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 28
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
Watson was a Tory and may have been one of the few in this county that joined the British army. The fact that the British carried away with them all the public records ex- cept a few that had been removed to the Head of Elk for safety, probably gave rise to the erroneous story that they burned the court-house. Some of the records were found in New York and brought back to the county after the close of the war. These were transcribed, but many of the origi- nal records were never recovered, which accounts for the imperfect condition of the land records previous to the beginning of this century.
The Americans, as before intimated, had large quantities of grain, salt, and other stores at the Head of Elk. and owing to the fact that salt was scarce and difficult to obtain, they were very anxious to remove it to a place of safety. In order to do this, as well as to be in a position to watch
334
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
the movements of the British, Washington left Philadelphia on the 24th of August, and on the 25th, encamped on Red Clay Creek, with his headquarters at Wilmington. His army consisted of about 11,000 men. The Pennsylvania and Delaware militia, under Generals Armstrong and Rodney, were ordered to press forward to Head of Elk, and secure the stores deposited there; but they failed to do so, and most of the stores fell into the hands of the enemy. Gen- erals Green and Weeden reconnoitered the country between Wilmington and Head of Elk, and Washington himself rode through heavy rains to the latter place on the 25th, to make a personal reconnoissance. It was upon this occa- sion that Washington passed the night in the old briek house just west of the Episcopal church, then occupied by Jacob Hollingsworth as a hotel. General Howe occupied the same room on the night of the 27th of August, and was waited upon by the same negro servant that had served Washington the night before .* The British seem to have proceeded slowly and cautiously. For a time they were encamped on the plain north of the town. Afterwards they occupied a strong position on the summit of Grays Hill. On the third of September their lines extended from Glasgow, then called Aikens or Aikentown, t to a point some distance northwest of the Baptist church on Iron Hill. On that day severe skirmishing took place between them and the Maryland and Delaware militia, near Coochs Bridge and the Baptist church on Iron Hill. In these skirmishes the Americans lost about forty men, the British somewhat less.
Just after this fight the British burned Coochs mill, and indulged in many other acts of wanton destruction of prop-
* This servant's name was Richard Mills. He lived to be quite old, and was so large and powerful that Colonel George R. Howard, who knew him well, told the author he had no doubt that his arms above the elbow were as large as the thigh of an ordinary man.
+ So called from the fact that a man called Aiken kept a hotel there.
335
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
erty. The shutters on the old Baptist church showed that a ball had been fired through one of them and passed diagonally across the building and out through another one.
There was an old and eccentric surveyor, called by the name of Humphries, who was a fifer in the American army at the battle of Coochs Bridge. He was accused of cowardice, inasmuch as he hid his fife just before the fight at the bridge, in order to keep out of danger. This man Humphries left a son Edward Humphries, better known in the northeast part of the county as " Old Neddy." He was well educated, but very eccentric; rather too fond of whisky, and had a habit of muttering and talking to himself. A friend of the author once asked him about the accusation against his father. "Oh, yes," replied Neddy, " he hid the fife and hid the fifer too."
The people of Cecil County, as before remarked, were gen- erally loyal to the cause of their country. There were, how- ever, a few exceptions; but no person of good standing in society, except Robert Alexander, is believed to have joined the enemy. He belonged to an aristocratic family that formerly owned a large tract of land at Elkton, lying between the hollow and the Far Creek, which he inherited from William Alexander, the third husband of Ariminta Alexander, who afterwards married George Catto, and who was one of the most aristocratic ladies that ever lived in the county. This man Alexander joined the British fleet when it was in Elk River, and went away with it and never returned. He left a wife and several children, who then and for many years afterwards resided in Elkton. His son, William Alex- ander, studied law, and was for some time State's attorney. He is spoken of by those who knew him as being both amiable and eloquent. Robert Alexander, who lived in the house now occupied by Daniel Bratton, is said to have prepared a fine entertainment for the British officers, and to have gone down the river to welcome them to the town, but
336
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
while he was away upon that errand the Americans came to Elkton and the feast fell into their hands .*
With the exception of the removal of the records of the county and the capture of the publie stores at the Head of Elk, the British did little damage in this county. They seem to have taken pains to conciliate those who were op- posed to them, and not to have hesitated to plunder their friends. Many of the people of the neighboring village of Newark and vicinity, as well as some of the people of Ches- ter County, were tainted with treason. A writer of the period says that the British captured all the records and public papers of New Castle County and every shilling of the public money, together with the fund belonging to the trustees of Newark Academy. In consequence of the re- verses sustained by the Americans at the battle of Brandy- wine, says a writer of that period, the people of New Castle County were dispirited and dispersed, and the less virtuous part that remained were daily employed in supplying the British troops in Wilmington and at New Castle with all kinds of provisions. Thomas Mckean, a distinguished citi- zen of Pennsylvania, in a letter written to Gen. Washington from Newark, Delaware, on the Sth of the following October, says the only remedy he can suggest for this lamentable state of affairs is to have a regiment of continental troops stationed at Newark. At the time this letter was written, he had just heard of the battle of Germantown from some Quakers who were returning to Nottingham from their yearly meeting in Philadelphia. They at first refused to
* Robert Alexander resided in Baltimore for some time before the Rev- olutionary war, and represented Baltimore County in the provincial con- vention, from June, 1774, to June, 1776, and was chosen to represent the State in the Continental Congress, in 1776, but never took his seat in that body, for this reason, that, though he opposed the aggressions of the mother country, he was not in favor of independence. He acted as agent for the Tories from the State of Maryland, who, in 1788, elaimed com- pensation from the British Government for their confiscated property. See Sharf's History of Maryland, Vol. II., page 297.
337
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
tell him anything of the battle; but he compelled them to stop, and says he was of the opinion that their account was derived from the Tories and English in Philadelphia. The pacific principles of the Friends prevented them from taking an active part in military operations in the field, but most of them were loyal to the cause of their country, and did all they were able without sacrificing their religious conviction to aid its cause.
The winter after the battle of Brandywine, the British oc- cupied Philadelphia, and it is a well-established fact that some of the disaffected and mercenary citizens of the county, some of whom were indicted for the offense, were in the habit of smuggling provisions to them. Notable among these was one Michael Trump, who resided near Colora. This man Trump lived to a great age. He trapped several wagon loads of wild pigeons, which were very numerous that winter, and sold them to the British army in Philadel- phia. They were very glad to get them, and paid him for them in gold coin. The invasion of the county greatly de- moralized the people. The new government was, at this time, only an experiment, and its ultimate success was doubtful; consequently the ill-disposed and lawless part of the citizens took advantage of the weakness of the civil au- thorities and did pretty much as they pleased. Thirty per- sons were indicted for selling liquor without license, at the November term of court, in 1777. At this term of court the sheriff was ordered to deliver the prisoners then in his cus- tody,charged with being traitors, to Colonel John D. Thomp- son, who was requested to send them under guard of his batta- lion to the lieutenant of Kent County, with directions to him to have them put in the State prison.
It has already been mentioned that the Friends in Not- tingham did not consider themselves as being under the jurisdiction of the State of Maryland. For this reason, and also because they were opposed to fighting, many of them refused to enter the service of the State when called upon to
V
338
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
do so. In order that they might be tried and punished for this, a court-martial was convened at the Head of Elk, on the 7th of December, 1778, at which were present, Colonel Stephen Hyland, lieutenant-colonel Elihu Hall (of Elisha), and Major Baruch Williams, the latter gentleman being at that time clerk of the county court. The records of this court-martial show that fifty-five persons were convicted of refusing to attend at the Head of Elk on the 23d of the preceding May, at which time they had been called into actual service by Charles Rumsey, the lieutenant of the county, at the request of the governor. The court imposed fines upon them, ranging from £20 to £35 each, and sentenced each of them to two months' imprisonment. Five persons were also found guilty of desertion. They were sentenced to fine and imprisonment. Baruch Williams was ordered to issue writs against the parties, most of whom contested the matter in the county court, with what success is not known, the records of the court not being extant.
Though the pacific principles of the Friends forbade them to engage in hostilities, they had no objections to taking care of the sick and wounded soldiers, and with the view of affording them an opportunity of doing so, a detachment of General Smallroad's division of the American army took possession of the Brick Meeting-house, in April, 1778, and converted it into a hospital for the use of the sick and wounded soldiers who were disabled in the campaign of . that year in northern New Jersey. The meeting-house was used for a hospital for about three months, the Friends meanwhile worshiping in a Friend's barn. The Friends treated the soldiers in the hospital with much kindness, and furnished them with blankets and other things that con- tributed to their comfort, and washed and mended their clothes. During the time the meeting-house was used for a hospital, many of the inmates died and were buried in the graveyard that surrounds it. A well-defined depression in the earth's surface is all that marks the site of their sepulcher.
339
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
Except the hardships incident to a state of war, which were greatly aggravated by the depreciation of the currency, which had become of such little value, that, in 1780, the price fixed by the county commissioners for a good hot din- ner, was six pounds fifteen shillings, there is little of interest to record in the history of the county in the interval be- tween the years 1777 and 1781. During this period the inhabitants were often put to great inconvenience for want of salt and sugar, but were able to supply themselves with the fabrics used for clothing from their own manufactories, the old-fashioned spinning wheels and hand looms that were to be found in every thrifty farm-house, and had a surplus left to dispose of outside of the county. In July, 1780, the captain of a small bay craft came to Head of Elk and lay in the river for several days till a favorable oppor- tunity occurred, one night during a heavy thunder storm, when he entered the warehouse of Zebulon Hollingsworth, which stood on the wharf in the " Hollow," and stole there- from about forty pieces of check, which he took to Baltimore and sold, except three pieces which he gave to one of his crew, who sold them for five hundred dollars each. This person, whose name was Green Jimmet, became dissatisfied with his share of the plunder and informed the officers of the law, who arrested him and sent a copy of his confession to the authorities of this county. Nothing more is known of the case, but it serves to show that there were some thieves in those days and that checks were very high- priced.
Colonel Hollingsworth, who took an active part in the campaign under Washington, previous to and after the battle of Brandywine, thinking he could serve his country better by doing so, returned home some time previous to March, 1778, and from that time to the close of the war acted as general agent for the authorities of Maryland and the Continental Congress. He not only purchased supplies of all kinds for the use of the army when in the field, but
340
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
was frequently called upon to provide supplies for large de- tachments of troops that passed through the county. The great thoroughfare between the North and South at that time led from Christiana Bridge to Elkton, and when it was practicable, this route was followed .. At other times the armies were obliged to march, in which case they crossed the Susquehanna River, and upon one occasion at least, a requisition was made upon him for all the boats he could procure, in order to ferry a large detachment over that river from Perryville to Havre de Grace. Such was the exigency of the case, and the scarcity of boats, that he was instructed to procure boards with which rafts were to be constructed and attached to the gunwales of the boats he was able to pro- cure, in order that a speedy passage of the river might be safely effected. Owing to the scarcity of money, the Legis- lature enacted that taxes might be paid in wheat, beef, cattle, and other things needed by the army. Colonel Hollingsworth had charge of the manufacture of much of this wheat, and supervised a large extent of country, in- cluding much of the northern part of the Peninsula and Harford County. The bran and other offal derived from the wheat was fed to the beef cattle. Patrick Ewing was one of the receivers of public wheat in the county, and much of it was ground at his mill, on Conowingo Creek, in the northwestern part of the county. The following letters illustrate the multiform duties imposed upon the gentleman to whom they were addressed :
" WILLIAMSBURG, April 15th, 1779.
" Sir :- I send fifteen highlanders, prisoners of war, taken here three years ago, to your care, requesting you to forward them on to Congress, whom I have apprised of it.
"I am, sir, your most humble servant,
"P. HENRY.
" Colonel Hollingsworth."
341
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
" PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 16th, 1779.
" MR. HENRY HOLLINGSWORTH-Sir :- I am much obliged by your expedition in sending forward my letter from Mr. Smith, of Portsmouth, and by the return of the express I transmit herewith sundry dispatches from His Excellency, the Chevr. De la Luzerne, and Mons. Holker, Adjutant- General of the Royal Marine of France, which I beg the favor of you to send forward by a fast sailing boat, which, if possible, you will hire for the purpose of carrying them on board the fleet at Portsmouth, or any other part of the bay, wherever the said French fleet may be. I think it probable that there may be Virginia or Maryland boats at your place that will undertake this business for a moderate compensation, as they may probably be on the point of re- turning. I must pray of you to procure the best boat you can for this service on the most reasonable terms in your power, taking care that the skipper is a man of confidence, well attached to the American cause, and whom you are as- sured will faithfully deliver the dispatches. I will pay your order for the amount of all expenses arising on this occa- sion, and as there will be occasion for constant communica- tion with the fleet whilst they remain in Chesapeake, meas- ures will be immediately taken for that purpose, in which I conceive your assistance will be necessary. Should Mons. Holker add any thing to this letter, I beg it may have your full attention, and you will much oblige, sir
" Your obed., humble servant,
" ROBERT MORRIS."
The expedition of General Lafayette, which Washington detached from his army, then in the vicinity of New York, which was designed to co-operate with a force already there against the traitor, Benedict Arnold, who at that time was ravaging the country along the James River and the lower part of Chesapeake Bay, passed through this county in 1781. The troops which composed this expedition numbered 1,200. They came from Trenton down the Delaware River and up the Christiana Creek to Christiana Bridge, from whence they marched to the Head of Elk, where they arrived on or about the 6th of March. The following letter, which has never
-
342
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
before been published, was copied from the original, now in the possession of the Misses Partridge, of Elkton :
" ELKTON, 7th March, 1781.
" Sir :- I return the authority of Governor, inclosed in yours of this date, I do not think you will be able to col- lect the quantity of meat specified in it by to-morrow. You may, however, use your utmost endeavors with the civil power with which you are vested, to collect as much as pos- sible to-day, which we shall take with us. The rest you will form into a magazine, and wait my orders for its following us. I do not suppose, on such an occasion as the present, a military guard necessary for enforcing the Governor's war- rant; but, should you find that it is, you must have one.
" I am, sir, your obt. and h'ble serv't.,
"LAFAYETTE. " Mr. Henry Hollingsworth."
After the expedition arrived at Head of Elk, a little fleet was soon gathered together in the Elk River, to relieve him- self of the command of which Lafayette sent for Commodore Nicholson, of Baltimore, and on the 9th of March the expe- dition set sail and reached Annapolis in safety the next evening. Lafayette expected to receive aid from the French fleet, which had sailed from the north a short time before, and was supposed to be in the lower part of the Chesapeake, and which, had all gone well, would have co-operated with him in the attempt to capture Arnold. But, unfortunately for the success of the enthusiastic young Frenchman, the British had dispatched a large squadron to reinforce the one already co-operating with Arnold, which overtook the French fleet near the mouth of the Chesapeake. A severe action took place, and, although the French had the best of the fight, they concluded, inasmuch as some of their vessels were badly crippled, and the English had succeeded in get- ting into the mouth of the Chesapeake during the heavy fog, to abandon the enterprise.
343
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
Lafayette had preceded his expedition to Annapolis and hastened on down the bay to look after the French fleet, but found, much to his surprise, that the fleet had not made its ap- pearance. After spending some time near Portsmouth and consulting with Baron Steuben, under whose command the other forces were, Lafayette learned of the arrival of the English fleet and was forced to come to the unwelcome con- clusion that his expedition was a failure. He thereupon sent orders to the troops which were still at Annapolis to be ready to move at a moment's notice. At this juncture, Washington, who had been apprised of the state of affairs, recalled the expedition, which at this time was blockaded in the harbor of Annapolis by two vessels detached from the British fleet for that purpose. Lafayette found means to rejoin his little fleet at Annapolis and for a while thought seriously of returning by land, but that plan was abandoned as impracticable on account of the want of horses to trans- port the artillery and stores. After much delay, it was re- solved to run the blockade, if possible, and return to the Head of Elk by water. The following plan was adopted : Two sloops of about sixty tons' burden were fitted up with two eighteen pounders each in their bows and a traveling forge in their holds. At 10 o'clock on the morning of the 6th of April, these vessels, each manned by two hundred volunteers, sailed boldly out of Annapolis Road's to attack the British vessels, which, on their approach, not relishing the hot shot of the Americans, left their moorings and dropped down the bay, thus opening a passage for the American fleet, which followed the two gun-boats, and reached the Head of Elk the same night. At that place Lafayette found letters from Washington countermanding the order of recall and ordering him southward again to assist General Greene.
It is stated in a letter which Lafayette addressed from Head of Elk to Governor Thomas Sim Lee, upon the 10th, that he intended to march the next day, and that it would be
344
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
necessary to have horses and wagons at Baltimore to relieve those which would accompany him from that place. He also informed the Governor that two men came on board his vessel while coming up the bay, and, mistaking it for a British vessel, had offered to show them the country about the mouth of the Gunpowder River, and accompanied by a small detachment which he had sent for that purpose, had gone there. He also informed the Governor that he intended to execute them as spies.
The army under Lafayette left the Head of Elk on the morning of the 11th of April, and marched to the Brick Meeting-house, which they reached about an hour before sunset, and encamped in the meeting-house woods. The author is indebted to James Trimble* for the following de- scription of the interesting scene, he having derived his information from those who witnessed it: "The leading divisions were rapidly followed by others until the whole woods, then containing about thirty acres, seemed filled with horses, wagons and men, but the villagers were sur- prised to see so many people settle down so quickly in exact order, the men cooking their suppers, and sentinels walking around the entire body. None of the inhabitants were molested except to replenish their empty canteens at the old-fashioned draw wells in the vicinity. William Kirk, then in about his twelfth year, informed me that in com- pany with others he went the next morning at the first appearance of daylight to see the Frenchmen before they left, but found the road already filled with the army in motion, in compact order." Upon this occasion Lafayette spent the night in the old stone house upon the plantation of the late Marshall J. Hunt, a short distance northeast of the village of Rising Sun, then occupied by Job Haines. On taking his leave the next morning, the general pre-
* For short account of James Trimble see sketch of the Defoe family, in Chapter XVIII.
345
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
sented each of Mr. Haines' sons with a piece of money, giving his son Lewis a gold coin, his name being the same as that of the general's sovereign.
Some of the army are said to have encamped near Harris- ville the same night, which seems quite probable, from the fact that Lafayette spent the night about midway between that place and the Brick Meeting-house. The next day the army crossed the Susquehanna in scows at Bald Friar* Ferry, and proceeded to Baltimore. The troops under General Lafayette were all from Northern States, and though they had willingly engaged in the expedition down the bay, they became dissatisfied when ordered to engage in a summer campaign in the South. They were poorly clad and without shoes, and showed so much discontent that it was predicted when they left Bald Friar Ferry, that not one-half of them would reach Baltimore. But by hanging one deserter and severely reprimanding some other delinquents, Lafayette preserved his little army intact and safely reached Baltimore, where the wants of his army were supplied.
In the September following, the American army under command of General Washington, passed through the Head of Elk, en route to the siege of Yorktown. Claude Blanch- ard, who accompanied the French troops, 1,200 of whom were in Washington's army, published a journal kept by him during his service in the army in this country as com- missary, in which he states that the troops embarked at Plum Point, where a number of transports from the French fleet were waiting to receive them. Blanchard, on his route northward, passed through Havre de Grace, in company with the army, in August, 1782. He states in his journal that the army was nearly two days in crossing the Susque- hanna, there being but one ferry-boat at the lower ferry ;
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.