Charles II
Alexander Magruder, 1610-1677
Not knowing of any portraits of the founder of our family in America, I have used a portrait of Charles II king of England, Ireland, and Scotland, since Charles' political reverses were the occasion of Alexander's immigration to America.
Arrival in America
Charles II attempted to reclaim the rule of England from Oliver Cromwell and the Parliament after his father, King Charles I, was executed in 1649. In 1651 Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester, the last battle of the English Civil War. Alexander Magruder fought on the royalist side, was captured, and sent to Barbados and eventually Maryland as an indentured servant, arriving in Maryland in 1652.
Life in America
At the end of eight years of indenture, Alexander received a grant of land. Within a few years he purchased 500 acres at “Turkey Buzzard Island,” Calvert County, Maryland, near the Patuxent River. By the time of his death in 1677, Alexander had amassed a substantial estate and owned about 4,000 acres of land in Prince George’s parish, later named Montgomery County, Maryland. He named his lands after family holdings back in Scotland: Cranleigh, Dunblan, Anchovie Hills (a corruption of Inchaffray), and Alexandria (not to be confused with Alexandria, Virginia).
For further reading
Susan Tichy blogs about the Magruder family at http://magruderslanding.com/.