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 67
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Clayborne repossess- Our documents now fail us for the remainder of the present es himself year, except a commission with certain "instructions in writing of the isle given by the governor to two officers and a party of men sent of Kent. by him to visit the isle of Kent, and which, from the order in which they are placed on the records, though without any date
* " Council Proceedings from 1636 to 1657," p. 138.
t See "Assembly Proceedings from 1637 to 1658," p. 305; and Bacon's Laws, sub unno 1644.
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annexed to them, appear to have taken place at some time be- CHAPT. tween the middle of November of this year, (1644,) and the IV. first of January next succeeding. The commission was to Mark 1644. Pheypo and John Genalles,* "authorizing them to take the com- mand of eight men and a shallop, and to press to fill up that number, and to employ them in service at the isle of Kent ac- cording to instructions." The "instructions" annexed to this commission were :-
"1. You are, with all the speed you may, to repair with your company to the isle of Kent, and if wind and weather permit, after you are past Patuxent river, to make over for the east side of the bay, and to keep that side to Popler's island, in such se- cret manner as you may, to keep your shallop from being dis- cerned at Kent.
"2. At Popler's island to stay until night, discovering afore- hand if any vessel be riding against the southern part of Kent, and if there be any thereabouts, or in any other part, to keep out of command of all vessels, and to make for some plantation fur- ther up the island where you shall have reason to think it will be fitted to put ashore both for safety and intelligence, and not to go on shore at Kent point or thereabouts, until you have had information of the state of the island from some weaker planta- tion as afore.
"3. To inquire whether captain Clayborne, or any other, have made any disturbance of the peace, or committed any out- rage upon the island, and to learn what force he did it with, and what strength he is of there at sea or shore, and what his. intents further be, and how long he means to stay.
+ In the margin of the record book, opposite to this commission, it is thus inserted,-"Vacat P. Aliam to Mark Pheypo and John Genalles." Whether this means, that the commission was directed to both jointly or to either condi- tionally, or that this commission had been vacated by another subsequent com- mission, is not easy to determine.
* There is inserted in the record book, in the margin opposite to this second article of the instructions, the following entry, which appears to have been in- tended as a part of the instructions, though not easily intelligible :- " Vacant P. Alias, to go upon the west shore over against Comin's plantation 4. Ande'a. to hollow at house and surprise some one and bring him away."-It may be re- marked, that Kent fort was situated on the southern part of the island at or near to the first harbour or creek on the left hand in going up what is called the East- ern bay after passing Kent point also on the left. From the caution given to avoid this part of the island, it may be inferred, that captain Clayborne or his party were, at the time of these instructions, in possession of that fort.
-
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
CHAPT. IV.
1644.
"4. To deliver my letter to C. Brent,* and bring an answer if you may."}
As somewhat explanatory of the foregoing commission and instructions, may be here inserted also a short memorandum immediately succeeding them in the record book, as follows :-
"January 1st. Proclamation to be published upon the isle of Kent to prohibit trade, till ships have been at St. Mary's, &c., and to declare captain William Clayborne, esqr., and Richard Thompson, planter, to be enemies of the province, and to pro- hibit all intelligence or correspondence with them or agents at peril, &c. &c. as per file."
On the same day, January 1st, a commission appears to have issued to captain William Brainthwayte, esqr., "to be com- mander of Kent with all authority civil and criminal, which heretofore to any commander hath belonged, and in absence to depute such person as he shall think fit, and John Wyat, Robert Vaughan, gent., John Abbott, William Cox, commissioners."}
We thus see, that Mr. Clayborne had now renewed his claim to the isle of Kent, and had again resorted to open military force. He had, without doubt, been induced to embrace this period of time for that purpose from the promising prospect of success, which the declining state of the royal power in England, and consequently that of the lord Baltimore and the Catholic party, now held out to him. After the unfortunate battle on Marston Moor, near York in England, (which had occurred on the second of July last, 1644,) whereby the whole of the north of England was won from the king, the friends of the parliament began to assume a bolder tone, and to consider the king's cause as in a gradual progress to destruction.§ The estates of those, who took part with the king, (as lord Baltimore appears to have done
* Although it is written in the record "C. Brent," as above, yet as Mr. Giles Brent was owner of the "manor of Kent fort," and possibly now resident there or some where on the island; it is probable that the letter C. may have been erro- neously written instead of the letter G., and the message to have been directed to him ; or it may have been meant to designate his title,-Captain Brent. t "Council Proceedings from 1636 to 1657," p. 139.
# "Council Proceedings from 1636 to 1657," p. 140 .- By "commissioners" was meant justices of the peace. In such times of suspicion, governor Calvert might have fixed upon Mr. Brainthwayte as commander, on account of his being a re- lative of the Calvert family, as appears from other documents.
§ The independent party, headed by Oliver Cromwell, began now (towards the end of the year 1644,) to separate from the Presbyterians, and Oliver began to form those designs, which he afterwards so successfully executed. Lord Cla- rendon's Hist. (fol. edit. ) p. 421.
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
in the early part of the civil war,*) were considered by them as CHAPT. liable to confiscation or sequestration, wherever the fortune of war 1V. should enable them to do so ;}-too often the ungenerous con- 1645. duct of successful revolutionists or rebels, as the case may even- tuate, in most civil wars towards the conquered party, even to- wards innocent persons who know not how to act on such occa- sions. Whether Mr. Clayborne had been in England, and had taken a part on the side of the parliament, or whether he had not been for some years a constant resident in Virginia, and had now availed himself of some discontents within the province of Ma- ryland, originating perhaps with Puritans who had been permit- ted to settle in the province, we have no information. We have seen him before, immediately on the dissolution of the old char- ters of Virginia and the change thereof from a proprietary to a royal government, placed in the conspicuous stations of coun- cillor and secretary of that province. He had also, in the year 1642, experienced the king's favour in appointing him to the office of "king's treasurer within the dominion of Virginia du- ring his life."} We may therefore consider him as having been for some years past an inhabitant of Virginia, agreeably to the duties of his office, but now, for interested purposes he had for- saken his king and benefactor, and arranged himself under the banners of the parliament. It is not impossible, but that he act- ed also under the ordinance of parliament, of November, 1643, before stated,§ whereby the superintendance of the colonies was vested in the earl of Warwick with a council of five peers and twelve commoners, who were authorised "to nominate, appoint, and constitute all such subordinate governors, councellors, com- manders, officers and agents, as they shall judge to be best af- fected, and most fit and serviceable for the said plantations, and to remove others."-Interest has a powerful bias upon the affec- tions, and they might therefore with confidence count upon Mr. Clayborne as their faithful servant. In his efforts to regain his possession of the isle of Kent, success seems to have attended him, and moreover, indeed, his party appear for a while to have
* See the allegation before stated, (p. 265,) of his joining the king at Oxford and Bristol.
t See the Ordinances of March, 1643, before stated, p. 264.
# This appointment is inserted in Hazard's Collections, vol. i. p. 493, as extract- ed from Rymer, vol. xx. p. 541, A. D. 1642 ;- as follows :- " Rex, sexto die Aprilis, concedit Willielmo Claiborne Armigers, Officium Thesaurarii Regis in- fra Dominium de Virginia durante vita. P. S." § See before, p. 264.
VOL. II .- 37
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
CHAPT. been so victorious as to have possessed themselves also of the IV. government of the colony at St. Mary's, to which he had never, 1645. as yet, set up any pretence of claim. It is probable, however, that captain Richard Ingle, who had been arrested at St. Mary's for treason, as before stated, but had escaped, and who, it is said, associated himself on this occasion with Mr. Clayborne,* acting under some higher authority, perhaps under a commission from the earl of Warwick's board of commissioners just men- tioned, returned to St. Mary's, full fraught with revenge, and driving Mr. Calvert from his station, who fled to Virginia, placed himself in the seat of power. But the minutia of these trans- actions, or proceedings, which took place during what is called Ingle's and Clayborne's rebellion, are now covered in obscurity. At the close of their power, and the restoration of the authority of lord Baltimore, towards the end of the year 1646, they car- ried with them or destroyed, on their departure from St. Mary's, most of the records and public papers of the province.} A slight recognition, however, still remains of the holding a session of assembly at St. Mary's on the 11th of February, 1644, (1645, N. S.) prior to Ingle's or Clayborne's possession of that part of the province ; but no journal of the proceedings of that session appears, nor how nor when summoned for that purpose. It may, perhaps, be supposed, for nothing is to be found contradictory to it, that this session was held in virtue of a prorogation or ad- journment of the assembly called in the preceding November, as before mentioned. Be that as it may, one law only appears to have been enacted ; if more, they are now lost. It is enti- tled, "an act for the defence of the province," and appears to have been made for the purpose of enabling the governor "to settle a garrison at Piscattoway," and to lay an assessment upon the inhabitants of the province to defray, not only the charge of such garrison, but that "of the late expedition to Kent;" from which last expression we are to infer, that an "expedition" or at- tempt had been made before this session, to subdue the rebellion in the isle of Kent, besides that of the exploring party under Mark Pheypo or John Genalles, before mentioned, but which proved unsuccessful .¿
* Bacon's Preface to his Collection of the Laws of Maryland.
t "Assembly Proceedings from 1637 to 1658," p. 425, and Bacon's Preface, note (d.)
# As this act, " for the defence of the province," exhibits the impoverished state of the province at this time, and the scanty means it possessed for supporting a military force, it is inserted at large at the end of this volume in note (LV.)
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
Connected with this a singular proceeding appears to have CHAPT. been adopted by the governor or executive branch of the provin- IV. cial government for the support of the garrison at Piscattoway ; 1645. which, although it occurred nearly a month prior to this session in February, ought not to be passed unnoticed. A commission was issued by the governor, bearing date, January 9th, 1644, directed "to Thomas Weston of St. George's Hundred," au- thorizing him to assemble all the freemen of that hundred for the purpose of assessing upon that hundred only the charge of a soldier, who had been sent by that hundred to serve in the garrison at Piscattoway .*
Although the curiosity of every native citizen of the state of Maryland, might perhaps be excited to know something of the little civil war, which now prevailed in his native province at this early period of its existence, in the commotions of which some worthy ancestor of his might perhaps have borne an anx- ious part ; yet the loss of the records before mentioned, one of the consequences thereof, has rendered all authentic documents relative thereto for ever irrecoverable ; and it appears, that the muse of history has not thought the subject of sufficient impor- tance to inspire the pen of any cotemporary historian.
* " Council Proceedings from 1636 to 1657," p. 141.
CHAPTER V.
Captain Hill elected governor, in the absence of governor Calvert-Governor Cal- vert returns to St. Mary's with a small army-Hill resigns upon terms-Go- vernor Calvert convenes the assembly before called by Hill-The first instance on the records of the province of the distinction between the upper and lower houses of assembly-Proceedings of the assembly-An embargo and martial law proclaimed-The "acts for customs" on imports and exports enforced- The English ordinance of 1646-7, relative to customs on goods exported to the plantations, and the first English excise law-The isle of Kent submits, and the government thereof is settled-Governor Calvert's death and character- Thomas Greene, esqr., his successor-Mr. Hill renews his claims upon the province-Corn (private property,) pressed, or seized, for the use of the gar- rison of St. Inigoe's fort-War with the Indians of Nanticoke and Wicomoco -Cautious proceedings to regulate the return of the disaffected-The expor- tation of corn and horses prohibited-The administratrix of Governor Calvert adjudged to be his lordship's attorney in fact, as governor Calvert had been- An assembly called-They meet-Their proceedings-Proclamation of a gen- eral pardon-The provincial court adjourned, and proclamation thereof made -Affairs of England having relation to Maryland-Governor Greene removed and governor Stone appointed in his stead-Strictures on his commission-A new oath prescribed to the governor-A new commission of the council-Mr. Hatton sent in as secretary-A new great seal-Office of muster-master gene- ral instituted-A new commission also for the commander of the isle of Kent -Sixteen laws sent in, with a commission for propounding them to the assem- bly-New conditions of plantation-Quarrel between governor Greene and the commander of the isle of Kent-Question, as to the right of forfeitures for treason, accruing within a manor-Affairs of the mother country in relation to Maryland-Session of assembly-Remarks on the acts of this session-The act concerning religion-The letter of the assembly to the lord proprietary- His lordship's reply-The first settlement of the Puritans at Providence, now Annapolis-New conditions of plantation, and grants of land-Mr. Greene appointed governor in the absence of governor Stone-Charles, the second, proclaimed king-Governor Stone returns, and convenes the assembly-Their proceedings-The acts of this session-The governor visits Providence, and organizes it into a county called Ann Arundel-The commanders of the isle of Kent and Ann Arundel authorised to grant warrants for land therein-King Charles the second, appoints a new governor of Maryland-The appointment of Mr. Gibbons, of New England, to be one of the council-An assembly called-The ordinance of parliament of 1650-The colony at Providence re- fuses to send delegates to the assembly-His lordship's message on this subject -Sir William Berkeley's attempt to fix a settlement on Palmer's island-Lord Baltimore's directions for remedying the loss of the records-and for civilizing the Indians-New directions for settling the province-Mr. Mitchell removed from the council-A law against the spreading of false news, proposed by his lordship-Proceedings in England for the "reducement" of the colonines-In-
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
structions to commissioners for the reducement of Virginia-The commission- ers sail on their expedition-Captain Curtis arrives in Virginia, which is re- duced-He, with the other commissioners, proceeds to Maryland, which sub- mits.
After a lapse of about eighteen months, during which pe- CHAP. V. riod our provincial records afford no trace of any of the inter- 1646. mediate transactions, we find governor Calvert in Virginia; Captain ·Hill elect- whither, without doubt, he had retreated from the hostilities of ed gover- the parliamentary party within his province headed by Ingle, and nor in the perhaps Clayborne.
A commission, it seems, was issued, during this absence of Calvert. governor Calvert, to captain Edward Hill, "deputing and ap- pointing him governor of the province of Maryland;" which, from the tenor and conclusion of it, to wit, "Given under my hand and seal this 30th day of July, 1646, in Virginia .- Leon- ard Calvert," -- purported to have been the governor's "own act;" but, from subsequent circumstances it appears, that the grant of this commssion to Mr. Hill was "acted by another person," (as the record expresses it,) that is, was made out by the council at St. Mary's who elected the said captain Hill to the office of go- vernor, in the absence of governor Calvert, while he was "in Virginia."
The preamble to this commission to Mr. Hill thus states the authority, on which governor Calvert was enabled in such a case to create a deputy in his office of governor .- "Whereas by a commission from the right honourable Cecilius lord proprietary of the province of Maryland to me Leonard Calvert, esqr., bear- ing date the 18th of September, 1644, I am authorised, in case of my absence out of the said province, to appoint such an able per- son as I shall think fit to be his lordship's governor of his said vince, and whereas at this present I have occasion, for his lord- ship's service, to be absent out of the said province, I do depute and appoint captain Edward Hill to be governor of the said pro- province;"-"And I do further authorise the said captain Edward Hill to take and receive into his possession and custody, for his lordship's use and his heirs, all stocks of cattle, rents of lands, profits of customs, escheats, fines, forfeitures and confiscations, by any way and at any time due unto his lordship within his said province of Maryland, and the one half thereof, (excepting of stocks of cattle,) I do hereby authorise the said captain Edward Hill, (as a reward for his service to his said lordship,) to apply to his proper use and benefit during the time of his government
absence of governor
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CHAP. V. of the said province, and also for all stocks of cattle belonging 1646. to his lordship there, to be accomptable to me for his lordship's use and his heirs, whenever I shall demand the same, and until his lordship shall otherwise appoint."* Whether this commis- sion was the governor's "own act," or not, yet it seems to inti- mate, that his restoration to the office of governor was consider- ed, at this time, as a doubtful incident, and that the best mode of securing the private property of lord Baltimore within the province was to delegate his powers of government to some friend, in whom he might confide, and who either then resided, or would be allowed to reside, at St. Mary's. But, it appears from a clause in one of captain Hill's letters hereafter inserted, that some members of the council, still remaining at St. Mary's, thought they could with propriety, in the absence of governor Calvert, elect and appoint captain Hill to be governor, and did so, under the plea of an "absolute necessity for the safety of the province," and, as it would seem, under the last clause of his lordship's commission for the government before referred to, which provided, that "in case our said lieutenant shall happen to die, or be absent out of our said province, and shall fail to make choice of, nominate, and appoint some person to be our lieutenant, &c., we do hereby grant unto our councillors there for the time being, or the greater part of them, full power and au- thority from time to time in every such case to nominate, elect, and appoint such an able person, which shall then be of our coun- cil there, and inhabiting and residing within our said province, &c., to be our lieutenant," &c .; Whether Hill was, previous to this election and appointment, an inhabitant or resident with- in the province of Maryland, some doubt may be entertained from the tenor of his letters hereafter stated; but, it seems cer. tain, that he was not "one of the council," and, therefore, could not be legally elected or appointed governor under the above clause. This subject will be resumed in its proper place.
The lord proprietary, in England, seems to have been fully informed in due time by his brother of the situation of his affairs in Maryland, or at least of the necessity, which his brother had been under of quitting his province. Considering, perhaps, the proprietaryship of his province as lost to him, but desirous and expecting to retain what private property he had in America,
* "Council Proceedings from 1636 to 1657," p. 142.
t See governor Calvert's commission of 1644, before referred to in p. 286, and inserted in note (LIV.)
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
particularly such rents and debts as were due to him, he executed CHAP. V. and sent a warrant of attorney "to his brother Leonard Calvert," 1646. esqr., and to his trusty and well beloved John Lewger, esqr., his secretary for his province, and to whom they two should appoint, to demand and receive, and, if need be, to sue for, implead, and recover, for his use, all rents, arrears of rents, profits, debts, and other dues whatsoever, which belonged unto him, either in Vir- ginia or Maryland, and to dispose thereof as he should from time to time direct; and in default of such directions according to their best discretions for his most advantage; and to give ac- quittance in his name and behalf for what they should receive from time to time by virtue of this warrant. Given under his hand and seal at Stook, this 15th of November, anno domini, 1646."*
The place called Stook, from whence his lordship dates this power of attorney, was most probably some obscure place in. England, to which he had retired; for, at this time no royalist, especially a Catholic, could openly appear in any part of Eng- land, if he had been known at any time to have taken side with the king. It may be remembered, that the last intelligence we had of his lordship's residence, was at the city of Bristol, after it had been stormed and captured by the king's forces in July, 1643, and from whence he dated his instructions before mention- ed of the 18th of November, 1643; but that city had since been surrendered to the parliament forces, in September, 1645; and we may suppose his lordship to have been, in consequence there- of, under the necessity of seeking some other asylum. The de- cisive battle of Naseby had been fought, in June, 1645, where the king's forces had been entirely routed. Sir Thomas Fairfax had now made a complete conquest of the two loyal counties in the West Devonshire and Cornwall, and had driven the prince of Wales to take refuge in France. The king had given himself up to the Scotch army, and the venerable marquis of Worcester, above eighty years of age, had the honour of surrendering, in July, of the present year, the last remaining fortress of royalty in Great Britain-his castle of Ragland in Monmouthshire. Whether lord Baltimore had now also submitted to the parlia- ment, and taken the covenant-oath, or lurked unknown in some obscure place, as above suggested, we have no documents to au- thorise us in determining.
* "Council Proceedings from 1636 to 1657," p. 148;
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HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
CHAP. V. Governor Calvert, it seems, did not retreat into Virginia with 1646. an intention of passively resigning his government to the insur- Governor Calvert re- gents of his province. As sir William Berkeley, the governor turns to St. of Virginia, had found means to retain that province in the obe- Mary's with a small army. dience of the king, and held out against the parliamentarians long after the mother country had submitted to them, governor Calvert was enabled, in his retreat to that colony, to organise a military force sufficient to regain that part of his province, which was at and contiguous to St. Mary's. Towards the close of this year, therefore, he returned to St. Mary's with a body of "sol- diers" or armed men, but to what number we are not informed. With this little army he seems to have taken the rebels by sur- prise ;* and, after some little military skirmish, for, it appears that some blood was shed, most of them submitted, some were arrested and imprisoned, and some fled to Virginia. From an expression in governor Greene's letter to Sir William Berkeley hereafter stated, to wit, "I would not willingly this colony should be further imbrued in the effusion of blood,"-it is to be infer- red, that there must have been some battle or fighting between the inhabitants of the province on the occasion of this insurrec- tion; but, whether such fighting was previous to governor Cal- vert's quitting his province, or when he returned to regain pos- session of it, we are no where certainly informed. We have ventured to suppose, that it was on his return.
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