David Kerr (1749-1814)
of "Cooke's Hope Manor" near Easton, Talbot Co., Maryland
He was born in Scotland at Monreith in Galloway. He came to Virginia in 1769 and established himself as a merchant at Falmouth near Fredericksburg. On marrying his first wife in 1773, he moved to Annapolis and after she died he took possession of her plantation on Greenberry Point at the mouth of the Severn River. He married his second wife in 1777 and moved to Talbot County in Maryland in 1780. He was a prominent Freemason and was associated in business at Easton with Robert Lloyd Nicols and Thomas Chamberlaine. He represented Talbot County in the Maryland House of Delegates (1788-94) and was appointed a Justice of the Peace (1789), Associate Judge (1801), and Judge of the Orphan's Court (1802). In 1803, he was thrown from his carriage by a runaway horse and lay unconscious for ten days, suffering a severe eye injury for which he wore a green silk patch for the rest of his days. He had five children (listed).
