USA > Maryland > An historical view of the government of Maryland : from its colonization to the present day > Part 10
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80
THE CIVIL DIVISIONS
[Intro
The State of Maryland is divided into nineteen counties, of which eight are situated on the Eastern, and eleven on the Western Shore. Those on the Eastern Shore are Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Somerset and Wor- cester; and those on the Western, are Allegany, Washington, Frederick, Harford, Baltimore, Montgomery, Anne Arundel, Prince George's, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's, of which we will speak in the order of their origin.
The first settlements within the State, which were made under the authority of the proprietary, were at and near St. Mary's, and were made in 1633-34. At that time, as has been remarked in the preceding chapter, there was a small settlement on Kent Island, which had been there planted by Clayborne, and which, after Clayborne's rebellion, was reduced to submission, and became the nucleus of the Eastern Shore settlements. This settlement, and that of St. Mary's, were the only distinct and recognized settlements of the province, for some years after its colonization' commenced. At that period, St. Mary's was the name of a settlement, rather than of a county; and as the settle- ments around it progressed, they were erected into hundreds, and became constituent parts of the county or settlement. At length, in 1650, a new county was erected in the northern part of the Western Shore; and it seems, also, that by an order in council of that year, a part of the territory on the south side of the Patuxent river, was erected into a county called Charles. (S) In 1654, this last mentioned order in council, was repealed by another order in council of July 3d, 1654, and a new county erected, under the name of Calvert, which was bounded on the north by'a creek, on the west side of Chesapeake bay, called Herring bay, and on the south side by Pinehill river or creek to the head, and through the woods to the, head of Patuxent river, which constitute, says that order, the northern bounds of St. Mary's. (9) In the ensuing October, and after the government of the province had been taken out of the hands of Stone, the proprietary's governor, and the rule of the province had been assumed by Cromwell's commissioners, an ordinance was passed
(8) Acts of 1650, chap. 8, and Land Records, Liber 1, folio 615.
(9) .Order in Council of July 3d, 1654; in Land Records, Liber 1, folio 615.
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Chap. II.] , OF THE STATE OF MARYLAND.
by the authority of these commissioners, which declared that # itall the lands extending from Marsh's creek down the bay, including all the lands on the south side of the bay and cliffs, with the north and south sides of Patuxent river, shall consti- tute a county, to be called (as it is, says the order) Patuxent county." (10) In 1658, upon the restoration of the government to the proprietary, all the acts and orders of Cromwell's commis- sioners were annulled at one fell swoop, and with them, of : course, this ordinance of 5th October, 1651; by which repeal, the boundaries prescribed by the order in council of July 3d, 1654, appear to have been restored. (11) In the year of this restora- tion, a new county was erected, under the name of "Charles," which was separated from St. Mary's by the Wicomico river, and extended thence up the Potomac river to the uttermost settle- ments, and thence to the head of Wicomico. (12) St. Mary's having always been the extreme southern county of the Western Shore, it was therefore always bounded on the east by the bay, and on the south by the bay and the Potomac. Thus the boun- daries of St. Mary's continued to be defined, until 1695, when they were definitively and finally settled by the act of May ses- sion, 1695, chap. 13, confirmed and made perpetual by the act of 1701, chap. 92, which declares " that St. Mary's county shall begin at Point Look Out, and extend up Potoumac river to the lower side of Bird's creek, and so over by a straight line drawn from the head of the main branch of the said Bird's creek, to the head of In- dian crock in Patuxent river, including all that land lying between Patuxent and Potomac rivers, from the lower part of the said. two creeks and branches of Bird's and Indian's creek by the line afore- said, and by Point Look Out."
Population of St. Mary's in: 1791, 15,511-in 1801, 13,669-in 1811, 12,791-in 1821, 12,974.
(10) Ordinance of 5th October, 1654, in Land Records, Liber 2, folio 423.
(11) See this general repealing order of 1658, in Court of Appeals records, Liber S. folio 373, which was in direct conflict with the treaty, by which the province was surrendered by Cromwell's commissioners to Fendall, the pro- prietary's governor.
(12) Order of 10th May, 1658, in Liber S. Court of. Appeals Records and Council Chamber Records, Liber H HI, page 19.
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[Intro.
KENT COUNTY, on the Eastern Shore, seems to have borne the same relation to the counties of that shore, which St. Mary's did to those of the Western. It was the nucleus around which the other counties have been formed. We have seen that the settle- ments made by Clayborne, on Kent Island, were anterior to those of the proprietary; (18) and when these settlements had passed under the dominion of the proprietary, Kent and St. Mary's re- mained the only civil divisions of the province, until 1650, the Kent settlement being a commanderate, and placed under the rule of an officer called the commander of the Isle of Kent. Of the nature and character of this office, and the character thereby imparted to the settlement subject to it, we shall have occasion to speak hereafter; and, for the present, it will be sufficient to re- mark, that it was a civil division analagous to that of a county. About the year 1650, and between that and the year 1660, seve- ral new counties were erected on the Western Shore ; but on the Eastern Shore, the first distinct civil division, after that of Kent Island, was Talbot, which was erected about the year 1661, out of the territory south of Kent Island. After this were created, Somerset in 1666, Cecil in 1674, Dorchester in or about '1669, Queen Anne's in 1706, Worcester in 1742, and Caroline in 1773. Settlements were made on the southern part of the Eas- tern Shore as early as 1661, under Elzey and others, of which we have already treated; (14) but they were, in the first instance, re- garded as settlements or colonies, subject to the jurisdiction of the province at large, and not as distinct civil divisions, until Somerset county was erected. The subdivision called the Isle of Kent, being in its origin, as was St. Mary's, the name of an un- defined settlement, the county of Kent received its definite limits from the erection of other counties around it. I have not disco- vered the order, or act, by which Talbot was erected out of the territory lying south of Kent Island settlement; but the legis- lative records first show its existence in 1661. On the north, Cecil county was erected in 1674; and the proclamation erecting it, extended it from the mouth of the Susquehanna river, and thence down the eastern side of the bay to Swan Point, thence to
(13) See Supra 6.
(14) Supra 19.
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OF THE STATE OF MARYLAND.
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Hell Point, and thence up Chester river to the head thereof. (15) In 1695, Kent Island was attached to Talbot county; and at length in 1706, when Queen Anne's was erected, Kent received precise and definite limits. (16) The bounds assigned were, "on the north Sassafras river from the bay to the south end of the Long Horse bridge, lying over the head of the said river, and thence a- straight line, drawn cast and by south, to the exterior bounds of the province; on the cast by the lines of the province, until they intersect the southern line ; on the south, a line beginning on the bay with Chester river, and running with the same to a branch called Sewell's branch, and with that to its head, and thence by a due east line to the eas- tern bounds of the province ;- on the west, the bay." Its eastern limits being dependent upon the eastern limits of the province, were of course not adjusted until the close of the controversy be- tween the proprietaries of Maryland and Pennsylvania, of which we have already so fully treated. The other lines are the same; and the adjustment with the Penns having thrown the peninsular line which divides Maryland from Delaware to the centre of the pen- insula, so as to cross the heads both of Sassafras and Chester, it has given to this county a natural boundary on all sides except the east, its bounds now being the Sassafras river on the north, the bay on the east, Chester river on the south, and the castern line of the province from Chester to Sassafras on the east.
Population of Kent in 1791, 12,836,-in 1801, 11,774,-in 1811, 11,450,-in 1821, 11,453.
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY was erected in 1650. In its origin, it was a settlement called Providence; and therefore the act of 1650, chap. 8th, crecting it, simply enacts, "that all that part of the province over against the Isle of Kent, called Providence by the inhabitants thereof, shall constitute a county to be called Anne Arundel." In 1654, Calvert county was created out of the ter- ritory south of Anne Arundel ; and by an ordinance of Crom- well's commissioners, the name of Providence was substituted for that of Anne Arundel, whilst from that period until 1658, and whilst the province was under the government of the Protector's com- missioners, Calvert bore the name of Patuxent. Upon the resto-
(15) Council Chamber Records, Liber R R. 30. 1
(16) Acts of 1695, chap. 13, and 1706, chap. 3.
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[Intro.
ration of the proprietary's government, and the general repeal of the ordinances passed during the usurpation, the original names of both were restored. By the order in council of July 3d, 1654, first erecting Calvert county, the bounds between it and Anne Arundel, were declared to be "a creek on the western side of the bay, called Herring creek, and thence through the woods to the head- of Paturent virer. The subsequent ordinance of Cromwell's commissioners passed in October, 1651, declared, that Patuxent (which name Calvert had then received) should be "a county ex- tending from the south side of Marsh's or Oyster creek, including all the lands on the south side of the bay, and the cliffs, with the north and south side of the Patuxent river, and shall be called, as it is, Patuxent county." At the same time, an ordinance was also passed, declaring that Anne Arundel county shall be called Providence, and that its bounds shall be Herring creek, including all the plantations and lands with the bounds of Patuxent county, i.c. to a creek called Marsh's or Oyster creek. (17) Upon the restoration of the proprietary government, an order in council was immediately passed, (which, by the bye, appears to be in- compatible with the treaty under which the government was sur- rendered,) declaring void all the acts and orders passed during the defection from the proprietary government, and directing, in true randal spirit, that they be razed and torn from the records. (18) These ordinances, thus changing the name and the bounds of the two counties, appear to have fallen within the range of this sweeping order, which therefore restored the original name and bounds. Thus the question of the boundary rested (except as affected by the proclamation of 6th June, 1674, alluded to in note (20) infra) until 1777, when it appears to have been held, by the House of Delegates, in deciding upon the eligibility of a Mr. Mackall, that the creek, at present called Fishing creek, was the reputed and long received boundary between the two counties. (19) It was again agitated in 1809; and finally in
(17) These several orders and ordinances may be seen in Land Records, Liber 1, folio 615, and Liber 2, folios 423 and 428.
(18) Court of Appeals Records, Liber S. 378.
(19) At October session, 1777, an act of Assembly was passed, appointing commissioners to ascertain and establish the divisional line between these counties, who were to report their proceedings to the next General Assembly
Chap. Il.]
OF THE STATE OF MARYLAND.
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1822, an act was passed, appointing commissioners to ascertain and establish the divisional line. In 1923, an act for its definitive ascertainment was passed, which directed that the commission- ers, appointed by the act of 1822, should locate it according to given metes designated on the plot returned by them, beginning the line at the mouth of a creek called "Muddy or Red Lion's creek," the same being a line of compromise between the con- flicting claims of the two counties. And in 1824, another act was passed, defining this creek to be one known by the name of South or Middle creek. (20) Thus terminated a controversy, the full detail of which is not necessary for our present purposes. The claim of Calvert embraced an extent of territory more mate- rial to her by its gain, with her present contracted limits, than the loss of it would have been injurious to the extensive county of Anne Arundel. It appears from the report of a committee of the Legislature in 1824, that her claim did not extend to Herring creek, the boundary assigned by the order of July, 1654; but that Marsh's creek being the conceded boundary, the dispute was as to the true location of that creek ; and that Calvert, on the one hand, contended that it was a creek falling into Herring creek near its mouth, and extending westwardly with that creek to one of the heads of Lyon's creek, and thence with Lyon's creek to the Patuxent; whilst, on the other hand, it was held by Anne Arundel that it was the creek now called Fishing creek. Whatever may be the fact, as to the long continued and universal admission and reception of Marsh's creek as the true boundary, and whatever effect such reception of it might have upon the question of right, there appears to have been a mistake in the supposition that the order of July, 1654, was wholly inoperative. The act of Assembly, alluded to in that report as having repeal-
for its ratification : but no adjustment of the boundaries was made under it. See act of October, 1777, chap. 7th.
(20) Acts of 1822, chap 109; 1823, chap. 183, and 1824, chap. 193. In the progress of this controversy, no notice appears to have been taken of the pro- clamation of 6th June, 1674, which declares : That the north side of Patuxent river, beginning at north side of Lyon's creek, shall be added to Anne Arundel county : The effect of this was to make Lyon's creek the limit of the southern extent of Anne Arundel county. See this proclamation in Council Chamber Liber Records, R R, Council Proceedings, 30.
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THE CIVIL DIVISIONS
- [Intro.
ed this order, was the ordinance of October, 1654, above alluded to, which was itself repealed in 1658. However, the question is now at rest ; and the southern boundary of Anne Arundel, sepa- rating it from Calvert, is the line above described, running to the Patuxent. The Patuxent, its original boundary, still separates it on the west from Prince George's and Montgomery counties. On the north, its bounds were not definitive until the creation of Baltimore county in 1659, out of the territory lying north of the Patapsco river, which was the original boundary between it and that county. By reference to the remarks upon the latter county, it will be seen, that, in 1698, a part of the territory lying south of the Patapsco was taken from Anne Arundel, and attached to it: but that, in 1725, the original boundary of the Patapsco was re- stored, and continues to this day.
Population of Anne Arundel (21) in 1791, 22,598-in 1801, 22,623-in 1811, 26,668-and in 1821, 27,165.
CALVERT COUNTY was erected in July, 1654. By reference to the remarks upon Anne Arundel county, it will be scen, that, in October, 1654, and after the government of the province had pass- ed into the hands of Cromwell's commissioners, it received the name of Patuxent, and continued to bear that name until the re- storation of the proprietary government in 1658, when the origi- nal name of Calvert was restored by the general repeal of the acts and orders passed during the defection, and has continued until this day. The state of the boundaries between it and Anne Arundel, from the period at which Calvert was created until the final adjustment in 1824, has also been fully exhibited under that head. On the south, it was originally separated from St. Mary's by Pinehill river or creek, to its head, and a line running thence to the head of Patuxent river : which constitute, says the order of July 3d, 1654, the northern bounds of St. Mary's. The ordinance of the following October, above alluded to, directed that it should extend south " from Marsh's creek down the bay, including all the lands on the south side of the bay and the cliffs, with the north and south side of Patuxent rirer." The effect of the general repealing order of 1658, appears to have been, the
(21) The statement of the population of the several counties in 1801, is taken from the corrected census reported by Marshal Etting ou 21st December, 1801, which, as to this county and some others, varies from the original return.
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OP THE STATE OF MARYLAND.
Chap. I[.]
restoration of the bounds assigned by the order of July, 1651; but both thesc, and its western boundaries, were finally adjusted by the existing act of 1695, chap. 13, which separate it from St. Mary's, Charles and Prince George's, by the Patuxent from its source, until it meets the boundary line between it and Anne Arundel.
Population of Calvert in 1791, 8,652 -- in 1801, S,297-in 1811, 8,005-in 1821, 8,073.
. CHARLES COUNTY was one of the first fruits of loyalty to the proprietary; upon the restoration of his government in 1658. A county of that name had been established in 1650, by an order in council, which was repealed in 1654, and the county of Cal- vert erected in its stead. (22) But on the surrender of the pro- vince to Fendall, the proprietary's governor, one of his first acts was the creation of this county, the bounds of which, as defined by the commission appointing officers for it, were " the river Wi- comico to its head ; and from the mouth of that river, up the Poto- mac as high as the settlements extend, and thence to the head of Wicomico." (23) Upon this general and vague description, its boundaries were suffered to ,rest until 1695, when Prince George's county was formed out of the territory lying north of the Mattawoman creek, and the limits of Charles rendered defi- nite by the act of 1695, chap. 13, confirmed and made perpetual by the act of 1701, chap. 92. By this act, it is separated from St. Mary's on the east, "by the line already described as the wes- tern boundary of St. Mary's ; and on the north from Prince George's, by the Mattawoman creek, and a straight line druun thence to the head of Swanson's creek, and with that creck to the Patux- ent." No change of this adjustment has been made, except in the boundary between it and Prince George's, which is slightly varied to the west by an artificial line running from the Mattawoman to a given point on the Potomac, nearly opposite to Mount Vernon. This line was adopted as the boundary be- tween the Potomac and the point at which it leaves the Matta- woman, in lieu of the Mattawoman by the act of 1748, chap.
(22) Land Records, Liber 1, folio 615.
(23) Liber S, Court of Appeals Records, 10th May, 1658, and Council Cham- ber Records, Liber HI H, 19.
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: : [Intro.
14. (21) On the south and cast, Charles county has always been bounded by the Potomac.
Population of Charles in 1791, 20,613-in 1801, 19,172-in 1811, 20,245-in 1821, 16,500.
BALTIMORE COUNTY was formed out of the territory north of Anne Arundel, in or about the year 1659. Our researches have - not enabled us to discover the order in council by which it was crected ; but the legislative records shew, that it did not exist be- fore 1659; and the first description which we have of its bounds, is contained in the proclamation of Gth June, 1674, which declares that the southern bounds of Baltimore county, shall be, " the south side of Patapsco river, and from the highest plantations on that side of the river, duc south two miles into the woods." In 1698, an act was passed, adopting a boundary line which had been lo- cated between Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties, by com- missioners appointed under an ordinance of Assembly passed in 1696. This line, which is particularly described in this act of 1698, and which began upon the bay about one mile and a quar- ter to the south of Bodkin creek, attached to Baltimore county a considerable tract of country lying south of the Patapsco; but in 1725, this act of 1699, so far as it attaches to Baltimore coun- ty any part of the territory south of the Patapsco, was wholly re- pealed by the act of March, 1725, chap. Ist. (25) This last men-
(24) This act of 1748, chap. 14, cnacts: that after 10th December, 1748, the "land lying in Prince George's county, and contained within the follow- ing bounds, to wit:' by a line drawn from Mattawoman run, in the road com- monly called the Rolling road, that leads from the late dwelling plantation of Mr. Edward Neale, through the lower part of Mr. Peter Dent's dwelling plantation, until it strikes Potomac river, at or near the bounded tree of a tract of land whereon John Beal, junior, now lives, and thence with the river to the mouth of Mattawoman, shall be a part of Charles county."
(25) The following is the description of the bounds as fixed by this act of 1693, chap. 13, and as they remained from that period until 1725, "beginning at three marked trees, viz. a white oak, a red oak, and a chesnut tree, stand- ing about a mile and a quarter to the southward of Bodkin creek on the west side of Chesapeake bay, and near a marsh and a pond ; thence west until they cross the mountains of the mouth of Magothy river, to Richard Beard's mill ; thence continuing westward with said road to William Hawkins' path to two marked trees ; thence along said road near to John Locket's road to two marked trees ; thence leaving said road by a line drawn west to William Slade's path to two marked trecs ; thence continuing west between the
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THE CIVIL DIVISIONS
1
[Intro.
the limits of the province, and was bounded on the east by the bay and the Susquehanna; and such continued to be its extent, until the establishment of Harford county by the act of 1773, chap. 6th, which separates it from Baltimore county by a line be- ginning at the mouth of Little Gunpowder river, and running with that river to its fountain head, and thence north to the Penn- sylvania line.
Population of Baltimore county (exclusive of Baltimore town or city) in 1791, 25,434-in 1801, 32,716-in 1811, 29,255-in 1521, 33,465.
TALBOT COUNTY was formed in 1660-61. The order by which it was created, has not been found; but the Assembly proceed- ings first show its existence in this year. The existing records of the province have not discovered to us what were its ex- act limits anterior to the year 1706. In that year, they were de- finitely settled by the existing act of 1706, chap. 3d, which enacts "that the bounds of Talbot county shall contain Sharp's Island, Choptank Island, and all the land on the north side of the Great Choptank river; and extend itself up the said river to Tuckahoe Bridge ; and from thence with a straight line to the mill, common- ly called and known by the name of Swetnam's mill, and thence down the south side of Wye river to its mouth, and thence down the bay to the place of beginning, including Poplar Island and Bruff's Island.
Population of Talbot in 1791, 13,084-in 1801, 13,436-in 1811, 14,230-in 1821, 14,389.
SOMERSET COUNTY was erected by the governor's order of 22d August, 1666, which assigned to it, as its limits, on the south, the southern boundary of the State on the eastern shore; on the west, the bay : on the north, the Nanticoke river ; and on the east, the ocean. This county was formed to embrace the
called John Digge's road, about a mile above the place called the Burnt House woods ; and running thence up the said road to a bounded white oak standing on the east side thereof, at the head of a draught of Sam's creek ; thence N 55° E to a Spanish Oak standing on a ridge near William Roberts's, and opposite to the head of a branch called the Beaver Dam; thence N 20° E to the temporary line between the provinces of Maryland and Pennsylvania, being near the head of a draught called Conawago, at a rocky hill called Rat- tle Snake Hill."
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OF THE STATE OF MARYLAND.
Chap. II.]
thriving settlements in that section of the State, which were planted under the direction of Elzey, Revell and others, as early as 1661, and of which we have briefly traced the origin in the preceding chapter. Its boundaries, remained as established by this order of 1666, until the passage of the Act of 1742, chap. 19, creating Worcester county ; by which Act, and the adjustment. of the Delaware linc under the agreement of 1760, between Bal- timore and the Penns, its original limits have been considerably contracted and are now determined. As adjusted by these, its bounds begin at Watkin's point, and run thence up Pocomoke bay to the mouth of Pocomoke river, and with that river to the mouth of Dividing creek; thence up the western side of said creek to Denstone's bridge : thence with artificial lines, which are particularly described in the Act, until they intersect the Delaware lines, as established under the agreement of 1760, and with those lines until they intersect the Nanticoke river; thence with the Nanticoke to its mouth; and thence down the bay to Watkin's point, including all the Islands which had been pre- viously regarded as attached to Somerset. (27)
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