(Page 1) CHAPTER I.
Eastern Shore of Maryland before Settlement
and Settlements in Order of Time
The purpose of this chapter is to give a setting for the history of Chesapeake City. It is necessary, before going into historical detail, to give the reader some knowledge of the country in which this town is situated, and its history. As the town is situated on the Eastern Shore, and the Eastern Shore may be regarded as a geographical unit, to have some understanding of the people of this town and its history it is necessary to connect the various threads of its annals with the land in which it is situated. It is therefore, necessary to tell briefly the story of the Eastern Shore, and then place this town upon a real historical landscape.
The inhabitants of Maryland's Eastern Shore have a just right to be proud of their lands and waters bordering them. Two hundred and fifty years ago this beautiful land presented a very different picture from what it does today. The land was covered with large forests, which were inhabited by Indians and wild animals of various descriptions. No highways penetrated this vast wilderness except the picturesque (Page 2) rivers and creeks, which are very numerous. The only paths of any kind in the forests were those made by the Indians or wild animals going down to the rivers for water. There were no open plains or clearings to be seen except where the Indians had burned the trees in order to plant their corn, tobacco and other plants known to them.
The North American Indians were divided into three great families. They were called the Algonquins, the Muscogees, and the Iroquois. The majority of the Indians in Maryland were of the Algonquin family, who taken as a whole were a peaceful people. There was, however, a tribe known as the Susquehannoughs which belonged to the Iroquois family who were fierce and war like. This tribe lived on the shores of the Susquehannough River, where they roamed about the forest in search of bears, deer, turkeys and other game on which they subsisted. They are described as having been very noble looking men, of about seven feet in height and large in proportion. Their prisoners were scalped and tortured in every conceivable manner, and tradition says they even went so far sometimes as to eat the prisoners taken in war. Their idea in doing this was that all the bravery possessed by the victim was then transferred into the body of the conqueror. This powerful tribe was finally exterminated through sickness and war.
(Page 3)The principal tribe living directly on the Eastern Shore was that of the Nanticokes. They were not what could have been called friendly to the settlers, but were more friendly than their neighbors the Susquehannoughs. Many years after the first settlement in Maryland, large numbers of these Indians went to Pennsylvania, New York and some even went so far as Canada.
The Indian's dress consisted principally of the skins of wild animals, fastened around their shoulders and loins. The foot covering was also made from the skins of animals, and was very soft and pliable enabling the wearer to move swiftly and silently through the forest. This footwear was not called shoes but moccasins. The ornaments were mainly beads and feathers.
The Indian houses in Maryland were oblong huts not much higher than a man. The only opening besides the door was a hole in the roof through which the smoke from the fire found an exit. The Indians slept on the floor around the fire. The chiefs' houses were larger, and contained beds made of skins stretched on sticks, which made them more comfortable.
Their weapons were made from stone and wood. The bow and arrow was their principal weapon, in the use of which they were very efficient. The tomahawk was (Page 4) simply a sharp stone fastened to a piece of wood, and was used when at close range with an enemy, and in scalping victims.
The men did the fighting and hunting, while the women did all the work. The squaw skinned the game and cooked it, and also did the farming, if such it can be called. They could only cultivate small fields where the ground was rich and soft, as their hoes were made of stone or hard wood, and of course would break if used to dig very hard ground.
With the passing of the years the land inhabited by these Indians had become settled, and many of their people were converted to the christian religion.
The first white man to come up the Eastern Shore as far as Cecil County was John Smith of the Virginia Colony. In 1608 Smith who had fitted out an expedition at Jamestown ascended the Chesapeake Bay, and explored its beautiful tributaries now known as the Susquehanna, North East, Elk and Sassafras Rivers. The only benefit derived from this expedition of Smith's was a map and an interesting account of his explorations, written by him.
The first county to be formed on the Eastern Shore was Kent, in 1642. Years before this time, William Claiborne, while exploring the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, traded with the Indians for furs on (Page 5) what is now Kent Island. Claiborne called it the "Kentish Isle," and when the Calverts came to Maryland in 1634, they named the whole of that part of the country north of the Choptank River the Isle of Kent. From the Isle of Kent several counties were formed among which are, Kent, Talbot, Cecil, Queen Annes, Caroline and part of Baltimore County.
New Yarmouth was settled prior to 1680, and the first court house in Kent County was built at that place. Chestertown had by this time grown to be a town of some importance, and the court was moved there in 1707. With the removal of the court New Yarmouth steadily declined, and today nothing is to be seen of the place but a few scattered bricks. The Quakers at one time formed a large part of Kent's population. Their old meeting house was built about 1690, the ruins of which can still be seen near Lynch. Kent County has many fine colonial mansions within her boundary lines.
Talbot County was named about 1772 for Grace Talbot a sister of Cecilius Calvert and wife of Sir George Talbot. The first court house was built in 1680 near the head waters of the Wye River. Some time later a prison was also built, and around these two buildings a town sprang up which in 1786 was named Yorke. In 1684 Oxford was laid out and owing to its (Page 6) growing thrift the county seat was moved there in 1707. A little later than 1710 a new court house was built near Pitt's Bridge, where a village soon made its appearance, and was known as Talbot Court House. This name was changed in 1688 to Easton, which town is still the county seat of Talbot. The friends erected a meeting house in this county in 1784. It is a frame building and is said to be one of the oldest wooden structures of worship in the United States. Talbot too can boast of many interesting colonial houses.
Somerset County was created in 1666, in honor of Lady Mary Somersett. The present counties of Somerset, Worcester and Wicomico were included in its original boundary line. She is known as the mother county south of the Choptank River as Kent is north of the same river. The first court met at Thomas Pool's house in Revell's Neck. In 1668 Randall Revell gave the Proprietary a tract of land on the Manokin River where the county seat was to be laid out and called Sommerton. Some time after this, however, the court changed its meeting place and the town was never built. In 1694 it was authorized that a tract of land not exceeding two hundred acres, be purchased near Dividing Creek on which a court house was to be built. The site where this building once stood is now known as Court House Hill. Princess Anne the present county seat located on the south side of the Manokin Riv- (Page 7) er near its head waters, was laid out in 1733. Among Somerset's many colonial buildings is the Rehoboth Church, which is one of the first Presbyterian churches built in America.
The existence of Dorchester County seems to date from 1669. By an act of the General Assembly on May 6, 1669, eight commissioners were appointed to govern the new county. These commissioners had the power to make arrests, and extend punishment for minor crimes, but cases punishable by death were sent to St. Mary's for trial. Dorchester was named after Sir Edward Sackville, Fourth Earl of Dorset, and a favorite of King Charles I, of England. In 1684 an act was passed authorizing the location of a town on the south side of the great Choptank River to be called Cambridge, and in 1686 another act was passed which provided for the erection of a court house and jail in the new town, which from that time has been the county seat. This straggling little village, which at this time had a larger population than Baltimore Town, was incorporated in 1745. Methodist and Quaker preachers were very active in Dorchester County during the colonial period, and today the majority of the people lean toward Methodism. One of Dorchester's old churches, built during the reign of William and Mary and located at Church Creek about seven miles from Cambridge, stands as solid today as the days of its erection.
(Page 8) Cecil County was erected by proclamation in 1674, and was as all her true sons and daughters know, named for Cecilius Calvert the first Proprietary of Maryland. The present county of Kent formed part of Cecil at this time, but was soon returned by the Proprietary because of the dissatisfaction shown by the people. In 1628 Claiborne established one of his trading posts on what is now Garrett's Island, in the mouth of the Susquehanna River, which was the first settlement in Cecil County. The first permanent settlement was at Carpenter's Point near the mouth of Principio Creek. In Cecil as in the other counties the court was at first held in the houses of private citizens. Probably the first court house was built at Ordinary Point, prior to 1679. In 1717 it was moved to Court House Point on Bohemia Manor, where the court was held until it was moved to Charlestown, a place at that time of some importance. Charlestown's prosperity was short lived, however, for she was soon eclipsed by a village known as Head of Elk, where the court was moved in 1778. In 1786 this village was incorporated under the name of Elkton, which town is still the county seat.
A number of years ago if one had occasion to visit the beautiful country south of the seat of justice he would have seen a peaceful little hamlet on the banks of (Page 9) Back Creek about one hundred and fifty yards north of the present town limits of Chesapeake City. This little settlement, which was known as Bohemia Village, was composed of eight houses, a grist mill and a tan yard. It was of considerable importance at that time as a shipping terminus. The, sailing, vessels of the old Dominion Line, which hailed from Baltimore and other southern ports, were unloaded at this place. Their cargoes were then taken overland by means of large wagons to Port Penn, where they were again loaded on boats bound for the northern ports of Philadelphia, New York and Boston. By referring to old deeds it now seems possible that the name Bohemia Village at one time also applied to Chesapeake City.
In 1824, the year in which the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal was started, practically dates the birth of Chesapeake City and the end of Bohemia Village. All the trade that it had formally received now went direct through the waterway. Today nothing remains to show that this village ever existed but the half filled cellars of two old houses, and a few logs and stones that indicate where the grist mill and the wharf at one time stood.
Chesapeake City is situated on the Back Creek a (Page 10) tributary of Elk River. The Maryland-Delaware line is but a mile distant. This line was run by the king's surveyors prior to the founding of the town. The acts of the Maryland Assembly detail in full the circumstances of the division of the two states, and quoted from the journal of the legislature of that date is as follows:
Differences had arisen about the boundaries of these lands, between Lord Baltimore and William Penn, and the matter was laid before the King and Council in 1685, and finally before the Lords Commissioners for Trade & Foreign Plantations, "Upon whose Reporte it was ordered by the King in Councill, that for, according of further differences, the Tract of Land lyeing between the River, & Bay of Dellaware, and the Easterne Sea, on the one side, and Chesapeake Bay on the other, be divided in two Equall parts by a line from the Latitude of Cape Henlopen to the fortyeth of Northere Latitude, and that one halfe thereof lying towards the Bay of Dellaware, and the Easterne Sea, be adjudged to belong to his Majesty, and that the other halfe remaine to the Lord Baltimore as comprized within his charter."
Chesapeake City was incorporated in 1876, by (Page 11) Act of the Assembly, and in 1915 the town was bonded and granted a new charter. The Back Creek and Chesapeake & Delaware Canal furnish this town a fine water front. It has been contemplated for a number of years that the government would purchase this last named waterway, and convert it into a free ship canal. If this is done Chesapeake City will indeed have a bright future before her. Large steamers heavily laden come up to the wharves, at the present time, without any difficulty whatsoever. Besides this fine waterfront, the town is within easy reach of the main line of the P.B. & W.R.R., at Elkton. This railroad is easily and cheaply reached by means of the Chestertown-Elkton Bus Line, Inc. Chesapeake City is beautifully laid out in wide streets well shaded during the day, and well illuminated at night with electric lights. The population numbers between twelve and thirteen hundred and the town is really in its infancy though the country in the immediate vicinity was settled during the early colonial days.
Cecil County has her share of old houses, many of them being noted for their interesting history. The Bohemia Manor House is located near the broad waters of the Bohemia River about five miles south of Chesapeake City. Bohemia Manor will be fully described in another chapter of this book, beginning with the coming of Augustine Herman in 1662.
(Page 12)Partridge Hill, beautifully situated on elevated grounds in Elkton, was built by the Hollingsworths prior to 1750.
The Tobias Rudolph House, also in Elkton and a short distance from Partridge Hill, was erected in 1768.
Frenchtown's old house which stands on the banks of the Elk River was built about 1800. It served for a number of years as a hotel.
General James Sewell constructed Holly Hall in 1802. The new state highway, which leads through Chesapeake City to the lower end of the Eastern Shore, passes directly in front of this old residence.
It would take a large book to contain all of the interesting facts that could be written about these grand old mansions of Cecil's so, therefore, we must be satisfied with simply mentioning the names of the most important.
Queen Anne's County was erected in 1706, in honor of Queen Anne. The first settlement in Maryland was made on Kent Island by William Claiborne. This island today forms a part of Queen Anne's County.
A tract of land was set aside and called Worcester County in 1742. The first settlements in what is now Worcester were made in about 1658. These (Page 13) early settlers came from Virginia and England. Snow Hill, the present county seat though settled many years before, was incorporated in 1742, and two years later the town of Newport was erected. In 1670 a ferry was established across the Pocomoke River where the bridge at Pocomoke City now stand. The place was called Steven's Ferry, and in 1700 a small village sprang up just below it and was named Warehouse Landing and later changed to Newtown, and today is known as Pocomoke City. Among Worcester's houses of historic interest is the small and now weather beaten little structure where Stephen Decatur, one of America's greatest naval heros, was born.
In 1773 the county of Caroline was formed from part of Kent and Dorchester. The new county thus formed was named for Lady Caroline Eden, sister of the sixth Lord Baltimore. After many bitter arguments the General Assembly passed an act which required the seat of justice to be moved to Pig Point and the county seat to be named Denton.
Wicomico the youngest of the nine Eastern Shore Counties was created by a Constitutional Convention in 1876. It was formed from part of the old (Page 14) counties of somerset and Worcester. Salisbury the county seat was laid out in 1732, and owing to its fine location on the Wicomico River has grown until today it is the largest town on the Eastern Shore.
s/Francis W. Krastel
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