John Belt Sr

John Belt Sr., also styled John Belt the Elder in his will, was an Anne Arundel County, Maryland, planter. His will was dated 13 May 1697 and proved on 17 November 1698. He was survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and named children John, Joseph, Benjamin, Elizabeth, Charity, and Sarah.

John Belt Sr., identified in his will as John Belt the Elder, was a planter of Anne Arundel County in the Province of Maryland. He is given life dates of 1645 to 17 November 1698; the surviving probate material shows that his will was proved on 17 November 1698.

On 13 May 1697, while describing himself as sick and weak in body but of sound mind, John made his last will and testament. He named his wife, Elizabeth Belt, as his sole executrix. Their eldest son, John, received the 200-acre plantation called Velmead, with its buildings and appurtenances, as well as a cow and calf, a gun bought for him, and livestock, land, and furniture already in his possession.

Elizabeth was to have John’s dwelling plantation and its 100 acres for her lifetime, subject to the conditions in the will. After her death, that plantation was to pass to their second son, Joseph. Joseph also received a cow and calf, a black horse called Snip, John’s gun, and 100 acres from a 300-acre tract called Belt’s Posterity at the head of Gunpowder River in Baltimore County. Their third son, Benjamin, received the remaining portion of Belt’s Posterity, described as about 200 acres, together with a cow and calf and a roan mare. John directed Benjamin to give the first mare colt produced by that mare to John’s nephew, Thomas Ramsey, when the colt was fit to wean.

John also provided for his daughters. His eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was to receive a mulatto boy named Issop and ten pounds sterling upon reaching age sixteen or marrying. His second daughter, Charity, was to receive a negro girl named Sarah and ten pounds sterling under the same terms. His youngest daughter, Sarah, was to receive a cow and calf and ten pounds sterling when she reached age sixteen or married. The will also set out contingent inheritances if any of his sons died before age twenty-one without lawful issue, or if any of his daughters died before age sixteen or marriage.

The will was signed by John Belt and witnessed by John Tidings, Charity Jordan, Ann Smith, Thomas Hodges, Daniel Peirce, Darby Sweany, and Ann Peirce. John Tidings and Daniel Peirce proved the will before Kenelm Cheseldyn, Commissioner General, and Charity Jordan later proved it in like manner on 17 November 1698.

Family-history accounts describe John and Elizabeth Belt as devout Quakers in the South River community and state that their home was used for Friends’ meetings. J. Reaney Kelly’s account, as quoted in the supplied notes, places weekly and monthly Quaker meetings at John Belt’s house near the Patuxent River, north of present State Route 214, on property called Velmead. Katharine Beall Adams wrote that there was no record of John holding public office and suggested that his religious belief may have prevented his active participation in civil or military affairs; this is an interpretation rather than a documented explanation.

Elizabeth Belt later married John Lamb, a merchant, at All Hallows Parish on 25 July 1701. A parish entry records the baptism on 14 December 1703 of Margaret Llamb, daughter of John Lamb and Elizabeth, and of Elizabeth, Charity, Sarah, and Jeremy Belt, identified as children of John Belt and Elizabeth.

Historical context

John Belt’s will reflects plantation and inheritance practices in late-seventeenth-century Maryland, where land, livestock, household property, money, and enslaved people could be distributed by will. The supplied family-history notes associate the Belt household with Quaker meetings in Anne Arundel County’s South River community. The will itself identifies his property as including Velmead in Anne Arundel County and part of Belt’s Posterity at the head of Gunpowder River in Baltimore County.

Sources & research

Colonial Maryland Wills, Annapolis, Maryland, Liber 6, folio 175. Will of John Belt the Elder, dated 13 May 1697 and proved 17 November 1698.
Adams, Katharine Beall. Maryland Heritage, A Family History. Quoted in the supplied Family Tree Maker notes.
Kelly, J. Reaney. Quaker in the Founding of Anne Arundel County. Published 1963, p. 86. Quoted in the supplied notes.
Wright, F. Edward. Anne Arundel County MD Church Records, All Hallows Parish. Marriage of John Lamb and Elizabeth Belt, 25 July 1701; baptisms recorded 14 December 1703. Quoted in the supplied notes.
S-1857482422. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900. Yates Publishing. Online publication, Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2004. Original data extracted from a variety of sources, including family group sheets and electronic databases. APID: 1,7836::0. Repository: R-1858943750, Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com.
S-1858679884. Family Data Collection - Individual Records. Edmund West, comp. Online publication, Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2000. APID: 1,4725::0. Repository: R-1858943750, Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com.
S-1858910663. Ancestry Family Trees. Online publication, Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Page: Ancestry Family Trees. Data text: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=7318691&pid=2010. Note: information from one or more member-submitted Ancestry Family Tree files; files may have been removed or changed since citation creation. Repository: R-1858943750, Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com.