the Baltimore facility in the 1930's. It leads me to believe that there are more copies of my chart in other family treasure chests.
'Chart' in hand, I headed off to St. Stephens Parish to find the burials of the long lost Peningtons listed on my chart. I thought there would be head stones galore to photograph. There is an area of Penington graves, including the first wife of Hyland Biddle Penington. (Hyland actually mentions his family's graves in MD and contributed to the maintenance of those sites.) However, the treasure trove I hoped to find to confirm all the ancestors was not there. It has become just another mystery to solve.
Most Delaware Peningtons have their roots in MD. The following is a update of the progenitors of the Delaware Peningtons as of April 2001.
The long published belief that there are "no known living descendants" of the Delaware Pennington families is no longer true. This statement, published on the Pennington Association Website and in print in the "Pennington Pedigrees", has been of concern to many who know that their Pennington roots stem from the State of Delaware. Whatever the original intent in establishing the Delaware Group 21, it can be stated that there are many descendants of the Delaware Penningtons. Though they may no longer have Pennington as their surname, their lineage to the Pennington name has been documented through years of research. In order to move pass this "no known living descendants" obstacle, research continues to find how the Pennington families established themselves in the wonderful state of Delaware.
The boundaries between MD and Delaware have changed and been redrawn over the years. The theory that the Pennington family groups that settled in Delaware migrated east from Maryland has been put forward by many researchers over the years. It stands to reason since Cecil Co., MD is next to New Castle Co. and Kent Co., DE and the Pennington roots were established there in the early 1600's. In the case of two large DE Pennington family groups, this theory has been proven true.
Current research points to several family groups establishing the Pennington lines in Delaware. Each of the following can be considered a progenitor of a branch of Delaware Penningtons:
Samuel Penington, who died in 1823 in New Castle Co., DE is in the author's lineage. Samuel came to Odessa, DE from Cecil Co., MD around 1800 and is connected to two MD Pennington lines. First: Samuel is the son of Robert "of Wm." and Mary (Biddle) Penington who lived in Cecil Co., MD. Mary Biddle is the d/o John and Rachel (Pennington) Biddle Jr. Second is Wm., the father of Robert. This William could be connected in some manner to the William and Mary (Atkey) Pennington family group because of similar naming pattern. However, this is only a theory and not proven. (This particular DE branch from Robert of Wm. spells the Pennington name with one "n" on most legal documents and on their headstones).
Atkey R. Pennington, was born in 1759 Elkton, MD and died in New Castle Co., DE. Current research points to the parents of Atkey R as James (b 1723) and Elizabeth (Beasten) Pennington, s/o William (b abt 1693) and Mary (Atkey) Pennington. Both James and Wm. lived in Cecil Co., MD. Atkey R. Pennington lived in the Port Penn area of New Castle Co., DE. Other predominate family surnames in Atkey R Pennington's lineage are Ryland, Vandergrift, Eaton, and Price.
John Atkey Penington died in 1820 in New Castle Co., DE and farmed around the Odessa area. Other predominate family surnames in the John Atkey Penington line are Price, McDonough, Dushane, and Barr.
James Fields Pennington was born June 6, 1793 in MD and died in 1876 in DE. (Looking for more research on the parents of this DE family group). There are also Benjamin F Pennington and George F Pennington also. Could these be brothers and related to the Wheeler Pennington branch?
These Delaware Pennington progenitors started large families. There are several other Pennington family groups found in the DE Archives Hall of Records. These smaller groups could also be linked into the families from MD and quite possibly from the Philadelphia and NJ areas. More research is in store for all these connections.
Maybe there will be a donation to the MD and DE Archives of more family bibles, or a trunk load of family papers. One can only hope and dream of such a find to help clear up the Maryland mysteries.
Thank you for your efforts in researching this surname.