242         ESSAYS IN COLONIAL HISTORY

Maryland  are  such  immigrants  very noticeable,80 yet
Baltimore consisted largely of them. Governor Sharpe,
in 1754, wrote in true English style, "while few beside
Germans (who are in general Masters of small Fortunes)
build & inhabit there I apprehend it cannot make any
considerable Figure." The first reference to Germans in
Baltimore is in 1747 when Thomas Sligh appears as one
of the owners of a strip of land between Baltimore Town
and  Jones   Town."  A   German  Lutheran  church  was
erected in 1758, and a German Presbyterian church in
1760. Other settlers, both German and English, continued
to  arrive from Lancaster,  Carlisle,  Philadelphia,  and
other places in Pennsylvania.52 It is interesting to specu-
late why these people left their Pennsylvania homes to
settle in Baltimore. The possibility suggests itself that
some of them may have been shifting the base of their
mercantile operations in order to maintain back-country
customers that had been created before the frontier trade
found its proper outlet by way of the Patapsco. It would
account in part for the rapid growth of Baltimore if in
this way ready-made businesses were transferred there
rather than entirely new businesses being created. Sup-
port for this theory is derived from the numerous ad-
vertisements of artisans and tradesmen who claim to
have moved their businesses from Philadelphia and Lan-
caster to Baltimore.68 Another suggestive instance is the
moving by the Ellicott brothers of an entire grist mill
from Bucks County to the Patapsco. At any rate, the
coming of these Pennsylvanians leaves no doubt of the
overshadowing influence of the frontier on the new city.
Contrasting with the patronage of the frontier is the

so An early settlement at Bohemia is an exception.

11 Records of Baltimore Town, p. 22.

oa Griffith, Annnt.t, pp. 29, 34, 37, 38; Records of Baltimore Town, passim.

»3 a/ti. Jour., Aug. 20, 28, Nov. 13, 1773; Md. Gaz., Apr. 9, 1767; etc.

THE K1SE OF BALTIMORE

243

utter lack of support from the tide-water. It is difficult
to prove a negative condition, but there is every reason
to believe that for many years after its foundation Balti-
more Town received no more bay trade than did Annapo-
lis, Oxford, or Chestertown. The statements of Eddis and
Governor Sharpe, while emphasizing the frontier traffic,
make no mention of any trade from the older parts of the
province. The correspondence of Dr. Charles Carroll and
his son is very voluminous, and extends from 1716 to
1760. Their estate included iron works and a plantation
on the Patapsco and a house in Baltimore Town. Yet the
name Baltimore Town appears in these letters only three
or four times. Almost all needs are met by direct impor-
tation.  From London came  even the  sailcloth,  twine,
cables, and anchors for a new ship being built almost
within sight of Baltimore.54 In all this lively picture of
the  business   of  a  tide-water  iron  manufacturer  and
planter there is not a single purchase or sale directly
stated to have been made in Baltimore." Nor does the
correspondence of Charles Carroll of Carrollton show a
greatly different situation. Baltimore is mentioned fre-
quently, but the purchases made there were trivial. Grain
was offered for sale there, but tobacco was not; and goods
usually came from abroad.58

Three account books of tide-water business firms about
1760 to 1770 confirm the indications of the Carroll cor-
respondences. In all of these the trading area is in close
proximity to Baltimore and in some cases it extends into
the immediate neighborhood. But scarcely any transac-
tions with the town appear." One Annapolis ledger of

"MS. Letter Book, 17f)2, pp. 120, 135, 140.

85 The sale of a house in the town is a pointless exception.

6« Md. Hist. Mag., XII, 285, 360; XIII, 57 ff., 265, 267; XIV, 127, 142,
149, 153, 275, 276, 36J ; XV, 201.

"These books, all in the Maryland Historical Society, are: the journal
of Isaac Webster & Co., of Bush River, 1759-1761; the ledger of Harris and