The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1932-02-25
WHY The POTOMAC RIVER
EM STATE OF MARYLAND
An Interesting Story of Early
Land Grants in America Is
RecOunted
By Prof. J. C. Sanders, Superinten-


dent Keyser (W. Va.) Schools
At the beginning OF the seventeenth
century the kings of England, King
James 1 and King Charles 1, had a
careless habit of borrowing money
from their subjects and forgetting to
pay either the principal or interest.
Since England had just started colo
MES in America, these kings fell on
the happy thought of paying these
debts by giving their creditors lands
in this America. The kings didn't
know where this land was and their
creditors were just adventurous
enough to go and hunt for it.
In the spring of 1906 King James I
granted to the Virginia Company and
the Plymouth Company Of London a
charter to settle land in America ly-
ing between the 34th and 45th paral-
lels of north latitude.
This included all the territory from
the Atlantic Ocean lying between the
middle of Maine and Northern North
Carolina and as far west as anyone
knew anything about. The king made
this provision, however, that these
colonies must keep at least 100 miles
apart.
In about 1880 William Penn began
to press King Charles II for a debt
of 10000 pounds that he had been ow-
ing his father for about half the CEN
fury. True to the habits of his ances-
try, Charles II offered to pay off the
debt by giving to Penn all the land
from the Delaware River 5 degrees
west and lying between the parallels
of 40 and 43 degrees north latitude.
Fifty years previous to this, however,
the kings father had paid a debt to
Lord Baltimore by giving him all the
land from the Plymouth colony to the
South bank of the Potomac River and
running as far west as the meridian
running through the western source
of this river.
The western extremity of Maryland
is marked by the meridian passing
through what is now known as the
Fairfax Stone and the limit being on
the south side of the river, places the
Potomac in Maryland.
Pennsylvania and Maryland, how
ever, quarreled over their boundary
line for over half century and was
not finally settled until 1875 when
Mason and Dixon completed their sur
vey by agreement of the States. At
about this time Maryland mysteri-
ously discovered that the river consid-
cred by Lord Baltimore to be the Po-
tomac was not the real Potomac but
that Charles I had really intended to
give them the land to the south bank
of river about 40 miles southwest of
this one, and the river now known as
the South Branch of the Potomac. The
State of Maryland brought suit in the
United States Supreme Court against
Virginia and claimed all the land ly-
ing between these two rivers which
includes all of Mineral and part of
Grant, Tucker, Hardy and Hampshire
counties. Maryland also found out
that the Fairfax Stone did not mark
the westernmost source of even this
Potomac River and that the source OF
the river had, on account of erosion,
moved west. This state also asked
the court, even if they found this
North Branch to be the true Potomac
River, to give that state that strip of
1 land lying between the meridian of the
Fairfax Stone and the meridian run
ming though the newly discovered
source.
This suit afterwards being trans
ferred to West Virginia as defend
ant, was not decided till within the
memory of the present generation in
which decision medium water mark
on the south bank of the North Branch
of the Potomac and the meridian pass
ing through Fairfax Stone was made
the boundary between Maryland and
West Virginia.