Volume 174, Page 732 View pdf image (33K) |
732 MARYLAND MANUAL 1762-1763 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 the Council, governed the Province. Lee also gov- erned the Province briefly in 1776 during the in- terval between the departure of Eden and the assumption 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 authority 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- tinuous 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 1861. 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.
Councils of Safety August 29, 1776-October 21, 1776 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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Volume 174, Page 732 View pdf image (33K) |
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