Early Life
Jonathan Jr. was born in 1717, the same year a law of prejudice was passed imposing a tax of £20 shilling tax per Irish servant called Papist. The sole purpose of the law was to limit Irish immigrants, but Jonathan Plowman obviously was not influenced by this since his best friend and business partner Dr. John Stevenson was born in Ireland. By age 11 (1728) Jonathan Plowman was most likely sent out by his parents to kill squirrels and crows. The local government, in an effort to encourage the elimination of animals considered pests, including wolves, squirrels and crows, required every taxable person to produce three scalps or crow's heads to the Justice of the Peace or be taxed 2 pounds of tobacco per missing scalp. By age 12 (1729) Jonathan would witness the founding of the town of Baltimore on the northern side of the Patapsco River. 60 acres (240,000 m2) divided into 60 lots and divided by streets. He may have even been picking out where he would put his merchant business some day. At age 13 he would have gotten to witness the construction of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the church where 10 years later he would marry.
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