Maryland history straight ahead. Signs for Elk Landing, Fort Hollingsworth and the Maryland Archaeological Society Field-School mark the spot, along with one tossed in for the Cecil County Airpark.

Dozens of people from the Archaeological Society of Maryland were at Elk Landing on this beautiful Sunday afternoon working to dig up new clues about Fort Hollingsworth and the pre-historic period at a strip of land located at the confluence of the Big and Little Elk creeks.  This site bustled with activity as professional and avocationals investigators carefully scrapped, swept and sifted the soil with small trowels, brushes and other hand-tools looking for the smallest fragments of evidence that might shed light on the past.  Under the careful supervision of professionals, lots of people from all around the state were busy with these types of tasks, acquiring first-hand experience during the 41^st annual Tyler Bastian Field Session.  This enthusiasts, which numbered near one hundred people in total during the school, had been at it for over a week..

George Reynolds the dean of Cecil County’s archaeologist has been conducted studies in the county since the 1950s. He opened this year’s annual field-school last weekend with a talk about exploring the Landing and the area in the first study 30 years ago.

A fortification was put up here to protect Elkton from a British attack during the War of 1812 and this is a central focus of this year’s investigation.  To help with spotting places for careful examination, ground penetrating radar had been used week’s earlier.  The students today were digging at those prime spots, in particular working a long trench where they carefully eyed changes in the soil strata while sifting for relic fragments long buried deeply in the ground.  Elsewhere there were clusters of students from Towson State University out in the old plow fields looking for pre-historic Native American artifacts.

In a period of over thirty years, the old farm soil has yielded many secrets as a number of digs have been done here.  Investigators have found material culture from pre-historic people, aboriginal burial grounds, bottles, arrowheads. Cannon-balls, plenty of 19^th century relics and lots more.  A formal report on this latest dig should be released by September, according to the principal investigator, Dr. James Gibb and the President of the Northeastern Maryland Archaeological Society. Dan Coates.  We’ll look forward to hearing that report as the soil at the Landing still contains many secrets.

Two members of the Maryland Archaeological Society carefully sift the soil looking for clues about Fort Hollingsworth, the War of 1812 redoubt.

Four archaeologist work in a trench where they’re searching for evidence related to the War of 1812 fort.

A team of archaeologists and university students has brought new life to Elk Landing over the past week as they have been excavating the property in the 41st annual field session.

Jim Gibb, head investigator of the war of 1812 project, Robert Wall, a professor of archaeology and physical anthropology and Dan Coates, president of Archeological Society of the Northern Chesapeake chapter have worked with the Historic Elk Landing Foundation President Josh Brown to excavate the Elk Landing Peninsula.

“This was very exciting to me,” Brown said Wednesday. “They wanted to do this big dig, they were opening it up to the public, for the students to come, it’s a learning program… they don’t do it every year, they probably won’t be here for another four decades.”

The peninsula, where the Little and Big Elk creeks merge, was home to the site of Fort Hollingsworth, a 300-foot long semi-circular breastwork fort with a large ditch and parapet, said Gibb. It created a surface to place cannons and men to ward off attacks. The fort no longer stands, because the farmers plowed it down after the war, Gibb said.

article continues on the Cecil Whig

Life Magazine from the files of the Historical Society of Cecil County.

The marrying parsons of Elkton and their employers, “the taxi syndicate,” were miserable in the autumn of 1938.  These entrepreneurs fretted that Maryland voters might put a halt to “weddings without waiting.” 

The threat came just as things boomed for the cabbies, as their chief interest was the wedding business.  At one company, the Rev. C. M. Cope worked days while the Rev. J. T. Baker pulled overnights officiating at 1,118 marriages in Sept. 1938.  These two captured half the services.  But the Rev. Edward Minor, 81, whose church ordered him to cease uniting couples, arranged for the Rev. P. K. Lambert to do his work at the altar.  Mr. Lambert did 461.  A 48-hour waiting period had been passed by the legislature in 1937, but petitions opposing the delay brought the question to the voters.

The waiting period, “aimed squarely at the marriage racket in Elkton,” passed overwhelmingly.  When the Evening Sun visited town just before the “famous marriage mart” breathed its last in December 1938, the paper wrote that a “melancholy calm” had descended upon the border town of 3,600.  Ordinary residents were glad to see “Dan Cupid’s trade in the chute to oblivion.  Only the ministers and the business people who have profited from the marriage mill were sore.”

Having been briefly put out of business one of the “matrimonial magnates,” an operation with four autos for hire and Rev. Edward Minor officiating at the altar, moved to Alexandria, VA.  The Rev. Cope planned to retire to New Carolina, while Pastor Baker advised that this wasn’t his only job as he preached at churches.  “I’m going on and preach and bury the dead and visit the sick just the same as always.”

Although it would seem that the principal business of Elkton, elopements, was a thing of the past, the taxicompanies still found growth opportunities for cupid’s affairs in Elkton as couples continued dashing across the state line.  They found a number of legal or questionable ways to eliminate the wait.  With a court order, the restriction could be lifted, say in the case of “expectant motherhood.”  Such an aid to hasty marriages was credited with thirty percent of the licenses issued in 1940.  Another reason for getting rushed the ceremony was the call up for military service.

The year before the waiting period became effective (1937) there were 16,054 marriage licenses issued.  The total slumped in 1939 to 4,532, but once the “solicitors” hit upon “good and sufficient cause” it jumped up again to nearly double what it was in 1939.  There were 8,526, the Sun reported.  The volume started growing again and Elkton did about 14,000 marriages in 1942.

Once the war was over, another challenge emerged for the syndicate.  The State wanted to allow the Clerk of the Court to perform civil ceremonies but financial interests hired lobbyist to fight that effort in Annapolis.  They held things off or a while in Annapolis.  But finally in 1964, E. Day Moore, a retired postal worker and clerk of the court, started performing ceremonies in the courthouse.   The marriage mill was starting to grind a lot slower in Elkton as the waiting period was now being strictly enforced and while there was still marrying parlors in Elkton, couple had options.

The West Nottingham Historical Commission in concert with Chester County Facilities and Parks paid homage to Joseph Miller, a man who was murdered while attempting to rescue two sisters who had been kidnapped by a slave catcher in the mid-1800s.
Descendants of both Miller and the two girls gathered at the Union United Methodist Church near Fremont, where Miller is buried, on Saturday to discuss the details and legacy of Miller’s rescue.
Miller was a white farmer in the township, and he had working for him a young, free black girl named Rachel Parker, who was 16. Rachel’s family had lived in West Nottingham for several generations and was known around the area.
In 1851, a freelance slave catcher from Elkton, Md., who was allegedly in need of money, kidnapped Rachel from the Miller farm, just as he had done months earlier to Rachel’s younger sister, Elizabeth, 10, at the Donnelly farm down the road.

article continues on Southern Chester County Weeklies

Archaeologists complete test digs at Elk Landing in preparation for Tyler Bastian Field Session in Maryland Archeology.

Press Release — Historic Elk Landing Foundation———————-

One hundred and ninety nine years ago musket and cannon fire erupted from Fort Hollingsworth at the confluence of the Big and Little Elk Creeks. That skirmish between members of the Cecil Militia and British Marines and sailors kept Elkton from being burned.

The invading British and the Militia occupants of the fort are long gone, but what ever happened to Fort Hollingsworth? Does anything remain of that earthen fort? Members of the Northern Chesapeake Archaeological Society think they know and will attempt to locate Fort Hollingsworth and any artifacts its defenders may have left behind during this year’s archaeological field school to be held at Historic Elk Landing beginning on May 25th and running through June 4th.

article continues on The Elk Landing Appeal

During the American Revolution French troops under Jean-Baptist de Rochambeau passed through Cecil County in 1781.  As the army marched through the area, the general’s cartographer sketched out the advance.

Here are two included in the excellent reference, The American Campaigns of Rochambeau’s Army, which also contains a published journal detailing the movement.  Anyone studying Cecil’s history during the Revolutionary War will find this title of interest.  These 1781 maps show a cluster of nine structure at Elk Landing.  They also show structures in the vicinity of North and Main streets, as well as the placement of French military units.

Those interested in this subject will find this title helpful, as it’s one more method we’ve used to develop evidence based interpretations of Cecil County during the Revolutionary War.

Join the Delaware Historical Society for an afternoon cruise on the C & D Canal aboard the Miss Clare as popular historian Michael Dixon tells the story and history of transportation on this important link between the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays.

Following the one-hour voyage, we will visit the C & D Museum in Chesapeake City, Maryland.

Cutting a Path from Bay to Bay: History of the C & D Canal

Saturday, June 16, 2012 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Please arrive promptly at 1:30 p.m. at the C & D Canal Museum (815 Bethel Road, Chesapeake City, Maryland)

Cost: $15/members    $20/non-members Price includes cruise and museum visit. Seats are limited – reservations required no later than June 11, 2012. Call (302) 655-7161 or deinfo@dehistory.org

The father, a carpenter, moved the family out west, settling in Indiana around 1819. Both became judges and pursued high profile public service careers. In their dwindling years, the one brother, in particular, enjoyed reliving the memory of the many unforgettable scenes and incidents of their early life.

The elder son, The Hon. Samuel Caldwell Sample, was born in Elkton on August 15, 1796, and served in the militia at Fort Hollingsworth (Elk Landing). Once the family settled in Connersville, Indiana, he read law, passed the bar exam, and commenced practicing in South Bend. Over time the lawyer held a number of public offices and was sent to Congress in 1843 as a Whig.  He died on December 2, 1855.

Thomas Jefferson Sample, the prolific writer, recalled many scenes and incidents about “how the red-coats beat up our quarters so often in Elkton.” He was born in the town on November 4, 1800, and also became a judge. Although the aging man never returned to the place of his youth, he displayed an interest in the old town throughout his long life. “Days of my boyhood are long vanished and gone” but “I often go back in memory to old Elkton and visit the places once so familiar” he told the Cecil Whig as the paper brought back memories of former names and spots he knew very well. He died in New Albany, Indiana on July 7, 1882.

Recalling the Horrors of War

British warships sailed into the Chesapeake in early 1813 as England wanted to bring the heavy hand of war to vulnerable towns, ports, and plantations in the region.   When the fleet dropped anchor near the mouth of the Susquehanna River, the entire area was thrown into a state of alarm as residents living near the waterways knew they were in for trouble.

Thomas wrote about sixteen letters, portions of them recalling this time when the Chesapeake was infested with “marauding parties” and accessible villages were in danger. “I was too young when the War of 1812 occurred to perform military duty, but I contributed to aid and comfort our brave boys who served. . . . Elk River came in for a full share; also Sassafras and all other accessible rivers and streams.. They burnt Havre de Grace. I saw distinctly the smoke ascending from the burning. . . . Elkton would have been burnt, only for the measures taken by our authorities to prevent it. They had early in the war erected at the Landing an earthen-work just below the two story-story stone house standing yet. . .”

The enemy’s first major expedition in Cecil took the invaders up the Elk River.  On the morning of April 29, about 150 marines and five artillerymen rowed toward Frenchtown.  As the county seat had to fend for itself, the citizens erected defenses at strategic points, incuding Frenchtown and Elk Landing.  At a spot on the west side of the river, about a mile below Elkton, a fortificaiton called Fort Defiance was thrown up.

The old man, reflecting on incidents that took place nearly seventy years earlier as the enemy rowed up the river, described the defense of Elkton. There was, he said, an earthen fort with six cannons and a barrier thrown across the river at Thomas Point. “They were cowardly dogs and that barrier and that battery saved Elkton from the fate of Havre de Grace,” he noted. “I remember doing one day’s work for my country at Frenchtown, helping to build a log battery on the wharf. The piratical bands . . . burnt several of Mr. Henderson’s line of packets at Frenchtown.”

Fort Hollingsworth, the Elk Landing fortification, was often part of those unforgettable memories deeply impressed on a youngster’s mind. The redoubt was near the stone house, where a tavern was kept in the early days, he said. When a cannon blew-up during the celebration of peace, a large piece of the gun was “thrown into one of the windows of the stone house which stood near-by.”

Cemetery where the Hon. Samuel Sample is buried in South Bend, IN. Source: www.findagrave.com

In the Dead of Night

The brothers weren’t going to forget the terrifying experience of fleeing the enemy in the dead of the night as the hue and cry rang out that the British were coming. It created a big scare in Elkton, as a letter penned a generation earlier, possibly by Samuel, explained. “The roads leading north were filled with people, principally women and children . . . carrying bundles of every description. . . . Our sanctuary was usually at Mr. John Thompsons’ near Newark. . . . These British troops act the part of freebooters or pirates. They used to land on gentlemen’s estate and rob and ravage and burn stacks of grain and farm houses, and they called this civilized warfare.”

After overrunning Frenchtown, the Royal Marines tried to approach Elkton by way of the river and land.  The defenses they met forced the advancing unit to the abandon the attempt.  Ending their effort to conquer this territory, the British sailed away from Fort Defiance, Cedar Point and Fort Hollingsworth and rounded Turkey Point.

“I have no good feeling for the English nation and never can have, for I remember with feelings, amounting almost to wrath, how we suffered the depredations of the English and can not to this day determine why they were warring with us. I wish I could, at this distant day, understand why.” Samuel concluded months before his death.

Consisting of about eighteen letters in total, these old pieces penned so long ago by eyewitnesses, provide one more fascinating sources, allowing us to attempt to understand the most stirring events that occurred on the Elk River, a time when the enemy was on our shores. As we look for evidence based conclusions about one of the biggest historic events in the local sources, they provide one more source for us to consider. They’re also very helpful for understanding Elkton during the first two decades of the 1800s, as they are richly detailed with information and remembrances about the town and the people. The letters are found in the newspaper files at the Historical Society of Cecil County.

Judge Sample talks about the redoubt being near the old stone house, which still stand at the Landing. Photo Credit: Ben Cooke

Editor’s Note:  The map of Elk Landing is a 19th century deed showing the Landing, including the lower wharf and the old stone-house.  Source:  Cecil County Land Records.

President Fillingame. Balto Sun Photo, 1941

The other day we fielded a call at the Historical Society asking us about information on some of the early mayors of Cecilton.  Since those sorts of queries are routine for the Society’s researchers they got right to work digging through old newspapers and government documents.The town was incorporated in 1864 and that May the first officials,  Dr. Samuel V. Mace, Wm. T. Weldon, John Morris., Wm. H. Pearce, and Edward Seamans, were elected for a one year term.  The lead official was called the president, but records don’t indicate which of these gentleman received the appointment in that formative year.

As for the first photograph of a mayor that we’ve been able to locate, it was Raymond P. Fillingame.  H.W. Cheney had led the commissioners in 1939.  Next in line, was President Fillingame and our researchers located a Baltimore Sun photograph of the official.

Source: Baltimore Sun Photo, 1941

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