The Ernest A. Howard Cecil County Genealogy and History Fact File

 

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ACADIANS IN CECIL COUNTY

 

Arcadia was a French colony ceded to England by the Treaty of Utrecht and renamed Nova Scotia. In order to reduce the French influence, England in May 1755 deported about 6000 Arcadians to the American Colonies. For several years some 40 of them lived at Fredericktown and were sent to Louisiana at public expense. (Johnson 260)

 

ADDITION

 

This was the name of the farm near Woodlawn on which Dr. Richard Brookings was born in 1807. It is now owned by Mrs. A. C. Sherrard, Sr. When he was 38 he married Mary Carter, age 18, daughter of Robert Carter of Walnut Hill. Their son, Robert Somers Brookings, was born January 22, 1850. Dr. Brookings died January 9, 1852, and he and his wife are buried in St. Mary Anne’s cemetery.

 

Editor’s note: Richard Somers Brookings founded the Brookings Institute in Washington, D. C.

 

THE ANCHORAGE

 

A brick and frame farmhouse on Augustine Herman Highway [Rt. 213] one and one-half miles north of Cecilton. The original part was built in 1735 by the Lusby family. The house was the home of Commodore Jacob Jones (1768-1850), who married Miss Ruth Lusby.

 

ANDORA

 

A village on Maryland 280 about six miles north of Elkton. It is pleasantly situated overlooking the valley of Little Elk Creek. The present name was adopted in 1853, although the original name of Poplar Hill is still heard. The elevation is 350 feet above sea level.

 

Editor’s note: The ACD street map (2005) shows a Poplar Hill Lane in Andora.

 

ANNA CATHERINE NECK

 

The name given to a tract of land of 400 acres at the mouth of Principio Creek taken up and patented on July 20,1658, by William Carpender. It was described as butting on Bay Head (now Principio) Creek. This is believed to be the first permanent settlement in Cecil County (Johnston 27)

 

ANTEGO

 

A farm on Deaver Road about one mile southwest of Leeds lying close to the B&O railroad. The name is said to be of Indian origin. The farm was once owned by Judge James McCauley. The sandy soil is well adapted to the production of truck crops.

 

APPLETON

 

As far back as 1792 this place was known as Dysart’s and later as Fox Chase and a tavern there bore the name Seven Stars. When a post office was established in July 1881 it was given the name Appleton by Mrs. Mary Kimble, who was the first postmaster. (Francis A. Cooch 1936)

 

ARK HAVEN

 

A village in the northwestern corner of Cecil County near the Pennsylvania line where boats entered the Maryland Canal from the Susquehanna River and were towed to Port Deposit. It was submerged in 1927 when the [area behind] Conowingo Dam was flooded.

 

ARUNDEL CREEK

 

The name formerly applied to the small stream which transverses the southern edge of the town of North East; now commonly known as the run.

 

BACK NECK CREEK

 

The area on the east side of Elk River between Perch Creek on the north and Back Creek on the south, in which are located such developments as Locust Point, Blair Shore, and Elk Forest.

 

BALD FRIAR

 

A small village on the Susquehanna River, a short distance below the Lancaster [County] border. A ferry was kept there at one time by a bald-headed man named Fry, from which fact it was called Bald Fry’s Ferry. On April 12, 1781, Lafayette’s army crossed the river in scows at Bald Friar en route to Virginia. (Johnson 345)

 

BALLINTEMPLE FARM

 

The modern name of Cherry Grove, birthplace of Governor Veazey in Veasey Neck at the junction of the Bohemia and Elk Rivers. The Governor lies buried in the family burial plot in front of the long frame house.

 

BARKSDALE

 

This crossroads village in the 4th district was called Barksdale after a way station on the B&O Railroad was named for Hamilton M. Barksdale, who was in charge of construction of the railroad through the county in 1883-4. Mr. Barksdale was later a vice president of the DuPont Company.

 

BARNES CORNER

 

This is the development midway between Farmington and Colora where Maryland Route 269 is intersected by Route 276 from Rising Sun.

 

BASIN RUN

 

A small stream which joins Octoraro Creek at Rowlandsville and forms the boundary between the 6th and 7th election districts. It rises from the Indian Queen spring and was called Beason’s Run on a plat surveyed by Samuel Maffitt about 1722.

 

BATTLE SWAMP

 

A small village on the old Philadelphia & Baltimore Turnpike (now Md. Route 276), three miles east of Port Deposit. In 1853 it boasted a post office (Woodlawn), a large granite hotel, coach shop, blacksmith and wheelwright shop, and several dwellings. [See Cecil Democrat advertisement for sale of tavern and store, prior to January 31, 1865].

 

Editor’s note: Battle Swamp tavern was at the site as early as 1812. Battle, according to the Oxford English dictionary is a term, now obsolete, for fodder or grasses used for grazing livestock, and this is likely the meaning for the name. The identification of the area as Battle Swamp has become infrequent, and the ACD Street Map Book of Cecil County (2005 edition does not show Battle Swamp. The National Geologic Map database recognizes Battle Swamp as the unofficial name of Woodlawn (database search: May 31, 2007).

 

BAYARD HOUSE

 

This hostelry was at the corner of Front Street and Bohemia Avenue in Chesapeake City, according to 1877 Atlas of Cecil County. Captain Firman Lyman was the proprietor at that time. He kept the choicest wines and liquors constantly on hand and served salt water oysters in every style.

 

Editor’s note: The Bayard House is now a restaurant.

 

BEAUFORT FARM

 

This property, originally known as Ford’s Landing, is at the west end of Veasey’s Neck in the First District, affording a fine view of Elk River. It was named for Richard Ford and his wife, Elinor, who settled there about 1696. Steamboats plying between Baltimore and Philadelphia stopped at Ford’s Landing. The present owner is James Stanley Frazer.

 

 

BEER’S CORNER

 

This was the early name for the present village of Barksdale, which is the first crossroads north of the B&O railroad tracks. It is in the 4th District and has an elevation of 209 feet. The Milburn orchards are near Barksdale.

 

BEAVAN FARM

 

This farm is on the road from Port Deposit (Rock Run) to Liberty Grove and is now owned by Mr. Isaac Rehert. In the Beavan burying ground on the farm lies Capt. James Christie, who was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, on June 2, 1784, and died Sept. 14, 1820. He was an officer in the War of 1812.

 

BELLECONNELL

 

A tract of 2000 acres at head of Elk patented in April 1683 to George Talbot. It extended from Big Elk Creek, which was its western boundary, to the top of Gray’s Hill.

 

BENDY HOUSE

A log House which stood near the head of Persimmon Run, east of Cowantown, in the 4th District. It was reputed to be the house of Andrew Jackson’s father, who emigrated to North Carolina prior to the Revolutionary War. (Johnson 292)

 

Editor’s note: No evidence supports this claim.

 

BETHEL CHURCH (MP)

 

This church is in a clearing in woods west of Marysville on Maryland 272. It was deeded to a Methodist Protestant congregation on April 4, 1872, and was part of the old Cecil Circuit.  It is now a station on Bay View charge. The building is covered with aluminum siding and a cemetery adjoins the church. (Visited 10/29/1968)

 

BETHESDA M. P. CHURCH

 

The former Bethesda Church is at Oakwood in the 8th District. A church was organized here by Methodist Protestants in 1858 and the building was erected about 1894. After being closed for several years, it was reopened, enlarged, and is now Oakwood Mennonite Church. The well-kept Bethesda cemetery is nearby. (Visited 8/28/1967)

 

BIG ELK CHAPEL

 

Big Elk Chapel is at Flounder’s Corner about one mile east of Andora, where Chapel road crosses Gallaher road. It was built in 1877 when a congregation was formed in the neighborhood as a result of a revival conducted by the Rev. John France, who was then pastor of Cherry Hill M. E. Church.

 

BLACK ROCK PROPERTY

 

This property was situated on East Main Street in Elkton between the present library building and Church Street. In 1859 it comprised a dwelling, a store kept by W. McClelland, and a large lot along Church Street. It was selected as the site for the new Methodist church but terms of the purchase were not acceptable. (Cecil Democrat 7/16/1859)

 

Editor’s note: The “present library” is the old library location and the current location of the Historical Society of Cecil County, 135 East Main Street.

 

BLACKENSTIN’S FOREST

 

A tract of land containing 209 acres surveyed for Mathias Vanbibber of May 8, 1722, described as “near the crossroad from Frenchtown to New Castle and the old county road.” (From Rent Rolls of Cecil County, Calvert papers No, 884, folio 164.) (Letter in Baltimore Sun, September 1, 1969)

 

BLOOMINGDALE

 

This farm of 465 acres of land is on the Sassafras River near Cecilton and was originally called Hawse Neck (colloquially, Hall’s Neck). The three-story sixteen-room house was built in 1846 by Thomas Chandler Cruikshank of bricks made on the farm. The present owner’s are Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Cook. (1968)

 

BLAKE

Also known as Fair View, this place was named for George A. Blake, Elkton attorney, when a post office was opened April 2, 1898, with James M. Ewing as postmaster. He was succeeded by Miss Elsie Wherry on April 20, 1901. The office was discontinued July 31, 1908 and mail sent to the Childs office. (Murray J. Ewing 5/20/40)

 

Editor’s Note: The ADC Street Atlas of Cecil County (2005 edition) refers to the village as Blake and the road approaching it from the south as Fairview road.

 

BLUEBALL TAVERN

A long two-and-a-half story stone inn established on the Nottingham Lots about 1710 by Andrew Job, a Quaker. It was operated as an inn until 1866. The tavern is now occupied by James H. Mendenhall, who conducts a country store there. Blue Ball is 8 miles northwest of Elkton on Route 273.

 

BOHEMIA ACADEMY

 

This school was established at St. Francis Xavier Church by Father Thomas Pulton in 1745-46 and was conducted by Jesuit priests. It was intended to afford an elementary education to sons of Catholic colonists who were sent abroad to complete their studies. As many as 20 boys boarded at the academy at one time.

 

BOHEMIA AVENUE HOUSE

 

See May 6, 1899 ad (Cecil Democrat?)

 

BOHEMIA LANDING

This landing was near the junction of the two branches of Bohemia River and only a few miles from navigable water of Appoquinimink Creek. In 1715 the colonial assembly decreed that all liquors imported into Maryland should be brought to Bohemia Landing, where a duty of 3 pence a gallon was collected for many years. (Johnston 197)

 

BOHEMIA

The plantation of 1100 acres on Bohemia River was bought in 1827 by Louis McLane, who in 1812 had married Mary Catherine. Mr. McLane was a distinguished lawyer. He was Secretary of State under President Jackson. He left public life in 1837 to become president of the B&O Railroad. The McLanes had 13 children.

 

Editor’s note: One of McLane’s daughters married Confederate General Joseph Johnston

 

BOHEMIA BRIDGE COMPANY

 

This company was incorporated by the legislature in January 1853, with eight commissioners. A contract was awarded to David Palmer, of Chesapeake City, to build the bridge for $20, 700. Work was finally started in July 1867 and the completed bridge was open to travel on November 16, 1867.

 

BOHEMIA MILLS

 

Located on Sandy Branch road at Great Bohemia Creek close to the Delaware line. It appears as T. C. Murphy’s grist mill in the Atlas of 1877. The mill was later owned by Lakes and by Harry Davidson when it burned. A post office was opened here on April 5, 1854, and discontinued May 3, 1866. John Walston was the first postmaster.

 

BOHEMIA VILLAGE

 

This name was applied to a settlement on the banks of Back Creek which developed into Chesapeake City when work was started on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. It was the shipping terminus for sailing vessels from Baltimore and other southern ports.

 

BOTTLING ESTABLISHMENT

 

A plant for bottling mineral waters was in active operation in Elkton, “near the bridge,” prior to the Civil War. The owner claimed it was doing a large business, but his attorney, Hiram McCullough, advertised it for sale in the Cecil Democrat of June 1860 (page 2, col. 6).

 

BRANTWOOD

A farm of 680 acres on Augustine Herman Highway [213] two miles south of Elkton. The 18-room house was built before 1750 and was remodeled in 1829. Originally known as Wallace’s Good Design. It was renamed by Frank E. Williams for the English home of John Ruskin. The present owner is Wallace Williams Jr.

 

Editor’s note: Brantwood Golf Course marks the area and retains the name.

 

BOULDEN’S CHAPEL

 

Bouden’s Chapel is on Nottingham Road near the old Eder station on the B&O railroad. It was founded by and named for Mrs. Ann Boulden, and dedicated Nov. 19, 1871. The chapel was conveyed from the Peninsula Methodist Conference to the Church of the Nazarene in March 1957.

 

BREWSTER’S BRIDGE

 

Brewster’s bridge spans the Big Elk Creek on Devinney Road west of Barksdale. The new bridge cost $235,000 and was opened to traffic in November 1972. It replaced an old bridge which had been closed for several years.

 

BREWSTER’S MILL

 

This was a four-story stone factory on the Big Elk Creek at Elk Mills in which John Brewster manufactured cotton goods after the Civil War. The bare walls of the old factory were razed in 1971 after standing for many years as a grim reminder of another of the county’s lost industries.

 

BRICKLEYTOWN

 

The name by which the village of Farmington was originally known. Farmington is on Maryland 274 about two miles southeast of Rising Sun. The elevation is 380 feet.

 

BROAD CREEK CHURCH

 

A Presbyterian church established in 1720 at the head of Broad Creek on Bohemia Manor by settlers from New Munster. The church was east of the site of the former Bethel Methodist church at Pivot Bridge. The creek from which the church derived its name was obliterated by construction of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

 

BROXON’S POINT

The junction of Scotchman’s Creek and Bohemia River. In May 1730 the General Assembly passed an act for laying out and erecting a town at this placed called Ceciltown. Scotchman’s Creek was then called Omealy Creek.

 

BUCKWHEAT RUN

The beginning of Little North East creek which flows eastward across Blue Ball road near where Reynolds’s mill stood. A covered bridge with a 30 foot span was built here in 1860.

 

BULL’S HEAD HOTEL

 

A hotel on North Street in Elkton opened by former sheriff Robert M. Walmsley on October 1, 1862. His bar served the finest liquors and his stables accommodated 25 horses. It was patronized by soldiers during the Civil War. The property at 310 North Street is now owned by Mrs. Gladys Swift Miller.

 

Editor’s note: Bull’s Head was recently (within the last 4 or 5 years) torn down by the town for a parking area.

 

BUTTERMAN’S HILL

 

A hill on the west side of Little Elk Creek a short distance north of the site of Harlan’s binder-board mill. It is said to contain a deposit of stealite (soapstone) which was used by Indians in making pottery. The elevation is about 160 feet.

 

Editors Note: The name is not in the Geological Map database (Search conducted May 31, 2007).

 

CABIN JOHN CREEK

 

In 1682 the legislature passed an act providing for two towns or ports in each county in Maryland. One place named in Cecil was Cabin John’s Creek, a small bay between Veasey and Pearce Necks. (Johnson 254). In time this became “Cappin” or Cabin John Creek.

 

CANDLE MANUFACTORY

 

A candle manufactory in conjunction with a bakery was operated in Elkton E. Estes in a log and frame structure which stood at the corner of North and Whig streets. The period cannot be determined. His daughter, Emma Estes, married William T. Giles, who later conducted a restaurant in the old building, which became a historic landmark.

 

CARA COVE

 

Formerly known as Garrett Cove and Carrot Cove, a farm on the east side of North East River about five miles south of the town of North East. As early as 1785 this small bay was called Roach’s Cove.

 

CARTER’S SCHOOL

 

A unique octagonal stone schoolhouse at Carter’s Bank known as 8-Corner School. In was built by Robert Carter in 1820. In the county school system Carter’s was No. 9 in the 4th District. Due to a shift in the population Carter’s was superseded in 1886 by a new frame two-room building at Andora.

 

CATHER’S CORNER

 

Junction of Rising Sun road (Rt. 276) with old Baltimore & Philadelphia Turnpike, about one mile northeast of Hopewell Church. The Cathers were an old family in Cecil County. Ann Cather was married to John Robinson on November 11, 1781.

 

CASH CORNER

 

Junction about one mile east of Cecilton (Rt. 282) from Warwick and Ward’s Hill road from Head of Sassafras. The elevation is 83 feet.

 

CAYOT’S CORNER

 

The intersection of Augustine Highway (Rt. 213) and the Town Point Road (Rt. 310) about two miles south of Chesapeake City. It was named for Jacques Cayot (1806-1889), a Frenchman, who owned a farm there. This crossroads was also known as Hudson’ Corner and Kale’s Corner.

 

Editor’s note: The name change from Hudson’s Corner to Cayot’s Corner occurs in the period between 1858 [Martinet map] and 1877 [Cecil County Atlas]. The entry for Massey’s Corner indicates that this was yet other name for this corner.

 

CECIL COUNTY NEWS

 

This weekly newspaper was started on September 1, 1880, by Dr. James H. Frazer, who sold it to Daniel Bratton in1889. When Mr. Britton died in April 1895, his brother, William D. Bratton took over as editor and continued to publish the paper until December 23, 1936, when he retired.

 

Editor’s note: Hardcopies and microfilm copies are available at the historical society.

 

CECIL COUNTY RAILROAD COMPANY

 

This company was chartered by the Maryland Assembly on March 6, 1850 for the purpose of constructing a railroad from North East to some point in Pennsylvania. Books were opened on February 16, 1852 at North East and Brick Meeting House to receive subscriptions to the capital stock, but prospective investors were wary.

 

CECIL COUNTY SPCA

 

This society was formed early in 1969 by Mrs. Samuel DuPont, and an animal shelter was built on Rt. 213 south of Cayot’s Corner. On July 1, 1969 the management of the county’s canine population was taken over by the SPCA from the county commissioners. Dr. Leroy H. Manlove was the first president of the society.

 

CECIL CROSSROADS

 

This was the original name for the present Cecilton. The first house was built by James Morgan, who was born and lived at what is now known as Wickwire.

 

CECIL GAZETTE

 

This weekly newspaper was started in Elkton in September 1834 and was published and edited by Henry Bosee. It was 24 x 32 inches in size. The paper was neither popular nor prosperous and was sold in February 1840 to Thomas M. Coleman, who changed its name to the Cecil Democrat and Farmers’ Journal.

 

Editor’s note: The Cecil Democrat and Farmers’ Journal shortened its name to Cecil Democrat and ceased publication in 1981. Copies of these newspapers are available on microfilm at the historical society.

 

CECIL MANUFACTURING COMPANY

 

This company was organized in 1794 and erected a large factory on Little Elk Creek at New Leeds for the manufacture of woolen and cotton goods. Col. Henry Hollingsworth was a large stockholder. The stone factory was sold in 1826 to Robert Carter, who converted it into a paper mill. The mill was destroyed by fire on January 11, 1853.

 

CECIL NATIONAL BANK

 

The Cecil National Bank of Port Deposit was founded May 1, 1850, with Jacob Tome, President and Allen Anderson, Cashier. The original capital stock was $25,000, which was soon increased to $100,000. When the bank entered the national system on July 1, 1865, the capital stock was increased to $300,000.

 

CECIL PAPER MILL

 

Cecil Paper Mill on Little Elk Creek about six miles north of Elkton was built in 1816 by Robert Carter, who came from Delaware County, Pa. For 20 years this mill made all the paper used in printing the Baltimore Sun. It was continued by his sons, Joseph and I. Day Carter. The mill was destroyed by fire December 19, 1900.

 

CECILTON ACADEMY

 

In 1816 the General Assembly authorized a lottery to build a schoolhouse in Cecilton. Six managers were to raise $20,000 to be used for erection and support of the Cecilton Academy under direction of its trustees. No evidence was found to show that the money was raised or any school opened.

 

THE CECIL TELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH CO.

 

Was incorporated January 26, 1891 with a capital of $2,000. Charles G. Wells was president and Charles H. Smith was treasurer. The lines of the company covered 40 miles in the county and were to be extended rapidly. It was soon taken over by the Diamond State Telephone Company.

 

CEDAR HILL SEMINARY

 

This private school for young ladies was near Port Deposit and was under the management of Miss M. R. Heckart. In 1884 it had a large enrollment of boarding students.

 

CECILTON, THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT

 

See Cecil Democrat, September 15, 1888, page 3, column 5 (I column)

 

CENTRAL COURANT

 

This paper was started in Port Deposit in March 1833 by L. A. Wilmer, who had worked as a printer on the Elkton Press. It was 15 ½ x 21 ½ and was $1 per annum. It was published as late as November 1834, but how much longer is not known. After its demise Mr. Wilmer became connected with the Saturday Evening Post. (Johnson 465)

 

CHARLESTOWN

 

Charlestown was laid out in 1742 and named for Charles Calvert, 3rd Lord Baltimore. The original plot contained 200 acres and it was to be a state metropolis with wide streets, a public square, and a market house. The hopes of the incorporators were never realized. The county court and a jail were situated at Charlestown from 1882 to 1787.

 

CHERRY GROVE

 

The ancestral home of Governor Thomas Ward Veasey (1836 – 39) in Veasey Neck. The first owner of the place was John Veasey who emigrated from Essex County, England in 1687.

 

 

CHERRY HILL, ELKTON, & CHESAPEAKE CITY ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM

 

This imaginary public utility was incorporated by the Maryland General Assembly in March 1896. The Senate passed a bill transferring to the new company the sum of $58,000 which had been appropriated in 1894 to the Elkton & Southern Railroad, but the House refused to concur and the money was left standing to the credit of the E&S RR.

 

CHERRY TREE CORNER

 

Intersections of Sandy Branch Road by Middle Neck Road on the division line between the 1st and 2nd districts one quarter mile west of the Delaware line.

 

Editors Note: Cherry Tree Corner is not in the ADC Street Atlas of Cecil County and is not in the U. S. Geological Map database (Database search: May 31, 2007).

 

CHESAPEAKE CITY NATIONAL BANK

 

This bank opened for business July 1, 1903 with a paid-in capital of $25,000. The first president was Jos. H. Steele and the cashier was John Banks. It was absorbed on May 9, 1922, by the Elkton Banking & Trust Company which increased its capital from $100,000 to $125,000 and sold the new stock at $75 a share.

 

CHESAPEAKE CHESAPIKE

 

This was the name of a newspaper founded in Chesapeake City in 1876 by Henry Moss, who sold it to Dr. D. H. B. Brower in 1878. Dr. Brower changed the name to the Chesapeake Record and published the paper until he moved to North East and began publication of the North East Record on December 21, 1878.

 

CHESAPEAKE CITY

 

Formerly known as the Divided City of Cecil County. (includes some history) Cecil Democrat, June 27, 1903, p. 1, cols. 6-7

 

CHILDS

 

Originally known as Spring Hill, Childs became a station on the B & O Railroad and was named for George W. Childs, one time editor of the Philadelphia Ledger, who owned and operated the Marley paper Mill close by.

 

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN

 

Immanuel Church of the Brethren off Maryland 213 on Frenchtown Road was opened in January 1963. The main auditorium of the red brick building seats 160 people. The Church of the Brethren originated in Germany in 1708 and was imported to America between 1717 and 1720.

 

CHURCH CREEK                                                                                                            

 

In 1698 the vestry of St. Stephen’s Church agreed to build a chapel of ease on the west side of Elk River, and for this purpose purchased from Peter Lawson one acre of land in St. John’s Manor in Elk Neck. It was described as lying upon Church Creek, which was so called because the chapel was near it.

 

THE CHURCH OF GOOD SHEPHERD

 

The Roman Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd is at the intersection of Route 40 and Aiken Avenue in Perryville. It is under the Diocese of Wilmington and the pastors serve mission churches of St. Theresa in Port Deposit, St. Agnes in Rising Sun, and St. Patrick in Pilottown. The parish headquarters was transferred from Port Deposit to Perryville in May 19, 1954.

 

CHURCH POINT

 

Point at the head of North East where St. Mary Anne’s Church is located.

 

CHURCHTOWN

 

Early name for the present village of St. Augustine, three miles south of Chesapeake City. It was the location of the original Manor Chapel and a later brick church, around which the Hessian troops encamped in August, 1777. The present frame church was restored in 1964 at a cost of $60,000.

 

CLAYFALL

 

A historic tract of land owned by Francis Clay which included a large part, if not all, of Carpenter’s Point Neck. The first settlers were English traders with the Susquehannock Indians. Clay Fall was bought by Captain Jeremiah Baker in 1784.

 

CLUNN’S MILL

 

This mill was in Sassafras Neck on Hall Creek, on the road from Fredericktown to Pedler’s Lane, and about one mile from the former place. It was equipped with two pairs of burrs – one for wheat and one for corn. The property was sold on December 9, 1868 to John B. Lewis for $1000.

 

COKESBURY

 

Present name of site on U. S. 222 formerly known as Hawkinsville between Craigstown and Port Deposit. One of the oldest Negro churches in the country is located there. It was founded in 1790 and is now affiliated with the Peninsula Methodist Conference.

 

COLLEGE GREEN

 

College Green (or Greenhurst) on the Ebenezer Church Road, was the home of Dr. John Beard, who erected a building there which he proposed to give to the College of New Jersey. He was a graduate of Oxford University and pastor of West Nottingham Presbyterian Church from 1762 to 1771.

 

Editor’s Note: The U. S. Geological Map database identifies College Green as the unofficial name of Farmington (search conducted May 31, 2007. The ADC Street Atlas of Cecil County (2005) identifies Greenhurst, College Green, and Farmington as three separate villages in the same area (Map 4).

 

COLORA

 

Colora was added to the nomenclature of Cecil County when the word was coined by Lloyd Balderston as a name for the farm he bought in February 1841. It is derived from the Latin words culmen, a ridge, and aura, a breeze, and is descriptive of the farm’s topography. The name was later applied to the railroad station and post office.

 

CONCORD

 

This name was given to the area along Maryland’s Route 310 between Cayot’s Corner and St. Augustine Church.

 

Editor’s note: The name appears on the 1858 Martinet map, and the 1877 County Atlas. The name is not identified in that area on the ADC Street Map of Cecil County, 2005. The U. S. Geological Map database identifies Concord as a historic place name (39º 29’ 20”N and 75º 50’ 18” W – database searched May 31, 2007).

 

CONOWINGO BRIDGE

 

The first Conowingo Bridge was built about 1820 and carried away by a flood in 1846. It was reopened in 1859. Part of the bridge was burned in 1907 and again rebuilt. It was finally destroyed by dynamite in 1928 to make way for the Conowingo Dam. Conowingo is an Indian word meaning “at the rapids.”

 

Editor’s note: There is an 1889 photograph of the Conowingo Bridge, a covered bridge. The 1907 replacement was metal and several pictures including a picture of its destruction are in the archives.

 

CONTENTION RUN

 

A small stream originating in the woods above Cedar Hill and flowing eastward into the Little Elk Creek near a sharp curve in the road between Carter’s Bank and Providence Mill.

 

Editor’s Note: Not identified on the ADC Street Atlas of Cecil County (2005), nor listed on the U. S. Geological Map database (database search May 31, 2007).

 

COPSON PARK

 

An area at the southern end of the bridge over the B&O railroad tracks at Leslie where the Church of the Nazarene held annual camp meetings. It was named for John Copson, who acquired a tract of land at Gilpin’s Falls from Joseph Gilpin in 1735.

 

Editor’s Note: The National Local Preachers’ Camp Meeting Association also held camp meetings at this site up to around 1919.

 

COPSON’S PASTURE

 

A farm of 180 acres on the old road (Maryland 7) between North East and Charlestown about a half mile from the North East River. It was advertised to be sold on June21, 1860, by J. T. McCullough and George Earle, trustees. The occupant was Benj. B. Sweet. (See Democrat June 2, 1860).

 

CORNER KETCH

 

This is the original name of the crossroads intersection of the Colora and Harrisville roads just north of West Nottingham Church. James Brown, a Quaker, located there in 1701. The elevation is 386 feet above sea level.

 

COUNTY FAIR

 

The first fair of the Cecil County Agricultural Society was held in Elkton on 3-6 October1880, and continued annually until 1897. Large premiums were offered for livestock, and there were bicycle, horse, mule and ox races, balloon ascensions, and a tournament on the third day.

 

COUNTY OFFICE BUILDING

 

The Cecil County Office Building was dedicated on 10 August 1967. Construction of the building was started on October 5, 1965. The contractor was the F. G. Krapf Company of Wilmington, Delaware. It contains 45,563 square feet of space and cost approximately $1,350,000.

 

COURT HOUSE POINT

 

A projection on the south bank of Elk River directly opposite Oldfield Point. It was the site of the second county seat, 1719 to 1782 and the terminus of the Elk ferry.

 

COURTHOUSE (PRIOR TO 1886)

 

References: “The Old Courthouse. Interesting Reminiscence by a Prominent Citizen. One column article in the Democrat, October 23, 1886, page 3, column 5; article on the history of the Cecil County Courthouse, the Democrat, July 24, 1886, page 3, column 3 carries a 1 1/3 column article.

 

CRAWFORD’S FACTORY

 

A stone mill 30 x 60, two and one half stories high, on Big Elk Creek near Leslie, in which woolen goods were manufactured. At one time it was known as Whitehead’s Mill. Includes an ad from June 10, 1865 (newspaper not cited, most likely Cecil Democrat)

 

Editor’s note: Bulletin #48 has an article on Crawford’s factory.

 

CRESWELL’S FERRY

 

As early as 1729 Thomas Cresap had a ferry at Port Deposit called Smith’s Ferry, probably because it was at the highest point reached by Captain John Smith on the Susquehanna River. It was afterwards called Creswell’s Ferry when owned by Colonel John Creswell, the grandfather of General J. A. J. Creswell. (Johnson 393)

 

CROMWELL

 

Location of a post office on the road from Warburton’s Mill to Union Church in the 3rd District. It was established in January 1852, with James Warburton as postmaster, and discontinued April 30, 1856.

 

Editor’s note: The name is not identified in that area on the ADC Street Map of Cecil County, 2005, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (database search May 31, 2007.

 

CROOKTOWN

 

Site of the Etherington homestead near Cecilton.

 

Editor’s note: The name is not identified in that area on the ADC Street Map of Cecil County, 2005.

 

 

CROSSED KEYS HOTEL

 

A tavern established in 1800 just south of Harrisville by Captain Leonard Krauss. He served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War and acquired his title by forming a military company in 1810. He was the father of 17 children. He died January 12, 1858, at the age of 97. (Cecil Democrat, September 20, 1890.

 

Editor’s note: The ADC Street Map of Cecil County, 2005 edition, shows a Krauss cemetery in the area south of Harrisville (F-7).

 

CROUCH CHAPEL

 

The chapel is located on Route 13 about two miles south of Elkton. It was built in 1876 as a missionary project of the Elkton Methodist Church and dedicated October 29, that year. The chapel was named for Thomas C. Crouch, who established it and served for many years as superintendent of the Sunday school. He died August 16, 1896 at the age of 87.

 

DIVIDED CITY

 

An appellation formerly applied to Chesapeake City.

 

DOLLY VARDEN STREET

 

Name originally given to South Street in Elkton.

 

DUBLIN

 

A settlement on the Big Elk Creek near Strahorn’s Mill, so called because all the residents were Irish people who worked in a woolen factory located there.

 

DUCK NECK

 

A tract of land containing 100 acres which was laid out for William Smith on April 20, 1702, described as beginning “att a marked white oak standing by the side of Elk River near a place called French Town.” (Rent Roll of Cecil County, Calvert Papers No. 884, folio 126).

 

DUFFY’S FORT

 

This fort was erected on Duffy’s Creek in Fredericktown for defense against the British during the War of 1812. It was in commanded of Colonel Thomas W. Veasey when the town was burned by the invaders on May 4, 1813.

 

DUTCHTOWN

 

When the Wilmington & Susquehanna Railroad was being built in 1833 a number of Germans who were employed near North East encamped north of the town on the road to Mechanics’ Valley. The location was called Dutchtown and the railroad crossing was known as Dutchtown Crossing.

 

EBENEZER AME CHURCH

 

Just off St. Augustine Road about one mile east of Cayot’s Corner on Bohemia Manor is a small well-kept frame church. Its marble cornerstone reads:

EBENEZER

A. M. E. CHURCH

A former schoolhouse serves as a recreation building.

 

EDER

 

Eder was a way-station on the B&O Railroad. It was located near the bridge which carries Nottingham Road over the railroad tracks and is about one mile east of Mechanics Valley. It was named for William H. Eder who owned a large farm in that vicinity.

 

EGG HILL

 

Egg Hill is an eminence of 442 feet southwest of Pleasant Hill on Union Church Road, and location of a fire tower. It is the highest point in the county. The named was derived from the large number of pheasant eggs which were formerly collected in the neighbor.

 

EGAN’S CORNER

 

Intersection of Principio and Ebenezer Church roads south of College Green. James Egan owned a farm there. Angeline Egan, daughter of James and Mary Evans Egan, died May 30, 1928, age 90. Andrew Egan went to defense of Baltimore in 1814 with Captain Patten’s company.

 

Editor’s note: The name is not identified in that area on the ADC Street Map of Cecil County, 2005, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (database search May 31, 2007).

 

ELK ACADEMY

 

A Presbyterian classical institution taught by Rev. Alexander McDowell, past of Rock Church, at his home a mile southwest of Lewisville. It was founded at New London and removed to Cecil County in 1752. The school was moved to Newark, Delaware in 1767 and was the genesis of Delaware College [University of Delaware].

 

University of Delaware early history: http://www.udel.edu/PR/munroe/chapter1.html

 

ELK FORGE

 

Site of forges on Big Elk Creek where town of Elk Mills is located. Manufacture of bar iron was commenced here in 1761 by Jesse Hollingsworth, Thomas May, and others and continued about 70 years.

 

Editor’s note: The historical society has a number of materials on this topic.

 

ELK IRON WORKS

 

This rolling mill for working sheet iron was at Cowantown on Big Elk Creek five miles north of Elkton. The stone and frame mill building was 90 x 55 feet and three stories high. The water wheel was under a fall of 16 feet. The property was sold for benefit of creditors of Parke, Smith & Company in November 1867.

 

ELK NECK STATE PARK

 

This park is nine miles south of North East almost at the tip of the narrow peninsula between the Elk and North East rivers. It was established in 1936 when Dr. William L. Abbott, traveler and naturalist, willed his estate of 386 acres to the state for recreational purposes. Four hundred and nineteen acres of adjoining farmland were added to it later.

 

ELK RIVER CHURCH

 

Original name of the Church on Little Elk Creek which was incorporated in 1801 as rock Presbyterian Church in North Milford Hundred of Cecil County. It was founded in 1720 and the first pastor, the Rev. Joseph Houston, was installed October 15, 1724. The present Rock Church was built in 1761.

 

ELK RIVER FERRY

 

After removal of court to Court House point in March 1719 the ferry across Elk River to Oldfield Point was an important one. A brick house was built on the east side of the river and was used for many years as a tavern. From Oldfield Point a path led to the Turkey Point main road and North East.

 

ELKTON ACADEMY

 

This school was founded in 1887 by Colonel Henry Hollingsworth, who gave the ground on which the academy was built. The first building was burned February 21, 1854, but rebuilt and used as a public school until 1920. It was torn down in 1938 and the site on North Street is now occupied by the Singerly Company’s firehouse.

 

Editor’s note: Singerly Fire Company moved from the site, and the site is now occupied by a commercial building (currently Judy’s Java)

 

ELKTON APPEAL

 

A Republican newspaper which was first issued on April 9, 1884. John Morton Post was the editor and publisher. It was discontinued on June 5, 1907. Mr. Post moved to Anacortes, Washington, where he had bought a weekly newspaper. He died there in 1930.

 

Editor’s note: Microfilm copies are available at the historical society.

 

ELKTON BANKING AND TRUST CO.

 

This bank opened its doors for business on May 5, 1913, with John M. Tucker as president. Shortly afterward it established branches at Rising Sun, Chesapeake City, and Cecilton. About February 1, 1930, it absorbed the National Bank of Elkton by a stock merger.

 

ELKTON COURIER

 

A strongly Whig newspaper founded by Charles F. Cloud in August 1836, and published weekly for $2 a year. The office was in the “Hollow” on Gay (Main) Street about opposite Bow Street. For a time the editors were George R. Howard and Francis A. Ellis. The paper survived for only three years.

 

ELKTON GASLIGHT COMPANY

 

Was incorporated by the General Assembly of Maryland, and the works were constructed by Mr. Maltby, of Baltimore, with John Baker, architect. The town was first lighted by gas on October 1, 1863. The business was sold in November 1881 to Dr. Charles M. Ellis and Joseph Hinchliffe.

 

ELKTON PRESS

 

This was the first newspaper published in Cecil County. Its first number appeared July 5, 1823. It was published by Andrews & McCord at $2 a year. George W. Veasey was the editor in September 1832, and the paper was discontinued about that time.

 

ELKTON ROTARY CLUB

 

The formation of a Rotary Club in Elkton was initiated in January 1924, and culminated on April 7th when the club received its charter in Elkton Armory. Irvin T. Kepler was the first president. Regular meetings of the club were held on Tuesday evenings. Its objectives are friendship and fellowship.

 

ELKTON WATER COMPANY

 

This company was incorporated June 8, 1891, with William T. Warburton as president and Robert C. Levis, treasurer. The capital stock of the company was $30,000, representing 600 shares of $50 per value. The reservoir was located on the top of Red Hill and two wells were drilled in Howard’s meadow to supply water for it.

 

ELLERSLIE

 

Ellerslie is an estate on the south side of U. S. 40 east of Perryville. The original house was built about 1812-1814. It belonged to the Gales, and was bought in 1854 by Joseph Coudon II for his second son Henry Stump Coudon, who married Martha B. Levering, of Baltimore, on May 3, 1854.

 

ELLERSLIE (2)

 

The Coudon family homestead on a knoll on the east side of U. S. route 40 just before the toll bridge at Perryville. Near the corner of the mansion is the family burying ground where Joseph Coudon (1860-1947) and his wife Clarita, and Clementine Dalcour are buried. Added handwritten note: They were later re-interred at St. Mark’s Church Cemetery at Aiken.

 

ELLIS TAVERN

 

The Ellis Tavern, referred to in Major Andre’s Journal of August 13, 1777, was located at the juncture of St. Augustine Road and the Stage Coach road from Elkton to Chestertown via Bethel, Head of Bohemia, and Warwick. It was adjacent to and within calling distance of Rumsey’s mill at Head of Bohemia.

 

EPHESUS

 

On December 31, 1803 the Assembly of Maryland passed an act authorizing a lottery to raise a sum of money not exceeding $15,000 for the purpose of finishing a house of worship at Ephesus. Johnston (155) states this was a futile effort to change the name of the Presbyterian Church at West Nottingham, by which it had been know since 1730.

 

ESSEX LODGE

 

A brick farmhouse on the west side of of Glebe Road about one mile from St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. The farm was previously owned by J. Wallace Scott and is now owned by Mrs. Milton Davis, a widow.

 

EUREKA FERTILIZER COMPANY

 

This company was founded in 1883 with Charles C. Caldwell as president, and works were established at Frenchtown on the Susquehanna River. It operated a bone mill in which fertilizers were manufactured from buffalo bones shipped from the Midwest.

 

EVANDALE HOME SCHOOL

 

This private school for young ladies and children was two miles north of Port Deposit on the road to Liberty Grove. It was conducted by Mrs. Robert Evans, who owned a 223-acre farm. The school was started in September 1870 and in 1872 had 21 pupils.

 

EWINGVILLE

 

The area at the junction of Route 473 (road from Fairview) with Route 273, between Blue Ball and Fair Hill.

 

Editor’s note: The name is not identified in that area on the ADC Street Map of Cecil County, 2005. The U. S. Geological Map database identifies Ewingville as a historical place name (39º 41’ 50” N. 75º 54’ 27” – database search May 31, 2007).

 

EXCHANGE HOTEL

 

A saloon on East Main Street in Elkton between the Old Court House and the Rudulph house. The proprietor in 1877 was S. Simon.

 

FALLS HOTEL (1)

 

Advertisement for a Falls Hotel in Port Deposit from December 10, 1899 newspaper (paper unidentified); proprietor, John Falls.

 

FALLS HOTEL (2)

 

An old hotel located in the Hollow in Elkton, which was owned and managed by William Falls, an Irishman. Before buying the property Mr. Falls had been proprietor of the Howard House. After his death the hotel was remodeled and conducted by Samuel B. Foard under the name of Hotel Elkton.

 

FARMERS AND COMMERCIAL HOTEL

 

Ad for the Port Deposit Hotel from February 11, 1865 newspaper (newspaper not identified, probably the Cecil Democrat)

 

FARMERS’ HOTEL (1)

 

A weather-beaten hostelry which stood at southeast corner of North and High streets in the town of Elkton. When it was torn down in December 1916 it was estimated to be at least 150 years old (Cecil Whig December 20, 1966).

 

FARMERS’ HOTEL

 

This hotel at Brick Meeting House [Calvert] was built about 1810 by John Pierson. It stood where the present Graybeal’s nursing home is located.

 

Editor’s note: Graybeal’s nursing home is now known as Calvert Nursing Home.

 

FELTON HOTEL

 

A brick building at the corner of Bow Street near the first railroad station in Elkton, which was named for Samuel M. Felton, president of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad when the railroad was built in the fall of 1862.

 

 

FINGERBOARD SCHOOL

 

This public school stood on the west side of Scotchman Creek Road one mile north of St. Stephen’s Church. It was given the name because of a fingerboard which was near-by. Stephen H. Ford, of Ford’s Landing, gave the lot by deed of December 30, 1845. The school was closed in May 1839. During its 95 years of existence it had 25 teachers.

 

THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF NORTH EAST

 

This bank was opened for business on December 12, 1903, with a paid-in capital of $25,000. The officers were L. L. Derrickson, president, and Robert Morgan, cashier. A branch was opened in Elkton at the northeast corner West Main and Bridge streets, February 7, 1964.

 

THE FIRST PENTECOSTAL GOSPEL TABERNACLE CHURCH

 

Is located at 119 Clinton Street in Elkton, Maryland. It serves a black constituency.

 

FISLER’S FACTORY

 

A cotton factory on the Big Elk operated by Jacob Fisler and sold by him to Daniel Lord in March 1855 for $7,000.

 

FIVE POINTS

 

The intersection of five roads south of Oakwood in the 8th District.

 

Editor’s note: The name is not identified in that area on the ADC Street Map of Cecil County, 2005. The U. S. Geological Map database identifies Five Points as a historic place name (39º 41’ 55” N and 76º 10’ 27” – Database search May 31, 2007).

 

FLAXSEED

 

In the 18th century about 300,000 bushels of flaxseed were exported annually from New York to Ireland where flax was grown for linen manufacture, although the seed was purchased abroad. Flax was a staple crop at that period but when the supply was too great and the price low, the seed was sent to a mill to be pressed. Such an oil mill was once operated at Gilpin Falls.

 

FLOUNDERS’ CORNER

 

This is the location of Big Elk Chapel, about one mile east of Andora, where the road from that place intersects the Gallaher Road in the Fourth District. It was named for Nathaniel Flounders who lived at the southwest corner of the crossroads.

 

Editor’s note: The name is not identified in that area on the ADC Street Map of Cecil County, 2005.

 

 

FLUSEY’S CORNER

 

Point at which the road running south joins Barnes Corner Road about ¾ of a mile west of Farmington. It is about an equal distance east of Barnes Corner (6th District)

 

Editor’s note: The road running south is apparently Montgomery Road. The name Flusey’s Corner is not identified in that area on the ADC Street Map of Cecil County, 2005, nor is it in the U. S. Geological Map database (database search May 31, 2007).

 

FORT DEFIANCE

 

A fort built during the War of 1812 a mile below Elk Landing on a bluff on the northwest side of Elk River at a place formerly called Fowler’s Shore. On April 29, 1813 the garrison there repulsed a landing party from the British fleet. A historical marker was erected at the site for Fort Defiance on June 5, 1965.

 

FORT DUFFY

 

A fort erected at Fredericktown as one or the defenses of Cecil County during the War of 1812. Colonel Thomas Ward Veasey commanded this fort and attempted to repulse the British when they came up the Sassafras River on May 6, 1813, in fifteen barges and three small boats and burned Fredericktown and Georgetown (Miller 33).

 

FOUNTAIN INN

 

A popular hostelry of the Colonial period on East Main Street in Elkton. The large main part was built of stone in 1740 with later additions of brick and frame. It retained an atmosphere of stage coach days until it was razed in 1938 to make way for a new courthouse. A fire in 1836 burned part of the inn and some contents.

 

Editor’s note: the file included an ad for the Fountain Inn from April 4, 1857 (newspaper not stated; probably the Cecil Democrat).

 

FOX CHASE

 

A tavern at Appleton known at various times as Longwell’s, Dysart’s and Seven Stars.

 

Editor’s Note: The building was recently torn down and a High’s Store now occupies the site.

 

FOYS HILL

An elevation of 386 feet about two miles northwest of Charlestown. It is noted in history as a hiding place for the inhabitants when they fled to the wilderness to escape from the British army in 1813. It has been used as a signal station by the U. S. Coast Guard Survey and by the B&O Railroad.

 

Editor’s note: The name is not identified in that area on the ADC Street Map of Cecil County, 2005. The hill is identified on the U. S. Geological Survey map of Cecil County for 1950 (Revised 1963). The hill is to the east of Belvidere. Foy’s Hill was not identified in the U. S. Geological Map database (search May 31, 2007).

 

FRANKLIN HOUSE

 

Advertisement in file for June 16, 1855 newspaper (newspaper not identified, probably the Cecil Democrat).

 

FREDERICKTOWN

 

This town on the Sassafras River was laid out on December 11, 1736, by William Rumsey, deputy surveyor of Cecil County. It was previously known as Pennington’s Point or Happy Harbor. It was named for Frederick, a son of George II, King of England. Ogle, Frederick, and Orange streets run north from the river.

 

FRAZER FARM

 

Advertisement for the sale of this farm in the file for Jan 14, 1865 newspaper (paper not identified, probably the Cecil Democrat).

 

FREE SCHOOL POINT

 

The point on the south bank of the Bohemia River in Sassafras Neck next above the Bohemia Bridge; so called because it was the location of the first free school established in Cecil County, pursuant to an act of the General Assembly in 1723.

 

FREE METHODIST CHURCH

 

A free Methodist Society was organized in Elkton in 1877. They acquired the old Methodist church building on East High Street which had been abandoned in 1860 and used as a public school. The new church was dedicated April 25, 1880 with Reverend Albert W. Parry as first pastor. Other societies were formed in North East and Pleasant Hill in 1890.

 

FREE SCHOOL SYSTEM

 

In 1850 an effort was made by a few leading citizens to establish a free school system in the county, and a bill was prepared and sent to the legislature. It was passed with the proviso that the plan would be submitted to a vote of the people for sanction. At a referendum on May 8, 1850 it was rejected 1012 to 687. The plan was later modified and adopted in 1859.

 

FREEMAN’S MILL

 

This grist Mill was located on Back Creek, one mile south of Lake’s Corner in the 2nd District, i.e. on the road from Warwick. The mill had a capacity of 50 barrels of flour a day. It was later called Salmon’s Mill.

 

FRENCHTOWN

 

About two miles southwest of Elkton on Elk River, Frenchtown was called “la Ville francaise” because a settlement was made there by a group of Acadians who were banished from their homes in Nova Scotia in 1755, as told in Longfellow’s Evangeline.” The English version became Frenchtown.

 

Editor’s note: Frenchtown served as an important terminal for trade across the neck of the Delmarva Peninsula, most notably through the Frenchtown and New Castle Railroad. There is also a Frenchtown on the other side of the county, just north of Perryville and along the Susquehanna. This duplication of town names sometimes creates confusion.

 

FRIENDS’ NORMAL INSTITUTE

 

The Friends’ Normal Institute at Rising Sun was opened in the Hall Building under supervision of the Society of Friends August 31, 1874. It was a coeducational school and George B. Passmore was superintendent. After operating for about 20 years the institute was absorbed into the public school system.

 

FRIENDSHIP

 

The land on which the town of Elkton is built was part of a tract of 1400 acres patented to Nicholas Painter in 1681 under the name of friendship. The southeast corner of the tract is marked by a stone which stands close by the roadside at Far Creek (Johnston 224).

 

FRISBY’S DELIGHT

 

Original name of present Rich Neck farm owned by Miss Margaret England about four miles southwest of Earleville. The first house was built there about 1790. It stands on a high bluff overlooking the broad estuary of Sassafras River.

 

FROG FARM

 

A farm of 211 acres about 2 miles south of Elkton which was divided into two nearly equal parts by the bed of the New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad. It was owned by David M. Taylor in 1877.

 

GEOFFARISON

 

A tract of land containing 5743 acres which was patented to John Copson, of Philadelphia, on May 24, 1724. In July of that year the patent was transferred to Stephen Onion and Company. As originally surveyed, the tract extended from Cara Cove on the North East River to within a mile or so of Elkton.

 

GILLESPIE HOUSE

 

This hotel was located in Warwick and was managed by Samuel Gillespie. He was a horse trainer and a manufacturer and dealer in harnesses, saddles, etc.

 

GILLESPIE MILL

 

See ad, Cecil Democrat, January 21, 1854

 

GILPIN MANOR

 

This two-story brick house is on the west bank of Big Elk Creek where Newark Road crosses it north of Elkton. The house was built in 1760 by Joseph Gilpin, eldest son of Samuel Gilpin, who settled at Gilpin’s Falls in 1733. Joseph was a member of the Maryland convention which ratified the United States Constitution on April 28, 1788.

 

GILPIN’S FALLS

 

A rocky gorge in the North East Creek near Bayview where the water falls 125 feet within a short distance. In pre-automobile days this scenic spot was a favorite picnic ground as well as the site of a grist mill and hydroelectric plant. The name comes from Samuel Gilpin who settled there in 1733. (Visited November 11, 1956).

 

GILPIN FALLS BRIDGE

 

The covered bridge over North East Creek at Gilpin Falls, near Bay View, was built by Joseph Johnson in the fall of 1860 for $2,000. The bridge was built on the so called Burr Plan. A historical marker was dedicated on October 1, 1960, at the side of the bridge which had been reconstructed by the State Roads Commission.

 

GINN’S CORNER

 

Junction of Ward’s Hill Road, east of Cecilton, with the road from Warwick to Sassafras in Kent County. The elevation at this point is 65 feet. John Ginn owned a farm there.

 

Editor’s Note: The name appears on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition (Map 26).

 

GOLDEN KEY

 

Name given to a tract of land about 3.5 miles from Port Deposit on the turnpike to Brick Meeting House, owned by Samuel Galbraith in 1852.

 

GRANNIE’S RUN [GRAMIES RUN]

 

A small stream which originates east of Fair Hill and flows in a southeasterly direction across Gallagher and Jackson School roads and empties into Big Elk Creek not far from Barksdale.

 

Editor’s note: The ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition shows a Gramies Run but not a Grannie’s Run in that area Maps 6 and 7); This is also the case for the U. S. Geological Survey map of Cecil County for 1950 (Revised 1963).

 

GRAVELLY HILL

 

The primitive name for Shelemiah which finally became Bay View when so designated by the U. S. Post Office Department, September 1, 1856. The first Methodist Protestant Church in Cecil County was built at Bay View in 1830. The elevation is 386 feet.

 

Editor’s note: Judging from some letters to the editor in local newspapers during the 1850s, Gravelly Hill may have been a small village close to but separate from Bay View, to the east and closer to Gilpin Falls.

 

GRAY’S HILL

 

Gray’s Hill is about one mile due east of Elkton and its summit is 286 feet above sea level. It is one of three hills know as “the three sisters,” which are the highest points on the Delmarva Peninsula, viz. Gray’s Hill in Cecil County, and Iron Hill and Chestnut Hill in New Castle County (Democrat June 15, 1850).

 

GRAY HORSE CHURCH

 

Name applied to Octoraro Methodist Church which stood on Horseshoe Farm on Red Pump Road about 1.5 miles north of Rising Sun and almost on the Mason-Dixon Line.

 

GRAYMOUNT

 

This house situated on the summit of Gray’s Hill was built in 1769. From this vantage point on August 25, 1777, General Washington is said to have watched as Lord Howe’s army disembarked from their march on Philadelphia. Graymount was the home of John Emory Wilson, an Elkton lawyer for many years.

 

GREENFIELDS

 

This is a brick residence on the east side of Augustine Herrman Highway one mile south of Cecilton, with a hip roof and Georgian facades. It is on land patented about 1664 to Colonel John Ward, who built the first house in 1696.

 

GREEN MEADOWS

 

A tract of land occupied by Adam Short somewhere on the border of the Welsh Tract. He was dispossessed in 1721 by a party of Welsh settlers and removed to another plantation on Christiana Creek.

 

GREENHAVEN FARM

 

An estate of 160 acres at Oldfield Point on the Elk River eight miles south of Elkton. This farm was the landing place of the British in August 26, 1777, under General Howe.  It was sold by Robert Bonney in June 1966 for $153,000.

 

GRIFFITH AUMP CHURCH

 

Is located at Cedar Hill east of Pleasant Hill on road to Carter’s Bank. The corner stone was laid on June 7, 1874, and music was furnished by choir of Providence AMUP Church of Elkton. The church was named for Benjamin Griffith, a prominent Negro citizen. Three Civil War veterans are buried in the adjoining cemetery.

 

GRINDSTONE

 

Junction of Grove Neck and Pond Neck roads southwest of Earleville. A blacksmith shop with a grindstone was once located their. In November 1863 a Thomas Taylor assaulted the Rev. Mr. Shields, rector of St. Stephen’s Church. The elevation is 80 feet.

 

Editor’s note: The name is not identified in that area on the ADC Street Map of Cecil County, 2005, nor is it in the U. S. Geological Map database (searched May 31, 2007).

 

GROVE POINT

 

A peninsula at the confluence of Elk and Sassafras rivers forming an estate of 1350 acres of land owned by Samuel Catts in 1857. Three fisheries were on the property. It was surrounded on three sides by water and the fourth side was fenced. Great quantities of driftwood from the Susquehanna River washed upon the shores.

 

GUN FACTORY

 

This mill was on a small stream emptying into the North East Creek, in the vicinity of Zion. It was operated by Henry Hollingsworth during the Revolutionary War for manufacture of gun barrels. They were 3 ½ feet in length and cost 20 shillings each. The iron was bought in Philadelphia (Johnston 324).

 

GUNTER’S HARBOR

 

This name was given to the North East River by Captain John Smith when he explored the head of the Chesapeake Bay in the summer of 1608.

 

GURLEYTOWN

 

Old name for the present village of Frenchtown on the Susquehanna River.

 

Editor’s note: Gurleytown is on the Martinet map of 1858, but not on the 1877 Atlas. The Atlas shows a Frenchtown Hotel, suggesting the name change occurred between those two dates.

 

HACK’S POINT

 

A resort on the south bank of Bohemia River which perpetuates the name of the Hack Family. The first patent to land here was granted to Stephen Hack in 1658; the property passed to Dr. George Hack, who was naturalized in the same year as Augustine Herman (1660).

 

HALTON

 

An early map of Maryland and Virginia hangs in the George Wythe House in Williamsburg, Virginia. It shows only two towns in Cecil CountyCecilton and Halton. The latter place is in the vicinity of Sassafras River and may have been the original name of Earleville.

 

HANCE’S POINT

 

A point on the North East River formerly noted as a fishing shore. It was named for Chief Hance of a tribe of Shawnese who once lived in Elk Neck, which was called Shawnah. The Shawnese were successful fisherman and industrious basket makers.

 

HAPPY HARBOR

 

Name first given to Fredericktown which was laid out on December 11, 1736 by William Rumsey, deputy surveyor of Cecil County. It was also called Pennington’s Point. Fredericktown was burned by the British on May 6, 1813.

 

HARMONY CHAPEL

 

This church was built a Rowlandsville in 1870 by a Methodist Protestant congregation organized by the Rev. A. S. Eversole. The circuit was composed of Rowlandsville, Bethesda, and Rock Springs. Harmony Chapel was sold at auction October 21, 1867, and the proceeds applied to Mt. Pleasant Methodist Church building fund; was bought by Ralph Hoffstetter.

 

Editor’s Note: Page 14 of the 1877 Cecil County Atlas has a Rowlandsville insert map showing a “M. P. CH” on the south side of the Octoraro.

 

HARMONY HALL

 

The mansion of the Hyland family in Elk Neck almost opposite the mouth of the Bohemia River. It was located on the St. John’s Manor granted to Colonel John Hyland, of Labadeen, England, who came to Maryland about 1665. General Lafayette and officers of the French fleet were entertained here in 1781.

 

HARLAN’S MILL

 

This 3-story stone mill was on Little Elk Creek at New Leeds. It was built in 1811 by John Wilson, who made cotton goods. About 1837, Jehu Harlan bought the property and operated it until his death in 1847. In 1872, his sons, George and John, began the manufacture of book binder boards. This mill was burned January 14, 1911.

 

Editor’s note: At least two pictures of this mill are in the HSCC photograph collection.

 

HARDING HOUSE

 

The house at 142 East Main Street in Elkton advertised as the “Little Wedding Chapel” was originally known as the Harding House. In it Miss Amelia Harding conducted a school prior to the Civil War. It was occupied by Burbage Brook for 1866 to 1885, and at one time two rooms on the first floor were used by the Cecil County Library.

 

HARRISVILLE

 

Harrisville is on route 273 one mile west of Rising Sun and two miles below the Mason-Dixon Line. It took its name from Nathan Harris who owned three large farms in that neighborhood. Captain Leonard Krauss opened the Cross Keys Hotel at Harrisville in 1802.

 

HART’S CHAPEL

 

For a historical sketch by Rev. T. S. Barrat, see the Cecil Democrat, October 4, 1913, page 3, columns 1-2.

 

HART’S MEETING HOUSE

 

This was the first church which the Methodists built in Cecil County north of Elk River. It was located in Elk Neck about nine miles below Elkton. A lot of one half acre for the church was donated by Samuel Aldridge and his wife, Millicent Hyland. Bishop Francis Asbury preached at Hart’s on October 15, 1794.

 

HAT FACTORY

 

The manufacture of hats was carried on in Elkton by John Gottier, but the extent or nature of the business is not known. His father, whose name was Francis Gottier, settled at Head of Elk before the Revolutionary War. He was a cabinet maker. Francis Gottier and his wife, Margaret Furgason, are buried in the cemetery of Welsh Tract Baptist Church.

 

HAWKINSVILLE

 

Name previously given to the present Negro settlement of Cokesbury on U.S. 222 between Perryville and Port Deposit.

 

Editor’s note: The Hawkinsville name appears on the Martinet Map of 1858 and the Cecil County Atlas of 1877.

 

HEAD OF ELK

 

The name Head of Elk goes back to 1652. It was the early name for Elk-town and Elkton, so called for the Elk River which was named by Captain John Smith. The tract comprising Elkton was patented to Nicholas Painter in 1681 as “Friendship.” Court was held in Elkton for the first time in June 1787.

 

HEAD OF ELK CHAPTER

 

of the D.A.R. was organized in Elkton on December 2, 1930, with Mrs. Irvin T. Kepler as organizing regent. The present town of Elkton was formerly called Head of Elk. It was the scene of frequent military maneuvers during the Revolutionary War.

 

HEALTH DEPARTMENT

 

The Cecil County Health Department was organized in 1929. The county commissioners constitute the Board of Health of the county. The full-time health officers have been Dr. C. A. Kane 1929-41; Dr. Collison 1941-50; and Dr. John A. Byers 1950- .

 

HECKART-TOWN

 

Settlement on the Susquehanna River about 1 ½ miles below Port Deposit.

 

Editor’s note: Although Heckart Town is not identified on the 1858 Martinet map, properties in the name of J. J. Heckart are on the map in the general area described above.

 

HEXTON

 

An estate near Fredericktown on the Sassafras River. It contains 1,000 acres including Hall Creek which was known as Happy Harbor [Fredericktown] and was an important shipping point. A road ran from the harbor to Cecilton, where there was a custom house. The present house was built in 1936 on site of the original house.

 

HIGH SCHOOL IN ELKTON

 

The Male and Female High School of Cecil County was opened in Elkton on November 7, 1864, with 22 pupils. The principal was William H. Zimmerman. He was succeeded in September 1866 by Walter S. Drysdale who resigned at then end of the year after a dispute with Francis A. Ellis. It was then suspended. This was the first high school in the counties of Maryland.

 

HOLLY HALL

 

A 2 ½ story brick mansion on U.S. 213 just below Elkton which was built prior to 1820 by General James Sewall, who commanded a battalion at Fort Defiance during the War of 1812. He was clerk of the circuit court from 1816 to 1841. The house took its name from a large grove of holly trees that formerly surrounded it.

 

Editor’s note: Holly Hall is within the town limits, just north of the 213 entrance to Big Elk Mall.

 

HOTEL CECIL

 

This hotel was on Main Street in North East, where Cramer’s Department store is now located opposite the old post office. The hotel had about 20 rooms. Ira Wells was the manager in 1890.

 

Editor’s note: After many years in business, Cramer’s closed a few years ago, and the building now houses an antique shop.

 

THE HOWARD HOUSE

 

The file had an ad for the Howard House. The date was punched out and a hand written note shows “May 7, 1804?” The year would be later, the Howard Hotel was built in the 1850s.

 

HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH

 

A unique religious order incorporated by five trustees on October 3, 1877, as the Household of Faith No. 1 in Cecil County. The adherents of the sect built a church at Blythedale. The organization existed for about fifty years, and the church was sold by receivers in 1927.

 

HUCKELBERRY MEADOWS

 

A tract of land on Pig Iron Road in the 8th District. It adjoined a tract known as Mount Melick which was patented to Patrick Boyle.

 

Editor’s note: Huckleberry Meadow was patented to Joshua Lowe in 1793 (Patent List: The 8th District of Cecil County Maryland). The area is just south of Rock Springs and Pig Iron Road is identified as Rock Springs Road on current maps.

 

INDEPENDENCE

 

A tract of land of 154 acres in North Susquehanna Hundred which the widow (Elinor) of Robert Marquis transferred to Captain James G. Heron on April 28, 1788. She had paid 63 pounds for the land and Captain Heron sold it to Henry Hollingsworth on May 3, 1792 for 462 pounds. The widow was evidently married to Captain Heron. The property is now owned by Dennis J. and Roseann H. Vensel. (August 1971).

 

INDEPENDENCE (2)

 

Former name of Blythedale. Blythedale was also known as Whitaker’s Mill because of a grain mill located there in the 1870 period. It was owned and operated by Edward Whitaker and later by E. Wilmer Jackson. William Taylor opened a general store there in 1855 and the village was then known as Independence, as shown at the head of his store journals and ledgers. Later a post office was opened in his store under the name of Blythedale and he was postmaster. Upon his death, he was succeeded by his wife, Elenora Taylor. In his novel “Mystery of Rockdale” by Theodore Currier, the village schoolmaster, the author calls the place by the name of Rockdale which was one of the names voted on when the post office was to be opened. Taylor’s store continued in operation for 95 years, being operated by E. Kurtz Taylor (former Cecil County treasurer), after the death of his father William. It closed its doors in 1950 after Kurtz died.

 

INDIAN FALLS

 

Name of a community on the road from Mechanics Valley to North East. The falls from which the name is derived are on Little Elk Creek in a woodland about 400 feet from the road. Depressions in the rocks are said to have been caused by the Indians who pounded their maize on them.

 

Editor’s note: Editor’s Note: The name appears on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition (Map 26), on Mechanics Valley Road, on the north side of Route 40.

 

INDIAN QUEEN HOTEL

 

A two-story frame dwelling with eight rooms which was constructed before the Revolutionary War on the north side of Market Street in Charlestown. It was part of the estate of Mrs. Elizabeth S. Black and was sold at auction on October 8, 1966.

 

IRON HILL MUSEUM

 

This fine museum is in a former one-room schoolhouse on the Old Baltimore Pike at Iron Hill. It was opened in February 1968 and is operated by the Delaware Academy of Science. The purpose is to preserve and display collections of natural history. The exhibits are arranged in handsome glass cases.

 

JACKSON HALL

 

Jackson Hall was a two-story stone building built in 1870 on the north side of the road one mile northeast of Cowentown. The first floor was used as a public school (No. 3 in the 4th district) and the second floor was used as a Sunday school room and a meeting place for the Jackson Hall Debating Society.

 

JAMESTOWN

 

Site of the county’s first courthouse which was erected on the north bank of the Sassafras River, a short distance east of Ordinary Point. This courthouse was built by Casparus Herman in 1692 and was the seat until March 1719.

 

Editor’s Note: Courthouse records from the Jamestown period recently resurfaced and were donated to the Historical Society of Cecil County.

 

JANES METHODIST CHURCH

 

The Methodist church in Rising Sun was incorporated in 1878 as Janes Methodist Episcopal Church in Rising Sun. This name was selected in honor of Bishop Edward S. Janes, of New York, who was a prominent figure in the Methodist Church. He had a twin brother, the Rev. Edwin H. Janes.

 

CAPT. JEREMIAH BAKER CHAPTER

 

Of the D. A. R. was organized in Perryville on February 10, 1923, with Mrs. H. Benges Simmons as organizing regent. It was named for Jeremiah Baker, who was captain of a company of the 30th Battalion of Maryland militia during the Revolutionary War. He is buried in St. Mary Anne’s Church cemetery.

 

Note: The Captain Jeremiah Baker Chapter is no longer listed as an active chapter by the DAR organization (website listing for Maryland chapters, checked August 8, 2007).

 

JOHNTOWN

 

A small village one mile west of St. Stephen’s Church on the road to Crystal Beach. It was called John’s Town for John Garrettson, one of the first settlers. A Methodist society was organized here in 1774 by William Waters, and it was the location of St. Paul’s Methodist Church, which was built prior to 1800. A cemetery adjoins the church.

 

Editor’s note: The town appears on the 1858 Martinet Map and the 1877 Cecil County Atlas.

 

JONES’ CHAPEL

 

In 1887 William T. Jones donated a lot near Johnson schoolhouse on the Old Elk Neck road in which a Sunday school had been held since 1833. On this lot a chapel 21 x 32 feet was erected and dedicated on June 8, 1888 by the Rev. J. P. Otis. It became the Marantha Baptist Church, a fundamentalist group, in March 1954.

 

JOHNSVILLE

 

Near Earleville

 

KANSAS SCHOOLHOUSE

 

The Kansas or Fairview public school adjoined Moore’s Chapel at Blake, and was no. 8 in the 4th District. The school lot was bought from John A. McCallister on November 29, 1856 for $10. The brick building originally had two floors. It was sold to Moore’s Chapel October 1, 1941 and is now used as a community house.

 

KENSLEY

 

Was land grant which extended for several miles on each side of the road from Mechanics Valley to North East. It was here that George Read is to have lived. A log house stood for many years on the estate, which now contains less than 100 acres. The present owner is Ralph Reverage.

 

KILBY CORNER

 

The intersection of U. S. Route 1 by U. S. #222 about one-half mile northeast of Conowingo in the 8th Election District. The elevation is 294 feet.

 

KIRK MILLS

 

A post office was established at Kirk’s Mills in 1814 with Jacob Kirk as postmaster. He was succeeded in 1841 by his son, Lewis J. Kirk, who served until the office was closed about 1862. Kirk’s Mills were located on the Great North East Creek just above where that stream is crossed by the road from Brick Meeting House to Rising Sun (Johnston 232).

 

KNIGHT’S CORNER

 

A point on the Augustine Herrman Highway about two miles north of Chesapeake City bridge where a right angle turn was eliminated by relocation of the roadway. The elevation is 78 feet above sea level. William Knight, Sr. was a large landowner in the area.

 

Editor’s note: The name Knight’s Corner is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, but Knight’s Corner Road is on the map in the area described (Map 18).

 

KNIGHT’S ISLAND

 

An island in the Sassafras River about midway between the Cecil and Kent shores. It was the home of John Leach Knight, wealthy planter, and the birthplace of his daughter, Catherine (1777-1855)

 

Editor’s Note: Present day maps use the label Knight’s Island, but the area labeled is actually a peninsula.

 

LABADIE MILL

 

This mill was located at the confluence of Labadie Creek and Bohemia River. It had been in operation for more than 50 years when it was sold in 1754 by Benjamin Sluyter to Solomon Hersey, in whose house the first Methodist society on the Eastern Shore of Maryland was organized in 1771.

 

LABADISTS

 

Seed Cecil Democrat, November 24, 1888, page 3, columns 3-4

 

LABOR TROUBLE, B&O RAILROAD, ITALIANS

 

The Democrat, September 11, 1886, page 3, column 5 (Dispatch from North East, dated September 9). “Disturbances caused by bad whisky and beer frequently occur among the Italians in their quarters along the B&O Railroad, but last Sunday more violence than usual was manifested, and Officer McKenney was summoned to quiet affairs, and he arrested the most turbulent Italian, who was put in the lockup and fined. The Italians working in this section are to be discharged by the B&O Co. within a few days, and their places filled by Negro laborers from the South.”

 

LAKE’S CORNER (2ND DISTRICT)

 

Intersection of road from Chesapeake City by road running north to Bethel Cemetery or Pivot Bridge. The farm of Reuben Lake was at this corner,

 

Editor’s note: The name Lake’s Corner is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched May 31, 2007).

 

LAKE’S CORNER (5TH DISTRICT)

 

Intersection of Old Elk Neck Road and Racine School Road, where remains of the old stone schoolhouse may still bed seen. The corner took its name from Thomas Lake, who owned the land there.

 

Editor’s note: The name Lake’s Corner is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched May 31, 2007).

 

LANCASTER, CECIL & SOUTHERN R. R.

 

This branch railroad line ran from Childs on B&O mainline up the valley of Little Elk Creek to Providence paper mill – a distance of 4.1 miles. It was built between May 1892 and March 1893 and served Marley, Harlan’s, Carter’s, and Providence mills. It was abandoned after Providence was burned August 4, 1954.

 

LANDUEL

 

A tract of 244 acres on the west side  of Little Elk Creek which was sold on December 24, 1744 by Abel Williams, school teacher, and his wife, Mary, to Henry Baker and his wife Elizabeth. (Cecil County deeds, Liber 6, f. 473). Mr. Baker built St. Mary Anne’s in North East 1742-43.

 

LAUREL RUN

 

A small stream in the Third District formed by the East Branch and West Branch which arise in the vicinity of Union Church and flow in a southeasterly direction. The branches unite as Laurel Run before emptying into Little Elk Creek near the plant of Thiokol Corporation along Nottingham Road.

 

Editor’s note: Laurel Run is on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition (Map 12).

 

LESLIE

 

Leslie was for many years a station on the B&O Railroad. The name derived from Robert Lesley who bought a farm of 100 acres north of North East in 1758. The first Lesley (or Leslie) came to this country from Scotland about 1645. Robert Lesley married Deborah Janney, daughter of Thomas Janney, of Cheshire, England.

 

 

LEEDS

 

This village on Blue Ball Road (Rt. 545) four miles north of Elkton was given the name New Leeds by the Rev. John Wilson, of Leeds, England, who came to Cecil County in 1805 to manage a woolen factory on Little Elk Creek. He also built the first Leeds church and served as its pastor until his death in 1830.

 

LEWIS LEE’S FERRY

 

On November 12, 1791, the General Assembly of Maryland received a petition from sundry citizens of Cecil County asking that commissioners be appointed to lay out a road from a place called Stoney Batter (Mt. Pleasant) through West Nottingham to that part of the Susquehanna River known as Lewis Lee’s Ferry. (This was probably Port Deposit)

 

LINDEN MANOR

 

This 2400-acre estate lies between Old Bohemia Church and “The Rounds.” First mention of the present house was in 1740. Henry Baker, a former owner, who called it “Browning’s Neglect,” sold the property to William Rumsey. The calm sequestered location and the immense linden and gingko trees make the place especially attractive.

 

Editor’s Note: A Linden Manor Lane in the area described above is on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, off of Christopher Road (Map 26).

 

LITTLE BRICK

 

This old Quaker meeting house is near Harrisville, about one and a quarter miles southwest of Rising Sun. A Monthly Meeting was established at West Nottingham about 1710 and the present building was erected in 1811. In the adjoining burying ground are graves more than 200 years old.

 

LOCUST HILL

 

A tract of 103 acres patented to William Currier in 1785. It was on the road from Principio to Brick Meeting House.

 

LOCUST NECK

 

A tract of 61 acres in Pearce’s Neck on the road from St. Stephen’s Church to Elk River, owned by Wm. L. Hague.

 

LONG BULLETS

 

A popular game, especially in Charlestown, in which two teams of players contested in throwing cannon balls of various weights as far as possible, those throwing the greatest distance being adjudged the winners. In 1802 the town commissioners made it unlawful to play long bullets in the streets. (Johnson 404)

 

LONG CREEK

 

Long Creek, also known as Long Branch, arises in Delaware and empties into the C&D Canal on its north side, about one-half mile west of Chesapeake City. Being a navigable stream, it is under control of the U. S. Corps of Engineers.

 

Editor’s note: The name Long Branch is used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition (Map 18).

 

LONG POINT

 

This was the name first given to Court House Point on the Elk River, where the county’s second courthouse was built in 1718 by Colonel Ephrain A. Herrman, who received 38,000 lbs. of tobacco for his serve.

 

Editor’s note: There is another area named Long Point on the Bohemia River west of Hack’s Point.

 

LORD’S MILLS

 

A factory erected about 1846 on the old Elk Forge property (now Elk Mills) by Daniel Lord, of Litchfield, Connecticut, who established a successful business in the manufacture of cotton table damask. It was later known as Baldwin’s.

 

LUTTON’S CORNER

 

The junction of the road from Marley Mill and former almshouse with the Elkton Fair Hill Road (Rt. 280 [now 213]), about one-half mile below Cherry Hill. Lloyd Lutton, who was a blacksmith a Marley Mill in the 1880s lived at the northwest corner.

 

Editor’s note: The name Lutton Corner is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched May 31, 2007).

 

MAFFITT’S SCHOOLHOUSE

 

This is a very old schoolhouse which stood in a clump of trees on the Union Church Road where a fork is formed by an unimproved road which passes the former William Yonker farm. Judge James McCauley taught at this school in 1831 and Richard and Henry C. Mackall were among his pupils.

 

MANOR CHAPEL

 

The meeting house built near Cayot’s Corner in 1774 by the first Methodist Society in Cecil County, which was organized by Rev. Richard Wright two years earlier at the home of Solomon Hersey. It was also known as Bethesda Chapel and was the forerunner of Trinity Methodist Church in Chesapeake City in 1846.

 

MAIDENHOOD

 

A tract of 200 acres on Cabin John’s Creek surveyed in 1676 for Edward Grunwell. It was conveyed by John Davidson on November 13, 1719 to Anthony Ruley, who lived on Fishing Creek in Anne Arundel County. He was born about 1660 and died in 1728, leaving the land to his son Michael Ruley.

 

MARION PUBLIC SCHOOL

 

Marion school was in a secluded location on the east side of a dirt road about one mile south of Theodore Crossroads. The first school was a brick building which appears on the map of 1858. It was replaced in 1885 by a frame one. The only vestige of the old school now remaining is a vine-covered section of the stone wall foundation (visited May 27, 1970).

 

MARYLAND HOUSE

 

A Famous Hotel in Rising Sun whose manager, William Grason, modestly advertised that it offered the “best accommodations in the county.” After the first hotel of this name was destroyed by fire in 1872, a new one was built.

 

MASSEY’S CORNER

 

This was another early name for the present Cayot’s Corner. When the public school system was established in Cecil County on January 1, 1859, a school was in existence at Massey’s Corner. It probably took the name from Dr. C. H. B. Massey, whose residence was northwest of the crossroads. At other times it was known as Hudson’s Corner [as on the Martinet map] and Kale’s Corner.

 

MATCH-STICK FACTORY

 

A match-stick factory began to operate in Elkton about October 1, 1872. It was a two-story building 40x90 feet located on Howard’s wharf, and capable of producing 2000 gross of match-sticks daily. The building was advertised for sale in the Cecil Democrat on May 9, 1874.

 

MAXWELL’S CORNER

 

Property at the northeast section of North and High streets in Elkton, which was conveyed by George R. Howard to Dr. Wm. D. Cawley and wife on March 27, 1903. It consisted of a frame dwelling and a frame stable. It was sold October 27, 1911 to satisfy a mortgage for $3,600.

 

MEADOWBRINK

 

Homestead of the Reynolds family at Blue Ball. The house was built in 1726 by Jacob Reynolds, one of the three brothers who came from England and settled in Cecil County. It is now occupied by his descendents of the sixth generation, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Reynolds, Jr.

 

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION OF MAY 20, 1775

 

For article on this subject and role of Cecil County natives, see Fourth of July oration by Judge James McCauley, reported in Cecil Democrat of July 8, 1876.

 

Editor’s note: The HSCC also has a book on this topic, titled Mecklenburg Signers.

 

MEDICAL SOCIETY OF CECIL COUNTY

 

The Medical Society of Cecil County was organized in Odd Fellows Hall in Elkton on June 3, 1879. The meeting was attended by 14 physicians of the county. Dr. William B. Rowland was made chairman and Dr. John H. Jamar was the first secretary and treasurer.

 

MEGILL’S CORNER

 

This is the first and only right hand turn on the road from Johnstown to Reybold’s Wharf (now Crystal Beach), in the first district. It was named for Joseph Megill, an Irishman, who owned a farm of 200 acres at this place in 1875. He was the first man to use a road scraper on the public roads in this county.

 

Editor’s note: The place name is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched June 7, 2007).

 

MENNONITE CHURCH

 

The Mennonite Church at Oakwood was built in 1894 by the Methodist Protestants. The original name was Bethesda M. P. Church. It was organized in 1858 by the Rev. Thomas Lee.

 

CENTENNIAL OF CECIL CIRCUIT (METHODIST)

 

First Methodist Society in this part of the U. S. originated in 1771 by Rev. Richard Wright. Visited by Bishop Asbury in April 1771. (Cecil Democrat, November 3, 1888, page 3, columns 2-3.

 

MEXICO

 

A neighborhood in the 8th District southeast of Oakwood which was the location of Bethesda Methodist Protestant.

 

Note: Mexico is identified as the unofficial name of Oakwood on the U. S. Geological database - 39º 41’ 56”N, 76º 10’ 49”W (searched June 7, 2007).

 

MIDDLETOWN & CECILTON RAILROAD CO.

 

This company was incorporated by the Maryland legislature April 12, 1904. It had an authorized capitalization of $40,000 in common stock and $10,000 of preferred stock. Thomas C. Cruikshank was president of the company and E. S. Short was treasurer. The railroad was never built.

 

MIDLAND JOURNAL

 

A weekly newspaper called the Rising Sun Journal was started in Rising Sun by W. H. Pennington & Bro. in 1879. It was purchased in 1885 by Edwin E. Ewing, who changed its name to the Midland Journal and with his sons continued publication until it was absorbed by the Cecil Whig in 1948 following the death of Cecil E. Ewing.

 

Note: The Midland Journal ceased publication as an independent newspaper in December 1946.

 

MILLER’S CORNER

 

This is the intersection of Maryland routes 277 and 316 east of Elk Manor Elementary School. The elevation on the northwest corner is Prospect Hill, which was the home of Henry Dobson Miller, Register of Wills of Cecil County from 1816 to 1844. Route 277 is the division line between the 3rd and 4th districts.

 

Editor’s note: This place name is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched June 7, 2007). Elk Manor Elementary is now called Cecil Manor Elementary School.

 

MILLIGAN HALL

 

This mansion, now known as Little Bohemia, is on the south bank of the Bohemia River in a grove of trees. It was built around 1745 on a tract of 1000 acres granted in 1689 to Hugh McGregory and sold in 1740 to Col. John Baldwin, who deeded to his son-in-law, George Mulligan.

 

MITCHELL HOUSE

 

This house of stucco over brick at 131 E. Main Street in Elkton was built in 1769 by Dr. Abraham Mitchell, one of the county’s first physicians. During the Revolutionary War it was converted into a hospital for wounded Continental soldiers. It is now the residence of Judge and Mrs. E. D. E. Rollins.

 

MITCHELL’S MISTAKE

 

A tract of 54 acres near Charlestown which was patented to Edward Mitchell on February 19, 1794.

 

MOORE’S CHAPEL

 

A Methodist church at Fair View [Blake] in the 4th District about one mile below the Mason-Dixon Line. It bears the name of the Rev. Gabriel Moore, a preacher of the Methodist protestant denomination. The chapel was built on land donated by him near his residence at Fairview (or Blake) and was dedicated on June 9, 1872.

 

MORGAN’S CROSSROADS

 

The earliest name for present town of Cecilton. It took its name from James Morgan whose brick tavern was the first house built there.

 

MORMONS IN CECIL COUNTY

 

See the Democrat of February 11, 1882, page 3, column 4. Interesting Reminiscences. Mormonism in Cecil County Forty Years Ago. Also, a column article by George Johnston in the Cecil Democrat of December 25, 1886, page 3, column 4-5.

 

MOROCTO ROOFING COMPANY

 

This company’s plant was on the site of the former Rowlandsville iron mill. It was engaged in manufacturing composition roofing shingles and employed 60 men. After operating for ten years the plant was wiped out by fire on April 5, 1928, entailing an estimated loss of $450,000.

 

MOUNT ARARAT

 

A granite bluff on the east side of Susquehanna River a short distance south of Port Deposit noted for its magnificent view. It was no doubt named for the traditional resting place of Noah’s ark. The mansion built here was willed to the University of Maryland by the late Donaldson Brown [and is used as a conference center]. ( Johnston page 128)

 

MOUNT CARMEL BAPTIST CHURCH

 

This church was established by a black congregation in North East in 1933. Their church building is at the corner of Washington and Russell streets. The Rev. William T. Dupree was pastor when the church celebrated its 33rd anniversary in July 1966.

 

MOUNT JOY

 

The elevation at Kenmore School between Andora and Fair Hill where the road from Providence joins Fair Hill road. The elevation is about 380 feet.

 

Editor’s note: This place name is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched June 7, 2007).

 

MOUNT NEBO

 

Name given to a high bank on the south side of the canal in Chesapeake City. It is mentioned in the Cecil Democrat of February 16, 1868, page 2. Nebo was the mountain from which Moses viewed the Promised Land after the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness for forty years. (Deut. 34)

 

Editor’s note: Mount Nebo Road is on the ACD Street Atlas of Cecil County of 2005, map 18.

 

MOUNT OLIVET METHODIST CHURCH

 

The present Methodist church in the town of Warwick was built in 1859 and was given the legal title of Mt. Olivet M. P. Church of Warwick. The Warwick Circuit was composed of five churches in three counties: Galena and Sassafras in Kent, Warwick and Chesapeake City in Cecil, and Salem in New Castle County, Delaware.

 

MOUNT WELCOME

 

A large tract of land on the east side of the Susquehanna River about one mile north of the mouth of Octoraro Creek which was patented to Richard Hall in 1640. It was first called Mt. Independence. In 1807 the property was sold to the Physic family of Philadelphia, and in 1823 became the home of Dr. Phillip Syng Physic (1768 – 1837), the famous surgeon and teacher.

 

MULBERRY FARM

 

A farm on the west side of Augustine Herman Highway at the Bohemia River and Scotchman’s Creek, and adjoining Bohemia Ferry
wharf.

 

MURPHY’S MILL

 

This grist mill was at Bohemia Mills on Great Bohemia Creek. It was a three-story building 70x55 with a ground extension 40x24. It had 2 sets of mill stones for grinding meal and feed and a capacity of 36 bbls. a day. It was sold on May 27, 1913 to Harry Davidson for $4,600 to satisfy a mortgage.

 

MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY OF CECIL COUNTY

 

This company was incorporated by act of the Maryland legislature, passed on January 13, 1846. The first president was Gen. Henry S. Stites and the secretary and treasurer was Francis A. Ellis, who served for 41 years. The company is still in business at 135 West Main Street in Elkton.

 

Editor’s note: The company is no longer in business.

 

MYRTLE GROVE

 

A farm in Sassafras Neck close to Little Bohemia Creek owned by George Biddle, School Examiner.

 

MCCULLOUGH IRON COMPANY: Deaths of Delapaine McDaniel, president, and Mrs. Jethro McCullough, widow of an ex-president.

 

The Cecil Democrat of January 24, 1885, page 3, columns 3 and 4. The obituary contains a brief sketch of origin and development of the McCullough Iron Company.

 

MCCULLOUGH IRON COMPANY: Estate of Delaplaine McDaniel

 

The Cecil Democrat, March 28 1885, page 3, column 2. Dividing a Large Estate.

 

“The estate of the deceased, of which the will disposes, is estimated at from one to two millions of dollars.” Widow inherits “Shady Beach Farm, in the Fifth District, which is one of the best improved farms in Cecil County.” Also $15,000 annually for life. Bulk of rest of property to children. $10,000 to Drew Theological Seminary, interest to be used in educating two young men for ministry; $5,000 to John Dickinson College of Carlisle. PA., interest to be used as yearly prizes to two leading men in freshmen and sophomore classes.

 

MCCULLOUGH IRON COMPANY, NORTH EAST, Labor Dispute

 

The Democrat, August 21, 1886, page 3, column 4: (Aug 19th DASH dispatch from North East) … “the men refuse to go to work and the iron company refuses to recognize the Knights of Labor element that was instrumental in the strike and will undoubtedly employ men free from its influence when they again start the mill. Tuesday last was payday. All the employees were discharged, while those renting houses that belonged to the McCullough Iron Company were notified to vacate the same at the expiration of 30 days. As a result of the continued strike many merchants feel the depression that has been caused to trade and many wish for a speedy adjustment of the trouble.”

 

MCGREGOR’S DELIGHT”

 

This was the name of the place now known as “Bohemia” when the house was built in 1745. Col. John Baldwin, high sheriff of Cecil County in 1720, deeded it to his son-in-law, George Milligan, who married Catherine Baldwin. The property passed to George’s son, Robert Milligan, a lawyer. Robert bought a house in Wilmington so that his four children could attend school there. He died in 1806 and the plantation passed to his eldest son, George Baldwin Milligan.

 

MCKINNEYTOWN

 

This is a settlement of a few houses in the vicinity of Lake’s Corner in Elk Neck. It is reached by following the Turkey Point Road from North East and turning left at about two miles [McKinneytown Road]. The McKinney family’s private burying ground in which McKinneys and Culbertsons (related by marriage) are buried is there.

 

NAIL FACTORY

 

The manufacture of nails was started at Marley in 1806. The nails were cut by machinery and headed by hand. The annual production was 100 tons. The factory was operated by Jeremiah L. Leslie and later by John Hayes, in a stone house which is still standing (1971) and bears the date 1812. It was used as a boarding house as later as 1890.

 

NELLIE’S CORNER

 

Intersection of Blue Ball Road (Route 545) and road to Moore’s Chapel at Blake. It immortalizes the name of Nellie Dysart who formerly kept a tavern at this corner. The elevation is 458 feet above sea level.

 

Editor’s note: Nellie’s Corner Road is in the ADC Street Atlas of Cecil County, 2005 edition, map 5. Dysart’s Tavern was also known as Seven Stars Tavern.

 

NEW CONNAUGHT MANOR

 

First known as Susquehanna Manor, this was a tract of approximately 32,000 acres between North East River and Octoraro Creek, patented to George Talbot June 11, 1680.

 

NEW KANSAS

 

An early name for Blake, also known as Fairview, in the 4th District.

 

Statement of Winter L. Brown

 

NEW MEXICO

 

An early name for the town of Oakwood in the 8th District.

 

(see also MEXICO)

 

NEW MUNSTER

 

By the side of Route 273 where it crosses the Big Elk Creek is a marker bearing this legend:

“NEW MUNSTER

A tract of 6,000 acres laid out in 1683 by George Talbot (then surveyor-general of Maryland) for Edwin O’Dwire and 15 other Irishmen. Its northern boundary extended into what is now Pennsylvania.

 

The Irishmen were probably natives of Munster in Ireland, a province composed of the counties of Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford. The 6,000 us about two miles wide on both sides of Big Elk Creek.

 

NEW VALLEY

 

An industrial settlement on Basin Run midway between Rowlandsville and Liberty Grove which in 1875 comprised a number of dwellings, a gristmill, saw mill, lumberyard, nail mill, and undertaker’s shop.

 

NEWARK, ELKTON AND EASTERN SHORE ELECTRIC RAILWAY COMPANY OF CECIL COUNTY

 

This visionary public utility was chartered by the Maryland legislature at its January 1902 session. The company was empowered to haul passengers and freight and to furnish electric power in the county. It was authorized to sell 2,000 shares of $50 per value capital stock, but there were no buyers.

 

NORTH EAST

 

A Short Account of that Enterprising Town in the Fifth District

Cecil Democrat July 11, 1903, page 1, columns 5-6.

 

NORTH EAST CLASSICAL SEMINARY

 

This school opened in September 1867. The land for a building was given by the Rev. John H. Johns. The cost of tuition, board, and washing was $80 for a term of five months. The school was later sold to the North East Fire Company and is now the site of the Laundromat on Main Street.

 

Cecil Democrat June 20, 1868, page 2

 

Editor’s note: There is no longer a Laundromat at that location.

 

NORTH EAST HOTEL

 

Mr. Benoni F. Thomas was proprietor of this hotel located on Main Street in North East, in a central location. His hotel offered first-class accommodations in every department, and his hack ran to and from the hotel, connecting with all trains. (1877 Atlas)

 

An ad for the North East Hotel is included in the file, dated 10 December 1899 (Newspaper not identified, probably the Cecil Democrat)

 

Editor’s note: A picture of the hotel is in our photograph collection. The hotel later became the location of Cramer’s Department Store and is now used as an antique shop.

 

NORTH EAST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH

 

See the Democrat January 7, 1882, page 3, column 5, for half column article re additions to church.

 

Ibid. January 21, 1882, page 3, column 2-3: Church Dedication. Article gives history of church, names of trustees, at different periods in its existence.  (Originally Ebenezer Chapel).

 

NORTH EAST METHODIST CHURCH: McCullough bequest

 

Cecil Democrat July 18, 1885, page 3, column 5.

(Dispatch from DASH in North East, July 16th)

 

“The North East Church has purchased of Mr. Jesse West a dwelling and also a lot on which a double dwelling will be erected. $1400 was paid for the dwelling and $250 for the lot. The church is enabled to do this from a sum of money bequeathed by the late Jethro McCullough. The house will be rented.”

 

NORTH EAST METHODIST CHURCH: A historical sketch prepared and read by Rev. John B. Quigg at Cecil Circuit Tercentenary Celebration at Newark, Delaware, November 20, 1888.

Includes lists of members of North East Methodist Church on June 1, 1801, names of trustees and names and dates of service of all ministers who served the church from its beginning. (Available in Kelso Methodist records at Historical Society of Delaware)

NORTH EAST METHODIST CHURCH

New Methodist Episcopal Church at North East dedicated on Sunday (on same site as church originally built in 1837)

Cecil Democrat, June 20, 1903, page 3, column 5: 2/3 column

NORTH EAST: St. Mary Anne’s Church

Cecil Democrat July 2, 1904, page 3, column 4

Historic Old Church … St. Mary Anne’s at North East to be Rebuilt. 1/3 column

NORTH EAST NOTES (3/24/1887): Knights of Labor

Cecil Democrat, March 26, 1887, page 3, column 7: “Very little interest was taken in the town election last Monday. A light vote was polled, which resulted in the following gentlemen being elected: Andrew Anderson, Patrick Reedy, Wm. H. Minker, Jacob Campbell and Emory Lowe. With one exception, the above are Knights of Labor, which is a strong organization here.” DASH

Additional information on Knights of Labor in July 23 issue, page 2, column 5.

 

NORTH EAST RECORD

 

An independent newspaper which was the first ever published in North East. The first number appeared December 21, 1878. It was a four page 18” x 24” paper edited by D. H. B. Browser, who had previously published it in Chesapeake City. The Record was sold to George O. Garey in July 1882.

 

NORTH EAST STAR

 

A weekly four-page newspaper started in North East on July 29, 1882 by George O. Garey, who had bought the plant of the North East Record, a newspaper started by D. H. B. Browser on December 21, 1878. Mr. Garey edited the Star until his death on April 9, 1926.

 

NORTH SASSAFRAS PARISH

 

One of 30 parishes laid out in the ten counties of Maryland in 1692 when the Church of England was made the state’s established church. It embraced all of Cecil County until 1706 when that part of the county north of the Elk River was set off by the General Assembly as North Elk Parish.

 

NOTTINGHAM SQUARE

An early name for Harrisville, west of Rising Sun.

 

NOWLAND’S CORNER

 

Point on Warburton’s Road from Pleasant Hill to Bayview at which a right turn leads to Zion and Calvert, a short distance north of Gilpin’s Falls bridge. It is in the 9th District. It was the home of Benoni Nowland. He was probably a descendant of Michael Nowland, an Irishman, who was living in North Milford Hundred in 1790.

 

Editor’s note: This place name is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched June 14, 2007).

 

OCTORARO FORGE

 

This property contained 150 acres of land on Octoraro Creek four miles west of Rising Sun. The improvements consisted of a forge, grist mill, saw mill, a stone dwelling house, and ten tenant houses. It was advertised for sale in the Cecil Democrat of November 20, 1852, and was occupied at that time by Mr. Blackburn.

 

Editor’s note: The property is now part of Camp Horseshoe, B.S.A., Chester District.

 

OLD GUN MILL

 

This factory is said to have been located on a small stream emptying into North East Creek in the vicinity of Zion. It was operated by Colonel Henry Hollingsworth during the Revolutionary War for the manufacture of musket-barrels and bayonets. There is much obscurity about its history.

 

OLD TOWN

 

Name by which Pivot Bridge on the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, two miles east of Chesapeake City, was generally known.

 

OLDFIELD POINT

 

A projection into Elk River of land from Elk Neck. The point takes its name from George Oldfield, a lawyer who lived there before the British army made it famous in history by the invasion of August 27, 1777. He was the first county attorney for Cecil County and trustee of the estate of friend and neighbor, Augustine Herman.

 

OPPOQUERMINE

 

Name given by the Indians to Bohemia River.

 

ORDINARY POINT

 

A low spit of land running out into the Sassafras River from the high Cecil County shore for nearly half a mile. It is about three miles north of Betterton and is commonly known as “Ornery Point.” For the accommodation of sportsmen who frequented the point to shoot ducks, a house of refreshment or an ordinary was established there; hence the name.

 

OAKHURST PRIVATE SCHOOL

 

This school was owned and conducted by Mrs. Theodore Currier in a one-room schoolhouse at Blythedale. A class of two was graduated May 21, 1914. Mrs. Currier was a graduate of Millersville State College and taught in the public schools. The schoolhouse was still standing in 1967.

 

OCTORARA

 

A stone house built in the late 17th century on an elevation near Conowingo which commands a view of the Susquehanna River and Conowingo Lake. The tract was patented to Richard Hall in 1640 and called Mount Independence. In 1807 the property was sold to the Physick family of Philadelphia.

 

OCTORARO CREEK

 

A stream which arises in Pennsylvania and flows across the northwest corner of Cecil County to form the boundary between the 6th and 8th Districts. It’s Indian name signifies “rushing waters.” The creek once powered a number of grist and paper mills, but is now only important to fishermen.

 

OTTER POINT

 

A point on the Elk River one mile south of Elkton. It was the site of Tillotsontown, where an African American family named Tillotson lived and practiced necromancy.

 

Editor’s note: The ADC Street Atlas of Cecil County (2005 edition) shows Otter Point Road on map12.

 

OTT’S CHAPEL

 

Is close by the side of the road about one half mile north of the first crossroad on Route 281 over the Delaware Line east of Elkton. The frame building is about 18 x 35 feet, neat and well-kept. It was built in 1871 and bears the name of Elder Stephen Ott (1817-1875) whose grave is in the cemetery at the rear of the chapel.

 

PALMER’S ISLAND

 

This is a large island at the mouth of the Susquehanna River, which was named for Edward Palmer, of Leamington, Gloucestershire, England, who bought the island with the idea of founding an academy on it. The English settlement on the island was the first made within the limits of Cecil County. It is now called Garrett Island.

 

Editor’s note: It was also called Watson’s Island in the nineteenth century.

 

PAPERMAKING IN CECIL COUNTY

 

The Singerly Pulp Works. Approximately one column in the Cecil Democrat, January 26, 1884, page 3, column 3. Description of the Enterprise for Making the Pulp Board Used in the Manufacture of Paper for the Philadelphia Record. The article begins as follows:

“For nearly three fourths of a century the manufacture of paper has been one of the leading industries of Cecil County, and at one time the paper used by the Baltimore Sun and the Philadelphia Ledger was made at the mills on the Little Elk Creek, a few miles north of this town. The paper used by the Ledger and the Philadelphia Record is yet made there; the proprietors of the former paper being the owners of the Marley Paper Mill, and William M. Singerly the proprietor of the Philadelphia Record being the owner of the Providence Mill, the oldest one of the kind in the county, if not the state, -- paper having been made at that place by the brothers Meeter in the early part of the century.”

 

PAPER MANUFACTURE. CECIL COUNTY. MARLEY PAPER MILL.

 

The Cecil Democrat, January 5, 1885, page 3, column 2 under “Important

Lawsuits” reports following suits brought by William T. Warburton and H. W. Archer, attorneys for the plaintiffs, in the Circuit Court of Cecil County, for injuries sustained by some of the employees in the Marley Paper Mill at the time of the explosion at that place about a year ago, in which Patrick McCormick and John T. Garrett were killed and several other persons injured, each suit in amount of $25,000, as follows, against George W. Childs and H. L. Carter: 1) Charles Kelly vs.; Robert Dunsmore vs.; 3) James Harnett vs.; 4) Patrick McCormick’s heirs vs. George W. Childs and H. L. Carter, damages to the amount of $25,000. (Also reference to 22 January 1883.

 

PARK HOTEL

 

A hotel in Chesapeake City, of which J. E. Willis was proprietor in 1876. Mr. Willis proclaimed that his hotel afforded the best accommodations and stressed the fact that his bar furnished the choicest brands of wines, whiskies, and liquors of all kinds. Robert O. Hayes was owner of the hotel at the time of his death in July 1888.

 

Includes an ad for the Park Hotel that ran 3 months from May 8 (Paper unidentified).

 

PARTRIDGE HILL

 

An eminence at the southwest corner of Bow and East Main streets in Elkton occupied by a two-story stone house which was built in 1768. It was the home of Colonel Henry Hollingsworth. It was named in honor of his daughter, who married James Partridge, Esq.

 

PEACH BLOSSOM FARM

 

This farm of 650 acres was six miles west of Cecilton and extended to Sassafras River. It was owned by James Casseday (Cassidy) who started a peach orchard in 1839 which grew to 400 acres from which he shipped 50,000 baskets of fruit in one season to the Baltimore and Philadelphia markets.

 

Editor’s note: Cassidy Wharf Road and Cassidy Wharf are on current maps. Advertisements for the sale of Peach Blossom farm appear in the local newspapers after Cassidy’s death in the 1850s.

 

PEDDLERS LANE

 

The old name by which Earleville was generally known.

 

Editor’s note: A road going into Earleville retains the name Peddler’s Lane.

 

PEOPLE’S BANK OF ELKTON

 

This state-chartered institution opened for business on March 5, 1924 in the building formerly occupied by the defunct Second National Bank on North Street which had been purchased for $12,000 in April 1923 and remodeled. The first president was Henry L Constable and the cashier was Argus Robinson.

 

PEREGRINE’S MOUNT

 

The name given to the “highest mountain” which Captain John Smith observed to the northward of present town of North East. His map indicates he referred to the highland now called Bacon Hill.

 

PERKINS MEMORIAL CHAPEL

 

This chapel was opened in November 1898 on Turkeytown [Cowantown] Road northeast of Elkton. It was built at a cost of $400 on a lot donated by Mr. Amos McNeal. It was the outgrowth of a Sunday school organized about 1862 by Mr. John Perkins which met in West Amwell public school. He served as superintendent for 27 years.

 

PERKINSVILLE

 

The section of North East lying south of the run. It was a visionary town which was laid out in streets but never eventuated.

 

PETROGLYPHS

 

These primitive figures or legends were found on rocks in the Susquehanna near Bald Friar. They were supposedly carved by early Indians. Specimens were removed when the area was inundated by the Conowingo Dam. The word is derived from the Greek: petros (rock) and glypho (to carve).

 

PILOT

 

A small village in the northwestern corner of the 8th District which was originally called pilot-town. The place took its name from the fact that here lived a number of pilots (at one time seven) who maneuvered arks and rafts down the Susquehanna River.

 

PLANK ROAD

 

Public announcement concerning Plank road, dated January 28, 1854 (paper not identified, probably the Cecil Democrat), and one dated June 6).

 

 

PERRY MILL

 

This flour mill was located on the Susquehanna River between Perryville and Port Deposit with a waterfront of 750 feet. The capacity of the mill was 100 barrels of flour daily. The Port Deposit Railroad passed directly in front of the mill.

 

POPLAR HILL

 

Name by which the village of Andora was known until March 1853, when residents adopted the present name.

 

POPEMETTO

 

An Indian village believed to have been located near the old chapel in the vicinity of Battle Swamp, about three miles from Port Deposit.

 

PORT DEPOSIT ROCK

 

The first issue of this paper appeared in Port Deposit on 6 August 1839. It was published by George Keating, a strong anti-Jackson man. The size of the paper was 26 x 30 inches, and the subscription price was $2 a year. It lasted for only a few months and the press and type were shipped to Elkton and used in starting the Cecil Whig.

 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN ELKTON

 

For history see Cecil Democrat of October 3, 1874 – page 1

 

PRICE’S HOTEL (FREDERICKTOWN, MARYLAND)

 

Ad from December 1899 – paper unidentified, probably the Cecil Democrat

 

PRIEST TAX

 

In Quaker language, a tax imposed by the legislature of Maryland upon all tithables, without distinction, within the several parishes of the province to support the established (Anglican) church. The Quakers were forbidden by their teachings to pay this tax, and were often fined for refusing to pay it.

 

PRISE HOUSE

 

Name given to an inspection house in which tobacco was packed in hogsheads for shipment to England. If a hogshead fell short of a specified amount it was “prised” by packing or pressing by means of a lever or “prise” until it contained the maximum quantity. The houses were on the Sassafras River. (Johnston 193)

 

PRIZING POINT

 

On March 24, 1732, Colonel John Ward and Joseph Wood introduced in the General Assembly a bill entitled “An Act to Erect a Town on the North Side of the Sassafras River in Cecil County by Laying out into Lotts 30 acres of Land on a Point known as Pennington’s Point or the Prizing Point. This was evidently where tobacco was prized for shipment aboard.

 

PROSPECT HILL

 

The hill north of Miller’s Corner in the 4th District where the road from Elk Mills crosses the road from Elkton to Cowantown. It was the home of Henry Dobson Mill, who was Register of Will of Cecil County from 1816 to 1844 - 27 years.

 

Editor’s note: This place name is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched June 14, 2007).

 

PROVIDENCE PAPER MILL

 

The manufacture of paper was begun in Cecil County soon after 1800 by Samuel Meeter at Providence mill (later called Kenmore) on Little Elk Creek. The mill was totally destroyed by fire on August 4, 1954, entailing a loss of $250,000. Paper for the Philadelphia Record was made here when William M. Singerly was the publisher.

 

PROVIDENCE CORNER

 

The junction of the Fair Hill road (Maryland 280) with the road leading to Providence (Maryland 441) at Kenmore school in the 4th District.

 

OUEEN’S ROAD

 

This highway ran from lower ferry at Perryville via North East and crossed the Big Elk Creek at or near the present day bridge in Elkton and then continued down the peninsula east of the heads of Back Creek and the Bohemia and Sassafras rivers through Bohemia Mills, Warwick, and Head of Sassafras. (Johnston 226)

 

QUINN HOUSE

 

Daniel Charles Heath, son of the founder of the town of Warwick, built this brick house on the town’s main street about 1750. General Washington visited here on different occasions when passing through Cecil County. The house has been restored by the present owners, Mr. & Mrs. James D. Quinn.

 

RANDALIA

 

A 1000 acre estate at the confluence of Back Creek and Elk River, named for a former owner, John Randall, Jr. It overlooks the entrance to the C&D Canal. The property was purchased in 1855 by Jacob C. Howard, great grandfather of the present owner, Polk Steele Howard.

 

REA’S CORNER

 

Intersection of Belvedere and Port Deposit roads east of Woodlawn on the division line between the 6th and 7th Districts.

 

Editor’s note: This place name is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched June 14, 2007).

 

RED BALL TAVERN

 

A red wooden ball identified this early tavern which appears on a map of 1795. It was the large stone house still standing just west of the bridge over Little Elk Creek at the Rock Church. It was reputed to be a favorite stopping place for drovers.

 

RED HILL

 

An elevation east of Elkton which was called Gray’s Hill during the Revolutionary times. It was here that Lord Howe encamped prior to the battle of Brandywine. The Hill is 268 feet high and commands an excellent view of the surrounding country.

 

RED TOAD SCHOOL

 

A public school near Bethel Church west of Marysville. It was No. 7 in the 5th District. The lot was bought from Thomas Logan on September 25, 1858. On the map of 1858 it was called Reed’s School but it was better known as the Red Toad School, which is believed to have been the name of a early tavern in that neighborhood.

 

RED TURKEY

 

A community north of Rising Sun near the Pennsylvania Line consisting of two dwellings, a blacksmith shop, and the Grey Horse M. E. Church. The location is very high and commands a fine view of the surrounding countryside for many miles.

 

Editor’s note: This place name is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched June 14, 2007).

 

REED’S CORNER

 

Intersection of road from Cecilton to Grove Neck (Maryland 282) by the Sandy Bottom Road about one half mile southeast of Earleville.

 

Editor’s note: This place name is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched June 14, 2007).

 

REEDER’S CORNER

 

Intersection of Ebenezer Church Road and road to Port Deposit (Route 353), which became Theodore when a post office was opened there  September 1,1890. It is in the 5th District and the elevation is 414 feet.

 

RICH HILL

 

This two-story brick plantation house is located at the head of Sassafras River. It is owned by the St. Augustine Church and is the residence of the rector of that parish. The plantation was patented in 1750 to Alexander Baird, who accumulated 2000 acres of land, much of which was planted in tobacco. He died in 1792.

 

RICHARD’S OAK

 

Is at Harrisville on U.S. 1 three miles west of Rising Sun. Best known for the family who once owned the land on which the tree stands, the tree is sometimes called Lafayette Oak because his troops camped around it on the night of April 12, 1781. The tree is estimated to be more than 500 years old.

 

Editor’s note: The tree no longer survives.

 

RILEYTOWN

 

A section deriving its name form the Riley homestead about one half mile east of Rock Springs in the 8th District.

 

Editor’s note: This place name is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched June 14, 2007).

 

RISING SUN DETECTIVE ASSOCIATION

 

This organization was incorporated by the General Assembly of Maryland on April 14, 1880, for the purpose of apprehending horse thieves. An annual dinner was a feature of the association. It had more than 100 members and operated until January 1936.

 

RIVERVIEW ACADEMY

 

This school for young ladies and little girls was near Port Deposit on the road leading to Battle Swamp. It Opened September 15, 1887, under the direction of Miss Harriet N. Shelley and Miss Alice A. Ball. Charges for tuition in the Junior Department were $10 a term and in the Senior Department $15 a term.

 

ROCK ACADEMY

This school was conducted in the Session House at Rock Presbyterian Church for many years during the 19th century until finally discontinued in 1907. The State of Maryland supported the academy by an annual stipend, and Professor James A. Kealy (1825-1899) was a well-known teacher there.

 

ROCK DALE

 

Name of post office established in April 1864 at Parke’s Rolling Mill on Big Elk Creek near Cowantown.

 

ROCKLAND

 

A new post office has been in this county at Rockland, and Thomas Greg appointed postmaster. Rockland, we understand is equidistant from Perryville and Port Deposit. (Cecil Democrat, February 17, 1849)

 

Editor’s note: Rockland does not appear on the 1858 Martinet map (nor does the name of Perryville for that for matter).

 

ROCK RUN MILL

 

A stone grist mill on Rock Run in Port Deposit with a front of 40 feet on Main Street and a depth of 35 feet, with two pairs of burrs each capable of grinding 60 barrels of flour daily. This mill was built in 1725 and was operated by John Steel in 1731. In 1731 a petition for a road at this place mentions the building as a merchants’ mill. The water power had a fall of 50 feet. (Democrat, May 7, 1857).

 

ROSE HILL

 

A plantation on the Sassafras River, four miles south of Earleville, which Thomas Marsh bequeathed to his grandson, Thomas M. Foreman, who commanded the First Brigade of Maryland Militia in the War of 1812. A monument marks the general’s grave behind the house. Rose Hill was a popular center fashionable society in its early days.

 

ROSEBANK CEMETERY

 

This burial ground at Brick Meetinghouse was named by James Trimble, who gave the land, laid out the lots, and planted the shrubbery. Rosebank Cemetery Association was incorporated February 13, 1847. The first lot was sold to Cloud Pierson, a blacksmith at Brick Meeting house.

 

THE ROUNDS

 

This historic home on the south side of Little Bohemia River was built in 1740 after one built in 1720 was destroyed by fire. The front is Georgian in style and the river-side is English. It was sold by John Rumsey in 1807. Judge David Davis was born here May 9, 1815. The property was bought by A. Felix DuPont, Jr. in May, 1962.

 

RADNOR MILL

 

Radnor Pulp Mill was built in Elkton in 1882. It produced wood pulp for manufacture of paper, and was one of the largest in the country. The mill could produce 75,000 pounds of pine pulp or 95,000 pounds of poplar gum pulp daily from wood transported by barges to Elton. The mill closed about 1930.

 

RAILROAD HOTEL

 

A hotel on Main Street in North East, near the bridge, which offered pleasant accommodations and good stabling at modest charges. W. J. Crothers was the proprietor in 1878.

 

RAILWAY - THE FIRST STEAM RAILWAY

 

Cecil Democrat, February 26, 1887, page 3, column 3.

 

RUMSEY ORDINARY

 

A large ordinary (hotel) built at the Head of Bohemia some time before 1700. It was a brick building, had 30 rooms, and a beautiful stairway. Head of Bohemia was an important place, being the western terminus of the shortest trans-peninsular route between the Delaware and Delaware bays.

 

SAVINTON

 

Mrs. Thomas M. Forman, who lived at Rose Hill, wrote in her diary of going to Savinton to pay taxes. Savinton was the name by which Cecilton was known before 1832.

 

SCARBOROUGH’S RUN

 

A small fresh-water stream which arises in the neighborhood of Pleasant Hill and flows in an easterly direction into the Little Elk Creek at a point about one half mile north of the site of the former Harlan’s binder-board mill.

 

SCOTT FERTILIZER COMPANY

 

The Scott Fertilizer Company and Sulphuric Acid Works plant, which stood where Elkton Supply is now located at the corner of West Main and Bridge streets in Elkton, was incorporated in 1887, and a plant for the manufacture of sulphuric acid was erected in 1900. The buildings were destroyed by fire December 15, 1918.

                                          

SEAL OF CECIL COUNTY

 

On June 11, 1968 the County Commissioners adopted a resolution establishing an official seal for Cecil County. The seal depicts a sky and river scene showing a male and female mallard duck in flight and to the left of their heads a cluster of cattails and reeds.

 

SECOND NATIONAL BANK OF ELKTON

 

This bank was opened for business on December 16, 1889. Its banking house was on North Street in a new building which is now occupied by the People’s Bank of Elkton. William T. Warburton was the first (and only) president and Colonel I. D. Davis was the first cashier. The bank closed its doors on Friday, January 20, 1922.

 

Editor’s note: This building was torn down in 2006.

 

SENECA POINT (1)

 

A protrusion of land into North East River south of Charlestown which bears the name of the Seneca tribe of Indians who lived along the river. An act of 1744 empowered the Commissioners of Charlestown to purchase from Edward Oldham two acres of land at Seneca Point for use as a ship-yard.

 

 

SENECA POINT (2)

 

A fishery on the North East River near Charlestown, and also a shipyard where small vessels were built by John Cooper. It was the birthplace of Dr. John E. Owens, a noted surgeon of the Union Army of the Civil War.

 

SEVEN STARS TAVERN

 

A long two-and-a half story stone house built in Appleton about 1714 and used as a public inn. At one time the inn keeper was Katie Dysart, who bore an unsavory reputation and is said to have come to a violent end on January 19, 1855, at the age of 86.

 

Editor’s note: see Dysart Tavern

 

SHANNON RIVER

 

A name which George Talbot tried unsuccessfully to apply to the North East River. The Shannon Mill of the McCullough Iron Company (1861-1898) was at North East.

 

SHELEMIAH

 

The early name of the present town of Bay View. It is a Biblical word meaning “a prince of the Lord.” The name was given to the Methodist Protestant Church established at Bay View at 1830.

 

SHORT’S CORNER

 

Point on the Nottingham Road where it was intersected by Marley Road and one-half mile southeast of Boulden’s Chapel. This intersection is on the division line between the 3d and 5th districts.

 

Editor’s note: This place name is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched June 28, 2007).

 

SLEEPY HOLLOW

 

A tract of land between Battle Swamp and New Valley running westward. The name arose from the fact that it was once the home of the Indian Chief Osceola, who built his wigwam there and called it “Indian’s Rest.” Hence the name Sleepy Hollow.

 

Editor’s note: The story about Chief Osceola once living here is incorrect. The story apparently comes from an article by “’Barnum” in a Historical Sketch of Sleepy Hollow that appeared in the Cecil Democrat, December 23, 1854.

 

SLUYTER’S MILL

 

This mill (formerly Van Bibber’s) was on a branch of Bohemia River., called Mill Creek, southwest of St. Augustine. Nearby lived Solomon Heresy, in whose house the first Methodist Society in Cecil County was organized in 1771 by the Reverend Richard Wright.

 

SMITH’S CORNER

 

Smith’s Corner is about one-half mile from Frenchtown on the road to St. Mark’s Church, and is so called because Stuart Smith lived there. It was also called Cherry Corner because a cherry tree stood there.

 

Editor’s note: This place name is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched June 28, 2007).

 

SMITH FALLS

 

On Route 222 a short distance north of Port Deposit is a marker which reads:

SMITH FALLS

In 1608 Captain John Smith ascended the Susquehanna River until stopped by the rocks. On his map he calls this point Smyths Falls, Marking it by a cross, which he explains as meaning “Hath bin discovered; what beyond is by relation.”

 

SMITH’S GROVE SCHOOL

 

Smith’s Grove boarding and day school for young ladies was advertised in the Cecil Democrat in November 1850. The institution was on the Post Road between Port Deposit and Battle Swamp. The charge for room and board, washing, and tuition was $110 per annum. Bedding, towels, and napkins were furnished for $2 extra.

 

SOCIETY

 

A manor of 2104 acres of land which was adjacent to New Munster and just west of Little Elk Creek. It was probably several miles wide and extended as far north was New Munster. A portion of this tract was in possession of the Carroll family until 1805.

 

SODOM

 

The area between Back Creek on the north and the road from Courthouse Point to St. Augustine.

 

SOUTHAMPTON

 

This was an old public school one mile west of Leeds on the road to Bolden’s Chapel. The school appears on the map of 1858 and was No. 5 in the third District. It was closed in May 1922. The small brick building (16x35) stood on a lot donated by John Weston Holt. No vestige of the schoolhouse remains.

 

SOUTH MILFORD

 

Name of one of the Hundreds of Cecil County which was applied to the present village of Mechanics Valley.

 

SOYHEIRES HILL

 

Name of the hill on which the Oblate Novitiate is located near Childs. This name derives from a town in Switzerland which was the birthplace of St. Francis, Bishop of Geneva, and founder of the religious order of St. Francis de Sales in 1610. The chateau of Sales was near Geneva.

 

Editor’s note: This place name is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched June 28, 2007).

 

SPENCE’S CHAPEL

 

Name given to a Methodist society which was organized in 1800 at the home of John Spence near the former Singerly station on the B&O Railroad. In 1823 it became the Cherry Hill Methodist Episcopal Church.

 

SPRYS HILL

 

Original name of the very old property now known as Woodlawn on route 282 between Earleville and Grove Point Road. In 1858 it consisted of approximately 600 acres and was the source of the head waters of McGill Creek. The Ward family name has been continually associated with Woodlawn.

 

Editor’s Note: The ADC Street Atlas of Cecil County (2005) shows a Woodlawn Lane in the area described.

 

ST. ALBAN’S CREEK

 

Better known as Pearce Creek, and also as Stemmer’s Run, this stream empties into Elk River at Crystal Beach. It separates Pond Neck and Pearce Neck. St. Albans is a cathedral city in Hertforshire, England.

 

ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH

 

St. Andrew’s (Goldsborough Memorial) Episcopal Church was built in Andora, six miles north of Elkton, on a lot donated by Mr. and Mrs. John W. Quein. It was opened for services on April 14, 1895, and was closed in 1925. It is now the Providence Seventh Day Adventist Church.

 

ST. AUGUSTINE PARISH

 

St. Augustine Parish was erected in 1743 and “embraces all the land between the Elk and Bohemia rivers.” It was previously a part of North Sassafras Parish, one of Maryland’s original 30 parishes. The present church (the third to be located there) was built in 1838 and underwent extensive modernization in 1963.

 

ST. BASIL’S CATHOLIC CHURCH

 

A Greek Catholic church on route 537 south of Chesapeake City, which is surmounted by a bulb-shaped dome and cross. It serves a colony of Ukrainians who settled around Chesapeake City about 1900 and converted a wilderness into rich farm land. St. Basil (A. D. 326-380) was Bishop of Caesarea and founder of an order of monks.

 

ST. JOHN’S-IN-THE-WILDERNESS

 

A small chapel built in 1880 near Hance’s Point on the North East River by the Reverend E. K. Miller, who was then rector of St. Mary Anne’s Church. It served the needs of the community before the advent of automobiles and when St. Mary Anne’s was too far for regular attendance.

 

ST. MARK’S AUMP CHURCH                                                                                                           

 

This small church is on the east side of Maryland 272 about 1.5 miles south of Hart’s Methodist Church in Elk Neck. The cornerstone is inscribed: St. Mark’s AUMP Church 1887 – 1959.

 

ST MARY ANNE’S CHURCH

 

The parish church of North Elk Parish on South Main Street in North East was built in 1742 by Henry Baker. The brick building has a gambrel roof and round-arched windows, with a tower and cupola added in 1904 by Robert Somers Brookings. A vestry house was built at the west entrance in August 1969.

 

ST. PATRICK’S R. C. CHURCH

 

This is a small frame chapel which was built in 1819 by Irish immigrants who established in the northwest corner of Cecil County a settlement called Pilot. It is surrounded by a cemetery containing graves of the early parishioners. The chapel was closed in 1908 and is now standing in of state of abandonment. Visited 8/28/1967.

 

Editor’s note: Restoration has been done after 1967.

 

ST. ROSE OF LIMA CATHOLIC CHURCH

 

This brick church is in north Chesapeake City. The cornerstone reads “August 31, 1874. It was dedicated June 20, 1875. The church is named for St. Rose (1586-1617) who was born in Lima, Peru, and was thought to possess extraordinary mystical gifts. She is venerated as the patron saint of South America.

 

STAGE COACH INN

 

This 2½ story tavern was built about 1750 at Oakwood to accommodate stage coach travelers between Lancaster County and Baltimore. The first story is stone and the upper portion is brick. It has three chimneys and a long front porch. Present owner is Mr. Hagee, of Bel Air, who is engaged in restoring the old inn.

 

STRAWBERRY HILL

 

This residence built about 1700 is between Little Bohemia Creek and Worsell Manor. The original name was “Vulcan’s Rest.” It is on the south side of the mouth of a cove called Augustine’s Creek. It was the home of Hamilton Morton, who served in the legislature during the Civil War.

 

STEAMBOAT CHESAPEAKE

 

Was built in Baltimore by William Flanigan for the Citizens Union Line which ran between Baltimore and Frenchtown. She was the first steamboat to ply the Chesapeake Bay and on June 21, 1813 made her first trip from Baltimore to Frenchtown and return in 24 hours. Captain George Trippe was in command of the vessel.

 

STITES’ MILL

 

This mill, better known as Red Mill, was on the west side of Little Elk Creek about where the present bridge on U. S. 40 crosses that stream. In 1861 General Henry S. Stites informed the citizens of Elkton that he was prepared to supply them with flour, feed, and meal of the best quality and at the lowest prices.

 

STONE GRAVEYARD

 

This old cemetery at Lewisville, Pennsylvania, is so called because it is enclosed by a stone wall. It was the burying ground for early Presbyterians who built on the site a log house which was the forerunner of Rock Church. Although sadly neglected, a number of gravestones are still standing after a lapse of almost 200 years.

 

STONE RUN

 

A small stream in the 6th District which is a tributary to the Octoraro Creek.

 

STONEY BATTER

 

This was the original name of the village of Mount Pleasant in the western end of the 6th District. The name was derived from the patent for the land. It was also called The Corner because of the intersection of crossroads there, and more frequently, Vinegar Hill.

 

STONEY CHASE

 

A tract of 100 acres of land lying in the forks of the North East River. It was owned by William Rumsey, the surveyor, who left it to his daughter, Henrietta, by his will probated in 1742. It was later owned by Henry Baker of North East.

 

STOREY’S MEADOWS

 

Two tracts of land containing 335 acres on the North East River within a mile of the town of North East, owned by Thomas S. Thomas.

 

SUMMER HILL

 

The name given to Rising Sun by its founder, Israel Reynolds. A tavern built in Revolutionary War times, which was later burned, when owned by John A. Thompson, was called the Rising Sun Hotel, from which fact the village consisting of two or three houses and a few shops eventually acquired the name of Rising Sun (Cecil Democrat January 10, 1874).

 

SUSQUEHANNA PARISH

 

Susquehanna Parish was created in 1913 by division from North Elk. It is the triangular area bounded by Pennsylvania, the Susquehanna River, and Principio Creek on the east. St. Mark’s, the parish church, is west of Aikin, one-quarter mile off U. S. 222 between Perryville and Port Deposit.

 

SWAN CORNER

 

A crossroads in Pond Neck two miles due west of Earleville, where the Stemmer’s Run and Pond Neck roads intersect.

 

Editor’s note: This place name is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched August 16, 2007).

 

SWAN HARBOR

 

This farm near Cecilton, on Scotchman’s Creek, was patented to the Earle family in the 17th century. Philip Thomas bought the farm in 1821 and through him it passed to William T. Clark, who died in 1924. It is still occupied by his descendents. The name derives from the flocks of swan which inhabited the coves of Scotchman’s Creek.

 

TANGENT STONE

 

This weathered stone was erected by Mason and Dixon June 18, 1765 to mark the point where the straight line between Maryland and Delaware strikes the 12-mile radius arc around New Castle. Thence it runs due north to meet the west line and form the boundary of Cecil County. The tangent stone is in a field near Iron Hill and close to the main line of Penn Central Railroad.

 

TEACHER ASSOCIATION OF 1893 and 1894, History of

 

Cecil Democrat article by Miss Sally Nichol, October 20, 1894, page 3, columns 5 and 6.

 

TEMPERANCE HOTEL

 

Another name for a hotel which stood at the northeast corner of North and High Streets in Elkton and in 1891 was owned by Henry Miller. It was also called the Farmers’ Hotel. The site is now occupied by the store of W. B. Merrey.

 

THOMPSON’S SCHOOL HOUSE

 

This school house was at Pivot Bridge and in it Richard Wright in 1772 organized the second Methodist society in Cecil County. The church established here became Bethel, which continued in existence until October, 1861. In this society, Bishop Asbury conducted the first class meeting ever held in America.

 

THOMPSONTOWN

 

A tract of land containing 400 acres at Frenchtown, on the Elk River, was taken up and patented in 1659 under this name.

 

THORN TOWN

 

Early name for the southern terminus of the ferry across Bohemia River at Hacks Point. The name is mentioned in a petition of February 4, 1860 to the General Assembly for a bridge over the river at this place. It is also found in the diary of Judge McCauley.

 

TOLLOTSTOWN

 

A settlement on the Elk River about one mile below Elkton. It was the home of a colored family named Tillotstown whose members practiced medicine, specializing in the treatment of rheumatism.

 

Editor’s note: There is a reference to Tollotstown in the Elkton Press, August 8, 1823.

 

TIMMS’ CORNER

 

This is the intersection of Grove Neck Road by the Cassidy Wharf road about two miles west of Grindstone. It is in the First District. Walter Timms, a deaf mute, lived at this corner.

 

TOCKWOGH

 

This name was given to the Sassafras River by the tribe of Tockwogh Indians who inhibited its banks. Tockwogh was the original Indian name for sassafras, from the root of which they made a kind of bread.

 

TOWN POINT METHODIST CHURCH

 

The Town Point Methodist Church was organized in 1904. The present church is in Port Herman. The cornerstone was laid on September 16,1916, when the Rev. James H. Thornton was pastor.

 

TRANSTOWN

 

A settlement made by Swedes at the junction of the Big and Little Elk creeks in the vicinity of Elk Landing. In the Swedish language the word “trans” signifies a crane, and the settlement probably derived its name from the number of cranes which frequented the marshes along the Elk River.

 

TRIANGLE

 

A tract of land containing 40 acres, surveyed for Ariana Frisby May 19, 1720, which lay “att the Cross Roads one leading from head of Elk River to Bohemia and the other and the other from Frenchtown to New Castle.” (Rent Roll of Cecil County, Calvert Papers No. 884, folio 159).

 

TRINITY AUMP CHURCH

 

Is one mile northwest of Zion by the side of a dirt road. It is a neat, well-kept frame building about 40 feet long, painted white, with a church hall of the same length extended at the rear. The cornerstone reads “Trinity AUMP Chapel – Built 1890.” The Rev. William Marsh was the pastor in 1968. A cemetery adjoins the church. (Visited October 20, 1968). File includes a newspaper clipping about the church’s 80th anniversary, dated August 4,1970 (Newspaper name not given)

 

TURKEY POINT

 

The tip of Elk Neck Peninsula between the Elk and North East rivers, where the U. S. Government established a lighthouse in 1832. When Mrs. Fannie Salter, the last keeper, retired in 1938, she was the only lighthouse keeper in America.

 

TURKEY POINT LIGHTHOUSE

 

The Turkey Point Lighthouse is at the head of Chesapeake Bay on the tip of the peninsula between Elk and North East rivers. The tower rises 35 feet from a bluff 100 feet above the water. The light was erected in 1833 and the lot was erected in 1833 and the lot was deeded to the U. S. government on December 21, 1832, by John P. Paca.

 

TURKEYTOWN

 

Another name for Cowantown, midway between Barksdale and Appleton. It was given official name of Cowantown when a post office was established there on June 19, 1886. It was named for Benjamin Cowan, a leading citizen.

 

UNION HOSPITAL OF CECIL COUNTY

 

The first public meeting in the interest of a hospital in Elkton was held on October 24, 1902. Under leadership of Dr. Howard Bratton a committee was appointed to find ways and means to establish it. A corporation was formed on January 23, 1903, and the hospital was opened for reception of patients on December 1, 1908.

 

UNION HOTEL

 

One of the names given to a hotel which stood at the northeast corner of North and High Streets. In April 1867 the Union Hotel was taken over from the former proprietor, Mr. J. B. Wells, by Mrs. Caroline Johnson, who renamed it the Temperance Hotel.

 

UNITED PENTECOSTAL CHURCH

 

Located on the south side of Route 40 about one mile east of North East was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1971. This offspring of a church in Dover, Delaware was started in Rising Sun in 1966. Meetings were held in Council Hall in Bay View before the North East church was constructed.

 

UNIVERSALIST CHURCH

 

This church was organized in England and imported to America in 1770. It spread from New England to Cecil County where a church was erected before the Civil War. It stood on the site of the present residence of Mrs. J. Mercer Terrrell about 3 miles south of Elkton on Maryland 213. The walls of the brick building with its balcony were razed in 1920.

 

U. S. GRANT POST NO. 10

 

This G.A.R. Post was instituted at Cherry Hill on January 8, 1880, by Union veterans of the Civil War. The post enrolled 88 members who conducted a Memorial Day ceremony until the last veteran died in 1939. After that it was continued by their sons until a final service was held at Union Church on May 30, 1968.

 

VAN BIBBER’S FOREST

 

A tract of land in the Third District near Mechanics Valley containing about 850 acres which was patented to Matthias Van Bibber in 1720. He was an early settler on Bohemia Manor and for a long time was chief justice of Cecil County.

 

VIKING

 

This name was originally given to a way station on the B&O Railroad near Baldwin’s factory. The name was later changed to Barksdale, for H. M. Barksdale, the engineer in charge of constructing the new road in 1884.

 

VILLA AVIAT

 

Name given to the Catholic center at the county’s former poorhouse, near Childs, which was bought by the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales in 1952. Aviat was the name of a French woman who founded the order. Mount Aviat Academy was established in 1965 and now has 65 girl students. (Visited June 24, 1968).

 

Editor’s note: Mount Aviat is now a k-8 private school; the elementary school began in 1969 and the high school was ended in the 1972. The Mount Aviat web site (www.mountaviat.org) gives a different date for establishment of the academy (1960 rather than 1965).

 

VINEGAR HILL

 

The name applied to a section of road west of Colora which rises sharply for a half mile to the eminence on which Mount Pleasant Methodist Church was built in 1840. It was the birthplace of Emma Alice Brown, the poetess, and the home of Abraham Trump, notorious Tory, who in 1777 trapped wild pigeons and sold them to the British army then in Philadelphia.

 

VULCAN’S REST

 

A farm later known as Strawberry Hill, lying on a branch of Little Bohemia River called St. Augustine’s Creek. It adjoins old Bohemia Catholic Church and was owned by Dr. Hugh Matthews, Jr., who died in June 1774 and is buried on the farm.

 

WALNUT VALLEY MILLS

 

Were located on Little Elk Creek between Carter’s and Providence paper mills and consisted of a grist mill and sawmill. They were owned and operated by Norman Levis and his son, Joseph K. Levis. The mill was a four-story stone building with a 20 H. P. waterwheel. They produced choice brands of flour and sawed lumber to order.

 

WARD’S KNOWLEDGE

 

This farm is at Ward’s Hill southeast of Cecilton on the road to Sassafras. It was patented to John Ward by the Lord Proprietary on March 10, 1694 and has been in the Ward family ever since. A jail probably used in connection with the slave traffic once stood on the farm near Duffy Creek. (Johnston 302).

 

WARWICK

 

The town of Warwick was founded by James Paul Heath, son of James Heath, and given the name of the father’s birthplace on the River Avon in England. James Paul inherited Worsell Manor from his father and bequeathed it to his son, Daniel Charles Heath, who married Mary Key, of St. Mary’s County.

 

WASHINGTON ACADEMY

 

This school was about two miles northwest of Bay View on the east side of Schoolhouse Road and just off Maryland 274. It was built in 1847 by Elijah Janney, who donated the building materials. The academy was named in honor of the first president and was one of the few stone schoolhouses in Cecil. It was later No. 10, 5th District.

 

WASHINGTON HOTEL

 

Name of an old hotel which stood at corner of Main and North streets in Elkton. In June 1852 the property was bought from Charles Wyckoff for $2.300 by Dr. H. H. Mitchell and Jacob C. Howard, who built the present edifice and called it the Howard house. Its first manager was Jacob Johnson, late manager of the Fountain Inn.

 

WATERFORD

 

Name of settlement at Perch Creek about two miles south of Elkton, sometimes referred to as the Bull Frog.

 

Editor’s Note: There is a Bull Frog Lane in the area described

 

WATTS’S CORNER

 

Point on Glebe’s Road running from Hack’s Point to St. Stephen’s Church where it is joined by the road from Frazer’s Lake. It is so called because James Watts at one time kept a store in the angle between the two roads. It is in the First District and has an elevation of 90 feet.

 

Note: The name Frazer Lake has been changed to Mill Pond, and Frazer Road to Mill Lane. No reference is made to Watt’s Corner on the ADC Street Atlas of Cecil County (2005). The name is not in the National Geologic Map Database (Checked 6/19/2007).

 

WELCH POINT

 

A projection into Elk Creek at its junction with Back Creek, the western end of the C&D Canal. According to tradition, 19 Hessians who deserted the British Army in August 1777 were captured and shot at Welsh Point and buried in a common grave.

 

WEST AMWELL ROLLING MILL

 

Was about two miles north of Elkton on the Newark Road. It was established in 1853 by the McCullough Iron Company and was afterward sold to E. A. Harvey. The mill operated until February 19, 1888, when it was closed down. At that time about twenty men were employed.

 

WHITE HOUSE CORNER

 

Point about midway between Calvert and Lombard where a road running northward forms a junction with the old Philadelphia Turnpike.

 

Editor’s note: This place name is not used on the ADC Street Atlas for Cecil County, 2005 edition, nor is it in the U. S. Geological database (searched June 28, 2007).

 

WHIG ISLAND

 

A peninsula in Chesapeake City between the C&D Canal and Back Creek which took its name from the fact that for years all persons living on it were members of the Whig party. The island contained two lighthouses, two canal offices, two houses, a store, an oyster house, and two steam pumps supplying the canal with water (Cecil Whig January 13, 1853).

 

WHITEHALL

 

The farm was once the property of the Eldredge family. The long white frame house sits on a high bluff overlooking the Sassafras River. It is on the east side of U. S. 213 about one mile north of Fredericktown

 

WILDCAT POINT

 

A bold promontory jutting out from the Cecil shoreline into the Susquehanna just north of the village of Bald Friar. It was long known to raftsmen and river pilots as the Charybdis of the Susquehanna. The early name was Frazer’s Point (February 1, 1862).

 

WILLOW GROVE

 

Was near Blue Ball tavern and was the home of Charles and Catherine Ross Biles, whose daughter, Ida McCarrer, was married to Francis J. Darlington. Mrs. Darlington was a poetess of some note and several of her poems are included in Johnston’s book, “Poets and Poetry of Cecil County.”

 

WHITAKER’S MILL

 

Ledger dated 1855 from Taylor’s Store, Blythedale, Maryland – Note that it is headed Whitaker Mill, the name by which Blythedale was then known.

 

WILNA

 

The location on Little Elk Creek near Childs station of a grist mill in which Cyclone Flour was made by David Harvey. The brand name derived from partial destruction of the mill by a cyclone on August 3, 1885. Wilna was the birthplace of Dr. Richard C. Mackall.

 

WOODLANDS

 

An estate on Maryland Rote 7 east of Perryville which has been in the Coudon family since 1819. The first Coudon to own the property was Joseph II, son of the Rev. Joseph and Rachel (Wallace) Coudon. He married (1) Margaret S. Biddle and (2) Ann Stump. The present owner is Doctor Joseph Coudon VI.

 

Note: As of July 19, 2007, the property is still owned by the widow of Dr. Joseph Coudon VI.

 

WOODLAWN

 

A residence southwest of Earleville between Grove Point and the Sassafras River, with which the Ward family name has long been associated. The first house was built here about 1698 by Thomas Ward, who was one of the founders of St. Stephens Church. It was a terraced boxwood garden which descends to a reflection pool.

 

WOODLAWN CAMP MEETING

 

The Woodlawn Camp Meeting Association was incorporated January 22, 1870, and the grounds were purchased on October 14, 1873 from F. Marion Rawlings and T. J. Vanneman.  Religious meetings were held every summer for ten days. The final meeting was held in August 1913.

 

WOODSTOCK FARM

 

This property near Cayot’s Corner was part of the tract of 3750 acres bought from Augustine Herman in 1684 by the Labadists. It was the home of Dr. Petrus Bouchelle, a member of that religious order. It is now owned by Mrs. Richard C. DuPont and is the home of the great racehorse Kelso. (Visited February 26, 1968).

 

WORRALL’S CORNER

 

The first and only crossroads on Scott Road which runs north on the west side of Little Elk Creek from near Rock Church to the Pennsylvania line. It is in the Fourth District. This intersection is also called Cherry Corner. (Lee Bowlsby).

 

Note: Little Elk Creek Road is apparently the Scott Road given in this description. Neither Worrall’s Corner nor Cherry corner are on the ADC Street Atlas of Cecil County (2005) or the USGS National Geologic Map Database (searched 7/30/07).

 

WORSELL MANOR

 

This historic property three miles east of Cecilton on Route 282 was a grant of 1000 acres from King Charles II of England to Peter Sayer under the date of June 5, 1685. The estate was acquired by James Heath in 1709. On May 14, 1773, George Washington dined and lodged at Worsell Manor en route to New York City to enroll his stepson at Columbia University.

 

WRIGHT’S AME CHURCH

 

In 1849 the colored members of Elkton Methodist Church withdrew and formed their own church. About 1865 they erected a building on Collins Avenue and later took over the old Methodist church (built 1814) on High Street, which they called Wright’s AME Church in honor of Rev. Richard Wright, who formed the Church on Bohemia Manor. (Cecil Democrat April 29, 1882).

 

WRIGHTSVILLE

 

This was a community on the Warwick – Cecilton Road in the vicinity of Worsell Manor. Its original name was Heathsville. John Ernest says it was a colored settlement (October 21, 1963).

 

ZION

 

A new post office has been established at Zion, in this county, and John Carhart has been appointed postmaster. The site of the post office at Principio has been changed to College Green and Benjamin F. Kirk has been appointed postmaster. (Cecil Democrat March 24, 1849)