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 39
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
The Charlestown fair, that was originally intended for a more legitimate use, during the latter part of its existence,
474
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
was held about the close of the fishing season. Many of the hands employed at the fisheries were hard cases, and they resorted to this fair to have a spree and spend the money they had earned during the fishing season. These annual drunken routs probably did more than anything else to in- jure the reputation of that long-established and historic village, which was benefited, rather than injured, when the annual fair was discontinued. In 1807, it was estimated that sixteen thousand barrels of shad and herring were an- nually cured and packed in the county, and that $18,000 worth were sold fresh. In 1819, two thousand seven hun- dred barrels of herring were caught at a shore on North East River in twenty-six days, by making one haul a day. The proprietor of this shore then stopped fishing, having filled all his barrels. A few years later, thirty-three thou- sand shad were caught at one haul, at Bulls Mountain. About 1820, three hundred hogsheads of herring were caught at one haul at Spesutia Island. The sein used upon that occasion was of great length, and about one hundred men were employed at the fishery. So great was the quan- tity of fish caught at that haul that it was impossible to land them in the ordinary manner, and the fishermen were obliged to buoy the cork-line of the sein by fastening it to boats placed at a convenient distance from each other, and land a part of the immense haul with scoop nets. Herring sold that year as low as ten cents a hundred. As early as 1810, the supply of fish so far exceeded the demand for them that many thousands of them annually went to loss, and were left upon the shores of the Susquehanna River and the . head of the bay, where they became such an intolerable nui- sance that the Legislature, in 1810, passed a law compelling the proprietors of fisheries in the afore-named places to re- move the fish and offal from the shores, within ten days after the end of the season, under a penalty of a fine of five dollars ; in case of failure to remove them, within five days after being notified, a fine of twenty dollars was inflicted.
475
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
Large quantities of fish were used in the early part of this century for manuring the farms of those who lived near enough to fisheries to apply them profitably, for, owing to the expense of hauling them they could only be used with profit near where they were caught.
The next most important source of wealth in the county are its mineral productions, which consist of chrome and granite. The former is found in great abundance, in the form of what is technically called sand chrome, along the streams and low lands in that part of the county extend- ing about a mile south of Mason and Dixons Line, and from the Little Elk to the Octoraro. At what time this valuable mineral was first discovered is not known, but it is highly probable that its existence was known to John Churchman, who owned much of the barren land upon which it is found, near the Octoraro. Its value first began to be developed about 1830, in which year, and subsequently, Isaac Tyson, of Baltimore, leased many hundreds of acres of the chrome lands and began to mine sand chrome exten- sively. During the succeeding twenty years, many hun- dred tons of chrome, most of which was obtained in this county, were annually shipped from Port Deposit to Balti- more. Owing to the insignificant royalty, per ton, paid by Tyson and his successor, the Tyson Mining Company, the mines, though a source of inexhaustible wealth to the lessees, were of but trifling value to the owners.
Magnesia also abounds in the barrens along the Octoraro, and in the eighth district, but it is not of sufficient impor- tance to be mined successfully.
Large quantities of iron ore, as before stated, were for- merly obtained near the iron works at Principio and North East, and there is reason to believe, from examinations re- cently made, that Red Hill, near Elkton, contains inex- haustible deposits of ore of a superior quality, as do also some of the hills in the upper part of Elk Neck. By the census of 1880, the amount of capital invested in iron manu- factories in this county, consisting of the blast furnace of
476
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
George P. Whitaker, on the Principio Creek, and the rolling- mills and forges of the Mccullough Iron Company at Row- landville, North East, and Westamerell, was $550,000.
Next to iron, the manufacture of paper is the most impor- tant industry in this county. The brothers, Samuel and William Meeteer, were the first to introduce the manufac- ture of paper into this county. They were the proprietors of the Providence Paper-mill, on the Little Elk, in the early part of the present century.
In 1816, the late Robert Carter purchased the site of the Cecil Paper-mill, on the Little Elk, now owned by his son, I. Day Carter, and soon after erected a paper-mill there. He subsequently purchased the mill formerly owned by the Cecil Manufacturing Company, and also carried on the Marley or. Ledger mill, at which the paper now used in the office of the Philadelphia Ledger is made. Mr. Carter was the first to introduce the improved method of manufactur- ing paper by machinery, and did more than any other per- son to develop this important branch of business in this county.
By the census of 1880, the total amount of capital in- vested in the manufacture of paper in this county is $200,- 000, which is divided among Charles H. Wells & Co., the proprietors of the Cecil mill on the Octoraro; the Ledger mill ; the Providence mill, owned by William M. Singerly, proprietor of the Philadelphia Record, and I. Day Carter, proprietor of the Cecil paper-mill, on the Little Elk.
Granite of superior quality abounds in the north-western part of the county, particularly along the Susquehanna and Octoraro. The granite quarries of Port Deposit were opened in 1829 by the proprietors of the Maryland Canal, and have been worked ever since, except during a few years of great financial depression. In prosperous times they afford em- ployment to several hundred persons, and have added much to the prosperity and wealth of the town.
In the winter of 1850 an effort was made by a few of the leading citizens of the county, amongst whom were Francis
477
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
A. Ellis, Hon. James McCauley, and the late Samuel S. Maffit, afterwards comptroller of the State treasury, to in- duce the legislature to establish a free-school system for the county. With this end in view, a convention was called, which met in Elkton in the winter of that year, and at an adjourned meeting emdodied the views of the members in a bill which was sent to the representatives of the county in the Legislature then in session, with a request that the bill should be enacted into a law. This request was granted, and the bill passed, with this proviso : that the law should be submitted to a vote of the people of the county in the following May; and if not sanctioned by a majority of them, it was to be inoperative. A majority of the people voted against the law, and the old system of private or subscrip- tion schools, which had been in use from time immemorial, continued until 1859, when the first free-school system for the county was put in operation. This system was subse- quently modified, and finally superseded by the free-school system of the State, in 1872.
Inasmuch as many of the younger part of the commu- nity know nothing of the system of education that pre- vailed when their grandparents were school children, it is proper to state, that in those days, when the people of a neighborhood needed a school-house, they held a meeting and raised the means to build it by voluntary contributions, many of which consisted of building materials and labor. The house was placed under the control of trustees, elected by the contributors, who were invested with power to em- ploy teachers ; prescribe the studies to be persued by the pupils ; and to supervise the teachers and schools. Many of the teachers were Irishmen, and though generally well educated and fully competent, not a few of them were ad- dieted to periodical sprees, during the continuance of which, for days at a time, the pupils enjoyed a holiday. The school-houses were generally small and uncomfortable, be- ing poorly ventilated in summer, and more poorly warmed
478
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
in winter. Provision was made by the State for the educa- tion of children whose parents were too poor to pay the teachers for their tuition, the charges for which, varied from one dollar and fifty cents to two dollars and fifty cents per scholar, per quarter of seventy-two days. Sometimes the patrons of the schools agreed to board the teacher, in such cases he moved around among them, from house to house, spending a few days with each family. The text books in use, during most of the time the subscription schools were in existence, were very different from those now used in the public schools, and required much hard study in order to be understood, but owing to this when their contents were once mastered they were never forgotten. Notwithstanding all these disadvantages, it is questionable whether the old system was not productive of more good than the one now in use. The teachers of the olden times were rigid disci- plinarians, and enforced their commands with commenda- ble promptness, and inflexible justice ; hesitating not in some few cases to chastise the parents as well as the child- ren, when the former dared to infringe upon their preroga- tives. The branches usually taught under the old system were few, notwithstanding which their paucity of number, was fully compensated by the thoroughness with which they were required to be mastered.
The strictest attention was given to the morals and de- meanor of the pupils, in consequence of which, the virtues of patience, perseverance, and obedience, were highly de- veloped. The word " teacher " was not used in connection with schools; and "school-master " had a meaning that the Young America of the present has never realized.
At this time there are seventy-six white and thirteen colored schools in the county. The value of school property, including school-houses and furniture owned by the school commisioners, is $63,000, about $50,000 of which has been accumulated since 1868, besides which several houses used for school purposes are rented by the school commissioners.
479
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
Owing to the fact that no pains were taken to preserve the returns of the assessors previous to the Revolutionary war, it is impossible even to approximate the number of in- habitants in the county for many years previous to that time; but by a census taken in 1712, it was as follows:
Masters and taxable men
504
White women.
435
Children.
873
Negroes.
285
Total.
2,097
The following abstract of a return made (probably to the intendant of the revenue) agreeably to an Act of Assembly, passed in 1785, in reference to the valuation of personal property, is valuable as showing the number and valuation of slaves in the county in that year :
Number.
Value.
Male and female slaves from 8 to 14.
518
€10,360 00 00
Males from 14 to 45 ..
618
37,080 00 00
Females from 14 to 36.
490
22,050 00 00
Males and females under 8 years.
907
6,490 00 00
Males above 45 ; females above 36.
458
6,796 00 00
Number of ounces of silver plate
4,151}
1,729 15 10
Value of other property.
66,201 9 5
£150,707 5 3
It will be seen from the above statement that the value of the slaves exceeded the value of all the other personal prop- erty in the county by upwards of £14,000.
The following table shows the population at each decade from 1790 to 1880.
Year.
White.
Free Colored.
Slave.
Total.
1790
10,055
163
3,407
13,625
1800
6,542
373
2,103
9,018
1810
9,652
947
2,467
13,056
1820
11,923
1,783
2,342
16.048
1830
11,478
2,249
1,705
15,432
1840
13,329
2,551
1,352
17,232
1850
15,472
2,623
8444
18,939
1860
19,994
2,918
950
23,869
1870
21,860
4,014
.....
25,874
1880
22,642
4,466
......
27,108
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Hall family-The Evans family-Dr. Amos A. Evans-The Mitehell family-Colonel George E. Mitchell-The Rumsey family-The Mauldin family-The Gilpin family-The Rudolph family-The Leslie family-The Hyland family-The Churchman family-The Defoe family -The Hartshorne family-Colonel Nathaniel Ramsay
THE HALL FAMILY.
THE early history of this family, like that of many others, is involved in obscurity. There is reason, however, to be- lieve that Richard Hall, from whom the distinguished family of that name in this county have descended, patented a large tract of land called " Mount Welcome," on the east side of the Susquehanna River, about a mile above the mouth of the Octoraro, in 1640. He is believed to have been a son of Bishop Joseph Hall, of England. The earliest authentic record extant shows that Elisha Hall and Sarah Winfell (or Wingfield) were married September 16th, 16SS. This Elisha Hall was the son of the Richard before men- tioned. Sarah Wingfield is believed to have been a grand- daughter or niece of the Mr. Wingfield who was President of the Council of Virginia very early in the history of that colony.
The tract of land called " Mount Welcome " probably ex- tended from the Susquehanna to the Octoraro; for at the time of the Revolutionary war the plantation now owned by P. S. P. Conner, Esq., was in possession of Colonel Elihu Hall, who entertained General Lafayette at his mansion, which then occupied the site of the one now used by Mr. Conner. Part of the original dwelling-house, which was built of briek brought from England and landed from scows at the mouth of Octoraro, is now (1881) standing. It is on
·
481
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
an elevation near the Susquehanna, and was a famous man- sion in the palmy days of the family, and was of such im- portance as to be located on a map of Pennsylvania, made a few years after the location of Mason and Dixons line, though it is more than three miles south of it.
But little is known of the history of Richard Hall and Elizabeth (Wingfield) Hall, except that they were the par- ents of one son, Elisha, who was born in 1663. He married and was the father of three children, as follows : Richard, born 1690; Elihew, born 1692; and Sarah, born 1694. No information concerning Richard and Sarah has been ob- tained. Elihew was the father of four children: Elihu, Elisha, Sarah, and Elizabeth. He probably died in 1753, at least his will was proved in that year. He devised his mill, which he built on twenty acres of land condemned for that purpose at the mouth of Beason's Run or Bastard Creek (now called Basin Run) in Rowlandville, to his son Elihu; his lands on the Susquehanna River to his son Elisha; and to his daughter Sarah, who had married a Mr. Bay, and then resided in South Carolina, a lot of negroe slaves and other personal property.
His son Elisha was a doctor of medicine. He subse- quently removed to Virginia and married a daughter of Charles Carter, of that State.
Elihu Hall Bay, a descendant of Sarah Bay, became a judge of some distinction in South Carolina. Nothing is known of his daughter Elizabeth, but inasmuch as her name is not mentioned in her father's will, it is probable that she died before it was made.
Elihu, the second person of that name, and the great- grandson of Richard, the founder of the family, married Catharine Orrick, of Baltimore County, June 16th, 1757. They were the parents of thirteen children as follows : Elihu, John, James, Elisha, Susanna, Charles, Samuel Chew, George Whitefield, Elizabeth, Henry, Catharine Orrick, Washington, and Julia Reed, all of whom were born between
EE
482
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
1758 and 1778. Elihu Hall, the father of this numer- ous family, was one of the most conspicuous patriots of this country during the Revolutionary war, and was appointed second major of the Susquehanna Battalion of Maryland militia, by the provincial government of his native State, on the 6th of June, 1776. The same year he named his son in honor of General Washington. Such was the prominence and popularity of the man, that this bold and patriotic action, was highly commended by the editor of one of the leading Philadelphia newspapers of that time. He probably died in 1791, as his will was proved in that year.
It is not within the scope of this work to give the history of all the descendants of this illustrious man; but the family of his son John has occupied such a prominent place in the politics and literature of the country, that it demands something more than a passing notice. In 1782, John Hall married Sarah Ewing, a daughter of Rev. John Ewing, a member of the Ewing family of this country, which settled on the banks of the romantic Octoraro, early in the last century. Mr. Ewing was a native of this county, and re- ceived his education at New London Academy, then in charge of Rev. Francis Allison, and became one of the most eminent scholars and Presbyterian divines of his time.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Hall spent many years at the family homestead, which he inherited from his father, on the banks of the Octoraro. While residing there in 1806, she wrote a "Sketch of a Landscape," which so well describes the beauties of that romantic section of country, that we make the following extract :
" The wide extended landscape glows with more Than common beauty. Hills rise on hills- An amphitheatre, whose lofty top,
The spreading oak, or stately poplar crowns- Whose ever-varying sides present sueh scenes Smooth or precipitous-harmonious still- Mild or sublime, -as wake the poet's lay ; Nor aught is wanting to delight the sense ;
483
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
The gifts of Ceres, or Diana's shades. The eye enraptur'd roves o'er woods and dells, Or dwells complacent on the numerous signs Of cultivated life. The laborer's decent cot, Marks the clear spring, or bubbling rill. The lowlier hut hard by the river's edge, The boat, the seine suspended, tell the place Where in his season hardy fishers toil. More elevated on the grassy slope, The farmer's mansion rises mid his trecs ; Thence, o'er his fields the master's watchful eye Surveys the whole. He sees his flocks, his herds Excluded from the grain-built cone ; all else, While rigid winter reigns, their free domain ! Range through the pastures, crop the tender root, Or climbing heights abrupt, search careful out, The welcome herb, now prematurely sprung Through half-thawed earth. Beside him spreading elms His friendly barrier from th' invading north, Contrast their shields defensive with the willow Whose flexile drapery sweeps his rustic lawn. Before him lie his vegetable stores, llis garden, orchards, meadows -- all his hopes- Now bound in icy chains : but ripening suns Shall bring their treasures to his plenteous board. Soon too, the hum of busy man shall wake Th' adjacent shores. The baited hook, the net Drawn skilful round the wat'ry cove, shall bring Their prize delicious to the rural feast."
Mrs. Hall was one of the most gifted, accomplished, and versatile writers of her day, and seems to have inherited and transmitted to her children much of the genius and intellectuality of her distinguished father. Her book, enti- tled "Conversations on the Bible," was so popular as to astonish the author by the rapidity of its sale.
John and Sarah (Ewing) Hall were the parents of eleven children, four of whom were distinguished for great literary ability. Their son, Harrison Hall, was the author of a work on distillation, and for many years the proprietor and pub- lisher of the Portfolio, a periodical of much celebrity in Philadelphia, where it was published, and elsewhere.
484
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
Another son, James Hall, studied law early in life, and afterwards distinguished himself in the battle of Lundy's Lane and other battles on the Canadian frontier, in the war of 1812. He subsequently removed to Illinois, and settled at Shawanese town, became judge of the circuit court, and was State treasurer for four years. He was a voluminous writer, and the author of eleven works on the western country.
John E. Hall was admitted to the bar in Baltimore in 1805. He was a distinguished author, and for a time was editor of the Portfolio.
Still another son, Thomas Mifflin Hall, was an author of no mean ability, and published a number of poetical and scientific contributions in the Portfolio. He studied medi- cine, and while on his way to embark in the service of one of the South American States, was lost at sea.
Henry Hall, the tenth child of Elihu Hall and Catharine Orrick Hall, was a physician, and married Hester Maclay, daughter of Hon. William Maclay, of Harrisburg, Penn- sylvania. Mr. Maclay and Robert Morris were the first United States Senators from Pennsylvania. William Maclay Hall, son of Henry just mentioned, was a Presbyterian min- ister. He died at Bedford, Pennsylvania, in 1851. Hon. William M. Hall, son of William Maclay Hall, is president judge of the sixteenth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, composed of the counties of Bedford and Somerset, and re- sides at Bedford, Pennsylvania. His brother, Hon. Lewis W. Hall, resided at Altoona, Pensylvania, and represented that district for two terms in the Pennsylvania State Senate, during and after the war. He was twice elected speaker. He now resides at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
A portion of the family homestead is now in the posses- sion of Richard Hall, the son of Washington Hall, and the great-great-great-grandson of the Richard Hall who settled on Mount Welcome in 1640. His brother Charles resides in Harford County, Maryland. Another branch of the
485
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
family, which are the descendants of Charles, the son of the second Elihu, reside in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.
THE EVANS FAMILY.
THIS family is one of the most numerous in the county and for more than a century has been one of the most dis- tinguished; many of its members having filled important public positions, while others have been successful manu- facturers and farmers.
There is reason to believe that most of the name in this county are the descendants of three brothers, John, James, and Robert Evans, who settled here about a century and a half ago, and are believed to have been the sons of John Evans, who was probably born about the year 1680.
In 1739, James Evans bought four hundred acres of land in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which he continued to hold, and probably resided on it until 1752, when he sold it to his brother, John Evans, the great-grandfather of Wil- liam James, and John P. Evans, and Catharine P., wife of W. W. Black.
James and Robert Evans married sisters, Isabella and Margaret, daughters of John Kilpatrick of West Notting- ham, who made them the executors of his will, and as such they, in 1773, sold his plantation, about two miles west of the Rising Sun, on the road leading to Porter's Bridge, to their brother John Evans, who had settled many years be- fore at Drumore Centre, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and whose son James, before-mentioned, settled on the afore- said farm.
John Evans, the eldest of the three brothers, served in the French and Indian war as a volunteer from Lancaster County. He married a Miss Denny and was the father of eight children. His eldest child, James, who was born in 1749, married (first) Susan Allison. They were the parents of three children, John, Robert, and Martha. John emi- grated to Erie, Pennsylvania, where he raised a large fam- ily. He served as a volunteer in the war of 1812.
486
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
Robert, the father of Judge James M. Evans, spent his life in this county and was for many years a justice of the peace. Martha died young. James, above-mentioned, married (secondly) Catharine Porter. They were the par- ents of four children, Andrew, James, Sarah, and William. William died young; Andrew was drowned in the Susque- hanna at the Conowingo bridge, when it was building, in 1817; Sarah married the late William Patten, and is now living in the ninety-third year of her age. James Evans married (thirdly) Martha Gillespie, by whom he had no children. He died in 1817.
James, the second of the three brothers, shortly after the sale of his property in Lancaster County, in 1752, purchased " Evans' Choice," situate about two miles southwest of West Nottingham Presbyterian church, and came there to reside. He was the father of Robert Evans, who resided - near Port Deposit.
Robert Evans married, first, his cousin Margaret Evans. They were the parents of Margaret, who never married, and Ellen Oldham, the wife of Cyrus Oldham. He married, secondly, Mrs. Isabella Alexander, whose maiden name was Creigh, by whom he had James, who never married ; Jane, who married Abraham D. Mitchell, of Fair Hill; Mary, who married William Hollingsworth, of Elkton; Sophia, who married Dr. Henry B. Broughton, who practiced medicine near Port Deposit for many years; and Robert and John, twin brothers, the latter of whom practiced medicine many years in Havre de Grace, and in the latter part of his life, near Port Deposit.
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.