Mary Bright, *

Abt 1680 - Aft 1703  (> 24 years)

• Name	Mary Bright  [1, 2, 3]
  Suffix	*
  Birth	Abt 1680	, , Maryland
  Gender	Female
  Death	Aft 1703	of Kent Island, Maryland   [2]
  Person ID	I9440	Ancestrees
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2026

  
  

  Father	Thomas Bright, *,   b. Bef 1645   d. Bef 18 Mar 1680, Kent Island, Maryland (Age < 35 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Cicely Evans, *,   b. 1665, England d. Bef 27 May 1718, Kent Island, Queen Anne's County, Maryland (Age < 53 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	Abt 1679
  _MARRIED	N
  Family ID	F2352	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	John Gilgore   d. Bef 10 Nov 1716, of Kent Island, Maryland
  Marriage	1703
  Children	1. William Gilgore,   b. 1704   d. Yes, date unknown  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F2367	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2026

  
  

  Family 2	John Ponder, *,   b. 1650, , , England d. Bef 2 Feb 1702, , Kent, Maryland (Age < 52 years)
  Marriage	Bef 1697
  Children	1. Margaret Ponder,   b. Abt 1696   d. Yes, date unknown  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F2303	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2026

  
  

• Notes

  She apparently sold a part of the land she was living on to her son, Richard Ponder after her husband's death. She still had the rights to live in the dwelling and have use of some of the plantatin land called Sheppherd's Discovery. On F, 1703, he sold this land to John Salter of Kent Co., Delaware again retaining the living rights for Mary Ponder. Her maiden name is often listed as Shepherd in 2nd hand sources or Woodruff. However, Candee Varvill is the first researcher to discover will's of her ancestors that make this picture stronger. Her mother was married 3 times, her 1st husband being Mary's father, Thomas Bright. Here is the historical evidence of same.1. Talbot County Judgement Records (the book) gives an account of John Gilgore in about 1706 stating that the youngest daughter of his wife, Mary Pondder (his wife having died about 2 years earlier), was to go to the care of her Aunt Griffin. Her aunt was Ann Bright, wife to Matthew Griffin who had coerced John Gilgore to let Mary Pondder to come live with them. Custody was still granted to this 8 1/2 year old daughter of his wife's. 2. John Gilgore's son William was to remain with William's grandmother, Sicely Manders, during his minority according to John Gilgore's will which was executed in 1716. 3. We can tell that Sicely Manders was married 3 times, first to a Thomas Bright, next to a Joseph Sedler and lastly to a Mr. Manders. Her maiden name was Evans. 4. There is an Ann who was married to a Bright, Griffith/Griffin and Price that leaves a will. She is a woman of wealth. She names all of her children in her will and also what would appear to be her nephew, William Gilgore if Sicely/Cicely and Ann are sisters. It appears that she could have raised William (b. abt 1704) Sicely died in 1717. 5. Francis Bright, Mary's brother, helped with the probate of her second husband, Gilgore. 6. Charles Bright is listed in a court case and deed along with John Ponder. (He is a likely relative of his wife if his wife Mary is a Bright.) 7. There is an Evans in Shephards will and Ann Norris could still be related via her husband William Evans to the Shepherd who willed land to John Ponder. 8. The family is traced via the 1st hand records that Candee Varville has sent. She is the first researcher to find this connection.

  
  

• Sources

  [S1014] Public Member Stories (www.ancestry.com). [S182] Candee Varvill, [(E-ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE),], to Linda Coate, e-mail, 2018; privately held by Coate. [S2234] Maryland. Queen Anne.