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24 MARYLAND MANUAL Nations—Senecas and Iroquois. Later history records raids by other tribes of Indians, accompanied by violence and massacres, generally in western Maryland. The "Ark" and the "Dove" The Maryland colony was planned by the first Lord Baltimore—George Calvert, a Yorkshireman whose devo- tion to James I had first made him Secretary of State, later Baron of Baltimore (1625), and finally gained him a grant of land for a colony in Newfoundland. This cold territory Calvert called "Avalon" or "Ferryland"; but the bitter climate and raiding French made the territory untenable. In 1627 Lord Baltimore attempted to live in Avalon with his family; then he left for the warmer climate of Virginia. His intention was "to plant himself to the southward," and when he returned to England, he persuaded Charles I, James' successor, to give him a charter of his own composi- tion. On presentation to the King, blanks were left for the name of the colony and the date. It is said that Charles filled in the name Terra Mariae to honor his queen, Henrietta Maria. Before June 20, 1632, when the charter was dated, George, the first Lord Baltimore, died and was succeeded by his son, Cecil. The second Lord Baltimore organized the expedition to Maryland in two vessels, the Ark of 360 tons, and the Dove of 60 tons. Assisting him was the Jesuit priest, Father Andrew White, for Cecil, as his father had been since 1624, was a Roman Catholic. Father White, with two members of the Calvert family (not including the Proprietor), sailed from Cowes on the Isle of Wight on November 22, 1633. How many took passage and how many were Catholics we do not know. We do know that one hundred and twenty-eight took the oath of supremacy which Catholics normally refused to accept. However, the Ark alone was twice the size of the Mayflower, which had carried over one hundred passengers. January 1634 saw the two vessels at the Barbados where they delayed for twenty days. On February 24th Leonard Calvert, as lieutenant-general, put in at Point Comfort, Virginia. The first stop within the limits placed by the charter—"from Watkin's Point unto that part . . . which lieth under the fortieth degree of north latitude"—was at St. Clement's Island. The celebration of Mass here on An- nunciation Day has fixed for tradition March 25th as the date of arrival of Maryland's first settlers. Not long after- wards the Yoacomaco Indians, who held the surrounding territory, sold their possessions to the newcomers, and the |
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Maryland Manual, 1965-66
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