The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-06-08
Historical Researches that Quilp Made
as a BOhemian.
CHAPTER XIV.

CHAPTER XIV.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS
NOTICEABLE IN THEIR DESCENDANTS
AUGUSTINE HERMAN's DESCENDANTS
VAN EIBBERs-THEV BUILD THE FIRST
MILL ON BOHEMIA MANoR-JoHN JAW
ERT-CoMMERCIAL TRANsACTIoNs-AN
ANCIENT BILL OF LADING-sLAvE TRADE.
1t is worthy of note, that although sew
eral of the centers of civilization in Cecil
county were settled two centuries ago, the
manners, customs and religion of the origi-
nal settlers have been transmitted from gen.
GRAFTON to generation of their descendants;
and although not as distinctly marked now
as they were at list, still they are yet easily
distinguished and readily noticed by the
close observer.
Augustine Herman and George Talbot
differed in many respects from each other,
but they were not more different than those
who now live upon their respective manors.
The Bohemian and the Hollander; the Irish
Catholic; the English Episcopalian; the
Scotch Irish Presby terrain; and the meek
and unassuming Quaker, have each left the
well defined impression of their nationality
and religion upon that part of the county
where they settled. With few EXCEPTIONS
we find that wherever church was planted
by the early settlers one of the same de-
nomination yet exists. The old Catholic
| Church in Sassafras Neck, which is called
| Bohemia-though it is some miles south
of Bohemia river,-and the Episcopal
churches of st. Stephen and ST. Mary Ann,
aud the Nottingham and Rock Presbyterian
churches, are notable examples in proof of
the truth of this assertion. The early ex-
| tinction of the Labadists is an exception;
but they were more mercenary than reli-
| gious, and their community, like most sys,
tens of religion which have been founded
upon false basis, having had nothing but
the cupidity of it's devotees to hold it to-
gether, soon disintegrated and fell to pieces.
1t is also worthy of note, that many of the
leading families of the county, at the pres
ent time, can trace their connection back to
the leading families of two hundred years
ago. This is especially the case with the
descendants of Herman-many of whom
have occupied positions of honor and re-
sponsbility.
Itwould be neither interesting nor profit
able to give the exact date of the smaller
! grants of land in the county, and we shall
not attempt the task. With the exception
of few tracts along the Sassafras river
and in Elk Neck, which were taken up
about the time that Herman settled upon
Bohemia Manor 1902, the other portions
of the county were not extensively settled
till after the beginning of the seventeenth
century, and then generally by the friends
and relatives of the first settlers on the
larger tracts-the early history of which
we have already written. Probably nearly
all of the land in the county had been pat
ented previous to 1850, though much of it
still remained uncultivated, and the houses
of the inhabitants were rude structures
and comparatively scarce. They were,
except in the cases of some Of the more
wealthy and aristocratic families, built of
| logs and located near springs, in what
would now be considered very unhealthy
and out of the way places. We will now
revert to the history of Bohemia Manor.
The time of the death of Augustine Her.
man, as before stated, is unknown, but it
occurred between 1854 and sc. His old
est son, Ephraim George, survived him
only a short time, when the vast estate,
which his father had been at such pains to
acquire, passed into the possession of his
second son, Casparus, who, in accordance
with the will of his father, assumed the
name of Casparus Augustine Herman.
He took possession of the Manor house on
the 3rd day of June, $780, but he did not
long enjoy the honor of being Lord Of Bo-
hernia Manor, for we learn from a law en-
acted in 1897 by the colonial Legislature,
, empowering his widow Catharine to dis
pose of some of his real estate, that he died
before that time. 1t is probable that there
was some contention about the occupation
of the Manor house, and that the second
wife of Augustine Herman was still living,
and was disposed to occupy it herself, for
we find among the papers in the Herman
portfolio in possession of the Historical
Society of Maryland, a sheet with this GER
tificate upon it,
possession of the Manor house of Bohe-
mia Manor delivered by Daniel O'Howry,
the tenant in possession, to Casparus Her
man, the lawful and undoubted heir of
Augustine Herman, lately deceased, be-
fore US, this third day of June, 1890.
WILLIAM DARE,
EDWARD JONES,
JOHN THOMPSON.
Immediately after this is the following
entry on the same sheet:
"Quet possession of the Manor house of
Bohemia Manor accepted and received, this