Taking the oath
The narrative I remember from growing up was that ours was a family with recent ties to immigrants. Grandparents were mentioned in terms of the countries they immigrated from, and the stories of grandparents who weren't immigrants were told. I assumed, wrongly I now realize, that I didn't have familial ties that went very far back in America's history.
Finding so many relatives from the colonial period upsets part of my familial history, on the one hand, because my folks had no clue what their real roots were so I wrote the wrong story in my mind. On the other hand, it reminds me that those recent immigrants married folks whose roots go much further back in history, and if you go back far enough, they all descended from immigrants -- so far solely from European immigrants.
Thomas Sprigg II, Sharon's ninth great-grandfather, came to the American colonies from England and began his family's new life in Virginia. Before long, possibly because of the influence of William Stone, husband to his sister-in-law. Stone influenced a number of people to move to the relatively new colony of Maryland, and he would become the colony's third governor.
By all accounts, Sprigg prospered in America. By immigrating and bringing a few other people with him, he received a grant of 600 acres, which he named Sprigley. By the time he died, he owned four substantial plots of land, which he apportioned to his children -- including his daughters, a circumstance I've not often run into in family wills.
In addition to being a property owner, he served in several important positions, including a justice of the county court, high sheriff and a member of the quorum -- meaning that at one time he was a justice who had to be present for court to be held. He would have been appointed as a justice by the governor, whom you'll remember he was related to by marriage. Just sayin'.
Because the purpose of these little vignettes is to examine some aspect of history, and not to brag on our relations, I searched for some suitable event, especially one I knew little about. I found it in the English Civil Wars, sometimes called the Great Rebellion, that occured from 1642-51.
I won't go into a long, detailed discussion of the wars. But it seems that Charles I, who began his reign in 1625, started off as a relatively popular king. By the 1630s, that popularity started to fall apart. Early in his era, he dissolved Parliament and ruled by decree. As is not uncommon, he decided he needed to raise money and instituted measures that his subjects deemed to be an illegal tax, one not passed Parliament.
This, along with interference in the affairs of Scotland and Ireland, lead to disappointing, to Charles, losses in battles with Scotland and the reestablishment of Parliament. Next came an Irish uprising that Charles thought he could deal with on his own. This separated his kingdom into followers Charles and followers of Parliament, both of which raised armies. The conflict dragged on for years, with Charles being deposed. An effort to restore him to the throne failed, and he was executed in 1649.
Strangely by this time, the Scots and Irish wound up on Charles' side, and they backed his son, Charles II for the throne. You may have heard of a fellow named Oliver Cromwell. Well, under his leadership, Parliamentary forces won out, and the nation now became a commonwealth.
Remember, that's the short version. But the ending had a profound effect on the colonies. The colonies had in various ways indicated that Charles II was the legitimate ruler in England, not the Commonwealth. Parliament did not take that well.
It issued a statement declaring that the colonies had been established at England's cost and with its subjects and were therefore subject to control by Parliament. Unfortunately for Parliament, the colonies disagreed, citing the various companies that had been involved in raising the funds and recruiting immigrants. The companies didn't answer directly to the King or Parliament.
This led Parliament to a kind of "Oh, yeah? Hide and watch" attitude resulting in a number of laws and regulations designed to control the upstarts, especially as regarding trade. Parliament sent representatives to demand loyalty to the Commonwealth, backed up by naval forces.
Officials in Virginia and Maryland, two of the thorns in the Commonwealth's flesh, were required to take an oath of submission to the Commonwealth, recognizing its authority and promising submission to the laws it passed. Among the signers was ninth great-great grandfather Thomas Sprigg II.
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