116 Correspondence of Governor Sharpe.

[Sharpe to Calvert.] 26^th Dec^r 1757 transmitted by Capt. Somerville
Sir
Having at length had the pleasure to receive your three
Letters dated the 7^th of April 13^th of July & 12^th of August
last I shall now give an answer to those parts of them that
seem to require one. I am glad to find that His Lordship
approves of my having dismissed M^r Edward Tilghman from
the office of Keeper of the Eastern Shore Rent Rolls & that
he has no other objection to M^r W^m Thomas's being continued
in that office than that he lives on this Side the Bay. Since
that is the Case I must take the Liberty to assure you that this
accidental Circumstance is so far from being disadvantageous
to His Lordship's Affairs that it is really of great Use & Ben-
efit & enables M^r Thomas to bring those Rentalls out of Con-
fusion into Order with Abundance more ease to himself & to
every one else concerned than if he resided on any Part of the
Eastern Shore. You know it is not the Business of a Rent
Roll Keeper to ride about & look after the several Tracts of
Land the Rents whereof may at any time happen to be dis-
puted, that is the Business or Duty of the Farmer who may be
charged with such Rents, & whose Interest it is to recover
them; The Rent Roll Keeper is only concerned with the
Farmers & the Agent & ought in my opinion to reside if pos-
sible in or near the Place where the Farmers can most con-
veniently attend on or meet him & where Recourse might on
occasion be most readily had to the Land Records. This
place then can be no other than Annapolis because here all
the Records are kept & hither all the Sheriffs (who are now
the Farmers) are obliged to come three or four Times a year
to make their Returns to the Provincial Courts & to pay the
Excise & Land Tax to the Commissioners of the Loan Office.
There are many Conveniences or Advantages besides that
arise from the Keeper of the Eastern Shore Rent Rolls residing
here w^ch it would be tedious to enumerate but which Experi-
ence has discovered; while the Impropriety of a Keeper of
the Western Shore Rent Rolls residing on the Eastern Shore
is exceedingly obvious, & I may add likewise that if the Agent
was also to become an Inhabitant of this City there would not
be often such Delay in doing Business as there must neces-
sarily be at present.
As M^r Tilghman for Reasons best known to himself did
while he was in Office enter in the Books the Names of a great
many Tracts of Land that have not paid Quit Rent these hun-
dred years, if ever; the Farmers on the Eastern Shore are
thereby laid under prodigious Difficulties & find themselves