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{{Short description|Heiress in colonial Maryland (1731–1788)}}
{{For|information about other persons with the name ''George Calvert''|George Calvert (disambiguation){{!}}George Calvert}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Elizabeth Calvert
| image = Elizabeth
| caption = Portrait by [[John Wollaston (painter)|John Wollaston]], 1754
| birth_name = Elizabeth Calvert
| birth_date = 1731{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
| birth_place = [[Maryland]]{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
| occupation = Elizabeth Calvert, by [[John Wollaston (painter)|John Wollaston]]
| spouse = [[Benedict Swingate Calvert]]
| children = 13, including:<br />[[Eleanor Calvert]]<br />[[George Calvert (planter)|George Calvert]]
| parents = [[Charles Calvert (governor)|Captain Charles Calvert]]<br />Rebecca Gerard
| death_date = {{death year and age|1788|1731}}{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
| death_place = [[Rosaryville State Park|Mount Airy]], [[Prince George's County, Maryland]]{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
}}
'''Elizabeth Calvert''' (1730<ref name=umdfamilytree>{{cite web|url=https://www.lib.umd.edu/sites/default/files/imported/calvertfamilytree.pdf|title=Calvert Family Tree|publisher=University Libraries, University of Maryland|access-date=18 July 2024}}</ref> or 1731{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}–
Elizabeth was the grandmother of [[Charles Benedict Calvert]] (1808–1864), a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Congressman]] who founded what is now the [[University of Maryland, College Park]], chartered in 1856.<ref>[http://www.pgparks.com/places/eleganthistoric/riversdale_history.html Prince George's Parks: History of Riversdale House Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510152746/http://www.pgparks.com/places/eleganthistoric/riversdale_history.html# |date=2008-05-10 }} Retrieved Jan 20 2010</ref> Elizabeth's portrait, painted by [[John Wollaston (painter)|John Wollaston]], still hangs on display, along with those of many of her Calvert relatives, in the [[Baltimore Museum of Art]].
==Early life==
[[File:Charlescalvert 800.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Elizabeth's probable
[[File:Governor Charles Calvert.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Elizabeth's father, Governor Charles Calvert]]
Elizabeth's father Captain Calvert (1680–1734) was governor of Maryland at a time when the Calvert family had recently regained control of their proprietary colony. He was appointed Governor by his cousin [[Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore]], who in 1721 would travel to [[Maryland]] to take personal charge of the colony. Captain Calvert's parentage is not entirely clear since neither of his parents has been positively identified but it has long been assumed that his father was [[Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore]], 2nd Proprietor Governor of Maryland (1637–1715). His mother's identity is unknown but, judging by the Calvert family papers, she appears to have been the Countess Henrietta, also known as "Mother Calvert", who died circa 1728.<ref name="Yentsch55">Yentsch, p.55</ref>
Elizabeth's mother, Rebecca Gerard (1708-1734/35), was a landed heiress from Maryland.<ref name="Yentsch64">Yentsch, p.64</ref> Rebecca was just sixteen when the couple were married on November 21, 1722 by the rector of Queen Anne's parish,<ref name="Yentsch64"/> a marriage which "enlivened the whole winter season with entertainments for the new first lady", wrote Aubrey Land.<ref name="Yentsch64"/> She was an only child and on her marriage her property, a plantation near [[Queen Anne, Prince George's County, Maryland|Queen Anne's Town]] in [[Prince George's County]], passed to Captain Calvert.<ref name="Yentsch65">Yentsch, p.65</ref>
Elizabeth had a brother, Charles (
Elizabeth's godfather was Captain Calvert's cousin, [[Benedict Leonard Calvert]], governor of Maryland from 1727 to 1731, and second son of [[Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore]]. Benedict Calvert died of consumption in 1732, while sailing to his home in England.<ref name="Yentsch93">Yentsch, p.93</ref> In his will, which he drew up before leaving Maryland, he left Elizabeth, then just one year old, a slave boy named Osmyn.<ref name="Yentsch61">Yentsch, p.61</ref>
Captain Calvert was replaced as governor in 1725.<ref name="Yentsch40">Yentsch, p.40</ref> He suffered from early senility and died on February 2, 1734.<ref name="Yentsch69">Yentsch, p.69</ref> He had arrived in Maryland a relatively poor man, but died one of the wealthiest men in the Province.<ref name="Yentsch61"/> On his death his estate was appraised at 4,401 pounds sterling.<ref name="Yentsch61"/> His wife died soon afterwards, leaving their daughter Elizabeth an orphan but a wealthy heiress.<ref name="Yentsch69"/>
==Marriage and
[[File:Benedict calvert 1754.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Elizabeth's husband, [[Benedict Swingate Calvert]], painted by [[John Wollaston (painter)|John Wollaston]]
[[File:Charles Calvert
[[File:
[[File:Eleanor Calvert.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Miniature of [[Eleanor Calvert]] (1758–1811), eldest surviving daughter of Elizabeth and Benedict Swingate Calvert,
Elizabeth Calvert married her cousin [[Benedict Swingate Calvert]] (c. 1730-1788), on April 21, 1748, in [[St. Anne's Church (Annapolis, Maryland)|St Ann's Church]], [[Annapolis]]. The couple were married by the Reverend John Gordon.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=mq5sidFiyHUC&pg=PA9 Russell, George, p.8, ''The Ark and the Dove Adventurers''] Retrieved Jan 28 2010</ref> Benedict Swingate Calvert was the illegitimate son of [[Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore]], the third Proprietor Governor of [[Maryland]], and a wealthy planter. They had thirteen children, though only four survived to mature adulthood.
Elizabeth's husband Benedict Calvert inherited a {{convert|4000|acre|km2|adj=on}} plantation known as [[Rosaryville State Park|Mount Airy]],<ref name="Yentsch261">Yentsch, p.261</ref> near [[Upper Marlboro, Maryland|Upper Marlboro]] in [[Prince George's County, Maryland|Prince George's County]], [[Maryland]], where he grew tobacco.<ref name="fwp">[https://books.google.com/books?id=K6BlU1wPV7oC&pg=PA465 Maryland: Federal Writer's Project, p.465, ''A Guide to the Old Line State'', Scholarly Pr (1973).] Retrieved Jan 20 2010</ref> Mount Airy was most likely a gift from his father, Lord Baltimore, who had ensured that Calvert would be provided with lands and revenues.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=m9rxARyL5hcC&pg=PA17 Callcott, Margaret Law, p.17, ''Mistress of Riversdale: The Plantation Letters of Rosalie Stier Calvert'', Johns Hopkins University Press (1992)] Retrieved Feb 1 2010</ref> Mount Airy had originally been a hunting lodge for his great-grandfather [[Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore]].<ref name="Yentsch262">Yentsch, p.262</ref> By the 1770s Benedict Swingate Calvert controlled a large and profitable estate of around {{convert|4000|acre|km2}}, with upwards of 150 slaves. He was also an enthusiastic horse breeder, training thoroughbreds and running them in competitions in Maryland and Virginia.<ref name="Yentsch264">Yentsch, p.264</ref>
According to the writer Abbe Robin, who traveled through Maryland during the Revolutionary War, families such as the Calverts enjoyed considerable wealth and prosperity. Robin described Maryland houses as being:
In 1774, Elizabeth's daughter [[Eleanor Calvert]] (1758–1811), married [[John Parke Custis]], son of Martha Washington and the stepson of [[George Washington]]. Washington himself did not approve of the match owing to the couple's youth, but eventually gave his consent.<ref name="fwp"/><ref name="Letters of George Washington"/>
Benedict and Elizabeth Calvert had thirteen children
* Rebecca Calvert (born December 25, 1749)
* [[Eleanor Calvert]] (
* Elizabeth Calvert (1753–1814), twin sister of Eleanor.<ref name="s3.amazonaws.com"/> Married the physician Charles Steuart (1750–1798/1822), third son of Calvert's former guardian George H. Steuart on June 15, 1780.<ref>Nelker, p.32</ref>
▲* [[Eleanor Calvert]] (1757/1758-1811), who on February 3, 1774 married [[John Parke Custis]] (1754–1781), son of Daniel Parke Custis and [[Martha Washington]] and the stepson of [[George Washington]]. Washington himself did not approve of the match owing to the couple's youth.<ref name="fwp"/><ref name="Letters of George Washington">[https://books.google.com/books?id=2ao-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA370 Letters of George Washington] Retrieved July 31, 2010</ref> Eleanor and John were the parents of [[George Washington Parke Custis]] and [[Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis]]. She later remarried in 1783 David Stuart.
*
* Philip Calvert, died young
* Leonard Calvert, died young
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==American Revolution==
[[
As members of the Maryland political establishment, the Calverts were [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]]s, and Elizabeth soon found herself on the losing side of the [[American Revolution|Revolutionary War]], the consequences of which would effectively end her husband's political career. The [[Annapolis Convention (1774–1776)|Annapolis Convention]] of 1774 to 1776 would see the old Maryland elite overthrown, and the Calverts and their allies would all lose their political power. On May 13, 1777 Elizabeth's husband was forced to resign his position as Judge of the Land Office,<ref name="Yentsch269">Yentsch, p.269</ref> and, as the conflict grew, Benedict became fearful of his family's safety, writing in late 1777 that his family "has been made so uneasy by these frequent outrages" that he wished to "remove my family and property where I can get protection".<ref name="Yentsch272">Yentsch, p.272</ref>
Despite the danger, Elizabeth did not leave Maryland.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}} On occasion she and her husband supplied the [[Continental Army]] with food and provisions.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
===After the war===
After the war's end, the Calverts had to pay triple taxes as did other Loyalists, but they were never forced to sign the loyalty oath and their lands and property remained unconfiscated.<ref name="Yentsch270">Yentsch, p.270</ref>
Curiously, Elizabeth and her husband's Loyalism does not appear to have affected their family's cordial relations with the leader of the Revolution, [[George Washington]]. In 1783, after the war was over, Washington stayed with the Calverts at their Mount Airy plantation, shortly after resigning his commission in [[Annapolis]]
Elizabeth died in 1788, at the age of 57.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
==Legacy==
The Calverts' house at 58 [[State Circle]], Annapolis, was the subject of an archeological dig in the
==Notes==
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==References==
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=wSye_RpvnnwC
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=jJX672KW8TMC
==See also==
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* [[Colonial families of Maryland]]
* [[Calvert family]]
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calvert, Elizabeth}}
[[Category:Calvert family|Elizabeth]]
[[Category:
[[Category:1788 deaths]]
[[Category:People
[[Category:American Loyalists
[[Category:American slave owners]]
[[Category:People from Maryland]]
[[Category:18th-century American people]]
[[Category:18th-century American women]]
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