| Battle: | Battle of Dunbar in Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland |
| Ship/Arrival: | Unity, Dec 1650 |
| Prisoner and List: | |
| Name Variations: | |
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Published: 13 Mar 2020
Editor: Teresa Rust
First Generation in the New World
1. ALEXANDER¹ MAGRUDER, is believed to possibly be a Scottish prisoner of war from the Battle of Dunbar in 1650 or Worcester in 1651. He is not on our lists.
Biographical Notes:
From, Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia’s Northern Neck Counties:
“Also found in the records of the Testamentary Proceedings on April 17, 1677: the overseers of Alexander’s will (Samuel Taylor and Ninian Beall) came to the court requesting the administration of the estate because the widow Elizabeth, one of the executors, was also lately dead and that the two other named executors, the eldest sons, James and Samuel were under 17 years of age. Elizabeth showed up at court three month later (July 25, 1677) and proved that she was very much alive and administration was granted to her.”
“Something strange is going on here. I know nothing about Samuel Taylor but Ninian Beall was a man of very high reputation and esteemed by his neighbors. Why were the overseers lying about Elizabeth? Or so mistaken? And why did Alexander make his codicil, when he was so ill very (he signed with a mark instead of his customary signature), clearly dividing the fortunes of his two set of children? Was Elizabeth not trusted to fairly administer the estate of her stepsons? Alexander seem to be balancing things very evenly: two separate sets of estate and executors from each set: Elizabeth and the two older boys. Were any of the overseers (Nathaniel Truman was the third, lately deceased) related to the elder set and so protecting their interests or just good friends of Alexander, looking out for the fair treatment of the whole family? And is it usual for Elizabeth to have taken three months to come to court to declare herself?”
“See the authoritative “The Magruder Lineage in Scotland to Magruder Family in American, ” Dr. Charles G. Kurz, American Clan Gregor Society Librarian, 1979 ACGS Year Book, pp. 67 ff; “Alexander Magruder: Scotch Emigrant, Maryland Planter,” The Rev. James Mitchell Magruder, 1935 ACGS Year Book, pp. 42 ff, which includes transcripts of pertinent documents including Alexander Magruder’s will; the four-generation chart, 1954 ACGS Year Book, with authorities pp. 64 ff; and “Magruder Family,” Eleanor M. V. Cook, Jan 1992, typescript in the extensive Magruder files at the Montgomery Co MD Historical Society.”