Introduction. xli

The General Assembly, which met from September 25 to November 2, 1770,
passed nine local acts. Five of these authorized the construction of new chapels,
or churches, while one dealt with the division of a parish. Somerset Parish, in
the County of the same name, Stepney Parish, situated partly in Somerset and
partly in Worcester Counties, St. Paul's Parish, which was located partly in
Queen Anne's and partly in Talbot Counties, Chester Parish, in Kent County,
and Queen Anne's Parish, in Prince George's County, were the parishes where
the new churches, or chapels, were to be built (pp. 312-313, 317-321, 328-331).
In Appendix IV will be found letters and vestry proceedings regarding the
rector of Chester Parish, in Kent County, while at the end of Appendix VI
there is an extract from the vestry proceedings of Queen Anne's Parish, in
Prince George's County for October 14, 1770, which reads:

The Vestry being Informed that the parish Petition for a new Church is mis-
laid or Lost. Ordred that the Clk. send a Copy of Said petition to this Assembly
now Sitting.

The act regarding the boundaries of a parish provided for the division of St.
John's Parish, in Baltimore County (pp. 333-334).

Of the three other local acts passed by the Assembly meeting from September
25 to November 2, 1770, one related to education, one provided for the con-
struction of a new court house, and the other referred to a nuisance. The act
regarding education provided for the union of the schools in Somerset and
Worcester Counties. One school building to be known as Eden School was
to be erected (pp. 325-326). The new court house was to be built at Cambridge,
in Dorchester County (pp. 326-328). The act relating to a nuisance gave
Thomas Harrison additional time in which to fill in a marsh land near Baltimore
Town (p. 317; Arch. Md. LXI, xxxv, xc-xci).

Although in session but a short time, that is, from November 5 to November
21, 1770, the next Assembly passed six local acts. Three of these related to
church affairs. One provided for the establishment of a chapel of ease in St.
Peter's Parish, in Talbot County (p. 443), another, a supplementary act,
related to the building of a chapel in St. Luke's Parish, in Queen Anne's
County (pp. 437-438). The original act to which this act was supplementary
was passed at the November-December session of the General Assembly in
1769 (pp. 128-129). The third act provided for the division of All Saints
Parish, in Frederick County, and for the erection of two new parishes by the
names of Eden and Frederick. The division into three parts, or districts, was
to go into effect upon the death, or removal, of Bennet Allen, the present
Rector of All Saints Parish (pp. 450-451). Allen had previously protested
such a division (pp. 284, 287, 297). During the years 1768-1771 this minister
appeared frequently in the local newspaper (Maryland Gazette, Sept. 1, 22, 29,
Oct. 6, 13, Nov. 10, 17, Dec. 1, 8, 1768; Oct. 4, Nov. 22, 1770; Jan. 3, 1771;
see also Bennet Allen, Fighting Parson, by Josephine Fisher, Md. Hist. Mag.
Vol. XXXVIII, 299-322; ibid. Vol. XXXIX, 49-72).

Of the three other local acts passed at that session one provided for adjourn-
ment and continuance of the Baltimore County Court (p. 433), while the other
two acts related to Frederick County. One of the latter laid down rules and