USA > Maryland > Anne Arundel County > Annapolis > The Ancient City.: A History of Annapolis, in Maryland, 1649-1887 > Part 11
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This forms a striking contrast to the account given of it at a much earlier date, and which is to be found in a satire, cailed, "The Sot-weed Factor, or a Voyage to Maryland ;" in which is described the laws, government, courts, and constitutions of the country ; and also the buildings, feasts, frolics, entertainments, and drunken humours of the inhabitants of that part of America. In burlesque verse, by Eden Cook, gent., published at London in 1708.
* Liber P. (. Chancery Proceedings, p. 595.
t McMahon's p. 257.
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"THE ANCIENT CITY.""
Annapolis is thus mentioned in one part of this quaint work :
"'To try the cause, then fully bent,
Up to Annapolis 1 went :
A city situate on a plain,
Where scarce a house will keep out rain
The buildings framed with cypress rare ;
Resemble much our Southwick fair;
But strangers there will scarcely meet With market place, exchange, or street ; And, if the truth I may report, It's not so large as Tottenham court,-
St. Mary's once was in repute, Now here the judges try the suit. And lawyers twice a year dispute-
As oft the bench most gravely meet,
Some to get drunk, and some to eat
A swinging share of country treat ;
But as for justice, right, or wrong, Not one amongst the numerous throng
Knows what it means, or has the heart To vindicate a stranger's part."
Mr. Jonas Green reprinted this poem in 1731, but took care to tell the readers it was a description of Annapolis twenty years before.
CHAPTER XXIV. THE ANNAPOLIS DELEGATES DENIED ADMITTANCE to. THE HOUSE.
The Lower House considered that the power to erect cities and grant charters was a prerogative that could be exercised only by the crown itself, and when the delegates from Annapolis made their ap- pearance at the September Session of 1708, that body denied the- authority of the executive "to confer the charter and expelled the delegates elected under it. Astonished at a measure so bold and un- expected, the governor, at first, attempted to win it to his purposes by conciliation. Its members were summoned to the Upper House, where they were addressed by him in language disclaiming all inten- tion to interfere with their rights and privileges in determining the election of their own members; but claiming for himself also, the competency to judge of his own prerogatives, and they were urged to return to their house, and rescind their resolution. In justification of themselves, they replied that the course pursued by them was founded upon the complaint of some of the freeholders and inhabitants of An- napolis, who conceived that it affected their rights as freemen, and particularly as to the privilege of voting for delegates ; that the right.
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HISTORY OF ANNAPOLIS.
to erect cities, was not expressly vested in the governor, and ought not therefore to be exercised until the Queen's pleasure was known ; but that they would cheerfully concur with him in granting the charter, if all the inhabitants and freeholders of the place desired. and were secured in their equal privileges, to which they were entitled by the laws of England, and the public lands and buildings secured to the uses for which they were purchased. The Governor now tried the usual expedient with a refract ry house. The Assembly was dis- solved and a new house immediately summoned, which he at first found quite as unmanageable as the old. Their first message desired him to inform them, if he had received from her majesty any instructions authorizing the grant of charters and the erection of cities which were not contained in his commission ; and if so, to communicate them. His brief reply was, 'that he had no doubt of his own right and if the exercise of the power was unwarranted, he was answerable to her majesty, and not to them." To bring this difference to a close, a con- ference was now had between the two houses ; which terminated in a compromise, and in the passage of the act of 1708, chapter 7th, to carry that compromise into effect. By this act. the charter of An- napolis was confirmed, under certain reservations as to the public buildings, and restrictions of the municipal power."#
This was the act the Assembly passed to settle and confirm the charter of Annapolis :
"Whereas this present General Assembly have taken into their con- sideration the Charter lately Granted to the City of Annapolis, and being desirous to give all due encouragement to cohabitation, have resolved to confirm the same Charter, and to explain and restrain some clauses and grants therein contained, they humbly pray that it may be enacted ;
"II. And it is hereby enacted, By the Queen's most Excellent Majesty. by and with the advice and consent of her Majesty's Governor, Coun- cil, and Assembly of this Province, and by the authority of the same, That the said Charter to the City of Annapolis, bearing date at the said City on the twenty-second day of November, Anno 1708, in the seventh year of her Majesty's Reign, Sealed with the Great Seal of this her Majesty's Province, and signed with the Sign Manual of his Excellency John Seymour, Esq., Captain-General and Governor in Chief thereof, incorporating the inhabitants of Annapolis into a City, and Body Corporate, and the several Articles, Clauses, Grants, Powers, Authorities, and Privileges therein contained, shall, by virtue of this Act, be held, taken, stand, remain, and be firm, and valid to all intents and purposes whatsoever, within the same Charter mentioned and expressed, subject nevertheless to the several restrictions and ex- planations herein specified and declared, (that is to say,) That it shall in no wise be intended, construed, meant, or taken, to infringe the liberties and privileges of the public, either in regard to the pub- lic lands and buildings by them heretofore purchased and built ; but that the same shall be reserved and continued forever. to the usesand purposes to which they have already been allotted : And that all and every the Judges and Justices of the several Courts of Judicature which have usually held their Courts within the same City, in the public Court-house thereof, shall and may continue so to do ; and the * McMahon's MI. p. 256.
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Justices, Commissioners, and Sheriff of Ann-Arundel County shall have, hold, and exercise their Jurisdiction, in as full and ample manner, to all intents and purposes, in the Port of Annapolis, as heretofore had been usual.
"III. And be it further Enacted and Declared, That the Bye-Laws, to be made by the said Corporation, shall not affect or be binding to any other the Inhabitants of this Province, but wholly restrained to the Inhabitants and Residents of the said City ; and that the Clause in the said Charter, impowering the Corporation to set toll on horses, cattle, and other commodities, to be sold on the two fair days, of the first of May, and of St. Michael the Arch-Angel, yearly, shall not, in any wise, enure, be construed, or extended, to impowering the Cor- poration to assess any toll or impost upon Cattle, Goods, Wares, or Merchandizes whatsoever, to be sold therein, if the Goods, Wares, or Merchandizes should not amount to the value of twenty shillings cur- rent money ; but if it exceed twenty shillings value, and not above five pounds current money, then the sum of six-pence shall be paid . for the fee or toll thereof ; and for all Goods, &c., exceeding in value five pounds current money, then it shall be lawful to assess the sum of twelve pence current money for the fee or toll thereof, and no more.
"IV. And Whereas, the Citizens and Burgesses of the several Boroughs in England have formerly been allowed but half wages, in respect to the salary of the Knights of the Shires ; Be it therefore En- acted, That the Citizens, representing the City of Annapolis, shall only be allowed half the wages to the Delegates and Representatives, as is and shall be allowed to the Delegates of the several Counties of this Province, and no more.
"V. And whereas, Wornell Hunt, Esq., the present Recorder of the said City, is not yet qualified for that trust, by reason he hath not been resident in this Province during the term of three years ; never- theless the said Wornell Hunt, by virtue of this act, shall be deemed, and is hereby qualified and enabled to hold and execute the said Office of Recorder of the City aforesaid, any Law, Statute, Usage, or Custom to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.
"VI. And be it enacted, by the advice and consent aforesaid, That the Land called the Town-Common, be reserved and remain to the use of the proper Owner or Owners, unless the Citizens can make it appear to have made satisfaction for the same, the next Session of Assembly."
CHAPTER XXV. THE FIRST NEWSPAPER IN MARYLAND.
[1727.] In August, 1727, William Parks, printer to the Province of Maryland, made the first venture in Maryland journalism. Hle be- gan at Annapolis "THE MARYLAND GAZETTE." It was printed on &
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HISTORY OF ANNAPOLIS.
sheet a little larger than foolscap ; had two columns to the page, and four pages to an issue. It was published once a week. The first numbers of this interesting relic of Maryland history are lost to the State, as well as the concluding issues. The Maryland Historical Society, however, is the fortunate possessor of some twenty copies of the Gazette, beginning with number 65 of the issue, dating from Tuesday, Dec. 3, to Tuesday, Dec. 10, 1728. The last number it has is number 97, of date of July 23, 1729. On either side of the head of the paper, was an excellent cut, and below the caption was a space left, in which the names of the several subscribers were written to take the Gazette on its way through the post to its destination. At the bottom of the fourth page was the announcement-"Annapo- lis, printed by William Parks, by whom advertisements and subscrip- tions are taken." The paper Was made up of copious extracts of foreign news, a few local items, and sometimes one page of advertise- ments. There were frequently long communications written in the semi-classic style of the period. In No. 66, there were four local items, all relating to the shipping of the port of Annapolis. On January 1, 1729, is a notice recounting that a negro, belonging to William Robinson, of the county, had impudently and without provo- cation struck William Smith, carpenter, during a dispute over the fighting of their dogs, and that for it the said negro had his ear cropped which the Gazette said it noticed, because it was the first case under the law, and it published it as a warning. We can hardly believe that the said negroes intended to be forewarned by this Chari- table admonition were assiduous readers of the Gazette.
In No. 89, there were published three advertisements, in one of which notice was given "that there is a ship arrived in South River with about two hundred choice slaves, which are to be sold by Daniel Dulany, Richard Snowden, and Peter Hume."
Mention is made in the issue of June 16, 1729, that "on Tuesday last, George Plater, Esq., was married to Mrs Rebecca Bowles, the relict of James Bowles, Esq., a gentle woman of considerable fortune."
From the issue of June 24, 1729, are the following extracts made : "On Friday last, died James Carroll, at the House of Charles Car- roll, Esq., in this city.
"On Friday last, the Hon. Patrick Gordon, Esq., Governor of Phila- delphia, attended by several gentlemen of that province, arrived here to visit our Governor. His Excellency received them very kindly, and they were saluted with the discharge of our great guns, colors flying, &c., and their entertainment has been made as agreeable as this place could afford. This morning his Honor, the Governor of Pennsylvania, departed this city under discharge of our guns, &c.
"Annapolis, March 4th, Saturday last, being the birth day of our most gracious Queen Caroline, was celebrated here in the manner following : His Excellency, Benedict Leonard Calvert, our Governor, invited the gentlemen of this city to a very handsome entertainment at dinner, and in the evening there was a ball at the Stadt House."
The price of the Gazette was fifteen shillings a year, and advertise- ments, no rule as to length, were "to be inserted in it at three shillings for the first week, and two shillings for every week after."
When the Gazette ceased publication, we are left to conjecture. The probability is it was discontinued in a few years. Mr. Parks, elected
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in 1797 State Printer, remained in that office until 1742, when he was succeeded by Jonas Green.
The Gazette was the sixth paper, in point of time, that was printed in the American Provinces.
CHAPTER XXVI.« CHRONICLES OF ANNAPOLIS FROM 1707 TO 1740.
[1707.] In 1707, the Legislature passed a supplementary act for the advancement of trade. In this law it was enacted that "all the towns in Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties, with the River. Creeks, Coves, thereunto belonging, (saving in Patuxent River) to be members of the Port of Annapolis.
[1720.] A "Prospect to Annapolis" was laid off May 24, 1720. It comprised two lots of ground, one called Durand's Place, the other Woodchurch's Rest. It was re-surveyed for Benj. Tasker. It lav on the North Side of Severn.t
[1715.] By act of 1715, ch. IV, the Legislature reiterated its agree- ment with Anthony, alias William Workman, in regard to giving him the privilege of building on the lots belonging to King William's School, a house which was to revert to the School at Workman's death. The act discovers that these three lots, that the school was possessed of, lay "to the foot of the Stadt House Hill, on the Eastward there- of," and that Workman was an inn-keeper, and that, for erecting and so donating the house allud d to the General Assembly, had granted him liberty and license "to keep an ordinary in said House, during his natural life, free and discharged from the payment of fine, then im- posed by law therefor." Workman came from Kent Island, then de- clared to be "in the county of Talbot." William Freeman, brick- layer, of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, built the house. The same act, after reciting the difficulty of getting the board of Rector, Gov- ernors, and Visitors of King William's School together to transact business, enacted that five of the board on special occasion, could exe- cute the powers of the school.
[1718.] In 1718, "the Honorable Colonel William Holland, Colonel Thomas Addison, Capt. Daniel Mariartee and Mr. Alexander War- field" were made Commissioners by Act of Assembly, at the petition of the Corporation of Annapolis, to lay out ten acres of public land into half acre lots "for the better encouragement of poor Tradesmen to come and inhabit within the said city, and carry on their respective trades therein." These were laid off on Powder-House Hill and were to be donated to any person or persons not an owner of property in
1 Old rent roll, vol. 1, p. 170.
* The material of this chapter is mainly drawn from Ridgely's Annis of Annapolis, pages 108-115.
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the town, who would build a dwelling-house upon the same. If the lots were not taken up at the end of two years, then owners of property in the city were allowed to have them.
This addition was called "New Town."
The General Assembly. by the same Act, appointed James Stoddard, Esq., to survey and lay off the city of Annapolis. as the original plat of the town which had been made by Richard Beard, had been burned when the State House was destroyed by fire in 1704.
Mr. Stoddard's survey made the town contain one hundred and forty-two acres ; one hundred and fifty-three square perches, and two hundred, nine and three quarters square feet. The State House Circle was laid down as containing 218.988 square feet, with a diameter 528 feet and a circumference of 1159. The Church Circle contained 94,- 025 square feet, with a diameter of 346, and a circumference of 1087 feet.
Among those who were the first to have lots surveyed, has been well preserved by records in the Land Office. After the Public Circle, (State House Circle. ) Church Circle, and Market Space had been surveyed. Dr. Charles Carroll had resurveyed his lot lying on the north west side of Duke of Gloucester street, and running to Market street. Thos. Macnemara had the second lot resurveyed. It laid on the southwest side Duke of Gloucester street. He had five other lots resurveyed, all on the southwest side of Duke of Gloucester street. Thomas Bladen, Patrick Ogleby, Robert Thomas, Amos Garrett, Benj. Tasker, James Carroll, Samuel Young, John Baldwin, Catherine Baldwin, Col. Sam'l. Young, and Philip Lloyd are among the lot-owners by the re- survey of 1718. July 25, 1718, a lot was resurved for St. Anne. It lay between Temple street and Doctor street. Temple street has passed from memory, but Doctor street remains.
[1720.] In 1720, an Act of Assembly was passed giving further time to the several tradesmen who originally took up the new lots within the addition to the City of Annapolis, to improve the same ; and at the same session a grant was made to Mr. Edward Smith of one hundred and twenty feet of ground in the City of Annapolis for a sawyer's yard.
[1723.] In 1723, the Assembly passed an Act "for the encourage- ment of learning and erecting schools in the several counties within this Province." Under it Rev, Mr. Joseph Colebatch, Col. Samuel Young, William Lock, Esq., Capt. Daniel Mariartee, Mr. Charles Hammond, Mr. Richard Warfield, and John Beale, Esq., were made the visitors of the schools of Anne Arundel.
[1727.] In 1727, Mr. William Parks, of Annapolis, was authorized to print a compilation of the laws of the Province. To this date there had been no printer. Mr. Ridgely who wrote in 1841, says, "this col- lection of the laws of Maryland is now nearly out of print-but few copies remaining-and is held by the few that own a copy of it as a rare and curious body of laws passed by our early legislators."
[1728.] In 1728, "Henry Ridgely, Mordecai Hammond, and John Welsch, gentlemen," were empowered to lay out a lot of land, 60 feet in breadth on the water, 300 feet in length, and 25 feet wide at the head of the land, being a part of a lot formerly alloted on which to
7
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build a custom house. The corporation was given the fee-simple to the lot provided it built a market house thereon. This lot is the site of the present market house.
[1733.] In 1733, the Legislature passed an Act giving £3,000 for purchasing convenient ground in Annapolis, for the use of the public, and for building thereon a dwelling house for the residence of the Governor. This was for a temporary residence. The Executive, Samuel Ogle, does not appear to have used the fund, and a further sum of £1,000 was added in 1742 to this, and Governor Bladen, em- powered to purchase four lots in the City of Annapolis, and to erect a building thereon as a residence for the Governor. From this act sprang McDowell Hall, St. John's College.
[1736.] In 1736, Charles Hammond, Philip Hammond, Vachel Denton, Daniel Dulany, Esq., and Mr. Richard Warfield were em- powered to purchase a piece of ground within the town for a public school in Annapolis ; to contract for material and to employ workmen to build it. £1,500, current money, was voted by the Legislature for this work.
[1740.] In 1740, is found the first Act of Assembly that brings to public a name that will be forever linked with the history of Maryland. Chapter 4, Acts of 1740, "was for the speedy and effectual publication of the Laws of this Province, and for the encouragement of Jonas Green, of the City of Annapolis, printer." For twenty-eight years, and until his death in 1768, Mr. Green continued the printer of the Province. He was a man of ready wit, large benevolence, and suc- cessful enterprise. His journal, the Maryland Gazette, is one of the fullest and most reliable sources of history left the State by the cor- roding touch of time.
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In the act that made Mr. Green the State Printer, he was required to print, stitch, and deliver a copy of the public laws, speeches, and answers made at the various sessions, and was directed to make marginal notes to the laws of the Legislature. He was also required to reside in Annapolis. Each county court was obliged to lay a tax of £15 yearly in their respective counties for the support of the State Printer. The office was for two years.
The Legislative Records of this period contain numerous acts for the relief of languishing debtors lying in prison for their debts. There was quite a number so discharged from the Annapolis jail.
CHAPTER XXVII. THE SECOND NEWPAPER PRINTED IN MARYLAND.
In that repository of archivos-the Maryland State Library-will be found nearly one hundred volumes of "The Maryland Gazette," the second newspaper printed in Maryland. The dimensions of the Ga- zette were exceedingly modest, its pages, but four in number, measuring only nine and a half inches in length and seven and a half in width.
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HISTORY OF ANNAPOLIS.
The first issue of the Gazette was dated Thursday, January 17th, 1745; the publisher being "Jonas Green, Post-master, at the Printing office in Charles street," who announced that it contained "the fresh- est advices-Foreign and Domestic." These advices were from Lon- don in the preceding August and from Amsterdam, Frankfort, and Paris in the same month, and from Constantinople as far back as July. News from Boston bore date of November 12th, 1744, and that from New York was exactly one week later.
In the news from Paris of August 17, old style, was this item: "Six of the most noted Fish-women of this city, took the trouble to go to Metz as soon as they heard of the King's Illness, and made his Ma- jesty a present of a Shirt and Night-Cap, which they had touch'd to the Shrine of St. Geneveve ; his Majesty slept in them very comforta- bly, and the next day found him much better. No doubt Shirt and Night-Cap touch'd by the Shrine of so precious a Saint, contributed much towards his Majesty's recovery."
The last sentence appears to be the Gazette's.
Then, as now, editors like Presidents, felt incumbent upon them to offer an inaugural address. Mr. Green, in making his bow to the public, said "the advantage of a newspaper * * * being so universally known, renders it unnecessary to recommend a thing of the kind; however, since it might be looked upon as unfashionable to usher one into the world without a word or two by way of introduction, we shall * * * * give some account of our design." "Our intent," con- tinnes the editor, "therefore, is to give the public a weekly account of themost remarkable occurrences, foreign and domestic, which shall from time to time, come to our knowledge ; having always a principal re- gard to such articles as nearest concern the American Plantations in general, and the province of Maryland in particular; ever observing the strictest justice and truth in relation of facts, and the utmost disinterestedness and Impartiality in points of controversy.
"And, in a dearth of news which, in this remote part of the world, may sometimes reasonably be expected, we shall study to supply that defect by presenting our readers with the best materials we can possi- bly collect ; having always, in this respect, a due regard to whatever may conduce to the promotion of virtue and learning, the suppression of vice and immorality, and the Instruction as well as entertainment of our readers."
The advertisements of the first issue were four in number-one offering a reward for a strayed or stolen stallion : the second, advertis- ing a computation table for merchants; the third placed on sale a work entitled, "A Protest against Popery, showing the purity of the church of England, and Errors of the church of Rome." This adver- tisement is quoted entire ; "Lent sometime ago, but to whom is for- got, a bound Book in Octavo intitled, News from the Dead, or True Inteligence from the other World : On a Leaf preceding the title page is wrote : 'The Wicked borrow and never return.' The person who has it, is hereby desired to consider that Text, and restore the Book to the right owner."
The subscription to the Gazette was twelve shillings, Maryland currency, per annum. When the paper was furnished sealed and directed, two shillings additional were charged. "Advertisements of moderate length," were inserted at five shillings each ; subsequent insertions at one shilling each. .
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The Gazette was so much encouraged that, at the end of the second volume, it was able to enlarge ; and it continued to prosper and in- crease in size down to 1839, when it had become a journal of very respectable dimensions. It was, in that year, discontinued.
Its pages reflect the history of the province ; its columns show the ways and thoughts of the early Mary landers.
The first volume contains many advertisements for run-away ser- vants, such as "a negro boy, named Edward Mills," "an Irish ser- vant-man, Alexander McCoy." The rewards for their capture ranged from "being well rewarded," to ten pounds. The descriptions of runaways were pointed, and did not mince matters. Sarah Munro advertised Elizabeth ( rowder, a run-away, "as an English convict servant, # # # upwards of forty years of age, pretty tall and round- shouldered, her hair very grey, and has been lately cut off ; but, it is supposed, she has got a tower to wear instead of it." Thomas Wood was advertised as being "5 feet, ten inches high, has a fresh com- plexion, short brown hair, and one of his teeth broken. * * * He goes by the name of John Wilson * * * * and has got a pass which he has forged, of which he is very capable, as he writes a good hand, and is a sly cunning fellow." John Jones, "a mulatto fellow," was advertised as "about 26 years old, has a deep dimple in his chin and a likely pleasant look, and is a mighty singer." The descriptions of their wearing apparel were as minute.
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