The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1933-05-11
PAGE SEVEN


they were agreeable to reason and not
repugnant to the laws of England.
This preliminary hocus-pocus was
followed by much Juggling, back and
forth, and then, on March IL, 1859,
the Lower House declared itself indie
pendent of all power and denied the
right of the upper house composed
solely of representatives of the pro-
prietary) to sit longer as a branch
of the Legislature. To this, Mary
/ lands first declaration of indepen-
dence, Ferndall, of course, assented.
Since he had inspired it, his approval
was fOregone conclusion. Two days
later he Dissolved the upper house,
surrendered his commission from
Lord Baltimore and was elected by
the Legislature Of one house Governor
of the Republic of Maryland.
But Fendall had not built his fen
ces high enough. 1t was easy enough
to seduce the requisite number of
Burgesses, but public opinion was
hostile to his Vaccinations, or indiff-
erent. After a brief effort to estab-
lish the authority so doubtfully ac-
quired, Fendall abandoned the at
tempt and was arrested.
When news of his lieutenant's
perfidy reached Lord Baltimore the
proprietary blazed. He summarily
revoked Fendall's commission and dis
patched to the colony "Declaracon"
(recorded among the archives of
Maryland) in which he denounced
Fendall as 'perfdeous and perjured
fellowe E. whom we lately intrusted
to be our lieutenant of Maryland" and
charged him with making a sinister
use of passage in one of his letters
regarding customs 'to cloke his
treacherous and ambitious designs"
Fendall surrendered abjectly to the
Baltimore government when his house
of cards collapsed. He was tried and
convicted, but after a short imprison-
ment he was discharged from all
penalties imposed by the court except
disfranchisement and disqualification
for public Office This act of humanity
he lived long enough to requite by an
effort, years afterward to foment
another rebellion in the province.
When he was released from prison
he retired to his estate in Charles
county presumably the one which
Lord Baltimore had granted to him in
recognition Of faithful sevice-where
he had wife, daughter, a brother
and several servants. He seems to
have added to his landed possessions
in the county by at least one more or
less obscure transaction, as Charles
Weathers Bump, writing Tin 1909 in
the magazine OF the Maryland His
torical Society, refers to one thou
sand acres belonging to one William
Batten ION the west side of the Wi
comico river" as having been "gobbled
up in some way" by Josias Fendall
Despite his disgrace Fendall seemed
able to convince his neighbors that he
was still fine fellow, for in 1878 the
freemen of Charles county proposed
to elect him delegate to the Assem-
bly, They abandoned the idea only
when they were informed by the then
Governor Charles Calvert) and the
council that, if he were elected, his
seat would be declared vacant. The
next year he was charged with Sc
ditious utterances and warrant is
sued for his arrest, but was not found.
Apparently he had fled to Virginia.
There, almost at once, he became in
fiuential among the followers of Ma
thaniel Bacon, and had dealings with
John Coode, who, a few years later,
was the principal leader in the over
throw Of the proprietary government.
Both Fendall and Coode were arrested
in 1851 and Fendall, tried in Novem-
Der. was found guilty of attempting
to raise mutiny in Charles county.
This time he was fined 10000
pounds of tobacco and was banished
from the province. Again he sought
refuse in Virginia. Two years later
it was in June. 1GS4--it was reported
that he was Oh a London ship in the
Potomac. The arm of authority
reached out once more to sieze him.
but without results. Four years later
he was dead, but when he entered
the shadows or where he is buried,
no one knows.