USA > Maryland > Anne Arundel County > Historical notices of St. Ann's parish in Ann Arundel county, Maryland, extending from 1649 to 1857, a period of 208 years > Part 2
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Governor Stone and his men at length appeared within the river Severn, and came within command of the armed vessel just at the shutting in of the even- ing. The Captain of that vessel was then required to command them aboard by a piece of ordnance, but they rejected the warning and run into the creek- the creek probably on the south side of the Severn- where they landed out of the reach of the ship's guns. But in the morning they found all their vessels blocked up in the creek by a small barque, having two cannon. The same day-being Sunday, the 25th of March- the St. Mary's men appeared in a body on a narrow neck of land near their vessels, shouting, come on, which caused the Captain of the ship to fire on them, killing one man, and thus caused them to move further off into the neck. This, G. L. L. Davis, Esq., who has most patiently and faithfully examined the localities, thinks was Horn Point. In the meantime, Captain Fuller, with his Providence men, came up the river Severn and landed with a hundred and twenty men, six miles distant from the enemy, and sending away all their sloops and boats, marched directly to where Governor Stone and his men lay waiting for them. On coming near, the sentry shot, but without harm. Capt. Fuller then set up the standard of the Com- monwealth of England. Against this five or six guns were fired-the ensign bearer, William Ayres, was killed. Capt. Fuller then gave the words "In the name of God fall on." The charge for the time, it is said, was fierce and sharp, but the St. Marians soon gave back, and threw down their arms. Of their whole number only four or five escaped. The Gov- ernor and his Council, all the officers and soldiers 2*
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
were taken, as was also their vessels, arms, ammuni- tion and provisions. Twenty of their men had been killed, of whom Mr. Secretary Hatton was one, and thirty were wounded, of which number was Governor Stone himself. Of the Providence men three only were killed on the field, and of the wounded three died af- terwards. This account is substantially confirmed by Mr. Langford, Lord Baltimore's friend, in a pamphlet published soon after.
The postscript to Mr. Strong's account says, "Af- ter the battle, what acknowledgments of God in it was in every mean soldier's mouth, as well as in the Commander's-what praising of God beyond all ex- pression-they ran through all the company." The victory, however, was sadly stained by the Provi- dence men putting to death four of the St. Marians afterwards, under color of a court martial, Gov. Stone himself and nine others having been condemned by it to be shot, but by the solicitations of the females and of soldiers, the Governor and five others were spared.
If, as alleged, the Lord Protector had confirmed the reducement of Maryland from under Lord Baltimore by the commissioners, then this was a war against him, and the St. Mary's government was a rebellion against the government established. If, however, the St. Marians could conquer, their right to govern would be as good at least as was Cromwell's by which he held the government of England.
Such were the scenes thus enacted in this early day on the soil of what is now St. Ann's Parish. The oc- cupiers of it then contended for government even unto blood, and, right or wrong, they were success- ful. The place where the battle was fought was long after called "The Papists' Pound." The government was now unquestionably in the hands of " the men of Severn," and the scene of contention was no longer in the Province. But it was not ended. It was only
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISH.
transferred to England, and there the appeal was made to the supreme government, and Lord Balti- more was on the spot.
1656.
In 1656, Sept. 16, the Committee for Trade of Cromwell's Council of State, made a report, as was supposed by Lord Baltimore, favorable to him- self ; but as it never received any confirmation from the protector, it came to nothing. The matter, how- ever, did not sleep. Virginia agents had been sent to England-Bennet and Mathews. Mr. Digges also went over, and put forth his friendly endeavors. And now the old nobility coming into favor with Cromwell, he was paying them much court, and Lord Baltimore was one among them. The Vir- ginia agents therefore were under the necessity of making the best terms with him that they could, and an amicable arrangement was at length effected.
1657.
In this arrangement, from the 30th of November, 1657, the colonists, who had been opposed to his Lordship's government in the Province, were bound , up to cease for the future all further assumption of government in Maryland. They were, however, to have patents for their land, which they had entered, they taking a modified oath of fidelity, and paying all arrears for rent due to his Lordship from the time of entry of their land. While on his part, Lord Bal- timore was never to consent to repeal the act of re- ligion of 1649, by which they were protected in their religion. This agreement was signed by Lord Bal- timore and Matthews. The modified oath was in-
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
deed objected to by the Puritan Government as to those then (March 24, 1658) resident, and the ob- jection was allowed. They then engaged to sub- mit to Lord Baltimore's government, according to the charter, aiding and assisting it, and not obeying or assisting any opposition to it. Thus for near eight years "the men of Severn" had had the whole Province under their own authority and manage- ment. But that state of things had now passed away, and on the 27th of April, at a General As- sembly held at St. Leonard's, Calvert County, the commissioners gave up the government into the hands of Fendal, his Lordship's then Governor.
By an order of council Providence County was now again named Ann Arundel, and Patuxent County named Calvert. And after this it was that the settlers of these parts took out their land patents or title deeds, and every thing soon settled down in a quiet course.
It is not known that at this time there was any place of worship of any name within the boundaries of what became afterwards St. Ann's Parish, nor is it known that any other than Puritans were among the residents. There were the Lloyds, the Maccu- bins, the Ridgelys, the Griffiths, the Greenberrys, and Worthingtons, and others, nearly all of Welsh descent, whose names and descendants are still well known, and the lands of that region are still called after their names. Their place of worship it is be- lieved was at Town Neck, which was reached by water from almost every direction.
1683.
Time now passes on, and scarcely a word touching the history of the Puritans of Severn is found written,
--
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISH.
and no act of legislation mentions Ann Arundel County till 1683, a period of twenty-five years, during which time an almost entire generation had passed away.
Meanwhile, in addition to the Counties of St. Mary's, Kent, Ann Arundel and Calvert, in 1658 Charles County had been constituted ; 1659 Baltimore County ; 1661 Talbot County ; 1666 Somerset ; 1669 Dorches- ter; and 1674 Cecil County. But the increase of population had been slow, it being estimated at only about 25,000 in the province now.
The first notice on the statute-book which we find touching the region now under our review, is in No- vember, 1683, when the Town at Proctors was made a Port of Entry. But in the records of All Hallows the Rev. Mr. Pead is mentioned as baptizing there in 1682 and in 1690. That he was a Church of England clergyman has been certainly ascertained, for on a further notice met with respecting him on the Journal of the Upper House of the Gene- ral Assembly of October 20, 1683, there is found the following entry: "This House having taken into their serious consideration the great care and kindness of our Sovereign Lord the King in giv- ing charge to the Right Rev. Father in God the Bishop of London to supply this place with able and devout ministers, whereby the people may know their duty to God, their obedience to their rulers, do re- qnest the Lower House of this Assembly to join with this House in giving thanks to Mr. Duell Pead for his learned sermon preached before these two Houses the 14th instant, and that some acceptable present be given him for the same."
On the 24th the Lower House returned the follow- ing: " This House having taken into consideration the message sent from the Upper House Oct. 20th, concerning thanks and an acceptable present to Mr.
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. HISTORICAL NOTICES
Duell Pead for preaching his learned sermon before the two Houses on the 14th instant, this House do concur with the Upper House that thanks be given unto him, the said Mr. Pead by Mr. Speaker for and in the name of the Lower House, but cannot concur with the Upper House in giving any present accord, ing to the aforesaid message." This Assembly was held at a place called " the Ridge, in Ann Arundel County." This taken in connection with the bap- tisms referred to in All Hallows, that afterwards was, and the reference to the Bishop of London sende ing ont ministers, seem pretty clearly to indicate that Mr. Pead was of the Church of England. And that there were thus early in the neighborhood Church of England families, is unquestionable. Such we take to have been the Warfields, the Gassaways, the Nor- woods, the Blands, the Howards, the Dorseys, the Hammonds, &c.
1689.
In 1689 occurred what was called the Protestant Revolution in Maryland, in which Lord Baltimore's government ceased, and with it all Roman Catholic influence in the government administration, it having then passed into the hands of King William and Queen Mary, and by them was sent over Lyonel Cop- ley, Esq., who entered on his office as Governor April 9, 1692.
1692.
The first General Assembly thereafter was held at St. Mary's on the 10th of May. At this assembly it was that the Act was passed " for the Worship of Al- mighty God and the establishment of the Protestant Religion in the Province;" in other words, the
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISH.
Church of England. It was under this act and during this year that thirty parishes were laid out and established in the Province, one of which was Middle Neck Parish, now called St. Ann's. At this time there appears to have been only four Church of England clergymen in Maryland-Mr. Crawford in St. Mary's, Mr. Moore in Charles, Mr. Lillingstone in Talbot, and Mr. Vanderbush in Cecil. Mr. Pead is not mentioned after 1691. There were, however, churches in Baltimore, Kent and Calvert Counties, though without ministers.
There was at this time in this county a Mr. Davis, a Dissenting minister, and meeting-houses there cer- tainly were at West River and at Town Neck, that is Greenberry's Point ; and the latter was the place of worship for the surrounding neighborhood. There is still to be seen the place where the chapel and bury- ing-ground was, and where the dead continued to be buried for some years afterwards. Among the ruins is found still a massive slab with this inscription, copied by me on a visit there in company with the Rev. Mr. Nelson in May last : " Here lyes interred the body of Mr. Roger Newman, Merchant, born at London, who dwelt at Patap ... in Talbot in Mary- land .. 25 years, and departed this life the 14th of May, 1704." There also we saw the tomb-stone of Col. Nicholas Greenberry, so prominent in the re- cords of the Province, who died in 1698, and a vault (now broken in) where his remains and those of his family were no doubt deposited. It is now under the woodshed of Capt. Taylor, the present owner of the Neck. How long this place of worship was kept up there have been discovered no records.to show. Men- tion has been made of it here, though it is outside of the territorial limits of St. Ann's Parish, because it was without doubt the only place of worship for the inhabitants of this region at this date.
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
The Act of Assembly of this year, before mentioned, required every taxable, of whatever name or sect, to pay to the incumbent of the parish 40lbs. of tobacco per year. This was no doubt galling to the good Puritans included within this parish, but for aught that we learn they were quietly submissive, and bye- and-bye became all merged in the Church of Eng- land, as by law established. How long they kept up their separate service of worship we have no means of ascertaining.
1694.
In the returns made by the Vestry to the Governor and Council in July, 1694, we learn that there was neither a church edifice nor clergyman in the parish. As the Vestry Records of this period and for the ten following years are lost, whatever relates to the parish during that time has necessarily been picked up from other sources.
In July of this year Francis Nicholson arrived as Governor of the Province, Governor Copley having died in 1693, and a General Assembly was convened at St. Mary's on the 21st September. On the 18th of October an act was passed making the town land at Severn in Ann Arundel County, where the town was formerly, (which was no doubt the town at Proctor's mentioned in 1683,) a town, port and place of trade. and Major Hammond, Major Edward Dorsey, Mr. John Bennett, Mr. John Dorsey, Mr. Andrew Nor- wood, Mr. Philip Howard, Mr. James Sanders and the Hon. Nicholas Greenberry, Esq., a member of the Council, were appointed to purchase and lay out 100' acres of land in lots and streets, and with open spare places to be left on which to erect a church, market-house, and other public buildings. The par- cel or neck of land within Levy Cove Neck and
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISH.
Acton's Cove, adjoining the town, now known as Brewer's and Spa Coves, was directed to be fenced in as a town-common or pasture.
By an Act of Assembly, Bacon, 1718, Chap. 8, we learn that three lots were originally laid out, one for the benefit and advantage of the rector, one other for the clerk of the parish and sexton, and a third for the commissary's clerk and the clerk of the vestry. A house was soon after built upon one of them for the use of the vestry.
On the same day the Governor proposed to the Council that the 40lbs. of tobacco per poll in Ann Arundel County not collected the last year, should go towards building a church in Ann Arundel Town, and also the tax the next year, and that it be paid to the Vestry for and towards building the said church. This was agreed to nemine contradicente.
But the first thing done at this Session was an Act for the Advancement of Learning. The Act indeed we have not. But the Governor proposed to give £50 for the building of the school-house, and £25 per annum to the master. Sir Thomas Lawrence, Sec- retary, gave 5,000 lbs. towards the building, and 2,000 lbs. tobacco per annum to the master. The House contributed 45,000 lbs. tobacco towards the building ; and of the Members of the Council, Cols. Jowles, Robotham, Greenberry and Brooke, 2,000 lbs. each; Hutchinson and Courts 1,200 lbs. each, and French, Brown and Frisby 1,000 lbs. each. Thomas Brooke £5 sterling towards the master's support, and Edmund Randolph .£10 sterling. This certainly showed the carnestness and interest which they took in this work.
The next Act passed was for settling Assemblies and Provincial Courts, and erecting a Court House at this, Ann Arundel Town ; and thus the seat of govern- ment, which for sixty years had been at St. Mary's City 3
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
in St. Mary's County was removed here, and here it still is, after the lapse and all the changes of one hundred and sixty years.
1695.
The first Session of the General Assembly con- vened here the last day of February, 1695, the records had been already moved hither from St. Mary's.
At another Session in May, the Port of Ann Arun- del Town was named and directed to be called An- napolis, and by no other name or distinction what- ever. The parish church was to be built here in such place as should be thought fit and convenient by the present Governor ; and the County Justices to hold the County Courts here, and the records of their court were to be removed and kept here. Where the County Courts had been held before is not ascer- tained. But fourteen years before, that is, in 1681, Sept. 17th, a petition was presented to the Governor and Council, setting forth that they had expended a great deal of tobacco for building a court-house. In November, 1683, we have seen that the General As- sembly held its session at a place called the Ridge in this county, and during this session the Governor, being moved by the House to nominate a place for the court [state] house, replied that when a con- veniency shall be provided in South River, in Ann Arundel County, sufficient for the reception of his Lordship and Council, and for holding assem- blies and provincial courts, and the several courts thereon depending, his Lordship will make use there- of, &c. These things would seem to indicate that the earlier county courts were held at a place somewhere in the neighborhood of South River.
The taxables of the parish at this time were 363;
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISH.
so that the population could not have been much over a thousand, and the incumbent's income not greatly over $400.
REV. PEREGRINE CONEY, FIRST INCUMBENT.
Mr. Coney, it would seem, was one among the number of clergymen who came over to Maryland with Governor Nicholson in the spring of the last year, 1794, and became the incumbent of the Parish at St. Mary's. This is shown from the Governor and Council's Records, August 29; 1698, No. 2, page 129, where he complains that the parish was still in- debted to him. On the 24th of September, 1694, he preached a Fast day sermon before the General Assembly, then in session in St. Mary's, for which he received their public thanks and was desired to print it.
On the 8th of October, the session of the Assembly had previously commenced on the 3rd, the Govern- or proposed to the Council that at the Port of An- napolis, a lot be laid off for the minister nigh to where the church is to stand, and that the minister be obliged to read prayers twice a day-that is, it is presumed before the assembly, for there was as yet no church built. This shows us that a minister was there-and that minister was Mr. Coney.
On the 30th of April, 1696, the foundation of the State House was laid, and the session of the assembly commenced that same day.
From Bacon, 1715, chapter 4, it appears that in 1696, Gov. Nicholson gave a lot lying at the foot of the State House hill, on the eastward thereof, and £10 sterling, for a house to be built thereon. This
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
was built by Anthony Workman, and given him during his life, after which it was to go to the use of the free schools.
On the 7th of May, it appears from the records of the Upper House, that Mr. Coney preached before the Assembly, and this sermon also he was desired to have printed.
An act was passed at this session-Bacon, 1696, chapter 2d, requiring of the several vestries a copy of their proceedings to be laid before the Governor and Council yearly. With this the Vestry of St. Ann's complied. And it is in the returns now made, that we find a confirmation of the boundaries of the Pa- rish before given. The name Middle Neck was still returned, and the taxables stated at 374. The names of the Vestry as given were,
Thomas Bland, Jacob Harness,
Richard Warfield, William Brown,
Lawrence Draper, Cornelius Howard.
In July, an act was passed for the establishment of free schools, on which a school was founded at Anna- polis by the name of King William's school-for the propagation of the Gospel, and the education of the youth of the province in good letters and manners, including Latin, Greek, writing and the like, under the patronage of the King and chancellorship of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was to be managed by certain trustees therein named, one of which was the Rev. Peregrine Coney. And thus was carried out so much further, the object which called forth the do- nations already mentioned in 1694.
And on the 30th of September, the Lower House sent to the Upper the following message, "To show our readiness to contribute to the utmost of our abilities to the service of God, in building a free
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISII.
church and school at Annapolis, we have proposed and resolved, that out of the revenue raised for the charge of the Province, by 3d. per hhd. on Tobacco,. one year's revenue so raised be for defraying the charge of the church at Annapolis, and that out of £300 sterling to be returned to this province by Sir Edmund Andros, £200 we are desirous should be ap- propriated to the use of the free school. An act of Assembly to this purpose accordingly was passed- Bacon, 1696, chapter 25.
The Lower House, preparatory to passing this act, appointed a committee to inspect the proposals for building the church ; who reported that there was in bank for this purpose £458 sterling. This had arisen from the sale of the Tobacco which had been collect- ed. They also reported that the church would cost £1200 sterling, or about $5600. Thus not only was the State-house going up and the school-house also, but on the 2d of October, the Governor was appointed by the Council to employ workmen to build the church.
Mr. Alexander Gaddes had been sent out by the Bishop of London, to take charge of the King Wil- liam's school, but the House not being built, the As -. sembly voted him 10,000 lbs. of tobacco, and he was appointed lay reader in All Saint's Parish, Calvert; but not long after, he was placed out as an under- master to the college-school in Virginia, [at Williams- burgh], to save a present charge, and to gain himself the more experience against the school-house here is built.
In 1697 the State House as is shown in the pream- ble to an act passed on the 11th of June,-Bacon, chapter 6, was almost finished and completed. The State House was a brick building of two stories, with an attic having large front and back porches of the same height with the main building; on the ground 3*
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
floor, there was a great room for courts and assemblies, and a little room which served as a magazine for every thing but powder. In the second story, the two rooms on the right hand were for jury and committee rooms, and the two on the left hand for provincial and land records. The room in the fore porch was appropriated for the Commissioner's office, and Re- cord of Wills, &c. Of the two rooms on the right hand in the upper lofts, one was for the County-Clerk, and the other for the Town-Clerk; on the left hand, one was for the Chancery records, and the other for the records of the Government and Council, &c. The back porch loft was appropriated for the Clerk of the house of Delegates, and the front porch loft was the Commissaries' office, from which a lantern was hung out. See Bacon, Chapter 6, 1797. It stood on the site of the present State House. [See opposite page.]
We learn from Ridgeley's Annals of Annapolis, page 107, that the memorable Academy of King Wil- liam (which was of brick), was a plain building, con- taining school-rooms and apartments for the teacher and his family, and stood on the South side of the State House. On the 30th of this same month, the petition of Ruth Gregg's was read before the Govern- or and Council, together with the Rev. Peregrine Coney's defence, which was ordered to be given to Mr. Carrol the said Ruth's procurator. The nature of the petition is not stated.
Mr. Coney seems to have enjoyed the entire confi- dence of Governor Nicholson, and he committed to him the issuing of marriage licenses.
He is shown in the Governor and Councils records, to have been here as late as September 1, 1698, and probably continued here till the November following, and then went to Virginia with Sir Francis Nichol- son, when he entered on his appointment as Govern- or of Virginia, and in 1703 we learn from the let-
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISH.
Back Porch.
Little Room.
Great Room for Courts & Assemblies
Magazine for every thing but powder.
Ground Floor.
Front Porch
Provincial and
Jury and
Land Records
Com'ittee Rooms.
Commiss'r's Office & Re- cord of wills
Clerk of the House of Delegates.
Chancery Records.
County Clerk's Office, &c.
Loft.
Records of Governor and Council.
Town Clerk's Office.
Com'ssary's Office.
Second Story.
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
ters published in the Church Review, vol. 3, page 452, that he was then the Governor's chaplain, who was at that time a resident of Williamsburgh.
Mr. Coney was evidently a favorite with the Gov- ernor, and the fact that his sermons were so often re- quested to be published by the assembly, shows him to have been a popular and acceptable preacher.
Governor Nicholson, during his administration, had made enemies by his impulsive and hasty ten- per, under the influence of which he was at times ar- bitrary and overbearing. But he must ever be proud- ly remembered by the church and city of Annapolis. The site where the church stands was selected by him, and he was the agent in building it. The plan of the city was his, and the State House and free school went up under his superintendency. His time, and money, and energy, were given to the church not less than to the government. And when he was about to leave, a letter which was signed by the chancellor, by the members of the Council, by the Justices of the Provincial Court, by thirty-four members of the house of Delegates, and by the Grand Jury, was handed him in which they say,
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