USA > Maryland > Talbot County > History of Talbot county, Maryland, 1661-1861, Volume II > Part 42
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59
This canal was formally opened for trade, July 4th, 1829.
394
HISTORY OF TALBOT COUNTY
and still depends. It has grown in extent and magnitude, and though there are apprehensions, not ill founded, that the exhaustion of the oyster beds in Miles River and the Eastern Bay is not a remote calamity, the returns of labor are still sufficiently remunerative to sustain a larger population than has ever before lived within the town, and to encourage an increase of the number. The fleet of oyster canoes is now more nu- merous than it has ever been, and human labor with the tongs has been supplemented by mechanical contrivances, such as drags and scrapes, so that more oysters are taken than at any previous period. No more beautiful sight, of the kind, can be offered to the eye, than is witnessed upon every fine morning in the fall of the year, when this minature fleet of more than a hundred sail boats start from the harbor of Saint Michaels for the oyster grounds, unless it be the return of the same after a day spent in profitable labor. Almost daily, if there be wind, there is pre- sented a regatta that would delight the eye of the rich yachtman of our great cities, for there are constant contests of speed and seamanship. Though there may be no competition for silver cups as the prize of the winner, there is a generous rivalry between the owners who shall display the whitest and most nicely fitting sails, who shall best preserve the brightness and freshness of his paint, who shall show the cleanest bottom to the eye of the wind, who shall have the hold of his little ship, when the dirty work of the day is over, in the neatest condition. Of late years this oyster business has developed in another direction than the capturing of the shell-fish, that is to say some of the citizens of the town have engaged in shucking the oysters, and putting them either in tin cans, or in barrels for transportation to distant points. This branch of the business is now conducted upon a scale, which, though not com- parable with that of the same business in the city of Baltimore, is most respectable, and is giving employment to a class of laborers which could not undergo the hardships of oyster fishing. For the development of this form of industry the town is chiefly indebted to Mr. William Willis, though as a matter of fact, it was introduced here by others who preceded him, but who did not prosecute it with the same vigor and success.
For many years the people of St. Michaels, from what date is not apparent, had neglected their corporate duties and privileges in failing to elect commissioners of their town. In January, 1846, an attempt was made to revive their municipal government, and on the first Mon- day of that month and year an election was held for town officers,
395
THE TOWNS OF TALBOT
commissioners and bailiff, under the act of 1804.59 But these officers failed to qualify, as "doubts were entertained as to the power of said inhabitants now to hold an election for said officers." A petition was therefore forwarded to the General Assembly from the people praying that the act of 1804 be revived, which prayer was granted, the old act being declared to be in full force, and the inhabitants authorized to appoint two judges and one clerk of election, who were empowered to open the polls at the School House on the first Monday in 1848. At this election Mr. Richard C. Lane and Mr. Oliver Harrison were judges, and Mr. John Hope was clerk, the following gentlemen were chosen commissioners of the town: Mr. James B. Way, Dr. John Miller, Messrs. William Harrison, Edward Willey, and William Weeden. Mr. Thomas H. W. Lambdin was chosen Bailiff. The old books of record of the Commissioners were found in the possession of Mr. Rigby Valliant. Between the 19th of Sept. and the 19th of December of the same year a re-survey of the town which had been ordered was completed by Mr. Fitzgerald, who presented a plot in the preparation of which he was aided by the older surveys. From this time to the present the municipal government has been maintained by regular elections, held according to law; and due record has been made and preserved of the proceedings and ordinances of the Board of Commissioners. This board now contains but three members, under the act of 1880, and is constituted of these gentlemen: Mr. William E. Sewell, President or Mayor; Mr. John W. Dean, Secretary or Clerk; and Mr. George W. Lambdin.
In the Maryland Herald, published at Easton, of June 9th, 1801, is the following announcement: "The Public are hereby informed that a mail from Annapolis, via Haddaway's Ferry will arrive at Easton by 12 o'clock on every Saturday and return from Easton at 3 o'clock on the same day." This is here inserted to mark the time when first a Post Office was established in St. Michaels. The first postmaster is known to have been Mr. James Dodson, 1802, who was succeeded suc- cessively by Richard Harrington 1811, William Roberts 1816, James Pursley 1817, James Dodson 1825, Thomas Auld 1832, Henry Seng- stack 1839, Thomas Bruff 1841, John Jefferson 1841, Leonidas Dodson 1844, Arthur J. Loveday 1845, John K. Skinner 1846, Joseph Spencer
59 The statement in the text has been taken from authentic records; yet there is ground for belief that an election of commissioners was held in 1845, but like that of 1846 its legality was questioned.
396
HISTORY OF TALBOT COUNTY
1852, William W. Valliant 1852, Socrates M. Ridgaway 1852, Henry P. Montague 1852, John W. Dean 1854, Henry F. Bryne 1855, Thomas W. Blades 1856, John K. Skinner 1858, John A. Bruff 1861, Henry C. Dodson 1862, Robert A. Dodson 1878, Gustavus K. Benson 1883. The measure of the increase of mail matter, at the office of this town, as in all others, is a measure of the increase of population, wealth and intel- ligence, from the time when that matter was received but once a week, and was carried about the town in the hat or pocket of the post master, to the present, when there is daily mail received from and sent to points above and below the town of very considerable weight and varied contents.
During the first or formative period of the town's history there was little communication with other portions of the province or with the neighboring provinces, for domestic commerce could hardly be said to exist, and travel was neither a necessity nor a luxury, with much the greater part of the people. Communication was frequent and direct with the mother country by means of the tobacco ships, and with the West Indies by vessels trading between these islands and Maryland. In fact beyond those necessaries which the county afforded, the people had few wants, for they were simple and abstemious in their habits of life, and the nomadism which characterizes the modern Americans had not yet been adopted. What domestic communication existed was chiefly by shallops, sloops and other small sailing vessels for the longer journeys, or by barges or canoes, propelled by oars for the shorter. In the second period of the town's history, Baltimore assumed a pre- cedence of the towns of Maryland, and then it was regular packets began to ply between St. Michaels and this emporium of trade. Fine sloops and schooners, with comfortable, if indeed it may not be said luxurious accommodations for passengers, departed and arrived at stated times. Among the captains of these packets, in the early years of the present century were Capt. Robert Dodson, and Capt. Impey Dawson. A little later were Capt. Wm. Dodson and Capt. Edward Dodson. These packets continued their service until the introduction of steam- boats into St. Michaels river, which was almost co-temporaneous with the beginning of the third period of the history of the town. To be sure as early as 1817 the very primitive steamer Surprise passed up the river without making a landing at the town; and all the inhabitants went to the shores to gaze upon this great novelty in navigation. The Surprise was commanded by Capt. Jonathan Spencer, son of Col. Perry Spencer of Spencer Hall. It was not until 1839 that steam communication was
397
THE TOWNS OF TALBOT
established between this town and Baltimore when the steamer Paul Jones, Capt. James. Fookes, made her appearance in the harbor.60 Since that time, with occasional interruptions, there have been steamboats regularly plying upon this route. The Paul Jones was succeeded in 1842 by the Osiris, Capt. John D. Turner, and she by so many others that they need not be mentioned. At the present time the propeller Olive, owned as well as commanded by natives of St. Michaels, affords steam communication with the commercial capital of the State, but is believed to be very inadequate for the travel and freight which de- mand accommodation.
The people of St. Michaels have always been mostly those who were employed in the laborious avocations. They were sailors, mechanics, oystermen. The women were spinners, knitters and weavers as long as those employments could be made profitable. A few merchants from the first existed among them, and of late years this class of citizens has been more numerous than was advantageous. A smaller number of professional men have had residence in the town. The first physician61 who made his home here was Dr. Anthony Thompson, in 1815; the first lawyer was the Hon. John Bozman Kerr in 1858; and the first settled clergyman, not to mention the Methodist ministers who are by the necessities of their itinerant system but sojourners, was the Rev. Dr. Spencer, in 1843. There have been but few of the citizens to accumu- late large wealth; of those the most conspicuous was Mr. Saml. Harri- son, who has been frequently mentioned. Comfortable independence based upon frugality and industry, has characterized the economical condition of the people. But there have always been many poor among them. From the time of the decline of ship building to its revival and the beginning of the oyster industry, the town had more than the usual proportion of necessitous people. In truth it may be said that during this period poverty was the rule, and competence the exception. From about the year 1840 the town became the residence of persons of means, and it now contains many citizens of moderate, though not large wealth; but a general level of pecuniary independence prevails, and while a few rise slightly above, there is none except the old and afflicted that need fall much below this level, for labor finds constant and remunera- tive employment.
60 In an article published in the St. Michaels Comet it is stated the Paul Jones was running in 1838 upon Miles River commanded by Capt. George W. Russell.
61 Dr. Francis Rolle, of Rolle's Range, and Dr. James Benson of Maiden Point, were physicians, living near the town at a very early date. Later Dr. John Bar- nett settled between the Royal Oak and St. Michaels.
398
HISTORY OF TALBOT COUNTY
The manners that once and for a long time prevailed in the town were those of a simple people so intently engaged in providing for the urgent wants of life that they were precluded from cultivating the social ameni- ties. The truth compels the declaration that such a people, not having those restraints upon the passions and those correctives of their con- duct which are so influential in giving a decorous tone to a society existing under other conditions, too often presented examples of some- thing grosser than the merely unbecoming. It is to be feared that what used to be said was too true, that the courts had more cases of mis- demeanors and other petty offences committed by the people of St. Michaels than by any community of the same numbers in the county. This evil reputation gave rise to the libel upon this town, which some were fond of repeating-even those to whom it applied as readily as to any others, for they were of the same stock, that it was originally settled by convicts and their descendants, who had transmitted their vices and ignorance. This slander had its origin, doubtless in the fact that convicts during the colonial régime were landed here, as they were landed at almost every other point of debarcation.62 What was said at first in mere badinage or banter was perpetuated by spite or malice. There is really no other foundation for this imputation than the one assigned, and there is no stronger probability that the inhabi- tants of St. Michaels, or any of them, were the descendants of convict servants, than that the people of any town where such involuntary immigrants were landed, are the progeny of this class of transports. Poverty has no greater evil than that it makes its victims ridiculous. But whatever may have been once the social condition of the town, with increase of wealth and intelligence has come a corresponding improve- ment in morals, manners, and indeed, in all the elements of civilization; so that no citizen of St. Michaels need fear a comparison of his town with any other of its class in the State.
The two agencies which next after a remunerative industry-the most powerful of them all-were most influential in ameliorating the condi- tion of society in St. Michaels, were religion and education. The first period of its religious history corresponds with the colonial period of the political history of the commonwealth. During this period the
62 Of the landing, at Deep Water Point at the mouth of St. Michaels harbor, of the notorious vagrant and petty thief, Bampfy d Moore Carew, the prince of beggars and the King of the gypsies, and of his adventures here, an account ab- stracted from his autobiography by the compiler of these annals was published in the Easton Star, of Aug. 27th, 1872.
399
THE TOWNS OF TALBOT
people of St. Michaels, as most others in the province, were under the religious guidance of the rectors of the parish; and here, at least, this guidance if not scrupulously followed, seems not to have been obsti- nately resisted; though it is recorded that when the first church was to be built under the law of 1694, the people objected. This may have been, however, an objection to the tax, not to the form of religion. In truth there were no sectaries worth mention, for even the Quakers assembled no meeting here, though they had a small congregation below, nearer the bayside. The people accepted the religion as estab- lished by law (1694-1702) but this religion was by most of them re- garded as a kind of moral constabulary rather than an agency for the consulting human despondency and the strengthening human infirmi- ties. There was too much officialism in its character to afford the in- spiration of high motive or noble endeavor-too much mere decorum to awaken earnestness. Yet in all probability the services at the parish church were attended with commendable regularity by the piously disposed, at least, and the poll tax of thirty or forty pounds of tobacco for the support of the minister was paid promptly, even though reluc- tantly in many cases. But a people like those of St. Michaels required something more than or something different from the staid and sober ritual of the church of England and the unimpassioned sermons of the excellent parson Nicols, or the equally good parson Gordon. The arguments by the former against the deism of Tindall and Toland had no meaning to a people who had never learned to doubt, and condemna- tion by the latter of the enthusiasm of Whitefield and Wesley were unintelligible to those whose religion, if they had any which was definable, was that of emotion or feeling. The Friends made their appearance in Talbot at or about the date of its organization, and though this county was one of their strongholds in America, they were never numerous in Bayside, and scarcely had existence in St. Michaels. One hundred years later appeared a new religion which was in a certain sense the spiritual successor of Quakerism, even then dying out. The coming in of this new sect was also coincident in time with the inauguration of a new political régime. In 1777 Joseph Cromwell, an illiterate, but a strong minded as well as devout man, first preached methodism in St. Michaels; and the kind of methodism he proclaimed is that which to this day prevails, unaltered in any essential trait.
In 1778 Freeborn Garrettson held a meeting near the town and then and there were exhibited those strange paroxysmal phenomena in the persons of the people of St. Michaels which are still presented, in seasons
400
HISTORY OF TALBOT COUNTY
of religious revival, without any diminution of their original violence and impressiveness. Though a skeptical philosophy has attempted to reason it away, sectarian jealousy to sneer it down, and even irreverent ridicule to laugh it out of existence, here primitive methodism, with all its pecu- liarities still survives, the relic of an age of stronger faith in spiritual things, and of more sober views of the world that is and of the world to come. That Methodism so quickly took root, and so rapidly spread that in a few years it occupied about the whole ground, is evidence that the seed which were sown by the early husbandmen fell in congenial soil. That it continues to flourish here in all its original vigor and purity is evidence, also, of its adaptation to the religious wants of this people, who find it an aid to holy inspiration, a contentment of their religious yearnings, and a rule of righteous conduct in life. That it has been beneficial to this community, few would venture to question; and though the strictness of its regiment may have given to it an air of sobriety, sometimes deepening into puritanical gloom, and though it may have afforded opportunities for hypocrisy to practice its decep- tions, unquestionably open vice has been rebuked with a severity that has had no qualification, and private conduct regulated by a straight line that no priestly casuistry or complaisance was allowed to deflect.
Of early Methodism in St. Michaels, John Hanna and John Dorgan were not unworthy exemplars-men who were not only fervid in their piety but correct in their lives and conversation-men of whom no evil could be said, with truth, and of whom, in fact, nothing was said until they exhibited as perhaps too strenuous insistence upon the adop- tion of their views of church polity, in 1828, and even then partisan rancor dared not to impeach their christian character. Later Garrison West and Thomas Keithly best illustrated its peculiarities. Both of these were devout and irreproachable men. Enthusiasts they may have been, but their enthusiasm raised them from the low plane of their humble lives into a region of spiritual exaltation, with its purer moral atmosphere. Of these two, the most notable was Garrison West. If ever man deserved canonization, it was this humble, ignorant, but truly holy man. The most diligent advocatus diaboli could find no spot nor flaw in him; and if his remains, now lying in the old churchyard, perform no miracles such as are attributed to the enshrined relics of many a mediaeval saint-if they heal no physical blindness, if they cure no fleshly ulcers-who shall say what moral cecity, what spiritual sores they have not removed. Those who have seen him when alive in his moments of ecstasy and exaltation, when his large coarse features
401
THE TOWNS OF TALBOT
seemed to glow with more than earthly light, and his uncouth language thrilled the hearer like the words of a Hebrew prophet, or Grecian python- ess, might be pardoned if fancy led them to believe they saw the very aureola of sainthood encircling his venerable head. The memory of this good man is a perpetual benediction upon this community.
That the primitive character of the religion of some of the Methodists of St. Michaels has not changed, was singularly illustrated by the incident of the removal, in the year 186- of the small organ which some of the progressive brethren had succeeded in placing in the church, and the setting it adrift in the river, where it was found and brought to land amidst the jeers of the conservative party in the congregation. This removal was effected secretly and at night, but by whom has never been certainly known, though suspicion pointed to some members of the communion who had been open and strenuous in their opposition to the introduction of a musical instrument into the church, conscien- tiously believing that worship should be conducted without the aid of mechanical contrivances, and should be strictly personal and spiritual. The matter was investigated by the church authorities and even by the grand jury of the county; but the act was not traced to any one.63
In the year 1828 the congregation of Methodists had grown so large and strong that divisions crept in among them. A violent controversy arose not here alone, but throughout the connection, respecting the powers of the Bishops and Presiding Elders and the light of lay repre- sentation in the councils of the church. St. Michaels was a point where the contest was as warm as at any part of the field of battle. This controversy resulted in a division of the people. Those who seceded from the old organization, called by their opponents "Radicals," built a place of worship upon St. Mary's square, within hearing of the people of the "Old Side" meeting house. The discord produced by
63 One good and venerable man, opposed to novelties in public worship, upon the introduction of the organ forsook the church whose worship, as he thought had been profaned by the use of mechanical adjuvants and joined a rival commu- nion. But when this too adopted the same obnoxious contrivances, he forsook it also, and having no other to connect himself with, he now makes his own home his sanctuary. His sincerity no one doubts, and all admire his consistency. An anecdote of this organ is worth recording. The morning after the disappear- ance from the church of the melodeon, one of those most violently opposed to its admission, called joyously to another of the same sentiment: "It is gone, John! It is gone!" "What is gone?" answered his friend. "The hellodion," was the reply of the pious brother, using a paronomasia that had in it more of wit than holiness-that savored more of salt than sanctity.
402
HISTORY OF TALBOT COUNTY
their separate but simultaneous psalmody only too fitly symbolized their disagreements upon ecclesiastical polity. Peace and amity, however, now subsists between the jarring sections of Methodism, and even musical harmony is not violated since the Methodist Protes- tants built their new meeting-house at the corner of Talbot and Chest- nut streets. Their old meeting house upon the square was converted into a school house, but it has now wholly disappeared.
On the 13th of Aug., 1879, the centennial of the introduction of Methodism into St. Michaels was celebrated with interesting and impres- sive ceremonies and services, in which a large number of the clergy- men who had exercised their ministerial functions, at various times, in this town, and many laymen from a distance participated, in fraternal union with the resident members of this communion.
Of that other agency which has been mentioned as having been instru- mental in ameliorating the original social rudeness of St. Michaels we know but little, in the ante-Revolutionary or formative period of the town's history. That there were schools in the town and neighborhood supported by private subscription there can be little doubt. But when the teachers were convict or indentured servants, the grade of these schools must have been low. Unquestionably many of the poor were excluded from the tuition of even these teachers, brought from the transport ships. In the second period, subsequent to the Revolu- tion, there was newly awakened interest in the subject of education, as in all others relating to the public welfare. The stimulating influence of that political convulsion has never been duly appreciated. Schools supported by the subscription of patrons multiplied, and the character of the teachers employed improved. Many were the poor mechanics who saved from their weekly wages the sum to pay for the winter's schooling of their boys; many the poor widows who spun and wove to earn the dollar a month which went to similar laudable purposes. But still, down to a time much within the recollection of men now living the educational character of the town was that of illiteracy. It was not until primary schools supported from the public funds were instituted under a law framed and presented to the Legislature in 183464 by a gentleman as nearly identified with the town as was Mr. Richard Spen- cer, that education began to be general. From this time to the present
64 Teackle's School Law of 1825-6, though approved by Talbot, never went into practical effect. Bruff's School Law of 1833 also failed of its purposes. The law known as Spencer's School Law, the first to be operative, was passed March 15th, 1834.
403
THE TOWNS OF TALBOT
the people of St. Michaels have with an ardor that is really exceptional, cherished their schools as their dearest possession, so that now the reproach of illiteracy under which they long rested is almost entirely removed, exceedingly few of its citizens, probably none native to the place, except colored people, being without the rudiments of an educa- tion; while there are many quite as well informed as people of their social grade in any community. In the year 1840 Mr. Matthew Spencer established an English and classical school in the town under an act of incorporation. This school was not successful, and in 1843 his brother, Dr. Joseph Spencer succeeded him.6-5 In the year 1852 a school of high grade for young ladies was established in the town by Mrs. M. A. Patti- son, an English lady; but it had a brief existence, and is worthy of notice only as being the first of its kind in St. Michaels. In the year 1857 a number of the citizens of the town and vicinity united for the purpose of securing superior education for their daughters by the employment of teachers of requisite qualifications. This resulted in the establish- ment of the St. Michaels Female Academy. The building that was originally built for a place of worship by the congregation of Methodist Protestants, situated upon St. Mary's Square, and last occupied by the High School, was fitted up for school purposes, and Miss Hahn, now the accomplished wife of a principal citizen, was employed as teacher. This school flourished for a number of years and was successful in the intro- duction of higher education for the female youth, than had been known in this town and section of the county. In the year 1865 there was a
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.