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 21
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" Ninthly. That no man presume to come into court with their hats on when the court is sitting, except any of the Gentlemen of his Majesty's Honerable Councell, on the pen- alty of one shilling, his hat being taken off by the crier or under-sheriff and the said fine to be paid before the delivery of the hat, except the court order to the contrary.
" Tenthly. That no one presume to smoke Tobacco in the Court House while the Court is sitting, without leave of the Court, on the penalty of one shilling to the crier for taking away his pipe from him, the penalty to be paid before he departs the court.
" Eleventhly. That no man presume to use Ill Words or Indecent Language, or misbehaving words or discourse, in court sitting, on the penalty of 100 lbs. of Tobacco, and to be bound to the good behavior at the discretion of the court.
" Twelfthly. These rules to be hanged -up & affixed at the Court House as the law directs for the public view of all
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persons-according to the law, and not to be taken down by any person without order of the court first had, on the penalty of 100 lbs of Tobacco.
" WILLIAM WIVEL, Clerk."
In a petition presented to the court in 1721, it is stated that- these rules were transcribed and probably somewhat modi- fied in that year. William Rumsey states in his petition " that whereas he had by their worships' orders transcribed certain rules of court, and had further by their orders at- tended at court this five days, on expense & charges in order to have the same rules settled and agreed on, which now are concluded on, and only remain again to be fairly tran- scribed in order to be affixed at the court house door, which your petitioner is ready to do, therefore desires your wor- ships to allow him the sum of six hundred pounds of tobacco for his trouble aforesaid, which petition being read and heard and duly considered, ordered it was by the court that the same be presented & and he be allowed 300 lbs. of tobacco." It may be inferred from this that the court did not act hastily and that those employed to serve the public, then as now, expected to be liberally paid.
The most remarkable part of these rules is the statement in the heading of them, that they were "made to be ob- served !" For what other purpose they should have been made is beyond comprehension. The reference to the gentle- men of his Majesty's Council shows the deference and re- spect that was accorded to royalty. At this time the gov- ernor and council were commissioned in the name of her Majesty Queen Anne, and represented the royal authority ; hence the exception in their favor.
The critical reader will observe the negative proof con- tained in them of the existence of a turbulent spirit, and the practice of much bad conduct, which they were intended to curb and reform.
On account of the organization of Kent County, which included that part of Cecil lying between the Sassafras and
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Chester rivers, which was effected in 1706, it became neces- sary for the convenience of the inhabitants having business before the court to remove the seat of justice to a more cen- tral location. In order to accomplish this, at the August term of court, in 1717, Col. Ephraim Augustine Hermen was "allowed 300 pounds of tobacco for and in consideration of two acres of land lying and being on Long Point (now Court House Point), on Elk River, upon Bohemia Manor, for ye building of a court-house in said county."
Shortly afterwards, in the same year, he was ordered to lay out a road from Bohemia Ferry to the site of the new court-house, and to clear all convenient roads leading to the same. M. Van Bibber and John Jawert were appointed to see the road laid out. Of the size or character of this court- house but little is known, for the records of the county con- taining the contract cannot be found. There are many reasons, however, for believing that it was built of brick and floored with mortar. Tradition saith that it was torn down, and the brick of which its walls were constructed used in building the court-house in Elkton. The author, after much inquiry, has been unable to find any person who ever saw it. E. A. Hermen obtained the contract for building it, for which he was allowed 35,000 pounds of tobacco. The order for this allowance was passed at the November court, 1717. He was allowed 3,000 pounds more after the house was finished " for his extraordinary expenses defrayed about building it."
The court met in the new building for the first time on the 8th day of March, 1719. At this court it was ordered that "a clause be put into the warrant of the overseer of North Elk Hundred for clearing the path that leads out of Turkey Point main road to the directest and best way that goes to Elk River Ferry." Abel Van Burkaloo was allowed 300 pounds of tobacco for bringing the records and stocks from the old court-house on Sassafras River. He was then sheriff, and was probably the son of the Van Burkaloo whose name is now applied to a creek on Bohemia Manor.
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The following order in reference to the jail at Court House Point is extant: "Ordered, that Col. E. A. Hermen be allowed 1,000 lbs. tobacco for building a 15-feet prison and ten feet wide at ye court-house, on Elk River, with hewed logs, and a substantial pillory and stocks near ye same. It is further agreed between ye said county and ye said Her- men, that if ye said Hermen should make it fully appear, by a just account, that he should be at more charge in ye building and finishing of ye said works than what he is out more than is already allowed him, he be allowed ye next year at ye laying the then levy-the said prison to be floored with good substantial hewed logs, lofted with ye same at least seven feet high between flore and flore." Old people who were familiar with the buildings on Court House Point in their childhood, state that the jail was standing there fifty or seventy-five years ago, and that it was about twenty feet square, one story high, and very strongly built of yellow pine logs.
The same year M. Van Bibber, Col. John Ward and John Jawert, were appointed by the court to sell the old court- house at Jamestown, on Sassafras River, which they did by public auction, on the 9th day of February, 1719, to Col. John Ward, for 5,700 pounds of tobacco, he being the highest and best bidder. There was some land belonging to the county sold at the same time, the quantity and location of which are not stated, nor is there any deed on record con- veying the same to Ward.
Court House Point would now be considered a bad loca- tion for the seat of justice; but the reader must not forget that when it was selected for that purpose many of the res- idents of the county were in the habit of going to court by water. The first settlers located along the navigable streams, and when they wished to go to court, they got aboard their shallop or smack, hoisted sail, and if the wind was favorable soon reached their destination. There were few roads and still fewer vehicles in the county at this time, and the custom of
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going to court by water had been common while it was held on the Sassafras, and the people were loth to abandon it. Considering the customs which prevailed and the geography of the county, Court House Point was admirably adapted for the purpose for which it was chosen, and was the best selection that could have been made. New Munster and the country along the Susquehanna and North East was rapidly being settled at this time, and no doubt the wishes and convenience of the people living in those parts of the county were consulted and respected.
In 1721 John Jawert was authorized by the court to lay out the court-house land at his discretion in lots, and " agree with those persons who were inclinable to build on the same for such lots as they shall take up not exceeding 100. lbs. of tobacco for each lot beside surveyor's fees." Shortly after this time Aaron Latham purchased two of these lots, upon one of which he erected a small wooden house. Subsequently he wished to exchange them for another lot near the river, upon which he proposed to erect a larger house. The reason he gave for wishing to be nearer the river was that he was afraid of a conflagration that might consume his house. The house, which now stands upon this point, is very old and was no doubt considered a fine specimen of architecture when it was built. The cor- nice is very elaborate and probably is entirely different from any other now extant in this county. The house is said to have been occupied by the sheriff of the county during the time that the court met there, and its appearance and arch- itecture indicate that such may have been the fact.
After the removal of the court to Court House Point the ferry across the Elk River became one of the most import- ant ones in the county. A brick house was erected on the north side of the river, which was used for a tavern for many years. Every trace of it has long since disappeared, but a part of the wall of the ferry house still remains. It is close by the river and partially covered by the vines of
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several trumpet flowers which cling to the ruined old walls as if anxious to conceal the ravages which time has made upon them.
There are many traditions concerning the execution of criminals at Court House Point ; how they were drawn and quartered, as was the custom at that time, and how their ghastly remains were exposed to public view, different parts being placed upon different sides of the river. There is also a legend current among the old citizens of Elk Neck, which may properly be called the legend of the "Bloody Holly Bush," which originated from a murder committed on the ferry farm while it was occupied by Hans Ru- dolph, the proprietor of the ferry. Rudolph had a negro slave who, for some reason, was confined in the jail at the Point, and who made his escape and swam across the river and procured a gun and hid himself beside a log about a mile from the old ferry·house. His master, while hunt- ing for him, approached his place of concealment and he shot him, his blood bespattering the green leaves of a holly bush near which he stood. The leaves of a holly bush still growing there are flecked with crimson spots, as is alleged, from some supernatural cause. There is no doubt of the truth of the red spots being on the leaves of the holly bush, but they are caused by some peculiarity of the soil in which it grows.
The legal machinery of the county seems to have been in a very bad condition for several years subsequent to 1719. At this time Matthias Van Bibber was presiding justice of the court, and his nephew, James Van Bibber, was sheriff of the county. For some reason they seem not to have been on good terms with each other, for in 1720 James presented a petition to the court alleging that he had bought a large tract of land from his uncle, who had caused the trees that marked the boundary lines of it to be cut down, and he prayed the court for a commission to re-establish the boundaries.
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This was certainly bad conduct, and a very bad example to have been shown by the highest officer of the court; but shortly afterwards his nephew, the sheriff, was accused of a still worse crime, in a petition signed by fifty-three of the freeholders of the county, in which they allege that he "did exact levy and unlawfully take from the inhabitants of the county the sum of 8,601 lbs. of tobacco," for which he was indicted, but under color of friendship, relationship or otherwise, the said indictment was stifled and the culprit was not punished. They therefore prayed the court to bring the said Van Bibber before it and take measures to restore the said tobacco to those from whom it had been wrongfully taken. The petition was favorably received and James came into court and promised to refund the money to the county, whereupon the court ordered the same to be inserted in the levy for the current year.
On the 14th of June, 1720, John Jawert and Col. John Ward met at the court-house, but there not being a quorum present, they ordered that Gavin Hutchinson, one of the under-sheriffs, "go to the house of Matthias Vanderhuyden and desire him to give his attendance." The sheriff returned and stated that Vanderhuyden would not come. They then sent Hugh Watson for Francis Mauldin, who returned and reported that Mr. Mauldin was away from home. James Wood, one of the constables of the court, was then sent for Matthias Van Bibber, who was presiding justice of the court. Wood returned and said Van Bibber "wanted sooner notice in the day," besides he was indisposed and could not come. So the two justices, after waiting until 12 o'clock at night, departed to their homes, first causing this mournfully curi- ous record to be made : "That the said court with all actions, pleas & causes depending in the same was miscontinued & dropt, and the court fallen."
The trouble, whatever it may have been, seems to have continued until 1723, for on the 12th of April of that year Matthias Van Bibber, presiding justice, and Benjamin Pearce
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and William Alexander, complained to the council at An- napolis "that they had been insulted and vilified in the exe- cution of their office by one John Ward, and others, his as- sociates, both by words in open court and libels dispersed all over the county; in so much as the county by their means is in danger of running into riots and unlawful tumults." They therefore asked the opinion of the council as to how they should act in the matter. The council re- ferred the subject to the attorney-general and desired him to investigate it, and if necessary prosecute the offenders.
The lawyers of that period were probably as ignorant of the law and as unskillful in the practice of it as the courts were in the dispensation of justice. In 1717 the court passed an order in reference to John Sloan, who was one of the attorneys, in which it is stated that he had misbehaved himself in his office, "and finding him altogether unskilled in the law they discarded the said John Sloan from ever practicing in this court anymore."
The reasons given by some of the applicants for admis- sion to the bar are quaint and curious. One of them states in his petition to the court that he had procured several law books and spent much time during the last year in studying them. Another aspirant for admission to the bar bases his claim upon the importunities of his friends, who had besought him to take charge of their cases. And Abel Van Burkaloo, who was ex-sheriff at the time, bases his claim upon his in- ability to secure the services of a competent attorney to at- tend to the business he had before the court, and thought if he was admitted he might transact his own business and in time be employed by others. The court admitted him, with the understanding that he would qualify himself.
CHAPTER XVII.
Efforts to establish towns-Ceciltown, at mouth of Scotchman's Creek -Fredericktown-Georgetown-The Acadians or French Neutrals-Ac- count of them-They are sent to Louisiana and Canada-Reasons for building Charlestown-Its location-Public wharf and warehouse-Its exports-Fairs-Introduction of tea and coffee-History of Charlestown -Population by census of 1880.
THOUGH the early settlers along the James and Delaware rivers turned their attention to the erection of towns, and Jamestown and Newcastle early sprung into existence as the result of their efforts, the other early colonists appear to have been wholly absorbed in the culture of tobacco, and had no time to devote to the erection of towns. Except in the single case of St. Maries, there appears to have been no effort made, previous to the year 1683, to erect a town in the province. The necessity of having some protection against the Indians led the colonists at St. Maries to erect a town, or at least to place their dwelling-houses in close proximity to each other; but as the other colonists became better acquaint- ed with the Indians, they had less cause to apprehend dan- ger from them, and do not appear to have thought of build- ing towns. But in 1683 the legislature appears to have become aware of the fact that there were no towns in the province, and they set themselves to work with much energy to supply a want the existence of which seems suddenly to have obtruded itself upon their attention. But their zeal defeated the object they had in view, and they made so many imaginary towns that not one of the number attained any magnitude or distinction as a town or city. Indeed, but few people, at present residing in the immediate neighborhood of some of the sites of these imaginary towns, ever heard of
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their existence, though it is quite probable that each and every one of them were used for a time as a port of entry, the erection of which ports was probably the great object the legislators had in view when the law was passed that called them into existence. The act of 1682 provided for the erec- tion of thirty-three towns or ports of entry in the province. At that time there were ten counties in the province, and the act provided for the erection of at least two towns or ports in each county, though some of the counties had as many as five of these imaginary towns erected within their limits. The places named in Cecil County were as follows: "At Captain John's Creek, William Price's plantation in Elk River; in Sassafras River; at William Frisby's plantation in Worten Creek; and by two supplementary acts passed in 1684 and 1686, at the plantation of John West, in Sassafras River, and in Elk River, at a place called Ceciltown, at the mouth of Bohemia River."
Commissioners in each county were named in the act to carry out the many curious provisions it contained, but their names do not appear in the abstract given in the ancient laws of that day. One hundred acres of land were to be purchased by the commissioners at each of the loca- tions mentioned in the act, provided the owner was legally able and willing to dispose of it. In case he was legally incapacitated or unwilling to do so the commissioners were empowered to summons a jury and have the land con- demned and valued. The commissioners were to cause these tracts "to be surveyed and staked out and divided into convenient streets, lanes and alleys, with open places to be left for erecting church, chapel, market-house or other public buildings, and the remaining part of the said one hundred acres to divide into one hundred equal lots, the owner of the land to have his first choice for one lot; no person to purchase more than one lot during four months after the 25th of March, 1684, and the lots to be purchased by inhabitants of the county only. But if not taken up by
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them within the said four months, then to be free to any person whatsoever to take up the same, paying the owner proportionately." Although the commissioners appointed by the act were enjoined to purchase the land from the owners, such does not seem to have been the practice of the times nor the meaning of the legislators; on the contrary, those who wished town lots were to pay the owner of the land for them, and they were to be holden of the lord proprietary and his heirs forever, under the yearly rent of one penny current money for each respective lot. Each person who became proprietor of a lot was to erect a "twenty foot square house on it before the last day of August, 1685;" and in case he did not erect the house he forfeited his right to the lot, and any other person might enter the same in the clerk's book upon the payment of eighty pounds of tobacco, which was the clerk's fee in cases of that kind.
The act provided "that the owner of any store-house within such towns, his said store-house not being full, and having no occasion thereof for his own proper tobacco, shall, on request, suffer the owner of any tobacco brought there in hogsheads to put in and secure it as if it were his own in such store-house, the owner of the tobacco paying the owner of the store-house ten pounds of tobacco per hogshead, which the store-house keeper shall secure for twelve months or less, casualties by fire only excepted."
The legislators were fearful that they had taken pains to erect too many towns, and in order to neutralize or remedy the bad effect which they apprehended might fol- low, they close the act with a proviso as follows: "Lest the great number of towns may in time become burdensome to the public by increasing the number of burgesses, no town shall hereafter be capable of sending a citizen or citizens to any Assemby till such time as the said town shall be actually inhabited by so many families as shall be sufficiently able to defray. the expenses of such delegate without being chargeable to their respective county by reason thereof: but
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the said charges to be defrayed by the respective inhabit- ants of the towns sending such delegates." The act provided "that from and after the 8th of August, 1685, the towns, ports and places therein mentioned shall be the ports and places where all ships and vessels trading into this province shall unload and put on shore, and sell, bar- ter, and traffic away all goods, etc., imported into this province, and all tobacco, goods, etc., of the growth, produc- tion, or manufacture of this province intended to be sold here or exported, shall be for that intent brought to the said ports and places." Planters were, however, allowed to pur- chase provisions for themselves and workmen at their own plantations, and the citizens of the towns were allowed to traffic in goods in their respective towns if they purchased them from vessels arriving there. These towns, notwith- standing the pains taken to bring them into existence, did not flourish. The legislators appear to have had a mania for making and unmaking towns about this period in the his- tory of the province, for in the year 1684 they made twelve more towns. The same act contained many other curious enactments to remedy supposed or imaginary defects and omissions in the original act. In 1686 they made thirteen more, and enacted that four of those that were then in exist- ence should cease to be towns or be untouned, as they express it. Those places that were untowned were no doubt badly located and probably were unsuitable for the purpose for which they were designed, and probably the legislators of that day thought if they thinned them out, those that were left would flourish with more vigor. It appears to have been a favorite project of the early settlers of Cecil County to found a town to be called Ceciltown.
The following extract from the land records of the county of that date will show the method they pursued in those days, when they wished to try the experiment of building a town :
" At a session of Assembly began and held at Annapolis, on Thursday, the 21st day of May, 1730, among other laws, was
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enacted, viz .: An act for the laying out of land and erect- ing a town at a place called Broxen's Point,* in Cecil County. " August 6th, 1730. At a meeting of the commissioners empowered by the said act for laying out a town on Broxen's Point, in Cecil County, and on the south side of Bohemia River, were present, Col. Eph. Aug. Hermen, Col. Benjamin Pearce, Mr. Thos. Colvill, Mr. Stephen Knight, Mr. Nicholas Ridgely, Mr. Joshua George, Mr. Alphonso Cosden, Com- missioners.
" And the Commissioners do order that the Clerk of the said county set up notes at the said Broxen's Point, John Segars, at the Church of this Parish and at Col. Benja- min Pearce's Mill, signifying to all persons whom it may relate to, that the said Commissioners will proceed according to the direction of an act of assembly for laying out the said town. Notes set up according to said direction. Then the said Commissioners adjourn until the 7th of September, 1730, at which time they met again and the Sheriff of said county being present makes return of a warrant directed to him to summon a jury."
The warrant recites the fact that the commissioners were unable to agree upon the price of the land, and that agree- able to the provision of the act in that case a jury was to be summoned for the purpose of valuing the land. A majority of the commissioners were of the number of those who after- wards took up lots in the town, but whether this had any- thing to do with their inability to agree upon the price of the land does not appear; at this age of the world it would probably have much to do with the matter.
The sheriff's name was John Baldwin, and the warrant for the summoning of the jury is dated the 24th of August. From this it would seem that they had a meeting upon that
* Broxen's Point was at the junction of Scotchman's Creek and the Bohemia River. Scotchman's Creek was then called Omealy Creek. The town was called Ceciltown.
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