Daniel Dulany the Elder (1685–1753) was a prominent lawyer and land-developer in colonial Maryland, who held a number of colonial offices. In 1722 Dulany wrote a pamphlet entitled ''The Right of the Inhabitants of Maryland, to the Benefit of the English Laws'', asserting the rights of Marylanders over the Proprietary Government.

Early life

Dulany was born in

Upperwoods Upper Woods or Upperwoods () is a Barony (Ireland), barony in County Laois (formerly called ''Queen's County'' or ''County Leix''), Republic of Ireland. Etymology Upper Woods barony is named after the forests of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. Ge ...

, Queen's County, Ireland about 1685. In November 1702, a flotilla of merchantmen, known as the "Armada of 100 ships" sailed for the Chesapeake Bay, arriving in March, 1703. Dulany, along with two older brothers (William and Joseph) landed at

Port Tobacco Port Tobacco, officially Port Tobacco Village, is a town in Charles County, in southern Maryland, United States. The population was 13 at the 2010 census, making Port Tobacco the smallest incorporated town in Maryland. Overview This was historical ...

, and became indentured to Colonel George Plater II for a three-year period. Plater put Dulany to work as a law clerk. In 1706, after the indenture was over, Dulany was admitted to Gray's Inn. Dulany returned to Maryland and in 1709 was admitted to the Charles County

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

Politics

In 1720, Dulany moved to Annapolis. In 1722, he was elected to represent the town in the Lower House of the Maryland General Assembly. From 1724 until 1739, he represented Anne Arundel County in the Lower House. He again represented Annapolis from 1739-1742 before being elected to the Upper House in 1742 and remaining in that office until his death in 1753. At that time the

Province of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryland ...

was under the proprietary governorship of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore. Lord Baltimore vetoed a bill in 1722 which the General Assembly had passed in order to bring the colony fully under all English statute law. Dulany led protests against this, writing a pamphlet in 1728 entitled ''"The Right of the Inhabitants of Maryland, to the Benefit of the English Laws"''. Lord Baltimore later appointed Dulany to the posts of Receiver General,

Judge of Admiralty A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

, and Commissary General, as well as appointing him to the Governor's Council.

Border dispute with Pennsylvania

In the 1730s, under the rule of Governor

Samuel Ogle Samuel Ogle (c. 1694 – 3 May 1752) was the 16th, 18th and 20th Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1731 to 1732, 1733 to 1742, and 1746/1747 to 1752. Background The Ogle family was quite prominent for many centuries in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, ...

, Maryland became engaged in a border dispute with Pennsylvania. Several settlers were taken prisoners on both sides and Penn sent a committee to Governor Ogle to resolve the situation. Rioting broke out in the disputed territory and Ogle appealed to the King for resolution. In 1736 Ogle dispatched Dulany to Philadelphia in order to negotiate the release of a number of imprisoned Marylanders, though without success, and the border warfare continued.

Lawyer, planter, land developer

Dulany became wealthy from his legal practice, and through the 1720s began to accumulate and develop land. He advertised for tenants to settle his land in Baltimore, Kent and Prince Georges county, paying with tobacco, corn or wheat. He is credited with the founding of Frederick.

Family and legacy

Dulany married three times, first to Charity Courts Smallwood, widow of Bayne Smallwood. She died one year after wedding Daniel. By his second wife Rebecca Smith, the daughter of Colonel Walter Smith, he had a large family, not atypical for the time: * Daniel Dulany the Younger (1722–1797), a noted Maryland

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

Mayor of Annapolis The Mayor of Annapolis is the chief political figure in the city of Annapolis, which is the capital city of Maryland. The mayor is elected to a four-year term. List of Mayors of Annapolis *1708–1720 Amos Garrett *1720–1721 Thomas Lar ...

, who played a prominent role in Maryland during the American Revolution. *

Walter Dulany Walter Dulany (died 1773) was a politician in Colonial Maryland, who was mayor of Annapolis from 1766 to 1767. His family house and land at Windmill Point later became the location for the United States Naval Academy. Early life Dulany was th ...

(1722-1773), who would also become

. * Rebecca * Rachel * Mary * Margaret, who married doctor

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

in 1747. Daniel married a third time to Henrietta Maria Chew, a widow. By her he had another child, Lloyd. Dulany died on December 5, 1753 in Annapolis. At the time of his death he owned of land. After his death, in 1754, Dulany's third wife, Henrietta Maria, appeared before

Michael MacNamara Michael MacNamara (? – November 4, 1767) was an Irish-American lawyer and politician in Colonial Maryland, who had three terms as mayor of Annapolis. He was a Loyalist, his interests aligned with those of the ruling Calvert family, the Baron ...

, then Deputy Commissioner of Anne Arundel County, seeking to overturn the will of her late husband.Wright, Edward F., p.8, ''Maryland Calendar of Wills, Volume 11: 1753-1760''
Retrieved November 2010

Notes

References

* Andrews, Matthew Page, ''History of Maryland'', Doubleday, New York (1929) * Land, Aubrey C. ''The Dulanys of Maryland: A Biographical Study of Daniel Dulany, the Elder (1685-1753), and Daniel Dulany, the Younger (1722-1797)''. Baltimore, Maryland Historical Society: 1955. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dulany, Daniel The Elder 1685 births 1753 deaths 18th-century American lawyers Irish emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies People of colonial Maryland Members of the Maryland General Assembly Lawyers from County Laois Members of Gray's Inn