Sauce Boat & Ladle, Wicomico County

From the USS Maryland Silver Service

Maker: Samuel Kirk & Sons (1815-1979)
Objects: Sauce Boat and Ladle, Wicomico County
Date: 1906
Medium: Sterling Silver
Dimensions: Sauce boat: Overall height, 7"; Overall width, 7 3/4", Overall depth, 4 1/4"”
Dimensions: Ladle: Overall length, 8 1/8" Overall width, 2 1/4"
Accession number(s): MSA SC 1545-0941-1 (boat) and MSA SC 1545-0941-2 (ladle)

The USS Maryland silver service includes a pair of sauce boats and ladles representing Wicomico and Somerset Counties. Wicomico County was created from Somerset and Worcester counties in 1867. It was named after the Wicomico River from the Native American words "wicko" and "mekee" meaning, "a place where houses are built."

While the seven scenes on each sauce boat are unique to that particular county, the overall appearance of each piece is identical. This sauce boat is decorated with scenes that relate to the early history of the city. Each piece has four main scenes that are separated by festoons of tobacco leaves, while the “border of progress” surrounds the upper portion of the bowl. The Great Seal and the Cruiser are each surrounded by sprays of native trees. The handle terminates in a cornucopia, while an eagle in relief extends out of the upper portion. Oyster shells around the base connect the pieces to the Eastern Shore, and the rope borders symbolize the nautical theme of the service.

The handle of the ladle is formed from a reproduction of a “crownstone” marker of the Mason-Dixon Line. These large limestone markers were placed every five miles along the Mason-Dixon Line, and were decorated with the coats-of-arms of Maryland and Pennsylvania.

After twelve years of design and development, the first telegraph message in the United States was transmitted on above ground poles between Washington D.C. and Baltimore on May 23, 1844. Samuel F.B. Morse sent the message "What hath God wrought” to his partner Alfred Vail.

The original transmitting and receiving sets are now at the Smithsonian Institute and are also depicted on pieces from Baltimore City and Baltimore, Calvert, Charles, Somerset, and St. Mary’s counties.

The Cokesbury Bell came from Cokesbury College, the first Methodist college on the American continent. In 1789, when George Washington was heading to New York for his inauguration, the bell was rung in his honor as he passed by. In 1795, the tower that housed the bell was deliberately set on fire and everything was lost, except for the bell which was completely unharmed.

In 1888, the historic Cokesbury Bell was transferred to Goucher College, then in Baltimore City, and it remained with Goucher College until 1959 when it was presented to the Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. The bell is also depicted on the pieces from Somerset, St. Mary’s, and Charles counties.

Two views of the same historic church are depicted on the sauce boat. Green Hill Church was constructed and opened in 1733 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

On St. Bartholomew's Day, August 24, 1887, the church was reconsecrated and named St. Bartholomew's. It no longer holds regular services and is not open to the public, however, services are still held in the church once a year on August 24th.

The "Ben Davis House" was once one of the oldest houses in Wicomico County, likely built in the early 1700s. It was a two story building with a steep roof and numerous dormer windows. Given its close proximity to Green Hill Church, also depicted on this piece, it was likely the parsonage. The Ben Davis House was demolished in 1905.

Peregrine Williamson, a jeweler from Baltimore, wanted to have a more durable writing instrument than the typical quill pen. He started testing designs in 1806 and by 1808 felt so confident in his pen he sent some as a gift to President Thomas Jefferson. In 1809, he was granted the first patent for a metallic pen and, in 1835, he was granted a second patent for an improved metallic pen. While Williamson’s original patent was lost in a fire, this depiction is based on one of his early pens held in the collection of the Maryland Center for History and Culture.

The first steel pen is also depicted on pieces from Charles, Somerset, and St. Mary’s counties.

After twelve years of design and development, the first telegraph message in the United States was transmitted on above ground poles between Washington D.C. and Baltimore on May 23, 1844. Samuel F.B. Morse sent the message "What hath God wrought” to his partner Alfred Vail.

The original transmitting and receiving sets are now at the Smithsonian Institute and are also depicted on the pieces from Baltimore City and Baltimore, Calvert, Charles, Somerset, and St. Mary’s counties.

The Cokesbury Bell came from Cokesbury College, the first Methodist college on the American continent. In 1789, when George Washington was heading to New York for his inauguration the bell was rung in his honor as he passed by. In 1795 the tower that housed the bell was deliberately set on fire, and everything was lost, except for the bell which was completely unharmed. In 1888 the historic Cokesbury Bell was transferred to Goucher College in Baltimore City and it remained until 1959 when it was presented to the Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. The bell is also depicted on the St, Mary’s County Water Pitcher and the Charles County Cream Pitcher.

The town of Salisbury wasn't established until 1735. However, it wouldn't be until 1867 that Wicomico would be established as a county and Salisbury named the county seat. It took another 10 years for the courthouse to finally be built in 1878. The Victorian Gothic style building cost $25,000 to make. It survived the fire of 1886 and has been expanded three times: in 1936, 1974, and the mid-1990s.

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