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A POINT OF LAND ON KENT ISLAND
by Chris Haley
Bloody Point Bar Lighthouse marks an area of land located
at the southern tip of Kent Island, that has long been
known as Bloody Point. Several researchers are trying to
determine the derivation and meaning of the name. The
lighthouse itself, built in 1882 on a round cylindrical
concrete filled base, or caisson, and topped with a 37
foot iron tower, is also referred to as the coffee pot
because of its appearance. The structure was gutted by
fire in 1960 and today functions through the benefit of
solar energy. The Archives library holds several books of
note on Maryland lighthouses: Pat Vojtech,
Lighting the Bay: Tales of Chesapeake Lighthouses
(Centreville, MD: Tidewater Publications, 1996); Ross
Holland,
Maryland Lighthouses of the Chesapeake Bay (Crownsville, MD: Maryland Historical Trust, 1997); and
Robert De Gast,
Lighthouses of the Chesapeake (1973). None of the
volumes, however, explore the reasons behind the site's
name.
In the early days of colonization there were various
disputes and maneuvers regarding land ownership. In his
book Pirates on the Chesapeake (Centreville,
MD: Tidewater Publishers, 1985), Donald G. Shomette
details how King Charles I, wittingly or unwittingly, set
many loyal subjects at odds with one another by granting
certain powers and patents which the new neighbors often
strove to expand. William Clairborne was an early colonist
with such ambitions. Between 1627 and 1628, Clairborne, by
then Secretary of State of the colony of Virginia, set his
sights on opening for trade the uncharted island of forest
green which he named Kent Island after his homeland in
England. On May 16, 1631, the entrepreneur was granted a
royal license by William Alexander, Secretary of State for
Scotland, that gave him permission to conduct and explore
avenues of trade and do so freely with whomever "in all
sea-coasts, rivers, creeks, harbors, land
and
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territories in or neare
those parts of America for which there is not already a
patent granted to others for trade."
In short order, the ambitious Englishman established
dwellings and farms, mapped out the landscape, and
developed a relationship with the native Indians from
whom he acquired the land. Also, according to Shomette's
work, "Within a year, the island was being represented
in the Virginia Assembly." In June 1632, however, the
efforts of the recently deceased First Lord Baltimore,
George Calvert, found fruit when the charter to the
colony of Maryland was granted to his son, Cecilius. The
borders assigned to the Second Lord Baltimore's patent
clearly overlapped a portion which had been earlier
granted to the Virginia Company in 1609. Central to this
section lay Kent Island. King Charles I made no final
determination regarding the dispute and thus left "Lord
Baltimore to his patent and the other parties to the
course of law according to their desire."
Years of squabbling, accusations, and muddled
declarations continued between the two colonies until
April 23, 1635, when blood was shed between Kent
Islanders dispatched by Clairborne aboard the Virginian
sloop Cockatrice and a Maryland contingent from St.
Mary's City aboard the pinnaces Margaret and
St. Helen. Attempting to overtake each
other's vessels in disputed Chesapeake waters, the
Cockatrice fell into hands of the Maryland crew,
but three of the Kent Island forces were killed. This
marked the first blood spilled in waters off the new
settlement. Was Bloody Point coined by settlers to
memorialize this event?
Early in the colonization of Kent Island there is rumored
to have been a massacre of Indians by the newly settled
Europeans. The story goes that a group of Indians were
invited to an interview with the colonists who, while the
guests "were performing their humble salutations,
slaughtered them without warning." In
History of Maryland
(continued on Page 3)
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