USA > Maryland > Harford County > History of Harford County, Maryland : from 1608 (the year of Smith's expedition) to the close of the War of 1812 > Part 12
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This sketch does not admit of much in biography, but it may be said that Harford has been the home of many members of this faith whose upright lives and good works have established lasting memorials. Moses Shepherd, founder of the Philanthropic Institution, near Baltimore, bearing his name, was born on Winter's Run, near Bel Air.
Nathan Tyson, first president of the Baltimore Chamber of Commerce, was at one time a member of Little Falls Meeting. Benj. P. More, a near relative, and at one time a business partner of Johns Hopkins, with his cultivated wife Mary, lived "and died the death of the righteous" near Fallston, where their home life of refinement, generous hospitality and piety have left a lasting impression. At Deer Creek lived John and Susanna Jewett, she a woman of strong mind and a powerful minister, mother of the late Hugh J. Jewett.
At Broad Creek was the home of David G. McCoy,
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a man of more than ordinary ability, and one of the earliest promoters of our present excellent school sys- tem. In the bridge that spans the Susquehanna at Conowingo is found a lasting monument to his energy and public spirit, for to his efforts was largely due its erection.
Among the ministers of the last century may be named Bartholomew Fussel, ever faithful to the cause he served; Samuel McConnell, of strong mind, judgment and expression; George Reese, whose eloquence in pleading the cause of the Master is well remembered by many; Abel A. Hull, whose dignity of bearing and clearness of thought always impressed his hearers, and Darlington Hoopes, whose plain, simple and earnest pleading of the cause of truth as he saw it, coupled with an unspotted life, still keeps his memory green among those who came within his influence.
From the beginning, Friends have advocated a broad and liberal education, and with their advent in any community the establishment of schools for the guarded education of youth has been a concern with them. Before the establishment of our public schools there were three flourishing schools under the care of Little Falls Meeting. And so they are here, small in num- bers, but still an element in the make-up of the county, with no reason to ask the world's pardon for having been born, and no cause for abandoning any of their principles or abatement in their efforts to maintain them.
"There are those that take note that our numbers are small, New Gibbons who write our decline and our fall;
But the Lord of the seed-field takes care of his own,
And the world shall yet reap what our sowers have sown."*
*A. H. Hull.
CHAPTER XVI.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
WILLIAM PACA-DR. JOHN ARCHER-COL. THOMAS WHITE-BENJ. BRADFORD NORRIS.
WILLIAM PACA.
William Paca, the second son of John Paca, was born near Abingdon, in what is now Harford county, October 31, 1740. He was educated at the College of Philadelphia, where he graduated June 8, 1759, and on January 14, 1762, he was admitted as a student of law at the Middle Temple, London. After completing his studies there he entered the office of Stephen Bord- ley, and on April 11, 1764, he commenced the practice of his profession at Annapolis. He, however, retained his connection with his native county, and represented Harford in the State Convention of 1788, which rati- fied the constitution of the United States. His col- leagues from Harford in that convention were Luther Martin, William Pinkney and John Love. In 1771 he was elected a member of the provincial Legislature, and was elected to the first and second Continental Congresses. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776. On the adoption of the first State constitution he was made a Senator for two years. In 1778 he was appointed chief judge of the Superior Court of Maryland, which office he held until
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1780, when he became chief judge of the Court of Ap- peals in prize and admiralty cases. In 1782 he was elected Governor of Maryland. In 1786 he sat in Con- gress for a short time, and in the same year was re- elected Governor. In 1789 he was appointed judge of the United States Court for Maryland, which position he held at the time of his death, in 1799. He married a daughter of Samuel Chew as his first wife. His sec- ond wife was Anna Harrison, of Philadelphia. His portrait hangs over the judge's seat in the courtroom at Bel Air, and he and Governor Augustus W. Brad- ford were, in point of public service, the most distin- guished men ever born in Harford.
RICHARD DALLAM.
One of the most prominent men in Harford during the Revolution was Richard Dallam, who was the ancestor of the family of Dallams now residing in this county. The first Dallam also bore the name of Rich- ard, and was a nephew of Sarah Jennings, first Duchess of Marlborough. He came from England about the beginning of the eighteenth century, and set- tled at Joppa, where he practiced law. The subject of this sketch was one of his four sons. The latter served in the Revolutionary War as paymaster, with the title of general of this district. In the Annapolis Conven- tion of June 22, 1774, which protested against the tax on tea, Richard Dallam represented Harford county, his colleagues from this county being John Love, Thomas Bond, John Paca, Edward Hall and Jacob Bond. He also signed the Bush declaration of March, 1775.
He was one of the commissioners named in the
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dedimus for the formation of the new county in 1773-4.
He lived in Abingdon in 1786. In a letter from Rev. Thomas Coke to Rev. Mr. Meath, written from South- ampton, England, January 23, 1786, requesting the latter to accept the position of head master at Cokes- bury College, we find this: "There are several of our principal friends live in the neighborhood (Abingdon). One family (Mr. Dallam's) you'll find very agreeable." He died in March, 1805.
DR. JOHN ARCHER.
John Archer, M. B., son of Thomas Archer, was born near Churchville, in Harford county (then Balti- more county), May 5, 1741. His grandfather, John Archer, came to America from the vicinity of London- derry, Ireland, in the early part of the eighteenth cen- tury. The family is said to have descended from John de Archer, who came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066, as it is said all the Archers in Great Britain were descended from him. Dr. John Archer was the sole survivor of five children, all the others having died of a malignant fever in infancy, he narrowly escaping death at the same time. He is the ancestor of all the Archers of that family now residing in Harford county. He attended school at Nottingham Academy, in Cecil county, where he was a classmate of Dr. Benjamin Rush. In 1760 he graduated at Prince- ton with the degree of A. B., and in 1763 received from the same college the degree of A. M.
He studied theology, but on account of a throat affection which impaired his speech, and for other rea- sons, he was not well qualified for the ministry, and he turned his attention to the study of medicine. He
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attended lectures at the College of Philadelphia, the forerunner of the present University of Pennsylvania. On October 18, 1766, he married Catherine, daughter of Thomas Harris, who lived nearby. In the recess of the college Dr. Archer practiced medicine in New Castle county, Del. On June 21, 1768, he graduated as a physician, and as his name came first on the list of the first graduating class, Dr. Archer received the first medical degree ever conferred in America.
In July, 1769, he commenced the practice of his pro- fession in Harford county. He grew rapidly in profes- sional reputation and in the esteem of his neighbors. He took a prominent part in public affairs at the time of the Revolution, organizing on September 16, 1775, a military company at Churchville, and his name is subscribed to the famous Bush declaration. On No- vember 27, 1776, he was chosen an elector for the Senate of Maryland and a member of a committee of observation for Harford county. He was also a dele- gate to the first constitutional convention of the State, which met at Annapolis in 1776, and which was pre- sided over by Matthew Tilghman. His Harford col- leagues in that convention were Jacob Bond, Henry Wilson, Jr., and John Love. This convention also drew up and adopted the bill of rights. In 1776 Dr. John Archer and Gabriel Duval were chosen as presidential electors for the State of Maryland. In 1800 he was elected to Congress by the party of Jefferson, and was re-elected in 1802. His skill as a physician was fre- quently called into service during his term in Washing- ton as a member of Congress. He died suddenly Sep- tember 28, 1810, honored and respected by all who
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
knew him. He was the author of many articles on med- icine and surgery, and was an eminent authority in his day in his profession. He was the preceptor of a num- ber of distinguished physicians who came after him, and his house, near Churchville, was at times like a medical college, so numerous were the young men who sougth his tuition. He was the father of Jude Ste- venson Archer, who was chief justice of the State. In addition to the public offices held by Dr. Archer, as stated above, he was one of the first of the Lords Jus- tices of this county. His portrait may be seen in the courtroom at Bel Air.
COL. THOMAS WHITE.
Born in London in 1704, of good parentage, Thomas White lost his father at the age of four years. He attended a grammar school at St. Albans, near London, but in 1720, at the age of sixteen, he sailed for Maryland. It is said that he was of the retinue of Charles Calvert, who came out in that year to be- come governor of the province.
He was apprenticed to a Mr. Stokes to be taught for the profession of law, and the usual fee of one hundred guineas was paid for him. Young White accordingly became a lawyer, but was soon appointed deputy sur- veyor general for Baltimore county, then comprising also Harford. This was an office of great importance in those times, a position Washington held in his early days in Virginia.
Colonel White became the authority on titles in his county and his certificate was regarded as law. He married Sophia, daughter of Capt. John Hall, of Cran- berry. The latter was born in 1658 and in the year
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
1694 purchased certain tracts of land from Michael Judd, Edward Boothby and others, making a tract of 1,539 acres, which he that year had laid out and sur- veyed and which he called "Cranberry," being mainly on Bush River.
Capt. John Hall's wife was Martha Gouldsmith, nee Beadle, whom he married July 18, 1693, and who died in 1720. They had seven children. Captain Hall died in August, 1737, and by his will he devised to his chil- dren large tracts of land, among which were six hun- dred acres on Deer Creek; Taylor's Good Hope, four hundred acres ; Timber Nest, four hundred and seventy acres ; Cranberry, lying west of Mill run, and Jericho, one thousand acres ; Harman's Swantown, two hundred acres ; The Enlargement and Old Quarter, seven hun- dred acres ; New Quarter, six hundred acres.
To his daughter Sophia, wife of Col. Thomas White, he devised a tract of land called Sophia's Dairy, which is what is now known as the Dairy Farm; part of Hall's Plains and Simmon's Neglect. Colonel White, therefore, through his wife, was the proprietor of large tracts of land, which he added to by the purchase and patent of others, among which were the following tracts : Ah Ah Indeed, Ah Ah the Cow Pasture, Edin- burgh, Abbott's Forest, Constantinople, Antrim, Kil- kenny, Londonderry, Eaton's Addition, Eaton's Sec- ond Addition, Gay's Favor, Hathaway's Hazard, Chance, Rumney Royal, Hammond's Hope, Paradise, Leigh of Leighton, Royal Exchange, Simmond's Neg- lect, Neighbor's Affinity, Attaway's Trust, Constant Friendship, Harrison's Resolution, etc., etc. These tracts were all large, Ah Ah Indeed, for instance, con- tained eight hundred and twenty-five acres. In 1777
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Colonel White's taxable real estate in Harford county alone, comprised seven thousand seven hundred and seventy-two and one-half acres. The tracts called Ah Ah, just west of Abingdon, have a ghost story con- nected with them, and children and the colored popu- lation to this day have a dread of Ha Ha branch, which crosses the Philadelphia road between Abingdon and Van Bibber. This neighborhood is said to be the haunt of a spectre which at times gives utterances to a blood-curdling "ha ha." The fear of this ghost is as great in this generation as it was two hundred years ago.
By order of the justices of Baltimore county, in 1728, Colonel White made a survey and plat of By- num's run from its mouth to its spring head, in order to find the direct course, and from thence to run and blaze that direct course.
Patents to Colonel White :
1734, Sokmon's Song, fifty acres, on east side of Bush river.
1736, St. Martin's Ludgate, two hundred and eighty acres. His London birthplace is here evidenced as two of the most prominent points in London are Lud- gate Hill and the Church of St. Martin's, in the Fields.
1738, The Royal Exchange, four hundred and eighty acres, on Swan creek.
1746, Montreal, two thousand seven hundred and twenty-five acres.
1747, Ah Ha at a Venture, or Hathaway's Hazard, one hundred and eighty-three acres.
Colonel White and Sophia, his wife, had three chil- dren. Sophia, born May 8, 1731, being the only one of the three who married and left descendants. She
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
married her cousin, Aquila Hall, she and her husband each being grandchildren of Capt. John Hall, of Cran- berry. Colonel White's residence was on the Dairy Farm, between the present large brick house and the river, and the remains of this house can yet be found. Aquila Hall built the present Dairy Farm house in 1768. This is one of the largest in the county, even now, and while without ornamentation, is a handsome and imposing structure with a very large hall.
Colonel White was a vestryman of Spesutia Church. He has a large number of descendants now living in Harford, many of them occupying land acquired by him.
In 1745 he removed to Philadelphia, and in May, 1747, married the second time, the name of this wife being Esther Newman. William White, Bishop of Pennsylvania and the first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America, was the son of the sec- ond marriage. There was a daughter also of this mar- riage, Mary, who became the wife of Robert Morris, of Philadelphia, the great financier, signer of the Decla- ration of Independence and United States Senator from Pennsylvania.
Colonel White was a vestryman of Spesutia Church. tained his interests in Harford and died at the Dairy, September 29, 1779, where he was buried. His re- mains, together with those of Sophia, his wife, were removed in 1877 to Spesutia Church, where they were reinterred in the presence of about sixty of Colonel White's decendants .*
*Meeting of descendants of Col. Thomas White.
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
JACOB BOND.
The first of this family to take up land within the limits of what is now known as Harford county, was Peter Bond, of Anne Arundel, who came into the col- ony in the year 1660. He acquired Pleasant Hills, on both sides of the Patapsco, about the mouth of Gwynn's Falls, now included in the city of Baltimore, and pat- ented Harris' Trust, and in 1691 purchased the adja- cent tract called Prosperity, lying on both sides of Bush river.
He was twice married, and died in 1705, leaving sons Peter, Thomas, William and John, the two last named being minor children of his second wife, who, after a brief period of mourning (1707), married Philip Washington.
Peter Bond, as heir, succeeded to all the estate of his father except Prosperity and Harris' Trust, which were divided between the three younger sons.
Thomas had already settled in Harford county, and in 1700 married Anne Robertson, of Anne Arundel. He patented, in 1703, Knaves Misfortune, adjacent to the tracts above mentioned, where he built a substantial house in which he lived until his death. This house was on the site of the residence of Mr. John R. Spencer, near Emmorton. The old Bond house is said to have been built of brick imported from England, and part of it was standing up to the time of the erection of the pres- ent dwelling by Mr. Lee Magness, about twenty years ago. Thomas Bond died in 1756. This old house is said to have been used as a smallpox hospital about the time of the Revolution. Thomas Bond lies buried
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
near the house and the location of his grave is still known.
In 1714 he patented Bond's Forest, of three thou- sand one hundred acres, lying between Bynum's run and the Little Gunpowder Falls, and purchased Cheap- side and Poplar Ridge, with other tracts, amounting to about three thousand acres. In 1705 he received five thousand acres, lying in Baltimore county, on the west side of the Susquehanna river, called Bond's Manor. In 1739 he sold a portion of this land to Capt. Thomas Cresap, who thus became involved in the boundary dis- pute, from which William Penn emerged crowned with success.
Thomas Bond, in 1749, conveyed to his sons Thomas and John, as trustees, part of Bond's Forest, to be laid out conveniently near the main road, including "a house now built intended for a meeting house for the people called Quakers to worship God in, and also a school- house already built."
The records of Gunpowder Meeting show acceptance of this deed in 1753. This was the beginning of the Little Falls Meeting at Fallston.
He was a member of the celebrated grand jury which protested against the removal of the county seat from the Forks of Gunpowder to Joppa, denouncing it as "a palpable, notorious grievance to this county."
Thomas died in 1755, having previously settled each of his sons in comfortable houses on "plantations," and divided his lands among his eight children. His eldest son Thomas married Elizabeth Scott, and was the an- cestor of large families of Jarrets, Amos, Bosleys, Howards and Munnikhuysens.
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
John married Alice Ann Webster, whose descendants are Fells, Lees, Wilsons and Bradfords.
Joshua married Anne Partridge, and was the an- cestor of many Lees, Morris, Morrisons and Howards.
Jacob married Fanny Partridge, and from him are descended Prestons, Wilmers, Abbotts, Gittings, Hol- lands and McCormicks. Sarah married William Fell, whose descendants are Fells, Fews, Dabs, Kennards, Dorseys and Johnsons.
Ann married Edward Fell, and afterwards Giles, and from her are descended Giles and Johnsons.
John, son of Thomas, who married Alice Ann Web- ster, joined his father-in-law in organizing the Bush River Company, which erected one of the first iron fur- naces in the colonies.
Thomas, son of John, married Rebecca, daughter of Tobias Stansbury. He was justice of the peace and judge of the Orphans' Court, and a zealous adherent of the Methodist church.
His eldest son John was an itinerant preacher, and the friend and companion of Bishop Asbury.
His son was Dr. Thomas E. Bond, Sr., a very cel- ebrated preacher and editor of the Christian Advocate, the latter being the father of Dr. Thomas E. Bond, the younger, and Judge Hugh Lennox Bond, recently deceased.
The most prominent of the Bonds from the stand- point of Harford history, was Jacob, who died in November, 1780. He was a prominent member of the Committee of Harford County in the Revolution, hav- ing been elected by the people, and was captain of Company Eleven, of Harford militia, in the Revolu- tion, the other officers being Thomas Johnson, first
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY
lieutenant ; James McComas, second lieutenant, and Martin Preston, ensign.
Jacob Bond represented Harford county in the con- vention which met at Annapolis in 1776 and formed the first constitution of the State, his colleagues there being Henry Wilson, Jr., John Love and John Archer.
He was also one of Harford's representatives in the Annapolis convention of June 22, 1774, which pro- tested against the tax on tea, his Harford colleagues being Richard Dallam, John Love, Thomas Bond, John Paca and Benedict Edward Hall.
His children were:
Jacob Bond, Jr.,
Sarah, wife of Bernard Preston,
Martha,
Charlotte,
Ralph,
Dennis, the father of Dr. Elijah Bond,
Ann,
Priscilla.
His will, dated October 2, 1780, is recorded in the Orphans' Court at Bel Air.
Bernard Preston, who married Sarah Bond, above named, was born in 1756. He built the large stone house between Bel Air and Hickory now owned by Mr. John B. Wysong, his great-grandson. Bernard's father was James Preston, born in 1713, and the lat- ter's father was the first settler on that property, viz., James Preston, the son of James Preston, who was the son of Thomas, named in the will of Richard Pres- ton of Patuxent as "Thomas Preston of the Cliffs."
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
BENJAMIN BRADFORD NORRIS.
About the year 1690, Benjamin Norris, the elder, set- tled in Harford county, (then Baltimore county), and lived at a farm he named Everly Hills, now owned by the Hon. Herman Stump, and called by him Wav- erly. He became possessed of a tract of land extending from Bynum's Run, in a section back of what is now the Farnandis estate, to the Little Falls.
Benjamin Bradford Norris was the first of the name, being called after his grandfathers, Benjamin Norris and William Bradford, the Christian name of one and the family name of the other.
John Norris was the father of a large family, seven of whom were sons. His eldest son John married Susanna Bradford. They had the first house that was ever built at Mt. Pleasant, now the home of Mr. G. Smith Norris. Part of this house is still standing. It was built early in the eighteenth century. John's eldest son was Benjamin Bradford Norris, who was educated in Harford. Bradford Norris married Elizabeth Rich- ardson. The two had quite a large family; only two sons, however. Bradford Norris was one of the sign- ers of the Harford Declaration of Independence. He was also a soldier in the Revolutionary Army, and served in a company raised and commanded by his brother, Jacob Norris, who became a colonel. They were with Washington in his campaign in Delaware and Jersey. Jacob Norris was severely wounded, and received a pension for the balance of his life. He was buried in the Methodist graveyard in Bel Air. The headstone bears the following inscription :
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
DIED IN MARCH, 1807, JACOB NORRIS, AN OFFICER OF THE 6TH MARYLAND REGIMENT IN THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. To HIS MEMORY THIS PILLAR IS RAISED BY HIS DAUGHTER SOPHIA.
Benjamin Bradford Norris was very highly esteemed by the people of his community, and was appointed to represent them in the first Legislature that was con- vened after the State government was established. Of his sons, one died in infancy, and the other died of yellow fever in Norfolk at the age of twenty-one.
Benjamin Bradford Norris died in April, 1790, and his administrators were Eliabzeth Norris and Jacob Norris.
One of Jacob Norris' sons was a commander in the United States Navy, and was lost at sea on the Hornet.
John Norris, another of the brothers Norris, was one of the incorporators, and represented the Church of England when Union Chapel was built near Wilna.
CHAPTER XVII.
BIOGRAPHICAL-CONTINUED.
REV. JOHN COLEMAN-WILLIAM BRADFORD-JOHN STUMP, OF STAFFORD-WILLIAM SMITHSON-AQUILA HALL-WILLIAM MORGAN-COL. IGNATIUS WHEELER-COL. JOHN STREETT- DANIEL SCOTT-SAMUEL CALWELL.
REV. JOHN COLEMAN.
An early settler in Harford county was Rev. John Coleman, a Protestant Episcopal clergyman and a sol- dier of the Revolutionary War. He was usually known as "Parson" Coleman, and many traditions of him still remain among descendants of his former parishioners in Baltimore and Harford counties. He was a native of Dinwiddie county, Va., and studied for the ministry under the supervision of Rev. Devereux Jarrett, of that county and State, whose autobiography, in the shape of letters addressed to Rev. Mr. Coleman, was published by the latter after the death of Mr. Jarrett. Mr. Cole- man was ready for ordination into the ministry at the time, or shortly after the breaking out of the War of In- dependence. His clerical intentions, however, did not prevent his taking part with his fellow-countrymen in that struggle, and he and a brother accordingly joined the patriotic forces. They chanced to be serving under Gen. Anthony Wayne, in Chester county, Pa., when that terrible massacre was prepetrated near what was
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
known as Paoli Tavern, on the Lancaster road. In giving an acount of the affair, Lossing, in his book of the Revolution, says in substance :
"Gen. Wayne lay encamped with fifteen hundred men and two cannon in a secluded spot on the night of Sep- tember 20, 1777. The British General Howe, at the time occupying Philadelphia, was informed by a Tory of the situation, and sent Gen. Grey with a large force to surprise the camp at midnight and slaughter the patriot forces. The night proved to be dark and stormy, and our forces were taken completely un- awares and butchered by the bayonet, no quarter under orders of the Commander Grey being shown to those denominated rebels. A Hessian sergeant after- wards said : 'We killed three hundred of the rebels with the bayonet. I stuck them myself like so many pigs until the blood ran out of the touch hole of my musket.' 'Remember Paoli!' was after this adopted as a war cry by Wayne's forces on many a field, where the mas- sacre was in part at least avenged."
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