USA > Maryland > Kent County > History of Kent County, Maryland, 1630-1916 > Part 2
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
tary. In July, 1652, Stone submitted, and was re- instated and permitted to retain and administer the government "in the name of the keepers of the liberty of England." Claiborne again took posses- sion of Kent Island and Palmer's Island, at the mouth of the Susquehanna. Having triumphed, this man of Belial was master of the situation, and the power of Lord Baltimore was overthrown.
A proclamation, in the name of Cromwell, was is- sued, dated 22d day of July, 1654, and a commission appointed for the government, at the head of which was Captain William Fuller.
As soon as convenient, Lord Baltimore made an effort to regain his rights, and directed Stone to require all persons to take the "oath of fidelity" and re-establish the Proprietary government. This was done in the latter part of 1654. As soon as Claiborne heard of these proceedings, with one fell spring he grappled with all his foes. At the battle of Providence (now Annapolis), 25th March, 1655, he took Stone prisoner, and compelled him again to submit. He condemned Stone to be shot, but the soldiers loved the amiable Governor, and refused to execute the cruel order.
In 1658 the government was, happily, restored to the Proprietary by treaty, and the claims of Vir- ginia and Claiborne at once and forever ex- tinguished.
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
"CUSTOM HOUSE" ON HIGH STREET-H. L. BOYD'S AND J. B. SAPPINGTON'S HOMES ON MILL STREET-T. W. ELIASON'S RESIDENCE ON SPRING AVENUE-SACRED HEART CHURCH AND OLD RECTORY.
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
CHAPTER II.
THE ISLE OF KENT. 1
This beautiful island was settled, as we have seen, between the years 1627 and 1630, by William Clai- borne, its government organized as a colony of Vir- ginia and as such represented in the General As- sembly of Virginia, which was held at James City on the 21st of February, 1631-2.
It appears that, toward the latter part of the year 1637, the Isle of Kent had been in some measure reduced to the obedience of Lord Baltimore. Clai- borne had failed in his attempts to regain possession of it, by force, and had, as before stated, been sent by the Governor of Virginia to England, to seek what remedy he might find there.
It now became necessary to extend and establish the civil authority of the Lord Proprietor over the Island, as a part of the Province of Maryland. Ac- cordingly, on the 30th day of December, 1637, Leonard Calvert, Governor of Maryland, constituted and appointed his "good friend Captain George Evelin, of the isle commonly called Kent," "to be Commander of the said Island and the inhabitants thereof," with power to elect and choose a Council, and to call a "court of courts," to hear and deter- mine "all causes and actions whatsoever civil" not exceeding in damages or demands the value of ten pounds sterling, and with the criminal jurisdiction of "justice of peace in England," not extending to life or member, etc.
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
Notwithstanding, and although, Claiborne was ab- sent, many of the inhabitants did not hesitate to express their contempt for and resist the constituted authorities ; and it was deemed necessary that the Governor, assisted by Captain Thomas Cornwallis, one of the Council, and a competent armed force, should proceed to the Island and reduce its seditious inhabitants, by martial law if necessary.
The Governor thought the emergency a serious one, and he appointed Mr. John Lewger, his secre- tary, to act in his stead during his absence from St. Mary's.
On the 22d day of April, 1638, Governor Calvert appointed William Brainthwayte to be "Commander of the Isle of Kent in all matters of warfare by sea and land necessary to the resistance of the enemy or suppression of mutinies and insolencies," in all matters civil and criminal to exercise the jurisdic- tion of a Justice of the Peace, to hold a court of courts, and to hear and determine all causes civil "not exceeding in damages or demands to the value of one thousand weight of tobacco."
A General Assembly met at the Fort of St. Mary's on Monday, the 25th of February, 1638-1639. Mr. Nicholas Browne, planter, and Mr. Christopher Thomas, appeared among the Burgesses, as the dele- gates from Kent. Their credentials, the returns from the Isle of Kent, were certified by twenty-four signatures. Supposing these signatures to have been the names of all the male heads of families, then on the Isle of Kent, as they most probably were, it would afford a tolerable datum from which might be inferred the aggregate white population
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
of the Island at this period of time. Accounting five to a family, the usual computation, the popula- tion would amount to one hundred and twenty souls.
At this Assembly (1638-1639) the powers of the Commander were more clearly ascertained, and a "court of record" was erected, to be called the Hun- dred Court of Kent; of which the Commander of the Island was to be the judge, and from which court an appeal lay to the County Court at St. Mary's. Provision was also made for the Supreme Court at St. Mary's to sit occasionally on the Isle of Kent.
In consequence of dangers arising from the hos- tility of the "savages," Captain Giles Brent, Esq., one of the Council, "was commissioned, February 3d, 1639, to be Commander of the Isle of Kent," with military powers. This was for special and temporary purpose. He remained on the Isle, in commission, but a few months, for it appears that on the 14th day of August, 1640, William Brain- thwayte was acknowledged by the Governor as Com- mander of the Isle, and "Giles Brent," as the treas- urer of the province.
The Indians had again become so hostile that the Governor on the 10th day of July, 1641, issued his proclamation, prohibiting all persons whatsoever to harbour or entertain any Indian, under pain of the penalties of martial law, and declaring it unlawful for any inhabitant whatsoever of the Isle of Kent to shoot, wound or kill any Indian whatsoever com- ing upon the said island.
On the 16th day of December, 1642, Mr. Giles Brent was appointed, by commission, to be Com-
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
mander of the Isle and County of Kent; to be Chief Captain in all matters of warfare; and to be Chief Judge in all matters civil and criminal, happening within the said Island, not extending to life or mem-
AN OLD LOG CABIN ON ROAD TO MILLINGTON.
ber or freehold. In the same commission also, Wil- liam Ludington, Richard Thompson and Robert Vaughan were appointed to be commissioners within the said Island to all powers and effects as to com- missioners of a county by the law of the province de or shall belong. Commissioners of a county appear to have been then considered as having not only the power of conservators of the peace at common law,
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
but as thereby authorized to hold a county court. These gentlemen seem, therefore, to have been now first authorized to hold a county court in the Isle of Kent.
If any such court was held by them the record, and all evidence of it, has been lost.
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
CHAPTER III.
To BE KNOWN AS KENT COUNTY.
The Isle of Kent, the proud but beautiful Virgin Queen of the Chesapeake, was now joined in the bonds of holy wedlock with Maryland; changing her state she also changed her name, and, together with all her possessions, will hereafter be known as Kent County, until irreverent hands carved away with invisible lines her ancient domains; and herself, sole relic of the olden time, deprived of her mar- riage crown, was given as a dowry to the daughter of her elder sister.
Governor Calvert, the 18th day of April, 1647, commissioned Robert Vaughan to be chief captain and commander of all the militia of the Isle of Kent, and invested him with the power of martial law. He further authorized the said Captain Robert Vaughan to award all process necessary, according to the law and custom of this province, etc .; and he also authorized the said Captain Robert Vaughan, William Cox, Thomas Bradnox, Edward Comins, Philip Conner and Francis Brooke, or the major part of them, whereof the said Robert Vaughan to be al- ways one, to hear, try and judge, according to the laws of this province, all actions and causes civil, except where the freehold of any one shall come in question, provided that it shall be lawful for any man, at any time before execution served, to appeal unto the provincial court; and he also invested them with criminal jurisdiction, excepting when the life or members of any one person shall come in question.
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
He further authorized Captain Vaughan, by com- mission dated the 31st of May, to collect, demand and receive, for the use of the Lord Proprietary, all cus- toms, confiscations, forfeitures and escheat, by any means and at any time, due to his said Lordship upon the said island, and also by two other commis- sions to Mr. Francis Brooke, he was required to take into his custody all neat cattle belonging to his said Lordship in the said island, and particularly all the estate of John Abbott, late of said island.
These were the last acts of Governor Leonard Calvert. A few days afterwards, on the 9th of June, 1647, he died, after having appointed, by a verbal nomination, Mr. Thomas Greene as his successor.
The first parliament of Maryland assembled in April, 1649, at St. Mary's, fifteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims under Governor Calvert.
Kent was the only other county within the limits of the principality. Captain Nicholas Martin rep- resented the County in the parliament and was paid twenty-six pounds of tobacco each day ($1.56). In 1650-60 arrived the families of Burgess, Ringgold, Hynson, Jones, Wickes, Smyth, Leeds, Paca, Chase, Pearce, Chambers, Tilghman, Thompson, Frisby, Wroth and other well-known names whose descend- ants figure prominently in Kent.
This county was named after the English shire from whence came most of the early settlers, who saw in its smiling landscape a replica of the fairest county of England. It has an area of 315 square miles, of which about 75 miles are water. It has 435 miles of county roads.
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
To what sort of country did our colonist come? Nothing small or mean greeted the eye. There was the magnificent expanse of the Chesapeake Bay ; there was the beautiful Chester, beside which it can well be said, "the Thames was but a rivulet"; there were mighty forests stretching as far as the eye could reach, unchoked by briers, and containing "strange and beautiful trees"; there were banks and groves dotted with the early flowers of spring; there were myriads of water fowl and flocks of wild tur- keys; there were new and wonderful birds-the jay with his coat of blue, the tanager in his feathers of scarlet, and, strangest of all, the oriole in a dress of black and green-and this was Kent. No scarcity of food ever existed. The bay and rivers were teem- ing with fish and covered with water fowl, while the forests held multitudes of wild turkeys, deer, bears and small game. As for corn harvests, they were so bountiful that corn was almost immediately sent to New England and there exchanged for salt fish and other supplies.
In 1648 the county had 135 persons. In 1652-3 there were 66 white males and 330 white souls in Kent. In 1910 there were 10,795 white inhabitants and 5,162 colored. The assessment was $9,880,450 on real estate and $30,629.40 on stocks.
It is separated from Delaware on the east by a line run by Mason and Dixon. The western boun- dary is formed by the upper portion of the Chesa- peake Bay, while the Sassafras River separates it from Cecil and the Chester River from Queen Anne's County. The county is located between the parallels of 39 degrees and 39 degrees 22 minutes, south lati-
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
tude, and between the meridians of 75 degrees 42 minutes and 75 degrees 16 minutes, west longitude.
In 1910 the farms in Kent were estimated at 956, and the average acreage 179.
Tobacco was the most common currency of the province, and in 1650 one pound of it was worth three pence of English money. Our ancestors sat upon stools, dined without forks, made free use of the napkin, and paid especial attention to the furni- ture of their bed chambers. The walls of their prin- cipal rooms were wainscoted; tea and coffee were rarely tasted; cider and sack were drank freely; plenty of fish, oysters and canvasback ducks.
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
CHAPTER IV.
TENCH TILGHMAN'S RIDE THROUGH KENT.
Beneath the broad and extending shade of a noble oak in old St. Paul's Cemetery, there rest the re- mains of James Tilghman, once Provincial Coun- cilor of Pennsylvania, the father of Colonel Tench Tilghman, the confidential secretary and aide-de- camp to Gen. George Washington. On the surrender of Cornwallis, October 19, 1781, Tilghman was selected by Washington to carry his official dispatch to the Congress at Philadelphia, announcing that glorious and all-important event.
Taking boat in York Harbor, he was lost one night aground on Tangier shoals. On reaching Annapolis he found a dispatch from the Count de Grasse dated on the eighteenth, to Governor Thomas Sim Lee, had reached there a day ahead of him and been forwarded to Philadelphia. Without stopping he pushed on across the bay to Kent, having lost a whole day in a calm between Annapolis and Rock Hall. From there to Philadelphia is about eighty miles as the crow flies. De Grasse's courier had passed through Kent a day ahead. The people were on tiptoe to hear the news from York. Their hearts stopped as they imagined they heard the great guns of the English and the French booming over the waters in the still night. All looked with wistful eyes to the South for some sign of the issue of the weary struggle.
It was the supreme effort of American liberty. It was the very crisis of freedom. But the flower
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
of Maryland was in that fight, and the lower coun- ties on the Delaware had sent their bravest and best to back their brethren of the Eastern Shore. One of the miracles of history, attested time and again by indisputable evidence, is that when the minds of a whole people are at white heat of excitement and expectation, knowledge comes to them independent of the senses. The victory of Pharsalia was known in Rome at the time it occurred, and the events of Waterloo were discussed on the London Stock Ex- change before it adjourned on the 18th of June; and in June, 1863, the attack of Ewell on Milory was heard and the result detailed in Richmond, 150 miles away from Winchester, where the battle took place, on the Sunday afternoon on which it occurred. There were no telegrams or possible means of com- munication.
So when Tench Tilghman landed at Rock Hall he was furnished a horse for his hundred miles' ride through the country, and found the hearts and minds of men and women aglow with divine frenzy. They felt what had occurred without knowing it, and were wild for confirmation of knowledge. Up through Kent, without drawing rein, this solitary horseman sped his way. He followed the old post road through this county by way of Forktown (now Edesville), passing by old St. Paul's Church, then to Chestertown and on to Georgetown, where he crossed the Sassafras River. When his horse began to fail he turned to his nearest kinsman-for they were mostly of the same blood-and riding up to the lonely farmhouse in old Kent would shout, "Cornwallis is taken; a fresh horse for the Con-
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
gress !"' and in a minute he would be remounted and pushing on in a free gallop. All the night of the twenty-second he rode up the peninsula, not a sound disturbing the silence of the darkness except
THE BATTLE MARKER AT CAULK'S FIELD.
the beat of his horse's hoofs. Every three or four hours he would ride up to a lonely homestead, still and quiet and dark in the first slumbers of the night, and thunder on the door with his sword: "Corn- wallis is taken; a fresh horse for the Congress!" Like an electric shock the house would flash with an instant light and echo with the pattering feet of women, and before a dozen greetings could be ex-
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
changed and but a word given of the fate of the loved ones at York, Tilghman would vanish in the gloom, leaving a trail of glory and joy behind him. So he sped through Kent, across the head of the Sassafras, through Christiana, by Wilmington, straight on to Philadelphia. The tocsin and the slogan of his news spread like fire in dry grass, and left behind him a broad blaze of delirium and joy.
"Cornwallis is taken!" passed from mouth to mouth, flew through the air, was wafted on the autumn breeze, shone with the sunlight. "Cornwal- lis is taken! Liberty is won! Peace is come! Once more husbands, fathers, sons, lovers shall return to the hearts that gave them to the cause! Once more shall joy set on every hearth and happiness shine over every rooftree!" When or where in all the tide of time has such a message been carried to such a people?
Liberty with justice!
Peace with honor !
Victory with glory! Liberty, peace, victory, honor and glory now and forever, one and inseparable !
These were the tidings that Tench Tilghman bore when he rode into Philadelphia at midnight of the twenty-third, four days from the army of York. The dispatch from De Grasse had been received, but the Congress and the people waited for Washington. Nothing was true but tidings from him. Rousing the President of the Congress, McKean, Tilghman delivered his dispatch to him and the news was instantly made public. The watchmen as they went their rounds cried : "Twelve o'clock, all is well, and Cornwallis is taken!" In a minute the whole city
Gement.
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
was wild; lights flashed from every window; men, women and children poured into the streets. The State House bell rang out its peal of "Liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof !" And thirteen sovereign and independent States were proclaimed to the world.
TENCH TILGHMAN'S RIDE THROUGH KENT. BY THE REV. DR. OLIVER HUCKEL.
The sword of Cornwallis was yielded in shame; The twenty-eight regiments, called out by name, Their colors surrendered. The whole British host Marched out 'twixt the ranks of America's boast, And laid down their muskets. Redcoat drummers with frown
Beat the old English air-"The World's Upside Down!"
And the great war was ended; the last battle fought, And freedom was won, so long eagerly sought! 'Twas October nineteen, and the year eighty-one, When at Yorktown full triumph crowned great Washing- ton;
The vet'ran's bronzed check was wet with a tear, But ne'er had his heart known dishonor or fear.
Who shall carry the message to Congress afar, That Cornwallis is taken, and ended the war? Who shall spread the glad tidings to hamlet and town That freedom is won with an honored renown? What trustiest courier, swiftest and strong, Shall bear the glad news they have waited for long?
The General looked anxious and pondered awhile, Then selected his man, and with confident smile Spake, "Tilghman, to horse! And speed night and day! Take this message to Congress without a delay!" 'Twas a sprightly young officer, long his close friend, Who had served in the war from beginning to end.
Then swift to the stirrup Tilghman leaped at the word, Snatching holster and pistols and girding his sword; He stopped not a moment, but with joy on his face He was off like the wind in the desperate race; The dispatch buttoned tight, naught else would he heed, But northward as fast as his good horse could speed.
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
He reached the York Ferry as dusk darkened the day And chartered a sloop for quick course up the bay. The white stars crept out as they drove swift along; The fresh gale seemed singing a patriot song, As it sped the glad news, like a swift-flying dart- The glad news of victory thrilling his heart.
Now Chesapeake Bay can be mild as a lamb, With softest of zephyrs and waves smooth and calm. That night came a thunderstorm. Fierce lightnings crashed
And the sloop rocked and reared as the angry waves dashed;
For hours were they driven till the tempest was past, And on far Tangier Shoals they had drifted at last.
A whole night had been lost. As the morning dawned gray,
They got off the shoals and went driving away
Up the Chesapeake under full canvas. They steered For Annapolis shore. Oh, how slow time appeared!
Through the day, through the night, drive they swift as they can,
And at last they could hear the faint bells of St. Ann.
So they came to the wharf of Annapolis soon- On Sunday as the worshipers came forth at noon; They found all excitement, for the good Count de Grasse Had writ Governor Lee what must sure come to pass; So they shout with great joy when Tench Tilghman appears,
And the good news is told amid answering cheers.
Where the Peggy Stewart burned the people went wild; They thronged around the State House, every man, woman, child;
The guns roared salute, great fires glory lent,
But Tilghman must haste on his voyage 'cross to Kent. He cried: "Take the message to old Baltimore,
I must speed on my way through the far Eastern Shore!"
Now again did the elements hinder his way, For smooth as a mill pond was Chesapeake Bay; No wind-not a breath-and they lay like a log All night on the water becalmed in a fog; The night and the water were calm as the morn, But Tench Tilghman's hot heart with a tempest was torn.
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
At Rock Hall he landed; found horse; off they go Like a well-chosen arrow let loose from the bow; Through rich meadows they pass, over bridges they shoot, By gardens and orchards hung heavy with fruit. He rode 'cross the head of old Sassafras stream, And on through the green hills as fleet as a dream.
More than once as he rode this peninsular way His horse trembled and sank. Whether night, whether day,
He cried to some farmhouse: "Ho, good folks, awaken! A fresh horse for Congress! Cornwallis is taken!" Lights flashed, quick feet echoed, a strong horse was given, And Tilghman was off like a courier of Heaven.
"Hurrah!" cried the farmers from meadow and door, And cheers rent the air at the good news he bore; Wives and children rushed out as the horseman went by And laughed with delight at his jubilant cry; And bonfires were lit and church bells were heard As the countryside roused into joy at his word.
'Twas dark when old Wilmington loomed like a dream, And they swam through the shallows of Brandywine stream;
The ships on the Delaware plainly in sight,
But eerie and strange in the gathering night. He galloped through Chester with rollicking song, "God speed!" cried they all, as he thundered along.
Four days and four nights had he ruthlessly sped, By horse, boat, and horse again, forging ahead; Scarce stopped he to sleep, but drove on like blind fate; Oft ate as he rode, for his news could not wait; Tens of thousands were longing, as keen as could be, For word of war ended and the Colonies free.
'Twas just after midnight, on a mare strong and fleet, He rode swift over Schuylkill and down Market street. Philadelphia slumbered beneath peaceful roofs, The cobblestones echoed the beat of the hoofs; Then a-sudden with one dreadful shudder and groan His black steed fell dead-but Tilghman ran on!
"O where is the President, Thomas Mckean? Dispatches for Congress!" But no one was seen. At last came a sleepy watch pointing the way, And off Tilghman rushed like a roysterer gay. He knocked and he shouted. The watch bade him cease And threatened arrest for disturbing the peace.
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
But he shouted the louder: "Cornwallis is taken!" And at last the deep-slumbering town did awaken; Lights flashed from the windows and forth came a throng To make the streets gay with their laughter and song; And the bell in the State House was rung by glad hands, Again sounding liberty all through the lands.
'Twas a night of rejoicing for the staid Quaker town, A great night of hist'ry and of noble renown. Cried the ancient night watch, with his lantern and bell: "Cornwallis is taken-three o'clock and all's well!" And couriers set off for New York and "down East," To tell the good news for the Thanksgiving feast.
Dawn came, and a dozen great cannon boomed forth The jubilant news that had come to the North; And Congress met early, the dispatches were read, And orators praised both the living and dead; And they crowded to church and laid by the sword With hosannas from thousands of hearts to the Lord.
And gallant Tench Tilghman, the hero of all, Was feted in homes and high honored in hall;
Congress voted him thanks, a great sword chased with gold,
And the noblest black steed with accoutrements bold; And America ne'er in its patriot pride
Shall forget his good news and his glorious ride!
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