The study of election turmoils in the nineteenth century often focuses on events in Baltimore City. This logic is not unreasonable since irregularities and conflicts were common at the municipal polling places. Rural areas were not immune from such events, as evidenced by problems in southern Anne Arundel County on November 7, 1876. At the polls in the Eighth Election District, an area south of a line from West River to Mt. Zion to north of Waysons Corner, a confrontation developed between white
and black voters. Accounts of the melee appeared in the Maryland Republican and State Capital Advertiser [SC2945] November 11, 1876, and Baltimore Sun [State Law Library] November 9, 1876. The facts in the three articles were not always in agreement, and one in particular classified the "difficulty" as an attempt by the blacks "to take possession of the polls..." 

At mid-day on the 7th the polling place was crowded with a large number of men, somewhere between fifty and sixty, waiting to vote. Mr. Wood, a white man, felt a black man had pushed him, and harsh words were exchanged. Other individuals joined the verbal altercation which escalated when a white man struck a black man or when James Allen, a black man, knocked down O.M. Wells, a deputy sheriff. "Matters might possibly have quieted down at this point, had not the black man who had been struck continued his angry curses and threats of revenge, inviting attack and calling upon his race to rally to his support. Or had all of the white voters present exercised the forbearance to allow him to have expended his anger in denunciations. 

Benjamin Leitch, another deputy sheriff and an employee of Capt. Crandall at Traceys Landing, tried to take a pistol from James Allen and during the struggle was shot and killed instantly. Allen and the other black voters fled immediately, pursued by most of the white men, also armed. Several blacks, including Washington Brown who worked for Dr. J.R. Owens of Bristol, were wounded, but not seriously. Justice moved quickly with the formation of a coroners jury to take statements from witnesses and identify the perpetrator. Allen was arrested that afternoon at the farm of his employer, Addison Owens, by deputy sheriff Wells. The sheriff, George W. Nutwell, took custody of the prisoner and was forced to hide in the woods and swamps until after midnight in order to keep a group of men from lynching Allen. 

Allen remained at the county jail in Annapolis until his indictment on April 25, 1877, and the trial on May 15. He pled not guilty to the murder charge and elected to be tried by the court instead of a jury. The docket entry listed forty-nine witnesses for the state, but none for the defense. Their statements did not become part of the case file, and thus the testimony remains unknown. The judge found Allen guilty of second degree murder and, after considering exceptions to the testimony in July, handed down a sentence of twelve years in the Maryland Penitentiary. [Anne Arundel County Court (Docket) C65-51 and (Court Papers) T391-7] 

Also on trial at the same time was a James Neale, a black man charged with inciting a riot at the 8th election district polls and with resisting an officer in the discharge of his duty. The first charge was dismissed and the second one placed on the stet docket. 

The penitentiary received Allen on July 26, 1877, and assigned him the prisoner number of 9221. The (Prisoners Record) [S275-3] provides personal information about Allen,  including his birth in Calvert County, age of 28, height of 5' 5", residence in Anne Arundel County, and occupation of farm hand. While in prison, he was employed by Howard & Evans and died there of meningitis on February 12, 1881. 

In part, racial tension led to the fracas and murder at the polling place in southern Anne Arundel County, an area with a considerable number of Confederate sympathizers during the Civil War. Many white men would still be resentful of voting alongside former slaves a decade later. 

MSA SC 5164:  Hammond-Harwood House Collection, 1824. Ribbon badge worn by Jeremiah Townley Chase (mayor of Annapolis) during the visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to Annapolis in December 1824. Restricted. 

MSA SC 5167:  Slacum Collection, ca. 1860-ca. 1895. Ledgers, appear to pertain to Kirks Mills, Lancaster County, PA. 

MSA SC 5168:  Horvath Collection, 1987.  Map, Original Land Grants of Howard County. Made by the Rouse Company, copied for the Shipleys of Maryland by George J. Horvath, 1987. 

MSA SC 5169:  Legislative Services Collection, 1958. Potomac River Compact of 1958. Framed and matted, printed copy with hand signatures. 

MSA SC 5171:  Mountain Club of Maryland Collection, 1934-1999. Archives of the Mountain Club of Maryland. Restricted. 

MSA SC 5173:  New Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church Collection, 1911. Souvenir Program of the Dedication Services of the New Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church Druid Hill Avenue and Lanvale Street. 

MSA SC 5175:  "People for Parks" Collection, 1985-1990. Production film and videotapes for the Maryland Recreation & Parks Association's educational film People for Parks. Gerard Isenburt was the cinematographer for the three year project. Includes scenes in federal, state, and county parks throughout the state of Maryland. Restricted. 

MSA SC 5176:  Barrett Collection, var. d. Newspaper clippings, blue print of a family tree, photostat of a family tree, certificate from the Daughters of the American Revolution, and membership card for the D.A.R.

MSA SC 5177:  Gibb Collection, 1761. Plat, land of Nathaniel Coulter, 1761 by George Churchman. 

MSA SC 5179:  Clark Collection, var. d. Family tree. 

MSA SC 5181:  St. Andrew's Society of Baltimore, 1806-1915. Minute books, St. Andrew's Society of Baltimore. On film, M 2483. Restricted. 

MSA SC 5183:  Velanovsky Collection, 1953-1955. Photographs taken by the Velanovsky sisters. Restricted. 

MSA SC 5184:  Woodhams Collection, 1772-1809. Photocopies of transcripts of sixteen letters written by Henrietta Hill Ogle [1751-1815], First Lady of Maryland 1798-1801. Letters were written to an unnamed uncle and relate to family health, visits, and some politics, including the visit of French General Turreau in November 1804. Restricted. 

MSA SC 5186:  Ridout-Atlee Collection, var.d. Ridout-Atlee family Bible. Restricted. 

MSA SC 5187:  Sudlersville Circuit Collection, 1868-1953. Sudlersville Circuit, QA. Queen Anne's Circuit Methodist Episcopal South: registers 1868-1907, 1953. Queen Anne Circuit Methodist Episcopal Church South: register 1907-1926; quarterly conference minutes 1879-1899; conference record 1902-1903. Ingleside Charge Methodist Episcopal Church South: register 1926-1958; quarterly minutes 1907-1910, 1919-1927, 1953. Ingleside and Goldsborough Charge Methodist Episcopal Church South: quarterly conference minutes 1903-1907. St. Paul's United Methodist Church: program, 100th anniversary 1868-1968; photograph, church and parsonage, c. 1918. Microfilm. 

MSA SC 5188:  Pride of Baltimore Collection, 1999. Photograph of the Pride of Baltimore under full sail. Restricted. 

MSA SC 5189:  Mount Washington United Methodist Church Collection, 1869-1998. Mount Washington United Methodist Church, Baltimore: memorial gifts 1978-1998; register 1954-1998; membership list. Mount Washington Methodist Episcopal Church, Baltimore: registers 1869-1899, 1888-1913, 1869-1920. Microfilm. 

MSA SC 5190:  Frederick County Historical Society Collection, var. d. Miscellaneous glass plate negatives, Frederick County. Restricted. 

MSA SC 5194:  I. Henry Phillips Collection, n.d. Images, African Americans, Baltimore City Restricted. 

The Archivist's Bulldog, Vol. 12 No. 16, contained an article on Michael Piper, a schoolmaster in Annapolis. Recently the author received an e-mail from a reader in Louisiana, containing additional information on Piper and his family. According to Ten Generations in America, published in 1933 by W. Edwin Auld Remley, Michael married Rosanna Button in Ireland. They came to the colonies about 1717, and according to the Lambeth Palace Library Papers, he was in Philadelphia on October 23, 1718. Mr. Remley reported that he came from Ireland in the 1700's and was a member of the Church of England. 

Several questions remain unanswered. What happened to Michael after 1726?  What other places may he have lived?  When did he die?  Where is he buried?  Who raised Rosanna after her mother died in 1724? Anyone having additional information on Michael and his family is asked to contact Bob at
bobb@mdarchives.state.md.us.