The Cecil Whig., 1877-12-15


patented the land before Augustine Her
man obtained his patent for it. sand that
The said Thomas Larhin had made his right
to tile said land appear to be prior to tile right
of the Hermahs;:" for these reasons as
stated in the deed, and for divers other
good and valuable considerations, E. A.
Herman, who was then Lord of Bohemia
Manor, and his wife, conveyed their inter-
est in the land to Larkin. This appears to
have been the end of the quarrel, and
proves conclusively that at least one grant
was made inside the lines of Little Bohe-
mia previous to 1862, which is the date of
Herman's original patent for the land called
by that name.
The Indians that Herman speaks of in
his journal, whose presence prevented an
accurate inspection and survey of his land
when first patented, probably lived upon
the northern part of Bohemia Manor. The
boundaries of the land, which Herman at
this time held by patents from Lord Balti-
more, were. as well as can now be ascer-
tanned, about as follows: Starting from
Town Point, at the junction of the Elk
aud Bohemia rivers. and following the Elk
river and Back creek to the mouth of Long
creek; up Long creek to some where near
the Delaware line; thence south along an
old road, the location of which is now un-
known, to near the Chesapeake and Della
l. tbapna Sfx rS lu a1n ha
course of the canal to the mouth of St.
Georges creek, near where Delaware City
now stands; thence down the Delaware
river to the mouth of Appoquinimink creek
thence up that creek and across the inter
vening land to the head waters of Little
Bohemia river, and down it to the place of
beginning.
The reader will observe that this tract
contained many thousand acres. The land
is probably the best on the peninsula.
Though Herman had patent from Lord
Baltimore for his manor of Augustine, on
the Delaware, it was claimed by the an-
thorities of that province as within their
jurisdiction, and was also granted to
Ephraim Herman by patent of confrma-
ton, in the year 1854, by Lord Baltimore,
who, about this time, tried hard to secure
possession of all the territory granted to
him by the charter of Maryland.
Ephraim Herman died shortly after his
father, when it the land) came into the
possession of his brother Casparus, who
succeeded Ephraim as Lord of Bohemia
Manor. In TIA Ephraim Augustine, the
grandson of the founder of Bohemia
Manor, sold it to Matthias Van Bibber for
$500; it being still claimed by Lord Bati-
timore, who received the alienation fee,
which was required to be paid when land
was sold.
During the long controversy that existed
between the Penns and Lord Baltimore
about the boundaries of their respective
provinces, Van Bibber was arrested by the
authorities nf Delaware, though he was at
It's time chief justice of Cecil county, while
attempting to make a survey upon this
tract of land. There is no doubt that, under
to dispose of this land, and it must not be
forgotten that the limits of Cecil county,
as then rightfully and properly understood
by Baltimore and those claiming under
east, and northwardly to the fortieth de-
gree of north latitude. The southern
boundary of the county, as prescribed by
the proclamation creating or erecting it in
1914 was the Chester river; the western
boundary was the Chesapeake bay and the
Susquehanna river. Many of the old deeds,
dated in the latter part of the seventeenth
century, for lands on the eastern side of
Chesapeake bay, about the mouth of Sas-
safras liver and Swami Point, describe the
lands as being in Baltimore county; others
of them describe them as being in Cecil
county, formerly Baltimore county; and
there is one deed upon record for land on
the east side of the Susquehanna river,
which speaks of the land as being in Cecil
county, Pa.
At what time the western part of our
county was first called Baltimore county,
can not be ascertained. Herman's map
sheds no light upon the subject, though, as
before stated, he locates Baltimore Manor
upon what is now Elk Neck. 1t is worthy
of remark, in this connection, that St.
Johns Manor, which is in Elk Neck, is
thus described in the certificate of survey
in the ancient records for the year 1864 l.:
" Laid out for John Pate, of Virginia, gen
tleman, parcel of land called st. Johns
Manor, being in Baltimore county and on
the north side of Elk river, &C."
We have now reached the period when
we must speak of the last days and last
acts of the illustrious man that had more
to do with the early history of our county
than any of his cotemporaries. His life
was an eventful one. We wish we could
say that his last days were his best days.
and that he enjoyed the quiet and repose
that long and active life should have
earned. The Labadie journalist gives IA
sad picture Of his domestic discomfort and
their success in proselyting his eldest son
Ephraim, who, by right of primogenitul E.,
was entitled to become Lord of the manor
no doubt added much to the unhappiness
of the aged and infirm patriarch. No
doubt he was prepared to leave world
where he had realized that there was quite
as much, if indeed not great deal more,
sorrow than Joy. On the 9th day of Au-
gust, 1854, he invested Ephraim, his son,
with the right and title to Bohemia Manor
by a deed of teoifment, which was exc
cuted upon that day, before George Tai
bot, who was one of nine deputy govern
ors that Lord Baltimore left in charge of
the province during his absence from the
colony while on a visit to England, and of
whom we shall have something to say
further on. This deed. like many legal
papers of that time, contains many curious
provisions. The consideration mentioned
in it is as follows: Five thousand pounds of
good, sound and merchantable tobacco and
casks, and also six barrels of good beer or
ctropr baarc ono ,unbor Of n, or br, p3y