The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1903-02-28
Johnston's History
Of Cecil County.
CHAPTER XVII CONTINUED.


Besides the merchants and millners
from Baltimore, Philadelphia and other
large cities, who came to Charlestown in
vessels and bought large cargoes of goods,
the fairs were attended by many who
came from distant parts of Chester and
Lancaster counties on horseback to see
the sights and have a frolic, and some
times to settle the feuds and uuarrels
that had existed in the neighborhood
where they lived. Many of the citizens
of the town, as well as many of those
who attended the fair were natives of
the Emerald Isle, who Thought it incum-
bent upon them to sustain the reputa-
ton of an institution that for centuries
had been, and vet is, exceedingly popular
in their native country. The state of So
ciety and the morals of the people were
not ?" good then as they are now, and
the archives of the county show that,
during one of the fairs, the body of a
murdered man was found near where the
road crosses creek east of the town.
He WAS Il peddler and had been ut the
fair, and his body was found by some
persons who stopped to water their
horses at the creek. While they were
drinking, the water became crmsoned by
the blood of the murdered man. They at
once instituted a search for the cause,
and found the murderer, who had taken
refuge in Il tree near which his victim
hay, in the stream. The records of the
trial cannot be found, but the stream is
yet known by the name of Peddler's
Run. Many of those who attended the
fair INDUCED in fiddling and dancing, as
we'll as in frockling and fighting, and
rude and temporary buildings were put
up, which were rented for the former
purpose, and in which the sturdy Irish
man and his sweetheart, upon the pay
memt of a small fee, could enjoy the
pleasure that they had walked barefooted
many weary miles to obtain. For it was
customary for the females who travelled
to the fair on foot to carry their shoes
and stockings in their hands, and when
they arrived at the outskirts of the town
to wash their feet in convenient stream
after which they put on their shoes and
stockings and entered the town.
The spring fair was afterwards held
some time in May, mt the close of the
fishing season, and the fishermen re-
sorted to it to have Il general jollifcation
during which many of them We're in the
habit Of spending the hard earnings Of
many weary weeks of toll. They were
also the resort of the fair sex, who fire.
quentcd them in order to obtain the fineIy
that could be purchased nowhere else
except in the large cities. The fairs were
held on the public square of the town.
which it was customary to rent to the
highest bidder for Il term of years. The
proprietor erected drinking booths and
stalls upon the fair ground, which he
rented to those who wished to occupy
them. These booths were rude Struct-
ureS made of bushes. and would be great
curoStics now. In 1875 the Commits
sioncr@ ordered that the booths should
be ten feet square, and the stalls for sell
ing goods should be seven feet wide and
eight feet long, all to be made of good,
sufficient forks and poles, with plank
seats around each side and back of the
booths, and shelving in the stalls. They
were to he rented for not more than
seven shillings and six pence each for
each fair.
The Legislators of the province had had
so little experience i'll municipal legisla-
ton. and the habits of the citizens of the
new town appear to have been so sloven-
ly, that in 1880 they added another sup
pemrnt to the act of incorporation, in
which they state that. "Whereas. many
per,ous have built and are now building,
in said town. and clear no more ground
than where their house stand. whereby
the rest of their lot becomes thickct,
II it.Irntln for Stn nlSn
venrnt and unwholesome to all the in
hah.tantS,' etc Therefore. they enacted
that the owners or inhabitants of the
town should grub and clear their respect
i've lots from all underwood gruhS and
bushes, under a penalty of thirty Shill-
ingS. 1t was further enacted that any
inhahtant permitting his chimney to
take fire so us to blaze out ut the top,
or who should fail to keep Il ladder long
enough to reach the top of the roof of
his house, should be fined ten shillings.
Another strange enactment, that seems
to Indicate Il want of faith in the success
of the enterprise. enjoined the Commits
aioners to meet upon the site of the town
on the Goth Of May, annually in order
to perpctuate its boundaries.
The records of Charlcstown, which are
yet extant, commence with the year 1855
but they are very incomplete. and afford
hut little information. The rates for
storage in the public warehouse for that
year were as follows For every bushcl
of grain. I'D. for every buShcl of salt,
Id; for every hogshead of cyder, 3D.: for
every hogShcad Of flax seed, I'd; for
every barrel of flax seed, d.; for every
100 pounds Of iron, }s. i'd; for every ton
Of hemp, Is I'd. This year the whar-
finger and storehouse keeper agreed to
pay Els currency for the privilege, which
indicates that the business of the town
must have been quite considerable. The
rates Of wharfage this year were as fol-
lows For every sea vessel of 100 tons
and upwards lying at the wharf per day
3D.; for every sea vessel of less tonnage,
per day, 4d.; all other boats I'd.
At meeting of the Commissioners in
1867, it was ordered that number of
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