The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-09-09
Especial Corrcspondence.l

OF Maryland, only to find that the ia
nous old landmarks that remained to
mark the grand old period of colonial
history are fast disappearing. In their
place towns are springing up, modern
residences being erected, and at the
present day 1T is hard to find even an
old timer i'll any Of these towns or vii
Lagos who can point out where the first
heroes of great country were born and
lived.
The province which Charles II grant
ed to Lord Baltimore is indeed matter
OF history today, and the scholar who
desires to refresh his memory on colonial
history can no longer find evidences of
that period throughout the state, but
must resort to the archives of the Mary
land Historical society
The most famous landmark to sue
Dumb to fate recently is the old Carroll
manor at CarTollton, where lived the
patriot who after the Declaration of In
dependence had been signed and the
liberty bell pcaled it to the masses do
clared to the first congress that ''tho
pen had reached its limit, and bayonets
must finish the work. In place of the
old manor u magnificent modern resi-
dence stands, and nothing remains to
recall the part the former owner took in
the struggle for liberty Old st.
Michacl's manor is Il thing of the past,
too, having recently been destroyed to
mako room for more modern structure
There is only ono old manor left to-
day to mark tho colonial period. 1t is
the ST. Clements manor, in st. Mary's
county 1t borders OH st. Clements bay,
a body of water which Marylanders
boast Of rs being tho prettiest i'll tho
world. Tho days of this old landmark
arc numbered, for time is proving itself
persistent foe.
You stand and gaze at it, and if
verscd in colonial history your mind
Immediately rcverts back q century
You see the open crate fires twittcring
and cracking with gleo rs they give
warmth to gay and festive party COM
posed OF the cream of the wealth, cul-
turo and refinement of tho south You
see the lovely hostess beaming with
smiles and dispensing every hospitality
within her power to make her guests
feel ut home. You hear the hounds bark
ing outside rs they await the gentlemen
guests to mount their horses for an ex-
citing fox hunt, and during your reverie
a hundred other pleasant memories
might flash across the mind, but the
dream is only instantaneous, and you
suddenly look around, and the old
manor seems desolate again
Tho records of tho st. Clements manor
are the only ones now in existence, and
they arc so valuable that 81, 600, 900
would not induce the Maryland Histor-
1cal society to part with them. In the
palmy days of tho manor it was GUS
tomary for the proprietor of All estate to
keep diary, a custom still carried OH
in England today, and from these rec
ords it is learned that the st. Clements
manor was the most famous home of
hospitality i'll the south for over cen
fury.
Ono of tho most interesting customs
in vogue during the seventeenth century
was the court lect held OH an estate.
The lord of the manor was the judge by
divine right, and all disputes were set
tied by him. All fines went into his
purse, and there WAS no appeal from his
decision His jurisdiction only extended
over his OWL tenants, the same power
being exercised by the neighboring lord
over his estate. The court met once a
week, and when the lord took his seat
Oh the bench the steward would COM
mand 'oyez' to draw near upon "pain
and peril, " and then would follow the
proceedings of the court
There were some very amusing laws
governing the st. Clements manor, an
estate covering ,, 900 acres. The tenants
were called upon to report to the court
leet "such people as haunt taverns and
no man knoweth whcrcon they do live"
"such people as sleep by day and watch
by night and fare we'll and have moth
ing, butchers that sell corrupt vic.
tuals" and many other peculiarly word
ed laws
=. The lord Of the st. Clements manor
did not cherish strangers OH his estate,
for he pcrpotuated one of the laws i'll
stituted by Edward the Confessor, which
forbade any tenant to entertain strali-
ger above two nights unless the tenant
gave bonds for his guests good behavior
There is record calling upon John
Mansell to ''give bond for entertaining
Benjamin Hamon and Cybil, his wife,
inmates, or Immediately remove them"
1t would take chapters to tell of the
many other primitive ways of a lord
dealing with his tenants. The rent of a
farm OH the estate was paid in the
products of the field and among the
records is q dispossession case for the
failure of q certain tenant for three years
in succession to pay annually two bar
rels of corn and three capons, the rent
for the use of the land
Again, wives were not so plentiful in