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Abstract

The Gist family of 17th-century Maryland left a lasting legacy and impact on the development of Baltimore, Maryland, and the first known Anglican parishes in this city. Descendants of the Gist family also played significant roles in the Western expansion of British Colonial America, Indian relations, and the victory of the American Revolutionary War. This paper will include an overview of the history and genealogy of the Gist family, beginning with Christopher Gist Sr. (1650-1690), who immigrated from Wiltshire, England, to the Province of Maryland around 1679. This paper will focus on three descendants of the Gist family who made significant contributions to the development of the United States of America. The first of these descendants is the Indian agent, surveyor, and official frontiersman of the Ohio Company of Virginia, Christopher Gist (1706-1759), who saved George Washington’s life while accompanying him to Fort Le Boeuf in 1754, on the eve of the French and Indian War. The second member of the Gist family is Brigadier General of the Maryland Line of the Continental Army, Mordecai Gist (1743- 1792). Mordecai Gist’s courageous command of the Maryland 400 allowed George Washington to lead his troops across the East River from Long Island to Manhattan, where surviving members of the Continental Army found refuge from the British Army in 1776, at the Battle of Long Island. The last member of the Gist family examined in this paper is George Gist (1770- 1843), known as Sequoyah, the grandson of explorer Christopher Gist. George Gist became the inventor of the Cherokee syllabary. This syllabary led to the publication of the first Native American newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix, published in New Echota, Georgia, in 1828. This research is significant as few publications have highlighted the importance of the Gist settlers of 17th-century Maryland and the impact their descendants had on the development and eventual independence of the United States of America

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