COUNTIES.-Maryland is divided into 23 counties and Baltimore City, of which Garrett, Allegany, Washington and the western part of Frederick comprise the mountainous region known as Western Maryland; the eastern part of Frederick, Carroll, Montgomery, Howard, Baltimore, Harford and the northern part of Cecil the Piedmont area, which is also referred to under the name of Northern-Central Maryland; Anne Arundel, Prince George's, Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's, commonly called Southern Maryland; and the southern part of Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset, and Worcester, known as Eastern Maryland. Of these 23 counties all but seven lie upon navigable waters. There seems to have been no consistent method adopted in erecting the several counties of the state. Some, like St. Mary's and Kent, grew with the development of the province and were subsequently bounded by the erection of new counties; others, like Charles and Dorchester, were erected by the ruling of Lord Baltimore. Cecil County was erected by proclamation of the Governor; while Washington, Montgomery, Howard and Wicomico were established in constitutional conventions. The great majority of counties were, however, erected by Acts of Assembly. The records now extant do not show the original extent or the exact date of erection of several of the counties, but it is of interest to note that 18. out of the 23 counties were established before the close of the Revolutionary War, and 11 of these before 1700. Baltimore City, since 1851, has not been in any county, but unlike any other American city, except Greater New York, is a distinct division of the state. The counties of Maryland, unlike those of many other states, are the ultimate units of territory and not the combination of townships. This fact, together with the paucity of large towns and the agricultural character of the communities, have made the counties as such of unusual importance in all political and social relations. Election districts are established in all the counties. COUNTIES ARRANGED IN THE ORDER OF THE DATE OF THEIR ERECTION Counties Origin of name Date of formation St. Mary's.... In honor of the Virgin Mary, the landing having been made on the Feast of the Annunciation.... .1637 . After the English county...... .1642 After Lady Anne Arundel, wife of Cecil, second ..1650 Baltimore From the Proprietary's Irish Barony (Celtic bilte mor; i. e., the large town)...... ...1659 Talbot . After Grace Talbot, daughter of George, first Lord Baltimore ..1662 Somerset Prince George's After Mary Somerset, sister of Lord Baltimore.....1666 After Prince George of Denmark. 1674 ..1695 .. After Queen Anne of England.. ..1706 . After Lady Calvert, sister of the last Lord Balti . After the river of that name, from wicko, house, and mekee, building; i. e., referring to an Indian town on the banks After John W. Garrett.. .1867 ..1872 HISTORY.-Chesapeake Bay was probably known to some extent to the Spaniards by the early part of the Sixteenth Century, long before the English attempted to establish themselves in any part of the American continent. The first account of the physical characteristics of the Maryland area was given, however, by Captain John Smith, of the Virginia colony, who, in an open boat with a few companions, began an exploration of the upper portions of Chesapeake Bay and its numerous tributaries FIG. 5.-VIEW OF WYE HOUSE, A COLONIAL MANSION IN TALBOT COUNTY. FIG. 6.-VIEW OF HOMEWOOD, BUILT BY CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON IN 1804. ON GROUNDS OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. in the year 1608. During the two trips which he made in the summer of that year, the shores of the Bay were surveyed as far as the Susquehanna River, the harbor of Baltimore was entered, and the Potomac River was ascended as far as the falls above Georgetown. The map which Captain. Smith prepared as a result of his trips shows with remarkable correctness the outlines of the regions which he visited. The charter of Maryland was granted by Charles I to George Calvert, first Lord Baltimore, but as he had died before the patent passed the Great Seal, as the result of delays caused by the objections of the Virginia Company, it was issued to his son Cecilius Calvert, second Lord Baltimore, on June 20, 1632. The name of Maryland was given to the colony in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of Charles I. Under the terms of the charter the territory to the north of Virginia to 40° north latitude was included in the grant to Lord Baltimore, who was made the owner of the land, Maryland thus becoming the first proprietary colony. Many liberties were allowed, including freedom from taxation, by the King, and practically royal power was conferred on the Proprietor. The first permanent settlement was made on March 27, 1634, at St. Mary's by a party under the leadership of Leonard Calvert, brother of Lord Baltimore, who arrived with his associates on the Ark and Dove. They maintained from the start friendly relations with the Indians but found in William Claiborne, who had established a trading post on Kent Island on the Chesapeake in 1631 and who had opposed the granting of the Maryland charter, a bitter enemy who defied the authority of the Proprietary by force of arms. Although this settlement was brought under subjection, Claiborne continued an enemy of the colony and later fomented trouble again, even depriving the Governor of his office for a time. One of the chief objects of Calvert in establishing the colony was to provide an asylum for persecuted Catholics, although he was equally desirous of having Protestant colonists. From the first, religious toleration was the recognized custom of the colony, and was definitely established by the Colonial Assembly in 1649 by the passage of the famous "Act of Toleration," which granted religious liberty to all sects of trinitarian Christians. Lord Baltimore reserved to himself the right to initiate legislation until 1638, when this was conceded to the people, the Proprietary still holding the veto power. About 1650 a company of Puritans from Virginia sought refuge in Maryland and made a settlement on the present site of Annapolis, then called Providence, and were permitted, in order to conciliate them, to be organized as Anne Arundel County. The success of the Puritans in England under Cromwell accentuated the conflict between the Proprietary and the Puritan party in Maryland, which became so serious that a Parliamentary commission in 1654 permanently deposed the officers of the former and appointed a Puritan Council, thus depriving the Lord Proprietary of his government. In 1658 the power of the Proprietary was again restored, to be soon disturbed, however, by the attempt of the Proprietary Governor to establish a commonwealth. With the coming of the English Restoration in 1660 order was finally established. Again in 1688, because of the delay of Lord Baltimore's deputies in proclaiming the sovereignty of William and Mary, owing to the death of a messenger sent to the colony, a company of Protestants under the leadership of John Goode seized St. Mary's and assumed control of the government, and in 1692 Maryland was proclaimed a royal colony. Lord Baltimore was deprived of his political power and privileges, although his property rights were not affected. In 1694 the capital was moved from St. Mary's City to Annapolis. Maryland remained as a royal colony until the death of the third Lord Baltimore in 1715 when the fourth Lord Baltimore, who was a Protestant, was recognized as Proprietor. From this date the Proprietary continued until after the death of the sixth and last Lord Baltimore in 1771, when the opening of the Revolution, a few years later, put an end to it, Sir Henry Harford being Proprietor during this short interval. Maryland's part in the French and Indian War was not conspicuous, but Braddock and Washington fitted out their expedition against Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) at Frederick. Fort Frederick, situated 40 miles farther west, was built in 1756, and both at this period and later served to protect the colony from the west. |