ED'S ACTIVITIES
On April 10, Ed took part in a conference on Going Digital at the National Archives at College Park, sponsored by NARA, UMCP and the Archives. In the morning, he gave a demonstration of our digital resources on the world wide web, and, in the afternoon, he took part in a panel discussion on What Do Researchers Expect in Digital Access? Representing NARA on the same panel was Rick Blondo. Lynne, Richard, and Rocky helped to get the material for his presentation together on CD.
On Maryland Day, Ed presented the first prize in the Colonial Society's Essay Contest to Sara Peoples of the Tome School for her essay on The Influences of Protestantism and Catholicism on Colonial Maryland. His remarks on this occasion addressed the idea of Maryland as a mosaic:
"The theme of this year's essay contest was taken from an observation of last year's Marylander of the Year, Cardinal Keeler, and reinforced by the selection of this year's Marylander of the Year, the Reverend Marcus G. Wood. Cardinal Keeler suggested that rather than thinking of Maryland as a melting pot of cultures, we should think of Maryland as a rich mosaic of cultural backgrounds of distinctiveness in which all should be striving to work together.
Lois Jones crafted this suggestion into her announcement of the 16th Annual Maryland Colonial Society Essay Contest which was entitled "A Maryland Mosaic ... the Art of Coming Together."
As a state, we have drawn our strength from the very ethnic differences that could divide. Yet, we fit each piece of individual heritage into place to form a pattern of progress which is shaded by moderation, highlighted by tolerance. Our "Maryland Mosiaic" is a masterpiece of encompassing ethnic diversity transformed into a triumphant rendering of creative cooperation, understanding and forbearance.
The objective of this year's contest was to encourage the teachers and their students to explore the nature of that mosaic and to focus on an aspect of the history of the mosaic that seemed especially important. The essay submissions were from the farthest corners of the state and reflect much of the cultural mosaic that was central to the subject of the contest. This year's winner, Sara Peoples, is from the Tome School in North East Maryland where her teacher, Duane Wirdel, praised her enthusiasm for the topic and her diligence in pursuing her chosen theme: "The Influences of Protestantism and Catholicism on Colonial Maryland."
Sara was intrigued by the fact that two such antagonistic groups as English Catholics and English Protestants could come together in one colony and learn to live together. She recognized that the history of that attempt was not always progressive, nor was cooperation ever achieved without often bitter rancor and even, as in the battle of the Severn, armed conflict. Yet those who worked hardest for toleration ultimately prevailed. As Sara points out in her conclusion:
Fortunately for all of us, what was true then, remains true today, although the outside influences on us have changed dramatically, and often seem much harder to avoid. Today, the words, now inscribed permanently on Cecil Calvert's memorial plaque in the Church of St. Giles in the Fields, London, ring as true, as they did in the early years that Sara studied:
Every person who repaireth thither [to Maryland], intending to become an inhabitant finds himself secure as well in the quite enjoyment of his prosperity, as of his Conscience."
ARCHIVES' AWARD
Richard Richardson, our agency's Charity Campaign coordinator, has announced that the employees of the Archives have received the Governor's Community Victory Award for Significant Improvement in the Level of Giving Potential Achieved for the 1996 Maryland Charity Campaign. This means that we increased our contributions by about 10 per cent over 1995. A special thanks to all those who gave and an encouragement for others to join us in 1997!
THE PERIPATETIC CHATTEL RECORDS OF BALTIMORE COUNTY by Robert Barnes
Chattel Records contain contracts, bills of sale for personal property, depositions, and other items that shed light on the lives and activities of people in the past. Unfortunately not all of the volumes of chattel records have survived, and those that are extant are found in two major repositories: the Maryland State Archives (MSA) and the Maryland Historical Society (MHS).
When Louis Dow Scisco published his article "Colonial Records of Baltimore County" in the Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol. 22, pp. 245-259 (1927), he listed 52 volumes of colonial land records. Most of the volumes contained conveyances of land, but certain volumes had slightly different contents. Two volumes were described as follows:
Liber TR E contains miscellaneous records recorded from August 1750 to May 1757. The 245 pages include livestock marks, registration of strays, chattel mortgages, powers of attorney, bills of sale, and ship notices. At page 135 were bound some rough minutes of the court session of February 1758. This book is at MSA [C298-1].
Liber B G has 454 pages of livestock marks, slave transfers, chattel mortgages, and registration of strays for the years 1763-1773. The flyleaf marked "B#G" seems to have come from an earlier volume. This book is at MSA [C298-2].
Other chattel records include: 1773-1784, at MHS,; 1785-1788, at MHS; WG 7, 1800-1801, at MSA [C298-3]; 1811-1812, at MHS; and WG 18, 1813-1814, at MSA [C298-4].
In addition to the chattel record volumes, there is a series of Miscellaneous Court Papers [MSA C1] of the Baltimore County Court. Covering the years 1729-1851, the papers are arranged chronologically, and are numbered sequentially for each year, beginning with no. 1. There is an index to these papers, created at the Baltimore City Archives as a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project. A copy is located at MSA [C220]. These Miscellaneous Court Papers contain many of the original documents that were recorded in the Chattel Records. Robert A. Oszakiewski has written a detailed account of the history and provenance of these records in Bulldog, Vol. 1, No. 20 (3 August 1987). He also wrote an article "Miscellaneous Court Papers," describing the records, which appeared in "The Notebook" of the Baltimore County Genealogical Society, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 1-2.
Following are examples of some of the kinds of information found in the chattel records.
Mary Banneker, wife of Robert Banneker, deposed on 19 April 1774 that Benjamin Banneker was the true and lawful son of Robert Banneker, deceased. (1773-1784, p. 98, MS 2865).
Edmund Deadman records his mark - a crop and under square in the right ear, and a crop in the left, recorded 24 Feb 1752. At the same time Thomas Deadman recorded his mark - a crop and a hole in the left ear. (TR E, p. 51, MSA C298-1).
William Debruler on 21 May 1764 conveyed personal property to his children, to be received by them after his death. Son George was to have a feather bed and furniture and one cow and calf. Son William was to have a feather bed and furniture and twenty pounds current money. Daughters Cordelia and Eusane were to have jointly a negro wench named Phillis, and each was to have a feather bed and furniture. Twin sons James and Micajah were to have a feather bed and furniture each, and a negro boy named Ben jointly. (B G, p. 15, MSA C298-2).
Thomas Gibbons, age 93, deposed on 20 July 1780 that he was about 18 when he came into the country. He remembered Daniel Swindell and his wife Elizabeth, and he had heard old Henry Jones and Margaret Lofton and others say that Selah Dorman married Sarah Swindell, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth. When the deponent was a boy he served his time in the neighborhood where Selah Dorman and his wife lived. The deponent always understood that a daughter of Selah Dorman and his wife married a certain Lewis Barton. The deponent was well acquainted with Selah Dorman Barton and he always understood that he was son of Lewis Barton and his wife. The deponent was acquainted with his wife Comfort Lynch (as she now is), and knew Greenbury Barton was acknowledged by them as their son. (1773-1784, p. 399, MS.2865).
Darby Henly of Rowan Co., NC, town of Salisbury, on 15 May [1785], gave power of attorney to Young Wilkinson to recover a negro woman left by the last will and testament of John Chamberlain of BA, to his daughter Elizabeth, wife of the deponent. (1785-1788, p. 242, MS2865).
The Ship Ann, Capt. Christopher Reed, lying in the Ferry Branch of Patapsco River, takes on board tobacco consigned to Messrs John Stewart and Campbell, at the rate of 7 per ton, recorded 9 August 1765. (B G, p. 67, MSA C298-2).
Teague Tracey, Jr. of Baltimore County brought to N. Ruxton Gay an estray on 10 September 1754: a likely middle sized well set bright bay mare branded in the near shoulder with an "R" and on the near buttock with a "Y" and it has the mark of a bite by another creature on her off buttock, recorded 20 September 1754. (TR E, p. 146, MSA C298-1).
RESEARCH NOTES by Pat Melville
During the past quarter there has been a kaleidoscope of topics being pursued by researchers at the Archives. Appropriately, as we get closer to the African-American Genealogy Workshop, to be held on April 19, several African-American themes showed up in research. These include African Americans in agriculture, underground railroad, lawyers in Baltimore from 1900 to 1950, slavery on the Eastern Shore during the Revolutionary period, slaves arriving at the port of Annapolis, and free blacks in Anne Arundel County from 1800 to 1864.
Local history subjects involved properties along the Monocacy River in Frederick, Allegany County, Frederick County, Hyattsville, Victor Haven in Anne Arundel County, All Hallows Parish in Anne Arundel County, Boyds in Montgomery County, Evergreen community in Baltimore City, Sandy Spring in Montgomery County, architecture in Annapolis, and Jersey Island. Social and population topics pertained to welfare reform policies, social work in rural areas, and immigration into Baltimore City.
Biographical studies included Benjamin Banneker, Dinah Nuthead, Gov. Levin Winder, Samuel Chase, and Daniel Dulaney. Building and institutional studies consisted of Simpsonville Mill, Crownsville Hospital Center, architecture of St. Anne's Church in Annapolis, and Savings Bank of Baltimore. Economic topics included wage workers in Baltimore City in 1790 to 1820, insurance industry in Maryland, shipbuilding in Maryland, and farming in northern Anne Arundel County.
Political subjects pertained to the Mount Vernon Conference of 1785, education laws in the 1860s, and World War II propaganda and rhetoric. Transportation topics involved bridges and culverts in Maryland and highways through Salisbury. Civil War studies included Confederate soldiers from Charles County, Baltimore riots of April 19, 1861, Potomac Home Brigade, and prisoners on Point Lookout. Another military researcher looked at Maryland soldiers in the French and Indian War.
Students from two colleges were conducting group projects. One involved house interiors as shown in inventories, and the other centered around the Sotterley plantation in St. Mary's County and the families who lived there. Group studies included German Settlements in Maryland and Acadians in Maryland.
Miscellaneous topics consisted of the liberty tree in Annapolis, books in St. John's College library, Annapolis flag, and licensing of physicians. Unusual inquiries involved historic places in Prince George's County suitable for a wedding reception, Miss Beautiful Eye Contest, and "house genealogy."
LIBRARY ACCESSIONS
Edward C. Papenfuse, State Archivists
Patricia V. Melville, Editor
Mimi Calver, Assistant Editor
Lynne MacAdam,Production Editor
Rita Molter, Circulation
The Maryland State Archives is an independent agency in the Office of Governor Parris N. Glendening and is advised by the Hall of Records Commission. The Chairman of the Hall of Records Commission is the Honorable Louis L. Goldstein, Comptroller, and the Vice Chairman is the Honorable Robert M. Bell, Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals.
The Archivists' Bulldog is issued bi-monthly to publicize records collections, finding aids, and other activities of the Archives and its staff. Subscription cost is $25 per year, and the proceeds go to the State Archives Fund. To subscribe, please send your name, address, and remittance to: the Maryland State Archives, 350 Rowe Boulevard, Annapolis, Maryland 21401-1686. Phone: MD toll free: (800) 235 4045; or (410) 260-6400. FAX: (410) 974 3895. E-mail: archives@mdarchives.state.md.us. The Editor welcomes editorial comments and contributions from the public.
The Archives maintains a Website on the Internet at: http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us
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