The Archivist's Bulldog

Vol. 11 No. 1, Newsletter of the Maryland State Archives, January 13, 1997


STAFF NEWS

Chris Haley has been appointed Archivist III, Director of Imaging Services (formerly the Photo Lab), and Ben Szoko has been appointed Computer Network Specialist I, working with Betsy in Computer Network Services.

A former archival intern from the summer of 1988, Josh Civin, who went on to study history at Yale, has won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. Josh has also won the Maryland Historical Society's Education Committee Undergraduate Essay Contest as well as its Eisenberg Essay Prize for his article: "The Cost of Joining: The Maryland Abolition Society, Its Successors, and the Meaning of Voluntary Association."

PRESS RELEASE: Maryland Electronic Capital On-Line at the Maryland State Archives

January 9 -- Maryland Electronic Capital (MEC) is still on-line and has moved to a new home at the Maryland State Archives. MEC can be accessed through home computers or at local libraries and other sites with internet access at: www.mec.state.md.us/mec/ or through the Archives' homepage at www.mdarchives.state.md.us

The Maryland Electronic Capital web site is now maintained by the Archives and MEC computers, available for internet access, are now located in the Archives' public search room. The public can visit the Maryland State Archives' search room to use the MEC computers during the times when the Archives is open to the public. According to Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse, Archivist of Maryland: "We want the public to know that all of the services of Maryland Electronic Capital are still available on-line and that no substantive changes will be made to the site until after the design competition. Although the Guest Book has been suspended, the public is welcome to send in comments by e-mail. We welcome visitors to the MEC web site as well as to the Archives to use the MEC computers."

A contest to redesign the MEC homepage is currently underway and the deadline for entries is January 24. The contest offers a first prize of $5,000 and is open to students enrolled in educational institutions in Maryland. Details are available through the MEC homepage.

Maryland Electronic Capital was set up in December 1995 to provide the public with a single internet site for access to state, county, city and community information. MEC is also a location where the public can go to use computers to access the internet. It was established by the Office of Budget and Management under the direction of Major F. Riddick, Jr., Chief of Staff to Governor Parris N. Glendening and was moved to the Archives on January 7 1997.

The move of Maryland Electronic Capital to the Archives consolidates much of the electronic information available to the public about Maryland state government in one place. The Archives' web site, which includes Government Information Services and the Maryland Manual On-Line, is the most comprehensive source of up-to-date information about Maryland state and local government. MEC is the central source for information from state, county and municipal government services for the public. There are also links to businesses in Maryland, community organizations and libraries.

GRAND JURIES IN THE 19TH CENTURY
by Pat Melville

After a long series of articles on the activities and reports of the Anne Arundel County grand juries in the 20th century, it seems logical to make a comparison with the 19th century. Records for Anne Arundel County for that time period are not extant. Prince George's is one county for which there is a significant quantity of material. The (Grand Jury Reports) 1803-1886 [MSA C1218 and C1219] include papers filed with the juries and reports and other documents generated by them.

Official grand jury reports in the Prince George's County records date from 1859. The first one dealt with unhealthy jail conditions and leaks in the courthouse, complaints similar to those in Anne Arundel County a century later. Earlier in 1828 the grand jury had outlined deplorable conditions in the county goal by means of a letter to the judges of the court. In 1860 the jail was described as "wretched," especially regarding security. "As it stands at present, the jail is no security whatever for the safe keeping of any prisoner, and all the principal offenders for the last two or three years have invariably escaped."

The earlier grand jury papers, 1804-1833, contain detailed information about individuals and the criminal charges against them. The records name those indicted and describe the offenses which include several not often encountered in the twentieth century, such as dueling, breaking the sabbath, stealing slaves, operating illegal billiard tables, operating a ferry without a license, forging a pass for a slave, allowing negroes to game and drink, neglect of duty as a road supervisor, and leasing a boat to a slave. In 1812 a schoolmaster was indicted for beating a pupil. In 1808 several men were charged with assaulting constables and magistrates on March 12, 1807 or refusing to aid the sheriff on the same day. [Further details about what happened that day could not be found.]

Lists of licenses comprise the largest quantity of material in the Prince George's County grand jury papers. The county clerk prepared these lists which showed the types of licenses and names of the licensees. The grand juries used these lists when considering violations of the license laws and subsequent recommendations to withdraw or not renew a license. In fact, most presentments, at least through 1833, concerned sales of liquor without a license or illegal liquor sales by those with a license. Periodically citizens would file a petition in favor of or against someone getting a liquor license. The 1871 grand jury submitted a long list of persons allowing the consumption of alcohol in and near stores licensed only for retail sales.

The greater value of the lists of licenses may lie in their research potential to compensate for the lack of extant Prince George's County license records prior to 1835. The types of licenses include ordinary (also called tavern), retail (later called trader), liquor, billiard table, fishery, oyster house, race course, peddlar, stallion, oyster boat, millinery, exhibition, and female trader (first appeared in 1874). The major difference between the grand juries of the 19th and 20th centuries lies in the emphasis given their duties. In the 1800s, jurors were primarily concerned with their responsibilities to handle criminal charges brought before them. In the next century, equal emphasis is given criminal matters, building inspections, and investigations of government activities.

RESEARCH TOPICS
by Pat Melville

As usual researchers find a wide variety of reasons to visit the Archives. Recent topics include some falling within the category of local history, such as Prettyboy Dam, Greenbelt Park, Port Deposit, and Middleton Tavern in Annapolis. Education research involved early medical schools, school desegregation efforts, and racial discrimination in schools.

Economic studies concerned the Maryland economy in the 1930s, mining, printing industry in Baltimore, and cigar manufacturing in Manchester. African American topics comprised blacks in Allegany County in 1800, blacks in Chestertown, slave revolts, and the underground railroad. Civil War research centered around the role of the U.S. Naval Academy, politics in Maryland, coverage of President Lincoln in the Maryland press, and USCT soldiers from Kent County. Other political endeavors included affirmative action in Maryland, voter registration during the years 1903 to 1918, development of fiscal accountability in state government, and slot machines and legalized gambling.

Biographical studies pertained to Margaret Brent, Governor Oden Bowie, Augustine Herrman, and Frederick Douglass. Judicial topics involved McCulloch vs. Maryland and judges of the Court of Appeals. Maritime subjects included Chesapeake Bay steamboats, historic ranges of shad and herring, abundance of oysters in colonial and modern times, and 19th century privateers. Other research focused on fashions, mortality rates in Baltimore, architecture, and historic churches in Baltimore.

RECORD TRANSFERS
by Kevin Swanson

DEPARTMENT OF LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE (Municipal Charter Amendments and Annexations) 1994-1995 [MSA T336]
DISTRICT COURT 2, WI (Civil Docket) 1986 [MSA T1643]
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Tax Sale Record) 1889-1944 [MSA T2785]
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Civil Docket) 1946-1971 [MSA T2786]
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Charter Record) 1868-1885 [MSA T2787]
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Co-Partnership and Agency Dissolution Record) 1958-1991 [MSA T2788]
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Church Charters) 1888-1890 [MSA T2789]
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Land Records) 1855-1947 [MSA T2790]
BALTIMORE CITY CIRCUIT COURT (Equity Papers A, Miscellaneous) 1887 [MSA T53]
BALTIMORE CITY SUPERIOR COURT (Block Book Maps) n.d. [MSA T2799]
MONTGOMERY COUNTY REGISTER OF WILL (Estate Papers) 1980-1989 [MSA T416]


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