We know from the family bible that Fanny Lane married Henry Smith and was the mother of Fanny Smith who married Cyrus Goldsboro Baker. The bible also mentions that Sidney Lane was her first cousin. Sidney Lane later became a doctor, and owned a great deal of land between Snow Hill and Berlin, Maryland in the late 1800's. Because he was well known, we know that Dr. Sidney Lane is buried in Berlin Maryland, was born in 1839, and died in 1908. His father was Francis Lane (D1805) and Sidney first married Sarah (1836-1890), and then Catherine Powell on 20 April 1864. There was apparently a Francis Lane Jr., who was deeded land in 1837 by Jesse D. Baker. It is my opinion that this Francis Lane, brother to Sidney, most likely married Mary A.E. Baker who was most likely a cousin to my clan of Bakers.
Francis Lane (Born 12/20/1805- Will 1/4/1876).
His first wife was Sophia Powell (M1828), his second wife Nelly (M1840), and his third wife Mary Baker Stevens (B1822), daughter of Jesse Dale Baker. He is buried in Berlin with son Sidney.
Francis Lane lived very near Henry Smith in the 1850 cenus, living with him were Harriot Lane, Mary Lane, Sally Lane, Julia Lane, John Lane, and Rebecca Lane. MARY Stevens was also listed and I suppose he married her later. In 1860, living with him were MARY Lane, Sally Lane, John Lane, Rebecca Lane, and Francis Lane Jr. In 1870, MARY Lane, John Lane, Sallie Lane, William Lane, and John T. Lane were listed in his household.
From research, we have learned that Fanny Lane was most likely born in 1810, and she registered for marriage to Henry Smith in Worcester County on June 24, 1824. We do not know Fanny's father, but can almost deduct from the gathered facts that he was John Lane. In 1801, a John Lane married Sally Gray. Gray was a neighbor to the Bakers, so there is a good chance she would have been from that clan. John Lane had the largest family of children in the census of 1810, and there was a John Lane that was a younger brother to Francis Lane.
Lane was not a common name in Worcester County, and in the census of 1790 William Lane, Jr. was the only Lane head of household registered. This would make him a good candidate as John's father since he did have one male living with him less than sixteen years of age.
The first Lane in Worcester County, Walter Lane, most likely came to America in 1649 when he was indentured to Edmund Scarborough. Walter Lane was indentured to Littleton Scarborough in 1652, and Col. Argol Yardley in 1654. These apparently were different military assignments. Scarborough was an activist settler in taking over this property from the Indians, one of the very first settlers to come into this area, and led the militia in Virginia before Lord Calvert was granted Maryland by King Charles. In fact, Scarborough led forty armed soldiers into Virginia in 1663 in an attempt to take land back from Maryland, and disrupt the Quakers who he hated so much. He was very influential within Virginia politics, and had patented 3000 acres in Somerset County before the King had issued Maryland to Lord Baltimore.
Walter Lane was the only Catholic in Somerset County in 1690, so it is interesting how he became indentured to Scarborough who detested any other religion. In one legal action, he was called an "Irish Papist". This indenture could mean that Walter Lane was a young soldier, and it places the Lanes at the forefront of the development of Worcester County by the Europeans. For example, Walter appeared on the tax rolls in "Somerset County" from 1666 when records were first maintained. In 1649, he was appointed to the lower assembly.
Walter was assigned THE OLD HEAD which he reassigned to his brother John Lane who was still in Europe. On June 11, 1689, it was announced that John Lane of LANES ADDITION was in this country at Annemesex 100. John Lane, brother to Walter died while in America. His wife and children were in England. They were Catholic.
After several years in Accomac, Walter Lane lived fifteen miles from Newark, Maryland in the direction of Princess Ann which would have placed him in the Pocomoke Forest along the River in "Nassawadox". He was a neighbor of the Scotts, and his wife a Quaker. He must have been very influential, or converted to his wife's religion as he was visited by some of the leading Quakers of his day and those visits are recorded.
In 1680, Walter Lane purchased 100 acres called "Cork" from John Winder, and at the same time purchased another 100 acres for John Lane who was still in Ireland at that time. "Cork" is a good clue for their Irish home.
Walter Lane was married to Sarah Gunby on April 16, 1684 and they had Mary and Joanne before 1684. On September 24, 1689, Walter Lane married Sarah Wilson. They were married by David Richardson. Subsequently they had three children; John Lane, William Lane, and Elizabeth Lane.
In 1688, he patented 50 acre "Friend's Discovery" which was located north of the Pocomoke River in present day Sussex County. He deeded this to his son John. Son William remained in the Boxiron area. In 1689, Walter patented 200 acres in Somerset County. Walter Lane's will was written Dec 30, 1715-presented Mar 21,1716)
In our research of Sir Thomas Dale, we found the family of Lanes from Northampton had a number of the early adventurers come from their ranks including Governor Ralph Lane of the Roanoke Colony. After returning to England, Ralph Lane was reassigned to Ireland where he died about 1603. We never had a chance to research this more, but believe the Lanes of Northampton would be a good beginning.
The genealogy looked something like this:
Thomas Gray in 1734 was at BACON QTR. He was married to the daughter of Richard Holland. Other land acquizitions by Thomas Gray were GRAYS ENDEAVOR (1752-179A), GRAYS IMPROVEMENT (1762) in St Martens, and GRAYS DISCOVERY (1754 -121A). Major John Evans, Caleb Wyatt, and Josiah Dale were on same land plots as Thomas Gray and apparently related to them. They had long ties to the Baker family.
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