Names given to land tracts of Ninian BEALL in MD, would indicate he was
from Fifeshire, Scotland.  From his age in depostions, he was born ca.
1625-1630. In 1678 his age was given as about 48.15 In 1698 he
gave his age as about 76,35 and in 1708 he was about age 83.16  Considering
that it was common for a reported age to be exaggerated as a person aged,
the earlier deposition of his birth ca. 1630 may be more accurate. His
known wife was named Ruth.2

In 1708 James MOORE, age about 62, referred to "his brother Ninian BEALE."36
Based on that record, there have been claims that Ruth was a MOORE, and
sister to James. That is not evidence that MOORE was her surname.

If Ninian BEALL and James MOORE were "brothers"-in-law it could have been by:
1. Ninian BEALL's wife Ruth being a sister to James MOORE.
2. James MOORE's wife Mary being a sister to Ninian BEALL.
3. Their wives being sisters to each other, surname unknown.

There have also been claims that James and Ruth were children of Richard
MOORE and wife Jane.  There is no evidence that Richard MOORE had children
named James or Ruth.  In 1654, [when James would have been about age 8, see
above], Jane, widow of Richard MOORE, stated she had sons Richard, Roger,
and Timothy.17 Since Richard and Jane had no son named James, even if
Ruth was a MOORE and sister to James, they would not have been children of
Richard and Jane.

There are several myths that have attributed Mary, wife of John POTTINGER,
and Sarah, wife of Samuel MAGRUDER as being children of Ninian BEALL. 
While that has been disproved, in that the evidence shows that Ninian's
daughter Mary married Andrew HAMILTON,30 the thought remains among some
researchers that they were BEALL sisters, and relatives of Ninian.  The
couples were related in that Samuel MAGRUDER in his will call John POTTINGER
his "brother" [brother-in-law]. 

Recent research of Brice Clagett (Nov. 2001) concluded that John POTTINGER
married Mary MULLIKAN and Samuel MAGRUDER married Sarah POTTINGER, sister
to John. This was based on relationships derived from John DEMALL in his
1725 calling Robert POTTENGER, son of John and Mary his "cousin."18 Research
of mine in Feb. 2002 concluded that he overlooked that Robert POTTENGER's
wife Ann EVANS was niece to DEMALL's wife, Mary EVANS. While CLAGETT's
research could still be valid, and Mary a MULLIKIN and Sarah a POTTENGER,
it cannot be considered as proved.27

The theory which at present has the most validity is that Samuel MAGRUDER's
wife Sarah may have been the daughter of William MILLS and wife Tabitha, and
thus a step-daughter to Tabitha's second husband Thomas BLANFORD.28 Some
MAGRUDER researchers believe that John POTTENGER may have had a short-lived
marriage to Samuel MAGRUDER's sister Elizabeth.  Note, though, that in 1706
the estate of William MILLS, Jr., there was a payment to "John POTTENGER
for the use of Martha BLANFORD."29  Martha was a daughter of Thomas
BLANFORD and wife Tabitha, and half-sister to the MILLS children. If the
children of Thomas BLANFORD were named in order in his will, Martha was the
youngest. If the children were born about every two years after Tabitha
(widow MILLS) married Thomas BLANFORD, then Martha was probably born about
1686-1690. One implication of the payment to John POTTINGER for Martha
BLANFORD would be that Martha was living with his family. With both her
parents dead, a logical place that Martha, a single age 16-20 year old female,
would live would be with one of her [half]-sisters.

Another popular myth is that Ninian BEALL had a daughter Margery that
was the second wife of Joseph BELT, who first married Ninian's daughter
Hester/Esther.  Margery was nee WIGHT20, and the widow of Thomas SPRIGG.21

Ninian BEALL died between 15 Jan. and 28 Feb. 1717 when his will was
written and probated in Prince George's Co., MD.1 His wife Ruth was living
on 12 Sep. 1713 when she acknowledged a deed with her husband,19 but
probably died before Ninian wrote his will.

If you are a direct line male descendant of Ninian BEALL, the BEALL DNA project is
still looking for someone to test, to compare their results with other BEALL lines.

Ninian BEALL had children:
1. John BEALL2 never married; d. ca. 171033 Prince George's Co., MD3
2. Thomas BEALL2 never married; d. between 1 Sep. 1707 and 3 Aug. 1708
   Prince George's Co., MD4
3. Charles BEALL2 b. ca. 1673;5 m. 23 Sep. 17097 Mary6 WOLSTEAD;7 d. between
   24 Mar. 1739/40 and 27 Nov. 1740 Prince George's Co., MD6
4. Jane25 BEALL m. Archibald EDMONDSTON8; died before 13 Oct. 174526
5. Ninian BEALL1,2 m. Elizabeth10 MAGRUDER9; d. between 1 Nov. 1710 and
   6 Jan. 1710 [1710/1] Prince George's Co., MD10
6. Hester2/Esther BEALL m. Joseph BELT1,2
7. Rachel BEALL2
8. Hannah BEALL22 m.1 John DEAVER 12 July 1707, but claimed as his wife by 170222
   m.2 William WHITEHEAD24 ca. 1735/6
9. Mary BEALL2 b. say 1690;32 m.1 Andrew HAMILTON (HAMBLETON)1; 
   m.2. Thomas EVANS;31 living 1732;34
10. George BEALL1,2 b. ca. 1695;12 m. Elizabeth23 BROOKE;13 d. between
   15 Mar. 1780 and 24 Mar. 1780 Montgomery Co., MD14

1. Ninian Beall will, Maryland wills 14:504-507, FHL microfilm 0,012,846.
   Ninian Beall will, Prince George's Co., MD Will Book 1:92-93.
2. Prince George's Co., MD land records C:185a-186a.
3. John Beall account, Prince George's Co., MD Accounts J. B. No. 1:71-72.
   Administrator is Charles Beall [brother].
4. Thomas Beall will, Maryland wills 12:309-310, FHL microfilm 0,012,844.
   Thomas Bell/Beall will, Prince George's Co., MD Will Book 1:35.
   Note he named brothers John and George.  He also bequeathed "my negro
   boy called James," apparently the same "Negro Boy Called James" given
   him by his parents in PGLR:185a-186 above.
5. Prince George's Co., MD land records T:19, FHL microfilm 14249,
   deposition in 60th year of my age in 1733.
6. Charles Beall will, Prince George's Co., MD Will Book 1:311-312.
7. Elise Greenup Jourdan, Early Families of Southern Maryland,
   (Westminster, MD: Family Line Publications, 1998), 136.
8. Prince George's Co., MD land records E:20a, FHL microfilm 14247.
9. Sarah Magruder will, Prince George's Co., MD wills 1:235-236.
10. Ninian Beall, Jr. will, Prince George's Co., MD Will Book 1:42-43.
11. Andrew Hamilton inventory, Prince George's Co., MD, Inventories B. E. No. 1:353-356.
12. George Beall deposition, Prince George's Co,, MD land records EE:10,
    FHL microfilm 14251.
13. Barbara Brooke will, MD wills 29:180-181 [image 180 of 276]
    names granddaughter Mary Beall at age 16 or marriage.  Use of the
    name Thomas Brooke Beall among George Beall's descendants lends belief
    to Mary was the daughter of George Beall and Elizabeth Brooke.
14. George Beall will, Montgomery Co., MD will A:262-263, FHL microfilm 0,014,230. 
15. Archives of MD 67:424
16. Chancery Court Record 1671-1712, Archives of Maryland, Volume 748, p. 625.
17. Archives of Maryland 10:395
18. Brice Clagett, 27 Nov. 2001 post and 29 Nov. 2001 post to Rootsweb Gen-MEDIEVAL list.
19. Prince George's Co., MD land records E:223-225, FHL microfilm 0,014,247.
20. Anne Wight will, MD wills 18:518-520 [image 516/557].
21. Thomas Sprigg account, MD accounts 15:341-346.
22. Lucy H. Harrison, St. James' Parish, Anne Arundel Co., MD,
    (Baltimore, MD: 1891), FHL microfilm 0,013,280. Vestry minutes 18-25 state
    regarding the tract "Batchelors Choice" surveyed in 1668 by Ninian Beall
    that it included the tract "Wrighton" surveyed in 1659 for Ishmael
    Wright.  In 1702 John Deaver who "claimed Hannah Beall, a daughter of 
    Ninian as his wife, and afterwards marryed her" sold the tract "Wrighton."
    He had "prevailed on Hannah Beall under whom he set up his claim to 
    said Land to acknowledge herself to be his wife, and as such Relinquished
    her right to said Land tho they were not man and Wife until 12 July
    1707 upwards of five years after."  Note also that before the actual
    marriage that John Deaver and "Hannah his wife" in Feb. 1704/5
    acknowledged being witnesses to the 1704 will of Nicholas Day of
    Baltimore County.
23. Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington D.C., interment card file, FHL microfilm
    1,543,685.
24. Hooper, Chancery Records, 85.
25. Archibald Edmonson will, MD wills 21:159-161 [image 187 of 484].
26. Jane Edmonson inventory, MD inventories 36:21-23, FHL microfilm 0,012,874.
    Jane Edmonson/Edmonston inventory, Prince Georges, Co., MD inventories DD No. 2:57-58.
27. Fredric Z. Saunders, 1 Mar. 2002 post to Rootsweb BEALL list.
28. Peter McManus, 18 June 2003 post #1126 to Genforum's Magruder Family Forum.
29. William Mills account, Prince George's Co., MD, Admistration Accounts J. B. No. 1:17-18.
30. a) In 1706, Ninian Beall gave his daughter Mary a Negro girl about 5 years old 
       called Nanny. (See #2)
    b) In his 1717 will, Ninian Beall gave his "son-in-law" Andrew Hambleton a Negro
       woman called Allie. (See #1)
    c) Andrew Hamilton's 1719 inventory included a Negro woman named Nanny, and
       a very old Negro woman named Ailie. (See #11)
    d) The preceding three records show that Ninian Beall's daughter married Andrew
       Hamliton [Hambleton], not John Pottinger / Pottenger.
    e) Mary Beall secondly married Thomas Evans, (evidence under #31) and had
       children born in the 1720s, possibly as late as about 1730.  
    f) Regarding claims that Mary married both Andrew Hamilton and John Pottinger,
       that can not be. John Pottinger's and wife Mary's first child was born in 1688.
       Were John Pottinger's wife Mary identical to Mary Beall who married Andrew
       Hamilton and Thomas Evans, it would require her having children born almost
       40 years apart, beyond the range of child-bearing years.
31. See evidence listed under #14 on HAMILTON page.
32. Estimate from probable marriage date (say 1709) and children born as late as
    possibly ca. 1730 by her second husband Thomas Evans.
33. John Beall inventory, Prince George's Co., MD Inventories B. E. No. 1:144.
34. Prince George's Co land records Q:487-489. 
    Thomas Evans of Prince George's County, Planter, to Philip Evans of the same, planter,
    two tracts, one called Littleworth of 98 acres, the second called Stone Hill of 98 acres. 
    Acknowledged by Thomas Evans and wife Mary.
35. Archives of MD 717:891
36. Chancery Court Record 1671-1712, Archives of Maryland, Volume 748, p. 626.