Henry Hanslap (d. 1698)

Henry Hanslap was another of my generation's 9th great grandfathers and thus of the same generation as Nicholas Gassaway and John Hammond. As prominent colonial residents of Maryland, these gentlemen's progeny intermarried, which explains our descent from all of them. Hanslap is described as "sheriff of Anne Arundel" County, having been appointed to this post by the Associators' convention which had displaced the Calverts in 1689. However, he apparently served only until February 1689/90 (Carr and Jordan, 107). He seems to have been a supporter of Lord Baltimore and thus "refused cooperation with the Associators" (Carr and Jordan, 195), whose legitimacy was in dispute between 1689 and 1692.

Here is more on Hanslap from the Maryland Archives, which describes him as Anne Arundel County Court Clerk between 1682 and 1685.

The exact date and place of birth of Henry Hanslap is not known. [But another source states his year of birth as 1635 and place of birth as Aynho, South Northamptonshire Borough, Northamptonshire, England.] He immigrated to Maryland by October 7, 1676 and was a resident of Anne Arundel County in which he owned two plantations.  He worked as a planter and probably also as a lawyer, for in his will he mentioned his collection of law books.¹ In some records he is referred to as Captain Henry Hanslap.²  As part of his military duties, he and some other militia officers contacted Colonel William Diggs in regard to taking action to protect residents of the area from an alleged Indian uprising.³  He married a woman named Elizabeth and together they had one son, Joseph, and three daughters, Sussana (m.Captain Thomas Gassaway), Elizabeth (m. Benjamin Wells), and Frances (m. Joseph Chew).⁴  The family worshiped at All Hallows Parish in Anne Arundel County.⁵

Hanslap was commissioned as Coroner for Anne Arundel County on June 18, 1678.  He later served as Clerk of Anne Arundel County from September 13, 1682 until May 30, 1685 at which point he resigned this position to serve as Sheriff of the county.⁶  He served in that position until at least 1688.⁷

Hanslap was issued two patents for land in Anne Arundel County:  Hanslaps Range, 300 acres, 1681 and Ayno, 400 acres, 1683.  There was also a certificate for land under Hanslap's name for a 214 acre tract called Come by Chance.  The patent for this land, however, was given to George Yate.⁸  He mentions two other tracts of land in his will:  Dodo(r?) Situate, 500 acres, and 100 acres of land on Hickory Hills.  In his will he makes no mention of Hanslaps Range, but he does refer to Hanslaps Advantage, 300 acres, on the north side of the Severn River.  In addition to his land holdings, his inventory lists several possessions totaling £207::11:08.  Items included in the inventory were several horses, pigs, and cows.  The document also lists four "Negroes," one "servant boy," and one "woman servant."⁹  Henry Hanslap died some time in 1698 before and in his will requested that he be buried at the east end of the All Hallows Parish grounds.  His wife Elizabeth died in January 1702, as did his son Joseph.  His daughter Elizabeth may also have died in January 1702, or January 1703.¹⁰

¹ PREROGATIVE COURT (Wills), Henry Hanslap, 1698, Liber 6, f 164, MSA No. S 538-11, 1/11/1/8.  See also Robert W. Barnes, British Roots of Maryland Families.  (Baltimore:  Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1999), 231.
² Harry Wright Newman, Anne Arundel Gentry:  A Genealogical History of Twenty-Two
Pioneers of Anne Arundel County, MD., and Their Descendants, (Baltimore:  The Lord Baltimore Press, 1933), 633.  See also Archives of Maryland Online, Volume 13, p. 242.
³ Archives of Maryland Online, Volume 8, p. 79.
⁴ Will.  See also Newman.
⁵ Will.  See also MARYLAND INDEXES (Church Records, Marriage Index), 1686-1958, S1400 and MARYLAND INDEXES (Church Records, Death and Burial Index),  1686-1958, S1402.
⁶ Owings, Donnell MacClure.  His Lordship's Patronage:  Offices of Profit in Colonial Maryland.  (Baltimore:  Maryland Historical Society, 1953.), 147.  See also Barnes.
⁷ Archives of Maryland Online, Volume 8, p. 21.
⁸ MARYLAND STATE ARCHIVES FINDING AIDS AND INDEXES, Land Office Records (Patents, Index) Index 54, MSA S1426.
⁹ PREROGATIVE COURT (Inventories and Accounts), Henry Hanslap, 1698, L 17, f 149   1/11/2/29.
¹⁰ MARYLAND INDEXES (Church Records, Death and Burial Index),  1686-1958, S1402.

After Nancy and I had returned home from our Maryland sojourn, I realized that we must have driven past All Hallows Parish on Solomons Island Road, which connects Annapolis with St. Mary's City. Had I known of this, I would have insisted that we stop to see Hanslap's grave.

Here is the lineage from Henry Hanslap to Lucy Jane Bentley Hyder:

Henry Hanslap (c 1635-1698), m Elizabeth

Susanna Hanslap (1682-1740), m Thomas Gassaway (1683-1739) 

Elizabeth Gassaway (1712-?), m Captain John Howard (1698-1765)

Hannah Howard (1735-?), m Caleb Osborne (1731-1781)

Elizabeth Abigail Osborne (1757-1856), m Zachariah Wells (1745-1825)

Dr. Jeremiah Wells (1792-1845), m Elizabeth Culbertson (1792/96-1859)

David W. Wells (c 1815-1865), m Nancy Jane Elkins (1822-1887)

Virginia Elizabeth Wells (1857-1917), m Squire Benjamin Bentley (1849-1903)

Lucy Jane Bentley (1875-1948), m Nelson Hyder (1875-1959)

 

Sources:

Archives of Maryland (Biographical Series)

Carr, Lois Green and David William Jordan, Maryland's Revolution of Government 1689-1692. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1974. 

Cpt Henry Hanslap. Find a Grave.