The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-04-06

Historical Researches that Quilp Made
rs Bohemian.
CHAPTER XN.

mia and Susquehanna manors, we will now
turn our attention to the history of the next
largest grant that was made by the Lord
! Proprietary in Cecil county. This was the
New Munster tract. The certificate of sur
vey in the old colonial records at Annapo-
lis is as follows: "Surveyed for Edwin
( O'Dwire and fifteen other lrlshmen by vir
, tue of a warrant from his Lordship, dated
eth of August, 1858. Laid out for him
/ and them a certain tract of land, called
New Munster, lying and being i'll Cecil
county, on the main fresh of Elk river, on
both sides of the said fresh, beginning at
marked poplar on a high bank over the
west side of the said main fresh, and about
a pist0le slot to the no-thward OF the mouth
of a rireIeH, called the Shule, and running
west, :: : : containing and now laid
out for six thousand acres more or less, to
be held OF the manor of Cmcll, which is
hereby humby certified to your L0rdship
this Goth of August, 1888, by
GEORGE TALBOT.
Surveyor General"
The poplar tree mentioned in the afore-
said certificate stood upon the west bank
of Big Elk creek, short distance above
where the stream originally called the
Shure, but now called Pulling Mill run,
emptieS into that stream. The Shure was.
no doubt, called by that name because it
was not easily affected by drouth. 1t is a
pretty little stream that rises near Fair
Hill and flows through and drains a section
of country, most Of which, until quite re-
Gently, was thickly covered with forest
trees which prevented the evaporation of
the water from the earth, so that the springs
that fed it flowed nearly as strong in the
Summer months as in any other season.
1t still sustains its ancient reputation as a
.StWre and reliable stream, and supplies
enough water to turn two mills that have
been erected upon its banks. The poplar
tree that marked the place of the beginning
of the survey has long since disappeared,
but the place where it stood is marked by
4 rough, undressed stone, with the letters
W. S. on its south, the letter b. on its
east and the letters n. NJ. and underneath
them the letters n. |. on the north side,
rudely chiseled on comparatively smooth
places on its otherwise rough surface.
! What these initials mean, we are unable to
say. Their meaning, as well as the history
! of those who placed them there, is lost.
| But the water of the babbling stream still
dances down its rocky channel, as if it was
| i'm ion IN min the llrC,ar and of
stream that flows 50 placidly at the base of
the rugged declivity, midway NJ which this
stone was planted in the long ago. There
can be no doubt that the stone is near the
place where the poplar stood, because the
CONFORMATION of the country is such that
! the course of the streams must necessarily
by nearly the same now as they were two
hundred years ago
Without attempting to give the accurate
courses and distances of the boundary lines
of New Munster, we will state that the
southern line, which started from the pop
lar tree, ran about mile west until it
reached the southwest corner of the tract
and then ran northwardly for about five
miles until it reached the northwest corner
Of the tract about mile north of Mason
and Dixon's line, where the northern line
commenced and ran in an easterly course,
and crossed the Elk short distance above |
Mackey's, now Tweed's mill, which is the
first mill on that stream in Pennsylvania, |
above the aforesaid State line; the north
east corner was nearly two miles east Of
Big Elk and a little south Of direct line |
Joining the aforesaid mill and the village Of
StrckersvIllc in Pennsylvania. The east
line ran south from the last named corner
till it reached the southeast corner of
the tract which was about mile cast of
the place of beginning, from which the
southern line ran west to the poplar tree |
that marked the beginning of the survey.
The tract was about five miles long and |
two miles wide, and consequently con-
tanned about ten square miles of land. |
The waters of the Big Elk divided New
Munster into two nearly equal parts
Within the limits of the tract are some of |
the best water powers in the county, no less
than five of them being on the Big Elk.
In 1901 James Carroll took up a survey
of ?, 104 acres of land west Of New Nun
ster, and in 713 conveyed his interest in it
to Charles Carroll. The tract was called
"Society," and the deeds given shortly
afterwards for certain parts of it, recite
the fact that the survey, which was untin
ished before, was completed in the latter
year by Henry Hollings worth, who was then
deputy surveyor. Morgan Patten, John
Bristow, Joseph Steel and Roger Lawson
were among the first purchasers, and there
is every reason to believe they We're the
first settlers upon this tract of land, which
theu-11lS and '19,--no doubt, was COW
cred by the primeval forest. Society,"
like New Munster, was to be held of the
manor of Cecil, which the reader will recol !
lect was just west of Little Elk, and ex-
tended from near the head of Elk river
some miles northward 1t was probably
several miles wide, and like North East
manor, is believed never to have been sur
veyed or bounded. The southeast corner
of "Society was about "a mile north of
the southeast corner of New Munster, and
the western boundary of the latter formed
the eastern boundary of the former. The
tract, probably, extended as far north as
New Munster did. The deed from Carroll
to Lawson warranted to defend his title
against all persons claiming title, or pre-
tended title, under We government of Penn
sylvania or ye territories thereunto belong
| ing We mention this as an interesting
fact, showing that the long and bitter con
troversy between the Penns and Baltimore,
about the boundaries of their respective
provinces, was then raging.
The Charles Carroll, who owned Society,
was one of the ancestors of Gov. Carroll.
| He was judge and register of the land
office, and also agent and receiver of rents
for Lord Baltimore. A part of this tract
remained in possession of the Carroll fam
| lily till 1905. In that year Charles Carroll,