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 3
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But little else worthy of note occurred in connection with the Susquehannocks until 1652. In that year a treaty was made with them, which is the first of which any record has been preserved. This treaty was made "at the River of Severn," where Annapolis now stands. It may be found at length in the appendix to Bozman's History of Maryland, in which it is stated that a blank occurs in the first article. A critical examination of the old Council Book will con- vince any person familiar with the peculiar chirography of that time that there is no blank in it, and that the word which Mr. Bozman says in another place is illegible, is in reality the word trees. The first article of this treaty is as follows : "Articles of peace and friendship treated and agreed upon the fifth day of July, 1652, between the English nation, in the province of Maryland, on the one party, and the Indian nation of Susquesahanough on the other partie, as followeth: First, that the English nation shall have, hould and enjoy to them, their heires and assigns forever, all the land lying from Patuxent River unto Palmer's Island, on the westerne side of the baye of Chesepiake, and from Choptank River to the northeast branch, which lyes to the northward of Elke River, on the easterne side of the said baye, with all the islands, rivers, creeks, trees, fish, fowle, deer, Elke, and whatsoever else to the same belonging, excepting the Isl of Kent and Palmer's Islend, which belong to Cap- tain Clayborne. But nevertheless it shall be lawful for the aforesaid English or Indians to build a house or forte for trade or any such like use or occasion at any tyme upon Palmer's Island." The treaty further stipulated for the return of fugitives escaping from either of the contracting parties, and provided that when the Indians desired to visit
B
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
the English they should come by water and not by land, and that not more than eight or ten of them at one time, and that each party, when visiting the other, should carry with them and exhibit the token, which they appear to have mutually exchanged with each other, so that they could be recognized and entertained. And, after pledging the con- tracting parties to a perpetual peace, which was to endure forever to the end of the world, provided that if it should so happen that either party should grow weary of the peace, and desire to go to war, they should give twenty days' notice by sending in and delivering up this writing. This treaty was signed by Richard Bennett, Edward Lloyd, Thomas Marsh, William Fuller and Leonard Strong, commissioners on the part of the English, and on the part of the Indians by "Sawahegeh, Auroghtaregh, Scarhuhadig, Ruthchogah and Nathheldi- anch, warr captaines and councillors of Susquesahanoughi, commissioners appointed and sent for the purpose by the nation and State of Susquesahanough ;" and was witnessed by William Lawson and Jafer or Jasper Peter, the last individual signing it for the Swedes governor. Why it was that Jasper Peter witnessed this treaty on behalf of the Swedes governor, will forever remain a mystery. He most probably was an Indian trader from the Swedish settlement at Christina,* which will be referred to in the next chapter. It will be seen from the first article of this treaty that the Susquehannocks, in the interval since Captain Smith ex- plored the Chesapeake Bay, had extended their territory on the western shore from the west bank of the Susquehanna to the Patuxent River, and on the eastern shore from the northeast to the Choptank River. The probability is that the tribes that Smith found south of the mouth of the Sus- quehanna and northeast were tributary to the Susquehan- nocks, and that the latter had long claimed the country and enjoyed the privilege of hunting and fishing along the
* Where Willmington now stands, afterwards called Christiana.
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shores of the bay in the territory mentioned in the treaty. The great accumulations of oyster shells found near the mouth of Fairlee Creek, in Kent County, and at other places further down the bay, which are believed to have been placed there by migratory Indians, seems to favor this idea. The reader will notice that Kent and Palmer's islands are said to belong to Captain Clayborne. The facts are that at this time the government of Maryland was in the hands of his friends, and that he had re-entered and taken possession of them a short time before the treaty was made .*
* Hanson's Old Kent, page 7.
CHAPTER IV.
Early settlements on the Delaware-Henry Hudson-Captain Mey and others-Names of the Delaware-Fort Nassau-Swanendale-Peter Min- uit plants a Swedish colony at Wilmington-Fort Cassimir-Peter Stuyvesant conquers the Swedes.
THE reader will bear in mind that it is not the purpose of this work to give a history of Cecil County solely ; the history of the settlements immediately surrounding it, being so closely interwoven with its own, that its history would be incomplete without a glance at their origin and contempo- raneous doings. Such idea is embodied in the title of this book; and inasmuch as Maryland, by the terms of its char- ter, extended to the Delaware Bay and river, and to the fortieth degree of north latitude, which is some distance above the mouth of the Schuylkill, it is highly important in order that the reader may properly understand the history of the carly settlements in Cecil County and elsewhere near the head of the Chesapeake Bay, that he should be informed of the efforts that were made from time to time by other nations to plant colonies along the Delaware. From a period commencing with 1659, and continuing for at least half a century, the history of what transpired along the western shore of the Delaware bay and river as far north as Phila- delphia, is so closely blended with that which transpired within the present limits of Cecil County that it is impossi- ble to give an intelligible account of one, without having a correct knowledge of the other. During this period was laid the foundation of that intimacy between the people of the upper part of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and the settlements 'along the Western Shore of the Delaware, the
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
effect of which may yet be seen, in the diversion of much of the trade that legitimately belongs to Baltimore City, to Philadelphia and Wilmington. For the reasons already mentioned, and from the fact that many of the carly settlers of this county came here from the settlements on the Dela- ware, it will be necessary, from time to time, to refer to the colonies on that river, and trace their history, which will be done as briefly and succinctly as the importance of the sub- jeet will permit.
The Delaware River was discovered by Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the employ of the Dutch East India Company, in 1609; but no steps were taken to effect a settle- ment along that river or bay until 1614. In that year the States- General of Holland, the government of which was deeply interested in maritime discoveries, passed an edict granting exclusive privileges to any persons who should make any important discoveries in the New World. Under this edict five vessels, fitted out by merchants of Amsterdam, sailed to the mouth of the Manhattan River, as the Hudson was then called. One of the vessels, the Fortune, commanded by Captain Cornelius Jacobson Mey, subsequently sailed south and entered the Delaware Bay. It is from him that the eastern cape of the Delaware Bay derives the name of Cape May.
One of these vessels was burned, and to supply its place a smaller one was built, in which, after the return of the others, Captain Hendrickson who was left in charge of the new vessel, proceeded to explore the Delaware Bay and river. He ascended the latter as far as the mouth of the Schuylkill, and is believed to have been the first white man that ever trod upon the soil of the State of Delaware. While here he purchased three native inhabitants from the Min- quas, who held them in slavery, for whom he gave in ex- change kettles, beads and merchandise .* This happened in
* Vincent's History of Delaware, Vol. I. page 103.
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1616. The Delaware River has been known by many names. Vincent, in his history of the State, informs his readers that the Indians called it by no less than five. The Dutch called it Zuydt, or South River; by which name it is frequently mentioned in the early records of this county ; they also called it Nassau River, and Prince Hendrick's or Charles River; the Swedes, New Swedeland stream; the English, Delaware, from Lord De-la war, the title of Sir Thomas West, who occupied a prominent position in the early history of Virginia.
The privileges of the first Company having expired, another one called the West India Company was chartered for the purpose of effecting settlements and trading with the natives along the shores of the South River. Under the auspices of this Company a settlement was made and a fort called Fort Nassau constructed, a short distance below Phila- delphia on the other side of the river, near where the town of Gloucester, New Jersey, now stands. This was done in 1623. The history of this fort is shrouded in obscurity. Some of the early Swedish writers affirm that it was aban- doned by the Dutch after they had conquered the Swedes, and was found in possession of the Indians in 1633. Other writers assert that the Dutch at New Amsterdam maintained a trading post there for many years, and till after the Swedes had established themselves on the other side of the Dela- ware River.
The next effort to effect a settlement on the Delaware was probably made in 1631, for the time is not very certain. This settlement, which the Dutch called Swanendale, was at Lewes, and was made by a company of Dutchmen who ex- pected to realize much gain from catching whales in the Delaware Bay. The colony was brought over by David Peiterzen De Vries, a Hollander, who, after leaving it com- fortably located under command of one Gillis Hossett, re- turned to his native country. The next year De Vries re- visited Swanendale and found that some time during the
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interval the whole colony had been massacred by the In- dians. De Vries learned from the Indians that the colo- nists had erected a pillar on which they had fastened a piece of tin, upon which was traced the coat-of-arms of the united provinces. One of the chiefs wanted the tin to make into tobacco pipes and took it away, which gave offence to the officer in command, who complained to the Indians so bit- terly that to appease his wrath they slew the offender. The Dutch regretted the death of the chief, and told the Indians they had done wrong to kill him. Subsequently, some of the friends of the murdered Indian resolved to avenge his death, and taking advantage of a favorable opportunity when all the Dutch, except a sick man, were at work in the field, attacked and slew them all.
The planting of this colony of unfortunate people at the mouth of the Delaware Bay, had a very important bearing upon the history of Maryland ; and owing to the phrase- ology of the charter of that province had more to do with circumscribing the territory of the State of Maryland than all other circumstances combined.
To Peter Minuit belongs the credit of planting the next colony in the State of Delaware. He had been appointed Director-General of New Netherlands, which then included New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and part of Connecticut, in 1624, and had been recalled eight years afterwards, hav- ing quarreled with the company who had employed him. Probably with the view of avenging himself upon them, he offered his services to the crown of Sweden, with the inten- tion of effecting a Swedish settlement on the South River, and offered to conduct the enterprise. His offer was accep- ted, and the expedition sailed from Sweden, as is supposed, in the fall of the year 1637. Th expedition, it is supposed, consisted of about fifty persons, many of whom, it is said, were criminals .* Judging from their history as gleaned
* Vincent's History of Delaware, Vol. I., page 145.
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HISTORY OF CECIL. COUNTY.
from the correspondence between their governors and the authorities at New Amsterdam after the Dutch conquered them, morality and religion were at a low ebb among them, though they always seem to have made great preten- sions to the latter. The expedition reached this country in April, 1638, and sailing up the Delaware Bay and river, entered the Minquas Creek, which they called the Christina, and landed at the foot of Sixth street, in what is now the city of Wilmington. They at once commenced the erection of a fort, which, in honor of their young queen, they named Fort Christina. A small town called Christinaham or Christina Harbor was also erected near the fort.
About this time (1638) the Dutch, who had established a trading post at New Amsterdan, which was on Manhattan Island, where New York now stands, in 1610, began to look more diligently to their interest on the Delaware,* and complained loudly to the government of Holland of the injury done to their trade by the Swedes on the Delaware. The history of the quarrels between the Dutch and Swedes, and their efforts to outdo each other and obtain control of the country along the Delaware during the next seventeen years, is too intricate to be given in this place. But it is important that the reader should be informed that during this time the Swedes had extended their possessions by purchase from the Indians from their first settlement on the Christiana up the Delaware to a point within what is now the city of Philadelphia. During this period they erected forts on Tinieum Island, where the Lazaretto is now ยท located, and at the mouth of Salem Creek, in New Jersey, with the intention of commanding the navigation of the Delaware River and ultimately preventing the Dutch from visiting their fort at Gloucester. They also had established a trading post on an island in the Schuylkill River, and were so successful in their trade with the Indians on the
# Ferris's Original Settlements on the Delaware, page 52.
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ITISSTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
west bank of the Delaware as to excite the fears of the Dutch that they would ultimately supplant them and force them to abandon their trade altogether.
Peter Stuyvesant, a man of great energy and decision of character, was made Governor of New Amsterdam in 1647, and soon afterwards set about devising measures to regain some of the lost prestige of his countrymen on the Delaware. To this end he purchased from the Indians all the land be- tween the Christiana and Bombay Hook, and erected a fort, called Fort Cassimir, on a point of land then called Sand- huken, now New Castle. This fort was erected in 1651. It was only about four miles from the Swedish fort at Chris- tina. Shortly after it was finished an armed vessel arrived from Sweden and summoned the garrison to surrender. Being in no condition to stand a siege, they did so, and the Swedes took possession of the fort and garrisoned it. The capture of this fort no doubt added to the jealousy and rancor of the Dutch; but Stuyvesant bided his time, and having made ample preparation, sailed from New Amster- dam in August, 1655, in command of a squadron of seven armed ships, containing between six and seven hundred men, for the purpose of conquering the Swedes and taking possession of the country. Fort Cassimir, the name of which the Swedes had changed to Fort Trinity, capitulated without resistance. Rising, the Swedish governor, defended Fort Christina as well as he could, but was soon forced to surrender, and in a short time the whole of New Sweden, as the country on the west bank of the Delaware was then called, fell into the hands of the Dutch. By the terms of capitulation of Fort Christina, Rising, and all other Swedes who wished to do so, were allowed to return to Gottenberg, a port in the North Sea, in a ship to be furnished by the Dutch. They seem to have been afraid or ashamed to go back to Sweden. Those who chose to remain were tendered the oath of allegiance, which was taken by most of them.
After the conquest of New Sweden it was divided into
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
two colonies, one of which included Fort Christina and the land immediately around it, and extended from Christina River down to Bombay Hook. This was called "The Colony of the Company." The other extended from the north boun- dary of the Company's colony up the Delaware to the extent of the settlement, and was called "The Colony of the City." It belonged to the city of Amsterdam, and was governed by the burgomasters and council of that city, through Peter Stuyvesant and his council.
Before the erection of Fort Cassimir, in 1651, all business was transacted in the name of "The States-General and the West India Company," jointly. Now their concerns were divided. Lands lying within the territory of the city were conveyed in Amsterdam by the burgomasters and council. Deeds for those within the limits of the Company were ex- eeuted by directors and commissaries .* Nowithstanding this diversity of interest, both colonies were under the jurisdiction of Stuyvesant, who appointed the governors and commissaries, and exercised a general surveillance over the affairs of each of them. New Amstel, now New Castle, which was founded about this time, was the residence of the governor of the colony belonging to the Company. Altona, now Wilmington, was the capital of the other colony. The Swedish families are stated by Ferris as num- bering one hundred and thirty. Such, briefly stated, was the condition of affairs along the Delaware in 1659, when the authorities of Maryland took the first steps to dispossess the interlopers.
* Ferris's Hist. of the Original Settlements on the Delaware, page 106.
CHAPTER V.
First permanent settlement in the county - Other settlements- Spesutia Island-Trouble between the Dutch and English-Nathaniel Jtie-He is sent to New Amstel-Augustine Hermen and Resolved Wal- Iron visit Maryland-Their meeting with the Governor and Council- Account of the early life of Augustine Hermen-Ilis Map of Maryland- Extracts from his will-He obtains a grant of Bohemia Manor and Mid- lle Neck -Makes a treaty with the Indians at Spesutia Island-First eference to Cecil County-Thompsontown-Indian forts.
THE first permanent settlement in Cecil County, so far as the writer has been able to learn from laborious and patient Investigation of everything calculated to throw any light on the subject, was made in 1658, upon the farm which for more than a century and a half has been in the possession of the Simcoe family of this county. This farm may be found on the map of the county, and is located a short distance northwest of Carpenter's Point fishery, and not very far from the mouth of Principio Creek. It appears from papers in possession of Mr. George Simcoe, of Bay View, the present owner of the farm, that it was part of a tract of four hundred acres taken up and patented on the 20th July, 1658, by one William Carpender, under the name of Anna Catharine Neck. It is described as butting on Bay Head Creek, now called Principio Creek. George Simcoe, who was a felt- maker from Prince George's County, purchased two hundred acres, part of the original tract, from Carpender Littington, in 1720, which is described as adjoining the land of Francis Clay, who, there is little doubt, sought to perpetuate his name by applying it to the historic tract of land called " Clay Fall," which included a large part if not all the land
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
in Carpenter's Point Neck. It is probable that other settle- ments were made about this time, along the Bay shore west of Principio Creek, and that a few straggling settlers from Kent Island had settled on the main land in the south- western part of Kent County, which, as we shall see, was afterwards for a period of thirty-two years included in this county. There is also reason to believe that a few settle- ments had been made along the Sassafras River near its mouth, but no record of any of them has come down to the present time. Judging from the fact that the Susquehan- nocks reserved the country between the North East and Sus- quehanna rivers, in the treaty of 1652, and there being no evidence that they ever ceded it to the English, it is reason- able to conclude that the first settlers at "Clay Fall" were Indian traders, located there for the purpose of trafficing with the Susquehannocks, who continued to frequent this part of the county for many years after this time.
Spesutia Island had been settled for some time before this, for there is evidence that the Dutch at Altona knew of it the next year and called it Bearson's Island.
Many of the Swedes and Finns -- for many of the latter had settled along the Delaware-not liking the government of the Dutch, took refuge among the English settlements be- fore named, and among them were six soldiers, who had deserted from the Dutch service. At a meeting of the Coun- cil of New Amstel, on June 20th, 1659, it was resolved to re- quest the governor of Maryland to return these deserters. The Dutch did not know the governor's name, nor where he lived, but they were acquainted with Nathaniel Utie, who then resi- ded upon Spesutia Island, and who no doubt was in the habit of visiting the Dutch settlements; and so they sent the letter to Utie, who agreed to forward it to the governor, though he informed those who delivered it to him that he had a commission in his house authorizing him to visit the Dutch, and had delayed starting upon his mission because Lord Baltimore had arrived and ordered a survey of the
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ountry to be made, with a view of convincing the Dutch hat they were located within his province. Utie told them f that was the case, that measures would be taken to reduce he Dutch and make them acknowledge the jurisdiction of Iaryland, and that Lord Baltimore had no intention of bandoning any part of his territory. The assertion made y Utie that Lord Baltimore had arrived was not true, and e probably made it to intimidate those who composed the. mbassy.
Nathaniel Utie was one of the most prominent pioneers f civilization at the head of Chesapeake Bay. The time of is settlement upon Spesutia Island is unknown, but it was probably made soon after the treaty with the Susquehan- ocks, in 1652. The beautiful island opposite Turkey Point erives its name from him. The word means Utie's Hope. Ie probably came from Virginia, and was, no doubt, a rela- ive of John Utie, whose name occupies a conspicuous position n the history of Virginia from 1623 till 1635. In the ormer year he and ten others addressed a letter to the king n reference to the affairs of that colony. He was at that ime a member of the Council of Virginia. He afterwards ot into political trouble and his property was confiscated. Nathaniel Utie was appointed councilor, May 6th, 1658. The next day he was licensed to trade with the Indians in he province for beaver and other furs. He seems to have een a member of the last Assembly, and to have been made councilor on account of " the great ability and affectionate ervice done in that AAssembly by him." He was authorized n his license to arrest all persons trading in the upper part f the bay not having license. On the 12th of July follow- ng he was commissioned as captain of all the forces be- ween the coves of Patuxent River and the Seven Mountains, nd was to command as his own company all the forces rom the head of Severn River on the north side thercof to he Seven Mountains. This is the only time the Seven Moun- ains are mentioned in the colonial records. It is impossible
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HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
to ascertain, with certainty, what highlands were thus digni- fied by the name of mountains; but the name was evidently applied to seven of the largest hills near the head of the bay, and there is little doubt that Bulls' Mountain and the other eminences in Elk Neck are the mountains referred to. In 1661 the council of the colony met at Spesutia ; and Utie, who had been a member of a bogus Assembly that met at St. Clement Manor in 1659, in the time of Fendall's rebellion, and which had indulged in legislation hostile to the Lord Proprietary, petitioned the council " to add a further act of grace, that his former offences may not be prejudicial to him hereafter." It seems from this that he had already been pardoned, but the council very graciously granted his petition. He represented Baltimore County in the House of Burgesses in 1665; and the next year was one of a num- ber of commissioners appointed to negotiate with the gover- nors of Virginia and North Carolina in reference to the dis- continuance of the planting of tobacco in those provinces and Maryland for one year, in order to enhance the price of that article. He owned a considerable quantity of land near the mouth of the Gunpowder and also owned land along the Sassafras River.
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