Peter MAJORS ^{3 4}

  Research Notes:

Per Baltimore County Families, 1659-1759, by Robert W. Barnes:

"MAJOR, PETER (1), was in Balto. Co. by July 1723 when he wit. the will of Thomas Criswell [sic: Cromwell]; c. 1738 he pet. to have the Old Indian Road Cleared; in Sept. 1739 with Edward Roberts was indebted to Richard Gist; d. by March 1750/1; m. Mary Slider on 27 Oct. 1730; had iss.: ESTHER, b. 3 April 1729; PETER, b. 5 Feb. 1732; RACHEL, b. 29 Oct. 1735; ELIAS, b. c. 1738 [see book for sources]."

Three other children are often associated with the family of Peter Majors and Mary Slider: Christopher Slyder/Slider, born 18 Jul 1727 in St. Paul's Parish in Baltimore Co., MD; Thomas Majors, who married Jemima Fuller in St. John's Parish in Baltimore Co., MD on 22 Jan 1761; and John Samuel Majors, who married Rebecca Pollard in St. John's Parish in Baltimore Co., MD on 26 May 1756. As to Thomas (the writer's direct ancestor) and John Samuel, the existing DNA evidence supports Thomas as being a son of Peter, but not John Samuel. See the Majors DNA Project at http://worldfamilies.net/surnames/m/major/index.html.

Christopher Slyder/Slider's paternity is more complicated. Certainly he was born out of wedlock, for he is listed as the son of Mary Slyder in St. Paul's Parish Register. Might Peter Majors have been his father? Christopher's date of birth suggests Mary either became pregnant while being transported on the Loyal Margaret (if she arrived in Dec 1726, as stated in the cited Peden book on bastardy cases in Baltimore Co.) or right after she arrived in America (if she arrived in Oct 1726, as stated in the cited Coldham book on emigrants). Only if the Coldham account of her arrival date is accurate could Peter have possibly been his father. Apart from the question whether Peter was likely in the picture that early, it seems unlikely he was the father since Christopher never fully took on the Majors name, even though he was only 3 years old when Peter and Mary married. (While on one occasion it seems he was recorded as Christopher Magers when witnessing a 1750 deed, he was recorded as Christian Slyder in the 1763 tax list for Soldiers Delight Hundred in St. Thomas' Parish.) Contrast this with Esther, who was also born prior to their marriage, but was always known by the name Majors.

Whether Peter Majors was our immigrant Majors ancestor has not been determined, although the lack of earlier Baltimore Co. records connecting him to any other Majors suggests so. Some researchers have suggested the possibility his father (and hence the immigrant) was Isaac Majors/Majerd, who appears in a 1692 Baltimore Co., MD tax list for the Spesutia Hundred per the cited Barnes book on Baltimore Co. families, but no evidence to that effect has been produced. Merely having the right surname and generally being in the right place at the right time is not much to go on, especially since Isaac is not the only one who fits those criteria. Other potential candidates could include a Robert Major, transported 1658, a William Major, transported 1658, and a Thomas Major, transported 1674 (The Early Settlers of Maryland, by Gust Skordas). Of these, Thomas seemed promising because of naming patterns, but he was probably the Dr. Thomas Majors of Annapolis, who died in 1713, leaving a will which named only his wife, Sarah, and his daughter, Sarah, age 16 (Maryland Calendar of Wills, Vol. III, by Jane Baldwin Cotton).

A perhaps more promising lead in the search for the parents of Peter has come about as a result of the Majors DNA Project (see http://worldfamilies.net/surnames/m/major/). The results show a match with a Henry Major, born c. 1735, who according to family oral tradition immigrated to the Bahamas either directly from England or indirectly via America about 1750. At what generation Henry and Peter shared a common ancestor is, of course, the difficult question that still needs to be answered, but at least we know they were related, which can't be said of the other Major/s found in early Maryland records.
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Peter married Mary SLIDER on 27 Oct 1730 in Baltimore County, Maryland.^{2 14}