There is clear evidence of three men in Baltimore and/or Harford County named Robert, Adam and John McClung who all died about the same time -- Robert in 1784 and Adam and John both in 1780. Based on the coincidence of their death dates as well as the names they gave their sons and also based on Robert being named next of kin to Adam when his estate was administered, it can be argued the three were brothers. And as I have no better candidate to be their father, I’ll call him Robert Sr.

(From book of admins by Anne W B Belle, LDS film.) Robert McClung 1784 will LOA to Joseph McClung.

The McClung Family Association says that Adam died on 24 Dec 1780 but that doesn’t square with the earlier date when his estate entered administration.

In December 1769, Adam McClung was a subscriber, one of the larger ones actually, to the annual salary for a new minister of the Bethel Presbyterian Church. (Charles Richardson, relationship to Adam’s wife Letitia unknown, was another large subscriber.) Rev. Andrew Cross became the minister of Bethel Presbyterian Church in 1837 and in 1886 wrote a history of that church. Andrew wrote a brief biography on many of the 91 -- here’s what he said about Adam: “Adam McClung, where Robert Sterrett lived. Mrs. Crichton was a McClung.”

Everything I know about Adam shows that what Rev. Cross said, though incredibly brief and to the point, all rings true.

• Adam’s daughter Mary married Robert Creighton (spelled Crichton by Andrew Cross). Thus: Mrs. Crichton was a McClung.

• Robert Creighton ended up with a substantial portion of Adam’s original land. When he died, he passed it to his son-in-law John Sterrett and then it passed to John’s son Robert.

• Robert Sterrett sold this land in 1769 to Benjamin Ayres.

• By the time of the Andrew Cross pamphlet, I believe Robert had moved to Illinois, so sorting all this out, it would be correct to say Adam McClung, where Robert Sterrett lived. (past tense).

Adam died young. His estate entered administration 31 May 1780 with administratrix Lettice (sic). In his estate file, nearest of kin were said to be Robert and Joseph McClung. The term nearest (or next) of kin back in those days did not include children nor wives and typically only males were listed as such. It often referred to someone’s brothers and it is possible Joseph was another brother. But Robert Jr. had a son named Joseph supposedly born in 1763, so at 17 -- I guess just old enough to be so listed. So I believe Adam’s next of kin were his brother Robert and Robert’s oldest son Joseph.

Adam took the loyalty oath in 1778.

After Adam’s son John died before 1786, John’s six sisters inherited John’s land. They were: Isabella wife of Thomas Russell, Mary who would soon marry Robert Creighton, Letitia who would soon marry John Klinefelter, Jean who would soon marry John Hisperch (?), Sarah who would soon marry Matthew Adams of York County and Alice who would soon marry Benjamin Elliott.

Sometimes a clue to a woman’s parents names and at times her own siblings’ names is the names she gives her children -- especially when it can be determined that they were not names likely derived from the husband’s family. For a while, I only knew the names of two of Letitia’s and Adam’s children, a son John and a daughter Mary. Adam’s father was named Robert and, of course, I don’t know his mother’s name -- which could well have been Mary.

Nonetheless I got in my head that Letitia’s parents were maybe named John and Mary. That led me to several possibilities:

• Thomas Richardson had a son John who supposedly, according to the Internet at least, married Mary, possibly Standiford. But John was born in 1728 and I just don’t like the compressed timing that would be necessary. I would have to believe they married in say 1746 when John was but 18 and their daughter Letitia was then born in, say, 1747 and married at age 17 in 1764. I just don’t like that scenario.

• Then I learned of a documented marriage of a John Richardson and Mary Walker 21 Nov 1742. So I investigated but I now doubt they too have anything to do with our Letitia. For one thing, that marriage was recorded at Stepney Parish in Somerset County, MD (well down Delmarva) and that couple then baptized daughters Mary born 1743, Elizabeth born 1746 and Matilda born 1749/50 at the same church. Sure it’s possible Letitia was born to that couple in 1744 or 1745 and her baptism was just not recorded but I have no evidence that this couple or their daughters ever moved to Harford County so how would I explain that?

So my two best John and Mary candidates didn’t seem viable but then I found new evidence that at least kept the idea that John Richardson was the father of Letitia and her sister Alice in play.