USA > Maryland > Maryland's colonial Eastern Shore ; historical sketches of counties and of some notable structures > Part 6
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Dorchester was named after Sir Edward Sackville, fourth Earl of
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Dorset, a distinguished nobleman and statesman in the reigns of James I and Charles I, Kings of England. He was a favorite of the latter king, as well as of his consort, Henrietta Maria, after whom Maryland was named, and served as Lord Chamberlain to the queen. It is not a rash conjecture that one of the largest counties of Mary- land may have been so named for him because of this close friendship with the queen. The Earl of Dorset was not only an influential states- man and counselor to the king, but he is described by Clarendon as "beautiful, graceful and vigorous; his wit, pleasant, sparkling and sublime. The vices he had were of the age, which he was not stubborn enough to condemn or resist." Another writer says of him: "He was an able speaker and on the whole a moderate politician, combining a strong respect for the royal prerogative with an attachment to the Protestant cause and the liberties of Parliament."
Prior to this time Dorchester formed part of Somerset County, being the first child of that county, as was Talbot of Kent County; Kent and Somerset, divided by the Great Choptank River, constitut- ing the original Eastern Shore of Maryland, and extending from the fortieth degree of north latitude to the Virginia line and from the Chesapeake Bay to Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. After much dispute, what is now known as the State of Delaware was removed from under Maryland jurisdiction, and after being sepa- rated from Somerset, Dorchester County was bounded by the Great Choptank River on the north and northeast, by the Delaware line on the east, by Nanticoke River on the south, and the Chesapeake Bay on the west and northwest. It embraced the larger part of what is now known as Caroline County until in 1773 that county was created out of parts of Dorchester and Queen Anne's Counties. Since this separation Dorchester has contained 618 square miles, being the largest county on the Eastern Shore in area, and the fourth largest in the State. Colonists from the western side of the Chesapeake were attracted by the low-lying shores on the Choptank River and in the lower section of Dorchester County, and quite a large area of land had been surveyed and taken up in these localities as early as 1659. More than a hundred settlers are shown from the rent rolls of that period to have taken up their residence in the territory which in 1669 became Dorchester County, and it is estimated that the population
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numbered at least 500 inhabitants. By the last census, (1910), the population was given as 28,669, thus making Dorchester ninth in numbers in the State, though still the first on the eastern side of the bay.
On its western side the county was and is guarded against the turbulent waters of the Chesapeake Bay by a string of beautiful and most fertile islands; cotton, tobacco, figs, pecans, etc., denizens of a more southern clime, flourishing luxuriantly in early days side by side with the cereal crops-such is the tempered and salubrious cli- mate-but these islands have in larger part been washed away by storms and the tides of the bay, and they seem destined to final extinction as the submergence still progresses and at an even accel- erated rate within the last fifty years. By the operation of seismic forces the mainland within this fringe of islands, like the islands themselves, appears upon all its bay frontage to be gradually but steadily subsiding, extensive areas of marsh land, inhabited by fur- bearing animals alone, now appearing where prosperous corn and tobacco fields were cultivated by the early colonists. This is not only known by tradition and the experience of the last fifty or sixty years, but is demonstrated by the existence of immense stumps of oak and poplar trees, from three to five feet in diameter, found in these marshes several feet below the tides, high or low, and which indicate a subsidence of at least three or four feet within the last 200 years.
In 1684 an Act of the General Assembly was passed to locate a town, to be called Cambridge, on the south side of the Great Chop- tank River, and in 1686 an act was passed providing for the erection of a court house and jail in the new town, which from that time became the county-seat, the same having been until then migratory, but it was not until 1745 that the village was incorporated. "Village," yes, but at that time it had a slightly larger population than "Balti- more Town," as indicated by the number of dwellings appearing in the old-time sketches of the two towns. The major part of the ancient records of the county were consumed when the colonial court house was destroyed by fire in 1851, not a vestige of the record of proceed- ings of the original commissioner government and of the "county court" government, which followed it after the Revolution, having
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been saved. In 1692 the vestry of Great Choptank Parish was authorized to use this court house as a place of worship until a church should be built.
Having religious toleration as one of the fundamental principles in its charter, it is not surprising that Maryland almost from the very beginning was a religious center where people of any religious faith, or of no religious faith, could meet on common ground upon terms of equality. As early as 1629 we are informed that regular services were held on Kent Island, and religious worship seems to have spread gradually, but steadily, to other parts of the Eastern Shore, this gradual extension undoubtedly being caused by the sparsity of the population and the inconvenient methods of travel and intercourse. While information as to religious activities of the ante-Revolutionary period seems to be lacking, yet we know that during and after the Revolution Dorchester County became a center for religious dis- cussion. During and at the close of the Revolutionary War, Francis Asbury, Freeborn Garrettson and other famous missionaries of the Wesleyan Methodist Church repeatedly visited Dorchester, and a great religious wave swept over the county. A large proportion of the inhabitants attached themselves to that organization, and the followers of Methodism largely predominate in Dorchester County today: Mr. Garrettson was on one occasion, in 1780, confined in the old jail in Locust Street, in Cambridge, (which, as a stable, stood until pulled down a few years ago), but, tradition to the contrary notwithstanding, his arrest seems to have been more attributable to his Toryism than to religious persecution. In 1777 we are told that he refused to take the oath of allegiance on conscientious grounds, and was told peremptorily that he must take such oath, leave the State or go to jail. In spite of these admonitions he continued to preach, though frequently subjected to harsh treatment, and was the object of suspicion which finally led to his arrest and imprisonment under circumstances exciting in their details. George Fox, the celebrated Quaker preacher, also appeared, the Cliffs of Calvert and the banks of the Choptank being rallying points where with rude but powerful eloquence he preached the Gospel to his audience of aborigines and white settlers, the heir to the Province on one of these occasions being present as a member of the congregation.
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In 1642 it is said that there was not one Protestant clergyman in Maryland, but fifty years later, in 1692, the Church of England became by law the established church of the Province. Dorchester County was divided into two parishes, Great Choptank Parish and Dorchester Parish, a division which remains until the present day. So far as can be ascertained, four small churches were established by the Church of England in the territory of the county, and one chapel of the Church of Rome in the years prior to and shortly following the Revolution. One of these Protestant Episcopal churches, (as they have been styled since the separation of the colonies from Great Britain), built during the reign of William and Mary, and located at Church Creek, seven miles from Cambridge, stands intact to the present day, and is one of the oldest, if not the very oldest, of the original church edifices of Maryland in existence.
Dorchester County was intensely and enthusiastically devoted to the Revolutionary cause and sent her quota of troops to the "Mary- land Line" which played so heroic a part in the great War of Indepen- dence. To speak of the individuals who were conspicuous in these Revolutionary struggles would be beyond the scope of an article which is designed to be impersonal in its nature, but it is sufficient to say that at every call of the State for troops Dorchester promptly responded.
The development and growth of a people are affected in a great degree by the vocations they pursue, and these vocations are largely influenced by the physical characteristics of the territory in which they build their homes. The people of Dorchester appear from the earliest times to have very largely followed the water, lying as the county does between the Chesapeake Bay on one side and the Great Choptank River on the other; the river being over two miles wide, and until after it passes Dorchester toward its source in Delaware more properly an arm of the bay than a river. Besides this it is pene- trated by a number of navigable rivers and creeks, and like most populations everywhere so situated, the inhabitants seem to have been from the beginning a sturdy, independent but peaceable people, living on excellent terms with the Indians in their midst as well as with themselves and neighbors. The life of the people was a country life and little has come down to us concerning their peaceful existence. If
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the annals of a happy people are meager, then we may infer that the people of early Dorchester lived happy and contented, and we may surmise that their life was much of that character described by John- son in his book on "Old Maryland Manors," where he says:
The first generation of Maryland planters led that sort of hand-to- mouth, happy-go-lucky existence that marked the beginning of all the colonies. Until means became adapted to ends, but little comfort and still less culture were to be found. Many of the earliest settlers of high consideration made their cross-mark on titles, deeds and conveyances. Their ignorance, however, was the knowledge of the class from which the best born of them sprang-the English country gentry of the seventeenth century.
In those early days the growth of tobacco and corn was the prin- cipal occupation of the owners of the land. These were mostly farmers as distinguished from planters, most of the grants being of small acre- age as compared with the grants in the sister Colony of Virginia, and of the few large grants most of them became largely subdivided long before the Revolution. From Cambridge to the bay shore the soil is a stiff, white clay, while above the town it is lighter until it becomes extremely sandy as it approaches the Delaware line. About three- fourths of the county is perfectly flat, without an elevation upon it, while the remainder is slightly undulating in character.
Dorchester County has sent seven of her sons to Annapolis as Governors of Maryland, besides a long array of distinguished men to the service of the government of the Union, but as these were all post-Revolutionary in their political and military careers, simply this reference is made to them, as the object of this work, as I understand it, is purely colonial in scope and limited to the early records of the several counties of the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
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WARWICK FORT MANOR HOUSE
BUILT ABOUT 1740
T `HIS old home takes its name, presumably, from the famous War- wick Castle in England, and is situated at the picturesque junction of Secretary Creek with the Choptank River, about a mile from the quaint little village of Secretary in upper Dorchester. The history of "Warwick Manor" is almost as old as the history of Dorchester County itself, being one of the first manors granted in the county. This estate, the ancestral home of the Hooper family of Maryland, is particularly interesting, not only because of its antiquity but as hav- ing been the home of men whose valuable services to the State are a brilliant part of its history. At one time this land was the property of Henry Sewall, Secretary of the Province of Maryland.
Before the middle of the eighteenth century the estate was bought by Col. Henry Hooper, whose ancestors had come, in the last half of the preceding century, from Southern Maryland, renamed "Warwick Fort Manor," and built the present house. Colonel Hooper was one of the leading men in Maryland at that time. His son, also
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named Henry Hooper, who inherited the property, became even more prominent in public affairs. He took an active part in the struggle for independence, was a member of the Association of Free- men, a delegate to the first Maryland Provincial Convention and a member of the Council of Safety. In 1776 he was made brigadier- general of militia of the lower half of the Eastern Shore.
Passing at the death of General Hooper, in 1700, into the hands of his son, Henry, the estate was divided by him and sold in different parcels. In the course of time it passed entirely out of the hands of the family, and has since had a number of owners, among whom was Richard Hughlett, of the well-known Hughlett family of Talbot County, and John Webster, the largest landowner and one of the wealthiest men of his day in Dorchester. He devised it to Mrs. Martina Hurst, of Baltimore. In the last few years it has met the fate of so many of these old places, coming to have only a commercial value.
At the time "Warwick Fort Manor House" was built the Choptank Indians were roaming the forests that surrounded it. Colonel Hooper evidently recognized the necessity for providing adequate defense against possible attacks of these hostile neighbors. The walls, built of English brick, are two feet in thickness; the massive doors, made of diagonal timber, have hinges four feet in length, and stout iron bars on the inside. No expense was spared in making the interior attrac- tive. The rooms were finished in rosewood and mahogany, while the paneled walls, handsome mantels and deep window-seats are fine specimens of colonial architecture. The most striking feature of the house, however, is the hall with its beautiful winding stairway fin- ished with mahogany rail and banisters. Although it has echoed to the tread of the belles and beaux of two centuries its beauty is unimpaired.
Like most of these old places "Warwick Fort Manor House" has a "haunted chamber" and traditions of buried treasure. Linked as it is with the names of men who have helped to make Maryland history, surrounded by the halo of romance of "ye olden time," its fate is now in the balance, dependent upon its future owners.
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THE OLD DORCHESTER HOUSE
CAMBRIDGE
S TANDING in what is now the center of the business section of Cambridge, the "Old Dorchester House" is of peculiar interest to the people of the county because of its connection with past his- torical events. Available sources of information indicate that it was erected about the middle of the eighteenth century, the name of its constructor being perpetuated by Muir Street. The interior evidences the cultivated taste of its builder. It is paneled throughout, orna- mented with hand carving and colonial mantels, has deep window- seats and fireplaces in nearly every room.
This house was once the home of Thomas Nevitt, and later of Gustavus Scott, of the Continental Congress, and of Dr. Joseph Muse. Under Dr. Thomas White, it became a hotel, and on its spacious lawn old-time rallies of the Democrats were held. A week-long discussion with the Whigs on the work of the Constitutional Convention of 1850. in which noted local orators of both sides appeared, is a feature of the political history of the "Dorchester House." John Bradshaw also used it as a hotel, and then it was long occupied by David Straughn.
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THE POINT
BUILT 1706-10
A T the intersection of the Choptank River and Cambridge Creek, taking its name because of this situation, stands the justly famous "The Point"-the oldest remaining dwelling of the original houses of Cambridge. Its claims to distinction are not entirely confined, how- ever, to its antiquity, as it has been the home of men whose illustrious names appear with unusual prominence upon the annals of the county and State.
The larger part of the house was built between 1706 and 1710 by Col. John Kirk, then Lord Baltimore's agent for Dorchester County. Two additional rooms were built by Robert Goldsborough about 1770, and some years later-1706-when it became the property of James Steele, the handsome addition of two large and beautiful rooms and a large square hall was made by him. Almost a century later Dr. William R. Hayward further improved the house by the addition of a library, while modern conveniences have been supplied in recent years. All of these improvements were made, however, without departing from the architectural style of the oldest part of the dwell-
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ing. This part, though a wooden structure, is built of such solid timber that it will probably last longer than many of the houses erected in the last quarter of a century.
The interior of this fine old home reflects the highly cultured taste of its respective owners. Most of the rooms are heavily paneled, with deep windows, brass-mounted doors, colonial mantels and quaint nooks and corners. A handsome mahogany stairway rises from the hall, and antique furniture makes "The Point" a veritable treasure house.
"The Point" was inherited from Col. John Kirk by his only daughter, who married the Rev. Thomas Howell, the first rector of the historic church at Church Creek and the first Episcopal church in Cambridge. He planted a double row of cedars around the two- acre grounds of "The Point" and a cross of cedars in the center. When these grew up, in the course of years, they formed a gigantic cross, the trees measuring three feet in diameter. Unfortunately, they have been the special mark of lightning, and only the stumps remain. Mr. and Mrs. Howell sold the property to Mr. Orrell, a merchant, from whose heirs it was purchased by Charles Golds- borough, Clerk of the Circuit Court, who, at his death, bequeathed it to one of his sons, the talented Robert Goldsborough, who married Sarah Yerbury, of England. Robert Goldsborough, a famous lawyer, was a member of the Continental Congress and of the Council of Safety; also a member of the Convention of the Province of Mary- land, held in Annapolis in 1776. when he is said to have been largely instrumental in framing the first Maryland Constitution.
His son, William Goldsborough, became the next owner of "The Point," from whom it was purchased in 1796 by James Steele, the ancestor of the Steeles of Dorchester and Anne Arundel counties. One of his sons, Henry Maynadier Steele, married the daughter of Francis Scott Key, and to him his father bequeathed "The Point." Removing to Anne Arundel County, Mr. Steele in 1822 sold the place to William W. Eccleston, Register of Wills for Dorchester. It then passed to his widow, who left it to her daughter, Mrs. Eliza Hayward, wife of Dr. William R. Hayward, Commissioner of the Land Office from 1870 to 1884. It has since been owned by the descendants of Mrs. Hay- ward, being the residence at present of her daughter and son-in-law, Col. and Mrs. Clement Sulivane.
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HAMBROOK
BUILT PRIOR TO 1806
V ISIBLE for miles to those who travel the waters of the Great Choptank River-the beauty of which river at this point has been compared to that of the Bay of Naples-the estate of "Hambrook," the ancestral home of one branch of the Henry family, has compelled the admiration of visitors to Cambridge and has been a source of pride to its residents. Most of them cherish memories and traditions of its wide lawns, its flower gardens and tree-bordered walks, its cultured and distinguished guests, and its open-hearted hospitality.
The original tract of "Hambrook," known in the earliest records as "Busby," included much of the surrounding territory, since divided into several places, and was leased about 1700 from William Dorring- ton by John Hambrook, from whom it takes its name. This lease was shortly afterward confirmed by deed. The destruction of old wills by the burning of the court house has hampered the work of tracing the history of "Hambrook," as it has those of most of the places in Dor- chester. Therefore, the next owner of whom there is a record was Elizabeth Caile, who transferred it in 1796 to William Vans Murray.
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Later it became the property of Isaac Steele and was inherited by his niece, Catherine Steele. In 1812, when Catherine Steele was a minor, the place was sold to John Campbell Henry, son of Governor John Henry, of "Weston." "Weston," on the Nanticoke, was burned by the British in 1780.
Soon after his marriage to Miss Mary Nevitt Steele, daughter of James Steele, of "The Point," in 1812, Mr. Henry took up his residence at "Hambrook," where he lived the life of a country gentleman, dying in 1857. A large and interesting family grew up at "Hambrook" during that time. The estate was left by Mr. Henry to his son, Daniel Maynadier Henry, who long devoted his talents to public affairs, serving in both branches of the State Legislature and for two terms- Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses-as a member of the House of Representatives.
Social life among the residents of the old estates of Dorchester and adjoining counties often resulted in closer union. Thus it was that Daniel M. Henry married Susan, only daughter of William Goldsborough, of "Myrtle Grove," Talbot County, they being the parents of Judge Winder Laird Henry, a Representative in the Fifty- third Congress, lately of the bench of the First Judicial Circuit and the Maryland Public Service Commission, and President of the East- ern Shore Society.
"Hambrook" was sold by the Henrys to Dr. Edward S. Waters, of Baltimore, who made it his home for a number of years. Since then it has passed through several hands, it being now owned and occupied by Commodore Slagle, of Baltimore. Tradition is responsible for the as- sertion that the tenant house on the place is part of the original house- a frame building of the old hip-roof style, built by John Hambrook.
The present dwelling was built by Isaac Steele. He died there in 1806. "Hambrook" was enlarged and improved by John Campbell Henry, and both the house and the place greatly beautified and adorned by Mrs. Frank M. Dick of New York, who owned the place for some years. The possibility of adding modern conveniences and at the same time preserving the colonial features of the building has been fully demonstrated. So well has this been done that, unlike so many of the old buildings which are but relics of their former glory, "Hambrook" today is a magnificent home of the colonial type.
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CASTLE HAVEN
BUILT 1730
S' HORTLY after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes Monsieur Anthony LeCompte, a French Huguenot refugee, fled to this coun- try to escape the persecutions of the time. That he was a man of importance and large possessions was evident, as he brought with him so many retainers that it took several ships to carry them. Land- ing first in Calvert County he soon removed to Dorchester and was granted a patent for a large tract of land on the Choptank River, eight miles from Cambridge. The estate of "Castle Haven" was a part of this tract of land, but efforts to unearth something of its ancient history have been unavailing.
In the early part of the nineteenth century, however, "Castle Haven" was the residence of the Rev. James Kemp, one time rector of Great Choptank Parish, and afterward Bishop of Maryland. The records show that he lived there for some years prior to 1818, at which time he sold the place to Levin and Mary Jones. It passed through so many hands after this, that space will not permit the mention of all those who have owned it.
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It was for some years the summer home of Governor Thomas King Carroll, a native of Somerset County, then living in Baltimore. Among those owning it in later years was Wilbur F. Jackson. At his death it became the property of his widow and daughter-the latter the wife of Mayor James H. Preston of Baltimore City. Oscar F. Turner, of Baltimore, was the next purchaser, and several years ago it was bought by Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Harrison of New York, who now make it their home.
Although there is no definite proof, it is generally accepted that the house at "Castle Haven" was built about 1730. The main build- ing is of brick, and has been left practically the same, though it was enlarged by Mr. Jackson. The rooms of the old house are large and very beautiful, having the characteristic colonial architectural fea- tures. The library is especially worthy of note and commands a splendid view of the river where, in the old days, the passing steamers put off visitors and household supplies at the place.
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