offered by William Perm, Maryland would have gained land now
occupied by Chambersburg, Gettysburg, Hanover and York, as well as
the part of Delaware south of Cape Henlopen at Lewes.

The story goes back to original grants by the British government
which allotted to the Virginia Company the land south of the Potomac
and to New England settlers the northern portion of the Seaboard.
Lord Baltimore, in 1632, was given the land between—from the south
side of the Potomac northward to—and here I quote the original
language "that part of the Bay of Delaware on the north side which
lieth under the fortieth degree of latitude. " We know now that this
"fortieth degree" stretches across Pennsylvania 20 miles north of the
present Maryland boundary, but in those days not even Lord Baltimore
knew the correct location of his northern boundary. The map apparently
relied on by all parties was the one prepared by Captain John Smith.
It showed the fortieth parallel as running through the present site of
Wilmington.

Lord Baltimore, indeed, exhibited little interest in his northern limits.
Since he had settled in Southern Maryland, and since practically all
commerce at that time was carried on by water, it is quite natural that
his principal concern was in developing the territory along the Potomac,
the Patuxent and on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay. The Eastern
Shore was quickly settled. The records show that Kent County was
formally established in 1642, Talbot in 1662 and Somerset in 1666. As
for the present site of Baltimore, the first proprietor is said to have
referred to it as a wilderness, a marshland with a bad climate, and as
"inhabited by unfriendly Indians. "

Lord Baltimore displayed little interest in the Delaware River area
until he discovered that other people were settling there. The Dutch had
explored Delaware Bay as early as 1616. The Swedes also made extensive
settlements in present-day Delaware. By 1665, the Swedes had been
driven out of America by the Dutch, who claimed all of North America
between the 38th and 40th parallels, roughly from Philadelphia to near
Richmond and including all of Lord Baltimore's grant. It was about this
time that the English, under the Duke of York, who later became King
James II, captured New Amsterdam and drove the Dutch out of America.

It is significant that during this period two new surveys and maps
were made which proved conclusively that Maryland's northern bound-
ary at the fortieth parallel was through the present site of Philadelphia,
and not near New Castle. One of these surveys was made in 1669 by
Jerome White. The second was made quite independently by Augustine

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