Colonel Thomas Dorsey: A Legacy of Patriot Service

Colonel Thomas Dorsey (~1735-1790) was a pivotal Maryland lawmaker and military leader who organized the fight for independence in Upper Anne Arundel County, today’s Howard County. Joining names like Charles Carroll who led in Maryland’s Revolutionary history, individuals like Dorsey formed the backbone of local patriot mobilization. Dorsey inherited the tradition of public service from his maternal grandfather, a long-serving delegate in the colonial assembly. He married into the prominent Ridgely and Warfield families, surprisingly with both his first and second wives named Elizabeth Ridgely. His estate, Troy, sat near a key corridor where the Northern and Southern Post Roads met near Elk Ridge.

Dorsey’s public entry into the rebellion came in November 1774 when he was elected to the Anne Arundel County Committee of Observation to enforce economic boycotts against British goods. By December, he served as an Elk Ridge delegate to the provisional Maryland Convention. In July 1775, he signed the Association of the Freemen of Maryland to authorize an armed militia.

In this pre-war period, Dorsey collaborated closely with local patriots, among them Dr. Charles Alexander Warfield, the Maryland Son of Liberty known for the Peggy Stewart Tea Party. Early in 1776, the Maryland Council of Safety formalized local defense by appointing Dorsey as Colonel to raise soldiers for the new Elk Ridge Battalion, aided by Warfield as First Major. While the militia unit was primarily responsible for guarding Patapsco River shipping channels and Elk Ridge ironworks from British raids, its men also saw major field deployments. In summer 1776, Elk Ridge volunteers marched north to join the Maryland Flying Camp which participated in the battles of Long Island and White Plains. In fall 1777, the Elk Ridge Battalion marched to Pennsylvania to fight at the Battle of Germantown. Colonel Dorsey himself oversaw defensive operations in Maryland throughout the war, while enforcing regional draft quotas and procuring provisions for Continental troops.

Dorsey conducted tobacco operations on his lands for many years. He faced serious economic setbacks post-war. In the year of his death, the 1790 Census reflected at least 15 persons living or working at Troy, including family members and nine enslaved persons. He was survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and nine children. Today, a 19th-century structure built on the foundation of his home at Troy is surrounded by Howard County's Troy Park at Elkridge, preserving the grounds where this Revolutionary history unfolded.

The Colonel Thomas Dorsey Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, carries his name to keep this local history alive.

Updated 2026 for America 250. Credit to descendant and former Chapter Regent, Ruth Barnes Dorsey, for her contributions to his biography published in the April 1965 issue of The Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine.