USA > Maryland > Cecil County > History of Cecil County, Maryland, and the early settlements around the head of Chesapeake Bay and on the Delaware River, with sketches of some of the old families of Cecil County > Part 13
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IHISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
upon consenting to allow the province to be governed by Protestant governors, appointed by the king. This con- tinued to be the case till 1715, when his son Benedict Leonard Calvert embraced the Protestant religion, and the rights and franchises conferred by the charter were restored to him.
During the interval from 1689 to 1715 the members of the House of Baltimore were under a cloud, so to speak, and in no condition to defend the province from the en- croachments which the proprietor of Pennsylvania made upon it. This brief reference to the English Revolution it is hoped will enable the reader to better understand the reason why the Nottingham lots and the Welsh Tract, large portions of which are in Maryland, were granted by William Penn and his agents, and why no efforts were made to repel their encroachments.
Nottingham was the outgrowth of the settlements on the Delaware around New Castle, which, at the time of the settlement of the former place, was second only to New York in commerce and population. The pioneer settlers of Nottingham were two brothers, James and William Brown, who, on pack-horses, boldly started out from New Castle in the summer or fall of 1701 into the wilderness to make for themselves a home. They were said to have been in- fluenced in their opinion of the fertility of the soil by the great size of the forest trees with which it was covered. They stopped near a large spring, which is yet to be seen on the north side of the road leading from the Brick Meeting- house to the Rising Sun, and a short distance east of the road which forms the boundary between the Sixth and Ninth election districts. It is on the farm now owned by William Cameron. Near this spring was a favorite camping- ground of the Indians. Their trail from the great valley of Chester County to the head of the bay, whither they were accustomed to resort for fish and also to trade at the post on Palmer's Island, led directly past it. Here the brothers
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
Brown unloaded their weary horses and went to work fell- ing the forest trees and clearing the land for the purpose of making room for dwelling-houses and engaging in agricul- tural pursuits. The small amount of provisions brought with them were soon exhausted, and they were obliged to return to New Castle for a fresh supply. Other Friends accompanied them on their return to Nottingham, and by the next spring they had accommodations for several fami- lies. The first house, erected by William Brown, is said to have been built on the site now occupied by the house of William Cameron. This is the traditional story of the first settlement in Nottingham that has been handed down from generation to generation of their descendants, some of whom yet occupy part of the land upon which their forefathers settled.
It is very probable that the brothers Brown preceded the other settlers a short time, and that the others were ac- quainted with them and admired the fertility of their land and the beauty of the location, and were for these reasons induced to ask for the privilege of taking up the Notting- ham lots. This name was applied to Nottingham Township after the Revolutionary war by the Legislature of Maryland, in an act for the relief of the owners of the land, which, though granted by Penn, was found to be in Maryland when the dispute between him and Baltimore was adjusted in 1768. It was called Nottingham Township by the au- thorities of Pennsylvania, and was divided into thirty-seven parts ; hence the name, "Nottingham lots."
In compliance with the provisions of this act of Mary- land, which was passed in 1788, the then proprietors of Nottingham, in order to show the validity of their title, procured copies of the minute of their application to the commissioners of property of Pennsylvania, and also their warrant for the survey of Nottingham, which they caused to be recorded among the land records of Cecil County.
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
The minutes of the commissioners, like all the writings of the Friends, is laconic and concise. It is as follows :
" At a session of the Commissioners at Philadelphia, 14th of the 11th mo., 1701. Present-Edward Shippen, Griffith Owen, Thomas Story, James Logan, Sec. Cornelius Empson, for himself and several others, to the number of twenty fam- ilies, chiefly of the county of Chester, propose to make a SettImt. on a tract of land about half-way between Delaware and Susquehannough, or near the latter, being about twenty miles distant from New Castle, on Otteraroe river, in case they may have a grant of twenty thousand acres in said place, at a bushel of wheat per 100 (acres), or five pounds pur- chase, to be after at a shilling sterling per annum, which being duly considered and the advantages that might arise. thereby, by rendering the adjacent lands more valuable and encouraging ye settlement of Susquehannough river, 'tis proposed that they shall have 15 or 20,000 acres at £8 pounds per 100 acres, or at 2 bushels of wheat rent per an- num, the first year for their encouragement to be free of rent, or one year credit to pay the purchase money. He agrees to the price of purchase or to a bushel and a half per an- num, But it is referred to thee in further consideration."
The application of Empson, as set forth in the preceding minute of the commissioners who were appointed by Penn and authorized to have charge of his land and to look after his interests in the province, met with the favorable consid- eration of the proprietary, or the commissioners concluded to act on their own responsibility, for on "ye 7th of ye 1st mo., 1701," they issued the warrant of survey to Henry Hol- lingsworth, at that time a citizen of Pennsylvania. This warrant contains the names of the original settlers for which the survey was made. They are as follows : Henry Reynolds, Cornelius Empson, John Empson, John Richardson, James Brown, William Brown, Henry Bates, Edward Beson, Jas. Cooper, (of Darby), Randal Janney, Andrew Job, John
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
Churchman, Ebenezer Empson, John Guest, of Philadelphia .* These were to have one thousand acres each. Joel Bayley, Robert Dutton, Samuel Littler, and Messer Brown were to have five hundred acres each. The whole township was to be divided into eighteen several divisions of one thousand acres cach, three of which the proprietor reserved for his own proper use. The choice of the several divisions was to be disposed of by lot. The warrant directed the surveyor to begin at the northern barrens, between the main branch of North East and Otteraroe Creek, and further specified that the southern boundary was to be an east and west line pa- rallel with the southern line of the province, and that the £8 were to be paid within one year after the date thereof. It also provided for the payment of an annual quit rent of one shilling sterling for every one hundred acres, or, in case of failure to pay the first sum, they were to pay two bushels of good winter wheat for every one hundred acres, to be delivered at some navigable water or landing place on the Delaware River. Following the record of the certificate of survey is a plat of the township, accompanied by a certifi- cate certifying that it is compiled from data in the office of the surveyor-general of Pennsylvania. The plat shows the tract to have extended two and a half miles east of the com- mon on part of which the Brick Meeting-house now stands, from which it ran due west nearly nine miles. West of the common, for a distance of three miles, it was three and a quarter miles wide; for three miles further west it was three miles wide, while from the southwest corner there extended
* Cornelius Empson, John Richardson, Henry Reynolds, Ebenezer Empson, and John Guest, each of whom are mentioned in the warrant of survey, and all of whom were among the original grantees, never resided in Nottingham. The reader will notice a slight discrepancy between the names in the warrant and those on the plat. The original record has been followed in each ease. The Reynolds and Janney families of this county are the descendants of the above mentioned Henry Reynolds and Randal Janney.
1.
3. A Draught of the Township of Nottingham according to the survey made thereof in the 3d month, A. D. 1702. Copied from the original on page 55, Book No. 16, one of the land record books of Ceeil County.
Edward Beson.
1.
Henry Reynolds. 19.
5.
Henry Reynolds.
John Richardson. 20.
6. John Richardson.
7. Proprietary.
Proprietor. 21.
Eb. Empson. 22.
8. Cor. Empson.
9. Proprietary.
10. Eb. Empson.
11. Joel Bayley.
Proprietor. 25.
Jas. Cooper. 26.
Jas. Brown. 27.
Wm. Brown. 28.
Robt. Dutton. Sam'l Littler. 29.
15. Randal Janney.
Common. Meeting-House. 30.
16. John Churchman.
17.
37.
John Bates.
Andrew Job. 35.
12. James Cooper.
13. Proprietary.
14. James Brown.
Robt. Dutton. Sam'l Littler. 31.
Andrew Joh. 32.
W'm. Brown. 33.
Randal Janney. 34.
36.
1
Wm. Brown. 23.
Cor. Empson. 24.
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
a parallelogram a mile a quarter long and a half mile wide, which included what is now known as Vinegar Hill. The whole township contained thirty lots, the most of which were a mile and a half long and half a mile wide, which shows that the instruction in the warrant, authorizing the surveyor to lay out the tract into eighteen several divisions of one thousand acres each, had been disregarded. The names of Robert Dutton and Samuel Littler appear upon each of the lots immediately east and west of the meeting- house, while the names of John Churchman and Randal Janney are found upon the lots immediately north and northwest of it. Andrew Job's name appears on the lot at the southeast corner of the tract, which was a short distance southeast of the Blue Ball tavern; and those of Edward Be- son and Henry Reynolds upon the two most westerly lots, as will be seen by reference to the map. The lots are sepa- rated by what seems to be intended to represent a road, but which, by the scale accompanying the plat is an eighth of a mile wide. The lots, as before stated, were to contain a thousand acres each ; including the road, they did actualy contain, as shown by the plat, about five hundred acres. It was intimated in the warrant that the four persons that were to have five hundred acres each were to divide a thousand acres between them; this accounts for the township being divided into thirty-seven instead of eighteen lots, as directed in the warrant. The plat also shows that several of the per- sons who were to have a thousand acres each took up two of these five hundred acre lots, and that in some cases they were several miles apart.
The reader will recollect that Talbot's grant of Susque- hanna Manor, which was made twenty years before by Lord Baltimore, included the whole of Nottingham and extended some miles north of it into Pennsylvania. Talbot was charged with the maintenance and extension of the au- thority of Baltimore as far north and east as circumstances warranted him in believing it was possible to extend it.
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
Although .his manor extended many miles above the mouth of the Octoraro, he probably had little hope of maintaining his title to all of it, and probably extended it northward simply to acquire a claim and to hold it in behalf of Lord Baltimore. He saw with what tenacity the settlers along the Delaware maintained possession of the land there, though it was covered by Baltimore's patent, and he re- solved to profit by their example. Talbot's line, from the mouth of Octoraro to the mouth of Naaman's Creek, is the line referred to by the commissioners of Penn in their war- rant of survey as the southern line of the province.
The religious and political difficulties that prevailed in England in the reign of James the Second, as before inti- mated, had a disastrous effect upon the prosperity of Lord Baltimore. His misfortunes were increased by the efforts his kindness prompted him to make in behalf of his kinsman Talbot, in order to shield him from the consequences of the murder of the unfortunate Rousby. He was a Catholic, and the Puritanical spirit that raged in the time of Crom- well was not yet extinct. William of Orange and Anne owed too much to the Protestants of England to be disposed to look with much favor upon the claims of Baltimore, created as they were by a prince of an exiled family and a member of the church which they despised. Talbot, the courageous and irrepressible Talbot, whose brilliant career in Cecil County atones for its shortness, had long since dis- appeared, and the proprietor of Maryland, shorn of every- thing but the nominal possession of his right in the soil of his splendid domain, languished in neglect and obscurity. These were the reasons why the princely domain of Susque- hanna Manor was cut in twain by the commissioners of Penn. Had George Talbot been alive and at the head of his rangers, the quiet Quakers would never have thought of asking the commissioners of the courtly Penn for the Nottingham grant, nor is it probable he would have granted their request. It was a masterly stroke of policy on the
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
part of Penn to cut Susquehanna Manor in twain, and plant a settlement of his followers in the midst of it. This was the surest way of thwarting the efforts of Lord Baltimore and his agents to extend his jurisdiction to the 40° of north latitude should that experiment be tried in the future. This view of the case is strengthened by a tradition among the Friends that the original settlers of Nottingham had at first intended to settle in the rich valleys of Pequea or Con- estoga, but were influenced by the earnest solicitation of Penn to settle in Nottingham in order to strengthen his claim, and that in the spring of 1701 he rode over the ground in company with the leaders of the party to view the " lay of the land." During this visit he is said to have marked with his own hand a spot he selected, from which the water descended in all directions, as the site of the present brick meeting-house, which was built upon part of the forty acres he donated to them for that purpose, and which is yet in their possession.
When Mason and Dixon's line was located, it cut upwards of 1,300 acres off those lots that extended farthest north, and in 1787 their owners presented a petition to the government of Pennsylvania, stating that owing to the unsettled condi- tion of the boundary between that State and Maryland, the original grantees had not complied with the terms of sale, and praying that those parts of the lots in Pennsylvania might be surveyed and their titles be confirmed. Their request was granted and a warrant was issued to George Churchman, who the same year surveyed them.
The Friends that settled upon Nottingham were frugal and industrious, and soon the forest disappeared beneath their sturdy strokes, and grass and the waving grain suc- ceeded it. The brothers Brown, like their father, were min- isters of the gospel, and in 1704 a meeting was organized at the house of James, which was the origin of the Quaker congregation that now worships in the Brick Meeting-house. The first meeting-house was erected in 1709 or 1710. It
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
was built of hewn chestnut and yellow poplar logs, which were very durable; some of them are to be found at the present time in an old building on the place where Susannah Reisler now lives. Authorities differ about the time of the erection of the brick house; some of them place it in 1724, others in 1735. There is also a difference of opinion as to whether the brick used in its construction were imported from England or made in the neighborhood. Elisha Rowls, who died some forty years ago, at the age of eighty, said his father did the carpenter work of the building in 1750, after the first fire when the addition was built. From informa- tion obtained from him some of the old residents are of opinion that the bricks were made near the house; others think they were imported from England. It is a curious but well authenticated fact that the first building was roofed with slate obtained somewhere along the Octoraro Creek, but where, no person now living knows. In 1751 the wood- work of this house was burned, and in the following year a stone addition of equal size with the original structure was erected-thus its capacity was doubled. In 1810 the wood- work was again burned, and in the following year it was replaced. Strange to say, though half of the walls of this old house are stone, it still bears its original name of " the Brick Meeting-house," and though the bricks have stood the test of two fires in addition to their original burning, and though the frosts and snows of one hundred and fifty-four winters have spent their fury upon them, they appear to be none the worse and look as though they might last for many centuries longer.
The meeting-house called the Little Brick, standing on the north side of the P. & B. Central Railroad and about one mile and a quarter southwest of Rising Sun, was built on a lot embracing five acres and a few perches, granted on the 11th day of first month, 1727, by James King and William Harris, "To the people of God, called Quakers, members of the monthly meeting of Nottingham and New
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
Garden," and the money paid therefor was declared to be the money of that people. This lot was a part of Penn's lot No. 20.
The present brick building was erected in 1811. The frame building previously occupied was removed to the eastern side of the Rising Sun, and was there used by Ben- jamin Reynolds for a carpenter shop and afterwards for a stable.
In 1730 the monthly meeting of Nottingham and New Garden, mentioned above, was divided into two, viz., Not- tingham, held at the Brick Meeting-house; East Notting- ham, and New Garden, held at New Garden, Chester County, Pennsylvania, and at the same time a preparative meeting was established at Little Brick. In 1732 Edward Churchman was buried in the burying-ground at that place, showing that it was then occupied for that purpose. He died of smallpox, at the mill of Henry Reynolds, on Stone Run.
It is probable that upon the erection of this last meeting- house, the names of East and West Nottingham were first applied to the respective parts of the original Nottingham Township. In 1729 many of the inhabitants of Susque- hanna Hundred petitioned the court for a road to be laid out " from the church road by the Indian town, called Pop- pemetto, until it joins unto the road leading unto the Quaker meeting-house at the west end of Nottingham." They give as a reason why they wanted the road, that the country was settling so fast that the old road was about to be closed up. The church road referred to in the petition was a road leading from some point near the mouth of the Octoraro to the Episcopal church at the head of North East, or to the chapel connected with it, that stood a short distance cast of Port Deposit. Nothing is known at this time about the location or history of the Indian town.
The people who were settling the country so fast as to ex- cite the apprehension of the inhabitants of Susquehanna Hundred that their road would be closed, were the Scotch-
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
Irish Presbyterians who settled contiguous to Nottingham and who were the founders of the Nottingham Presbyterian church. The road they speak of was the one they traveled from the upper ferry (now Port Deposit) to Philadelphia, and was a continuation of the old Philadelphia and Not- tingham road which ran from the former place to Darby, thence to Chester, thence past Concord meeting-house to Kennett and New London X roads and reached Nottingham at the Brick Meeting-house. Many of these Scotch-Irish settled on the romantic hills among which the beautiful Octoraro rushes so impetuously to meet and mingle with the more stately Susquehanna. Others of them settled imme- diately south of the western part of Nottingham. In the course of time, and as opportunity offered, many of them became residents of the original Nottingham grant. The Ewings, Moores, Evanses, Pattons, Maxwells and many others whose descendants are now members of the West Nottingham . Presbyterian church, settled on or near the west part of Not- tingham about this time. As early as 1724 they had organ- ized a church, and it is probable, judging from the fact that in 1720 their meeting-house is called the old meeting-house, they were numerous enough to have organized a church and erected a house of worship several years prior to the year 1720. It is a matter of doubt where the first house of worship stood. Even tradition, with its contradictory stories, is silent upon this subject. The name of the con- gregation, as it first appears on the records of the Presbytery, is the Mouth of Octoraro. Afterwards it was called Lower Octoraro. In 1730 it received the name of Nottingham, by which it has been known ever since, notwithstanding there was an effort made in 1803 to change the name to Ephesus, and in 1844 to change it to Kirkwood, both of which efforts. failed. The history of this church and the distinguished divines that have been connected with it, as well as the his- tory of the Nottingham academy, will be given more at length in a subsequent chapter.
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
The Quaker settlement of Nottingham was frequently visited by itinerant Friends when they were journeying from place to place to proclaim the gospel.
It is worthy of remark that at this time the Indians still lived in Lancaster County, and that a few traders were stationed at or near the mouth of the Conestoga. These Indians were the remnant of the Susquehannocks that had taken refuge there with the Senecas and Shawnees, from the encroachments of the settlers along the head of the bay. In 1705 they were visited by the dignitaries from Penn's plantations along the Delaware, who made a treaty with them. The same year Thomas Chalkley visited Notting- ham and as he expresses it, " had a concern upon his mind to visit the Indians living near Susquehanna, at Conestoga. HIe laid it before the elders of Nottingham meeting, with which they expressed their amity and promoted my visiting them." Accordingly, having secured the services of an in- terpreter he, accompanied by about a dozen of the citizens, set out through the forest to visit the Indians. The party traveled on horseback and carried their provisions with them. They spread their food upon the grass and dined under the shade of the trees in the primeval forest refreshing them- selves and horses with water from the river, upon whose banks they had stopped to enjoy the midday meal. The Indians received them kindly, and some of them gave evi- dence that the preaching of this humble Quaker, whose zeal was only equaled by his meekness, had touched their hearts and prepared them for the reception of the divine grace and light, an abundant measure of which appears to have been vouchsafed to him. There were two tribes of these Indians, Senecas and Shawansee. One of the tribes was governed by an empress, so Chalkley calls her, whose advice the Indians sought before they consented to hold the meeting. She appears to have been a woman of age and experience, and had had a remarkable dream a short time before the
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
visit of the Quakers, which seems to have left a deep im- pression upon her mind. Though the Friends sanctioned the preaching of women, they were surprised to find this tribe under the government of a woman, and inquired why it was so. The Indians replied that some women were wiser than some men."
Inasmuch as many of the descendants of the first settlers in Nottingham are yet living in this county, and this ac- count of it would otherwise be incomplete, we append a few brief sketches of some of the most prominent of them.
Benjamin Chandlee, the emigrant who planted the family name at Nottingham, was the son of William Chandlee, of Kilmore, in the county of Kildare, Ireland, probably born about 1685. The next notice we find of him is on the 25th of the 3d month, 1710. On that day he was married at Friends' meeting, in Philadelphia, to Sarah, daughter of Able Cottey, "watch maker of Philadelphia." It appears that Benjamin at the time was engaged with Able Cottey in business, probably as an apprentice or journeyman.
In 1706 Able Cottey had purchased one of the Notting- ham lots from Randal Janney, some four hundred acres. This lot Able conveyed to his son-in-law upon his marriage to his daughter. This fortunate event induced Benjamin to remove to the property soon after his marriage. He estab- lished his trade in a small way, doing also iron work for the neighbors.
It seems that Able Cottey had also became possessed of a small farm adjoining the Brick Meeting-house lot. This property his widow, Mary Cottey, left by will (" being aged and infirm ") to her daughter, Sarah Chandlee, dated 6th mo. 18th, 1712, and proven and registered at Chester, 3d month 3d, 1714. She also mentions grandsons Able Cottey and Cottey Chandlee, and leaves £10 to John Cottey, "if he comes into these parts again." Benjamin Chandlee, the first, seems to have been a man who, had opportunities offered, would have risen to distinction in his profession. As it was,
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