Nathaniel Utie^[1]

1635 - 1675  (40 years)

• Name	Nathaniel Utie  [2, 3, 4]
  Birth	1635	Jamestown, James City, Virginia, USA   [4]
  Gender	Male
  Death	22 Jan 1675	, Baltimore, Maryland, USA   [4]
  Burial	, Harford, Maryland, USA   [4]
  Person ID	I47261	Master
  Last Modified	17 Feb 2023

  
  

  Father	John Utie,   b. 1593, Utimara, Yorkshire, England d. 15 Dec 1642, Island, Accomack, Virginia, USA (Age 49 years)
  Mother	Mary Ann Longsworth,   b. 1604, , Yorkshire, England d. 1670, , Nansemond, Virginia, USA (Age 66 years)
  Marriage	30 Jul 1616	Heptonstall, Yorkshire, England
  Family ID	F10720	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Mary Mapleloft,   b. 1629   d. 30 Sep 1665 (Age 36 years)
  Marriage	Feb 1663
  Family ID	F10742	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	23 Jan 2023

  
  

  Family 2	Elizabeth Carter,   b. 1639, Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA d. 4 Aug 1699, Spesutia, Harford, Maryland, USA (Age 60 years)
  Marriage	18 Jan 1667	Christ Church, Lancaster, Virginia, USA   [2]
  Children	1. Mary Ives Perkins Ute,   b. 1667, Mosquito Creek, Baltimore, Maryland, USA d. 20 Feb 1735, St George Parish, Baltimore, Maryland, USA (Age 68 years)   2. John Ute Utie,   b. 1668, Spesutia, Harford, Maryland, USA d. 1685, Spesutia, Harford, Maryland, USA (Age 17 years)   3. Mary Ute,   b. 1670, Mosquito Creek, Baltimore, Maryland, USA d. 1716, Long Island, Queens, New York, USA (Age 46 years)
  Family ID	F10756	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	23 Jan 2023

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 1635 - Jamestown, James City, Virginia, USA Death - 22 Jan 1675 - , Baltimore, Maryland, USA Burial - - , Harford, Maryland, USA  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  Nathaniel Utie was born at on his fathers plantation known as, "Utopia" that was located on Hogg Island across the James River and about a mile downstream from the Jamestown Colony. Col. Nathaniel Utie, son of John and Ann Utie, was a large landowner in Maryland. He married 1st Mary Mapletoft, (grand-niece of Nicholas Ferrar), widow of Lawrence Ward. Nathaniel married 2nd Elizabeth Carter, daughter of Col. John Carter. Spesuty Island, 2300 acres surveyed the 25 July for Coll Nathaniell Utye and Island near Western shore, near the head of the bay called Bear Point granted by patent the 9th day of August 1660 now in the Ocupation of Jno Hall and Mark Richardson for the orphans of Geroge Uty annum L2.. 6.. 0 C. Spesutie. Nathaniel Utie 1661 Baltimore County (now Harford) "Spes Utia Island" 2300 acres. Liber 4, Folios 576 1661 The town of Old Baltimore on the east bank of the Bush River was established in today's Harford County. The Council of Maryland met at Nathaniel Utie's home on Spesutie Island to hear testimony from many individuals of robbery, cruelty, and murder by the Susquehannocks. (Wright, C.M., Our Harford Heritage, a History of Harford County, Maryland, French-Bray Printing Company, Glen Burnie, Maryland, page 41 and 23,1980.) Deed, April 16, 1663, Nathaniel and Mary Utie of Spesutia, for 4,000 pounds of tobacco, conveying to Richard Bennett, junior, the tract "Green Oake" at Sassafras River. Witnesses, George Utie, Jon Browne. (Scisco, L.D. 1930) • Mrs. Elizabeth BOOTHBY widow Spesutia Island bur. at Mr. John HALL's Plantation on this side the Creek over against the Island 4 August 1699. (Reamy) Mrs. Elizabeth CARTER Utie, widow, m. (2) Capt. Henry Johnson, (3) Gent. Edward Boothby. Marriage Settlement - Col. Nathaniel Utye of the Province of Maryland to Col. John Carter Esq. of the County of Lancaster in Virginia - Said Nathaniel Utye being about to marry Elizabeth, daughter of said John Carter, settles on her one third of all his property real and personal secured on his manor of Spesutia, 18 Jany, 1667. Recorded 20 April, 1669. Lib. C.D. fol. 3-4 INHABITANTS OF SPESUTIA ISLAND • Daniel JOHNSON s/o Daniel JOHNSON of Spesutia Island b. 28 February 1699/0. (Reamy) • Banns of Matrimony Between Miles HANNES and Elizabeth KELLE both of Spesutia Island in George's Parish Pub. Nov. 1698. (Reamy) • Jane GREENFIELD d/o Thomas GREENFIELD and Rachel GREENFIELD of Sepsutia Creek bap. 9 June 1700. (Reamy) • William GREENFIELD s/o Thomas GREENFIELD and Rachel GREENFIELD of Sepsutia Creek bap. 9 June 1700. (Reamy) • 1699 Poll Tax List ATT Spes Utis Creek Spesutia Hundred - Samuel BROWNE, Edward CANTWELL, Edward WOOLLDY, Thomas FELPS,. Baltimore County, Maryland, Tax List, 1699 - 1706 –CLARK. • Daniel JOHNSON s/o Daniel JOHNSON of Spesutia Island b. 28 February 1699/0. (Reamy) • Daniel JOHNSON s/o Daniel JOHNSON of Spesutia Island bur. 29th August 1700. (Reamy • Frances JOHNSON was b. 1 November 1703 d/o Daniel and Frances JOHNSON. (Reamy • Hannah JOHNSON was b. 6 June 1705 d/o Daniel and Frances JOHNSON. (Reamy) • Rachel JOHNSON was b. 5 June 1707 d/o Daniel and Frances JOHNSON. (Reamy) • Sophia JOHNSON was b. 22 November 1709 d/o Daniel and Frances JOHNSON. (Reamy) • Charity JOHNSON was b. 17 February 1712 d/o Daniel and Frances JOHNSON. (Reamy) • Daniel JOHNSON Departed this Life 14 September 1715. (Reamy) • Daniel JOHNSON s/o Daniel and Frances JOHNSON his wife was b. 2 October 1715. (Reamy) • Edward HARRIS and Frances JOHNSON was m. 19 June 1719. (Reamy) • William CANNON m. to Frances JOHNSON 28 December 1721. (Reamy) September 7, 1686: Cit: Abstracts of the Inventories and Accounts of the Prerogative Court of Maryland, 1718-1724, Libers 12, 13A, 13B, 14, 15. Compiled by V. L. Skinner, Jr. Col. Nathaniel Utie*, 12.143, A, Baltimore County, #93667, #71734 Payments to: Mr. James Mills, Thomas Hedge, Capt. Abraham Wilde, Dr. John Ireland, Symon Dawkins, Joseph Sanders, Edward Inglish, Col. George Wells, Jacob Young, James Phillips, John Hiland, Samuel Gibbons, Ebenezar Milam, John Bull, John Wade, Lawrence Tayler, Richard Whitton (runaway), Robert Ridgely, Mr. John Dixon, Owen Williams, Dennis Inglish, John Moll, William Taylard. List of Debts (runaway, insolvent, dead): Capt. Carleton, Ralph Hutchinson, Andrew Perterson, Mr. Collett, James Robinson, Oxill Steele, Richard Lake, Francis Trippus & Vanderman, Francis Trippus, James Hutts, Peter Jones, Edward Crannes, John Tarkington, Cornelius Boys, Edward Inglish paid to Mr. Burford, Mrs. Boston. Distribution to: widow (unnamed) , Anthony Drew who married a neice (unnamed) of deceased, George Utie (nephew of deceased), Bethya Utie (niece of deceased). Administratrix: Elizabeth Johnson** (relict), wife of Henry Johnson. Came: On 11 June 1694 Edward Boothby who married the widow** (unnamed) of Henry Johnson [see below]. Capt. Henry Johnson, 12.147, A, Baltimore County, 249.10.0 Pounds Payments to: John Walston, Mr. Hedge, Owen Hues, James Phillips, Phillip Lynes, executors of James Fendall, George Oldfeild*, Mr. Llewellin, Mr. Taylard, Arthur Bailey and Co., Col. Wells, Maj. Long for Mr. Heath, Mrs. Walston, Mr. Carville, Mrs. Gibson, Edward Jones, Mr. Stevens, Capt. Wilde paid to Mr. Stevens, Robert Carvill, Capt. Conaway. List of Debts (runaway, insolvent, dead): John Morgan, Andrew Hekey, Thomas Brown, John Crofts, Michaell Judd to Langly, John Langly, James Glasby, Robert Kemble, Thomas Dolby, John Johnson, Edward Pyner, James Miles, Jenkin Griffith. Distribution to: Anthony Drew who married an heir (unnamed) of Col. Utie, George Utie, Bethia Utie. Administratrix: Elisabeth Boothby, wife of Edward Boothby. Abstracts of the Inventories and Accounts of the Prerogative Court of Maryland, 1718-1724, Libers 12, 13A, 13B, 14, 15. Mongoose of Mystery Me, My Intrepid Companion (The IC!) and the trusty Schnauzers of mystery. The Mystery of Spesutie Island, Part II Before English and other European colonists came to the Americas, the island now known as Spesutie Island was used by the Susquehannocks as a hunting and fishing ground. They may have used it for other purposes, but unfortunately nobody who was writing anything down for the last 300 years or so cared about them, and they signed a series of treaties with the colonists (mistake), and Lord Baltimore granted the island to a man named Nathaniel Utie in 1658. Nathaniel Utie was born in Jamestown in 1635, and had come to Maryland with a group of Puritans who were exiled from Virginia in 1649. Utie and the other Puritans settled at Providence, just outside modern-day Annapolis. This was no rag-tag troupe of refugees: practically every one of the men in this exiled group was wealthy, powerful, and had connections in England, and several of them went on to become quite prominent. For example, Richard Bennett and Edward Lloyd, who were among the settlers at Providence, amassed truly mind-boggling fortunes, and both became politically influential and essentially founded dynasties of powerful Maryland planters. They also kind of rebelled against the colonial government almost immediately after they were settled, during the Battle of Severn. The Battle of Severn is kind of complicated so I'll just send you over to Wikipedia to read about it, if that's OK. Utie, it seems, was just as ruthless and determined as his fellow settlers at Providence. When Lord Baltimore started handing out land grants, Utie ended up being the largest landholder in what was then Baltimore County. His newfound status came with responsibilities, though: he was instructed to inform the Dutch, whose settlements along the northeast Atlantic coast extended south into Delaware, that Lord Baltimore had decided many of their colonies were now in Maryland. The Dutch were completely delighted and gladly ceded all their holdings to Lord Baltimore. Ha, no they didn't. In fact, they launched into a series of conflicts over two decades that were called the Anglo-Dutch Wars, and most importantly for the purposes of this story: many of the Dutch settlers came to despise Nathaniel Utie. Although I do NOT think the mysterious ghost dog is a resentful Dutch colonist, the Dutch provide some important insight into Utie's character. Obviously, we have to take the Dutch opinions of Utie with a grain of salt, but many Dutch colonial representatives complained at length about his highhandedness. Evidently, he marched into the Dutch colony of New Amstel and informed everyone that they were now in Maryland, and that they had three weeks to either get out or declare allegiance to Lord Baltimore. He actually managed to persuade fifty families to defect to Maryland, and even seduced seven Dutch soldiers away from New Amstel. He was variously described as mutinous, seditious, violent, boisterous, stormy, blustering, irritating, and frivolous. When Utie received the grant for the little island in the Chesapeake, he called it Spes-Utie, which combines the Latin spes, meaning hope, with his own surname, which basically means he called the island "Utie's Hope." The island was also known as "Spesutia." Utie brought settlers to the Upper Chesapeake, and built a house on the island called Spesutia Manor. At some point, he married a woman named Mary Mapletoft Ward, who was the widow of one of Utie's settlers. Here's where things get weird and ghosty: Mary Mapletoft Ward Utie died in 1665 - she was stabbed to death. According to Maryland court records, Mary was stabbed repeatedly in the upper arm on September 30th, 1665 and died five days later on October 4th, at Spesutia Manor. According to her husband, the stabbing was done by one of their slaves, a man named Jacob. Jacob, with only the slenderest pretense of a trial, was condemned to be drawn and hanged, and this sentence was carried out in St. Mary's City a few months later. In early 1666, Nathaniel Utie remarried, this time to Elizabeth Carter, the daughter of John Carter of Virginia. The Carters were HUGE. Huge! Elizabeth received 1/3 of her father's estate as a wedding gift, and according to John Carter's will, she would inherit the whole shebang if her brothers should die without sons. It was a very advantageous match for Utie, and that is what makes me so suspicious. Although obviously I can't prove anything, this seems like a classic mystery novel plot: an ambitious and ruthless man who wants power finds himself married to a woman whose family is unglamorous and lacking in money and influence. He travels frequently and has contacts among the wealthy and powerful families of Maryland and Virginia. It seems feasible that he could have either met Elizabeth Carter, or heard that she was of marriageable age, and seen the potential for a fortuitous alliance with one of Virginia's most promising families. All he has to do is rid himself of his present wife - and lucky for him, he lives on a remote island and evidently has a lot of nerve. PLUS, slavery had just been legalized in Maryland in 1664. As a slaveowner, Utie was in possession of several potential murder suspects who were legally considered subhuman and could not defend themselves against any allegations he might make against them. He had no neighbors, and if one of his other slaves should happen to witness anything, well...they couldn't testify against him in court. Hmmm. Mary Utie was buried in a family plot near Spesutia Manor, since the first church to be established near Spesutie Island wasn't built until 1671. Nathaniel Utie died in 1675, and since he is not among the graves recorded at the Spesutia Church, I assume he was buried near his home as well. (As an archaeologist, it is absolutely KILLING me that there is a 17th-century manor house and associated cemetery hanging around on this island and that the Army is blowing things up at it. It has never been studied or excavated! I am positively itching to get my hands on it). So: we have a murder victim buried at Spesutia Manor. Spesutia Manor, whether it was included in the later Smith Manor house or not, was evidently still standing through the early 1900s, since the Smiths mention the old house frequently in correspondence and other informal records. The other thing they wrote about, as early as 1802, is the ghost of a huge white dog who was frequently seen on the stairs of Spesutia Manor! The dog continued to appear during the 20th century, but was more frequently heard roaming the stairs and halls. One 20th-century eyewitness described the ghost as a huge animal of the setter type, completely white. The only other newspaper article I could find about the dog ("A Ghost, Classified 'Secret' by the Army, Roams Spesutie Island", Nov. 13 1958 in The Aegis) indicated that Spesutia Manor was still standing in the late 1950s, and that since the island was now a top-secret Army facility, it was unlikely the ghost dog would ever be seen again. As in the previous article in the Sun, Nathaniel Utie's name was mentioned in connection with the ghost, but nobody could say what the connection might be. So, what do you think? Could this dog have been a witness to the murder of Mary Utie? I can imagine it being her dog, trying to lead someone to the place where she was murdered, seeking justice for the crime. Or is it, perhaps, the ghost of Mary Utie herself, trying to tell the living something about her mysterious death? Could it be the ghost of Nathaniel Utie, condemned to roam the scene of his crime in the form of a dog? Whatever the case, it seems to me that there is at least one unresolved and murderous mystery surrounding Spesutia Manor, and that this could certainly account for the mysterious White Dog of Spesutie Island... Posted by Bundle Brent October 15, 2010 http://mongooseofmystery.blogspot.com/2010/10/mystery-of-spesutie-island-part-ii.html

  
  

• Sources

  [S761] Yates Publishing, Ancestry Family Trees, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.), Ancestry Family Tree. [S889] Ancestry.com, Maryland, U.S., Compiled Marriage Index, 1634-1777, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). [S1162] Ancestry.com, Geneanet Community Trees Index, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). [S751] Ancestry.com, U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.).