Samuel Warnick was born about 1789 in what is now Garrett County, MD, son of Joseph Warnick and Sarah. In 1807, he purchased Military Lots 3854 and 3855 from Nicholas Holsbury. These lots are located about 1/2 mile northeast of land owned by Samuel's father, Joseph.

Among the properties closest to Samuel's were Military Lots 3848 and 3849, owned by William Ross. The next year, Samuel married Keziah (spelling varies) Ross, a daughter of William Ross and a sister of James N. Ross who married Samuel's sister Elizabeth Warnick in 1814. Keziah was born in 1785. The marriage license for Samuel and Keziah was dated 6/10/1808. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. William Shaw on 6/12/1808. Whether Samuel and Keziah actually resided on Samuel's lots is not known, but about 1810 or 1811, William Ross died, and Samuel sold his lots in 1811 and his share of the Ross estate in 1813.

Samuel had a large tract of land surveyed along Savage River in 1824 which he called "Warnick's New Settlement." He sold this land to his brother 5 Joseph Warnick.

Samuel and Keziah spent the last years of their married lives on Military Lots 96 and 97 which lie along Maryland Route 135, west of present-day Bloomington.

After Samuel's early death about 1828, Keziah apparently raised the family, as she was head of household in 1830 and 1840. Keziah's granddaughter, Ida Warnick Duckworth, related the story that Keziah made do by taking produce to Cumberland on horseback. On one trip home, Keziah was traveling after dark and was being followed by a wildcat. Keziah was afraid to dismount and she worried about how she was going to let the bars down to cross the fence, but her horse resolved the problem--it simply jumped the bars without any instructions from Keziah.

Keziah died 8/2/1877 at the home of her son, also named Samuel Warnick. According to her obituary in the Allegany Citizen, 8/19/1877, she was a Baptist and sometimes preached. One year before her death, the obituary reported, she mounted a horse unaided. She got "second sight" (a sort of sixth sense compensation for bad eyesight). When she died "she had over 50 descendants including John Bevers of Savage Mtn." The obituary also stated that Keziah was 104 years old at the time of her death, but this is doubtless in error.

The mention of John Bevers in the obituary arouses curiosity today, but satisfying answers cannot be provided. In 1877, John filed a complaint in Garrett County seeking to gain a portion of Keziah's estate. He claimed that his mother, Johanna Beavers, nee Warnick, was a daughter of Samuel and Keziah. John stated that his mother had died about 1853 and was overlooked among Keziah's heirs. Records in Garrett County do not show how this claim was adjudicated. In the 1930s Samuel's heirs were selling Samuel's Military Lots 96 and 97; the heirs did not include descendants of John Bevers.

Hoye and Turner wrote about this family in 1938. Their article stated that Lots 96 and 97 lie on the old State Road (MD Rte 135) about three miles above Bloomington. His log house was on Lot 96, on the South Side of the road opposite one of the old taverns. Samuel and Kezia Warnick are buried in the family graveyard just above the site of their house.

The children of Samuel and Keziah Warnick: John Warnick(born about 1810), Vincent O'Neal Warnick, Jane Warnick (born 6/28/1814), Rachel Warnick (born about 1817), Mary Warnick, Henry Warnick, and Samuel Warnick(born about 1825).

I have compiled information about thousands of descendants of Samuel Warnick and Keziah (Ross). The second edition of my book, Warnick Families of Western Maryland (535 pages, 1995) is available at the Genealogical Society of Allegany County, the library of Allegany College, and the Library of Congress. My collection of information about the western Maryland Warnick family is in a constant state of refinement. Inquiries about western Maryland Warnick families are welcome.

This page was revised January 13, 1999.Walt Warnick's Western Maryland Family History Home Page