In 1632, upon the death of his father Sir George Calvert, Cecil (Cecilius) Calvert became the Second Baron of Baltimore. He inherited the lands and colonies held by his father including the newly approved Charter of Maryland which was to establish a colony in the New World. Hoping to achieve religious tolerance, he invited sons of Catholic and Protestant families alike to sail to Maryland. These men with their families and servants made up the first group of approximately 300 settlers who reached America in March 1634. According to Elijah John Stephens' journal, the original Stephens immigrant, John Stephens, came to America as a young unmarried man in the latter part of the seventeenth century. As Lord Cecil died in 1675, it is presumed that John Stephens came to America under the charter granted to Lord Cecil and not as one of the original settlers.
A Stephens Family - Colonists of America
Site created and
maintained by Linda Stephens Russo
Please send your questions or comments to
[email protected]