The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1885-07-04
An Old Maryland Town-From tbs Third

AAaoi yidnu IOWn.-From the Third
Series OF the pamphlet entitled "Local Institu-
tons OF aryland," &C., Herbert B. Adams, edi-
tor h' ~. wilhelm, Phi. D., Fellow by Courtesy
OF the 'onns Hopkins University, we are indebted
for Tue lohowlng account of an ancient Maryland
town, formerly the county seat of Baltimore coun-
the State:
"The old and the new towns of MARYLAND are
well typlhei in the neighboring towns of Joppa
and Oh baltimore. The former town, probably
settieu overtwo centuries ago, was located upon
the proaa 0unpowder river, near its entrance in
to the chesapeake, and we'll deserved name,
whose meaning is beauty. The name of Paradise
bestowed upon a neighboring settlement gives us
hint as to the environment of this forest region.
For many years Joppa reigned the mistress of
the Chesapeake bay. Within it's borders were
the county courthouse, the chapel, the county
prison, several inns and number of commodious
warehouses and stately mansions. In its harbor
were vessels from New England, the West Indies,
and ports OF Europe. 1t became the seat of the
social and civil life Of the county and of the ad-
joining hundreds and parishes, and being located
upon the public highway leading to the Northern
colonies, it became well-known resort for travel
lers and merchants. Bul owing to the indiffer-
ence of its citizens the faulty form of local gov
ernment the jealousies of its neighbors, the en-
terprise of the inhabitants OF neighboring towns,
the glories of Joppa faded away and its CANDLE
stick was removed to the little settlement located
on the Patapsco river sixteen miles to the south
west. When Whitefed visited Joppa, in 1879,
he saw the town in its decline He calls it
"litte town." Within half century after the
visit of the great evangelist, Joppa had passed
into the list of "deserted" towns and has since
become so desolate as to make its site almost an
enigma. Baltimore county has many "Joppa
roads, traversing it, but it is only lately that the
convergent point of these roads has been ascer-
tanned The destruction of the town has been
complete. Its warehouses have rotted away, its
wharves have disappeared, its harbor has become
filled with auvial deposits, its streets have been
turned into ploughed fields. Upon its very site
have camped the Indians and in the ruins of the
silent town they may have kindled their camp
fires from the rotten timber of its fallen houses.
few neglected grave stones, several heaps of
brick and rubbish, and solitary mansion, be-
longing to one of the oldest families in the State,
are about all that remain of the once famous sea-
port town of provincial Maryland. One inscrip-
ton, of remarkable simplicity, upon substantial,
well-preserved monument tells in brief the COM
mercial story of the now deserted town: "David
McCulloh, Merchant in Joppa." Joppa, old in
name and associations, gave place to the modern
town Of Baltimore on the Patapsco."
He Wants to Fight Bad.-There is blood on
the moon in Towsontown, and Mr.. John Johns is
thirsting for the gore of one of our best known
lawyers. Another caveat to the will of the late
John 7. Johns was filed in the Orphans Court
here few days ago, and Messrs. John I. Yellott,
I. Nevett Steele, A. w. Machen and Brown &
Bruno, counsel for Mrs. Hodges, Mrs. Caldwell
and other heirs who won the case when the le-
gality of former will of the late Mr.. Johns was
tried, filed certain papers in the Orphans Court
in answer to the caveat which seems to have riled
Mr.. John Johns very considerably. He says
that these papers seriously reflect upon his wife
and other relatives, and in order to be redressed
he wrote very savage letters to each one of the
counsel, calling them to account for what they
mad set forth in their answer. But it appears
that Mr.. Johns had more bitter feeling against
Major Yelott than against either of the others
and to him he sent challenge to mortal combat,
demanding "satisfaction or death-death or sat-
isfaction !' He names Mr.. Robert NJ Newton as
his friend and asked Major Yellott to select some
one to act for him in the arrangement of the pre-
liminaries.
But Major Yellott don't want to fight and he
thinks that Mr.. Johns is no more anxious for a
meeting than he is. He treats the challenge as
joke and will pay no attention to it. In his
letters to the other counsel Mr.. Johns intimates
that they are too cowardly to fight, and for this
reason he would not challenge them.
Mr.. Johns appeared in the Circuit Court here
on Thursday as the defendant in suit of dis
traint for rent claimed to be due for the property
known as the "Dover Farm" part of the estate
of the late John 7. Johns, and upon which he re-
sides. Mr.. Fred. w. Bruno, of Brown Bruno,
to whom he had written grossly offensive letter,
was also in Court. He swore out a warrant
against Mr.. Johns, upon the charge of criminal
libel, and he was arrested and held in his own
recognizance in the sum of $3.50, promising to
appear on Friday morning and furnish the neces-
sary security.