David Kerr, Sr. was born in Galloway, Scotland on February 3, 1749. Pursuing a mercantile career, he came to America in 1769, settling in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He moved to Annapolis, Maryland in 1773 and married Hamutal Bishop, who died soon after in 1775. During the American Revolution, David Kerr was made First Lieutenant in Captain George Watts' Company of militia in Anne Arundel County in 1776. The next year, in 1777, he married Rachel Leeds Edmondson, with whom he had five children. After years as a businessman, David Kerr turned to Maryland politics. He represented Talbot County in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1788 to 1794. He was later appointed as a Justice of the Peace in 1789, and Judge of the Orphan's Court in 1802. He was also a high-ranking member of the Freemason community in Maryland up until his death. He died on November 2, 1814.

David Kerr’s eldest son was named John Leeds Kerr, who received his father’s letters while attending St. John’s in his youth. He was born on January 15, 1780, in Anne Arundel County. John Leeds Kerr attended St. John’s from 1795 to 1798, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He was his class orator, and in 1798 delivered the valedictory. John Leeds married Sarah Hollyday Chamberlaine in 1801; they had seven children together. John Leeds Kerr went on to be Deputy State's Attorney for Talbot County, Maryland, from 1806 to 1810. During the War of 1812, he commanded a company of militia and was later appointed agent of the State of Maryland in 1817 to prosecute claims against the federal government growing out of the War. His wife, Sarah Hollyday Chamberlaine, passed away in 1820. John Leeds Kerr went on to marry Elizabeth Greenbury Goldsborough in 1828 and they had three children. John Leeds Kerr represented Talbot County in both the House of Delegates and Senate of Maryland. He was elected three times in the House of Representatives and was a member of the Senate from 1841 to 1843. He died on February 21, 1844.