County in heighth & breadth & Every Way proportionable according to the pitch &
size of the sd. house & to planke it With sawn planke under foote & over head, & to seile
the Lower rooms as the rest of the house is, & to erect a seat of Judicature With
turned woode as at the Provintiall Court, & to Make a table Eight foote in Length & six
foote in breadth, & to make a Convenient place for the placeing of his Lorsps. arms.
And further the sd. Michaell Ashford doth promise & engage upon his Creditt, to doe it
desently & Comendable & to finish the sd. worke by March Court next Coming. In
Consideration whereof the sd. Comission^ers doth hereby engage & promise to pay unto
the sd. Michaell Ashford for the doeing & finishing the sd. worke the sume of ten
thousand pounds of tobaccoe to be Levyed in the County Levy this yeare, & the sd. ten
thousand pounds of tobaccoe lye in the hands of Coll". Wm. Chandler sherife, untill
such as that the Comission^ers doe order him to pay it unto the sd. Michaell Ashford.¹⁴

In 1697, it was reported that "the Court house of this County is old & wants Repairing." ^1S
Extensive repairs and additions were authorized in 1699 and this time the contract was
awarded to Hugh Teares:

Proposalls how the Court House of Charles County is to be Repaired as ffolloweth

The Court House is to be new Posted and new Groundselld & all the Lower ffloore

to be made new; w^th new Sleepers & to be Laid with new Planck & to be new Weather

Boarded all Round ffrom Bottom to the Topp & to be new Covered & the Chimney to be

Taken away & made up according to the Worke of the House &c:

The Chamber over the Seate of Judicature to [be] Cieled with Clapp board &
ffitted ffor A Lodging Chamber &c:

The Old paire of Staires to be Taken down & a new paire of halfe pac'd Large
Staires to be Erected where the Justices shall think most Convenient under the said
Roofe & all Window fframes & shutters to be new made & a Window to be Out [cut ?]
at the Gable End where the Chymney now stands & the Porch of the said House to be
ffitted & Repaired according to the house &c:

Also a Twenty ffoot square new Roome to be made on the Back side of the said
Court house opposite to the Porch with an Outside Chimney & Clossett at the End of
the said Roome to be Planck'd below & above & Cieled above & below with Clapp
board with Convenient Windowes & Shutters & the said Roome to be of the same
Dimensions ffor highth w^th the Court house &c. And also to make & Build a Cage of
Twelve ffoot square sufficient & strong to secure Prisoners In And also to make Good
& sufficient the Pillory & Stocks

The New Roome not to be fframed Worke but with Posts In the Ground of Locust
strong and Sufficiently Built

The Justices ffurther Thincks ffitt That the Two Old Houses upon the new Court
House Land (fformerly M^r Hussey's) be ffitted & made up Tight & Strong ffor Stables
to secure the Commissioners Officers & Suitors Horses &c: w^th Convenient Partitions
Racks & Mangers &c:

M^r Hugh Teares proposeth The doing of the said Worke ffor which he De-
mands Twenty Seaven Thousand ffive Hundred pounds of Tobacco to be p^d. at
two Equall payments the One halfe this yeare and the other halfe next yeare
ffollowing and all the said Worke to be ffully ffurnished Compleated & Ended by the
Last Day of Aprill In the yeare One Thousand & Seaven Hundred upon the penalty
& fforfeiture of ffifty ffive Thousand pounds of Tobacco—upon the Non Perform-
ance thereof; The said Hugh Teares is to begin & proceed fforthwith about the
ffitting & repairing the Lower part of the Court House & to ffurnish the same by
the last day of March Next &c:

The said Hugh Teares is to ffinde Provisions Timber Attendance & all other
Materialls, (Nailes & all other Iron Worke only Excepted) which the County is to
ffinde & provide ffor the doing and performing the said Worke &c: ¹⁶

In 1697, Joseph Manning was asked by the court to survey the land on which the public
buildings stood and to prepare a plat for insertion in the records. This plat was submitted
September 16, 1697, and was copied into the land records of the County.¹⁷ The courthouse
shown on this plat is a cross-type clapboard structure with a high pitched roof and a large

14 Charles County Land Records, Liber K No. 1, 19-20, Ms. 15 Court Proceedings, Liber V No. 1, 276, Ms.

16 Court Proceedings, Liber X No. I, t. 192, Ms. 17 Liber V No. 1, 277. 67