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Historical List
Constitutional Convention, 1850

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Through the mid-nineteenth century, amendments to the Constitution of 1776 were enacted by the General Assembly and ratified by the voters, but with unforeseen consequences.

"The practice for all these years had been to propose amendments by adding new language to the document, without deleting anything and without specifying where in the Constitution the new matter should be placed. As a result, even persons skilled in legal construction could differ in their interpretation of the contents of the Constitution."[1]

On February 21, 1850, the General Assembly called on the voters to determine the need for a constitutional convention to "frame a new Constitution and Form of Government, except so far as regards the rights and relations existing between master and slave..." (Acts of 1849, ch. 346).

Delegates to the "Reform Convention of 1850" were chosen by the electorate on September 1, 1850. The Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851 convened in Annapolis on November 4, 1850, and adjourned on May 13, 1851. The second state consitution, adopted by the convention, was ratified by the voters on June 14, 1851.
John G. Chapman, President
George G. Brewer, Secretary

Allegany County
James Fitzpatrick 
William M. Hollyday 
John Slicer 
Samuel P. Smith 
William Weber 
Anne Arundel County
Thomas Donaldson 
Thomas B. Dorsey 
James Kent 
Alexander Randall 
John S. Sellman
George Wells
Baltimore City
Robert J. Brent 
Charles J. M. Gwinn
Benjamin C. Presstman 
George W. Sherwood 
David Stewart 
Elias Ware, Jr. 
Baltimore County
Ephraim Bell
James M. Buchanan 
Hartwell J. Chandler 
Benjamin C. Howard 
James L. Ridgely 
Thomas J. Welsh 
Calvert County
John Bond 
Jesse J. Dalrymple 
A. R. Sollers
George W. Weems 
Caroline County
Richard C. Carter 
Edward Hardcastle 
Thomas R. Stewart 
John Thawley 
Carroll County
Elias Brown 
Mordecai G. Cockey 
Andrew G. Ege 
Joseph M. Parke 
Jacob Shower 
Cecil County
Benjamin B. Chambers
Albert Constable 
William McCullough 
Louis McLane
John M. Miller 
Charles County
George Brent 
John G. Chapman
Daniel Jenifer 
William D. Merrick 
Dorchester County
Joseph R. Eccleston 
William T. Goldsborough
Thomas Holliday Hicks
John H. Hodson 
Francis P. Phelps 
Frederick County
Robert Annan 
Daniel S. Biser 
John D. Gaither 
William Cost Johnson 
Edward Shriver
Francis Thomas
Harford County
Samuel M. Magraw 
Ramsey McHenry 
James Nelson 
John Sappington 
William B. Stephenson 
Kent County
Ezekiel Forman Chambers
John Lee 
Joseph T. Mitchell 
James B. Ricaud
Montgomery County
James W. Anderson 
John Brewer 
Allen Bowie Davis 
John M. Kilgour 
Washington Waters 
Prince George's County
Thomas F. Bowie 
John D. Bowling 
John M. S. Maccubbin 
Samuel Sprigg
William H. Tuck
Queen Anne's County
Enoch George
William Grason
William A. Spencer
Henry E. Wright
St. Mary's County
William J. Blakistone 
John F. Dent
James R. Hopewell 
George C. Morgan 
Somerset County
John W. Crisfield 
John J. Dashiell 
James U. Dennis 
John Dennis 
William Williams
Talbot County
Morris O. Colston 
Samuel P. Dickinson 
Edward Lloyd
Cornelius Sherwood 
Washington County
Lewis P. Firey 
Thomas Harbine 
Alexander Neill, Jr. 
John Newcomer 
Michael Newcomer 
George Schley 
Worcester County
Levin L. Dirickson 
James M. Fooks 
Ebenezer Hearn 
Curtis W. Jacobs 
Samuel S. McMaster 
[1] Carl N. Everstine, The General Assembly of Maryland, 1850-1920, 3.

Source: Edward C. Papenfuse, et al., The Archives of Maryland, new series, An Historical List of Public Officials of Maryland, Vol. I. (Annapolis, MD: Maryland State Archives, 1990).


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