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 42
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
Joseph, the eldest son, removed from Gilpin's Falls pre- vious to 1761, and settled on what is now known as the
513
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
"Gilpin Home Farm," on the Big Elk, north of Elkton. He erected the mill which formerly stood a short distance south of the dwelling-house, the land for the use of which he caused to be condemned for that purpose, according to the custom of the times. He also built the old mansion house, which is now standing. His father having disposed of his lands on North East Creek to his sons, Joseph and Samuel, resided with the latter previous to 1767, in which year he died, aged seventy-four years. He was buried in the family burying-ground on the bank of the Big Elk, a short distance above the bridge across that stream, where his tombstone may be seen.
Joseph Gilpin married Eliza Reed. They were the parents of six children : John, Hannah, Elizabeth, Joseph, Mary, and Rachel. He was a patriotic and public-spirited citizen, and represented this county in the Provincial Con- ventions of 1776-7, and was also a member of the House of Delegates in the latter year; and for many years filled the position of presiding justice of the county court. He died in 1790, aged sixty-three years, leaving a large landed estate in this county and also in Western Pennsylvania and Virginia. His eldest son, John, to whom he willed the Home Farm on the Big Elk, married Mary Hollingsworth in 1797. He was one of the members of the House of Dele- gates from this county in 1800, and died in 1808. He was the father of Miss Mary, Joseph, Henry, Dr. John, and Wil- liam H. Gilpin, many of whose descendants reside in this county.
-
THE RUDULPHI FAMILY.
AWAY back in the early part of the last century, so far back, indeed, that the time is very uncertain, a distinguished family appeared in Cecil County, and for many years acted a conspicuous part in its history, being prominent as mer- chants, soldiers, and jurists.
GG
514
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
Bartholomew, Hanse, Jacob, and Tobias Rudulph were probably brothers. The names Jacob and Hanse indicate that they were of Teutonic origin, as do also the traditions concerning them. Little is known of Bartholomew, except that he seems, from certain papers on record in the clerk's office in Elkton, to have been a well-to-do planter, though the records of the county contain no evidence that he owned any real estate.
Hanse was the owner of much live-stock and many ne- groes, which he mortgaged to John Hyland and William Bristow, to secure them as sureties on his bond as adminis- trator of one John Kankey, who owned the ferry farm in Elk Neck, whose widow he (Hanse) had married. He was afterwards wharfinger at Charlestown when the people of this county were trying to persuade themselves that it was the site of what would eventually be a famous city. The widow Kankey had a negro slave who had been owned by her husband (Kankey), and had been greatly attached to him. After the birth of a child, the fruit of her marriage with Hanse Rudulph, this negro (Joe) conceived a violent hatred for him, and finally shot him. The murder of Hanse Rudulph gave rise to the legend of the bloody Holly bush, which has been mentioned in a previous chap- ter in connection with Elk Ferry. But little more is known of Bartholomew and Hanse; but Tobias, in 1745, leased a few acres of land in Elkton, and was engaged in mercantile business for some time at or near Elk Landing. He sub- sequently kept store in Elkton, where, in 1768, he built the brick house, now standing, two doors east of the court- house. He also became the proprietor of much real estate near the town, part of which is still in possession of his de- scendants.
Jacob purchased the Belle Hill property, north of Elkton, where he contentedly pursued the uneventful life of a far- mer.
Jacob and Tobias were men of families. The former had two sons; Michael, and Zebulon, the grandfather of Mrs.
515
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
Garfield, wife of President Garfield ; and one daughter, the grandmother of the late William Hewitt.
Tobias was the father of four children : John, Tobias, and two daughters, each of whom married gentlemen named Irving. His son Tobias (the second of that name) was the father of Tobias, the lawyer, who was a poet of considerable ability, and Zebulon, also a writer of poetry, and Mrs. Anna Maria Sewell, wife of the late James Sewell and Martha, who became the wife of the Rev. William Torbert.
Very soon after the commencement of the Revolutionary war the cousins, John and Michael Rudulph, entered the American army, the former as major, the latter as captain of a light horse company in Lee's Legion, in which they served with great bravery in the Southern campaigns, in which "Light Horse Harry Lee," the commander of the Legion, won imperishable renown. Their courage and bravery soon won for them the proud distinction of the " Lions of the Legion," and John is still known among the members of the family as "Fighting Jack." Michael was, if possible, more daring and impetuous than John. Upon one occasion he is said to have led a squad of soldiers who surprised and captured a British man-of-war which was blockading Charlestown harbor. Selecting a dark night and a fearless crew, the dare-devil fellow approached the vessel, and when hailed and halted by the sentinel, asked if those on board wished to buy some chickens. Just at this critical moment one of his men pinched a chicken that had been provided for the emergency, and which began to screech as only frightened chickens can. This threw the sentry off his guard, and a few strokes from the oarsmen brought the boat alongside of the enemy's ship, the officers and crew of which were taken by surprise and carried in triumph into Charlestown.
Very little is known of the history of the light horse com- pany in which the Rudulphs served, but it is believed to have been formed of recruits from this county. The father
516
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
of Thomas C. Crouch, of Elkton, who served as bugler in this company, joined it under the following circumstances: He was learning his trade at the Red Mill, on the Little Elk, near Elkton, when the company came marching along the road and stopped near the creek to refresh themselves and their horses. Being pleased with the splendid appearance it made, he exchanged the racket of the rickety old mill and the dusty coat of the dusty miller for the noise and smoke of battle, and at once became a soldier. Joseph Benjamin, the ancestor of the Benjamins of North East and vicinity, also belonged to this company, and served his adopted country, for he was an Englishman and had ran away from his native land in the capacity of bugler.
Elk Neck also had the honor of furnishing one recruit for this Company in the person of Noble Hamm, a member of one of the oldest families in that part of the county, who, though a good Christian and brave soldier, met with a sad inglorious death in a brawl, the particulars of which cannot now be ascertained, at. the hands of Michael Rudulph who shot him.
The following letter, copied from the original in posses- sion of Tobias Rudulph, a grandnephew of Major "Fighting Jack," is believed to refer to the death of Noble Hamm.
" Dear Sir :- I am this moment advised by Captain McLane of his arrival at Philadelphia, an event that affords me no small satisfaction on numberless accounts, praticularly as it will furnish me with an opportunity of conclusively de- termining the unfortunate dispute which is the cause of so much uncasiness to the gentlemen of the corps and unhappi- ness to myself. They will, I have no doubt, make known very speedily their intention and give ample testimony of the party injured, but I am fully convinced that no proof respecting themselves can possibly expose me the aggressor unless they choose, from motives unknown, to interest them- selves in a private controversial affair totally confined to Captain Armstrong and myself, to which gentleman my conscience told me I had made every reparation that words were capable of. His replication, which is to the following
517
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
effect, could not from any deducible reason, engage their en- deavors to effectuate my ruin. Captain Armstrong inti- mated that the peculiarity of our situation rendered a separa- tion necessary and made, in some measure, a joint service impracticable. I have readily acquiesced in his determina- tion, being convinced of the flagitiousness of my crime. Had I not exerted every endeavor to palliate it, which drew from Mr. Armstrong a declaration of unwillingness to in- jure me, I beg leave to suggest your previously consulting this gentleman as a necessary step to your appearance in the matter, for nothing but the unbiased advice of a person from whom I must acknowledge the experience of every species of friendship could in any wise obviate the dictates of my opinion which stimulates me to address personally a grievance of so gross a nature.
Mr. Handy's combination singularly affected me. A gen- tleman with whom I have lived for a series of time in the closest friendship, to discover at such a juncture, his ignor- ance of my real principle and disposition, independent of passion and to build his prosecution on a single fault and without any other assistance to support his conduct, betrays such a degree of flexibility and unfriendliness that I thought him entirely divested of.
I am, sir, with great respect, your obdt., hbl. servt.
" MICH. RUDULPH. " Middle Bush, 29th July, 1780. "Major Lee."
But little more is known of any one who served in this company except its captain, the chivalrous Mike, who, like the Wandering Jew, continued to put in an appearance for some years after the end of the war, and who married a lady of Savannah, Georgia, whose acquaintance he is be- lieved to have made while in that city sometime during the war. Her name has not been ascertained. For some rea- son their union was not felicitous and they lived so unhap- pily together that Michael concluded to adopt a sca-faring life. He is only known to have visited this county once after the conclusion of the war, when he came to see his children, who are said to have been living at that time with
518
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
their relatives at Elkton. Upon this occasion he " tarried but a night," being detered, as it is alleged, from remaining longer by the threats of certain members of the Hyland family who had intermarried with the relatives of Noble Hamm and who had threatened to shoot him if they met him in this county.
A few years subsequent to the close of the Revolutionary war, the people of this county paid some attention to ship building, and some of them were engaged in trading to the West Indies. With this end in view, the hull of a vessel was constructed at Frenchtown by Robert Hart of Elk Neck, from whence it was floated to Baltimore, where it was rigged and freighted with a cargo of tobacco consigned to Hart's uncle, then resident in one of the West India Islands for the benefit of his health.
Joseph Lort, who (like Michael Rudulph and the captain's mate) is said to have lived unhappily with his wife, was captain of this vessel, and Michael Rudulph was its super- cargo. One bright morning the ill-fated ship sailed down the Patapsco River accompanied by another craft in charge of Robert Hart. The two vessels parted company opposite North Point, those on the outward-bound giving a parting salute to the others and also three cheers for " glorious revo- lutionary France," and sailed on down the Chesapeake, never to return again. Since she disappeared from the vision of Robert Hart, nothing has ever been heard of this vessel, and for 'a long time the friends of her officers and crew believed that she foundered at sea and all on board perished. But many years after this happened, the late General Thomas M. Foreman was traveling from Baltimore to Frenchtown in company with General Lallemand, a dis- tinguished Frenchman, who when informed by General Foreman that Frenchtown was in Cecil County, seemed to be somewhat astonished, and informed him that this county was probably the birthplace of Michael Ney, better known in history as Marshal Ney, who played such a conspicuous
519
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
part in the wars of the Empire under the First Napoleon, and that evidence had been found among Marshal Ney's papers that he had relatives living in Cecil County, and that his real name was Michael Rudulph.
This disclosure was as unexpected as a clap of thunder from a clear sky. Investigation followed, and it was found that the two men possessed many traits in common, and that the time of the appearance of the great marshal in France coincided with the time of the disappearance of the American soldier. Inasmuch as very little is known, or at least very little has been written by historians of the early life of the great marshal, the theory was advanced by many persons who knew of the characteristics of Michael Rudulph, that he and Ney were one and the same person, and that the vessel and crew which had sailed away from North Point many years ago, cheering for " glorious revolutionary France," had been carried by their officers to that country, and that Michael Rudulph had changed his surname to Ney, and entered the French army. In confirmation of this theory, it was asserted by those who were acquainted with Ney, that he spoke the English language quite as well as he did the French when he chose to do so, but always re- frained from displaying his fluency in the former, for obvious reasons, when in the presence of Americans or Englishmen. It has also been asserted by those who have investigated the subject, that Ney was called "the American tobacco merchant " by his brother officers, and that about the time of the disclosure made on the Elk River by Lalle- mand to Foreman, two of Ney's sons by his last wife, had visited Savannah as was supposed to obtain information concerning Rudulph's wife.
For these reasons, and many others quite as cogent, not a few people believed in the truth of this theory, but it was never adopted by the relatives of the missing man, who had such implicit confidence in his integrity that they scorned the imputation that he could have betrayed his trust as
520
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
supercargo, and sacrificed the interest of the owners and consignees of the missing vessel.
Such, briefly told, is the story of the disappearance of Michael Rudulph. His history, after parting company with Robert Hart, is involved in so much obscurity that it is unsafe to hazard an opinion as to whether he and Marshal Ney were identical.
THE LESLIE FAMILY.
AMONG the many old families of Cecil County, the names of which are almost forgotten, none attained greater cele- brity as authors and artists than the Leslies.
Robert Leslie, of whom the Leslies of this county are the decendants, emigrated to this country from Scotland (as stated by Eliza Leslie, the authoress in an article published in Godey's Lady's Book in 1858) about 1645. The original family name, there is reason to believe from information derived from the land records of this county was Lasley. At what time the family located in Cecil County is unknown, but in 1758 Robert Lasley purchased a farm of about a hundred acres, a mile or two north of the town of North East, from which it seems probable that the family were in the county at that time. This Robert was probably the grandfather of Eliza and Charles Robert Leslie, who were the children of Robert Leslie and Catharine Baker, who were natives of this county. The Leslie homestead was about a mile north of the village of North East, and is de- scribed by Eliza as being "over against Bulls Mountain."
Sometime previous to 1786, Robert Leslie and family re- moved to Elkton, where he was engaged in clock and watch making for a year or two. The family subsequently re- moved to Philadelphia, where Eliza was born November 16th, 1787. She was the author of a number of books on cooking ; a novel called " Amelia, or a young lady's vicis-
521
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
situdes," and several volumes of fugitive stories, and also edited several annuals. She died in Gloucester, New Jer- sey, in 1858.
Charles Robert Leslie, the artist, was born in London, October 19th, 1794. The family subsequently returned to Philadelphia, where young Leslie, who was learning the mercantile business, showed such remarkable talent for drawing that some of his friends sent him to London, that he might have the benefit of the tuition of the great masters of the English metropolis. He became a member of the Royal Academy and one of the most famous historical painters of his times. His autobiography, which is inter- spersed with many anecdotes of Sir Walter Scott, S. C. Cole- ridge, and Washington Irving, with each of whom he was on intimate terms, and many of the nobility, and most of the artists of the period in which he lived, is one of the most charming books of modern times.
Robert and Catharine Leslie were also the parents of Thomas Jefferson Leslie, who served as paymaster in the United States Army for about half a century, and recently died in New York City.
Jeremiah Larkins Leslie was a son of Thomas Leslie, the brother of Robert, the father of the artist. He was a mill- wright by trade, and in the early part of the present century carried on a nail factory at Marley. He subsequently became a Methodist Protestant preacher and removed to the State of Ohio. He was the father of Mary Leslie who married Charles Johnson, from whom the Johnsons of North East and vicinity have descended.
His daughter Elizabeth, married Jolm Sumption, the father of the late Rev. Thomas Sumption, a distinguished Methodist preacher.
The Benjamins of North East and vicinity, are the de- cendants of Deborah Leslie, the daughter of John Leslie.
522
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
TIIE HYLAND FAMILY.
THE Hylands of Elk Neck who were at one time one of the most numerous families in this county, are the descend- ants of two brothers, John and Nicholas Hyland, natives of Labadeen, England. John was a colonel in the English army, but, it is said, resigned his commission owing to some difficulty about his coat-of-arms. He emigrated to Mary- land some time during the period when the province was under the royal government, owing to which he could not obtain a valid grant of land. On account of this difficulty he settled in Pennsylvania, where he obtained a grant of a thousand acres. He subsequently acquired additional property in the State of New York, but returned to Maryland in the early part of the last century, after the re- storation of that province to Lord Baltimore, from whom he obtained the grant of a large tract, part of St. John's Manor, in Elk Neck, which on account of the great elevation of part of it, and also in honor of his wife, was called "John's and Mary's Highland."
Stephen Hyland, the eldest son of John and Mary Hyland, was born in Elk Neck, February 23d, 1743, and died March 19th, 1806. He filled many important positions of trust and responsibility, and took an active part in the Revolu- tionary war. Early in that struggle he raised a company of soldiers for the protection of private property in this county, and subsequently received a commission from the national government as colonel of a regiment. He was stationed on the east shore of the Susquehanna River, at the time, and prior to the invasion of this county by the British, in 1777. When the British fleet entered the Elk River he is said to have marched his command via Charlestown to Elk Neck, and to have fired at the British squadron while it was as- cending the Elk River. He was subsequently stationed at Annapolis, and in 1781, entertained General Lafayette and the officers of the French fleet at the old family mansion, which was called "Harmony Hall," a part of which is now
523
ยท
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
(1881) standing on the farm of Daniel Bratton, Esq. The French fleet at the time, it is said, was frozen up in the Elk River, and Colonel Hyland spread a carpet of cloth, large quantities of which he had on hand for the use of the army, all the way from the vessel to his house, as the author has been assured by one of the Colonel's grandchildren, an old lady of seventy-seven years.
On the 1st of December, 1774, he married Rebecca Tilden, of Kent County, Maryland, by whom he had one son, John Hyland. Mrs. Hyland died on the same day that her first child was born, October 10th, 1775.
On the 20th of March, 1777, he married Miss Araminta Hamm, daughter of Dr. Thomas Hamm, of Bohemia Manor. By his second wife he had six children, four sons and two daughters. His son Stephen Hyland, Jr., was a colonel in the war of 1812.
Jacob Hyland, the third son of Stephen Hyland and Ara- minta Hamm, not being of robust constitution did not enter the army, but contented himself with entertaining and caring for the soldiers who were stationed on Bulls Moun- tains, to observe the operations of the enemy during the summer of 1813.
During that summer one of the soldiers, in company with a trusty negro slave and a watchful dog, slept in his fish house on the Elk River, for the purpose of giving alarm if the British barges attempted to ascend the river during the night.
Jacob Hyland was the father of Mrs. Jacob Howard, and Stephen, James, Jacob, Washington, and Wilmer Hyland. Mary, the eldest daughter of Stephen and Araminta Hyland, married William Craig, Jr., of Bohemia Manor, who was twice elected a representative of this county in the General Assembly of Maryland, and who died in discharge of his duties, at Annapolis, in 1822. The late James L. Craig, at one time editor of the Baltimore Pilot, and subsequently one of the county commissioners of this county, was a son of William Craig.
524
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
Martha, the youngest daughter of Stephen and Araminta Hyland married William A. Schaeffer, a prominent Balti- morean. Mrs. Schaeffer was the mother of General Francis B. Schaeffer, late of the United States Army. He served with distinction in the Mexican war, and was honored by President Lincoln with the captaincy of the Select National Riflemen, stationed in Washington at the commencement of the late Civil war, but subsequently joined the Confederate army.
Nicholas Hyland, the first of that name, and the brother of the John before mentioned, also settled in Elk Neck, on a tract of land further down the river and adjoining that of his brother, probably about the same time that his brother John located there. He subsequently acquired a large quantity of land on the Susquehanna River, where Port Deposit now stands. He probably died in 1719, for his will was proved in that year. He left his land on Elk River to his son Nicholas ; and to his son John, all his land on the Susquehanna, and directed that his sons should be brought up by the rules of the church of England, which injunction seems to have been rigidly adhered to by his wife Millicent, who he made executrix of his will, for his son Nicholas was a member of the House of Delegates from this county almost continuously, from 1751 to 1766, during which time, whenever opportunity offered, he manifested his zeal for the established church, by favoring legislation against the " Popish Priests and Jesuits."
But little is known of John Hyland, except that he lived and died upon his estate near Port Deposit.
Nicholas Hyland, the third of that name, married Mar- gary Kankey, of Elk Neck, by whom he had one daughter Ann, who married Robert Hart, the grandson of the Robert Hart, who settled many years before in Elk Neck, and some of whose descendants now reside in that part of the county.
525
HISTORY OF CECIL COUNTY.
THE CHURCHMAN FAMILY.
THE residence of this family in England was at Saffron Waldron, in Essex County, whence John Churchman, the founder of the family in this county, in the seventeenth year of his age emigrated to Darby, Pennsylvania, in 1682, under the care of Thomas Cerie, in whose family was a daughter Hannah, at that time six years old. The perils of the voyage seem to have drawn John to the child, and like a faithful lover he waited for her until 1696, when she be- came his wife. They settled at Chester, but in 1704 re- moved to the woods of Nottingham and settled on lot num- ber sixteen.
John died in 1724; his wife survived him until 1759. Among their children was John, born in 1705, who became a famous Quaker preacher, and self-taught surveyor, never having gone to school but three months " to a man who sat in his loom and heard his scholars read." Ilis autobi- ography, published by the society to which he belonged, is a very interesting and instructive book. In it he tells of a narrow escape he had from death when a lad of some ten or twelve years of age, and which made a deep and lasting im- pression on his mind. Hle had been sent on an errand and encountered a drove of wild horses, which enticed away the colt belonging to the mare upon which he rode, and caused her to run away ; becoming unmanageable, she ran through a field which had been partially cleared, and upon which the trees that had been girdled and deadened, were still thickly standing; this made the adventure extremely per- ilous, he being in danger of injury from coming in contact with the dead trees. His autobiography shows that he was in the habit of visiting "the Friends in Cecil," who as late as 1767 seem to have had a meeting somewhere in Sassafras Neck. In this connection he speaks of the conversion of John Browning, who then lived in Sassafras Neck and who was, no doubt, a son of the John Browning who quarreled with Augustine Herman about his land nearly a century
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.