USA > Maryland > Talbot County > History of Talbot county, Maryland, 1661-1861, Volume II > Part 26
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The following are the names of the Judges and the Justices of the Peace, who held courts in our Court House, when it was first thrown open, and of the several officers, connected with the civil affairs of the State upon this Shore, and of the county.
Judges of the General Court for the Eastern Shore.
Samuel Chase, Chief Judge.
Nicholas Thomas,
Jeremiah Townley Chase,
Associate Judges.
Judges of the County Court.
Hon. James Tilghman, Chief Judge, of Q. A. James Tilghman, Jr., John Stevens.
Associate Judges.
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THE COURT HOUSE
Justices of the Peace.1
John Bracco,
John Roberts,
Will. Dawson,
Dan'l. P. Cox,
Woolman Gibson,
Will Hambleton, Jr,
Hugh Sherwood,
Peter Webb,
James Price, Henry Johnson.
Judges of the Orphans' Court.
John Bracco,
William Dawson.
David Kerr.
Clerk of Gen. Court, E. S .- Benj. Stevens,
Clerk of County Court-Will. S. Bond,
Attorney General for State-Luther Martin, Deputy Attorney General-Jno. L. Bozman,
Register of Wills-James Price,
Sheriff-Richard Johns,
County Surveyor-David D. Barrow.
For the sake of brevity, the writer must forego the privilege of refer- ring to the many distinguished judges, eloquent lawyers and efficient public officers that have appeared within the walls of this Court House: nor can there be reference to the many remarkable trials that there have had their hearing and their determination.
Each of these subjects would afford matter for most interesting chap- ters in our County annals, which may, perhaps, be hereafter written. But here must terminate this account, already become inordinately long and tedious, of the Court Houses of Talbot County.
This monograph would not be complete without some notice of that necessary adjunct of the Court House, the county jail. Justice is al- ways represented as carrying not only the scales but the sword: for she sits not only to decree righteousness but to punish wickedness. Our Court House is symbolized in her balance-our jail in her sword. Eighty and more years had not passed without leaving their marks upon the old building which during that time had been used for the confine- ment of criminals and those that were then considered almost equal offenders against law and morals, the debtors, to say nothing of dis- obedient slaves. The changed conditions of society, since the period of its erection and particularly the claims of an enlightened humanity in regard to the treatment of prisoners, awakened by the recent revela- tions of the horrors of European prisons by the great philanthropist,
1 They sat also as a levy court.
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HISTORY OF TALBOT COUNTY
Howard, demanded other and better accommodations for the unfortunate and vicious than those which were satisfactory in 1713, when the prison for the Court House near Pitts' Bridge was built. Soon therefore after the completion of the new Court House at Easton,-in the same year of its occupancy,-the following advertisement appeared in the Maryland Herald of Sept. 30th, 1794:
Notice is hereby given to the inhabitants of Talbot county that appli- cation will be made to the next General Assembly for a law enabling the Levy Court to assess a sufficient sum of money, from year to year, on the property of the said county for the purpose of building a Public Gaol at Easton, and for directing the mode of building the same.
This petition seems to have been presented to the legislature at its next session, and in accordance with its tenor a bill was drawn, it is very safe to say, by Nicholas Hammond, Esq., of this county, which finally passed and became a law December 26th, 1794. That this bill was the production of this most estimable gentleman is evinced by the singularly formal, stately and precise style, which characterizes this statute, as well as everything that came from his ponderous pen,2 and which was in perfect keeping with his character. This bill is entitled "An Act for building a new gaol in the town of Easton in Talbot county and to provide for the regulation of the said Gaol." (Acts of Assem- bly 1794, chap. LXVII). As published it is comprised in thirteen sec- tions, and is too long to be copied into these annals; but the following is a transcript in full of those parts that are of most importance in this connection, and a brief of the remainder.
Whereas it is represented to this General Assembly that the public prison of the said county is in a ruinous condition, and incapable of repair, and that the purposes of private and public justice cannot be an- swered thereby, without the practice of many means which are as incon- sistent with the principles of humanity, as they are with the true notions of civil liberty: And whereas it has been prayed that an act of Assembly may be passed for building a new gaol in the town of Easton for the said county, by an equal and impartial tax upon the property thereof, upon an assurance that the assessment and collection of the said tax, by reasonable installments, will be agreeable to the inhabitants thereof; therefore
Sec. II. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, That a new and commodious gaol be forthwith erected upon the public square in the said town of Easton, or such other place as the Commissioners,
2 Those who have seen Mr. Hammond's handwriting will not think this epithet inappropriate. It was exceedingly heavy.
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hereafter mentioned, shall deem most proper, for the use and benefit of Talbot county; and that Nicholas Hammond, Samuel Sharp, Thos. J. Bullett, Samuel Logan and Joseph Haskins be, and they are hereby appointed Commissioners to contract for the building of the same gaol, and to plan and to superintend the said building until finished, and to accomplish the several purposes mentioned in this act, concerning the same.
Sec. III. By this section the Commissioners were authorized to negotiate a loan of One Thousand pounds currency, at the rate of six per cent per annum, for five years.
Sec. IV. Provides for the levy of two hundred pounds per annum, upon the assessable property of the county, for five years in succession, commencing with 1796, to pay the principal of the debt, and in addition a sufficient sum to pay the interest thereon.
Sec. V. Provides for the levy of two hundred pounds in 1795, for the payment of the loan. It is not quite clear why this section should have been added to the former.
Sec. VI. Provides for the mode of collecting the tax, and for the payment of the money collected over to the Commissioners.
Sec. VII. And whereas the escape of prisoners, and too often their inhuman treatment are occasioned by a want of vigilance and care in the keepers of the gaols, who are usually persons employed by the Sheriffs, not sufficiently near to those situations to afford assistance, or to protect the injured, and who, not being immediately amenable for a default of conduct, are not so watchful, or so circumspect in their con- duct as justice and humanity require; and it is apprehended that the residence of the keeper of the gaol will better secure the purposes in- tended by the confinement of persons; therefore Be it enacted, That the said Commissioners in planning and directing the building of the said gaol, shall lay off two apartments and a cellar, and reserve and appropriate the same to the residence of the keeper of the said gaol, and throughout the whole plan, the said Commissioners shall have respect to the comfortable accommodation, as well as security of the prisoners: and if the funds established by this act shall enable them to do so, they shall lay off a convenient and sufficient yard and cause the same to be enclosed by a substantial wall; and the said Commissioners, as soon as the said building shall be completed, shall return a fair and faithful account of the proceedings and expenditures to the Justices of Talbot county Court, to be examined and inspected by them, and on their approbation thereof, the same shall be deposited and filed among the original papers belonging to their office.
Sec. VIII. This section provides for the appointment of a jailer, by the Sheriff,-for his taking a certain prescribed oath,-for his giving bond in the sum of three hundred pounds,-and for his removal.
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HISTORY OF TALBOT COUNTY
Sec. IX. Prescribes the duties of the jailer and entitles him to a residence within the jail building.
Sec. X. Prohibits and forbids the keeper from "holding or keeping any ordinary or house of entertainment within the gaol, and from retailing spirituous liquor," also from selling or allowing to be sold by any of his domestics, or by any other person, to the prisoners in his custody, any spirituous liquors, under a penalty of five pounds for every offense.
Sec. XI. Provides for the visiting of the gaol, by the Grand Jury, at each term of the Court, and for its report to the Court of the condition of the building and of the treatment of the prisoners. The object of this visit is stated to be
to secure as much as possible the proper and humane treatment to pris- oners confined in the said gaol.
Sec. XII. Provides for the sale of the old jail, after the completion of the new, and the application of the proceeds of such sale to the uses of the county.
Sec. XIII. Provides for the collection of fines, imposed under this act, and the application of them to the use of the county.
This law is very suggestive, and gives us an insight of the character of the old prison, and of the treatment to which its inmates were sub- jected. The phrase employed in the first section-"the purposes of private and public justice cannot be answered thereby"-must attract notice by its singularity. Private justice must have referred to that privilege which was held or granted to the creditor of imprisoning his debtor-a privilege which was not withdrawn in this State until the year 18-, though long before that it had ceased to be enforced with rigor, and even before it was entirely abrogated, it had come to have but a nominal existence. "Private justice" may also have referred to the privilege possessed by the master of imprisoning his slave, for run- ning away, insubordination, or other like offenses, or even for safe keep- ing.
Other expressions in this law indicate that prisoners were subjected to acts of inhumanity and cruelty, by reason of the narrow and restricted accommodations of the old building, and its insecurity. No doubt the persons confined were often compelled to submit to the indignity and suffering of being chained, for in the old levy lists there are many allow- ances to different persons for "ironing the prisoners." The cruelties of imprisonment and fetters were modified by the custom, introduced
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apparently about this time, of sending persons convicted of petty of- fenses "to the wheelbarrow," that is to work upon the streets and roads.
By a supplementary act passed in 1797, Owen Kennard and David Kerr, Esqs., were placed on the commission for superintending the building, in the room of Saml. Sharp and Saml. Logan, deceased.
The cost of the building was settled by the law at one thousand pounds, Maryland currency, or $2,666.66 in Federal money, a sum that might represent about 7000 dollars of the money of the present time; but an examination of the levy books shows that a much larger sum was paid by the county. The following levies for the new jail are on record:
1795
260 pounds
1796
-
248
66
1797
-
236
1798
-
224
1799
-
212
1800
-
200
1801
-
200
1804
-
166
10 shillings
in all - 1746 pounds 10 shillings
besides many small amounts levied for special purposes connected with the building.
By the supplementary "act for building a new gaol," (1797 chap. XXV) already referred to, the commissioners were authorized to sell the old jail and apply the money arising from such sale to the building of the new prison,
or otherwise to abate the old gaol, and apply the materials thereof towards the foundation or other parts of the new building; and after the sale or abatement of the old, and until the completion of the new,
it was declared to be lawful for the sheriff
to rent or hire one or more suitable apartments in the town of Easton for the legal confinement of persons.
There is no evidence that the old jail was sold; it is therefore prob- able it was "abated," and its materials incorporated in the new structure. This indicates, too, that the old jail was of brick. There is no certain evidence what house in the town was used for a jail, while the new one was building, but there is a tradition worthy of confidence that a house belonging to Solomon Corners, in whose tavern it will be recollected
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HISTORY OF TALBOT COUNTY
the court was held while the Court House was in process of erection, was used at this time for prison purposes. It is said to have stood on the lot between the residences of Judge Goldsborough and Mr. Tharp, on Washington street. There is also an allowance in the levy list of 1801 to John Mullikin for the rent of a house used as a prison.
The commissioners were directed to build the new jail within the public square in the town of Easton. They selected, as we see by the building yet in use, the northwest corner of the square. The old jail stood upon the N. East corner, just opposite the brick hotel, as the writer was informed by the late Thomas C. Nicols, Esq., a gentleman very aged at time of his death, who recollected, as he said, to have played ball when a boy against the end of the old building.
It will be seen from an examination of the seventh section that the commissioners were requested to provide suitable apartments in the new structure for the comfortable accommodation of a jailer, who should be required to live within the prison. This provision too is based upon "justice and humanity." There is no doubt that in the old jail and by its keepers violence was made a substitute for strength of walls and vigilance of guards, in the securing the prisoners from escape; and doubt- less too, there were outrages committed by the confined, one upon the other, in the absence of the jailer which would be prevented by his con- stant presence. This rule for the residence of the jailer, who is now either the sheriff himself or his deputy, within the prison walls is yet maintained, no doubt to the increased comfort of the confined and the improved police of the establishment. Samuel Swan was the first jailer under the law of 1794.
Finally, this law gives us another interesting feature of our civic countenance at the date of its passage, in the prohibition to the jailer of keeping an ordinary within the building or of selling liquor to the inmates. It used to be one of the most profitable of the perquisites of the keepers of the prisons, the furnishing to those confined, particularly those imprisoned for debt, better accommodations than those provided at the public expense, and the granting them indulgence in the use of intoxicating liquors. It would seem that the old keepers kept a bar either within the prison, or at some convenient spot near by, from which they derived an easily obtained income. This privilege was "abated" with the abatement of the old jail, doubtless to the great improvement of decency and order within the prison.
As far as the writer has been able to discover, there is no record of the date when the new jail was completed. Evidently no beginning
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had been made upon the building when the supplementary law was passed in the fall of 1797, for by that law the commissioners were al- lowed to make use of the materials of the old jail in constructing the foundations of the new. In the levy list, made in January, 1801, there is an allowance to James Nabb for "criminal irons" and for "money advanced for the Gaol Door." In the same list is an allowance to John Mullikin, of thirty pounds for "rent of Gaol to January, 1802." As late as 1804, there was an allowance in the levy to Owen Kennard, Esq., one of the commissioners for building the jail, of One Hundred and sixty-six pounds ten shillings. From the various minutes it is safe to say the prison was not finally completed until the year last mentioned.
One of the humane provisions of the law for the erection of the jail was that for the building a wall around the yard, so that a certain class of prisoners might have privilege of fresh air and sunshine. This seems never to have been carried into execution, but it is to be hoped that it is not yet too late for us to perform that which was so beneficently conceived by our forefathers.
There was a pillory and stocks belonging to the jail, as we might sup- pose, even if the records of the county and the recollection of persons yet living did not confirm our suppositions. In 1797 an allowance was made in the levy to David Kerr and Tristram Bowdle, Esquires, Justices of the Peace, of twelve pounds and ten shillings for building a pillory. The writer has been informed by those who recollect this instrument, that it stood about where the smoke house of the jail now stands, that is in front and to the left or southeast of the building. It consisted of stocks for holding the head and hands, with a whipping post beneath. The punishment of colored people for petty offenses by whipping continued up to the time of emancipation. Among the minutes of Saint Michaels parish of 1824 there is entered the very proper protest of the vestry against the use of the trees standing in the church yard as whipping posts, for those condemned to that pun- ishment.
THE STORY OF PERDITA
A ROMANCE OF COLONIAL TIMES IN TALBOT COUNTY.
In or about the year 1825 the Hon. Theodore Sedgwick, of Berk- shire, Massachusetts, an enthusiastic agriculturist-and one of those singular political nondescripts, a democratic abolitionist-was visiting this county for the purpose of extending his acquaintance with the farmers of this region, then regarded as among the most intelligent and successful of the whole country, and also for the purpose of attend- ing one of those annual cattle shows, which, at that period, it was the custom to hold in the town of Easton. He became the honored and honoring guest, at Plimhimmon, near Oxford, of Tench Tilghman, Esq., the father of the gentleman of that name yet living among us, to whom, it is proper to say, the writer is indebted for most of the facts related in this preface, and the appendix hereafter to appear. This Mr. Sedgwick, himself a distinguished author, was the brother of the yet more distinguished authoress, Miss Catherine Sedgwick, of Stock- bridge, Mass., a lady to whom we all owe so much pleasure derived from her many delightful stories. While at Plimhimmon Mr. Tilghman related to Mr. Sedgwick the story of a young woman, a tradition of whose romantic adventures attached to that estate. In this story Mr. Sedgwick, true to the Yankee character of thriftiness, which is sure to discover advantages where others see only impediments, perceived the materials that could be used profitably by his sister, who, young as she was, had already given proof of her abilities in more than one literary adventure, and notably of late, in 1824, in a successful novel called "Redwood," which obtained the rare distinction for an Ameri- can book at that time of being reproduced in England and of being translated into the French, Italian and Swedish languages. Upon his re- turn home Mr. Sedgwick, who had treasured up the incidents, rehearsed the story, as he had received it from Mr. Tilghman to his sister, who at once, with the eye of the true literary artist, saw in the narrative materials almost ready formed for a romance, and immediately began to weave them, as no one knew better how, upon the loom of her fancy into the charming story of PERDITA.
At that date there was a literary fashion hardly yet gone out of publishing annuals-books with fanciful titles, printed in the highest
246
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THE STORY OF PERDITA
style of typography, bound with the greatest luxury, illustrated by engravings from the burins of the best masters of the graphic art, and not infrequently written by authors of the first distinction in prose and poetry. The story written by Miss Sedgwick, based upon the materials obtained by her brother in Talbot, was contributed to the Atlantic Souvenir-one of these annuals for the year 1827. Like every produc- tion that had come from the pen of this young authoress, it immediately attracted attention and won high commendation. If its literary excellence had not been sufficient to give it acceptance among the re- fined and cultured of our own county, its local references and personal allusions would of themselves have secured the interested perusal by our people of the story of Perdita. It has been repeatedly republished in the papers of this county, but it first appeared here in the columns of the Gazette of Dec. 16th and 23d, 1826. It has also been republished in various repertories of choice literature, the New York Mirror, for instance, which in its day, its early day at least, was regarded as an arbi- ter of literary merit. It is now again reproduced, that the present generation of our people may read and enjoy what was so relished by their fathers and mothers-a charming romance charmingly told, and one founded upon veritable incidents, part of which occurred within this county, and with people whose descendants remain to the present prosaic time.
It would probably impair the enjoyment of the story if there should be a statement made by the prying and tattling annalist of how much of it is entitled to credence, and how much must be put down to the in- vention of the romancist. For the present suffice it to say that as printed it contains enough of truth to satisfy all but those most exigent of facts, and enough of fancy to appease those who crave only "such stuff as dreams are made on." The "round unvarnished tale" will be delivered at the end of this "strange eventful history."
MODERN CHIVALRY
BY THE AUTHOR OF REDWOOD.
But when the hour of trouble comes to the mind or the body-and when the hour of death comes, that comes to high and low-Oh, my leddy, then it is'na what we hae dune for oursells, but what we hae dune for others, that we think on maist pleasantly .- Heart of Mid- lothian.
The assertion that a tale is founded on fact, is a pious fraud of story tellers, too stale to impose on any but the very young or very credulous.
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HISTORY OF TALBOT COUNTY
We hope, therefore, not to be suspected of resorting to an expedient that would expose our poverty without relieving it, when we declare that the leading incidents of the following tale are true-that they form, in that district of the country where some of the circumstances transpired, a favourite and well authenticated tradition-and that our hero boasts with well-earned self-complacency, that there is no name better known than his from "Cape May to the head of Elk." That name, however, honorable as it is, must be suppressed, and we here beg the possessor's pardon for compelling him, for the first time in his life, to figure under false colours.
In the year 1763, an American vessel lying in the Thames and bound to Oxford, a small sea-port on the eastern shore of Maryland, was hailed by a boat containing a youth, who, on presenting himself to the captain, stated that he had a fancy for a sailor's life, and offered his services for two years, on the simple condition of kind treatment. The captain, though himself a coarse, illiterate man, perceived in the air and language of the lad indications of good breeding, and deeming him some disobedi- ent child, or possibly a runaway apprentice, declined receiving him. But William Herion, as he called himself, was so earnest in his solicita- tions, and engaging in his manners, and the captain, withal, in pressing need of a cabin-boy, that he waived his scruples, quieted his conscience with the old opiate that it was best not to be more nice than wise, and without inquiring too curiously into the boy's right of self-disposal, drew up some indentures, by which he entitled himself to two years' service.
The boy was observed for the first day to wear a troubled counte- nance. His eye glanced around with incessant restlessness, as if in eager search of some expected object. While the ship glided down the Thames he gazed on the shore as if he looked for some signal on which his life depended, and when she passed Gravesend, the last point of embarcation, he wept convulsively. The captain believed him to be disturbed with remorse of conscience; the sailors, that these heartbreakings were lingerings for his native land, and all hinted their rude consolations. Soothed by their friendly efforts, or by his own reflections, or perhaps following the current of youth that naturally flows to happiness, William soon became tranquil; and sometimes even gay. He kept, as the sailors said, on the fair weather side of the captain, a testy, self-willed old man, who loved but three things in the world-his song, his glass, and his own way.
All that has been fabled of the power of music over stones and brutes was surpassed by the effect of the lad's melting voice on the icy heart of the captain, whom forty years of absolute power had rendered as despotic as a Turkish Pasha. When their old commander blew the stiffest gale, as the sailors were wont to term his blustering passions, Will could, they said, sing him into a calm. Will of course became a doting piece to the whole ship's company. They said he was a trim built lad, too neat and delicate a piece of workmanship for the stormy sea. They laughed at his slender fingers, fitter to manage threads than ropes, passed many jokes upon his soft blue eyes and fair round cheeks, and in their rough lan- guage expressed Sir Toby's prayer, that "Jupiter in his next commodity
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