Hero Tales from History — Lord Baltimore, Calvert and Claiborne, The Three Fathers of Maryland

LORD BALTIMORE, CALVERT AND CLAIBORNE, THE THREE FATHERS OF MARYLAND George Calvert, of Kipling, England, was such a fine man that he was beloved by king and people alike.

King James gave him the title of “Sir” George Calvert, and made him Secretary of State.

As the king and the church in England were Protestant, Sir George felt it his duty to give up his royal honors when he became a Catholic.

But King James’ son, Charles the First, instead of taking Calvert’s rank away from him, made him “Baron” Baltimore.

A baron is higher in position than a knight, who is called “Sir.

” A few years after the Pilgrims came to America and settled at Plymouth in order to worship God as they thought right, Lord Baltimore asked permission to make a settlement for himself and the Catholics of England who were persecuted because of their religion.

The first place chosen by him for a Catholic settlement was in Newfoundland.

But though the climate was lovely and cool there in spring and summer, the settlers found it so cold in winter that they had to go back to England.

King Charles then granted Lord Baltimore another great tract of land much farther south, between the English settlement at Jamestown and that of the Puritans at Plymouth in New England.

Lord Baltimore named this region “Mary Land,” in honor of King Charles’ wife, the queen of England.

[Illustration: GEORGE CALVERT, LORD BALTIMORE] As all the other English settlements in America were Protestant, the party had great trouble in securing supplies and getting started for the New World.

Before they were quite ready, the first Lord Baltimore died, and his eldest son, Cecil Calvert, who then became Lord Baltimore, inherited Maryland as part of his father’s estate.

But some of the land granted to Lord Baltimore had been settled years before and was claimed by the colonists of Virginia.

On account of this, young Lord Baltimore had to stay in London to look out for his rights in America.

Therefore his younger brother, Leonard Calvert, was sent to act for him as governor of Maryland.

At last the voyagers sailed away in two ships, the _Ark_ and the _Dove_.

There were one hundred and twenty-eight passengers, not counting servants and children.

There were others on board who, not having money, bound themselves by law to work for a certain time in America to pay their passage across the sea.

The two ships were caught in a terrific storm on the way and the _Dove_ was not to be seen anywhere.

After many days of hoping against hope, those on the _Ark_ gave up for lost the _Dove_ and all their friends on it.

Then the _Ark_ sailed on alone, stopping, after many weeks, at one of the islands of the West Indies.

While they were anchored there their sorrow was turned to joy, for the _Dove_ caught up with them.

It had been driven out of sight by the fierceness of the gale and had found refuge in a harbor near by.

The two sister ships now sailed northward and entered the mouth of the Potomac.

Of this river Father White, one of the company, wrote: “Never have I beheld a larger or more beautiful river.

The Thames seems a mere rivulet in comparison with it; it is not disfigured by any swamps, but has firm land on each side.

Fine groves of trees appear, not choked with bushes and undergrowth, but growing at intervals as if planted by hand, so that you might easily drive a four-horse carriage through the midst of the trees.

” Governor Leonard Calvert had heard so many stories of the fierceness and cunning of the Indians that he did not land at once.

After the two ships had cruised about the rivers and the bay awhile, he decided to settle at the mouth of a small river, which they named St. Mary’s, and built a group of cabins, calling this place St. Mary’s also.

They were quite surprised to find their Indian neighbors friendly, bringing corn and provisions, and showing them all they could about planting and trapping and hunting.

The settlers soon learned that the Indians were friendly because they wanted the white men to help them when they went to war with their savage enemies.

The red men thought the strangers’ “firesticks” (guns) worked magic, like lightning and thunder from above.

The children of young Maryland saw much to entertain and sometimes to frighten them.

When the Indians painted themselves with red, black, and yellow stripes, they looked even uglier than before.

The white people had heard of the savages’ war dances and scalp dances, but they now found the natives had also their corn dances, something like a harvest or Thanksgiving festival.

The Maryland colonists were kind to the tribes and gained their friendship, as Champlain had done and as William Penn and the Quakers of Philadelphia were to do about fifty years later.

The Indians in and around Maryland learned to believe in the goodness of the people of the Baltimore colony.

Most of the trouble Governor Calvert had in settling Maryland was with a white leader named Claiborne, who had settled on the largest island in the bay.

He claimed that this land, which was named Kent Island, was part of Virginia.

Governor Calvert visited Jamestown, and the governor of that colony said that the island was part of Lord Baltimore’s land.

Then Claiborne announced that Kent Island was not only separate from either colony, but that it belonged to him.

He had made friends among the Indians, far and near, and began to boast that he was going to drive all the other white people out of that country.

The Marylanders went to work like so many beavers, building a fort and other defenses to be ready for an attack.

When they heard that the people on Kent Island had fitted out a large sailboat as a man-of-war, Governor Calvert fitted up two pinnaces, or small boats, and mounted a cannon in each.

Then the men of Maryland sailed for Kent Island and captured it, after a battle in which several persons were killed.

After this there was no more trouble with Claiborne, and since that time Kent Island has belonged to Maryland.

Lord Baltimore held the rights over Maryland by a grant from the king, somewhat as William Penn afterward came to own Pennsylvania.

Although Cecil, Baron Baltimore, was never able to visit his property in the New World, his name was given to Baltimore, the greatest city of Maryland, and Anne Arundel County was named for his wife.

The purpose of the colony was not all religious.

Trading and business were also the objects of those brave settlers, and some of the most successful merchant princes have sprung from that old Maryland stock--“the best out of Old England.

” The women of Maryland have been far-famed for their beauty.

There is good reason for naming the loveliest of climbing roses, “Baltimore Belles.

” The best thing grown in old Maryland was its patriotism.

When the Fathers were signing the Declaration of Independence, the chief man from Maryland was Charles Carroll.

As there was another Charles Carroll, the hero in Independence Hall signed his name “Charles Carroll of Carrollton.

” The patriotic spirit of the colony still lives in that song, popular in all the states: “Maryland, my Maryland!

”