# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Maryland

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​MARYLAND, a South Atlantic state of the United States, and one of the original thirteen, situated between latitudes 37° 53′ and 39° 44′ N. and longitudes 75° 4′ and 79° 33′ W. (the precise western boundary has not been determined). It is bounded N. by Pennsylvania and Delaware; E. by Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean; S. and W. by the Potomac river and its north branch, which separate it, except on the extreme W. border, from Virginia and West Virginia; W., also, by West Virginia. It is one of the small states of the Union—only seven are smaller—its total area being 12,327 sq. m. of which 2386 sq. m. are water surface.
Physical Features.—Maryland is crossed from north to south by each of the leading topographical regions of the east section of the United States—the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont Plateau, the Appalachian Mountains, and the Appalachian Plateau—hence its great diversity of surface. The portion within the Coastal Plain embraces nearly the whole of the south-east half of the state and is commonly known as tide-water Maryland. It is marked off from the Piedmont Plateau by a “Fall Line” extending from Washington (D.C.) north-east through Baltimore to a point a little south of the north-east corner of the state, and is divided by the Chesapeake Bay into two parts known as the East Shore and the West Shore. The East Shore is a low level plain, the least elevated section of the state. Along its entire Atlantic border extends the narrow sandy Sinepuxent Beach, which encloses a shallow lagoon or bay also called Sinepuxent at the north, where, except in the extreme north, it is very narrow, and Chincoteague at the south, where its width is in most places from 4 to 5 m. Between this and the Chesapeake to the west and north-west there is a slight general rise, a height of about 100 ft. being reached in the extreme north. A water-parting extending from north-east to south-west and close to the Atlantic border separates the East Shore into two drainage systems, though that next to the Atlantic is insignificant. That on the Chesapeake side is drained chiefly by the Pocomoke, Nanticoke, Choptank and Chester rivers, together with their numerous branches, the general direction of all of which is south-west. The branches as well as the upper parts of the main streams flow through broad and shallow valleys; the middle courses of the main streams wind their way through reed-covered marshes, the water ebbing and flowing with the tide; in their lower courses they become estuarine and the water flows between low banks. The West Shore is somewhat more undulating than the East and also more elevated. Its general slope is from north-west to south-east; along the west border are points 300 ft. or more in height. The principal rivers crossing this section are the Patuxent, Patapsco and Gunpowder, with which may be grouped the Potomac, forming the state’s southern boundary. These rivers, lined in most instances with terraces 30 to 40 ft. high on one or both sides, flow south-east into the Chesapeake Bay through valleys bounded by low hills. The Fall Line, which forms the boundary between the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont Plateau, is a zone in which a descent of about 100 ft. or more is made in many places within a few miles and in consequence is marked by waterfalls, cascades and rapids.
The part of Maryland within the Piedmont Plateau extends west from the Fall Line to the base of Catoctin Mountain, or the west border of Frederick county, and has an area of about 2500 sq. m. In general it has a broad rolling surface. It is divided into two sections by an elevated strip known as Parr’s Ridge, which extends from north-east to south-west a short distance west of the middle. The east section rises from about 450 ft. along the Fall Line to from 850 to 900 ft. along the summit of Parr’s Ridge. Its principal streams are those that cross the West Shore of the Coastal Plain and here wind their way from Parr’s Ridge rapidly toward the south-east in narrow steep-sided gorges through broad limestone valleys. To the west of Parr’s Ridge the surface for the most part slopes gently down to the east bank of the Monocacy river (which flows nearly at a right angle with the streams east of the Ridge), and then from the opposite bank rises rapidly toward the Catoctin Mountain; but just above the mouth of the Monocacy on the east side of the valley is Sugar Loaf Mountain, which makes a steep ascent of 1250 ft.
The portion of the state lying within the Appalachian Region is commonly known as Western Maryland. To the eastward it abounds in mountains and valleys; to the westward it is a rolling plateau. West of Catoctin Mountain (1800 ft.) is Middletown Valley, with Catoctin Creek running through it from north to south, and the Blue Ridge Mountains (2400 ft.), near the Pennsylvania border, forming its west slope. Farther west the serrated crests of the Blue Ridge overlook the Greater Appalachian Valley, here 73 m. in width, the broad gently-rolling slopes of the Great Cumberland or Hagerstown Valley occupying its eastern and the Appalachian Ridges its western portion. Through the eastern portion Antietam Creek to the east and Conococheague Creek to the west flow rapidly in meandering trenches that in places exceed 75 ft. in depth. The Appalachian Ridges of the western portion begin with North Mountain on the east and end with Wills Mountain on the west. They are long, narrow, uniformly-sloping and level-crested mountains, extending along parallel lines from north-east to south-west, and reaching a maximum height in Martin’s Ridge of more than 2000 ft. Overlooking them from the west are the higher ranges of the Alleghenies, among which the Savage, Backbone and Negro Mountains reach elevations of 3000 ft. or more. In the extreme west part of the state these mountains merge, as it were, into a rolling plateau, the Appalachian Plateau, having an average elevation of 2500 ft. All rivers of Western Maryland flow south into the Potomac except in the extreme west, where the waters of the Youghiogheny and its tributaries flow north into the Monongahela.
Fauna and Flora.—In primitive times deer, ducks, turkeys, fish and oysters were especially numerous, and wolves, squirrels and crows were a source of annoyance to the early settlers. Deer, black bears and wild cats (lynx) are still found in some uncultivated sections. Much more numerous are squirrels, rabbits, “groundhogs” (woodchucks), opossums, skunks, weasels and minks. Many species of ducks are also still found; and the reed-bird (bobolink), “partridge” (elsewhere called quail or “Bob White”), ruffed grouse (elsewhere called partridge), woodcock, snipe, plover and Carolina rail still abound. The waters of the Chesapeake Bay are especially rich in oysters and crabs, and there, also, shad, alewives, “striped” (commonly called “rock”) bass, menhaden, white perch and weak-fish (“sea-trout”) occur in large numbers. Among the more common trees are several species of oak, pine, hickory, gums and maple, and the chestnut, the poplar, the beech, the cypress and the red cedar; the merchantable pine has been cut, but the chestnut and other hard woods of West Maryland are still a product of considerable value. Among wild fruit-trees are the persimmon and Chickasaw plum; grape-vines and a large variety of berry-bushes grow wild and in abundance.
Climate.—The climate of Maryland in the south-east is influenced by ocean and bay—perhaps also by the sandy soil—while in the west it is influenced by the mountains. The prevailing winds are westerly; but generally north-west in winter in the west section and south-west in summer in the south section. In the south the normal winter is mild, the normal summer rather hot; in the west the normal winter is cold, the normal summer cool. The normal average annual temperature for the entire state is between 53° and 54° F., ranging from 48° at Grantsville in the north-west to 53° at Darlington in the north-east, and to 57° at Princess Anne in the south-east. The normal temperature for the state during July (the warmest month) is 75.2° F., and during January (the coldest month) 32.14° F. Although the west section is generally much the cooler in summer, yet both of the greatest extremes recorded since 1891 were at points not far apart in Western Maryland: 109° F. at Boettcherville and −26° F. at Sunnyside. The normal ​annual precipitation for the state is about 43 in. It is greatest, about 53 in., on the east slope of Catoctin Mountain, owing to the elevations which obstruct the moisture-bearing winds, and is above the average along the middle of the shores of the Chesapeake. It is least, from 25 to 35 in., in the Greater Appalachian Valley, in the south on the West Shore, and along the Atlantic border. During spring and summer the precipitation throughout the state is about 2 in. more than during autumn and winter.
Soils and Agriculture.—The great variety of soils is one of the more marked features of Maryland. On the East Shore to the north is a marly loam overlying a yellowish-red clay sub-soil, to the south is a soil quite stiff with light coloured clay, while here and there, especially in the middle and south, are considerable areas both of light sandy soils and tidal marsh loams. On the West Shore the soils range from a light sandy loam in the lower levels south from Baltimore to rather heavy loams overlying a yellowish clay on the rolling uplands and on the terraces along the Potomac and Patuxent. Crossing the state along the lower edge of the Fall Line is a belt heavy with clay, but so impervious to water as to be of little value for agricultural purposes. The soils of the Piedmont Plateau east of Parr’s Ridge are, like the underlying rocks, exceptionally variable in composition, texture and colour. For the most part they are considerably heavier with clay than are those of the Coastal Plain, and better adapted to general agricultural purposes. Light loams, however, are found both in the north-east and south-east. A soil of very close texture, the gabbro, is found, most largely in the north-east. Alluvial loams occupy the narrow river valleys; but the most common soil of the section is that formed from gneiss with a large per cent. of clay in the subsoil. West of Parr’s Ridge in the Piedmont, the principal soils are those the character of which is determined either by decomposed red sandstone or by decomposed limestone. In the east portion of the mountainous region the soil so well adapted to peach culture contains much clay, together with particles of Cambrian sandstone. In Hagerstown Valley are rich red or yellow limestone-clay soils. The Allegheny ridges have only a thin stony soil; but good limestone, sandstone, shale and alluvial soils, occur in the valleys and in some of the plateaus of the extreme west.
Of the total land surface of the state 82% was in 1900 included in farms and 68% of the farmland was improved. There were 46,012 farms, of which 15,833 contained less than 50 acres, 3940 contained 260 acres or more, and 79 contained 1,000 acres or more—the average size being 112.4 acres. In 1890, 69% of the farms were worked by the owners or their managers, in 1900 only 66.4%; but share tenants outnumber cash tenants by almost three to one. Of the total number of farms about seven times as many are operated by white as by negro farmers, though the number of farms operated by white share tenants outnumber those operated by negro share tenants by only about five to one. Of all the inhabitants of the state, at least ten years old, who in 1900 were engaged in gainful occupations, 20.8% were farmers. The leading agricultural pursuits are the growing of Indian corn and wheat and the raising of livestock, yet it is in the production of fruits, vegetables and tobacco, that Maryland ranks highest as an agricultural state, and in no other state except South Carolina is so large a per cent. of the value of the crop expended for fertilizers. In 1907, according to the Year Book of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Indian corn crop was 22,196,000 bushels, valued at $11,986,000; the wheat crop was 14,763,000 bushels, valued at $14,172,000; the oat crop was 825,000 bushels, valued at $404,000; and the crop of rye was 315,000 bushels, valued at $236,000. Of the livestock, hogs were the most numerous in 1900, cattle next, sheep third, and horses fourth. The hay and forage crop of 1899 (exclusive of corn-stalks) grew on 374,848 acres. Until after the middle of the 18th century tobacco was the staple crop of Maryland, and the total yield did not reach its maximum until 1860 when the crop amounted to 51,000 hhds.; from this it decreased to 14,000 hhds., or 12,356,838 ℔ in 1889; in 1899 it rose again to 24,589,480 ℔, in 1907 the crop was only 16,962,000 ℔, less than that of nine other states. In market-garden products, including small fruits, Maryland ranked in 1899 sixth among the states of the Union, the crop being valued at $4,766,760, an increase of 350.9% over that of 1889. In the yield both of strawberries and of tomatoes it ranked first; the yield of raspberries and blackberries is also large. In its crop of green-peas Maryland was exceeded (1899) by New York only; in sweet Indian corn it ranked fifth; in kale, second; in spinach, third; in cabbages, ninth. The number of peach-trees, especially in the west part of the state, where the quality is of the best, is rapidly increasing, and in the yield of peaches and nectarines the state ranked thirteenth in 1899; in the yield of pears it ranked fifth; in apples seventeenth.
The Indian-corn, wheat and livestock sections of the state, are in the Piedmont Plateau, the Hagerstown Valley and the central portion of the East Shore. Garrett county in the extreme north-west, however, raises the largest number of sheep. Most of the tobacco is grown in the south counties of the West Shore. The great centre for vegetables and small fruits is in the counties bordering on the north-west shore of the Chesapeake, and in Howard, Frederick and Washington counties, directly west, Anne Arundel county producing the second largest quantity of strawberries of all the counties in the Union in 1899. Peaches and pears grow in large quantities in Kent and neighbouring counties on the East Shore and in Washington and Frederick counties; apples grow in abundance in all parts of the Piedmont Plateau.
The woodland area of the state in 1900 was 4400 sq. m., about 44% (estimated in 1907 to be 3450 sq. m., about 35%) of the total land area, but with the exception of considerable oak and chestnut, some maple and other hard woods in west Maryland, about all of the merchantable timber has been cut. The lumber industry, nevertheless, has steadily increased in importance, the value of the product in 1860 amounting to only $605,864, that in 1890 to $1,600,472, and that in 1900 to $2,650,082, of which sum $2,495,169 was the value of products under the factory system; in 1905 the value of the factory product was $2,750,339.
Fisheries.—In 1897 the value of the fishery product of Maryland was exceeded only by that of Massachusetts, but by 1901, although it had increased somewhat during the four years, it was exceeded by the product of New Jersey, of Virginia and of New York. Oysters constitute more than 80% of the total value, the product in 1901 amounting to 5,685,561 bushels, and being valued at $3,031,518. The supply on natural beds has been diminishing, but the planting of private beds promises a large increase. Crabs are next in value and are caught chiefly along the East Shore and in Anne Arundel and Calvert counties on the West Shore. Shad, to the number of 3,111,181 and valued at $120,602, were caught during 1901. In Somerset and Worcester counties clams are a source of considerable value. The terrapin catch decreased in value from $22,333 in 1891 to $1,139 in 1901. The total value of the fish product of 1901 was $3,767,461. The state laws for the protection of fish and shell-fish were long carelessly enforced because of the fishermen’s strong feeling against them, but this sentiment has slowly changed and enforcement has become more vigorous.
Minerals and Manufactures.—The coal deposits, which form a part of the well-known Cumberland field, furnish by far the most important mineral product of the state; more than 98% of this, in 1901, was mined in Allegany county from a bed about 20 m. long and 5 m. wide and the remainder in Garrett county, whose deposits, though undeveloped, are of great value. The coal is of two varieties: bituminous and semi-bituminous. The bituminous is of excellent quality for the manufacture of coke and gas, but up to 1902 had been mined only in small quantities. Most of the product has been of the semi-bituminous variety and of the best quality in the country for the generation of steam. Nearly all the high grade blacksmithing coal mined in the United States comes from Maryland. The deposits were discovered early in the 19th century (probably first in 1804 near the present Frostburg), but were not exploited until railway transport became available in 1842, and the output was not large until after the close of the Civil War; in 1865 it was 1,025,208 short tons, from which it steadily increased to 5,532,628 short tons in 1907. From 1722 until the War of Independence the iron-ore product of North and West Maryland was greater than that of any of the other colonies, but since then ores of superior quality have been discovered in other states and the output in Maryland, taken chiefly from the west border of the Coastal Plain in Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties, has become comparatively of little importance—24,367 long tons in 1902 and only 8269 tons in 1905. Gold, silver and copper ores, have been found in the state, and attempts have been made to mine them, without much success. The Maryland building stone, of which there is an abundance of good quality, consists chiefly of granites, limestones, slate, marble and sandstones, the greater part of which is quarried in the east section of the Piedmont Plateau especially in Cecil county, though some limestones, including those from which hydraulic cement is manufactured, and some sandstones are obtained from the western part of the Piedmont Plateau and the east section of the Appalachian region; the value of stone quarried in the state in 1907 was $1,439,355, of which $1,183,753 was the value of granite, $142,825 that of limestone, $98,918 that of marble, and $13,859 that of sandstone. Brick, potter’s and tile clays are obtained most largely along the west border of the Coastal Plain, and fire-clay from the coal region of West Maryland; in 1907 the value of clay products was $1,886,362. Materials for porcelain, including flint, feldspar and kaolin, abound in the east portion of the Piedmont, the kaolin chiefly in Cecil county, and material for mineral paint in Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties, as well as farther north-west.
Between 1850 and 1900, while the population increased 103.8%, the average number of wage-earners employed in manufacturing establishments increased 258.5%, constituting 5.2% of the total population in 1850 and 9.1% in 1900. In 1900 the total value of manufactured goods was $242,552,990, an increase of 41.1% over that of 1890. Of the total given for 1900, $211,076,143 was the value of products under the factory system; and in 1905 the value of factory products was $243,375,996, being 15.3% more than in 1900. The products of greatest value in 1905 were: custom-made men’s clothing; fruits and vegetables and oysters, canned and preserved; iron and steel; foundry and machine-shop products, including stoves and furnaces; flour and grist mill products; tinware, coppersmithing and sheet iron working; fertilizers; slaughtering ​and meat-packing; cars and repairs by steam railways; shirts; cotton goods; malt liquors; and cigars and cigarettes. In the value of fertilizers manufactured, and in that of oysters canned and preserved, Maryland was first among the states in 1900 and second in 1905; in 1900 and in 1905 it was fourth among the states in the value of men’s clothing. Baltimore is still the great manufacturing centre, but of the state’s total product the percentage in value of that manufactured there decreased from 82.5 in 1890 to 66.5 in 1900, and to 62.3 (of the factory product) in 1905. The largest secondary centres are Cumberland, Hagerstown and Frederick the total value of whose factory products in 1905 was less than $10,000,000.
Communications.—Tide-water Maryland is afforded rather unusual facilities of water transportation by the Chesapeake Bay, with its deep channel, numerous deep inlets and navigable tributaries, together with the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, which crosses the state of Delaware and connects its waters with those of the Delaware river and bay. As early as 1783 steps were taken to extend these facilities to the navigable waters of the Ohio, chiefly by improving the navigation of the Potomac above Georgetown. By 1820 this project was merged into a movement for a Chesapeake and Ohio canal along the same line. Ground was broken in 1828 and in 1850 the canal was opened to navigation from Georgetown to Cumberland, a distance of 186 m. In 1878 and again in 1889 it was wrecked by a freshet, and since then has been of little service. However, on the same day that ground was broken for this canal, ground was also broken for the Baltimore & Ohio railway, of which 15 m. was built in 1828–1830 and which was one of the first steam railway lines in operation in the United States. Since then railway building has progressed steadily. In Maryland (and including the District of Columbia) there were 259 m. of railway in 1850, 386 m. in 1860, 671 m. in 1870, and 1040 m. in 1880; in 1890, in Maryland alone, the mileage was 1270.04 m., and in 1909 it was 1394.19 m. The more important railway lines are the Baltimore & Ohio, the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington (controlled by the Pennsylvania and a consolidation of the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore, and the Baltimore & Potomac), the Western Maryland, the West Virginia Central & Pittsburg (leased by the Western Maryland), the Northern Central, the Maryland electric railways (including what was formerly the Baltimore & Annapolis Short Line), and the Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis electric railway. Baltimore is the chief railway centre and its harbour is one of the most important in the country.
Inhabitants.—The population of Maryland in 1880 was 934,943; in 1890, 1,042,390, an increase of 11.5%; in 1900, 1,188,044 (14%); in 1910, 1,295,346 (increase 9%). Of the total population in 1900 there were 952,424 whites, 235,064 negroes, 544 Chinese, 9 Japanese and 3 Indians, the increase in the white population from 1890 to 1900 being 15.2%, while that of the negroes was only 9%. In 1900 there were 1,094,110 native born to 93,934 foreign-born, and of the foreign-born 44,990 were natives of Germany and 68,600 were residents of the city of Baltimore. The urban population, i.e. total population of cities of 4000 or more inhabitants, in 1900, was 572,795, or 48.2% of the total and an increase of 16.6% over that of 1890; while the rural population, i.e. population outside of incorporated places, was 539,685, an increase of about 8% over that of 1890. There are about 59 religious sects, of which the members of the Roman Catholic Church, which was prominent in the early history of Maryland, are far the most numerous, having in 1906 166,941 members out of 473,257 communicants of all denominations; in the same year there were 137,156 Methodists, 34,965 Protestant Episcopalians, 32,246 Lutherans, 30,928 Baptists, 17,895 Presbyterians and 13,442 members of the Reformed Church in the United States. The chief cities are Baltimore, pop. (1910) 558,485, Cumberland 21,839, Hagerstown 16,507, Frederick 10,411 and Annapolis 8609.
Government.—The state constitution of 1867, the one now in force, has been frequently amended, all that is required for its amendment being a three-fifths vote of all of the members elected to each of the two houses of the General Assembly, followed by a majority vote of the state electorate, and it is further provided that once in twenty years, beginning with 1887, the wish of the people in regard to calling a convention for altering the constitution shall be ascertained by a poll. Any constitution or constitutional amendment proposed by such constitutional convention comes into effect only if approved by a majority of the votes cast in a popular election. Since 1870 suffrage has been the right of all male citizens (including negroes) twenty-one years of age or over who shall have lived within the state for one year and within the county or the legislative district of the city of Baltimore in which they may offer to vote for six months immediately preceding an election; persons convicted of larceny or other infamous crime and not since pardoned by the governor, as well as lunatics or those who have been convicted of bribery at a previous election are excepted. In 1908 the General Assembly passed a law providing for annual direct primary elections (outside of Baltimore; and making the Baltimore special primary law applicable to state as well as city officials), but, as regards state officers, making only a slight improvement upon previous conditions inasmuch as the county or district is the unit and the vote of county or district merely “instructs” delegates to the party’s state nominating convention, representation in which is not strictly in proportion to population, the rural counties having an advantage over Baltimore; no nomination petition is required. In the same year a separate law was passed providing for primary elections for the choice of United States senators; but here also the method is not that of nomination by a plurality throughout the state, but by the vote of counties and legislative districts, so that this measure, like the other primary law, is not sufficiently direct to give Baltimore a vote proportional to its population.
The chief executive authority is vested in a governor elected by popular vote for a term of four years. Since becoming a state Maryland has had no lieutenant-governor except under the constitution of 1864; and the office of governor is to be filled in case of a vacancy by such person as the General Assembly may elect. Any citizen of Maryland may be elected to the office who is thirty years of age or over, who has been for ten years a citizen of the state, who has lived in the state for five years immediately preceding election, and who is at the time of his election a qualified voter therein. Until 1838 the governor had a rather large appointing power, but since that date most of the more important offices have been filled by popular election. He, however, still appoints, subject to the confirmation of the senate, the secretary of state, the superintendent of public education, the commissioner of the land office, the adjutant-general, justices of the peace, notaries public, the members of numerous administrative boards, and other administrative officers. He is himself one of the board of education, of the board of public works, and of the board for the management of the house of correction. No veto power whatever was given to the governor until 1867, when, in the present constitution, it was provided that no bill vetoed by him should become a law unless passed over his veto by a three-fifths vote of the members elected to each house, and an amendment of 1890 (ratified by the people in 1891) further provides that any item of a money bill may likewise be separately vetoed. The governor’s salary is fixed by the constitution at $4500 a year. Other executive officers are a treasurer, elected by joint ballot of the General Assembly for a term of two years, a comptroller elected by popular vote for a similar term, and an attorney-general elected by popular vote for four years.
The legislature, or General Assembly, meets biennially in even-numbered years, at Annapolis, and consists of a Senate and a House of Delegates. Senators are elected, one from each of the twenty-three counties and one from each of the four legislative districts of the city of Baltimore, for a term of four years, the terms of one-half expiring every two years. Delegates are elected for a term of two years, from each county and from each legislative district of Baltimore, according to population, as follows: for a population of 18,000 or less, two delegates; 18,000 to 28,000, three; 28,000 to 40,000, four; 40,000 to 55,000, five; 55,000 and upwards, six. Each legislative district of Baltimore is entitled to the number of delegates to which the largest county shall or may be entitled under the foregoing apportionment, and the General Assembly may from time to time alter the boundaries of Baltimore city districts in order to equalize their population. This system of apportionment gives to the rural counties a considerable political advantage over the city of Baltimore, which, with 42.8% of the total population according to the census of 1900, has only 4 out of 27 members of the Senate and only 24 out of 101 members of the House of Delegates. Since far back in the colonial era, no minister, preacher, or priest ​has been eligible to a seat in either house. A senator must be twenty-five years of age or over, and both senators and delegates must have lived within the state at least three years and in their county or legislative district at least one year immediately preceding their election.
The constitution provides that no bill or joint resolution shall pass either house except by an affirmative vote of a majority of all the members elected to that house and requires that on the final vote the yeas and nays be recorded.
Justice, &c.—The administration of justice is entrusted to a court of appeals, circuit courts, special courts for the city of Baltimore, orphans’ courts, and justices of the peace. Exclusive of the city of Baltimore, the state is divided into seven judicial circuits, in each of which are elected for a term of fifteen years one chief judge and two associate judges, who at the time of their election must be members of the Maryland bar, between the ages of thirty and seventy, and must have been residents of the state for at least five years. The seven chief judges so elected, together with one elected from the city of Baltimore, constitute the court of appeals, the governor with the advice and consent of the senate designating one of the eight as chief judge of that court. The court has appellate jurisdiction only. The three judges elected in each circuit constitute the circuit court of each of the several counties in such circuit. The courts have both original and appellate jurisdiction and are required to hold at least two sessions to which jurors shall be summoned every year in each county of its circuit, and if only two such terms are held, there must be two other and intermediate terms to which jurors shall not be summoned. Three other judges are elected for four-year terms, in each county and in the city of Baltimore to constitute an orphans’ court. The number of justices of the peace for each county is fixed by local law; they are appointed by the governor, subject to the confirmation of the Senate, for a term of two years.
In the colonial era Maryland had an interesting list of governmental subdivisions—the manor, the hundred, the parish, the county, and the city—but the two last are about all that remain and even these are in considerable measure subject to the special local acts of the General Assembly. In general, each county has from three to seven commissioners—the number is fixed by county laws—elected on a general ticket of each county for a term of from two to six years, entrusted with the charge and control of property owned by the county, empowered to appoint constables, judges of elections, collectors of taxes, trustees of the poor, and road supervisors, to levy taxes, to revise taxable valuations of real property, and open or close public roads.
In Maryland a wife holds her property as if single except that she can convey real estate only by a joint deed with her husband (this requirement being for the purpose of effecting a release of the husband’s “dower interest”), neither husband nor wife is liable for the separate debts of the other, and on the death of either the rights of the survivor in the estate of the other are about equal. Wife-beating is made punishable by whipping in gaol, not exceeding forty lashes. Prior to 1841 a divorce was granted by the legislature only, from then until 1851 it could be granted by either the legislature or the equity courts, since 1851 by the courts only. The grounds for a divorce a mensa et thoro, which may be granted for ever or for a limited time only, are cruelty, excessively vicious conduct, or desertion; for a divorce a vinculo matrimonii the chief grounds are impotence at the time of marriage, adultery or deliberate abandonment for three years. There is no homestead exemption law and exemptions from levy for the satisfaction of debts extend only to $100 worth of property, besides wearing apparel and books and tools used by the debtor in his profession or trade, and to all money payable in the nature of insurance. Employers of workmen in a clay or coal mine, stone quarry, or on a steam or street railway are liable for damage in case of an injury to any of their workmen where such injury is caused by the negligence of the employer or of any servant or employee of the employer. The chief of the bureau of labour statistics is directed in case of danger of a strike or lockout to seek to mediate between the parties and if unsuccessful in that, then to endeavour to secure their consent to the formation of a board of arbitration.
The state penal and charitable institutions include a penitentiary at Baltimore; a house of correction at Jessups, two houses of refuge at Baltimore; a house of reformation in Prince George’s county; St Mary’s industrial school for boys at Baltimore; an industrial home for negro girls at Melvale; an asylum and training school for the feeble-minded at Owings Mills; an infirmary at Cumberland; the Maryland hospital for the insane at Catonsville; the Springfield state hospital for the insane; the Maryland school for the deaf and dumb at Frederick city; and the Maryland school for the blind at Baltimore. Each of these is under the management of a board appointed by the governor subject to the confirmation of the senate. Besides these there are a large number of state-aided charitable institutions. In 1900 there was created a board of state aid and charities, composed of seven members appointed by the governor for a term of two years, not more than four to be reappointed. There is also a state lunacy commission of four members, who are appointed for terms of four years, one annually, by the governor.
Education.—The basis of the present common school system was laid in 1865, after which a marked development was accompanied by some important changes in the system and its administration, and the percentage of total illiteracy (i.e. inability to write among those ten years old and over) decreased from 19.3 in 1800 to 11.1 in 1900, while illiteracy among the native whites decreased during the same period from 7.8 to 4.1 and among negroes from 59.6 to 35.2. At the head of the system is a state board and a state superintendent, and under these in each county is a county board which appoints a superintendent for the county and a board of trustees for each school district none of which is to be more than four miles square. The state board is composed of the governor as its president, the state superintendent as its secretary, six other members appointed by the governor for a term of six years, and, as ex-officio members without the right to vote, the principals of the state and other normal schools. Prior to 1900 the principal of the state normal was ex-officio state superintendent, but since then the superintendent has been appointed by the governor for a term of four years. Each county board is also appointed by the governor for a term of six years. In both the state and the county boards at least one-third of the members appointed by the governor are not to be of the dominant political party and only one-third of the members are to be appointed every two years. The state board enacts by-laws for the administration of the system; its decision of controversies arising under the school law is final; it may suspend or remove a county superintendent for inefficiency or incompetency; it issues life state certificates, but applicants must have had seven years of experience in teaching, five in Maryland, and must hold a first-class certificate or a college or normal school diploma; and it pensions teachers who have taught successfully for twenty-five years in any of the public or normal schools of the state, who have reached the age of sixty, and who have become physically or mentally incapable of teaching longer, the pension amounting to $200 a year. The legislature of 1908 passed a law under which the minimum pay for a teacher holding a first-class certificate should be $350 a year after three years’ teaching, $400 after five years’ teaching and $450 after eight years’ teaching. By a law of 1904 all teachers who taught an average of 15 pupils were to receive at least $300. School books are purchased out of the proceeds of the school tax, but parents may purchase if they prefer. In 1908 the average school year was nine and seven-tenths months—ten in the cities and nine and four-tenths in the counties; the aim is ten months throughout, and a law of 1904 provides that if a school is taught less than nine months a portion of the funds set apart for it shall be withheld. A compulsory education law of 1902—to operate, however, only in the city of Baltimore and in Allegany county—requires the attendance for the whole school year of children between the ages of eight and twelve and also of those between the ages of twelve and sixteen who are not employed at home or elsewhere. A separate school for negro children is to be maintained in every election district in which the population warrants it. The system is maintained by a state tax of 16 cents on each $100 of taxable property.
The higher state educational institutions are two normal schools and one agricultural college. One of the normal schools was opened in Baltimore in 1866, the other at Frostburg in 1904. Both are under the management of the state Board of Education, which appoints the principals and teachers and prescribes the course of study. There is besides, in Washington College at Chestertown, a normal department supported by the state and under the supervision of the state Board of Education. The Maryland Agricultural College, to which an experiment station has been added, was opened in 1859; it is at College Park in Prince George’s county, and is largely under state management. Maryland supports no state university, but Johns Hopkins University, one of the leading institutions of its kind in the country, receives $25,000 a year from the state; the medical department of the university of Maryland receives an annual appropriation of about $2500, and St John’s College, the academic department of the university of Maryland, receives from the state $13,000 annually and gives for each county in the state one free scholarship and one scholarship covering all expenses. Among the principal institutions in the state are the university of Maryland, an outgrowth of the medical college of Maryland (1807) in Baltimore, with a law school (reorganized in 1869), a dental school (1882), a school of pharmacy (1904), and, since 1907, a department of arts and science in St John’s College (non-sect., opened in 1789) at Annapolis; Washington College, with a normal department (non-sect., opened in 1782) at Chestertown; Mount St Mary’s College (Roman Catholic, 1808) at Emmitsburg; New Windsor College (Presbyterian, 1843) at New Windsor; St Charles College (Roman Catholic, opened in 1848) and Rock Hill College (Roman Catholic, 1857) near Ellicott City; Loyola College (Roman Catholic, 1852) at Baltimore; Western Maryland College (Methodist Protestant, 1867) at Westminster; Johns Hopkins University (non-sect., 1876) at Baltimore; Morgan College (coloured, Methodist, 1876) at Baltimore; Goucher College (Methodist, founded 1884, opened 1888) at Baltimore; several professional schools mostly in Baltimore (q.v.); the Peabody Institute at Baltimore; and the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.
Revenue.—The state’s revenue is derived from a general direct property tax, a licence tax, corporation taxes, a collateral inheritance ​tax, fines, forfeitures and fees; and the penitentiary yields an annual net revenue of about $40,000. There is no provision for a general periodic assessment, but a state tax commissioner appointed by the governor, treasurer and comptroller assesses the corporations, and the county commissioners (in the counties) and the appeal tax court (in the city of Baltimore) revise valuations of real property every two years. From 1820 to 1836 Maryland, in its enthusiasm over internal improvements, incurred an indebtedness of more than $16,000,000. To meet the interest, such heavy taxes were levied that anti-tax associations were formed to resist the collection, and in 1842 the state failed to pay what was due; but the accumulated interest had been funded by 1848 and was paid soon afterwards, the expenses of the government were curtailed by the constitution of 1851, and after the Civil War the amount of indebtedness steadily decreased until in 1902 the funded debt was $6,909,326 and the net debt only $2,797,269.13, while on the 1st of October 1908 the net debt was $366,643.91. As a result of incurring the large debt, a clause in the constitution prohibits the legislature from contracting a debt without providing by the imposition of taxes for the payment of the interest annually and the principal within fifteen years, except to meet a temporary deficiency not exceeding $50,000. The first bank of the state was established in 1790, and by 1817 there was one in each of twelve counties and several in Baltimore; in 1818–1820 and in 1837–1839 there were several serious bank failures, but there have been no serious failures since. A constitutional provision makes each stockholder in a state bank liable to the amount of his share or shares for all the bank’s debts and liabilities. A savings bank is taxed on its deposits, and a state bank is taxed on its capital-stock.
History.—The history of Maryland begins in 1632 with the procedure of Charles I. to grant a charter conveying almost unlimited territorial and governmental rights therein to George Calvert, first Lord Baltimore (1580?–1632), and styling him its absolute lord and proprietor. George Calvert died before the charter had passed the great seal, but about two months later in the same year it was issued to his eldest son, Cecilius. In November 1633 two vessels, the “Ark” and the “Dove,” carrying at least two hundred colonists under Leonard Calvert (c. 1582–1647), a brother of the proprietor, as governor, sailed from Gravesend and arrived in Maryland late in March of the following year. Friendly relations were at the outset established with the Indians, and the province never had much trouble with that race; but with William Claiborne (1589?–1676?), the arch-enemy of the province as long as he lived, it was otherwise. He had opposed the grant of the Maryland charter, had established a trading post on Kent Island in Chesapeake Bay in 1631, and when commanded to submit to the new government he and his followers offered armed resistance. A little later, during his temporary absence in England, his followers on the island were reduced to submission; but in 1644, while the Civil War in England was in progress, he was back in the province assisting Richard Ingle, a pirate who claimed to be acting in the interest of parliament, in raising an insurrection which deprived Governor Calvert of his office for about a year and a half. Finally, the lord proprietor was deprived of his government from 1654 to 1658 in obedience to instructions from parliament which were originally intended to affect only Virginia, but were so modified, through the influence of Claiborne and some Puritan exiles from Virginia who had settled in Maryland, as to apply also to “the plantations within Chesapeake Bay.” Then the long continued unrest both in the mother country and in the province seems to have encouraged Josias Fendall, the proprietor’s own appointee as governor, to strike a blow against the proprietary government and attempt to set up a commonwealth in its place; but this revolt was easily suppressed and order was generally preserved in the province from the English Restoration of 1660 to the English Revolution of 1688.
Meanwhile an interesting internal development had been in progress. The proprietor was a Roman Catholic and probably it was his intention that Maryland should be an asylum for persecuted Roman Catholics, but it is even more clear that he was desirous of having Protestant colonists also. To this end he promised religious toleration from the beginning and directed his officers accordingly; this led to the famous toleration act passed by the assembly in 1649, which, however, extended its protection only to sects of Trinitarian Christianity. Again, although the charter reserved to the proprietor the right of calling an assembly of the freemen or their delegates at such times and in such form and manner as he should choose, he surrendered in 1638 his claim to the sole right of initiating legislation. By 1650 the assembly had been divided into two houses, in one of which sat only the representatives of the freemen without whose consent no bill could become a law, and annual sessions as well as triennial elections were coming to be the usual order. When suffrage had thus come to be a thing really worth possessing, the proprietor, in 1670, sought to check the opposition by disfranchising all freemen who did not have a freehold of fifty acres or a visible estate of forty pounds sterling. But this step was followed by more and more impassioned complaints against him, such as: that he was interfering with elections, that he was summoning only a part of the delegates elected, that he was seeking to overawe those summoned, that he was abusing his veto power, and that he was keeping the government in the hands of Roman Catholics, who were mostly members of his own family. About this time also the north and east boundaries of the province were beginning to suffer from the aggressions of William Penn. The territory now forming the state of Delaware was within the boundaries defined by the Maryland charter, but in 1682 it was transferred by the duke of York to William Penn and in 1685 Lord Baltimore’s claim to it was denied by an order in council, on the ground that it had been inhabited by Christians before the Maryland charter was granted. In the next place, although it was clear from the words of the charter that the parallel of 40° N. was intended for its north boundary, and although Penn’s charter prescribed that Pennsylvania should extend on the south to the “beginning of the fortieth degree of Northern Latitude,” a controversy arose with regard to the boundary between the two provinces, and there was a long period of litigation; in 1763–1767 Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, two English mathematicians, established the line named from them (see Mason and Dixon Line), which runs along the parallel 39° 43′ 26″.3 N. and later became famous as the dividing line between the free states and the slave states. While the proprietor was absent defending his claims against Penn the English Revolution of 1688 was started. Owing to the death of a messenger there was long delay in proclaiming the new monarchs in Maryland; this delay, together with a rumor of a Popish plot to slaughter the Protestants, enabled the opposition to overthrow the proprietary government, and then the crown, in the interest of its trade policy, set up a royal government in its place, in 1692, without, however, divesting the proprietor of his territorial rights. Under the royal government the Church of England was established, the people acquired a strong control of their branch of the legislature and they were governed more by statute law and less by executive ordinance. The proprietor having become a Protestant, the proprietary government was restored in 1715. Roman Catholics were disfranchised immediately afterward. In 1730 Germans began to settle in considerable numbers in the west-central part of the colony, where they greatly promoted its industrial development but at the same time added much strength to the opposition. The first great dispute between proprietor and people after the restoration of 1715 was with regard to the extension of the English statutes to Maryland, the popular branch of the legislature vigorously contending that all such statutes except those expressly excluded extended to the province, and the lord proprietor contending that only those in which the dominions were expressly mentioned were in force there. Many other disputes speedily followed and when the final struggle between the English and French for possession in America came, although appropriations were made at its beginning to protect her own west frontier from the attacks of the enemy, a dead-lock between the two branches of the assembly prevented Maryland from responding to repeated appeals from the mother country for aid in the latter part of that struggle. This failure was used as an argument in favour of imposing the famous Stamp Act. Nevertheless, popular clamour against parliament on account of that measure was even greater than it had been against the proprietor. The stamp distributor was driven out, and the arguments of Daniel Dulany (1721–1797), the ablest lawyer in the province, against the act were quoted by speakers in parliament for its repeal.
​In the years immediately preceding the Declaration of Independence Maryland pursued much the same course as did other leading colonies in the struggle—a vessel with tea on board was even burned to the water’s edge—and yet when it came to the decisive act of declaring independence there was hesitation. As the contest against the proprietor had been nearly won, the majority of the best citizens desired the continuance of the old government and it was not until the Maryland delegates in the Continental Congress were found almost alone in holding back that their instructions not to vote for independence were rescinded. The new constitution drawn and adopted in 1776 to take the place of the charter was of an aristocratic rather than a democratic nature. Under it the property qualification for suffrage was a freehold of 50 acres or £30 current money, the property qualifications for delegates £500, for senators £1000, and for governor £5000. Four delegates were chosen from each county and two each from Baltimore and Annapolis, the same as under the proprietary government, population not being taken into account. Senators were chosen by a college of fifteen electors elected in the same manner as the delegates, and the governor by a joint ballot of the two houses of assembly. In 1802 negroes were disfranchised, and in 1810 property qualifications for suffrage and office were abolished. The system of representation that, with the rapid growth of population in the north-east sections, especially in the city of Baltimore, placed the government in the hands of a decreasing minority also began to be attacked about this time; but the fear of that minority which represented the tobacco-raising and slave-holding counties of south Maryland, with respect to the attitude of the majority toward slavery prevented any changes until 1837, when the opposition awakened by the enthusiasm over internal improvements effected the adoption of amendments which provided for the election of the governor and senators by a direct vote of the people, a slight increase in the representation of the city of Baltimore and the larger counties, and a slight decrease in that of the smaller counties. Scarcely had these amendments been carried when the serious financial straits brought on by debt incurred through the state’s promotion of internal improvements gave rise to the demand for a reduction of governmental expenses and a limitation of the power of the General Assembly to contract debts. The result was the new constitution of 1851, which fully established representation in the counties on the basis of population and further increased that of Baltimore. The constitution of 1851 was however chiefly a patchwork of compromises. So, when during the Civil War Maryland was largely under Federal control and the demand arose for the abolition of slavery by the state, another constitutional convention was called, in 1864, which framed a constitution providing that those who had given aid to the Rebellion should be disfranchised and that only those qualified for suffrage in accordance with the new document could vote on its adoption. This was too revolutionary to stand long and in 1867 it was superseded by the present constitution. In national affairs Maryland early took a stand of perhaps far-reaching consequences in refusing to sign the Articles of Confederation (which required the assent of all the states before coming into effect), after all the other states had done so (in 1779), until those states claiming territory between the Alleghany Mountains and the Mississippi and north of the Ohio—Virginia, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut—should have surrendered such claims. As those states finally yielded, the Union was strengthened by reason of a greater equality and consequently less jealousy among the original states, and the United States came into possession of the first territory in which all the states had a common interest and out of which new states were to be created. In the War of 1812 Frederick, Havre de Grace, and Frenchtown were burned by the British; but particularly noteworthy were the unsuccessful movements of the enemy by land and by sea against Baltimore, in which General Robert Ross (c. 1766–1814), the British commander of the land force, was killed before anything had been accomplished and the failure of the fleet to take Fort McHenry after a siege of a day and a night inspired the song The Star-spangled Banner, composed by Francis Scott Key who had gone under a flag of truce to secure from General Ross the release of a friend held as a prisoner by the British and during the attack was detained on his vessel within the British lines. In 1861 Maryland as a whole was opposed to secession but also opposed to coercing the seceded states. During the war that followed the west section was generally loyal to the north while the south section favoured the Confederacy and furnished many soldiers for its army; but most of the state was kept under Federal control, the writ of habeas corpus being suspended. The only battle of much importance fought on Maryland soil during the war was that of Sharpsburg or Antietam on the 16th and 17th of September 1862. As between political parties the state has usually been quite equally divided. From 1820 to 1860, however, the Whigs were in general a trifle the stronger; and from 1866 to 1895 the Democrats were triumphant; in 1895 a Republican governor was elected; in 1896 Maryland gave McKinley 32,232 votes more than it gave Bryan; and in 1904 seven Democratic electors and one Republican were chosen; and in 1908 five Democratic and three Republican.
The proprietors of Maryland were: Cecilius Calvert, second Lord Baltimore (1605[?]–1675) from 1632 to 1675; Charles Calvert, third Lord Baltimore (1629–1715) from 1675 to 1715; Benedict Leonard Calvert, fourth Lord Baltimore (1684?–1715) 1715; Charles Calvert, fifth Lord Baltimore (1699–1751) from 1715 to 1751; Frederick Calvert, sixth and last Lord Baltimore (1731–1771) from 1751 to 1771; Henry Harford, from 1771 to 1776.
Governors of Maryland. :
| Proprietary. |||
| Leonard Calvert | Leonard Calvert | 1633–1645 |
| Richard Ingle (usurper) | Richard Ingle (usurper) | 1645 |
| Edward Hill (chosen by the council) | Edward Hill (chosen by the council) | 1646 |
| Leonard Calvert | Leonard Calvert | 1646–1647 |
| Thomas Greene | Thomas Greene | 1647–1649 |
| William Stone  $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ Richard Bennett (commissioners of parliament)  $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ Edmund Curtis William Claiborne | William Stone  $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ Richard Bennett (commissioners of parliament)  $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ Edmund Curtis William Claiborne | 1649–1652 |
| William Stone  $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ Richard Bennett (commissioners of parliament)  $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ Edmund Curtis William Claiborne | William Stone  $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ Richard Bennett (commissioners of parliament)  $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ Edmund Curtis William Claiborne | 1652 |
| William Stone | William Stone | 1652–1654 |
| William Fuller and others (appointed by the   commissioners of parliament) | William Fuller and others (appointed by the   commissioners of parliament) | 1654–1658 |
| Josias Fendall | Josias Fendall | 1658–1660 |
| Philip Calvert | Philip Calvert | 1660–1661 |
| Charles Calvert | Charles Calvert | 1661–1675 |
| Charles Calvert, third Lord Baltimore | Charles Calvert, third Lord Baltimore | 1675–1676 |
| Cecilius Calvert (titular) and Jesse Wharton (real) | Cecilius Calvert (titular) and Jesse Wharton (real) | 1676 |
| Thomas Notley | Thomas Notley | 1676–1679 |
| Charles Calvert, third Lord Baltimore | Charles Calvert, third Lord Baltimore | 1679–1684 |
| Benedict Leonard Calvert (titular) and council (real) | Benedict Leonard Calvert (titular) and council (real) | 1684–1688 |
| William Joseph (president of the council) | William Joseph (president of the council) | 1688–1689 |
| Protestant Associators under John Coode | Protestant Associators under John Coode | 1689–1692 |
| Royal. |||
| Sir Lionel Copley | Sir Lionel Copley | 1692–1693 |
| Sir Edmund Andros | Sir Edmund Andros | 1693–1694 |
| Francis Nicholson | Francis Nicholson | 1694–1699 |
| Nathaniel Blackistone | Nathaniel Blackistone | 1699–1702 |
| Thomas Tench (president of the council) | Thomas Tench (president of the council) | 1702–1704 |
| John Seymour | John Seymour | 1704–1709 |
| Edward Lloyd (president of the council) | Edward Lloyd (president of the council) | 1709–1714 |
| John Hart | John Hart | 1714–1715 |
| John Hart | John Hart | 1715–1720 |
| Charles Calvert | Charles Calvert | 1720–1727 |
| Benedict Leonard Calvert | Benedict Leonard Calvert | 1727–1731 |
| Samuel Ogle | Samuel Ogle | 1731–1732 |
| Charles Calvert, fifth Lord Baltimore | Charles Calvert, fifth Lord Baltimore | 1732–1733 |
| Samuel Ogle | Samuel Ogle | 1733–1742 |
| Thomas Bladen | Thomas Bladen | 1742–1747 |
| Samuel Ogle | Samuel Ogle | 1747–1752 |
| Benjamin Tasker (president of the council) | Benjamin Tasker (president of the council) | 1752–1753 |
| Horatio Sharpe | Horatio Sharpe | 1752–1769 |
| Robert Eden | Robert Eden | 1769–1774 |
| Robert Eden (nominal) and Convention and Council     of Safety (real) | Robert Eden (nominal) and Convention and Council     of Safety (real) | 1774–1776 |
| STATE |||
| Thomas Johnson | Thomas Johnson | 1777–1779 |
| Thomas Sim Lee | Thomas Sim Lee | 1779–1782 |
| William Paca | William Paca | 1782–1785 |
| William Smallwood | William Smallwood | 1785–1788 |
| John Eager Howard | John Eager Howard | 1788–1791 |
| George Plater | George Plater | 1791–1792 ​ |
| James Brice (acting) | James Brice (acting) | 1792 |
| Thomas Sim Lee | Thomas Sim Lee | 1792–1794 |
| John H. Stone | John H. Stone | 1794–1797 |
| John Henry | Democratic Republican | 1797–1798 |
| Benjamin Ogle | Federalist | 1798–1801 |
| John Francis Mercer | Democratic Republican | 1801–1803 |
| Robert Bowie | ”” | 1803–1806 |
| Robert Wright | ”” | 1806–1808 |
| James Butcher (acting) | ”” | 1808–1809 |
| Edward Lloyd | Whig | 1809–1811 |
| Robert Bowie | Democratic Republican | 1811–1812 |
| Levin Winder | Federalist | 1812–1815 |
| Charles Ridgely | ” | 1815–1818 |
| Charles Goldsborough | ” | 1818–1819 |
| Samuel Sprigg | Democratic Republican | 1819–1822 |
| Samuel Stevens, jun. | ”” | 1822–1825 |
| Joseph Kent | ”” | 1825–1828 |
| Daniel Martin | Anti-Jackson | 1828–1829 |
| Thomas King Carroll | Jackson Democrat | 1829–1830 |
| Daniel Martin | Anti-Jackson | 1830–1831 |
| George Howard (acting) | Whig | 1831–1832 |
| George Howard | ” | 1832–1833 |
| James Thomas | ” | 1833–1835 |
| Thomas W. Veazey | ” | 1835–1838 |
| William Grason | Democrat | 1838–1841 |
| Francis Thomas | ” | 1841–1844 |
| Thomas G. Pratt | Whig | 1844–1847 |
| Philip Francis Thomas | Democrat | 1847–1850 |
| Enoch Louis Lowe | ” | 1850–1853 |
| Thomas Watkins Ligon | ” | 1853–1857 |
| Thomas Holliday Hicks | American or Know Nothing | 1857–1861 |
| Augustus W. Bradford | Unionist | 1861–1865 |
| Thomas Swann | ” | 1865–1868 |
| Oden Bowie | Democrat | 1868–1872 |
| William Pinkney Whyte | ” | 1872–1874 |
| James Black Groome | ” | 1874–1876 |
| John Lee Carroll | ” | 1876–1880 |
| William T. Hamilton | ” | 1880–1884 |
| Robert M. McLane | ” | 1884–1885 |
| Henry Lloyd | ” | 1885–1888 |
| Elihu E. Jackson | ” | 1888–1892 |
| Frank Brown | ” | 1892–1896 |
| Lloyd Lowndes | Republican | 1896–1900 |
| John Walter Smith | Democrat | 1900–1904 |
| Edwin Warfield | ” | 1904–1908 |
| Austin L. Crothers | ” | 1908– |
Bibliography.—Publications of the Maryland Geological Survey (Baltimore, 1897); Maryland Weather Service Climatology and Physical Features, biennial reports (Baltimore, 1892– ); United States Census; Reports of the U.S. Fish Commissioner and Bureau of Fisheries (Washington, 1871); State Department, Maryland Manual, a Compendium of Legal, Historical and Statistical Information (Baltimore, 1900– ); B. C. Steiner, Citizenship and Suffrage in Maryland (Baltimore, 1895), an historical review of the subject; J. W. Harry, The Maryland Constitution of 1851, Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science (Baltimore, 1902), contains an account of the agitation from 1835 to 1850 for constitutional reform; B. C. Steiner, History of Education in Maryland, Circulars of Information of the United States Bureau of Education (Washington, 1894), a general historical survey of the common schools, public and private, and a particular account of each college, university and professional school; A. D. Mayo, The Final Establishment of the American School System in West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, Report of the Commissioner of Education (Washington, 1905) contains an interesting account of the development of the public school system of the state from 1864 to 1900; F. S. Adams, Taxation in Maryland, Johns Hopkins University Studies (Baltimore, 1900), an historical account of the sources of the state’s revenue and administration of its taxing system; A. V. Bryan, History of State Banking in Maryland, Johns Hopkins University Studies (Baltimore, 1899), a careful study of the state’s experience with banks from 1790 to 1864; J. L. Bozman, History of Maryland from 1633 to 1660 (Baltimore, 1837), a compilation of much of the more important material relating to the early history of the province; J. V. L. McMahon, An Historical View of the Government of Maryland from its Colonization to the Present Day (Baltimore, 1833), an able treatment of the subject by a learned jurist; J. T. Scharf, History of Maryland (Baltimore, 1879), the most extensive general history of the state, but it contains numerous errors and the arrangement is poor; W. H. Browne, Maryland: the History of a Palatinate (Boston, 1884 and 1895), an excellent outline of the colonial history; N. D. Mereness, Maryland as a Proprietary Province (New York, 1901), a constitutional history of the province in the light of its industrial and social development, contains a bibliography; and Bernard C. Steiner, Maryland during the English Civil War (2 vols., Baltimore, 1906–1907), one of the Johns Hopkins University Studies. (N. D. M.)
* ↑ Maryland and Delaware together began the construction of the Chesapeake and Delaware canal (131/2 m. long) across the north part of the state of Delaware, between the Delaware river and Chesapeake Bay; this canal received Federal aid in 1828, was completed in 1829, and in 1907 was chosen as the most practicable route for a proposed ship waterway between the Chesapeake and the Delaware.
* ↑ The population at previous censuses was as follows: 319,728 in 1790; 341,548 in 1800; 380,546 in 1810; 407,350 in 1820; 447,040 in 1830; 470,019 in 1840; 583,034 in 1850; 687,049 in 1860; and 780,894 in 1870.
* ↑ The General Assembly regularly elected the governor during the period 1776–1838.
* ↑ Died in office.
* ↑ Resigned on the 6th of May 1808.
* ↑ Resigned in 1874 to become (March 4, 1875) U.S. senator from Maryland.
* Emery Walker sc.