The first Sockwells were in this country as early as the 1660s.  They
settled in the northern neck of Virginia and lived in Lancaster County.
Later generations migrated to Maryland.

 From the book FOOTPRINTS IN TIME by Janis Barry (1977) we learn that a
large area of Downe Township bounded by the Maurice River and the
Delaware Bay was part of a survey of 10,000 acres set off to Dr. James
Wasse of London in 1691.  After 1738 this tract was sold off in parcels
to the settlers.  Some of the first settlers came from similar tidewater
country in Maryland.  Whether or not this opportunity for land brought
Lancelot from his home in Maryland is only speculation, but it does
provide a logical explanation for his relocation.

In March of 1741/42 Lancelot Socwell/Sockwell  married Eve, daughter of
Dickinson/Dickason and Eve Sheppard.  Lancelot lived on the Newport
Landing Road property which adjoined that of his  father-in-law.
Lancelot and Eve's children were Charles, Eve, Rachel, Jonadab, Jonathan
Sr., b. 1742, Leah, Experience, Patience, Elizabeth, Phebe and Lancelot,
IV b. 1758.  Their son, Jonadab served in the Revolution.

On the right hand side of the road on the way to Newport Landing can be
seen an open field leading to the marsh.  At the back of this field was
the Dickinson Sheppard family cemetery.  This is believed to be the
final resting place of Lancelot, Eve and the rest of Dickinson's family.

Nothing is left to mark the graves of those who played such important
roles in the settlement of the Newport area.  The farmer who owed the
property in the middle of the 20th century saw no reason to allow the
old stones to remain.  He pushed them into the marsh.  Now, beneath
years of silt lie the last memorials to the early Sheppard family their
neighbors.

When those families placed their loved ones in this small cemetery, they
thought the stone markers would forever remind us of their existence.
The existence of people who cleared the land, established the churches
and formed town governments.  The stones are gone now, and we can no
longer know the exact location where each of these pioneers rest.
Their contributions are left to serve as testament to their lives.  In
this respect, the wishes of those families have been honored, and we do
still remember.