Chronicles of Baltimore - Part 12



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1822. It is fortunate for the popular fame of Marshall, that besides 
rearing the monument of his constitutional decisions, he served in the 
army of the Revolution and wrote the life of Washington. The reputation of 
Kent and Story is held by their graceful additions to the literature of 
their profession. Wirt was an able Attorney-General, but he will be better 
known as a pleasing author, and through the genial biography of Kennedy. 
William Pinckney, the eminent lawyer of Maryland, has perhaps more than 
any of those we have mentioned, a strictly professional reputation, He was 
born at Annapolis, Maryland, March 17, 1764. His father, Jonathan 
Pinckney, an Englishman by birth, is enrolled among the Loyalists of the 
Revolution. It was characteristic of the independence of the son, that 
even in boyhood he chose the opposite and patriotic side. We next hear of 
him at Baltimore engaged in the study of medicine with a leading 
practitioner, a pursuit which does not appear to have held him long from 
the main occupation of his life. Falling in with Samuel Chase, the 
subsequent Justice of the Supreme Court, he commenced the study of his 
profession under his excellent direction, at the age of nineteen, and 
after a course of three years was called to the bar in 1786. Leaving 
Annapolis, Pinckney began practice in Harford county on the Susquehanna, 
from which district he was sent in 1788 to the State Convention which 
ratified the constitution of the United States; and, in the same year, a 
representative to the House of Delegates, of which he continued a member 
from the county till his return to Annapolis in 1792. He was in the 
meantime married, at Havre de Grace, to Miss Ann Maria Rodgers, the sister 
of Commodore Rodgers. For three years from 1792 he was a member of the 
executive council of Maryland, when he was chosen a delegate to the 
Legislature from Anne Arundel county. He was in 1796 appointed by 
President Washington a commissioner on the part of the United States under 
Jay's British Treaty of 1794, to determine the claims of American 
merchants to compensation for losses and damages sustained by acts of the 
English Government. He remained in England till 1804, engaged, besides the 
duties of the commission, in the adjustment of an important claim in 
chancery of the State of Maryland. On his return to America in 1804, he 
resumed the practice of the law at Baltimore. In the following year he was

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appointed Attorney-General of the State. In 1806 he was again sent to 
England as commissioner jointly with Mr. Monroe, respecting the continued 
aggressions of that power. On the retirement of Monroe in 1807 he was left 
minister resident in London, in which capacity he remained till he 
earnestly solicited his recall from Mr. Madison in 1811. On his arrival in 
Maryland he was elected a member of the State Senate, and at the close of 
the year received the appointment from President Madison, of Attorney-
General of the United States. He was an earnest advocate and supporter of 
the war of 1812. He defended the policy of the Government by his pen, and 
when his region was invaded, marched at the head of a company of riflemen 
to Bladensburg, in its defence, and was wounded in the fight. In 1814 he 
resigned his post as Attorney-General. In 1815, he was chosen a 
representative in Congress from the city of Baltimore. He resigned his 
seat before the expiration of his term, on his appointment by President 
Monroe as minister to Russia and special envoy to Naples. He returned to 
Baltimore in 1818, and resumed his old practice at the bar. He was 
retained in the Supreme Court in 1819 by the Bank of the United States, in 
maintaining its claim of exemption from State taxation. In 1820, Pinckney 
was elected to the United States Senate. He continued, meanwhile, his 
labors in the Supreme Court, and it was while in these double employments 
of the Senate and bar, preparing new debates, that his health suddenly 
failed him. He suffered a severe attack of illness in the middle of 
February, 1822, which in a short time terminated his life on the twenty-
fifth of that month.

There must have been something highly impressive in Pinckney's conduct at 
the bar, to secure the high terms in which, with a full exercise of 
criticism, he is spoken of by his contemporaries. Story asserts that "no 
man could hear him for any length of time without being led captive by his 
eloquence." In an analysis of his style, the same judicious authority 
tells us of his "marvellous felicity" in a "complete mastery of the whole 
compass of the English language," giving to his style "an air of 
originality, force, copiousness and expressiveness which struck the most 
careless observer." Roger B. Taney says: "When William Pinckney returned 
from England and resumed the practice, the reign of Luther Martin was at 
an end. He was a perfect contrast to Martin. He was very attentive to his 
dress, indeed more so than was thought suitable for his age and station. 
It approached to dandyism, if it did not reach it. He was always dressed 
in the extreme of the newest fashion, and for some time after his return, 
took notes at the bar and spoke with gloves on nice enough to wear in a 
ball-room. I have heard almost all the great advocates of the United 
States, both of the past and present generation, but I have seen none 
equal to Pinckney. He was a profound lawyer in every department of the 
science, as well as a powerful and eloquent debater." His death was 
announced in the House of Representatives by Mr.

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Randolph, of Virginia, who said: "I rise to announce to the House the not 
unlooked-for death of a man who filled the first place in the public 
estimation, in the first profession in that estimation, in this or any 
other country. We have been talking of General Jackson, and a greater than 
he is not here, but gone forever. I allude, sir, to the boast of Maryland, 
and the pride of the United States--the pride of us all, but more 
particularly the pride and ornament of the profession of which you, Mr. 
Speaker (Mr. Philip P. Barbour), are a member, and an eminent one." Chief-
Justice Marshall remarked to Judge John Scott, an eminent lawyer at 
Richmond, in the presence of that distinguished lawyer Walter Jones, that 
Mr. Pinckney was the greatest man he had ever seen in a court of justice, 
and Mr. Jones remarked, "Yes; no such man has ever appeared in any country 
more than once in a century." "He was a great, man," wrote Wirt on his 
death--"on a set occasion, the greatest, I think, at our bar." "He was 
desirous of fame," says Story, "of that fame which alone is enduring, the 
fame which reposes on sound learning, exalted genius, and diligent, nay, 
incessant study." For these things, and as an able, honored representative 
of the State at home and abroad, his career will reward the most patient 
investigation. Luther Martin was now a wreck. His vast learning was hidden 
in the oblivious darkness of an extinguished intellect. And so generous, 
and withal so improvident, had been this great lawyer, that after all the 
great professional harvests he had reaped, the Legislature of Maryland, in 
February, 1822, passed the following joint resolution: "Resolved, That 
each and every practitioner of law in this State shall be, and he is 
hereby compelled, from and after the passage of this resolution, to obtain 
from the clerk of the county court in which he may practise, a license to 
authorize him so to practise, for which he shall pay annually, on and 
before the first day of June, the sum of five dollars: which said sum is 
to be deposited by the clerk of the county court from which he may procure 
such license, in the treasury of the Western Shore or Eastern Shore as the 
case may be, subject to the order of Thomas Hall and William H. Winder, 
Esqs., who are hereby appointed trustees, for the application of the 
proceeds raised by virtue of this resolution to the use of Luther Martin: 
provided that nothing herein contained shall be taken to compel a 
practitioner of law to obtain a license in more than one court, to be 
annually renewed, under penalty of being suspended from the bar at which 
he may practise. And provided, that this resolution shall cease to be 
valid at the death of the said Luther Martin."

At this time there are thirteen cotton-mills in the vicinity of Baltimore, 
which drive at least 32,880 spindles. Two woollen mills, one copper-
rolling-mill--which is the only one of note in the United States--three 
extensive rolling-mills which manufacture annually at least 1500 tons of 
iron into rods, hoops, bolt and sheet-iron, besides at least 30 of the 
best and most improved merchant-mills

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within the limits and environs of the city, that manufacture about 300,000 
barrels of flour annually.

Died at his seat near the city, at an advanced age, Col. Nicholas Rogers, 
formerly one of the justices of the county and Orphans' Court, and aide of 
Major-General Baron de Kalb in the war of the Revolution.

The commissioners for opening streets employed Mr. T. Poppleton, who 
published a plat of the whole city, harbor, &c., embellished by views of 
all the principal buildings.

A society is formed to loan useful books to the youths of the city, called 
the Apprentice's Library, of which Col. James Mosher is chosen president.

On Sunday the 23d of June, there happened the greatest fire ever known in 
this city up to this time. It commenced in a lumber yard in the rear of 
McElderry's wharf, and soon communicated to two adjacent yards. The three 
yards were computed to have had not less than two million feet of lumber 
in them. All this stock of combustible material was soon in a blaze, and 
with it from 25 to 30 buildings, most of them large and valuable 
warehouses on the wharf filled with goods. Seventeen were destroyed in one 
range. The contents of some of these were also nearly consumed, and many 
thousand dollars' worth of goods were thrown into the dock, as if for the 
desperate purpose of lessening the amount of combustible matter. This vast 
body of fire defeated the most powerful efforts to check it for about four 
hours. It is hard to imagine the quantity of heat thrown out, but the 
curbstones of a narrow street that separated the board-yards from the 
warehouses were dissolved by it, and blocks of marble and free-stone in a 
stonecutter's yard to the value of $3000 were destroyed, converted into 
lime or cracked to pieces.

The statue was placed on the "Battle Monument" on the 12th of September, 
according to the plan and ceremonies adopted by the Building Committee.

On the 2d of December 533 paupers of the city and county were removed to 
the new Alms House at Calverton, two miles west of the city.

Edward Johnson, Esq., is again elected Mayor of the city.

The following letter was written by the Hon. William Wirt to his daughter:

"Baltimore, November 24th, 1822.

"My Dear Catharine--Yesterday morning I arose before day, shaved and 
dressed by candle-light, took my cane and walked to market. There are two 
market-houses, each of them about three or four times as long as ours in 
Washington. The first one I came to was the meat market; the next, which 
was nearest the basin, was the fish and vegetable market. O! what a 
quantity of superb beef, mutton, lamb, veal, and all sorts of fowls--
hogsheads full of

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wild ducks, geese, pheasants, partridges; and then, on one side of the 
market-house, leaving only a narrow lane between them, a line of wagons 
and carts, groaning under the loads of country productions; these wagons 
and carts on one side and the market-houses on the other, forming a lane 
as long as from our house to St. John's Church. I must not forget to 
mention the loads of sweet-cakes of all sorts and fashions that covered 
the outside tables of the market-houses, and the breakfasts that were 
cooking everywhere, all around, for the country people who came many miles 
to market. You may conceive the vast quantity of provisions that must be 
brought to this market, when you are told that sixty thousand people draw 
their daily supplies from it, which is more than twice as many people as 
there are in Washington, Georgetown, Alexandria, and Richmond, all put 
together. Well, and so after I had walked all round and round and through 
the market-house, I left it and bent my steps towards the country, and 
walked two miles and a half out to Mr. Thompson's to breakfast. It had 
been cloudy and rainy for several days, but the night before had been 
clear, and although the road was still wet, the morning above head was 
bright and beautiful. After walking about a mile, I came to the summit of 
a hill that overlooks the city, and there I stopped a moment to take 
breath and look back on it. The ground had begun to smoke from the warmth 
of the rising sun, and the city seemed to spread itself out below me to a 
vast extent--a huge dusky mass, to which there seemed no limit. But 
towering from above the fog was the Washington Monument (a single 
beautiful column 160 feet in height, which stands in Howard's Park, and is 
rendered indescribably striking and interesting from the touching solitude 
of the scene from which it lifts its head), and several noble steeples of 
churches interspersed throughout the west of the city, whose gilded 
summits were now glittering in the sun. Casting the eye over Baltimore, it 
lights upon the Chesapeake bay, and after wandering over that flood of 
waters, it rests on Fort McHenry and its star-spangled banner. This is the 
fort where our soldiers gained so much glory last war, and the very banner 
with regard to which Mr. Key's beautiful song of the 'Star-Spangled 
Banner' was written.

"After feasting my eye for some time on the rich, diversified, and 
boundless landscape that lay before me, meditating on the future grandeur 
of this city and the rising glories of the nation, I turned around my face 
to resume my walk into the country, when all its soft beauties burst, by 
surprise, upon me. For, while I had been looking back on the town, bay, 
and fort, the sun had risen, and was now so high that its light was 
pouring full upon hill and valley, field and forest, blazing in bright 
reflection from all the eastern windows of the hundreds of country-houses 
that crowned the heights around me, and dancing on all the leaves that 
waved and wantoned in the morning breeze. No city in the world has a

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more beautiful country around it than Baltimore, in the direction of the 
west, north, and east. In the direction of Washington it is unimproved, 
but in the other points all that could have been expected from wealth and 
fine taste has been accomplished. The grounds, which were originally poor, 
have been made rich; they lie very finely, not flat and tame, nor yet 
abrupt and rugged, but rising and falling in forms of endless diversity, 
sometimes soft and gentle, at others bold and commanding. This beautifully 
undulating surface has been improved with great taste, the fields richly 
covered with grass, the clumps of trees, groves and forests pruned of all 
dead limbs and all deformities, and flourishing in strong and healthy 
luxuriance. The sites for the houses are well selected,--always upon some 
eminence, embosomed amid beautiful trees, from which their white fronts 
peep out enchantingly, for the houses are all white, which adds much to 
the cheerfulness and grace of this unrivalled scenery. I hope one of these 
days to show it to you in person, and then you will be able to imagine 
what a delightful ramble I had to Mr. Thompson's yesterday morning. I took 
them quite by surprise, but it was a most agreeable one, and they were 
rejoiced to see me. Mr. Thompson inquired most kindly after all in 
Washington, and giving me a good country breakfast (most delightful 
butter), brought me back to town in his gig, where we arrived by nine 
o'clock, an hour before court. Was not this an industrious morning?

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

"Your affectionate father,
"Wm. Wirt."

1823. A company lately incorporated, erect a shot-tower on the west side 
of North Gay street, which was raised 187 feet above ground by Jacob 
Wolfe, builder, under the direction of Col. Joseph Jamieson, president of 
the company.

A number of gentlemen associate together to establish an Athenæum, and the 
institution is commenced by the purchase of books, etc.

This is a time--before the introduction of railways--when it is proper to 
make mention of some three or four old Baltimore institutions, which are 
fast fading away in the world's progress; we mean the vast blue, white-
canvassed Conestoga wagons, their grand Pennsylvania horses, the stage 
coaches, and the taverns or inns, with their conspicuous "signs," their 
substantial fare, wide yards and liberal stables; and the frocked wagoners 
and teamsters who drove or tended their stalwart beasts for burthen or for 
market. These taverns and their signs were frequent reminders to 
Englishmen of the country inns found in every British town and hamlet; and 
alas! but few of them remain among us of the present generation. These 
were still the times of horseback and saddle-bag travelling. Most of our 
citizens who have not passed far beyond middle life,

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will still remember the "Golden Horse" which swung so gaudily at the 
northwestern corner of Franklin and Howard streets; and the "White Swan," 
which still floats, like a dim ghost of its former self, on the sign, a 
square beyond, at the southeastern corner of Franklin and Eutaw streets; 
while the "Golden Lamb" reclined on its rich yellow fleece until a few 
years ago, at the northwestern corner of Paca and Franklin streets, until 
it was supplanted by a confectionery; or the "Black Horse," and some other 
country inns, beyond the turn of Franklin street into Pennsylvania avenue. 
Then there was the "Hand Tavern" and yard, still surviving on Paca, near 
Lexington street, giving refuge to the market people and their wagons and 
cattle; and the chained "Black Bear" Inn, designed for the same purposes, 
next to the corner of Howard, on Saratoga street: where the Bevans now cut 
and carve their marble mantels and tombs. The more aristocratic "General 
Wayne" Inn, Cugle & Frost's stylish "hostelrie" for Western travellers, 
horse-dealers and cattle-drovers, was at the corner of Paca and Baltimore 
streets, where the Revolutionary hero still faintly survives on the 
weather-beaten sign which was raised to its present place near fifty years 
ago. The "May Pole" was still further south of this on Paca and German 
streets, and the "Three Tuns Tavern" yet beyond, at the corner of Paca and 
Pratt streets. These were the main houses of entertainment, cattle-yards 
and stables, for horse-dealers, wagoners, and cattle men, west of the 
Falls; while Old Town had its famous "Bull's Head," on Front street, the 
"Rising Sun," on High street, and the well-known "Habbersett's," whose 
hospitable doors and excellent tables were always open to the dealers and 
farmers of Harford county especially. The old "Fountain Inn," with its 
limpid, gushing sign, was always the pet of the Eastern-Shoremen, (so 
accessible as they came up Light street from the Basin,) long after it 
ceased to be the pet of the Presidents, after Jefferson's day and the rise 
of the "Indian Queen," under Gadsby's auspices, and, long subsequently, to 
"Barnum's" in the square, and "The Eutaw House," which were the two first 
inns that wholly discarded the old-fashioned index of a "sign." There was 
also the famous "Globe Inn" on Baltimore and Howard streets. At most of 
these, in the days of turnpikes, the daily, tri-weekly, or weekly stage-
coach called regularly, with sounding horn, to take up the passengers 
"booked" at the office. The western taverns were filled with staunch, 
rough teamsters and drovers, and the tavern yards generally occupied by 
fat cattle for the shambles, and splendid horses for sale, trade or swap; 
while westwardly from Howard street, along Franklin to its junction with 
Pennsylvania avenue, and out the avenue to George street, and often beyond 
it, in the busy season, one half of this great highway was nightly blocked 
up by the ponderous Conestoga wagons, and their supurb teams feeding or 
munching in a trough fastened to the wagon-poles. Next day they delivered 
their flour,

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whiskey and provisions along Howard and other streets, and quickly 
reloaded with groceries, dry and fancy goods for the West, and speedily 
set forth with their four or six-in-hand team, each animal tinkling his 
jolly crest of a dozen bells along the narrow defiles of the Alleghanies, 
the drivers cracking their huge, savage whips, giving notice of each 
other's approach in the many passes of the mountains or valleys.

But Baltimore was to take a fresh start in the race of prosperity. She had 
been temporarily disheartened and crippled, but not destroyed; for her 
natural resources could not be taken away, and the people who had improved 
them in earlier days were still at hand to engage in new operations. The 
men of enterprise and talent were still there, and though not so young or 
hopeful, were nevertheless not without zeal and enterprise, tempered by 
experience. They saw that a change had come over the spirit of American 
trade, not only by the cessation of war at home and in Europe, but that 
great material improvements in transportation, steam, and the rivalries of 
successful trade were operating on the minds of younger men of equal 
intelligence, in other sections of the nation; and that, when success 
creates rivals, peace not only affords but stimulates the means for 
successful rivalry. They saw that labor, patience, capital, were to take 
the place of that rapid, daring war-commerce which had so magically 
assisted the fortunes of American, and especially Baltimore merchants, for 
twenty or thirty years. They saw that enterprise, to be repaid, must be 
content with slower processes, and that the clipper of our bay was no 
longer the Aladdin of their counting-houses. With this patience at heart, 
though of course reluctantly admitted, an auspicious change took place in 
the commercial affairs of Baltimore between 1820 and 1825. Capital and 
enterprise again became active. The extensive establishments and ventures 
became more limited, but were still more significant in both foreign and 
domestic trade. Baltimore was then, undoubtedly, still the largest flour 
market in the world, sending forth in 1822 205,345 barrels, and 244,950 in 
1823. Of tobacco we shipped to foreign countries 19,250 hogsheads in 1822, 
and 21,733 hogsheads in 1823; as well as large quantities of provisions 
and manufactured goods. The shipments of 1822 and 1823 showed that we had 
no crushing rivalry to contend with in trade that circumstances have so 
greatly changed.

Our ships went principally to the Spanish Main, to Buenos Ayres, to 
Brazil, to Chili, Peru and Mexico, and this species of commerce in 
succeeding years has fixed itself upon a fair basis of equality, so far as 
our enterprise and capital were able to support it in competition with 
other ports. Our people seem to have been impressed with the idea, since 
then, that the first duty of Baltimore was to recover possession of the 
internal trade of the country; and hence probably more reliance has been 
placed on the magical

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change which the "Internal Improvement" system was to produce, as soon as 
fresh modes of communication were opened with the growing West and its 
dependencies. The idea seems to have been that if we could soonest reach 
the vast Western trade by the shortest, route, we should command it; and 
that Baltimore would be re-established, and advance to continental 
supremacy. While waiting these long years for the fruition of this hope, 
it is possible that the commerce and manufactures of our city have not 
advanced as rapidly as they might have done under different inspirations; 
yet certain it is, that ever since 1825--8 the minds of our people have 
been greatly concerned with canals and railways, and the supreme results 
they were to produce for Baltimore and Mary land.

On the 21st of December, a town-meeting was held in the rotunda of the 
Exchange, (now our post-office building) to take the opinion of the people 
on the subject of canals, and especially to discover whether the citizens 
preferred a canal to be made first to the Susquehanna river or to the 
Ohio. A great majority, it seems, preferred the canal to the Susquehanna. 
Accordingly an act was passed by the Assembly then in session, authorizing 
the corporation of the city to make a canal to the head of tide-water on 
the Susquehanna, and thence to the Conewaga falls in Pennsylvania, if such 
an extension should be permitted by the Legislature of that State. Another 
act was also passed incorporating a company to make a canal from the tide-
water of the Potomac to the Ohio river, if assented to by the National 
Government and the States through which the canal would pass. G. 
Winchester, Esq., Judge Bland, and John Patterson, Esq., were commissioned 
by the State to survey a route for the Susquehanna canal.

John Oliver, Esq., of Baltimore, lately deceased, left the sum of $20,000 
to the Hibernian Society, of which he was president, for the purpose of 
establishing a free school in this city, for the education of poor 
children of both sexes, without distinction as to their religious tenets.

The trustees of the Orphaline Charity School, aided by liberal donations 
from several individuals, purchase of the trustees of the Baltimore 
College a part of their grounds on Mulberry street, and erect a spacious 
school-house.

1824. In the Assembly, the act of the Virginia Legislature, incorporating 
the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, was confirmed; and in 1825, stock 
to the amount of the State's interest in the Potomac Canal Company, with 
5000 additional shares, were to be vested in the new company on the part 
of Maryland. A similar number of shares were to be taken in the 
Susquehanna Company, then again incorporated, the old Susquehanna Canal 
Company's interest being secured in the new one.

On the 10th of August, the corner-stone of the Baltimore Athenæum was 
laid, with appropriate ceremonies, at the S. W. corner of St. Paul and 
Lexington streets

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On the 24th of August a deputation from the corporation of Baltimore, 
consisting of Messrs. Beale Randall, E. L. Finley, and Edward G. Woodyear, 
arrived in New York, and were presented by the Mayor of that city to 
Marquis de la Fayette, in the City Hall. On being introduced, Mr. Finley 
presented to the General the resolutions adopted by the City Council of 
Baltimore, welcoming him amongst them as the "guest of the city of 
Baltimore."

Agreeably to the arrangements made, the elegant steamboat United States, 
commanded by Capt. Tripp, left Baltimore on Wednesday, the 6th of October, 
to receive Gen. La Fayette at Frenchtown. She was fitted out and furnished 
in the most splendid manner, and among her passengers were the committee 
from the corporation, consisting of John B. Morris, Wm. Patterson, Beale 
Randall, Benjamin C. Howard, John Reese, Samuel Moore, Edward G. Woodyear, 
and E. L. Finley, and Cols. Lloyd and Dickinson, aides to the Governor. 
The military committee consisted of Maj. Gen. Harper and suite, and Cols. 
Steuart, Robinson, Sheppard, Miltenberger, Heath, Edes, Leakin, and 
Stiles, and Lieut.-Col. Barry and Major Hoffman. Gen. Smith and Col. 
Bentalou attended, to represent the Cincinnati. Among the invited 
gentlemen present was the venerable Mr. Du Bois Martin, a citizen of 
Baltimore, who provided and commanded the vessel which first landed La 
Fayette in America. When the boat arrived at Frenchtown, the Governor's 
aides, accompanied by a squadron of cavalry, proceeded to meet the General 
at the Delaware line. In the meantime Mr. Adams, Secretary of State, 
arrived on his way to Washington. He had been previously invited, and 
cheerfully joining himself to the party, was introduced to all present. 
The General having been detained, did not arrive at the Maryland line till 
after one o'clock in the morning. He was there presented by Louis McLane, 
chairman of the Delaware committee, to the aides of the Governor of 
Maryland. The first aide announced to the General in very appropriate and 
warm terms, in behalf of Gov. Stevens, a cordial welcome to the State of 
Maryland; and informed him that they were ready to escort him to 
headquarters, which was established at Fort McHenry, Baltimore. The aides 
of the Governor then conducted the General on board the steamboat, where 
the deputations received him upon deck. Mr. John B. Morris, president of 
the First Branch City Council, and chairman of the committee, advanced to 
the guest, and addressed him in a manner that evinced at once that he felt 
what he spoke from the bottom of his heart. The General having but just 
left his Delaware friends, and meeting so suddenly this reception, it 
affected him most sensibly. He pressed his hand to his heart and said, "I 
am grateful." He was then introduced by Mr. Morris to the gentlemen of the 
corporation--then to General Harper, who addressed him on the part of the 
military. General Smith and Col. Bentalou stepped forward and announced to 
him the object of their mission, and the joy they felt in meeting him

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again. The General embraced them in the warmest and most affectionate 
manner, and inquired particularly after his old friends and associates "in 
times that tried men's souls." The meeting of the General with the 
amiable, retiring and venerable Mr. Du Bois Martin was of a most touching 
character to the sensitive mind; they held each other by the hand and 
conversed together in French for a considerable time. After the 
introductions were gone through, Captain Tripp announced that he had an 
entertainment ready for the company. They all followed the General to the 
cabin, and a little after 3 o'clock the General repaired to the ladies' 
cabin, prepared for his lodging-room, and invited Mr. Adams to accompany 
him.

During the night the rain poured down in torrents; but just as the boat 
entered the Patapsco the threatening clouds dispersed, the morning sun 
shone forth its brightest effulgence and seemed to bid "Welcome to La 
Fayette." On approaching the fort, the steamboats Maryland, Virginia, 
Philadelphia, and Eagle, all beautifully dressed, with flags and streamers 
flying, came down the river, full of anxious citizens, to meet the boat 
United States, and passed transversely around her. As they did so, the 
people on board waved their hats and gave the most hearty, enlivening, and 
oft-repeated cheering. The five boats in regular order, the United States 
leading the van, proceeded for the fort, where they came alongside 
alternately, the passengers saluting the General, which he received, 
uncovered, in the most cordial and delicate manner. "The whole scene was 
most interesting--it was splendid--we cannot describe it. The imagination 
must take the place of the pen."

The landing was a very interesting scene. The first barge, commanded by 
Capt. Gardner, and manned by some of our most respectable ship-masters, 
was the first that made for the shore. It contained Gen. La Fayette, Mr. 
Secretary Adams, Gen. Smith, Mr. Du Bois Martin, and Mr. Morris. In the 
second boat, George Washington La Fayette (the General's son), Monsieur La 
Vasseur, Col. Paul Bentalou, Mr. Wm. Patterson, and the Governor's aides. 
The other members of the deputation followed in succession. The General 
was received at the platform of Fort McHenry by Col. Hindman of the army 
of the United States, and Edward G. Woodyear, a member of the Committee of 
Arrangements. The officers of the army and navy now in Baltimore, the 
citizen volunteers at Fort McHenry during the bombardment, the Committee 
of Vigilance and Safety of 1814, and the officers of the 36th and 38th 
United States regiments of infantry had their stations, and the General 
passed through their line on his march up to the "star fort." Upon 
entering the gate the troops of the garrison presented arms, then opened 
to the right and left, which brought to his view the tent of Washington; 
upon which Governor Stevens advanced from the tent, and greeted him with a 
hearty welcome

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address to the State of Maryland. Upon its conclusion the Governor 
conducted him to the tent, where he found the Society of the Cincinnati, 
the patriarchs of the Revolution. Here he was received and embraced by all 
of them. The scene was one of the most impressive and heart-touching that 
was ever witnessed. All were convulsed into tears, but they were tears of 
joy and gratulation. As soon as the feeling of the occasion had a little 
subsided, Col. Howard presented an address, to which the General made the 
following reply:

"The pleasure to recognize my beloved companions in arms; the sound of 
names whose memory is dear to me: this meeting under the consecrated tent 
where we so often have pressed around our paternal commander in-chief, 
excite emotions which your sympathizing hearts will better feel than I can 
express. This fort also, most nobly defended in the last war, while it 
brings the affecting recollection of a confidential friend in my military 
family, associates with it the remembrance of the illustrious defence of 
another fort, in the Revolutionary war, by the friend now near me, (Gen. 
Smith). It has been the lot of the Maryland Line to acquire glory in 
instances of bad as well as good fortune, and to whom can I better speak 
of the glory of that Line than in addressing Col. Howard? My dear brother 
soldiers, my feelings are too strong for utterance, I thank you most 
affectionately."

In uttering his affectionate and feeling reply, the General testified by 
his manner how deeply his heart was engaged in the solemn and interesting 
occasion. The meeting of La Fayette with the venerable Charles Carroll, 
Col. John E. Howard, Generals Stewart, Stricker, Reed, Benson, and other 
Revolutionary soldiers, in the tent of Washington, had a most powerful 
effect on the feelings of all. He grasped their hands, he folded them in 
his arms, and with his eyes brimful of tears, and others who like him had 
fairly stood in the hottest of the fight in many battles, were dissolved 
by the pressure of the recollections that thickened upon them. He 
recognized several of them, especially Sergeant Everhardt, who had once 
been instrumental in saving his life in battle. Within the tent was a part 
of the camp equipage of Washington, containing knives, plates, &c., which 
were exposed to view. On one side of the tent was placed an American 
cannon, and on the other side a French one, both of which had been used at 
the siege of Yorktown. After the presentation of Gen. Macomb, Cols. Jones 
and Hook, and Maj. Vandeventer of the U. S. army, with Captains Nicholson 
and Claxton of the navy, George Washington Custis, the owner of the tent, 
and several ladies, the entire party sat down to an elegant collation. 
Upon leaving the fort the General was escorted into a splendid barouche, 
drawn by four elegant black horses, attended by grooms in full livery. 
Seated with him were Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Gen. S. Smith, and 
Col. John E. Howard. The General's son, Mons. Le Vasseur, and Governor 
Stevens occupied the next;

Page 412

a third contained Gen. Stricker, Col. Bentalou and Mr. DeBois Martin, and 
the committee of arrangements and the Society of Cincinnati followed in 
carriages. As he passed Federal Hill, a detachment of artillery saluted 
him with twenty-four guns.

The General entered the city at Forrest (now Charles) street, and at the 
intersection of Montgomery street he passed under a beautiful arch of 
forty feet span, flanked at each end by another of fifteen feet span. On 
the smaller arches were the mottoes Brandywine, Yorktown, and on the 
principal arch, Welcome La Fayette. The General was then conducted through 
Light, Lee, Sharp, Pratt, and Paca streets, and was greeted everywhere 
with the huzzas of the citizens and the waving of handkerchiefs, from 
every position which afforded the least prospect of beholding him. At the 
intersection of Paca and Baltimore streets the following arrangement was 
made: The General remained in the front barouche alone, the gentlemen who 
accompanied him thus far now taking their seats in the second and third 
barouches. As he entered Baltimore street, the elevated ground rendered 
him a conspicuous object for many squares below, and thousands of voices 
now set up a united shout of welcome. At the intersection of Baltimore and 
Eutaw streets was erected, fronting to the west, the city arch. This 
elegant structure was composed of three semi-circular arches. The centre 
arch was forty feet in chord over the coachway; the lateral ones were 
about twelve feet in chord, all springing from the same line, and on piers 
or pedestals of suitable proportions. The outer line of each archivalte 
was formed by a wreath of laurel, from which (at about one foot apart) 
radiated well polished bayonets. On the vertex of the great arch was the 
great star of fellowship, in a blue field, encircled by thirteen silver 
stars, from which radiated the national ensigns, &c., &c., &c. After 
passing under the city arch, the General entered upon the right of the 
splendid line of artillery, infantry, and riflemen, stationed in the order 
designated by the Major-General of the division. The General received the 
salutes of the different corps as he passed the line uncovered; while, 
from the windows and other positions along the streets, thousands of 
handkerchiefs were waved by the ladies, adorned in their loveliest smiles 
and gayest attire.

Continuing along the line, the General came to a beautiful structure, 
which the citizens of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth wards had 
erected in honor of him, at Baltimore street bridge. At a short distance 
from the eastern side of the bridge rose to a lofty and imposing height a 
noble civic arch of thirty-six feet span in the clear, raised upon square 
Doric columns fifteen feet high, the imposts being carried over the foot-
way on either side, with the Doric drop. On the face of the right column, 
ornamented in oil painting, were the names of the thirteen original 
States, and on the left column the names of the most distinguished 
Revolutionary Generals. The whole face of the arch, with its soffit, was

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handsomely ornamented in oil paintings. On the west front of the crown of 
the arch was a portrait of Washington, surmounted by a sculptured gilt-
eagle; on the east side was a motto of "Welcome to our guest," surmounted 
also by an elegantly sculptured eagle. In the centre of the imposts over 
the foot-ways were portraits of Washington, La Fayette, and Warren, and 
the whole decorated in the most elegant and tasteful manner with flags and 
festoons of drapery. From the centre of the arch hung a large transparent 
painting, fifteen feet by ten, on one side of which was represented the 
surrender at Yorktown, including a full length portrait of La Fayette; on 
the opposite side was an allegorical painting, representing Fame 
presenting to History a wreath, and communicating to her the event of the 
Declaration of Independence. Between the figures was a mound, surmounted 
by a square pedestal, emblematic of our simple form of government. Upon 
the pedestal was a bundle of reeds, erect, bound together with a fillet, 
upon which was inscribed the names of the prominent supporters of liberty 
at that period, &c. On the bridge was erected, at equal distances, 
thirteen arches to represent the old thirteen States; these were decorated 
with a profusion of variegated lamps, which, with the transparencies on 
the principal arch, were to be illuminated in the evening.

When the General arrived at the end of the line he was again received by 
the escort of the city troops, the Cincinnati, and the corporation 
committee. He was then conducted through Baltimore, Bond, and Pratt 
streets, throughout which the same testimonies of joy and gratitude were 
exhibited towards him. On entering Gay street, he passed in view of the 
boys belonging to the different schools, with their teachers at their 
head, drawn up six deep, in uniform dress, and wearing La Fayette badges.

Passing up Gay street, the General alighted at the principal entrance of 
the Exchange, and was conducted into the great hall, where the Mayor and 
City Council were in waiting to receive him. The seats on the floor of the 
hall were occupied by distinguished strangers, deputations from 
neighboring cities and towns, Revolutionary soldiers, and officers of the 
army and navy. The galleries were occupied by ladies. The General was 
conducted to an elevated platform at the west end of the hall, the floor 
of which was covered with crimson cloth; and at either end was a marble 
bust of Washington and Hamilton. Upon this elevation the General was 
received by the Mayor with an address. To which the General made a reply, 
in which he said:--"It is under the auspices of Baltimore patriotism, by 
the generosity of the merchants, by the zeal of the ladies of this city, 
at a critical period when not a day was to be lost, that I have been 
enabled in 1781 to begin a campaign, the fortunate issue of which has 
still enhanced the value of the service then rendered to our cause."

We will here subjoin a list of those noble citizens of Baltimore

Page 414

(at that time an obscure village) adverted to by La Fayette, and the 
amount subscribed by each, at one of the most critical moments of our 
Revolutionary history. When the Congress was sorely pressed for money, and 
the army in want of almost everything necessary to its comfort and 
efficiency, they nobly came forward and advanced to General La Fayette, on 
his simple obligation, a sum of money to enable him to procure clothing 
for his suffering army:

Jacob Hart   $276 14 
Richard Carson   234 061/2 
Nathaniel Smith   93 561/2 
Nicholas Rogers   102 89 
Ridgely and Pringle   234 061/2 
Stephen Stewart   379 18 
William Neill   411 87 
Daniel Bowley   234 061/2 
Hugh Young   458 70 
Samuel & R. Purviance   468 13 
Russell and Hughes   236 061/2 
Russell and Gilman   117 031/4 
James Calhoun   $272 52 
James McHenry   110 761/2 
John Sterrett   250 161/2 
Charles Carroll   124 76 
John Smith, Jr   351 10 
William Smith   468 131/2 
Alex Donaldson   117 031/4 
Stewart and Salmon   468 13 
William Patterson   468 13 
John McLure   468 13 
Thomas Russell   210 60 
Samuel Hughes   702 201/2

When the reply of the General was delivered, the members of the 
corporation were respectively introduced, after which a number of the 
soldiers of the Revolution who had been mustered by Col. Mosher. The scene 
was highly interesting: tears of delight rolled down their furrowed 
cheeks. The Mayor also introduced to the General, Alexander McKim, William 
Patterson, Samuel Hollingsworth, and Nathaniel Levy, as a small remnant, 
as he observed, of the gallant and patriotic troop of "First Baltimore 
Cavalry" who voluntarily repaired to the standard of La Fayette on his 
call upon Maryland for soldiers, and fought under him in Virginia during 
the campaign in 1781.

After a short interval the General again entered his barouche, and was 
escorted to an elevated pavilion at the intersection of Light and 
Baltimore streets, accompanied by the Governor, members of the Cincinnati, 
Mayor and members of the corporation, where he received the passing salute 
of all the troops under arms, commencing with cavalry. It was perhaps the 
most splendid military display that our country can easily furnish, 
Baltimore having long been remarkable for the number and the beauty of her 
volunteer corps, which on the present occasion were joined by our old 
friends from York, Pennsylvania, and several companies from Frederick, 
Annapolis, Elkridge, Prince George's, &c., horse and foot.

An association of youths, called the De Kalb Cadets, were admitted into 
the line on the left of the National Guards. The marshals of the 
association had each a scroll in his hand, bound with blue ribbon, upon 
which was inscribed the word "gratitude." As they arrived in succession at 
the pavilion, each marshal deposited his scroll at the feet of the 
General. He repeatedly opened and closed his arms, as if in the act of 
pressing them to his heart;

Page 415

and when the procession had ended, suddenly turned away and burst into 
tears. He was then escorted to his lodgings at the Fountain Inn, where he 
reposed awhile, being much exhausted. In about two hours, being somewhat 
refreshed, he, with the Mayor, passed through the multitude assembled 
round the house, shaking hands with a great number of people, He then 
retired to rest, and afterwards dined with the committee of the 
corporation with about one hundred invited guests.

In the evening there was a general illumination; many transparencies were 
exhibited and great taste displayed in the ornaments of the windows. The 
streets were thronged with people until past ten o'clock, when the 
citizens and strangers generally went to rest. Never did an illumination 
pass off with more honor to a city than this. The General passed through 
the streets incog., and expressed his delight at the appearance of the 
people and highly praised their orderly deportment.

The next day he received visitors at the Exchange and dined with the 
corporation, &c., &c., and in the evening visited the Grand Lodge; after 
which he attended the splendid ball given in Holliday Street Theatre, 
which had been fitted up for the occasion. After the introduction of the 
surviving officers and soldiers of the Revolution who resided in and near 
Baltimore, to General La Fayette on Friday, he observed to one of the 
gentlemen near, "I have not seen among these my friendly and patriotic 
commissary, Mr. David Poe, who resided in Baltimore when I was here, and 
out of his own very limited means supplied me with five hundred dollars to 
aid in clothing my troops, and whose wife, with her own hands, cut out 
five-hundred pairs of pantaloons, and superintended the making of them for 
the use of my men." The General was informed that Mr. Poe was dead but 
that his widow was still living. He expressed an anxious wish to see her. 
The good old lady heard the intelligence with tears of joy, and the next 
day visited the General, by whom she was received most affectionately; he 
spoke in grateful terms of the friendly assistance he had received from 
her and her husband: "Your husband," said he, pressing his hand on his 
breast, "was my friend, and the aid I received from you both was greatly 
beneficial to me and my troops." The effect of such an interview as this 
may be imagined but cannot be described. On the 11th General La Fayette 
left the city with an escort for Washington.

John Montgomery is elected Mayor.

On the 16th of February Elisha Tyson died, who had reached the age of 
threescore and fourteen. He was the great champion of the rights of the 
sable sons of Africa; and it is thought that not less than 3000 persons, 
of color attended his remains to the grave.

William H. Winder was born February 18th, 1775, in Somerset County, 
Maryland. He received his early education at Washington

Page 416

Academy, Somerset county, and finished at the University of Pennsylvania, 
and commenced the study of law with his uncle, John Henry, completing his 
studies in Annapolis in the office of Gabriel Duval, afterwards one of the 
judges of the Supreme Court. In 1798, at the age of twenty-three, he was 
elected to the Legislature. In 1799 he married his cousin Gertrude, 
daughter of William Polk, of Somerset, Judge of the General Court for the 
Eastern Shore. In 1802 he removed to Baltimore, and his talents soon 
placed him in the foremost rank of his profession. In March, 1812, he was 
appointed lieutenant-colonel. In the ensuing spring he was commissioned as 
brigadier-general, with a warm acknowledgment of his valuable services 
from the Secretary of War. At Stony Creek he was taken prisoner, but soon 
after was paroled. Immediately upon his release he was appointed adjutant-
general, and when the danger to the Capital became imminent, he was 
invested with the command of the Tenth District, for which post he had the 
honor to be selected by Mr. Madison himself. He was defeated at 
Bladensburg, with an army numerically about equal to the British, but with 
the exception of four hundred men, a mere mob--thrust upon him at the last 
moment, some arriving fifteen minutes before the action, none before the 
18th--some without ammunition, without arms, some with arms that had been 
condemned. The Capital fell into the hands of the enemy. After the retreat 
of the British from Baltimore, General Winder received orders to proceed 
to the Niagara frontier, where his services were deemed important. A 
committee having been appointed by Congress to investigate the cause of 
the disaster at Bladensburg, their report bore unfavorably upon the 
conduct of General Winder, absent at the time. He applied immediately to 
the President for a court of inquiry, which was granted, and General 
Scott, Colonels Fenton and Drayton, were appointed a court, and met in 
Baltimore, January 26th, 1815. After a recital of the means at his 
disposal, they concluded their report thus: "They nevertheless feel it to 
be their duty to separate the individual from the calamities surrounding 
him, and to declare that, to the officer on whose conduct they are to 
determine, no censure is attributable; and, on the contrary, when they 
take into consideration the complicated difficulties and embarrassments 
under which he labored, they are of opinion, notwithstanding the results, 
that he is entitled to no little commendation. Before the action he 
exhibited industry, zeal and talent, and during its continuance a 
coolness, promptitude and personal valor highly honorable to himself and 
worthy of a better fate." At the close of the war he resigned his 
commission and returned to the practice of his profession. At the time of 
his death, which occurred on the 24th of May, 1824, in the 49th year of 
his age, his practice was the largest at the Baltimore bar, and one of the 
largest in the United States Supreme Court. He was interred with the 
highest Masonic, civic and military honors, and it was estimated there were

Page 417

15,000 persons assembled to pay the last tribute of respect to his memory.

On Monday evening and Tuesday morning, June 28th and 29th, we had about 
the most severe, if not the severest, thunder-storm that was ever 
witnessed in this city. A number of houses were struck with lightning and 
one man killed; but it is chiefly to record the following singular 
circumstance:--A flash struck the auction store then at the corner of 
Charles and Baltimore streets. One part of the shaft followed the main 
branch of the gas pipe on the northern side of Baltimore street in an 
easterly direction, and for the distance of about four squares 
extinguished all the gas lamps in its passage, scarcely doing any other 
injury; another part of the shaft followed the main branch of the gas-pipe 
in a westerly direction, as high as McClellan's Alley, extinguishing in 
like manner every gas lamp in its passage on the northern side of 
Baltimore street, doing no other injury, comprehending, in the whole 
extent, nearly eight squares on Baltimore street. The gas lamps on the 
south side of Baltimore street were perfectly unaffected by the flash. In 
one of the stores adjacent to the auction room, entirely lighted by gas, 
the total darkness so soon followed the bright blaze of the electric 
fluid, that the persons therein entertained for a short time the horrible 
idea that they had become blind.

An Act was passed by the Legislature extending the jurisdiction, of City 
Justices of Peace in matters of small debts to one hundred dollars, and to 
Justices generally, a new jurisdiction in action of trespass not exceeding 
fifty dollars damages.

On the 13th of February there was a town meeting held at the Exchange, to 
protest against the caucus of Congressmen to nominate candidates for 
President and Vice-President, and in the course of the summer ward 
meetings were held by the friends of General Andrew Jackson and John 
Quincy Adams.

On the 18th of April the boiler of the steamboat Eagle, returning from the 
Patuxent and Annapolis, exploded, and Henry M. Murray, State District 
Attorney, passenger, and some hands were severely injured. Mr. Murray 
languished until the 28th, when he died from the accident, which was the 
first fatal explosion in the Chesapeake.

On the 19th of December, died of a paralysis under which he had suffered 
many years, William Buchanan, of George, Register of Wills of this county.

1825. In March General Jackson arrived in Baltimore, and in the evening 
attended a ball given in his honor at Barnum's. On Saturday morning he 
presented, by request, a stand of colors to the Forsyth company of 
riflemen, a valuable and numerous corps; from twelve to two o'clock he 
received all such as were pleased to wait upon him, with his accustomed 
courtesy. The press of the people to take him by the hand was great; a 
collation was provided in an adjoining room, of which many hundreds 
partook. In

Page 418

the evening he visited the theatre, where he was received with 
distinguished marks of respect. On the following morning he departed for 
his residence in Tennessee, being escorted, for some distance out of the 
city, by a number of gentlemen on horseback.

The following companies and societies received this year acts of 
incorporation: The Academy of Sciences, Robert Gilmor, president; The 
Maryland Institute of Arts, W. Stewart, president; The Pennsylvania, 
Delaware and Maryland Steam Navigation Company; The Fireman's Insurance 
Company; The Lafayette Beneficial Society; The Patapsco Fire Engine 
Company; The Ætna Company for the manufacture of iron, and the Seamen's 
Union Bethel Society.

Some of the uniformed volunteer militia of the city, consisting of a 
regiment of infantry, riflemen, cavalry and artillery each, are formed 
into a brigade by law, and Col. George H. Steuart is appointed their 
General.

Robert Goodloe Harper was born near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1765. In 
1785 he graduated at Princeton. After leaving college he proceeded to 
Philadelphia, and from thence sailed for Charleston, South Carolina, where 
he in a short time was elected to the Legislature. In 1794 he was elected 
to the National House of Representatives, serving with distinction until 
1801. In 1801 he retired from Congress. He married Catharine, daughter of 
Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, and removed to Baltimore. He was employed 
as counsel for Judge Samuel Chase in his famous trial of impeachment, in 
connection with J. Hopkinson and Luther Martin. He also defended Aaron 
Burr. He participated in the defence of Baltimore against the attack of 
the British in 1814, and during the war attained the rank of Major-
General. In 1815 he was elected to the United States Senate, and took an 
able and active part in the debates. In 1819--20 he visited Europe with 
his family. His own reputation and the celebrity of his father-in-law gave 
him ready access to the most illustrious society of the continent. He 
returned to Baltimore, resuming the practice of his profession, and taking 
a very active interest in the Maryland Colonization Society. He died very 
suddenly on the 14th of January, 1825. He had only the day before argued a 
case in court for three hours with his usual ability, and gave no sign of 
the slightest indisposition up to the very moment of his death, He 
attended a large party the evening before his decease, and appeared in 
most lively spirits. The succeeding morning, after breakfast, while 
standing before the fire and reading a newspaper, he fell and instantly 
expired. General Harper's mind was of singular clearness, and his power of 
statement was considered almost unequalled. His private virtues endeared 
him to a wide circle of friends, and his public services rendered him an 
honor to the State and to the nation.

Died suddenly, on the 23d day of June, in the 67th year of his age, Gen. 
John Stricker, a soldier of the Revolution, and commander

Page 419

of the third brigade at the battle of North Point on the 12th of 
September, 1814, and at the time of his death president of the Bank of 
Baltimore. He was one of the most amiable and best of men. His remains 
were interred with military honors.

Mrs. Ellen Moale died in this city in March. She was the first white child 
born within the city of Baltimore, which at the period of her death 
contained 70,000 souls.

December 14th being the day appointed for the meeting of the delegates 
from the several counties of Maryland, to deliberate upon measures best 
calculated to promote the internal improvement of the State, at eleven 
o'clock the delegates appointed by the several counties hereinafter 
mentioned, assembled in the chamber of the first branch of the City 
Council of Baltimore, appropriated for their accommodation by the Mayor of 
the city. The meeting was called to order by the Honorable John R. Plater 
of St. Mary's county, when on motion of Governor Sprigg, of Prince 
George's county, the venerable Charles Carroll of Carrollton was 
unanimously appointed to preside over the deliberations of the convention. 
On motion of Daniel Jenifer, Esq., of Charles county, John S. Skinner, 
Esq., of the city of Baltimore, was appointed secretary, and Thomas 
Phenix, of said city, assistant secretary. The roll being called, the 
following gentlemen answered to their names, viz: from Frederick County, 
John McPherson, William Tyler, Grafton Duvall, Richard Potts, John Nelson, 
John Thomas, John Lee. Alleghany County, John McMahon, John McHenry, John 
Hoye, John Tepleman, Andrew Bruce, Robert Swan. Washington County, William 
Gabby, Thomas Buchanan, Wm. Fitzhugh, John Blackford, William Price, Thos. 
C. Brent, Franklin Anderson. Anne Arundel County, Thomas Snowden, Daniel 
Murray, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Geo. Howard of Waverly. Harford 
County, Israel D. Maulsby, John Forward, George M. Gill, Alexander Norris, 
Charles S. Sewell. Baltimore County, Tobias E. Stansbury, R. T. Spence, 
Elias Brown, James Howard, John Spear Smith, George Harryman, Joseph R. 
Foard. Baltimore City, John E. Howard, Thomas Ellicott, Isaac McKim, 
George Hoffman, William Lorman, John P. Kennedy. Annapolis City, Dennis 
Claude, James Murray, J. J. Speed, Thomas H. Carroll, Jeremiah Hughes. 
Prince George's County, Sam'l Sprigg, John R. Magruder, Robert W. Bowie, 
John C. Herbert, Wm. T. Wootten, Wm. Bowie of Walter, Geo. Semmes. 
Montgomery County, Geo. C. Washington, Wm. Darne, Richard Holmes, 
Archibald Lee. St. Mary's County, John R. Plater, Peter Gough, Gerard N. 
Cassin, Joseph Stone, Enoch J. Millard, H. G. S. Key. Charles County, 
Nicholas Stonestreet, Daniel Jenifer, William D. Merrick, Gwinn Harris, 
Henry Brawner, John Fergusson. The deliberations of the convention were 
opened by Mr. Potts of Frederick county, who after a few preliminary 
remarks submitted a set of resolutions, which were concurred in. The 
committee to whom was referred the subject of internal improvement,

Page 420

and the consideration of the ways and means in their judgment best 
calculated to effect the great and common object of the people of 
Maryland, submitted a report that the practicability of a canal from 
Baltimore to intersect and unite with the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, 
thence to Pittsburg, and thence to Lake Erie, no longer admitted of a 
doubt, but should be carried out.

During the year a line of packets was established between Baltimore and 
Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans.

Messrs. D. Barnum, W. Shipley, and J. Philips, Jr., commenced to erect the 
present "Barnum's City Hotel," at the corner of Fayette and Calvert 
streets.

1826. At the election for City Councilmen in October, two gentlemen of the 
Jewish persuasion were chosen by the suffrages of a large part of the 
citizens of their several wards -- Messrs. S. Etting and J. I. Cohen. They 
were the first Jews ever elected by the people in Maryland, being until 
lately denied the rights of citizens by the Constitution of the State. Mr. 
Etting was afterwards elected President of the First Branch of the City 
Council.

The first exhibition of the Maryland Institute was held on Tuesday, 
November the 7th, at a hall in South Charles street.

On the 12th of May Mr. Beacham launched from his ship-yard a beautiful 
sixty-four gun ship for the Brazilian Government.

Soon after sunrise on the 20th of July, the tolling of the bells of the 
city announced the commencement of the ceremonies which a grateful people 
were about to offer as a testimony of their profound grief for the death 
of the illustrious fathers of the Revolution, Adams and Jefferson, who 
died at their respective homes on the fourth, at very advanced ages. The 
flags of the shipping and public places--the closed doors of all the 
mercantile establishments--the dark shrouding of the chaste and beautiful 
Battle Monument, from the beaks of whose eagles hung in sweeping folds 
large pieces of mourning drapery, conspired to raise the deepest emotions 
of sorrow for the afflictive national bereavement; and the subsequent 
solemn and impressive spectacle promoted those feelings of grief and 
respect which are the surest pledges of attachment offered, by the living 
to the memory of the dead. A procession was formed, first of a troop of 
horse: and immediately behind it followed a long line of carriages 
containing the clergy of the different denominations. Then, drawn by six 
noble black horses, with plumed heads and housings of black cloth, came 
the funeral car, bearing upon it two large fiat coffins shrouded in black, 
&c. After the car, as chief mourners, came Carroll of Carrollton, 
accompanied by Col. John E. Howard and Gen. Samuel Smith. After these came 
the State authorities; then came old grey-headed men, who could tell of 
'76 as of yesterday; then the officers of the different courts and 
municipal authorities; then society after society; then long lines of 
youths and children; then seamen, with their flags enveloped in crape; 
then came the crowd of citizens of all

Page 421

ages and conditions, filling the street from side to side, children 
leading their parents, parents leading their children; then, closing the 
procession, on came the deep ranks of soldiers. At last the head of the 
column reached Howard's Park, and turning into the Belvedere gate, wound 
through the woods until, after passing the crown of the hill, it descended 
into the natural amphitheatre below. In the centre of this, surrounded by 
twenty thousand people who looked down upon it, was the platform for the 
ceremonies; this crowd, collected under the broad shadow of the oaks, all 
looking to one object, all listening to one theme--the eulogy of Adams and 
Jefferson. At the sound of the trumpet the opening prayer was delivered by 
Bishop Soule; then followed the oration of Gen. Smith, and the ceremonies 
were concluded with a prayer by Mr. Duncan.

Col. Jacob Small is elected Mayor.

Died at his residence near Baltimore, on the 26th of September, Captain 
Robert Trail Spence, of the United States Navy. He had just been appointed 
to the command of the West India squadron. He was a polished gentleman and 
a gallant sailor. And in this city, from a fall in a warehouse, Col. Paul 
Bentalou.

By the official report this year of the managers of the Maryland 
Penitentiary, it appears that there were 340 persons confined in this 
institution. The nett capital of the institution was $203,840.18. The 
profit for the year was $12,347.12. From this latter sum, however, is to 
be deducted $8,000 paid annually by the State towards the salaries of the 
keepers, &c., which leaves a clear gain of nearly $4,500 for the year.

Luther Martin, a very distinguished lawyer who graced the bar of Maryland, 
was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1744. In 1762 he graduated at 
Princeton College with the highest honors. In 1771 or 1772 he was, through 
the aid of the distinguished George Wythe and John Randolph, admitted to 
the Virginia bar. He sojourned for a session at Williamsburg, and then 
took up his residence in Somerset, Maryland, and established rapidly a 
very lucrative practice. He continued to attract the public as an able and 
brilliant lawyer, and in 1774 he was appointed one of the convention which 
assembled at Annapolis to resist the pretensions of the mother country. In 
February, 1778, through the influence of Judge Samuel Chase, Martin was 
appointed Attorney-General of the State of Maryland. In 1794 his friend 
Judge Chase, of the Supreme Court of the United States, having been 
impeached in the House of Representatives, on charges contained in eight 
articles, for malfeasance in office, Martin defended him in connection 
with Robt. Goodloe Harper and J. Hopkinson, His argument on that occasion 
was one of the most powerful ever heard in an American court-room, and is 
still referred to with wonder. Judge Chase was acquitted. It was the 
fortune of Martin to be engaged in another cause of wider celebrity, and 
also

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again with Mr. Harper, in the trial of Aaron Burr for high treason. In 
1807 Burr was brought to trial before the Circuit Court of the United 
States at Richmond, Va., for treasonable designs, "in preparing the means 
of a military expedition against Mexico, a territory of the King of Spain, 
with whom the United States were at peace." During this memorable trial 
Martin exerted all his genius in defending Burr, who, as is well known, 
was acquitted. In 1814 Mr. Martin was appointed Chief Justice of the Court 
of Oyer and Terminer for Baltimore city and county, and held the office 
until he resigned. In 1818 he was again appointed Attorney-General of the 
State of Maryland and District Attorney for the city of Baltimore; but by 
this time the advances of age and disease had impaired his vigor and his 
intellect, so that he was unable to attend personally to his duties. His 
powers at length were shattered by a stroke of paralysis, and owing to his 
pecuniary embarrassments he removed to New York, accepting the friendly 
hospitality of Aaron Burr, who repaid the services which Martin had 
rendered him in former years, until at the age of eighty-two the 
celebrated lawyer died, on the 10th of July, 1826. It is to be regretted 
that one so gifted should have been afflicted with habits of extravagance 
and intemperance, which, while offering warnings to others, rendered his 
own life often unhappy, and in his old age clouded his noble intellect and 
reduced him to extreme penury.

1827. Upon the principles contemplated by the will of the late John 
Oliver, Esq., a lot is procured on North street by the Hibernia Society, 
and a spacious schoolhouse erected, finished and occupied accordingly.

Dr. Nathaniel R. Smith is appointed to the chair of Surgery in the Medical 
University.

Mr. William Patterson offered to the corporation, by letter dated the 24th 
of January, two squares of ground on Hampstead Hill, with additions since 
made by purchase, which is now known as "Patterson Park," for the use of 
the citizens as a public walk. On the 1st of March it was resolved to 
accept the same, and Jacob Small, Mayor, and Solomon Etting, President of 
the First Branch City Council, and Philip Moore, President of the Second 
Branch City Council, tender the thanks of the citizens through the 
corporation for his generous and liberal gift.

James Kemp, Bishop of the P. E. Church. died on the 16th of October, aged 
62 years. He was much regretted by his pastoral flock, and highly 
respected by all who knew him for his private charities, &c.

The City Council, on the 9th of January, unanimously passed a bill 
adopting the law of the Legislature relative to the establishment of 
public schools.

On Sunday morning, March 18th, a fire broke out in the warehouse of Mr. 
Webb in Howard street, which, with the warehouse adjoining, and the chief 
part of their contents, were destroyed. John Rankard and Frederick Knip 
were instantly killed by the falling of the gable end wall of one of the 
warehouses.

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On Tuesday, March 20th, subscription books were opened for stock to the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and were closed on the 31st. There were taken 
forty-one thousand seven hundred and eighty-one shares, inclusive of the 
five thousand allotted to, and taken by, the corporation of Baltimore. The 
amount of money, therefore, subscribed by this city alone was four 
millions one hundred and seventy-eight thousand dollars, divided among 
twenty-two thousand names.

On the 16th of May, the ladies of the city get up a fair in handsome style 
at the Masonic Hall, St. Paul street, for the relief of the suffering 
inhabitants of Greece, realizing over $1,600.

The Baltimore Light Infantry Company, under the command of Captain John H. 
B. Latrobe, left the city on the 29th of April on a visit to the city of 
Philadelphia, at which place they received a warm and cordial welcome. 
This company was the right-flank or first company of the 5th regiment, 
which took so distinguished a part in the defence of Baltimore during the 
attack made by the British troops in 1814, and was the first volunteer 
company of citizen soldiery who visited a neighboring city on a friendly 
visit from this city.

John Eager Howard was born on the 4th of June, 1752, in Baltimore county, 
in this State. His grandfather, Joshua Howard, an Englishman by birth, 
having while yet very young left his father's house in the vicinity of 
Manchester to join the army of the Duke of York, subsequently James II., 
during Monmouth's insurrection, was afterwards afraid to encounter his 
parent's displeasure, and came to seek his fortune in America. This was in 
the year 1685-86. He obtained a grant of the land in Baltimore county on 
which Col. Howard was born, and which is still in the family, and married 
Miss Joanna O. Carroll, whose father had lately emigrated from Ireland. 
Cornelius, one of his sons by this lady, and father of the subject of this 
brief sketch, married Miss Ruth Eager, the granddaughter of George Eager, 
whose estate adjoined and now makes a considerable part of this city. The 
Eagers came from England, probably soon after the charter to Lord 
Baltimore, but the records afford little information prior to 1668, when 
the estate near Baltimore was purchased.

John Eager Howard, not educated for any particular profession, was 
determined to that of arms by the circumstances of his country. One of the 
first measures of defence adopted by the colonies against the mother 
country was the assemblage of bodies of the militia, termed flying camps. 
One of these was formed in Maryland in 1776, and Mr. Howard was appointed 
to a captaincy in the regiment of Colonel J. Carvil Hall. His commission, 
signed by Matthew Tilghman, the President of the Convention of Maryland, 
is dated the 25th of June, 1776, a few days after he had completed his 
twenty-fourth year. This corps was dismissed, however, in December of the 
same year, Congress having required of each of the States to

Page 424

furnish a certain portion of regular troops as a more effective system of 
defence. On the organization of the seven regiments which were to be 
furnished by Maryland, Captain Howard, who had been retained by the wish 
of the commissioners empowered to appoint officers rather than his own, 
was promoted to a majority in one of them, the Fourth, under his former 
commander Colonel Hall. His commission is dated the 10th of April, 1777. 
On the 1st of June, 1779, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 
Fifth, and in the following spring he was transferred to the Sixth; and, 
finally, after the battle of Hobkirk's Hill, he succeeded to the command 
of the Second, in consequence of the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Ford, who 
never recovered of a wound received in that battle. To the services of 
Colonel Howard during these years and throughout the war, we have before 
referred. "He deserves," said Greene, "a statue of gold no less than Roman 
and Grecian heroes." "At the battle of Cowpens," says Lee, "he seized the 
critical moment, and turned the fortune of the day. He was alike 
conspicuous, though not alike successful, at Guilford and the Eutaws; and 
at all times and on all occasions eminently useful." Colonel Howard 
continued in his command till the army was disbanded, when he retired to 
his patrimonial estate near this city. He soon after married Margaret 
Chew, the daughter of Benjamin Chew, of Philadelphia; a lady whose 
courteous manners and elegant hospitality will long be remembered. In 
November, 1788. Col. Howard was chosen the Governor of Maryland, which 
post he filled for three years; and having in the autumn of 1796 been 
elected to the Senate of the United States to fill the vacancy occasioned 
by the resignation of Mr. Potts, he was the same session chosen for the 
full term of service, which expired on the 4th of March, 1803. He was 
commissioned a major-general of militia in 1794, but declined the honor. 
Washington invited him to a seat in his cabinet at the head of the War 
Department in 1795. That honor he also declined. He lost his wife in 1824; 
and on the 12th of October, 1827, he too left the scenes of this earth, at 
the age of 75 years. Honor, wealth, and the ardent love of friends were 
his lot in life, and few men ever went down to the grave more truly 
lamented than John Eager Howard. His remains were committed to the tomb, 
attended by an immense civil and military procession; and the general 
gloom that pervaded the city testified the great respect and esteem for 
his worth and services. Hon. John Quincy Adams, the President of the 
United States, being in the city, attended the funeral.

On the 14th of October President John Quincy Adams arrived in Baltimore on 
his return to the seat of government, and was induced to prolong his visit 
until Wednesday the 17th. On Tuesday morning, accompanied by a large party 
of citizens, the President visited the the battle-ground at North Point, 
and in the afternoon, from 2 o'clock until 4, received the visits of the 
citizens; among

Page 425

other visitors were the consuls of different nations, and the Rev. Mr. 
Eccleston, vice-president of St. Mary's College, attended by upwards of 
one hundred students from that institution. At four o'clock he dined with 
the Cincinnati of Maryland, and the officers and soldiers wounded in the 
battle of North Point. The entertainment was handsome and creditable to 
Mr. Barnum. From seven to nine o'clock he received the visits of his 
fellow-citizens, of whom he took leave in a brief and cordial address.

The profits of the Maryland Penitentiary for the year 1825 amounted to $12,
347.21; 1826, $12,843.28; and of this year, nearly $20,000. The corps of 
engineers detached by the General Government to survey the route of the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad left Baltimore on the 20th of November.

1828. Mr. Evan Poultney opens a banking house in Baltimore street in June, 
being the first institution of this kind opened in the city.

Messrs. Luke Tiernan, R. H. Osgood, Joshua Mezick, and others, form a 
company, and obtain a charter to make a screw dock for repairing ships' 
bottoms, the same being erected at Mr. Ramsay's wharf, Thames street, 
Fell's Point.

Messrs. Gideon Lee, Peter Cooper, Francis Price, Ely Moore, James Ramsay, 
and others of New York, and Messrs. W. Patterson, Columbus O'Donnel, 
Ebenezer Z. Finley, W. Gwynn, and others, of Baltimore, purchase the lands 
east and west of Harris's Creek, with the water rights on the north side 
of the north branch of the Patapsco, from the neighborhood of the Point to 
the Lazaretto, and obtain charter rights by the name of the Canton 
Company, of which Mr. Gwynn is chosen president.

On the opening of subscriptions in March for the Baltimore and Susquehanna 
Railroad, much more than the requisite number of shares were taken in the 
city, besides a few shares at York, although the Legislature of 
Pennsylvania had refused to aid or countenance the undertaking by a 
continuance of the contemplated road within that State.

The circular brick tower erected by the Phoenix Company for making shot, 
at the corner of Front and Fayette street, reached the intended elevation, 
being two hundred and thirty-four feet three inches high from the 
pavement. Its diameter at the bottom is forty feet, and at the top twenty. 
The stone foundation wall is ten feet thick at the bottom, and six at the 
top. The brick work, which commences at the surface, is four feet and a 
half thick, of which thickness it continues for the height of nearly fifty 
feet; when it diminishes four inches in every story, being twenty inches 
thick at the top of the parapet, three feet in height, which crowns the 
summit. This huge structure, which is an excellent piece of brick-work, 
was commenced on the second of June, 1828, and finished on the 25th of 
November same year, and was built without scaffolding.

Page 426

The celebration of the Fourth of July, and the ceremonies attending the 
commencement of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, brought to town a great 
concourse of strangers a day or two before the celebration. On the 
afternoon and evening immediately preceding, all the roads to town were 
thronged with passengers, while in the city itself, the lively and 
incessant crowds in Baltimore street; the movements of various cars, 
banners, and other decorations of trades, to their several points of 
destination; the erection of scaffolds, and the removal of window sashes, 
gave many "notes of preparation" for the ensuing fete. Fortunately, the 
morning of the fourth rose not only bright but cool, to the great comfort 
of the immense throng of spectators that, from a very early hour, filled 
every window in Baltimore street, and the pavement below, from beyond Bond 
street on the east, far west on Baltimore street extended, a distance of 
about two miles. What the numbers were we have no means of ascertaining; 
fifty to seventy thousand spectators must have been present, among the 
whole of whom was witnessed a quietness and good order seldom seen in so 
immense a multitude. The procession left Bond street a little before eight 
o'clock, and moved up Baltimore street in the order previously arranged 
and published. The good ship the "Union," completely rigged on Fell's 
Point, was on the extreme left of the line, and as the various bands of 
music, trades, and other bodies in the procession passed before it, it was 
evident from their greetings that they regarded this combined symbol of 
our confederacy and navy with especial approbation.

About ten o'clock the procession reached the spot on which the foundation 
stone of the railroad was to be placed, a field two miles and a quarter 
from town, south of the Frederick turnpike road, and near Carroll's upper 
mills on Gwynn's falls. Through the middle of this field runs, from north 
to south, a ridge of an elevation of perhaps thirty feet, in the centre 
and on the summit of which was erected a pavilion for the reception of 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the president and directors of the railroad 
company, the engineers, the mayor and city council, and the orator of the 
day. Among the guests of the pavilion were also the Speaker of the House 
of Representatives of the United States, Governor Coles of Indiana, the 
members of Congress and the Legislature, the Cincinnati and the 
Revolutionary soldiers, Col. Grenier and Gen. Devereux. On either side of 
the pavilion and along the line of the ridge was ranged the cavalry. In 
front of it towards the east, and on the brow of the ridge, was the 
excavation for the reception of the foundation stone, beneath which, and 
parallel with the ridge, lay a long and level plain in which the 
procession formed on its arrival, facing towards the pavilion. The cars 
were drawn up in a body on the left and inclining towards the rear of the 
pavilion. The Masonic bodies formed a large and hollow square round the 
first stone.

Page 427

The ceremonies were commenced with prayer by the Rev. Dr. Wyatt, Masonic 
Grand Chaplain, the vast audience uncovering their heads, when Mr. Heath, 
after an eloquent preface, read the Declaration of Independence. The 
Carrollton March, composed by Mr. Clifton, was then performed. Mr. John B. 
Morris delivered an eloquent address from the president and directors of 
the Company. Upon the conclusion of the address, two boys dressed as 
Mercuries advanced to the canopy, and prayed that the printers might be 
furnished with a copy of the remarks and address just delivered, that they 
might be printed and distributed to the people. A deputation from the 
blacksmiths' association next advanced and presented Mr. Carroll the pick, 
spade, stone-hammer and trowel, prepared by them for the occasion, and 
made an address. The deputation from the stonecutters now came forward, 
and the car containing the foundation stone was driven to the spot. While 
the stone was preparing, Mr. Carroll, accompanied by the grand marshal of 
the day and Mr. John B. Morris, and bearing in his hand the spade just 
presented, descended from the pavilion and advanced to the spot selected 
for the reception of the foundation stone, in order to strike the spade 
into the ground. He walked with a firm step and used the instrument with a 
steady hand, verifying the prediction of a song published on the morning 
of the fourth:--

"The hand that held the pen
Never falters, but again
Is employed with the spade, to assist his fellow-men."

The stone was then dexterously removed from the wagon in which it had been 
conveyed to the ground, and placed in its bed. The Grand Master, attended 
by the P. G. Chaplain of Maryland, and by the Grand Master of Pennsylvania 
and Virginia, then applied his instruments to the stone, and after handing 
them for the same purpose to the other Grand Masters, and receiving their 
favorable report, pronounced it to be "well formed, true and trusty." The 
Grand Chaplain invoked the benediction of heaven upon the success of the 
enterprise, the prosperity of the city, and the future lifo of the 
venerable man who had assisted in laying the stone. The ceremony was 
concluded in the usual manner, by pouring wine and oil and scattering corn 
upon the stone, with a corresponding invocation and response, followed by 
the grand Masonic honors.

The following inscription was on the stone:--"This stone, presented by the 
stone-cutters of Baltimore in commemoration of the commencement of the 
Baltimore and Ohio railroad, was here placed on the 4th of July, 1828, by 
the Grand Lodge of Maryland, assisted by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 
the last surviving signer of the Declaration of American Independence, and 
under the direction of the president and directors of the Railroad 
Company." On each

Page 428

side of the stone was this inscription:--"First stone of the Baltimore & 
O. R. R." In a cavity of the stone was deposited a glass cylinder 
hermetically sealed, containing a copy of the charter (the first railroad 
charter obtained in the United States) of the company as granted and 
confirmed by the States of Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the 
newspapers of the day, together with a scroll containing these words:

"This stone is deposited in commemoration of the commencement of the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, a work of deep and vital interest to the 
American people. Its accomplishment will confer the most important 
benefits upon this nation, by facilitating its commerce, diffusing and 
extending its social intercourse, and perpetuating the happy union of the 
confederated States. The first meeting of the citizens of Baltimore to 
confer upon the adoption of proper measures for undertaking this 
magnificent work, was on the 2d day of February, 1827. An Act of 
incorporation by the State of Maryland was granted February 28th, 1827, 
and was confirmed by the State of Virginia March 8th, 1827. Stock was 
subscribed to provide funds for its execution, April 1st, 1827. The first 
board of directors was elected April 23d, 1827. The company was organized 
April 24th, 1827. An examination of the country was commenced under the 
direction of Lieut.-Col. Stephen H. Long, and Capt. William G. McNeill, U. 
S. topographical engineer's, and William Howard, U. S. civil engineer, 
assisted by Lieuts. Barney, Trimble, and Dillehunt, of the U. S. 
artillery, and Mr. Harrison, July 2d, 1827. The actual surveys to 
determine the route were begun by the same officers, with the additional 
assistance of Lieuts. Cook, Gwynn, Hazzard, Fessenden, and Thompson, and 
Mr. Guion, Nov. 20th, 1827. The charter of the company was confirmed by 
the State of Pennsylvania, February 22d, 1828. The State of Maryland 
became a stockholder in the company, by subscribing for half a million 
dollars of its stock, March 6th, 1828. And the construction of the road 
was commenced July 4th, 1828, under the management of the following named 
Board of Directors:--Philip Evan Thomas, president; Charles Carroll of 
Carrollton. William Patterson, Robert Oliver, Alexander Brown, Isaac 
McKim, William Lorman, George Hoffman, John B. Morris, Talbot Jones, 
William Stewart, Solomon Etting, Patrick Macauley; George Brown, 
treasurer." A national salute was then fired by the artillery stationed on 
a neighboring hill to the north. At night a display of fire-works took 
place on Federal Hill.

In December, Mr. Ross Winans (then of new Jersey) exhibited in Baltimore 
the model of a rail wagon running upon its way, weighing, as is stated, 
about 125 lbs. On this little wagon were deposited 5 cwt., or ten "fifty-
sixes," on these two men were many times placed, and the whole was drawn 
by a piece of twine or pack-thread playing over a pulley, by which a half 
pound weight was suspended, and which was publicly handled by many 
gentlemen,

Page 429

among whom was the venerable Carroll of Carrollton. Thus, this piece of 
pack-thread and half-pound power several hundred times drew across a large 
room the car weighing 125 lbs., 10 fifty-sixes, 560 lbs., and two persons 
300 lbs.--total 985 lbs.

On the 4th of July the rival enterprise of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 
in which this State is greatly interested, was commenced with similar 
ceremonies, President Adams himself first breaking ground.

Died on the 29th of January, in the 60th year of his age, the Most Rev. 
Ambrose Mareschal, Archbishop of Baltimore. He was a man universally 
esteemed for his piety, benevolence and learning; tolerant in his 
principles, he respected the religious tenets of others, and was only 
anxious to excel in doing good.

In addition to the Baltimore and Ohio and Baltimore and Susquehanna 
Railroad Companies, two lines of steamboats were established this year, 
one to Washington and Alexandria, and the other between this city, 
Norfolk, Petersburg, and Richmond, Va.

The winter of 1827--8 being exceedingly mild, and no ice being made in the 
neighborhood, many full cargoes were received for sale from several ports 
in Maine, and proved profitable; this was the first introduction of 
Northern ice in this city.

It being known that the Hon. Henry Clay would arrive in Baltimore on 
Monday, May the 12th, the steamboat Patuxent, crowded with citizens, 
proceeded down the river to meet the boat United States. When the boats 
approached each other, and it was ascertained that Mr. Clay was a 
passenger, nine cheers from the Patuxent gave to that gentleman the first 
intimation of the presence of so many of his friends. The Patuxent now 
changed her course, and taking the lead of the United States, afforded the 
committee and citizens an opportunity of being on the wharfs to receive 
Mr. Clay a his landing. Mr.Clay landed in the presence of a dense crowd, 
and was immediately conducted to Barnum's Hotel. The next day, from 11 
o'clock in the morning until 2, and from 7 until 9 in the evening, he 
received the visits of all who were pleased to call upon him, and during, 
these five hours there was one continued throng of people passing through 
the room which he occupied. Mr. Clay having declined a public dinner, 
partook of one in company with the committee who attended upon him, and 
the chairmen of committees of the several wards.

On Monday, May 26th, General Swift and George Winchester left Baltimore to 
make a reconnoissance of the country between this city and the 
Susquehanna, preparatory to the commencement of a survey for the proposed 
Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad. On the following day Wm. F. Small, 
civil engineer, left the city for the same purpose.

Baltimore was visited by a violent storm on the evening of Wednesday, June 
4th. The peals of thunder were tremendous, and for several hours incessant 
flashes of lightning illuminated the

Page 430

heavens, while the rain poured down in torrents. The lightning struck at 
least twenty different points, but did not cause any material injury. 
Between the Severn and Patapsco rivers some hail as large as hen-eggs were 
picked up; one measured five and a half inches in circumference some 
considerable time aider it was found. In Calvert County a colored man 
exposed to the hail was so much hurt as to occasion his death.

A numerous meeting of the citizens of Baltimore was held at the assembly-
room of the Fountain Inn, November 26th, in pursuance of public notice, to 
memorialize Congress to abolish auctions and auctioneers. Mr. Philip E. 
Thomas was called to the chair, and John T. Burr and Even Poultney were 
appointed secretaries. Mr. George Warner, Hugh W. Evans, John T. Burr, Wm. 
Norris, and Daniel Raymond were appointed a committee to prepare a 
memorial to Congress, which was done.

For several years previous to 1826, a number of intelligent and zealous 
citizens of Baltimore feeling great solicitude for the education of the 
rising generation, determined to make provision for establishing a system 
of public instruction. These generous men gave all their energies and 
feelings to the cause, and enlisted in its behalf an influence that 
procured the passage of a law by the Legislature of the State, in February 
of the year 1826, authorizing the city of Baltimore to establish a system 
of public schools. In 1827 the City Council took some favorable action in 
the matter, but no schools were put in operation until the year 1829, when 
four schools were opened, one male and one female in the eastern, and the 
same number in the western part of the city. The first one was opened on 
the 24th of September. These schools were opened in rented houses entirely 
unfitted for the purpose, and very slender means were furnished the 
commissioners for their support; nevertheless they succeeded to the 
satisfaction of their friends. In the years 1838 and 1839, many 
modifications and improvements were made in the school system. The 
monitorial method, which had heretofore been pursued in the schools, was 
abolished, and assistant teachers appointed; a more extensive course of 
instruction was adopted, and the central high school established. In the 
years from 1840 to 1843, five additional schools were added to the system. 
In 1844 a building was purchased for the use of the central high school; 
two female high schools were established, one in the eastern and one in 
the western part of the city. In 1847 female teachers were employed in the 
male schools with decided success. Primary schools were opened in 1848, 
and the public schools first established were elevated to the grade of 
grammar schools, and suitable studies were introduced into them. During 
the years 1849 and 1850, nine primary schools were established, and 
additional accommodations and conveniences were furnished for male and 
female grammar schools already in operation.