FOUNDER: GEORGE MANKIN
*GEORGE MANKIN(1), was the first known Mankin to cross the Atlantic and settle in Charles County, Maryland. He probably arrived in 1650 as a companion to the household of Thomas Brooke(2), gentleman, whose father Robert Brooke had outfitted a ship. Robert Brooke became known later as a fiery Roundhead, yet his sons were, through marriage, relatives of Lord Cecil Calvert. George is first mentioned by author Gust Skordas in his book, "Early Maryland Indentures" that George Mankin was first recorded in 1666 as having been one of several persons brought over and claimed by Major Thomas Brooke as entitled to receive 50 acres of land for each person whose travel expenses he had paid in the interest of expanding and encouraging the growth of the colony. This was called the headright system of receiving land. George Mankin is listed as one of those whose passage had been paid.
Maryland had been granted to the 1st Lord Baltimore, Sir George Calvert, but settled by his brother Leonard Calvert (2nd Lord Baltimore) in 1634, arriving in two ships The Ark and The Dove. By 1650, the colony was a haven for Catholics and Quakers seeking refuge from religious intolerance in England, and now was under the proprietorship of Lord Cecil Calvert, 3rd Lord Baltimore. Some Catholics, Quakers, and members of the Church of England came as refugees from the Ulster Uprising of 1641, where James 1 st had granted plantations in Ulster in northern Ireland. Many like the Mankin relatives, Calvert and Robinson families, had attempted to settle there from Yorkshire, were in the military service in Ireland, and fled their Irish plantations in this failed plan of dominating northern Ireland.
No record of the exact place of origin of George Mankin has been discovered, although the Lords of Baltimore lived in Yorkshire halfway between Durham and York at "Kiplin Hall" at Bolton-on-Swale near Richmond and Ripon and where the parish records show several Mankin families lived, and which we have discussed earlier in looking at possible origins of the Mankin family who came to America. We know that the Maryland Dent family, as well as the Quaker leader John Calvert, both came from Guisborough, Yorkshire. It appears that Richard Mankin of Fort Christiana, DE, a probable son listed below, was related to major Quaker leaders, Valentine Hollingsworth and John Calvert, both friends of William Penn, and that Edward Mankin, merchant of Philadelphia, witnessed the will of William Howell, who had purchased a manor house at Ashford, Derbyshire, from John Wood and Sir George Wood, the latter a Knight and Justice of the Peace. We assume that if George came from Yorkshire, perhaps he came from the Mankin family of Stainton, Yorkshire, or Great Smeaton, not far from Guisborough, Yorkshire or he could have been from Ashford, Derbyshire (now called Ashford-on-the-Water, Derbyshire). Irish "Mangin" and Welch or even Dutch or Swedish origins are also possibilities. I do not believe in the Scottish origin of the Mankin family at this time, because (1) Capt. Michael Mankin, mentioned below, would not likely ship his own countrymen into indentured servitude, (2) the name "Mankin" is common in Durham, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and noted in Derbyshire, and not found in Scotland before 1800, and (3)the Quaker relatives Calvert, Robinson, Wilkinson, Dent, and Stone are all Yorkshire origintating families.
George Mankin has not been certainly identified as the father of perhaps at least four others named Mankin in the next generation, perhaps his sons, though we are not sure of their paternity. For the sake of preserving accuracy, and not declaring their exact relationship to each other, or to the liklyhood of being sons of George Mankin, we shall identify them separately:
DESCENDANTS OF GEORGE MANKIN - His sons
1 Commander MICHAEL MANKIN,
b. about 1660, he was still living 1716. He was Commander of the Ship,
"Friendship of Belfast." On 11 January 1716 he transported to Port
Tobacco, Maryland 80 Jacobite Scottish Loyalists who were prisoners captured
at the battle of Preston in Lancashire. They were captured along with the
Earl of Mar who was fighting for the Old Pretender, in his attempt to overthrow
George I. These rebels were usually bound together in groups of five, they
drew straws, and the one with the short straw was hanged while the other
four were shipped to the colonies for hard labor. One Scottish prisoner,
John Ramsey, writing his friend in Glasgow 10 December 1716 said, "You
can't imagine the bad treatment we had from the Master (Master of the ship),
while he had us in his power, having all been kept in chains except one
and myself who had bought our freedom." Of course, he was talking about
Michael Mankin, Commander, who had little regard for his cargo of traitors to King George. This same ship, years earlier had been fired
upon by the French pirate Louis Guittar, in 1698, whose cannon killed the
former Master. The Governor of Virginia captured the pirates who had also overtaken and captured
four other ships of the coast, and all were tried and several were hung. Somehow, Michael Mankin became a
later Commander of the same ship.(3) Michael Mankin,
Commander, had been hired by the Mssrs.William Greenway and Company, owners
of the ship. There is still place called "Friendship Landing" in the cove
at Nanjimoy Creek across from Cedar Point on the Potomac River in Maryland.
I do not know if there is a connection, but the Mankin's lived near here,
and I know the ship's prisoners were sold at the dock. These prisoners
were sentenced for seven years servitude and sold to the land holders and
merchants of Charles and St. Mary's Counties. I might add that this was
the first white slave ship of record. The British Maritime Museum in Greenwich
England verified the ship and landing. No other record of Michael Mankin
after this landing exists, but there is at
Historic St. Mary's City, MD,
a mock auction reinactment of "white slaves" in costumes of the period
being sold at the dock, and a full-scale ship reinventing the historical
event, as well as a replica Colonial village. He had no known issue, but
his legacy lives on today in all those Scottish families who trace their
beginnings in America to his ship and his name.
2 Pennsylvania Assemblyman RICHARD MANKIN,
d.(will dated 9 Aug 1708) Proved 8 Sep 1708. Executors: son George, James Robinson. A weaver by trade, he lived in New Castle County, then PA, now DE, and m.??? ROBINSON
and represented New Castle Co. 1689 as Member of the State Assembly.
[ His wife was probably a sister of James Robinson, one of the executors ].
The following has been taken from "Lawmaking and Legislators In Pennsylvania, A Biographical Dictionary, Volume One 1682 - 1709," by David Haugaard (and others), but I have inserted my own comments in brackets where updates from my investigations are warranted:
Richard Mankin was a weaver of New Castle County. In his one Assembly term, he sided with the Quaker majority in the controversy over the arrest of John White.
[ There is a tradition that Cornelius Lambert, being friendly with the Swedes, acted as liason between them
and the Quakers. There was one episode however that happened on Sept 1, 1707 in which Cornelius and George Robinson
(a quaker from Newark Meeting) created a disturbance at the burial of Richard Mankin, at the Swedes burial ground
in which the pastor, Mr. Biork, objected, he had them arrested. As their conscience bothered them, they attempted
reconcilation with the pastor. On the 30th. Of October, they with two other Quakers of Newark meeting, George
Huntingson and John Gregg, went to the church and wished to make a public apology (this being the custon in their
meeting). The apology was not allowed by the pastor, about one month later Cornelius and George Robinson again
attemped to make an acknowledgement, although the Pastor was willing to forgive them, the Quaker custom of public
apology was unfamiliar with the Swedes congregation and they were again denied. In as much a Richard Mankin was a
Quaker and related to George Robinson it is probably they felt he should be buried in their burial ground.
(Records of Holy Trinity Church, DE, Pages 127-129.) ]
Little is known about Mankin aside from his brief service in the legislature. His absence from Quaker records and
the burial of his son Richard at Holy Trinity Church, the Swedish Lutheran church at Christina, suggest that he may
have been Lutheran, but certainly not a Quaker. [Actually, I think this is a false assumption, as there was quite
a fuss about his burial at the Old Swedes Holy Trinity Church as dicussed, and I think his son Richard who died
in 1715 was only buried there to be near his father who died in 1707. Incidently, this church still has a painting
of Rev. Biork which may be seen today (2001) by visitors. In my opinion, Richard was possibly a Quaker, though
perhaps dismissed, and his wife a Robinson, perhaps a sister to George Robinson, grandson-in-law of Quaker John
Calvert who came from Guisborough, Yorkshire via Ireland where they fled the Ulster uprising of 1641. It should
be noted that the Dent family of Maryland also came from Guisborough. ]
In 1687 Mankin and two others purchased 158 acres bordering Christina Creek. On this land Mankin lived and worked
as a weaver. Augmenting his New Castle landholdings in 1688 and 1696, Mankin purchased for £15 two tracts of woodland,
each 200 acres in the vicinity of Red Clay Creek. In 1693 Mankin's real and personal estate was evaluated at £120 an
amount that was not among the more substancial assessments in the county. (RHTOSCW.300; NCDBk.A. I:80, B. I:64, G.575; MPTLC. 25-27)
Elected to the contentious Assembly of 1689, Mankin served on the pivotal committee that led the protest against
the imprisonment of John White, the former speaker. On 17 May, Mankin was among those present when the assemblymen
resolved without dissent that except for treason or felony, the detaining of a duly-elected member of the Assenibly
while in session was a breach of privilege. Two days before, Mankin had not joined with five of his colleagues in
dissenting against the House's issuance of a writ ordering the sheriff of New Castle to bring White to the Assembly.
Perhaps unnerved by the tulmultuous turn of events on 17 May, when White (having escaped detention) was allowed to
sit as a member of the House and then was rearrested that evening, Mankin vacillated in his support of this campaign
to assert and expand the rights of the Assernbly. His hesitancy may have been due to White's unpopularity with his
fellow Lower Counties assernblymen because of his seeming alliance with Thomas Lloyd' and the politically dominant
Pennsvivania Quakers. In any event, on 18 May Mankin joined John Darby and Edward Blake in refusing to attend that
day's session despite being sent for by messengers of Speaker Arthur Cook. The next day, however, Mankin supported
the majority by attending the House, at which time a resolution was passed calling for the arrest of those responsible
for White's imprisonment to answer the Assembly's charges. Those members present also denounced the large minority
who had boycotted that final meeting of the Assemby. (Votes. I (pt.1):49.54.)
Mankin's stand may have put in end to his political career, for all the representatives of New Castle and Kent
counties who attended that final meeting were not elected to the Assenibly the following year. After his one
term in the House, Mankin was involved in public affairs only in signing a petition complaining that inhabitants
in the vicinity of Brandywine Creek had not been notified of the election of January 1700. (PLAD.3:382)
Mankin's will, dated 9 August 1708, was probated the following 8 September. His estate was divided among his
four children, with his eldest son, George, named with an uncle as executors. (NCWBk.B.166; CALNCW. 19.)
He and his wife, ??? ROBINSON had at least:
3 *STEPHEN MANKIN,
Born: abt. 1660, Port Tobacco, MD. Our ancestor, established a 65 acre
plantation called "Mankin's Adventure" on 24 March 1687 in Charles County,
Maryland near Port Tobacco. This was a trapezoid-shaped parcel exactly
at the headwaters of Ware Creek and was a submanor of St. Thomas Manor
owned by the Jesuits who are still there today. The original indenture,
or grant deed from Sir Charles Calvert to Stephen Mankin still exists in
the library at Georgetown University. On another indenture associated with
the property, his wax seal (a lion rampant) is still quite clear
and so is his signature. He left the land in the care of his son, who sold
it in 1729. Stephen signed a tobacco warrant in 1685 which has been photographed
from Annapolis archives and shown in the October 1980 issue of National
Geographic Magazine.
In 1682 is recorded the first notation of his name: The birth record of "Elizabeth, daughter of Stephen and Mary Mankin of Port Tobacco" June 22, 1682.(4) Stephen Mankin married about 1681 to MARY BARKER, daughter of John Barker and Sarah ____ his wife.(5) In 1694 their twin children, HOPE and JAMES, are entered as children of "Stephen and Mary Mankin" of the "head of Wiccocomico River" (Wicomico River). However, all other entries in the birth records refer to them as being "of Port Tobacco". This seems to have been their regular residence. On March 24, 1687, there was surveyed for Stephen Mankin his tract of 65 acres called "Mankin's Adventure".(6)
Stephen Mankin died 1698, and an Inventory of his estate was filed July 22, 1698.(7) In a deposition made 1701, Mary, wife of James Stigalier gives her age as 40 years, thus giving her a birth year of 1661. (8) She died 1714. After the death of her husband Stephen Mankin (1698) Mary Barker Mankin married (2nd) Thomas Howard (9), who died shortly after; and (3rd) James Stigalier (1701).(10) By husband James Stigalier, she had JANE STIGALIER, born in Port Tobacco, June 4, 1702, recorded in Charles County Birth Records as "Jane, daughter of James & Mary Stigalier of Port Tobacco". STEPHEN MANKIN and MARY BARKER had issue:
EDWARD MANKINandMARGARET WILKINSON had:
Footnotes:
1. An asterisk indicates the ancestors of WW II Sgt. Hubert Leon Mankin, b. 1 Apr 1920.
3. The ship may have been afloat many years: the "Friendship of Belfast," may have been the same Collier(a wide body ship used to carry coal) that is found years later working the Eastern Coast of England from Whitby and south about 1750 and whose first mate was young James Cook, who later was the Discover of Australia and New Zealand in 1766.
4. Charles County, MD Birth Records.
5. By 1753 the Mankin family owned the lands of John Barker by inheritance. They consisted of "Barker's Rest" surveyed for John Barker May 6, 1666, consisting of 150 acres and adjoining the lands of John Courts; and "Barker's Enlargement" surveyed for John Barker January 4, 1675 consisting of 90 acres bounding "Barker's Rest". In 1753 James Mankin owned 126 acres of "Barker's Rest" and Jane Mankin 24 acres; and in the same year, Jane Mankin owned 40 acres of "Barker's Enlargement" and Peter Harwood the remaining 50 acres.
6. Charles County, MD Rent Roll.
7. Charles County, MD Inventory & Accounts, Lib. 18, folio 58.
8. Charles County, MD Records, Lib. 20, folio 309-310.
9. On May 24, 1699, Charles County, MD an Account of Thomas & Mary Howard on the estate of Stephen Mankin, deceased, (Mary Howard Administratrix) Lib. 19, folio 35.
10. April 1, 1714, Inventory of the estate of Mary "Stickler" late of Charles County, deceased, signed by William Jackson, "relation" & Josias Mankin, Inventory & Accounts, Lib. 35, folio 366. Administrator of the estate was her eldest son, Stephen Mankin. On March 31, 1715, Account of Stephen Mankin, Administrator of Mary "Stigaleare", late of Charles County, deceased, Inventory & Accounts, Lib. 37 B, folio 341. As Mary Howard, she made a deed of gift to her children. In the Index of Lib. W no. 1 (beginning 1697), is noted the following: "Howard, Mary, her deed of gift to her children (fol. 146-147)"; "Howard, Mary, her conveyance from Maj. William Dent (fol. 150-154). According to Dr. Christopher Johnston, (1912) the deeds were made "about 1699" and at that time (1912) were lost.
11. Remember that these dates occurring prior to March 25 are recorded with the previous year, because in 1752 the switch to the Gregorian Calendar changed the New Year from March 25 back to January 1st. This causes the recorded dates to look wrong between birth dates of children.
12. According to Becky Mason Walker's family research.
13. Mary Mankin is recorded as being a half-sister of Thomas Howard and by 1718 married to John Tayloraccording to (Maryland State Archives (MDTP 23:166).
14. Maryland State Archives (MDAD 20:48)
15. Remember that these dates occurring prior to March 25 are recorded with the previous year, because in 1752 the New Year was changed from March 25 back to January 1st. This causes the recorded dates to look wrong between birth dates of children.
16. Mary Mankin is recorded as being a half-sister of Thomas Howard and by 1718 married to John Taylor according to (Maryland State Archives (MDTP 23:166).
17. VA Wills & Administration, by Torrence. Inventory of 1797 Prince William Co., VA.
18. Maryland State Archives (MDAD 20:48)
19. Maryland Province Archives, Box 26, Folder 4. John and his brother Charles Mankin had a dispute in 1790 over rent with Leonard Neale, of the Jesuits who owned St. Thomas Manor Farm. The Mankins, Capshaws, and Chapmans were sub-tenants of the larger manor that belonged to the Society of Jesus.
20. Taken from cemetery inscription in Rockville, IN.
