USA > Maryland > The history of Maryland : from its first settlement, in 1633, to the restoration, in 1660 ; with a copious introduction, and notes and illustrations > Part 39
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Decision against them.
* This must have meant, that the planters, by their agents or attorneys in England, should meet the lord Baltimore.
t See this order in council at large, in note (I) at the end of this volume.
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
As we are at liberty at this day to judge of this transaction CHAP. I. calmly and dispassionately, it is impossible not to perceive, that the planters in Virginia (by whom it may be supposed to be 1633. meant, in the above order, the actual settlers and colonists resi- dent in Virginia, and not any of the numerous members of the old Virginia company) were instigated to this opposition to lord Baltimore's charter by a few influential persons among them, (particularly William Clayborne) who sought to obtain a proper- ty in different portions of the territories of Virginia, without put- ting themselves to the trouble or expense of obtaining a legal conveyance or charter for the same. Unquestionably by the laws of England, under which they professed to live, the right of granting a property in the soil of the country, was originally, after its discovery by Cabot, vested in the king, and subsequent- ly in the treasurer and company of Virginia under the second and third charters from the king. But as the right of making grants of the same, heretofore appertaining to the company, was taken away by the judgment in the court of king's bench, under the quo warranto, which judgment was certainly binding until legally reversed, such right, by the laws of the kingdom, reverted back again to the king, according to the feudal principles of the monarchy. The planters in Virginia, then, had really no inter- est in the question. None of their individual rights or particular plantation, on which they lived, were at all invaded. We may, indeed, adopt the observations of a late historian of Virginia upon this subject :- " This grant to lord Baltimore did not inter- fere with the rights of former settlers, or with the government of Virginia. His object was the establishment of a new colony, which would be her friend and neighbour and ally, against the assaults of the Indians or machinations of distant powers. The prosperity and reputation of the nation would be advanced by new settlements ; and an immense territory was yet reserved to Virginia, far exceeding her wants and her powers. In every point of view the transfer appears judicious and salutary." *- It must be acknowledged, however, that these observations of this historian are rather inconsistent with his ill-timed invective in the same page against the members of the council, principally on account of the preceding order. It does not appear from the order, that "they acknowledged the justice of the claim of the planters," as he alleges. The justice of the claim could be only
Burk's Hist. of Virg. vol. 2, p. 39.
VOL. 2 .- 4
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
CHAP. I. between the king and those persons, whose names, as inserted 1633. in the second charter, (constituting the old Virginia company,) form a very large list of the nobility and gentry of England, to whom the territories of Virginia then in truth belonged,* if they did not to the crown. The justice of the judgment on the quo warranto, it is true, appears at this day to have been questiona- ble, but that of the preceding order the reverse.
Lord Balti- more ap- points his brother to conduct the colony.
His lordship being now invested, as he supposed, with a fair title to his province, and having nearly completed the necessary preparations for the emigration of the colonists, contemplated at first to have attended them himself in person ; but afterwards changing his mind, from what cause we are not informed, he appointed his brother, Leonard Calvert, Esq. to go in his stead, in the character of governor,t and joined in commission with him Jeremy Hawley and Thomas Cornwallis, Esqrs. as assis- tants or counsellors .¿ The number of colonists consisted of about two hundred, of whom the names of the chief or principal characters are mentioned in history, as follows, Richard Gerard, Edward Winter, Frederick Winter, and Henry Wiseman, Esqrs. ; Mr. John Saunders, Mr. Edward Cranfield, Mr. Henry Green, Mr. Nicholas Fairfax, Mr. John Baxter, Mr. Thomas Dorrel, captain John Hill, Mr. John Medcalfe, and Mr. William Saire. Many of these are said to have been gentlemen of fortune, and the most, if not all of them, were Roman Catholics.§
* They had expended more than £100,000 sterling of their own estates, in the support of the colony in Virginia, at the time of the dissolution of their char- ters. Holmes's Annals, vol. 1, p. 233.
t In most of the early public acts of the province, he is commonly styled " his lordship's lieutenant-general," &c. ; but as the term governor is a word of the same import, and sometimes used in some of the old records of the province, and is also of more modern usage, and therefore more intelligible, it is here adopted. The term lieutenant-general, as thus used in the early colonization of the province, was probably adopted from that applied to the king's viceroy or governor of Ireland, who was at this period so termed.
# This commission, it seems, is not extant among any of the records of the province. Kilty's Landholder's Assist. p. 64 .- The term assistant seems to have been in use, about this time, as synonymous to that of councillor. It appears to have been so used in Massachusetts on the first settlement of New Plymouth. See the Extracts from the New Plymouth Records, published in Hazard's Col- lections, vol. 1. p. 413.
§ The above list of principal colonists, who first emigrated to Maryland, is taken from Oldmixon's Brit. Emp. in [Amer. vol. 1, p. 184, and the Mod. Univ. Hist. vol. 40, p. 466 ; the latter apparently copying it from the former .- "George Calvert, Esq. brother to the governor," is also mentioned in both these histories as one "of the principal persons," who came with the first colonists. But as I do not find his name, or any allusion to it in any of the records of the province,
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
They sailed from Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, on the 22d of CHAP. I. November, 1633, and taking the old route by the Azores and 1634. West Indies, stopped at the islands of St. Christopher's and Their de- parture Barbadoes, where they staid some time, most probably for the from Eng- purpose of timeing their arrival in the Chesapeake in the most land and favorable season of the year for colonization in that climate. the Chesa- arrival in It was, therefore, the 24th of February following, (1634, new peake. style,) when they arrived off Point Comfort in Virginia. In consequence, as it would seem, of written commands from the king,* no molestation or hindrance to their pursuits was offered by the government of Virginia; and it may be inferred, that, in obedience to those commands, all such "assistance" and sup- plies as the colony of Virginia could afford, were furnished at their request. Here also, as it appears, an interview took place between governor Calvert and captain Clayborne, when the go- vernor intimated to Clayborne, that his settlements on the isle of Kent would be considered as a part of the Maryland plantation. On the third of March the Maryland colonists proceeded from Point Comfort to Patowmack. Governor Calvert, not being ap- prised, perhaps, of any former names appropriated to the two capes or points of land at the mouth of the Patowmack river, called the south point St. Gregory's and the north point St. Michael's ; but as they are both now known by other appella- tions, the southern being called Smith's point, from the cele- brated founder of Virginia, captain John Smith, and the north- ern, Point Look-out, it is probable that they had received these denominations before the arrival of the Maryland colony.
Sailing up the Patowmack about fourteen leagues, they came They ex- to an island called Heron island, and anchored under another Patowmac. plore the neighbouring isle, to which they gave the name of St. Clements.t
I have omitted it, presuming, that, if the first lord Baltimore (George Calvert) left a son of that name, and he had accompanied the first colonists to Maryland, he would have been recognized in some station or early proceedings of the colo- ny. But he might possibly have been a younger brother to both lord Cecilius and Leonard (the governor, ) and coming out merely to accompany his brother, might have returned again to England soon after their arrival. This, together with the loss of most of the earliest records of the province, for the two or three first years, may account for his name not now appearing in any provincial record.
* The substance of these commands appears from a letter of Sir John Harvey, quoted by Chalmers, (Annals, ch. ix. and note 17,) who states it thus :- " The king desirous to encourage the noble purpose of lord Baltimore, required, that all lawful assistance should be given him, in seating himself and his associates in Maryland."
t These names do not appear in either Griffith's map of Maryland, or Madi- son's of Virginia, the two most modern. In Griffith's map an island is placed off
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
CHAP. I. Here the governor landed, and setting up a cross, in the Roman 1634. Catholic manner, took formal possession of the country,-"for our Saviour, and for our sovereign lord the king of England." In order to make discoveries, the governor here left his ships, and taking two boats, or pinnaces as they were then called, pro- ceeded up the Patowmack about four leagues, and landed on the south or Virginia side of the river ; but found that the In- dians had fled from them through fear. He thence still proceed- ed up the river about nine leagues, and came to an Indian town, on the Virginia side of the river, called Patowmack town, said to be the place now called New Marlborough ; where the chief, called the Werowance, being an infant, the territory was governed in his minority by his uncle, whose name was Archihau. By him they were received in a very friendly manner .* From this town they sailed up the Patowmack a considerable distance fur- ther, to Piscataway creek; where they found many Indians as- sembled, and among them an Englishman, captain Henry Fleet, who had lived there several years in great esteem with the na- tives. Through the influence of captain Fleet, the Werowance or chief, of the tribe there assembled, was prevailed upon to go on board the governor's pinnace. The governor asked him, whether he was willing, that he and his people should settle in his country, in case they found a place convenient for them. The werowance replied, "I will not bid you go, neither will I bid you stay, but you may use your own discretion." The Indians on shore, finding that the werowance staid on board longer than they expected, crowded down to the water side, to look after him, fearing that the English had killed him; and they were not satisfied till he showed himself to appease them.
The governor, on reflection, thinking that it could not, per- haps, be so advisable to settle so high up the river, in the infan- cy of the colony; and influenced somewhat, probably, by the cautious answer of the werowance, determined to seek for a settlement further down the river. He therefore returned down the Patowmack to St. Clement's isle again, taking captain Fleet
Clement's branch or river, which empties into the Patowmack, and which is there called Blackstone's island ; but in Madison's map, Blackstone's island is placed higher up the Patowmack. It is most probable, however, that the island opposite to the mouth of Clement's branch is the island to which at this time they affixed the name of St. Clement's. In a loose estimation, it will nearly answer the dis- tance mentioned up the Patowmack, fourteen leagues or forty-two miles.
* See note (II) at the end of this volume.
1
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
with him. They then proceeded to a small river on the north CHAP. I. side of the Patowmack, within four or five leagues of its mouth, 1634. which the governor called St. George's river. Sailing up this small river about four leagues, they came to an Indian town, called by the natives- Yoamaco, from whence tribe here inha- biting, was called Yoamacoes.
The reader will recollect, that it has been before mentioned, that Powhatan's territories, over which he was emperor or grand chief, was said to extend along the lowlands upon the Chesa- peake, from Cape Henry to the mouth of Patuxent, in Maryland, and that his empire consisted of at least forty different tribes .* As governor Calvert, in his present explorement of the Patow- mack, found, it seems, several distinct independent chiefs, called werowances, it is probable, that they were the chiefs of so many distinct tribes, who formerly composed a part of that grand con- federacy, which had existed under Powhatan ; called, from him, the Powhatan confederacy, in contradistinction to the two other grand confederacies, denominated the Manahoacs and the Mono- cans. But, as Powhatan had now been dead some years, it does not appear clearly, whether his successor was, at the time of the arrival of our colonists, the grand chief or emperor of the whole of the former Powhatan confederacy, or whether the Yoamacoes considered themselves as belonging to that confederacy, and sub- ject to Opitchapan, who was Powhatan's successor.
The governor, having landed here, entered into a conference or treaty with the werowance, and acquainted him with the cause of his coming; to which the Indian said little, probably not wishing to encourage a settlement among them ; but, inviting him to his cabin, he entertained him as kindly as he could, and at night gave him his own bed to lie on. The next day he showed him the country ; and the governor, determining to make the first settlement here, sent orders to the ship and boats to come to him. To pave the way to his peaceable admission into the country, he presented the werowance, and principal men of the town, with some English cloth, axes, hoes, and knives, which they accepted with pleasure, and freely consented that he and his company should dwell in one part of their town, reserv- ing the other for themselves. Those Indians, who inhabited that part which was assigned to the English, readily abandoned
* See Mr, Charles Thompson's note (5,) in the Appendix to Jefferson's Notes on Virginia. Also, Burk's Hist. of Virg. vol. 1, p. 112.
L
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
CHAP.
1634. their huts to them. The natives further agreed to leave the whole town to the English, as soon as they could gather their corn ; which they faithfully performed : and it was further stipu- lated, that until that time, the two nations should live in a friend- ly manner together. If any injury was done on either part, the nation offending was to make satisfaction .* The governor then, on the 27th of March, 1634, caused the colonists to land, and according to the agreement, take possession of the town, which they named St. Mary's.
Circum- stances fa- vourable to them.
A circumstance is mentioned to have occurred at this time, which very much facilitated this treaty with the Indians. The Susquehanocks, who lived about the head of the bay, were in the practice of making incursions on their neighbours, partly for dominion, and partly for booty ; of which last, women were most desired by them.t The Yoamacoes, fearing these Susque- hanocks, had, a year before the Maryland colony arrived, re- solved to desert their habitations, and remove higher into the country. Many of them were actually gone, and the rest were preparing to follow them, about the time when the English ar- rived: so that the voluntary surrender of their town is easily ac- counted for.
Proceed- colonists ing.
The first thing the governor caused to be done after the colo- ings of the nists were landed, was to erect two buildings, one for a guard after land- house, and the other for a store house. Some of the colonists he also set to work, in making preparations for the planting of corn. In a few days afterwards, the governor received a friend- ly visit from Sir John Harvey, then governor of Virginia. From this circumstance it may be inferred, that however unfavourably the historians of Virginia may have represented the character of this governor, he did not enter into the opposition which had been exerted in that province against lord Baltimore's charter, and the settlement of the Maryland colony; or at least he chose to conform to his majesty's recommendation of the Maryland colony, as before mentioned .¿- We are not informed of any ma- terial incidents relative to governor Harvey's visit. While he
* See note (III.) at the end of this volume.
+ Stealing of women seems to have been a practice incident to the early pe- riods of a state of society. It was common with both the Greeks and Barbarians, at the time when Paris run away with Helen, which occasioned the siege of Troy. It was so common, says Thucydides, that no woman durst live near the sea coast. Anc. Univ. Hist. vol. 5, p. 551.
į See a note (IV.) at the end of this volume.
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
remained there governor Calvert received also the visits of seve- CHAP. I. ral Indian Werowances from the interior parts of the country ; 1634. among others came the king of Patuxent, who had formerly been a prisoner to the English in Virginia. To please the Indians, the governor made an entertainment on board of the ship then at anchor in the river: the king of Patuxent was placed at the table, in a kind of state between the governor of Virginia and the governor of Maryland. But, an incident occurred, which threatened to destroy the pleasure of the feast: a Patuxent In- dian coming on board, and seeing his king thus seated, started back, and refused to enter into the cabin, supposing that his king was confined there as a captive, and would have leaped over- board, had not the king himself come and satisfied him, that he was in no danger.
The store house being finished, and it becoming necessary to unload the ship and bring the stores for the colony on shore, the governor, thinking that doing it with a little pomp and state would impress the natives with respect for the colonists, ordered it to be done with as much solemnity as they could. The co- lours were brought on shore, and the colonists were all paraded under arms. Vollies of musquetry were fired, which were an- swered by discharges of cannon on board the ship. The two kings or werowances of Patuxent and Yoamaco, being both pre- sent at this exhibition, with many other Indians of Yoamaco, the former took that occasion to advise the Indians of Yoamaco to be careful to keep the league they had made with the English. He re- mained in the town several days afterwards; and, it is said, that when he took his leave, he made this remarkable speech to the go- vernor : "I love the English so well, that if they should go about to kill me, if I had so much breath as to speak, I would com- mand the people not to revenge my death; for I know they would not do such a thing, except it were through my own fault."*
During the remainder of the year, while the English and In- Great har- dians lived together in St. Mary's, according to their stipula- mony be- tween the tion, the utmost harmony appears to have prevailed among them. natives The natives went every day to hunt with the "new comers," nists. , and colo- for deer and turkeys ; which, when they had caught, being more expert at it, they either gave to the English, or sold for knives, beads, and such trifles. They also supplied them with fish in plenty. As a certain mark of the entire confidence, which these
* Oldmixon's Brit. Emp. in Amer. vol. 1, p. 184, or 188 .- Mod. Univ. Hist. vol. 40, p. 467.
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
CHAP. I. unsuspecting people placed in the colonists, their women and 1634. children became, in some measure, domesticated in the English families.
We have here to express a regret, that the loss of most of the early records of the province, in about ten years after this period, during the civil commotions which agitated the mother country, and had extended to the colonies, has irreparably deprived us of other interesting particulars of the first transactions of the Mary- land colony .*
The arrival of the colony in the early part of the year, was at- tended with such fortunate circumstances, that we cannot but suppose, that it was intentionally so done, in order to have time to erect habitations against the succeeding winter, and to raise sufficient corn for their next year's subsistence. It seems, how- ever, that they had taken the precaution to bring along with them from Barbadoes, an additional supply of Indian corn, be- yond the flour and bread of their English stores. They had, very judiciously, preconcerted their departure from England, so as to pass the winter months in the West Indies, and by that means to arrive in the colder latitude of the Chesapeake at the commencement of the vernal season. They availed themselves of this advantage, by planting Indian corn at the proper time of the year, in the grounds bordering on the town, which had been already cleared by the Indians. Their crops proved so luxuriant, that in the next year, or in the year after, it is said they export- ed a considerable quantity of Indian corn to New England, to purchase salt fish and other provisions.t
Interrupt- borne and From concurrent circumstances, and indeed from the asser- ed by Clay- tions of historians, we are induced to suppose, that among the his party. first causes which tended to disturb this harmony between the English and natives, were the improper insinuations circulated among the latter by captain William Clayborne and his party. They most unjustly and falsely endeavoured to create a belief among the Indians, that the Maryland colonists were Spaniards,
* Captain Richard Ingle, who associated with captain Clayborne, seized the records of the province in 1644, and carried them to Virginia. Most of them were lost or embezzled .- See Bacon's preface to his addition of the laws of Maryland.
+ Oldmixon's Brit. Emp. in Amer. vol. 1, p. 188 ;- where it is said, that their exportation of corn to New England, at the time above mentioned, amounted to ten thousand bushels, but as that seems to be rather too large a quantity for the grounds, which they could then have cleared, it is here stated with some hesita- tion.
-
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
and enemies of the English in Virginia; probably availing them- CHAP. I. selves, in proof thereof, of the similitude in their religious cere- 1634. monies. Clayborne had, it seems, prior to the arrival of go- vernor Calvert and his colony, settled himself, with some others, on the isle of Kent, which is situated in the Chesapeake, higher up than St. Mary's, and within the lines of the lord Baltimore's charter. This he had done in virtue of his license to traffic with the natives, and thereupon claimed a right to the property of the soil, not only of this island, but of another settlement which he had also fixed at the mouth of the Susquehanah. Lord Baltimore, perhaps informed of these circumstances by his broth- er, issued orders, in September of this year, (1634,) that if Clay- borne would not submit to his government, he should be seized and punished .* He was not, however, taken ; but being pro- voked that the lord Baltimore had obtained a grant, which in- cluded these places to which he had been accustomed to trade, and where he had now made some settlements, he sought all the means in his power to defeat the success and prosperity of the colony at St. Mary's. Among these means, was this un- generous and cruel attempt to set the savages at war upon this infant colony. This ridiculous suggestion was at first believed by the simple natives, and suddenly they withdrew their com- pany from St. Mary's. Our colonists were then employed in erecting comfortable habitations for themselves, in and about the town ; but, alarmed at this alteration in the behaviour of the In- dians, they ceased from the work on their buildings, and betook themselves to the erection of a fort for their security; which, it is said, they accomplished in about six weeks, and then return- ed again to their employments in finishing their houses. In a short time, however, the Indians became sensible of this decep- tion, and resorted again, as formerly, to the colony.
About the commencement of the succeeding year, 1635, (to wit, on the 26th of February, 1634-5, old style,) it appears, that
* The 12th and 13th sections of the charter, seem to have authorized the ex- ercise of martial law in such cases. Chalmers's Annals, ch. ix. p. 210, who cites Virg. Pap. 75 B. p. 125.
¡ Oldmixon's Brit. Emp. in Amer. vol. 1, p. 188, 189. Mod. Univ. Hist. vol. 40, p. 468. These authorities are corroborated by what is stated by Chalmers, in his Annals, ch. ix. note 21, that "among the Virg. Pap. 75 B. p. 139," (in the plantation office,) "there is an examination of the king of Patuxent rela- tive to Clayborne's intrigues ;" from which he states in substance as above.
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