Chapter 1 Poolesville: An Ancestral Home/Poole Family History

When the first Europeans came to the New World at the start of the 17thcentury, the Piscataway was the largest and most powerful tribalnation in the lands between the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River. What is now Montgomery County, Maryland was an area stretching from the mouth of Rock Creek in the south to the Monocacy River inthe north, the Potomac River on the west and the Patuxent River onthe east. A history of the county described the land in lush terms, noting “It was a beautiful, forested area rich in game, that includeddeer, buffalo, bear, and wild turkey, with rivers and stream teeming with fish.”

In 1608, Captain John Smith and his crew discovered the Potomac River through their travels up the Chesapeake Bay. Withthe publishing of his maps and journals, other Northern Europeansfollowed. According to a history of the county, the first white men to colonize the area were from England, Ireland, and Wales. “In 1688,the first patent for land was recorded along the banks of Rock Creek.The settlers cleared much of the virgin forest to grow tobacco andfood and build homes.”Colonization equaled the end for Piscataway people as a united tribal force. Already facing aggressive incursions by theSusquehannocks from the north, their ancestral lands were stolenfrom the tribe and given to settlers. Colonial governments grantedthe Piscataway reservations called manors, but by 1800, even thoserights were retracted.In the mid-1600s, Richard Poole came from England with hisEnglish wife and settled at the head of the South River in Anne Arundel County. His first wife died soon after, and he then remarriedto a woman named Mary Phelps, with whom he subsequently hadten children. Richard sent his third son, Robert, back to England to be educated, and there was no record of that son’s return to the UnitedStates. The Poole family had relatives in England, and it was thoughtthat Robert was with them until he attended Oxford University.

Meanwhile, in the colonies, the American Poole family established itself in its Maryland home. In his Brief History of Poolesville, local historian Charles W. Elgin writes the story of thefamily in an essay. In 1760, Richard’s first and second born sons, John and Joseph, purchased 160 acres. They had come from from Anne Arundel County near Annapolis. John named his tract “Poole’s Right,” and Joseph named his “Poole’s Hazard.” In 1806, Joseph Poole marked off six lots along Coxen’s Roadand gave each of his five sons a lot and kept one parcel for himself. In 1793, on a 15-acre piece of Poole’s Right, John Poole erected Poolesville’s first building, a log cabin store. It was in this store that the first Post Office in Poolesville was established on December 5, 1810.Dennis Lachland, a clerk in John Poole’s store, was the first Postmaster.The family lived above the store.

Located at an existing crossroads,Poole’s Store became a center for trade and commerce, providing goods to local families and travelers. After John Poole married Mary “Priscilla” Woodward Sprigg, hesold the store to Lachland. John and Priscilla moved to near Barnesville,where his wife had inherited a farm from her father. The farm wascalled “Happy Choice Fortified,” and comprised some 404 acres.Priscilla was the daughter of Major Frederick SpriggandDeborahSprigg. Major Sprigg had been a soldier in the Revolutionary War.Family historian Ethel Sellman Hott added that John and Priscillalived in Barnesville until their deaths, in 1828 and 1866, respectively.4John prospered and acquired additional property. He alsoserved as a Justice of the Peace. At the time of his death, he ownedabout 600 acres appraised at $12,219 and five lots valued at $1,350. Ifit were held in cash, his fortune today could have equaled $500,000.

At his death, Priscilla administered his estate and became guardian of his children. Subsequently his estate was divided amonghis children.5Priscilla and John had 10 children including Poole’s father, theiroldest, also named John. Three generations of their descendants andrelatives lived in the Poolesville area before they scattered across thenew nation. Descendants and relatives lived mainly in Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, and Texas, although some, like my mother, VirginiaMcGinnes Webb, went as far as California.By 1800, Poolesville was a small village at a crossroads with arecorded population of 246 people. By 1850, there would be 25 families living in Poolesville. It was in this small, but growing village that Poole was born.