ARCHIVIST OF THE HALL OF RECORDS 27

Papers relating to the War of 1812 are also found in the Kidd Family
Papers presented by Miss Ada Miller. In 1813, George Kidd published a state-
ment denying the charge by Nicholas Milborn that Kidd had said he "would
rather pay a Tax to support the British Navy, than to pay a Tax to support
the United States Navy or Government." The politics of the period are re-
flected in a printed letter, dated June 18, 1812, by E. K. Wilson and other
Federalist members of the State Legislature to Colonel Creswell, requesting his
cooperation in the coming election. In a lighter vein there is a pledge made
in 1816 by Adam Anderson to abstain from drinking any kind of spirituous
liquor.

The additional items placed in the Waters-White Collection by Mr. Wil-
liam Z. White during the year include an issue of the Maryland Gazette dated
September 27, 1787, which contains one of the earliest printings of the Federal
Constitution. There is also a certificate by Thomas MacGill proving that
Richard Waters took the Oath of Allegiance on February 28, 1778.

Through the courtesy of the Very Reverend William F. Maloney, S. J.,
Maryland Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus, and the Reverend James
J. Hennesey, S. J., Archivist of Woodstock College, we were permitted to
microfilm the College's collection of deeds, plats and other documents relating
to church properties and adjoining tracts in St. Mary's County. The loss of the
early land records of the County in the courthouse fire of 1831 makes these
materials, which date back to the first settlements in the Province, very useful
to persons tracing land titles in the County. Photostatic copies of the vital
records in the Bean and Dixon family Bibles were added to our collection of
such materials through the kindness of Miss Mary Elizabeth Bean and Mrs.
Charles West Cullen respectively.