The previous article dealt with information gleaned from laws passed by the General Assembly. This one concerns the actions of the Baltimore County Court as reflected in administrative proceedings recorded in (Minutes) in series C386. 

As before 1765, the county justices continued to handle petitions for private roads, route alterations, and new public roads and to appoint overseers and designate the roads assigned to them. Much of the road development activity took place outside the court system through legislation, especially after 1787 with the establishment of turnpikes, that appointed commissioners to handle planning and construction. 

Most petitions for private roads, i.e. easements to public roads, were granted routinely. In September 1788, John Deale asked for a private road through the land of Richard Richards to intersect the road going through the plantation of Jonathan Hudson and that led to the public road from Baltimore to Hanover Town. The record included the surveyor's description of the road, but not a plat. 

In August 1791, Charles Ridgely petitioned for a private road between his forge and his mills and furnace. He had been traveling through the lands of Vincent Trapnell, William Worthington, Henry Howard, and Joseph Sutton to Old Court House Road. The landowners closed the road, alleging that it is was an unauthorized facility. The court granted the petition and ordered the surveyor to lay out the road through the lands of same landowners.

Most petitions for new or altered roads resulted in court orders to individuals to view the route, make recommendations to the court or return a certificate and plat, and ascertain damages to landowners. The recorded information seldom contained the reports and usually included the descriptions of the route, but not the plats. 

In November 1772, William Lyon and William Buchanan wanted to change the route of the public road leading through their land, a tract called North Carolina. The justices ordered the applicants to clear the road at their expense and to leave the old one open until completion of the work. At the same court term inhabitants
of Deer Creek petitioned for a road from the "Great Road" between Ashmeads to Ashmores Mill to go through the lands of William Morgan and Ignatius Wheeler, Jr. to intersect the road from the Chapple to Deer Creek by Samuel Webb's tan yard. Inhabitants of Fells Point requested a road from Rutters Hill south to Fells Point to intersect any convenient street.
 

An application in August 1777 from inhabitants in the fork of the Gunpowder River to open a road from great falls of the river to the provincial line contained
details about the proposed route: to begin at the public road at Traceys level, where the old road turned off, then along the west side of Robert Cummings' enclosure to Tego Tracey's old field, then along the east side of Tracey's enclosure along a ridge to Bennett Hurst's plantation, then through his land across the great falls near where a bridle road went over the Barrens to Daniel McComas' plantation where William Jones lived, and then through the plantations of John
Shields and Thomas Cole to intersect the road from Western Run to Absalom Barney's. 

In March 1792, Joshua Simmons wanted to straighten the portion of a road that went through his land. The road began at Benjamin Rogers' plantation in the Barrens. Simmons claimed that the road prevented water from reaching his fields and cut off a valuable corner of his land. He suggested a route from the end of Thomas Cole's land to the upper side of a small field behind the school house on Simmons' land, then to Abraham Cole's land and along his boundary line to the existing road. The court appointed commissioners to lay off the route. 

By 1768, the county justices were appointing thirty-three overseers to maintain the public roads. The court assigned specific areas to each overseer, and between 1772 and 1786 listed the annual allocation for each area. In 1772, fifty-one overseers were appointed, and in 1776, after the formation of Harford County, thirty-eight. By 1791, the number had risen to fifty-five. Descriptions of areas given individual overseers included the following: 
 

•      from Philpots Bridge to Fells Point 
•      from Josias Slade's to Benjamin Rogers'    mill and from there to Ezekiel Towson's 
•     from Winters Run by Morris Baker's to      Onions Iron Works 
•     from Baltimore Town to the Garrison           Church 
•     from Armstrong's to Monktons Mill,            from Daniel Shaw's to the main road to             the Chapel, from the road above Bacon            Smith's shop to Coxes Ford on the             Great Falls of the Gunpowder to the             main road from Wheelers Mill to            Charles Gorsuch's 
•      from Ely Dorsey's plantation to the             Frederick County line 

•      all public streets east of Jones Falls 
•     road from the Lower Bridge by John           Deaver's brick kiln to Herring Run 
•    road from the Upper Bridge to the road        by Benjamin Rogers meadow 
•    road from Fells Point to Philpotts            Bridge to Baltimore Town West          Hundred 
•    all streets in Baltimore Town West            Hundred 
•    all streets in Westminster 
•    road from Baltimore Town to Ferry            Point 
•    road from Baltimore Town to Carrolls            Bridge and Welch's forge     road from Rutters Hill to Fells Point 

there to cross the road near a field of George Thornton, then through his land and that of Charles Wells that has been commonly used for five years to James Bosley's land, then through a valley of Bosley's land and near his fence to the house of Mr. Tredway, from there
with the road now commonly used to Thomas Lucas' mill, then with the mill road and from the mill to the land of Capt. Charles Ridgely, then with his fence to the dwelling house of Henry Hendon, then with the old road to the Great Falls, then with a road that intersects the road below Peter Miles' at White Oak Swamp. 

Any research about roads in Baltimore County should involve both the minutes of the court and laws enacted by the General Assembly because each dealt with different routes. The court tended to handle private easements and shorter roadways, and the legislature the larger and more complex networks. 
 

Record Storage in the Baltimore County Courthouse 
by Pat Melville 

In 1768, the county seat of Baltimore County was moved from Joppa to Baltimore City. Problems were encountered during the move into the new courthouse, as evidenced by an entry in the (Minutes) in series C386 for August 1768. The clerk informed the justices that the courthouse was not secure because the lower door needed a lock and windows lacked shutters and glass. In addition, Gerald Hopkins, a cabinetmaker, had constructed only one of the five authorized cases for the
storage of books and papers.  As a result many records remained in the trunks used to move the materials from the courthouse in Joppa. 

The court designated two justices to contract for window shutters, bars, and glazing, for a good lock, and for storage cases. For fire prevention  the court ordered the closing of the chimney fire places. 

The Archives' new on demand prints service that was rolled out at the Holiday History Happening on December 2 has caught on with map and print lovers around the state. Orders are coming in regularly and more than 25 maps have been sold so far. People especially like the historical maps showing individual landowners, and many have requested maps that show their properties. 

A big boost for the service came in the December 28 article in The Capital which featured the on demand prints service on the front page of the Lifestyle section,
including photos of Greg Lepore and Sasha Lourie at their printing station and Ed Papenfuse and Mimi Calver admiring their work. 

The maps on offer are drawn from the newly published Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical Maps of Maryland, 1608-1908 by Edward C. Papenfuse and Joseph M. Coale III. The Atlas contains more than 250 historical maps, including many county wall maps that have never before been published. The reproductions are printed at the Archives from high-resolution scans of the original maps on a new Epson 9600 Ultrachrome printer that uses archival inks. The prints can be as large as 44" wide and can be ordered on several different kinds of paper, posterboard and canvas. 

The other part of the service, also proving to be very popular, is the high-quality prints of works-on-paper from the Peabody Art Collection. These never before seen images 
are of lovely European landscapes, classical and Biblical themes, and images from the natural world and everyday European life.  They date from the 16th through the 19th centuries and make beautiful and unusual gifts. 
 

One loyal market for the new service has been Archives' employees. Sasha and Mimi held a special sale offering employee discounts and many maps and prints were snapped up for holiday presents, as well as for personal use. 

Both the county maps from the new Atlas and the works on paper from the Peabody Art Collection are featured in exhibits in the Miller Senate Building. The
Peabody cases in the first floor gallery of the building are filled with reproductions of some of the best of the works on paper. The third floor gallery features
mid-19th century maps of each county, as well as a special panel on the 1822 Poppleton map of Baltimore called "The Map That Shaped Baltimore."