USA > Maryland > Talbot County > History of Talbot county, Maryland, 1661-1861, Volume I > Part 41
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It was further Resolved, That the chairman and secretary of this meet- ing be directed, with the approbation of the several Courts of Phila- delphia, to cause these proceedings to be entered in their records, re- spectively, and to have them published in the newspapers of Philadel- phia. HOR. BINNEY, Chairman.
C. J. INGERSOLL, Secretary.
LAW ACADEMY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Special Meeting, April 30, 1827 .- The Provost in the Chair.
The death of the Honourable William Tilghman, patron of the insti- tution, having been announced, Antony Laussat, Esq., after a few remarks, submitted the following resolutions, which were adopted unanimously.
Resolved, That while the Members of the Law Academy of Philadel- phia, in common with their fellow citizens, and particularly with those of the legal profession, are deeply sensible of the loss sustained by the death of William Tilghman, late Chief Justice of this commonwealth, they have an additional cause for regret in losing a zealous patron of their institution, who delighted in encouraging their labours, and pro- moting their improvement, and who was ever willing to give his aid and countenance, to everything tending to further that object, and to raise successors to those whose talents now adorn the Bar of Philadelphia.
Resolved, That in testimony of the respect of this association for the memory of their illustrious patron, they will attend his funeral as a body, and wear crape on the left arm for sixty days.
On motion of E. L. Carrell, resolved that the proceedings of this meet- ing be published. Adjourned.
PETER S. DU PONCEAU, Provost. WM. T. SMITH, Sec'y.
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JOHN LEEDS BOZMAN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
At a special meeting of the Society, held this day, Peter S. Du Pon- ceau, one of the Vice Presidents, in the chair; Dr. Chapman rose and announced the death of Chief Justice TILGHMAN, President of the Soci- ety; and submitted the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:
Resolved, That the members shall assemble at their Hall, on Wednes- day next, at 4 o'clock, p.m., in order to proceed in a body, to attend the funeral of their President.
Resolved, That according to the ancient usage of this Society, in rela- tion to their deceased Presidents, a public discourse, in commemoration of Chief Justice TILGHMAN, be delivered by a member to be appointed for that purpose.
April 30-
CLEMENT G. BIDDLE, Sec'y.
JOHN LEEDS BOZMAN THE HISTORIAN 1755-1823
On Tuesday the 21st of April 1874 was sold by Mr. Robert B. Dixon, Trustee of David Kerr, Jr., Esq., that farm or plantation at the head of Trippe's creek, in Oxford Neck, called "Belleville," which was the birthplace and residence of John Leeds Bozman, the Historian of Mary- land. This property was purchased by Mr. Kerr from the estate of his father the Hon. John Leeds Kerr, in his day a distinguished lawyer and statesman, who was a member of both the national and state legislatures and an encumbent of other high and responsible positions. He was the nephew, through his mother, and heir of the historian. Mr. Bozman was the son of Mr. John Bozman, and the grandson of Colonel Thomas Bozman, who was successively Deputy Surveyor Gen- eral, High Sheriff, Commissioner and Justice of the Peace of the county and Deputy Commissary General of the Eastern Shore, and Deputy Commissary of Talbot county 1731-33. The wife of Col. Thomas Bozman was Mary Lowe, the daughter of the first Col. Nicholas Lowe, who was at one or another time Clerk and High Sheriff of the county and member of the House of Burgesses of the Province. It was he who owned the land upon which Oxford was built, and through whom Col. Thomas Bozman, by marriage with his daughter, derived large estates in Oxford Neck.
The mother of John Leeds Bozman was Lucretia Leeds, the daughter of John Leeds, Esq., who was first one of the Commissioners and Jus-
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THE WORTHIES OF TALBOT
tices of the Peace for the county of Talbot, and then Clerk of the Court, which last office he held from the year 1738 to the outbreak of the Revolutionary war, and the adoption of the State Constitution; when he either resigned or was removed, on account, as it is believed, of his sympathy with the cause of the royalists. John Leeds, besides being a most capable clerk, of which our court records give excellent attestation, was a man of large scientific acquirements, and as such was selected one of the Commissioners of the Provincial government to superintend or supervise the settlement of the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, commonly known as "Mason and Dixon's Line." It is traditionary that many of his mathematical and philosophical instru- ments were purchased by the State for the use of St. John's College at Annapolis, though what remained of them were bequeathed by his will to John Leeds Bozman, his nephew, from whom they descended to John Leeds Kerr. John Leeds was a resident of Bayside, his home being Wade's Point, now in the possession of John W. Kemp, Esq. He was a near neighbor of Matthew Tilghman, the revolutionary patriot, between whom and the tory John Leeds, tradition says there was many a warm, wordy contest. John Leeds was trained up under Quaker influence, his mother, Ruth Ball, being of that society. Having imbibed Arian opinions from this source, it was common to attribute to him senti- ments of an atheistical character. But whatever may have been his religious views, he retained the respect and confidence of the Clergy of the English church, the special guardians of orthodoxy, and was the intimate friend of Parson Jackson, of St. Peter's Parish.
THE STORY OF THE MARRIAGE OF JOHN LEEDS OF WADE'S POINT TO RACHEL HARRISON, QUAKERESS.
John Leeds, Jr., of Wade's Point, Bay Hundred, was born in 1705 and died in 1790. He is buried at Wade's Point.
John Leeds married, according to the notation of the Friends, on the 14th of the 2d month, 1726, Rachel Harrison.
This marriage was formally ratified, according to the simple ceremony of the Friends, at the Quaker Meeting House on Dividing Creek, near the town of Trappe-consecrated in the memory of these good people by the fact that near by, at the house of William Stevens, George Fox preached when in America in 1673, having among his auditors "the Judge of the County, three Justices of the Peace and the High Sheriff, with their wives. Of the Indians one was called their Emperor, an In- dian King, their Speaker, who sat very attentive and carried themselves very lovingly."
The certificate of this marriage may be here inserted as a curious relic of a primitive time:
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JOHN LEEDS BOZMAN
Maryland ss Where as John Leeds, Jr. and Rachel Harrison, Boath of Talbot county in the Province of Maryland, have Declared their In- tentions of Marrying Publickly before severell Meetings of the People call'd Quakers in the aff'd County of Talbot, according to the good order used among them, whose proceedings thare in were approved By the said Meeting, thay appering clear of all others: Now, these are to Certify all whome itt may Concern that for the full accomplishment of their said Marriage, They the said John Leeds and Rachel Harrison appeared in a Publick meeting of the afforesaid People, att their meeting house att Choptank this fourteenth day of ye Second Month In the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and twenty six, and In a Solemn Manner He the said John Leeds, taking the S'd Rachel Harri- son by the hand Did Publickly Declare as followeth: Friends, in the fear of the Lord and Praying for Divine assistance, I take my friend Rachel Harrison to be my Wife, Promesing to be to her a True, Loving & Affectionat Husband untell itt shall Pleas allmighty God by Death to separate us. And then and thare the said Rachel Harrison did in like manner declare as followeth: Friends, in the fear the Lord and Pray- ing for Divine Assistance, I take my friend John Leeds to be my Husband Promising to be to him a True Loving and Affectionat Wife untell itt shal Please all mighty God by death to separate us. And the said John Leeds and Rachel Leeds, she now according to the Custom of Marriage, Assuming the name of Her Husband, as a further Confirma- tion did then and thare to these Presents sett their Hands, and we whose names are here unto subscribed being Present Att the solemniz- ing of the said Marriage and Subscription affore said, as witnesses, Have to these presents sett our hands the Day and Year above written.
John Leeds Junr.,
Rachl Leeds.
Samuel Dickinson,
Ruth Richardson, William Harrison, Henry Troth, Wm. Dickinson,
John Powell,
Will. White,
William Lewis,
Chas. Dickinson,
Peter Sharp, Danl. Powell,
Christopher Birkhead,
Howell Powell,
Joseph Wray, Solomon Sharp,
Walter Dickinson, John Gorsuch, Wm. Sharp,
Henry Sharp, John Stevens, Howell Powell, Jr., Peter Webb,
Rebeckah Dickinson,
Susanah Powell, Jun.,
Sarah Webb,
Elizabeth Harrison, Ann Harrison,
Susanah Powell, Suffiah Dickinson, Sarah Powell,
Ester Edmondson, Sarah Webb, Jun., Mary Horney
Magdalen Stevens.
Wm. Edmonson, John Kemp
Solomon Edmondson,
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THE WORTHIES OF TALBOT
Under the name of his wife upon this certificate John Leeds wrote with touching simplicity: "She died 10th May 1746 having well and faithfully performed her covenant."
Three daughters were the issue of this marriage; one of whom, Lucretia. became the wife of John Bozman, the father of John Leeds Bozman, the historian of Maryland.
Col. Nicholas Lowe and his brother, Col. Henry Lowe, of England, settled first in Calvert county on large tracks of land patented to them by the Proprietary. Lord Baltimore promptly appointed Col. Nicholas Clerk of Talbot county, thus giving him an office of importance within reach of his distinguished kinsman. Here he married Elizabeth, the widow of Major William Combes, of Talbot county, and had a large family of sons and daughters, all of whom intermarried with prominent Talbot county families. Their daughter Mary, born July 7, 1691, married three times, the last husband being Thomas Bozman, through which alliance, she became the ancestress of the historian, Hon. John Leeds Bozman. The descendants of this Col. Nicholas Lowe are to to be found among the Harrisons, Paddisons (Pattisons), Prices, Longs, and Eastons, of the Eastern Shore.
In the year 1609 the name of one Vincent Lowe appears as an incor- porator of the Virginia Company. Whether he ever had a more per- sonal connection with the Colonies other than venturing his money is neither apparent nor particularly pertinent, excepting that his grand- son emigrated to Maryland and became the Surveyor-General of the Province, and that a granddaughter, the Lady Jane Lowe, became the wife of the Lord Proprietary and has now many descendants among the representative people of the State. Col. Vincent Lowe of England the brother of Henry of Park Hall and younger brother of John, heir to the Denby estates, was a son of Vincent Lowe, Sr., and Anne Caven- dish. In his will he devises land in the parish of Denby, England, and mentions, besides his mother, Anne Lowe, his brother, Nicholas Lowe, merchant, of Philphot lane, London.
He arrived in Maryland about 1672, when he received his first 1,000 acres of land, patented to him under the name of "Stratton" and sit- uated in Queen Anne's county. The estate with which the Lowes of Talbot county have been identified for over two centuries is Grafton Manor, which contained 1,000 acres also, and which is recorded as hav- ing been given by "My Lord to Vincent Lowe," no date mentioned.
Through his marriage to the daughter of Seth Foster, Choptank Island, now Tilghman's Island, passed into the possession of the Lowes, as Eliza-
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JOHN LEEDS BOZMAN
beth Lowe received this tract of 1,000 acres from her father as her inheritance. Col. Vincent Lowe was one of the commissioners to lay out the town of Oxford, and tradition says that Elizabeth Lowe gave the land for the site of that important town. This lady had the dis- tinction of being buried with military honors. Whether it was because of her husband's rank, both in the Province and in England, or for her own act of public service is not quite certain.
Lady Jane Lowe, sister of Col. Vincent, married, first, Henry Sewell, of Mattapany, Secretary of Maryland, and at his death became the bride of his Lordship Charles Calvert, Governor of the Province. The records bear testimony to the weath and importance of the several Lowes, of Talbot, Calvert and St. Mary's, of this line.
Col. Vincent Lowe was High Sheriff of Talbot county in the year 1675, and was commissioned Surveyor-General of the Province on April 3, 1679. His widow, who married William De Courcey, was daughter of Thomas Hawkins' widow, of Poplar Island, Talbot county, the ancestor of the late George Hawkins Williams.
It would thus appear that John Leeds Bozman had descended not only from most reputable ancestors, but also from those who exhibited evidences of mental qualities of no ordinary kind, and of a culture not commonly enjoyed by people of a new and sparsely settled country. The talents that were shown by the subject of this sketch afford addi- tional confirmation of those doctrines of the hereditary transmission of mental qualities, which have lately acquired fresh interest from their intelligent discussion by the students of the new science of anthropology.
John Leeds Bozman, the son of John and Lucretia (Leeds) Bozman, was born at "Belleville" on the 25th of August, 1755. Of his early life little or nothing is known. His father dying, when he was but ten years of age, his education fell under the direction of his maternal grandfather. His academic instruction was obtained at the Back Creek Academy, in Somerset county, a school of high reputation in its day. At a suitable age and when he had made proper progress in his primary studies, he matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania, from which school he was graduated in 1783. It having been determined that he should make the profession of law his calling, he was sent to England and entered as a student at "Middle Temple," London, his grandfather advancing the money to his mother to defray the necessary expenses. After pursuing for a considerable time his legal studies, he returned to Mary- land and Talbot, was admitted to the bar, and for many years practiced
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THE WORTHIES OF TALBOT
in the various courts of the State and county. He served as Deputy Attorney General, under Luther Martin, his warm friend and associate, from the year 1789 to 1807, but it is believed he never held any other office of profit or trust. He does not appear to have acquired any great distinction as an advocate, but he was held in high esteem for the extent of his legal erudition, and for the soundness of his professional judgment. His abilities and his tastes fitted him for the calm and quiet duties of the counsellor, rather than for the stormy contests of the pleader. Some law papers of his presented to the Court of Appeals are said to be of extraordinary acumen and research. He was always glad to escape from the turmoil and disputation of the courts, to follow the tranquil pursuits of literature and science. Cut off as he was from those resources for literary culture which are enjoyed by the residents of the cities, he spent the income of a moderate fortune and professional practice in accumulating a library, which, for the day, might be called extensive. This library, bequeathed to his nephew, Mr. John Leeds Kerr, now, 1874, in the possession of his son, the Hon. John Bozman Kerr, of Washington, indicates the wide scope of his reading, embracing the best productions of all times, and not rejecting the current literature of his day. He is said to have been "respected as a man of learning by learned men." He appears to have been an accomplished classical scholar, and to have been possessed of a fair knowledge of the French language and literature. The sciences, too, claimed his attention, and of these botany seemed to possess for him the greatest interest, allied as it is to the art of agriculture, of which he in common with most gen- tlemen of his day, in this county, was a practitioner.
But Mr. Bozman was not content to enjoy the productions of others, without attempting to add something to the repast that is spread for the mental refreshment of all. He exercised his pen industriously. He did not disdain, as did many literary men of his day, to write for the papers; and in the Eastern Shore Herald, the little weekly journal that was first published in 1790, in the town of Easton, by James Cowan- the third newspaper printed within the bounds of the State-may be found many of his communications, over the signature of "Hortensius" and other pseudonymes. He was a contributor to other papers in the large cities, and particularly to the Port Folio of Philadelphia, founded by Joseph Dennie, a personage quite celebrated in his time, and known under the title of the "Lay Preacher." Beside these fugitive articles he wrote several pamphlets, on political, civil and social subjects. One of these, printed in 1802, and entitled "A New Arrangement of the Courts
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of the State," attracted much attention to the evils and inefficiences of the system of the judiciary established by the statute of 1790. His suggestions as to the reorganization of the courts, a subject then engag- ing the attention of the best jurists of the State, were regarded as valu- able, and though novel, were not revolutionary. Beside Orphan's Courts, and a Criminal Court for the city of Baltimore, he advised the establishment of "Hundred Courts," "County Courts," "General Courts," and "Appeal Courts," and gave a proper definition of what should be their several jurisdictions. No pretence is here made to pass judgment upon the merits of Mr. Bozman's scheme for the reformation of the judiciary; but an extract from this brochure will serve to illustrate the character of the county courts, which he wished to have changed in their organization; to present some of the social phases of the time, and also to exhibit the style of the writer in his lighter moments. It will be remembered that the bench of the county district court at the period of which he is speaking, was occupied by one Chief Justice, al- ways a lawyer, and two associates, not always of the legal profession. There is little doubt that the picture he paints in this excerpt was a portrait and not a caricature. The gentleman who, in 1802, held the seat of Chief Justice of the District to which Talbot belonged was the Hon. James Tilghman, and the associates were Sam'l Dickinson and Jacob Gibson.
To illustrate this part of our subject the author solicits the reader's indulgence in supposing for a few moments, that one of the chief jus- tices of our district county-courts may be of the following character. Born of parents descended from the most ancient and wealthy families of the state, he was consequently nursed in the very lap of our provin- cial aristocracy, and educated in the aristocratic principles of our ancient provincial gentry. Thus descended and thus educated, it may naturally be supposed, that he affixes high consideration to the recommendations of wealth and birth. We will suppose him possessing numerous family connections. If any one of his near relations, illustrious both for his wealth and birth, shall be summoned to the vulgar discharge of the vulgar duties of a juror, he is released from that troublesome office and permitted to return home to the more gentlemanlike and agreeable recreations of fishing or hunting. But this judge, so highly prejudiced in favor of an aristocracy, will oftentimes most absurdly display a par- tiality on the side of democracy. It is true, that this partiality is not the result of affection. Like the Indian in his adoration of a dæmon, he worships through fear. If a powerful popular democrat comes before him to be fined either for an offence or contempt, he is discharged sub silentio with the slightest possible fine, or perhaps without any. If the like character happens to be a suitor in a cause, and the judgment
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THE WORTHIES OF TALBOT
of the court on a point of law becomes necessary, the like subserviency is exhibited by him. But it is not with suitors and offenders merely, that his prejudice and partiality prevails. He extends them to the attor- nies at the bar. He dispenses justice on a system of favoritism. One or two in every court of his district are always listened to with the most partial attention. If any who does not bask in the sunshine of his favour, happens to be concerned on the contrary side, he is not looked at or listened to when he speaks. All his arguments, however forcible or pertinent to the subject, are treated as nothing to the pur- pose. He is interrupted by doubtful queries, without the slightest foundation. If he is addressing the jury, and his remarks are likely to have effect with them, he is stopped as wandering from the evidence, particularly if one of the favourites is so uncandid as to intimate a wish for it. Still consistent with those aristocratic principles inbibed in his youth, his favorite attornies are most commonly his relations, and for- tunately for his permanence in office these consist of both federal and anti-federal characters. While one drop of that highly rectified fluid, which flows in the veins of his family-connections, can be traced, they may boast one of the attributes of royalty,-they never can be wrong. It is proper, that the low-bred attorney, lifted from among the swinish multitude, should return to his filth and dirt, in order that the high- born lawyer may live in luxury. Thus the discerning suitor soon dis- covers the most successful counsel to whom he must commit his cause. He whispers to himself, this judge will not be bribed by money, I know; but what is tantamount, if I employ one of his favorites, I am sure of success. Meanwhile this righteous judge sits with looks so mild, so placid, and so gentle, that he would not hurt a fly, so he would not. And yet so deeply rooted are his prejudices in favour of wealth and birth, and so shameless and lost is he to every sentiment of delicacy on this subject, that he does all this beyond the ability of any spectator, even with microscopic assistance, to discern the slightest crimson on his cheek. Thus are those canker-worms of justice-bribery and corrup- tion, from their detestable vermicular state, changed by an invisible transmutation into the less odious and apparently less noxious forms of partiality and prejudice. Should I be told, that such a character is a fiction, and no where exists; I say, it is immaterial to the present pur- pose, whether it be true or fabulous. It is sufficient, if these courts, con- stituted as they are, admit the existence of such a creature, especially when by an amendment such an existence may be annihilated.
But where are the associates all this while, it may be asked? Mute as alabaster busts on each side of a clock over a chimney-piece. The middle machine, it is true, tells the time, but it may tell it wrong. The silent figures, though moulded into the human face divine, are yet insen- sible of its errors. Under the old system of the county-courts, when the justices of the peace were the judges thereof, it has happened, that diffi- dent and modest men have refused to qualify under a commission, because thereby they would be under the necessity of acting as judges in a court of law.
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Placed upon a perfect equality of understanding, they had no superior among themselves, on whose judgment they might repose a greater degree of confidence than their own. But now, the associates absolutely resign themselves and their consciences to the entire disposal of the chief justice. He is the Pope among the Cardinals. His doctrines are infallible. As in the Athanasian creed of the Trinity, although there are three persons, yet they make but one judge. In short, it has always appeared extraordinary, that any man of any delicacy would accept of such a situation. But this is of trifling consideration, when compared to that of its importance to the public.
This essay, beside showing that Mr. Bozman had a very distinct appreciation of the evils of the judiciary system, then in operation, and a due comprehension of the means of remedying them, serves also to indicate that his mind was well stored with the best legal learning of the old country, and that he was a jurist in the best sense of that term.
He was a warm advocate of the colonization scheme, and he con- ceived that he saw in the efforts of the philanthropic society which had been formed for the transportation of the African race from America to their original seat, a solution of these two great problems-the extinction of slavery, and the destiny of the negroes on this continent- of which we in this day, by a most bloody culculus, have solved only the one, while the other remains as inscrutable as ever. In 1822 he wrote and published at Washington an essay upon this scheme of colonizing the blacks, in which while advocating the measures of the society, he took occasion to declare explicitly his belief in the natural inequality of the races and their distinctness of origin-an opinion which shocked the religious susceptibilities of many more in that day than would now be affected by a similar declaration. He also advocated the retention in a state of slavery of the negro, as long as he should remain in contact with the white man, and regarded any interference with the relation of master and slave, either by individual intermeddling, or governmental inter- vention, as calculated to render the condition of the negro less tolerable, the conduct of the master less kindly and considerate, and general well- being of society less secure and happy. Emancipation he argued would be followed by an internecine war of the races, which would terminate with the destruction of the weaker. Clearly Mr. Bozman upon this subject was not materially in advance of a majority of his fellow citizens, and was cherishing those illusions which he shared with the most com- prehensive and benevolent minds of the time, that nothing but evil could result from a freeing of the blacks, and that the transportation of the whole race to the shores of Africa was a practicable scheme.
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