The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1903-08-15

Constable made a brief address, and
prayer was offered by Rev. Stuart
Robinson and Rev. H. B. Ridgaway.
The ceremonies were concluded with
the address by Mr.. Yellott.
The ground upon which the court
house stands was purchased from the
late DIR. G. M. Bosley, who presented
the county with the right of wav
from the turnpike to the court house.
1t was at first intended by the County
Commissioner to erect the court house
and Jail upon the FIVE acres acquired
from DIR. Bosley for that purpose.
The Messrs. Smedley, who had al
ready purchased from DR.. Bosley fifty
acres around the court house site and
had laid it off into building lots, fear
ed that Jail so near would do their
possessions considerable harm from
commercial point of view, persuaded
the Commissioners to exchange one
-avfc VI the Cvurt nou5c site Iof Two
acres of their property some distance
away, upon which the Jail was erec-
ted and where it now stands.
On Monday, January 5th, 1857,
the first session of the court was held
at the court house, and on the ste
ceeding 18th of May it and the Jail
were declared finished and were for
mally handed over to the County
Commissioners.
The court house is an imposing
edifce built almost entirely of gray
stone taken from tie quarry on the
property now owned by Mr.. Patrick
Reddington, in Lime Kiln Bottom,
with marble trimmings from Beaver
Dam quarries. 1t stands in the
centre of park picturesquely ap-
pointed. Six marble pillars of mas
sive proportions support a triangu-
lar facade, giving to the front YES
tibule appearance. From the top
centre rises tower or dome, and at
the apex are gilded balls and weather
vane, which shine brightly by day
or night, as if to tell by the glimmer
that here justice can be obtained by
all. This tower originally was con-
siderably higher than at present, but
because of its great weight it was
deemed advisable to reduce its height,
which was done several years after
its construction. The walls of the
imposing courtroom, with its galaxy
of rich portieres, candelabra and
forum-like centre, have time and
again rang with the eloquence of sill
ver-tongued orators. In this magic
circle have stood members of the bar
of both city and county, battling be-
fore learned jurists in the interest of
prominent clients in chancery or
crime.
Hardly had the doors of the great
building been thrown open in the be-
ginning before it was the scene of
one of the most prominent criminal
trials in the history of the State.
Cyopps and Corrie. the two men held
man Rigdon of Baltimore during the
Know Nothing period, were brought
here to answer before Judge Price for
the crime they were charged with.
This was in 1858, when the late Rich
ard J. Cuttings was the prosecuting
attorney. Although the men were
brilliantly defended by the late Will
liam P. Preston, the most prominent
criminal lawyer of his time, they were
adjudged guilty and expiated their
deed upon the gallows in the jail-yard
of Baltimore city.
A daring attempt was made at all
early hour on the morning Of August
24th, 1861, to burn the court house.
Smoke was discovered issuing from
the building about 7 O. clock, and from
subsequent developments it was be-
1ieved that the torch of the incendiary
was applied between and S O'Clock
in the morning. One of the outside
doors was discovered to have been
bored in four places near the lock,
but the incendiary, failing apparently
thus to gain an entrance, forced open
the transom, through which he en-
tered the building. Without at
tempting to force any of the doors
leading to the Sheriff S Office, or the
rooms occupied by the Register of
Wills, County Commissioners, Or
phans' Court and the court room, he
took the key from nail near the iron
outer door of the Clerk S Office, where
it was usually kept for the convent
ence of the clerks under George H.
Carman, Clerk of the Circuit Court,
and unlocked it, but finding the inner
and wooden door secured, again used
his auger and by means of a saw cut
out the lock and entered the Record
office. A large number of land rec
ords, dockets, &c., were piled in the
centre of the floor and the torch ap-
piled. In the rear Office, used by the
recording clerks, the fire must have
been communicated to every part of
the shelving containing the various
books and papers appertaining to the
court. This room was a perfect
wreck. The loss to the county could
not be estimated, only few of the
important papers and books being
saved, and they damaged to certain
extent. 1t was evidently the design
of the guilty party to merely destroy
the records in the Clerks Office and
not the building. The little furni-
ture and papers which were not con-
sumed in the Clerk Office were saved
by the citizens of the town, who, by
means of buckets of water, extin-
guished the flames. No other part
of the building was injured.
The County Commissioners offered
a reward of 81, 900 for the apprehen-
sion and conviction Of the person who
fired the building, and appointed
Henry Kone night watchman at the
court house. The grand jury, which
was then in session, went to work in
good earnest to ferret out the guilty
person, but all efforts were fruitless.
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