Quaker Burying Ground Galesville, Anne Arundel Co., MD Founded 1672 Galesville & Muddy Creek Rds. (Rts. 255 & 468)

History of West River Quakers and Galesville

A land grant or "Certificate of Survey" was issued for 660 acres of land to John, Patience and Mary Brown; John Clark, his wife, Elizabeth, and their children, John and Ann Clark on October 28, 1652. The area was called Brownton, later the it became West River Landing, then Galloways and finally Galesville in honor of Richard Gale, a prominent Quaker planter. The early settlers were Puritans who came into Maryland after the enactment of the "Act of Toleration" of 1649. Many later joined the Society of Friends, more commonly known as Quakers. In the Spring of 1672, the West River Quaker Meeting represented the birth of The Society of Friends in Maryland, the second such meeting in Maryland and the third meeting established in the world. The great numbers of Quakers who came to the large Yearly or General Meetings of the West River Friends, lived in tents or hurriedly built shelters. The adjoining creek, originally "Brown's", became known as "Tenthouse Creek", the name it bears today. In 1684, the West River Landing, a focal point of shipping and travel in the area, was officially designated a port of entry for checking imports and exports, along with Town Point at Herring Bay, Londontown on the South River and "Newtown", now Annapolis, on the Severn. The town continued to be the main port on the West River for both shipping and travel up to and through the steamboat era. In colonial times the landing probably consisted of a wharf together with a warehouse or two and possibly a store or blacksmith shop. The cemetery is located in Anne Arundel County, 10 miles south of Annapolis, the State Capitol.

Made available to The USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project by:
Sharon Strout (stonesandbones@yahoo.com)

This page was last updated October 8, 2005

For inquiries about MD cemeteries, burials or to submit a transcription to this Project, contact
the MD Tombstone Transcription Project Manager: Kathi Jones-Hudson mdcemmy@yahoo.com

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