Ninian Beall " POW Col"

Ninian Beall was reportedly born on 16 September 1625 at Largo, Fifeshire, Scotland. Family-tree notes state that he held a commission as a cornet in a Scotch-English army raised against Cromwell and fought at the Battle of Dunbar on 3 September 1650. He was reportedly captured there, sentenced to five years of servitude, and transported with other Scottish prisoners to Barbados. The notes state that about 1652 he and others appeared in Maryland, where he served his term with Richard Hall, a planter of Calvert County.

Land records cited in the notes place Beall in Calvert County by 1658. A 16 January 1667 entry in the Maryland Land Office records states that Ninian Beall of Calvert County, planter, proved a right to 50 acres for time served with Richard Hall. The notes further state that he made numerous land transfers and estimate that he owned about 4,000 acres.

Beall was associated with a succession of military, civil, and public assignments in Maryland. Annapolis records dated 31 October 1668 call him Lieutenant Ninian Beall. He was reportedly commissioned lieutenant of Lord Baltimore's “Yacht of War, Loyal Charles of Maryland,” commanded by John Goade, in 1676; served as deputy surveyor of Charles County in 1684; became chief military officer of Calvert County in 1688; and was appointed high sheriff of Calvert County in 1692. The notes state that the Assembly appointed him colonel of militia on 30 July 1694, that he served as a member of the General Assembly from 1679 to 1701, and that he was appointed to a commission to treat with Indians in 1697. In 1699, the General Assembly reportedly passed an Act of Gratitude for his distinguished Indian services. A later account credits him with the defeat and destruction of the Susquehannah Tribe; this characterization should be understood as the wording of that account.

The notes say that Beall identified with Maryland's Presbyterian Church before 1690. In that year, he was said to have supervised the arrival of 200 Presbyterian immigrants from Scotland, settled them along the Potomac River in a community called New Scotland, and assisted Reverend Nathaniel Taylor. A recorded deed of gift from Beall to Taylor reportedly provided land in Upper Marlboro for a church. In 1707, Beall reportedly presented that church with a silver communion set made in London; the notes state that part of the set was later held by the Presbyterian Church at Hyattsville, Maryland.

He reportedly married about 1670 Ruth Moore, described as a daughter of Richard and Jane Moore of St. Mary's County. Supplied family links identify Ruth Polly Moore Beall (1647–1712) as his spouse and list Sarah Watts Beall Magruder (1658–1734) and George Beall (1695–1780) as children. The notes also state that his brothers Thomas, John, and George settled in Maryland.

Beall's will was dated 15 January 1717 and was probated on 28 February 1717. The supplied life dates give his death as 15 January 1717 in Prince George's County, Maryland. According to the notes, he was buried at his Rock of Dumbarton plantation, at a location later associated with Gay Street in Georgetown, District of Columbia. The supplied burial field identifies Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, District of Columbia. A later account also makes an unverified claim concerning removal of his remains and his physical appearance.

The records cited in the notes preserve several forms of his name, including Bale, Bell, Beale, and Beall. The same notes state that after 1667 he signed records as Ninian Beall.