USA > Maryland > Anne Arundel County > A history of Anne Arundel County in Maryland : adapted for use in the schools of the county > Part 9
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In 1736, the Legislature voted £1,500 for a public school in Annapolis.
In 1742, Gov. Bladen was empowered to purchase two lots on which to build a Governor's Residence. Out of this came MeDowell's Hall, St. John's College. When the building was partially completed, a political quarrel between the Governor and the Legislature cut off the supplies, and the four walls lay uncovered for forty years, until St. John's College came in possession of the property.
In 1745, Jonas Green began the second publication of the Maryland Gazette.
In 1746, January 28th, the ship Anrora, Capt. Pickeman, from Holland, arrived at Annapolis with nearly 200 Palatines, that is Germans.
In 1747, the Rumney and Long, named after her builders, was launched at Annapolis. She could carry 70 hogsheads of tobacco. At this time the manu- facture of ducking was extensively carried on in Annapolis.
In 1749, Joseph Wilson and Isaac Wright were convicted of counterfeiting bills of credit of the Province. Wright turned State's witness, and Wilson broke jail after sentence of death.
In 1751, two negro women were executed for burning down a tobacco house.
In 1752, James Powells was hanged at Annapolis for burglary committed in Somerset County. The Gazette says he fainted at the gallows ; "on his coming to himself, he desired the executioner to make haste, and, amidst some private ejaenla- tions, was turned off."
House make of the Governor? (c) What did a conference between the two Houses terminate in?
PARAGRAPH 7. (a) Name some of the principal events in the history of Annapolis from 1720 to 1774?
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A HISTORY OF ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY.
In 1753, several times this year a large wild bear was seen on North Severn. He raided the farmers hog-pens and carried off various kinds of domestic animals.
In 1755, Penelope House was twice whipped and stood in the pillory for shop- lifting. The French and Indians were drawing so near Annapolis in the excited imaginations of the citizens, that the town was fortified. November 18th, a shock of earthquake was felt.
In 1755, one ship load of Acadians was landed at Annapolis.
In 1756, a tannery was set up by Thomas Hyde.
In 1757, several gentlemen left as volunteers to fight the Indians.
In 1758, March 22d, a shock of earthquake was felt.
In 1759, many dead bodies of men were found floating in the City Dock, supposed to have been thrown overboard by captains who did not wish to take the trouble of interment.
In 1760, April 17th, a negro man named Bristol died whose age was 125.
In 1771, Morris McCoy was executed for murdering his master, and his body was removed to Patapsco to a place near where he murdered his master and there hung in chains, on a gibbet in sight of the public road leading to the lower ferry on Patapsco River.
In 1772, April 25th, a shock of earthquake was felt.
In 1773, the national feeling was all aglow at this period. It was at that time, that the author of the letters signed "First Citizen," was publishing his papers defending the rights of the people of Maryland. He was unknown, but deep was the gratitude of the people. When it was discovered the author was Charles Carroll, so well known afterwards as Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, he received many public proofs of the affection of the people for the services he had rendered.
In 1774, the elegant society of Annapolis was at its height of development and the fame of it went abroad throughout all the colonies.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST.
STRANGE ANTICS OF VISITING PROVINCIAL COMMISSIONERS.
1. A flavor of the times in Anne Arundel and a sample of the diction and orthography are given in the Journal of William Black, who was, in 1744 the Secretary of the Commissioners appointed by Governor Gooch, of Virginia, to unite
PARAGRAPH 1. (a) Where is found a flavor of the times in Anne Arundel in 1744? (b) On what
PINKNEY HALL, ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE.
W YORK JABRARY
.A. LENOX AND
1 A , OLAJATONE.
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A HISTORY OF ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY.
with the Commissioners from the Colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland, to treat with the Six Nations of Indians, in reference to lands west of the Alleganies. On May 11th, 1744, the Virginia Commissioners, on board the yacht Margaret, came to anchor before the City of Annapolis. On the Margaret coming into the harbor, flying the Jack, and Ensign, and Penon, the sailors on the vessels in the harbor, concluded the visitor was the tender of a man of war, on a press gang expedition, and they began to flee to the shore or hide themselves in their vessels. The Com- missioners, on landing, were courteously received by several citizens of distinction, and " conducted to the first Tavern in Town, where they welcomed the Commis- sioners, and the Gentlemen of the Levee to Annapolis, with a Bowl of Punch and a Glass of Wine, and, afterwards waited on us," says the Secretary, "to the House of the Honorable Edward Jennings, Esq., Secretary of the Province, where we din'd very Sumptuously."
2. These were days of courtly manners in Annapolis. Secretary Black, in his journal, gives this account of the next day's hospitalities :- "After Breakfast, the Gentlemen of the Levee Join'd the Commissioners at Esq. Jennings's, in order to Accompany them to the Governor's, where they were to Dine, having received an Invitation the Afternoon before. We were received by his Excelleney (Gov. Thomas Bladen), and his Lady in the Hall, where we were an hour Entertained by them, with some Glasses of Punch, in the intervals of the Discourse ; then the Scene was changed to the Dining Room, where you saw a plain proof of the Great Plenty of the Country, a Table, in the most Splendent manner, set out with a Great Variety of Dishes, all serv'd up in the most Elegant Way, after which came a Dessert no less Curious ; Among the Rarities of which it was Compos'd, was some fine Ice Cream which, with the Strawberries and Milk, eat most deliciously. After this Repast was over (which, notwithstanding the great Variety), show'd a face of Plenty and Neatness, more than Luxury or Profuseness, We withdrew to the Room in which we was first Received, where the Glass was push'd briskly round, sparkling with the Choicest Wines, of which the Table was Replenished with a Variety of Sorts."
3. The Secretary gives an interesting pen portrait of Governor Bladen and his wife. He wrote in his journal that " His Excellency, the Donour of the Entertain- ment, is in his Person inelining to the larger Size of Men, Straight and Well- proportioned, a Manly Face and Sanguine Complexion, seem'd Complaisant and free, of a Good Deal of Humor in Conversation ; he had not a little Wit, and is allow'd to have a Claim to Good Sense, and every other Qualification Requir'd to Compleat a Gentleman ; his Stature and Deportment is much becoming, and adds not a little to the Dignity of his Office. His Lady is of middle Size, Straight made, Black
did the Commissioners come to Annapolis? (c) What did the sailors think the yacht was? (d) How did the sailors act? (e) How were the Commissioners received by the people of Annapolis?
PARAGRAPH 2. (a) What hospitalities were shown the Virginia Commissioners the next day? (b) Give an account of the entertainment at the Governor's?
PARAGRAPH 3. (a) Can you give the pen portrait that Secretary drew of Governor Bladen's
5
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A HISTORY OF ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY.
Hair, and of a Black Complexion much pitted with small-pox, but very agreeable, and seems to have a great Stock of Good Nature, as well as Wit ; she is a passionate Admirer of the Game Whist, which she is reckn'd to play admirably well ; she is, by Birth, a French Woman, tho' not addicted to the Foppery of that Nation in Appearance." Mrs. Bladen was not an exception in the women of that period who had their good looks marred by small-pox. This was a common scourge to the beauty of the ladies of that age.
4. From the Governor's entertainment, about in four the afternoon, the Com- missioners proceeded to the General Assembly, and, from this visit Secretary Black, gives a very partial and prejudiced view of a body of men which, in all periods of its colonial history, were marked for the intelligence, integrity and patriotism of its constituent members. The Secretary states that the Assembly was in a debate on the division of a county, "but Order and Decorum, which Justly Regulated is always a great Addition to the Augustness, as well as Honour and Credit, of any Public Body, was not to be Observed in this Honse : Nothing but a Confus'd Multi- tude, and the Greater part of the meanor Sort, Such as make Patriotism their Plea, but Preferment their Design, and that not for the Honour but the Profit." This statement was written under the goad of the knowledge that the Lower House would not agree to make provision for funds for the Indian negotiations, by reason of being then engaged in trying to remedy the iniquitous collection of the 12 pence tonnage on tobacco illegally collected from them under an obsolete law, and was on the threshhold of the great quarrel with Gov. Bladen, on account of his illegal assessment of the one pound tobacco tax, and which led to the refusal of the Assembly to complete the Governor's Mansion, now MeDowell Hall, St. John's College, Annapolis, and which, since that day, has been known as "Bladen's Folly."
5. Secretary Black wrote that Annapolis "consists of a great many Good Buildings, but very Irregular, they covered a good deal of Ground, which is Peninsulated. the River running almost round it, Excepting a little Isthmmms joining it to the Continent ; the Principal Buildings is the Stadt-House", the Council- house2, and the Free School House3, three very good Houses standing in the Middle of the Town, on the top of a High Hill, overlooking the Town; the Foundation of a very fine House Designed for the Governors, was laying on the East side of the Town."
personal appearance? (b) Can you describe the appearance of Mrs. Bladen? (e) What was the scourge of the beauty of the ladies of that period?
PARAGRAPH 4. (a) From the Governor's entertainment to what place did the Commissioners pro- ceed? (b) What was the view that Secretary Black took of the Assembly? (c) For what were the members of the Legislature marked? (d) Under what goad was Secretary Black's description written?
PARAGRAPH 5. (a) Of what did Annapolis consist at this time?
* I. State House. 2. The building now occupied by the State Boord of Education. 3. King William's School. 4. State House Hill. 5. McDowell Hall, St. John's College.
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6. In addition to a dinner given them by the Clerk of the Council, Mr. Ross, the Governor and other gentlemen of Annapolis provided a ball for the entertain- ment of their guests. The Ball was held " in the Council Room, where most of the Ladies of any Note in the Town was present, and made a very Splendent Appear- ance ; in a Room, back from where they Danced, was several sorts of Wines, Punch and Sweet-Meats ; in this Room, those that was not Engag'd in any Dancing Match, might either Employ themselves at Cards, Dice, Back-Gammon, or with a cheerful Glass ; the Commissioners amns'd themselves till about 10 o'clock, and then went home to their Lodgings. ' The ladies were so very Agreeable, and seem'd so Intent on Dancing, that one might have Imagin'd they had some Design on the Virginians, either Designing to make Tryal of their Strength and Vigour, or to Convince them of their Activity and Sprightliness. After Several smart Engagements, in which no Advantage on either side was Observable, with a Mutual Consent, abont 1 of the clock in the Morning, it was agreed to break up, every Gentleman waiting on his Partner home." The next day another ball was given the Commissioners, and, the day following, the Commissioners left festive Annapolis, at noon, sailing up the bay, but making little progress, as the wind was light and the tide against them.
7. Whether the frivolities of Annapolis had left its effects upon the visitors, or it was their jovial natures that induced the party to indulge in practical pranks, can not be discerned at this distance of time, but certain it is that they acted on this voyage far from the grave behaviour of diplomats in this day maintain. Their Secretary relates that "towards the Going down of the Sun, seeing a Boat and Canoe a Fishing Inshoar, we hail'd them, with, 'have you got any Fish' which they returned with, 'have you got any Rum ;' we answered, 'yes, will you come on board and Taste it ;' then they unty'd and made Directly for Us, but was very much Surpris'd with the manner of Reception they met with, which was as follows : We had the blunderbush ready loaded, and Stil'd on the side they were to board Us ; Littlepage, who was to act the part of Man of Wars Lieutenant and was accoutred with four Loaded Pistols, and the like number of Swords, which, with his lac'd hatt and Romantiek Countenance, made an ap'nce much like another black- beard ; several more of our Company was Arm'd with Drawn Sword & Cockt Pistole ; several pistoles, three fowling Pieces Loaded, and some Drawn Swords lying in view on a Table on the Maindeck ; in this Manner was we Equip'd and Stationed, ready to receive the poor fishermen, when they came near enough to observe our Postures, &c., they immediately lay on their Oars & Paddles with no small concern to know what we was, but, on a little time, the Ebb Tide drawing them along side, (which they did not observe being so surpriz'd) Littlepage ask'd them in a Sailorlike manner : 'If they would come on board and Serve his Majesty,' to which they made no Reply, but kept gazing at us like so many Thunder-struck
PARAGRAPH 6. (a) In addition to the dinner given them by the Clerk of the Council, what was provided for the entertainment of the guests? (b) Describe the ball? (c) How did the ladies prove? (d) What was given the next day? (e) When did the Commissioners leave Annapolis?
PARAGRAPH 7. (a) In what did the visitors indulge after they left Annapolis? (b) Describe their strange conduct?
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persons ; at last with a Discharge of our Great Gun and small Arms, Flourish'g our Swords round our heads, we desir'd them 'to come on board Directly, else we would Sink them ;' on hearing of which, as if Recover'd from a Trance, they call'd ont to one another, with marks of the Greatest fear Imaginable, in their Counte- nances ; 'pull about ! pull about ! for God's sake!' with all Eargerness possible they Sett to pulling and paddling as if pursued by a Spanish privateer, on which calling to hawl up the Bardge, and Man her, it being done Littlepage & my Self, got in with each a pair of Pistols and a Sword, and made directly after them, on which, they did mend, (if possible) their Strokes, pulling for life directly for the Shoar.
8. "Now and then one or other of them would look behind, & then cry out, pull away, pull away, or we are all taken ;' at last they gained the Shoar, and so soon their Vessels struck Ground they got their Jackets on their Shoulders, &, without the least care of them, made directly for the Woods.
9. "To have seen Us pursueing, hollowing, and brandishing our Swords, & them flying with their whole might, one time looking behind them to see how near we were, then before them to see how far they were from the Shoar, was a Scene Sufficient to Create pleasure and a Langh in Gentlemen less Blyth and Gayly dispos'd than the Honorable Commissioners or any other of their levee; on their gaining the Land, we turn'd and lay on our Oars (it being all we wanted to Surprise them a little,) which, as soon as the fear and terrible concern they were in, allowed them time to look behind and observe, they Rallied. Seeing this, and being now on Terra firma, in some measure freed from that dreadful Apprehension of serving his Majesty, they opened on us all at once, like so many Hounds on a warm Scent, calling us 'a parcell of *
* # , if we would only come ashoar Man for Man, they would teach us what it was to Fire Guns at People, and fright them in so unaccountable a manner ;' after Exchanging a little Billingsgate with them, we returned on Board, where we found the rest of our Company very much pleased with the Adventure."
PARAGRAPH 8. (a) What ery did the frightened fishermen make? (b) What did the fishermen do as soon as their vessels struck ground?
PARAGRAPH 9. (a) What was the invitation that the fishermen gave when they had been freed from their apprehension of serving his Majesty? (b) What did Secretary Black and his party exchange with the fishermen? () How did the rest of the company of Virginians feel over the incident?
A View of the Severn, St. John's College, Naval Academy and the Naval Cemetery.
THE ATE IST PUBLIC MERARY
4:50
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A HISTORY OF ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SECOND.
"THE ATHENS OF AMERICA."
1. The decade, immediately preceding the American Revolution, was the golden age of Annapolitan history. Annapolis was at this period the most famous, highly cultivated and superlatively gayest city of the American Plantations. Nor was its patriotism exceeded by any section of the Colonies.
2. On the sturdy stock of Puritanism, there had been grafted, by successive emigrations, many a gallant scion of the best blood of England, and when, in 1694, the capital of the Province was removed from St. Mary's to Annapolis, there came with it a coterie of settlers who formed a Court party with all the arts and refine- ments of European life, accentuated with the intrigues of political science and official position. The Governor's entertainments led the local festivities and gave tone and zest to reciprocal hospitalities. The elegant homes of these gay and wealthy people, a dozen or more of which still remain in all their capacious pro- portions, show the opulence and luxury in which they lived.
3. Here the Legislature met ; here were held the sessions of the County Court, the Provincial Court, the high Court of Chancery, and the Court of Appeals ; here the established clergy met in holy convocation ; here were the residences of the Governor and many of his highest officials ; here his counsel convened. The presence of these official bodies brought together the best legal minds of the colony, with those who sought place or pursued pleasure, and with King William's School, which, for nearly a century, had been distributing the benefits of liberal education upon the capital, created a community of pre-eminent culture and superior refinement. The learning of Eton and Clare, in England, and of St. Omer in France, had been laid at his feet in the erudition of its leading advocates at the bar. Con- stantly adding to this foundation by an earnest and insistent attention to public affairs both at home and in "the mother country," this learning, culture, and ability earned for Annapolis, throughout all the Colonies the appellation of " The Athens of America." Its women, shared in the glories of the Maryland capital, for by their elegant manners, varied accomplishments, and unsurpassed charms and graces, they gained for their city the twin title of " The Paris of America." In this famous
PARAGRAPH 1. (a) What was the golden age of Annapolitan History? (b) What was it at this period?
PARAGRAPH 2. (a) What eame with the removal of the capital to Annapolis? (b) What did they form? (c) What arts and refinements did they have? (d) What led the local festivities? (e) What remain in all their capacious proportions?
PARAGRAPH 3. («) What public bodies met at Annapolis? (b) What did these gatherings bring together? (c) What did King William's School distribute? (d) What earned for Annapolis the title of the Athens of America? and what the title of the Paris of America?
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A HISTORY OF ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY.
epoch of its interesting annals, its life of fashion and frivolity, of culture and refinement, reached its height of broadest development. Wealth gave leisure and promoted education ; education and leisure created a longing for refined and dissi- pating pleasures.
4. The presence of a large number of officials, some of whom had come from " merrie England," and had imported its pleasures, its learning, and its refined follies with the native invention of the Province, had produced a lengthened reportoire of social amusements, while the emoluments of office, and the proceeds of successful trade and of productive plantations provided the means to gratify the taste of these gay and cultivated devotees of fashionable festivities. The theatre flourished in its highest art ; the race-track blended excitement for the upper and lower strata of pleasure seekers : the weekly newspaper disseminated local, provincial and foreign news; the ball-room and its elegant and costly entertainments drew together a refined and beautiful company of women and learned and handsome men, whose society was sought by the great Washington who often came to Annapolis to enjoy the delights of an unending programme of excitements and amusements.
5. The only place in the Province-nor was its peer to be found in any of the American colonies-that offered worshippers at the shrine of Fashion the oppor- tunity to gratify a refined and cultivated desire for the intensest social functions, Annapolis had now become the rendezvous of a learned and dissipated society. The very lack of mental effort, suggests Mr. McMahon, the want of useful and energizing employment, and the wealth that lay at their command-the richest man in America, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, with his two millions, residing there at this period- begat a longing for these trivial pleasures, which they named enjoyment, because it relieved " the ennui of the moment by occupation." Thus the gaiety, the culture, the cleverness, and the very intellect of the Province, from potential causes, were gathered here. Its lawyers came to the Courts, the judges to the Bench, the clergy to the convocations, the delegates to the House of Burgesses, the Councillors to the Council, and even the planters, whose tobacco had brought them fine revenues, journeved, with their families, to the capital to spend the winter amidst the excite- ments and festivities of the General Assembly. These lordly people built costly and elegant houses as their homes, and furnished them in a style corresponding to their magnificence.
6. The staple export of the Province-tobacco-brought back to the colony, in exchange for its superior quality, the luxuries of the foreign markets. Troops of black slaves, obedient and capable, supplied the house with perfect service ; lumber-
PARAGRAPH 4. (a) What had the presence of a large number of officials produced? (b) What festivities flourished in Annapolis? (c) What disseminated news? (d) Who often came to Annapolis to enjoy its festivities ?
PARAGRAPH 5. (@) Was its peer to be found in any of the American colonies? (b) What had Annapolis now become? (c) Who resided there at this period? (d) What was gathered here? (e) What did these lordly people build and how did they furnish their homes?
PARAGRAPH 6. (a) What did the staple export of the Province, tobacco, bring back to the colony? (b) How did these favored people travel and live?
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ing equipages, or old and rickety stage coaches, generally drawn by splendid horses, bore the colonists about the country, while, in the city, the sedan chair, carried by lackeys in rich liveries, was the Inxurious car of the queens of the house. These favored people sat on carved chairs, at curious tables, "amid piles of ancestral silverware, and drank punch out of vast, costly bowls from Japan, or sipped Madeira, half century old."
7. Three-fourths of the dwellings of the city gave evidence of the wealth and refinement of the people, while the employment of a French hair-dresser, by oue lady, at a thousand crowns a year, was a suggestive ontcropping of that wealth and Inxury which made Annapolis the home of a gay and haughty circle of social and official autocrats. Commerce flourished, its merchants imported goods in ships from every sea, and its enterprising citizens made special efforts to induce men of all crafts to come and settle in their midst.
8. Nor was the element of evil wanting in this dwarfed prototype of a Europen capital. Youth, wealth, beauty, learning, fashionable frivolities soon chastened the rigors of the primitive virtues of the settlers of Providence, the pious and original name of Aunapolis, that its Puritan founders gave it, into the refinements of conti- mental manners ; yet while these fascinating and dangerous attractions produced a soft and luxurious coterie of mendicants at the feet of social and official autocracy, they did not create the fame of Annapolis, for, although the lustre of its festivities and the beauty and elegance of its women, whose charms and manners rivaled the graces of the most polished and beautiful women of the mother-country, were bruited throughout the Provinces, it was for its learning and culture that the little city on the Severn was best known amongst the thirteen colonies.
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