Meet the Ancestors: John Kilty, Jr. (1756-1811)

John Kilty Jr. (1756-1811)

John Kilty Jr. was born in London in 1756 and immigrated to the colony of Maryland with his father, John Sr., a sea captain, and his younger brother, William. As a Catholic, he could not be educated in Maryland and therefore was educated in France at St Omer’s. He married Catherine (Kitty) Quynn, with whom he had seven children, in 1794. They lived on West St. in a house that was owned by her father, Allen Quynn.

John served in the Revolutionary War from 1776-1782 and retired as a brigadier general in the 8th Brigade. He began serving in the Maryland Militia in 1716 before signing up with the 4th Maryland Regiment until being taken prisoner at Germantown in 1777. Once released, he joined the 3rd Regiment of the Continental Light Dragoons. After the war, John served on the Executive Council from 1785 to 1793 before being appointed by President Washington in 1795 as supervisor of revenue to the U.S. in Maryland. He also had one term as Annapolis Alderman (1806-1807). As tensions mounted with the British before the War of 1812, John rejoined the Maryland Militia as the adjutant general from 1810 until his death in 1811.