646 MARYLAND MANUAL
1752-1753 Benjamin Tasker
Became President of the Council upon the death
of Governor Ogle.
1763-1769 Horatio Sharpe
1769-1776 Robert Eden
Eden was in England from May to November 1774,
during which time Richard Lee, President of tihe
Council, governed the Province. Lee also gov-
erned the Province briefly in 1776 during the inter-
val between the departure of Eden and the as-
sumption of the government by the Convention.
REVOLUTIONARY INTERREGNUM
During the years 1774-76 more and more of the powers of gov-
ernment came to be exercised by popular bodies, though the author-
ity of the Governor was still acknowledged until Eden's departure.
The Conventions were composed of delegates from each county
elected by the freemen of the Province in much the same manner as
was the House of Delegates. It was inconvenient for so large a
group (at one meeting there were 141 delegates) to remain in con-
tiTluous session; therefore, Councils of Safety were elected by the
Conventions to exercise executive power during the intervals between
Convention meetings. With some exceptions, the Councils of Safety
were composed of nine members, five from the Western Shore and
four from the Eastern Shore. The Convention, which met from
August 14, 1776, about six weeks after the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, through November II, 1776, framed the Constitution which
governed Maryland until 1851. The General Assembly established by
the Constitution began meeting on February 6, 1777, but the Council
of Safety continued to function as the executive body of the State until
March 20 of the same year. On March 22, 1777, the Assembly adopted
a resolution "for dissolving the Council of Safety and Vesting the
Governor and Council with their Powers." The Governor and Council
had qualified two days earlier on March 20, and they immediately
began to perform the duties assigned to them.
Conventions of the Province of Maryland
June 22-25,1774 Matthew Tilghman Chairman
Nov. 21-25,1774 Matthew Tilghman - Chairman
Dec. 8-12,1774 - „ „_ John Hall Chairman
April 24^May 3,1775 Matthew Tilghman - Chairman
July 26-Aug. 14,1775 _ Matthew Tilghman Chairman
Dec. 7, 1776-Jam. 18, 1776 - Matthew Tilghman President
May 8-25, 1776 - - Charles Carroll, Barrister President
June 21-July 6, 1776 Matthew Tilghman - - President
Aug. 14-Nov. II, 1776 - - Matthew Tilghman - President
Councils of Safety
August 29, 1775-October 21, 1775 Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer,
President, Thomas Johnson, Jr., William Paca, Charles Carroll, Bar-
rister, Thomas Stone (never acted), Samuel Chase, Robert Alexander,
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Matthew Tilghman, John Beale Bordley
(declined), Robert Goldsborough (never acted), James Hollyday,
Richard Lloyd, Edward Lloyd, Thomas Smyth, Henry Hooper.
January 18, 1776-May 25, 1776 Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer,
President, Charles Carroll, Barrister, John Hall, Benjamin Rumsey,
James Tilghman, Thomas Smyth, Thomas Bedingfield Hands.
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