Introduction. xxxiii

faction were George Plater, Henry Greenfield Sothoron, and Edmund Key
of St. Mary's; Dr. George Steuart and Henry Woodward of Annapolis;
Levin Gale, Samuel Wilson and Henry Waggaman of Somerset; and John
Handy and Benton Harris of Worcester. Sometimes voting with this Pro-
prietary group although more frequently with the popular party, were Ben-
jamin Mackall of Calvert; John Goldsborough, Pollard Edmondson, and Ed-
ward Oldham of Talbot; John Bracco of Queen Anne's; Thomas Gantt and
Francis King of Prince George's; Joseph Chapline and Thomas Beatty of
Frederick; and Cockey Deye of Baltimore County.

DISPUTED ELECTIONS

A number of disputed election cases came before the Lower House of the
newly elected Assembly which met September-December 1758. These seem to
be of sufficient interest as illustrating the method of conducting elections in
Maryland during this period, to be commented upon in some detail. Although
there was a Committee on Elections and Privileges, consisting of John
Goldsborough, Nicholas Hyland, Matthew Tilghman, Alexander Williamson,
Charles Carroll the Barrister, and John Mackall, contested election cases appear
to have been heard and determined at the bar of the house. Lists of "con-
troverted " voters were ordered exchanged between the contestants and then
submitted to the house. Elections in the city of Annapolis, Kent, St. Mary's,
Frederick, and Baltimore counties were disputed or " controverted."

The city of Annapolis, a stronghold of the Proprietary Party, was entitled
to two members in the Lower House, in addition to the foui members from
Anne Arundel County as from other counties. Walter Dulany and Dr. George
Steuart were returned as elected. Dulany's seat was not questioned, but the
seat of Steuart, a close friend of the Calvert family and the holder of many
public offices, was contested, for reasons not disclosed, by Henry Woodward,
whose leanings were also towards the Proprietary Party. The House ordered
a hearing before its bar on October I, and directed that the controverted votes
be mutually exchanged between the two contestants, these to be confined to
votes which had been objected to at the time of the poll. The House voted
unanimously to seat Woodward. It refused by a vote of 27 to 15 to bring
before it the entire corporation of the city of Annapolis to rectify the returns,
but the Sergeant-at-arms was ordered to summons before the bar John Bullen,
late mayor of Annapolis, who was then directed to erase the name of Steuart
on the returns and to insert the name of Woodward, who should have been
returned as elected (pp. 202, 210-211). At the March-May session the costs
of the contest due to the officers of the Lower House were charged against the
corporation of Annapolis and George Steuart, who was unseated (p. 635).
These costs had been previously fixed at £2: 7:0 (p. 312).

The Kent County election came before the House as the result of a petition,
presented to the Lower House on September 30, and signed by four promi-
nent residents " complaining of an undue Election [of representatives] in Kent
County." The House ordered a hearing at its bar on October 7, when the
sheriff was ordered to attend with the original poll of the election. At the