The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-02-09

The following was written on the subject
by Dr. Priestly (the celebrated English
philosopher who discovered oxygen gas to
DR.. Benjamin franklin:
BIRMINGHAM, May 4, 1872.
DEAR SIR:-I take the liberty to recon-
mend TO you the interests of my friend
Mr.. Russell who is apprehenSive the Gov
eminent of Maryland will confiscate some
property which he holds jointly with his
brother in that state. | am satisfied how
ever that IT they were apprised of the part
he has uniformly acted they could not be
so ungenerous, for a warmer and more
steady friend in this country the Ameri-
cans never had: his purse aud his interest,
which is very considerable, have always
been employed in their favor, and since
| have had the happiness of being ac-
qnainted with him he has been particularly
interchangeable in procuring clothing for the
American prisoners, as Mr. Wren of Ports
mouth will testify. Indeed a more Jealous
and active friend to public liberty | never
knew, and were | to express the sense that
this country in general and myself have of
his merit it would have the appearance of
mere panegyric.
Could you be of any service to him, |
should esteem it something more than done
to myself. | am as ever, dear sir. yours
sincerely, J. PRIEsTLY.
The testimony of Mr.. Wren. alluded to
above, was contained in letter from Rev.
Thomas Wren, of Portsmouth, to Henry
Laurens, of which this is an extract
"This gentleman William RUSSELL is one
of the most iudicious, steady and deter
mined patriots of the age. He used every
method to perpetuate the rights and peace
OF America by supporting and encouraging
the petitions against the war; he hath been
a singularly liberal benefactor to the relief
of the captives and hath as it were, clothed
those Of them who were in Forton gaol for
the last Winter. Besides 80 flannel waist
coats, 100 pr shoes, and various other arti-
Giles, he sent upwards of 40 suits of second
hand clothes which proved of the highest
utility to persons who were in greater dis
tress than any of them in Forton, and with
out which they could not have shaped their
steps to the advantage they did,
Historical readers will remember Henry
Laurens as having been President of the
Continental Congress- Afterwards, in 1850,
while on his way to Holland, as minister
plenipotentiary, he was captured by an
English frigate, and confined in the Tower
for more than year. Released from there,
he proceeded to Paris in the Fall of 1872 as
a Peace Comm missioner, and assisted in
negotiating the treaty of peace with Eng
land. He endorsed William Russell's APP
plication and earnestly recommended him
"to the consideration of the State of Mary.
land and to the grateful attention of the
| United States in general" These docu
ments were speedily forwarded to Thomas
Russell in America, who meanwhile had
! been making strenuous efforts in his
brothers behalf, and had employed counsel
at Annapolis, who prepared a petition to
the Assembly, reminding them that under
the act of 1850 all British subjects who had
manifested their attachment to the State
should be exempted, and their property, or
| its value, restored to them. Their efforts
were so far successful that proper amount
| of the bonds received for the contiscated
| estates was ordered to be set apart in the
| treasury, subject to the future disposition
of the Assembly. These proceedings were
earnestly fought against in the Assem-
bly,. The opposition was so strong that
much delay ensued, but as it plainly APP
peared that he was within the excep-
| tions designated in the act, in Novem-
| Der, 1888, the bill for the relief of William
| Russell passed by majority of one, and
/ he was declared entitled to receive his pro-
portionate part, with interest, of the sales
of the Principle Company's property The
! treasurer of the Western Shore was direct
ed to hand over to him such bonds to the
proper amount, as he Or his agents should
select.
Thus it was the fortune of war, not the
| fluctuations of peace or commerce. which
terminated the career of the Principle
! Company. Confiscation has always been
natural resort of victors In this case it
was also an avowed measure of retaliation
for outrages and devastations previously
committed by the British. Being a sever
auce of almost the last tie which bound the
colonists to the mother country it was an
irrevocable assertion of their determination
and ability to take place independently
among the nations of the earth.
| For the following brief account of Prn-
cipio and North East works subsequent to
/ the Revolution, the writer is chiefly in
debted to Mr.. George p. Whitaker, of
| Principle Furnace.
NORTH EAST
Thomas Russell, at his death, in 1856,
left a son Thomas, the third of that name.
On his arrival at the age of twenty-one, his
mother meanw while having married Daniel
| Sheredne, he revived the iron industry at
North East, with the assistance of SheIe-
dine, and built, in 1902, a furnace which
was in operation only four years. Not
proving profitable as had been antici-
pated, it was blown out at the death of
young Thomas Russell, which occurred in
! 1906. The property was divided among
several heirs who continued the forge bus
mess with Sheredine as manager, but it did
not prosper, and finding that every year
| Was loslHS lhoheS iol tHeHl luty HdIuldliy
resolved to give up the business before it
should be too late In order to liquidate
/ debts then existing against the estate,
great portion of the tract of land called
Geeofarison" was sold, and the heirs
contented themselves in farming their por-
tions of the remainder of the property.
In the Spring of 1929, James and George
| p. Whitaker leased of one of the heirs,
| Mrs. Frances Sewall, the site of the old
North East forge, including the water
power 20 to 100 acres of land, old grist
mill, office, and what had been the quarters
for the slaves belonging to the Russell es-
tate. George p. Whitaker took the entire
superintendent, and got three fired
forge, with two hammers, into operation
early in 1880. About 1882, James Whita-
ker sold his interest to Joseph Whitaker
! and Thomas Garrett, who, with George p.