Thomas CLEYBORNE, MAYOR

                   NOTES: Adventurers of Purse and Person. Histories of the colonies.
Maryland Historical Magazine page 339
William Claiborne of the Parish of Crayford, County Kent, England and of Crayford
on the Isle of Kent in the Chesapeake Bay and of Romancoke, New Kent County,
Virginia married circa 1635, Elizabeth Butler (or Boteler) daughter of John Burler
or Boteler of Little Burch Essex, England and Jane Elliott, his wife. No
evidence of Elizabeth Butler Claiborne. She was alive in March 1668/69.
William Claiborne was treasurer of the Colony and Secretary of State.
W. Claiborne of James City, Jamestown (in Virginia 1621)
ABSTRACTS OF VIRGINIA LAND PATENTS PREPARED BY W.G. STANARD

NOTES: April 2003 - World Book Encyclopedia under "Claiborne's Rebellion" has the following:
Claiborne's Rebellion was a series of conflicts in the 1630's and 1640's in which William Claiborne, a Virginia fur trader, refused to accept the authority of Leonard Calvert, the governor of Maryland. Claiborne came to Virginia from England in 1621. He explored Chesapeake Bay and became interested in the Indian fur trade. Claiborne went to England and obtained a trading license in 1631. When he returned, he set up a trading post on Kent Island in Chesapeake Bay.
Under a charter issued to the Calvert family in 1632, Kent Island lay within the boundaries of Maryland. Claiborne refused to acknowledge the authority of the Calverts, and war broke out. Claiborne was forced out. But in 1644, with some Puritan settlers, he drove Calvert out and seized control of the colony. Oliver Cromwell ordered the restoration of the Calvert government in 1657, and Claiborne returned to Virginia. He played a prominent role in the affairs of the Virginia colony until he died in 1677.

NOTES: Also in The World Book Encyclopedia under "Maryland, Colonial Days" has the following:
Lord Baltimore appointed his brother, Leonard Calvert, as governor of the Maryland Colony. He encouraged the colonists to suggest laws and to assist his brother in the colony's administration. Lord Baltimore was a Roman Catholic, and he wanted freedom of worship for those of his faith. But he also wanted persons of other faiths to settle in Maryland. He believed that religious restrictions would interfere with the colony's growth and development. In 1649, the colonial assembly approved Lord Baltimore's draft of a religious toleration law, granting religious freedom to people of all faiths. After the law was passed, a band of Puritans fled from Virginia and came to Maryland. Maryland became famous for its religious freedom.
William Claiborne's trading settlement on Kent Island was part of the Maryland Colony. But Claiborne refused to recognize Lord Baltimore's authority. In 1654, Claiborne led a group of Protestant settlers who overthrew Lord Baltimore's government. Claiborne controlled Maryland for four years.
On orders from the English government, Claiborne returned Maryland to Lord Baltimore in 1658.

NOTES: First Settlement of white men in Maryland was on Kent Island. A Virginia planter, William Claiborne, set up a trading post there in 1631.