The Smoots of Maryland and Virginia

The following is an excerpt from "The Smoots of Maryland and Virginia, A genealogical history of William Smute, Boatright, of Hampton, Virginia, and Pickawaxon, Maryland, with a history of his descendants to the present generation".  By Harry Wright Newman.  Published in 1936 by the author, Washington, DC.

Below is an excerpt from pages 17 through 19.


An Unusual Study of Liberty Hall Overlooking the Nanticoke River
Built by Captain John Smoot of Rehoboth, Dorchester County, Md.

John Smoot settled about 1771 upon "Rehoboth" where he constructed Liberty Hall a spacious Georgian mansion, now one of the show places of Dorchester County. At the census of 1790, he had 41 negroes on his plantation, being the largest slave owner in the county....

....John Smoot negotiated his will on August 27, 1787, shortly after the death of his first wife. He bequeathed the dwelling-plantation of 440 acres to his son John, also his merchandise interests. Other realty was devised to his two children Catherine and Henry. He died on January 15, 1793, and was buried in the private burying ground at Liberty Hall (Rehoboth).

The date of the erection and the builder of Liberty Hall, "Rehoboth", or the Old Turpin Place, as the villagers of Dorchester County refer to it, have been the subject of much controversy. Some of the chambers of commerce on the Shore, tourist bureaus, and writers of Maryland claim that it was constructed as early as 1742 by the Lees, others cite 1757. Mary Turpin Layton was told by her great aunt that Liberty Hall was built by her great-great grandfather John T. Smoot, but writers and promoters of the show places of the Eastern Shore refused to accept this belief. It is she whom the compiler of these chronicles is indebted for the following proof.

The tax list of 1783, original on file at the Maryland Historical Society, shows that John T. Smoot was seated on 908 acres of "Rehoboth" with 1 frame dwelling house, 1 kitchen, 1 granery, 1 saw mill, 1 store house, 14 log slave houses, all located on the Nanticoke. He was further seized of "Robson's Ridge" of 50 acres, with 1 frame dwelling house and 3 log houses, all situated inland; "Hill's Adventure" of 50 acres with 1 frame dwelling and 1 log house, also inland; and "Conclusion" of 360 acres with 1 log house, also inland. His total landed estate in Dorchester County consisted of 1,687 acres, and he was the master of 42 slaves.

Edward Smoot was seized of 523 acres of "Rehoboth", and 3 acres of "Fisher's Lott", both tracts being inland, with 1 dwelling house and 12 log slave quarters. The only other owner of a portion of "Rehoboth" was John Anderton, the husband of Amelia Lee, who was seized of 400 acres with 2 small log houses on the Nanticoke, but his seat was at "Sandy Hill". His landed estate, as has been previously stated, ultimately reverted to the two children of John T. Smoot by his first wife.

When John T. Smoot negotiated his will in 1787, he bequeathed the brick dwelling on his plantation to his son John, therefore, it is an undisputed fact that "Liberty Hall" was erected by him sometime between the years 1783 and 1787.