MARYLAND, mĕr′ĭ-land. One of the thirteen original States of the American Union. It occupies a middle position on the Atlantic Coast between Pennsylvania and Virginia, being included between the parallels of 37° 53′ and 39° 43′ 26″ north latitude and 75° 4′ and 79° 33′ west longitude. It is bounded on the north by Pennsylvania, the boundary being Mason and Dixon's line, and by Delaware; on the east by Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean; on the south and west by Virginia. It is separated from the last-named States by the Potomac River, which is the boundary from its source in a small mountain stream, to its mouth in a broad estuary entering the Chesapeake Bay. The outline of the State is extremely irregular, as the southern boundary is mainly a winding river and the western part of the State is a long fragment lying between this river and Mason and Dixon's line, while, in addition to this, Chesapeake Bay divides the region into two parts. The extreme length of the northern boundary is 215 miles, with a further extension of 35 miles where the State stretches eastward south of the Delaware to the ocean. The extreme breadth from north to south, near the eastern shore of the Chesapeake, is 128 miles. The total area is 12,210 square miles of which 2350 square miles are water.

Topography. The surface of Maryland shows great diversity. It is usually divided, for purposes of classification, into three regions: the coastal plain, the Piedmont plateau, and the Appalachian region. All are drained by the rivers flowing into the Chesapeake, excepting the northwest corner, which drains toward the Ohio, a narrow strip draining directly into the Atlantic, and a fragment at the extreme northeast, draining into Christian Creek and the Delaware.

The coastal plain embraces that part of Maryland lying to the east of a line passing from Washington to Baltimore, Havre de Grace, and Wilmington. It includes more than half the land area of the State, and is divided by Chesapeake Bay into what is commonly called the ‘eastern shore’ and the ‘western shore’ or Southern Maryland. The ‘eastern shore’ is low and level; only in the north does it reach 100 feet, and most of it is less than 25 feet above the sea. The ‘western shore’ is higher, and rises to 300 feet near the District of Columbia and again near Baltimore. Chesapeake Bay has many islands, and the entire Atlantic Coast is made up of a long, reef-like, sandy island, inclosing the Chincoteague and Assateague bays. The eastern shore is drained by the Pocomoke, Nanticoke, Choptank, and Chester rivers, and by some insignificant streams. The western shore is drained in the most part by the Potomac, the Patuxent, the Patapsco, and the Gunpowder.

The most conspicuous feature of the Atlantic Plain of Maryland is Chesapeake Bay, which has about two-thirds of its 200 miles of length within the State. It is from 10 to 40 miles wide and its numerous estuaries cut the plain in every direction and reach to the eastern edge of the Piedmont Plateau. The bay is navigable for the largest ships, and its numerous arms furnish a large number of fine harbors. The large area of sheltered, shallow, inland water gives an excellent fishing ground and an opportunity for oyster gathering and oyster culture scarcely equaled elsewhere in the world.

The Piedmont Plateau extends from the edge of the Atlantic Plain to the Catoctin Mountain, the first range of the Appalachian system. This region is about 65 miles wide at the north and 40 miles wide at the south. Most of the surface is broken and hilly, ascending with complicated drainage systems to Parr's Ridge in Carroll County. Between Parr's Ridge and the Catoctin Mountain is the comparatively level Frederick Valley, drained by the Monocacy River, flowing southward into the Potomac. Near the mouth of the Monocacy, the Sugar Loaf Mountain (1250 feet) rises abruptly from the plain. From the Catoctin Mountain to the western boundary of the State, the Appalachian region spreads a succession of valleys, separated by nearly parallel northeast and southwest mountain ranges, and all draining into the Potomac. The Blue Ridge, 2400 feet high at Quirauk, near the Pennsylvania line, crosses the State to Weverton on the Potomac, and is the eastern limit of the Great or Hagerstown Valley. This valley is bounded on the west by the North Mountain, between which and Cumberland is the Alleghany Ridge, a complex chain of long, narrow, very level mountain ridges, separated by narrow valleys, beginning at an elevation of about 500 feet at the Potomac. Just west of Cumberland rises Dan's Mountain (2882 feet). To the west of it is the Alleghany Plateau, giving the elevation of 2000 feet or more to all of Maryland to the west, except the immediate valleys of the Potomac, Savage, and Youghiogheny rivers. Much of the plateau is above 2500 feet, and the highest mountains, the Savage and its extension, the Backbone Mountain, exceed 3000 feet in elevation.


COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY DODD, MEAD & COMPANY.


AREA AND POPULATION OF MARYLAND BY COUNTIES.



County Map
 Index. 
 County Seat.   Area in 
square
miles.
Population.

1890. 1900.






 
Allegany B 2  Cumberland 442 41,571 53,694
Anne Arundel L 4  Annapolis 425 34,094 40,018
Baltimore L 3  Towson 656 72,909 90,755
Baltimore City  L 4  Baltimore City  30  434,439    508,957  
Calvert L 6  Prince Fredericktown  222  9,860 10,223
 
Caroline O 5  Denton 320 13,903 16,248
Carroll J 2  Westminster 437 32,376 33,860
Cecil N 2  Elkton 360 25,851 24,662
Charles J 7  Laplata 451 15,191 18,316
Dorchester N 6  Cambridge 608 24,843 27,962
 
Frederick H 3  Frederick 662 49,512 51,920
Garrett A 2  Oakland 660 14,213 17,701
Harford M 2  Belair 388 28,993 28,269
Howard J 3  Ellicott City 240 16,269 16,715
Kent O 4  Chestertown 281 17,471 18,786
 
Montgomery H 4  Rockville 490 27,185 30,451
 Prince George  R 5  Upper Marlboro 482 26,080 29,898
Queen Anne O 4  Centerville 376 18,461 18,364
St. Mary R 7  Leonardtown 372 15,819 18,136
Somerset O 8  Princess Anne 362 24,155 25,923
 
Talbot N 5  Easton 286 19,736 20,342
Washington F 2  Hagerstown 458 39,782 45,133
Wicomico P 7  Salisbury 365 19,930 22,852
Worcester Q 8  Snowhill 487 19,747 20,865
 


For Flora and Fauna, see those topics under United States.

Climate and Soil. The climate of Maryland is one of transition in which the northern frozen winter gives way to the open southern winter. The extreme temperatures of more northern locations are occasionally met with, but the periods of cold are of less duration and the number of freezing days and the amount of snowfall are less. An extreme winter temperature of 26° below zero has been recorded at Sunnyside in the Alleghany Plateau and a summer temperature of 109° F. near Cumberland. Changes of temperature are frequent, and there is a great daily range. In north central Maryland the average temperature for January is 30°; that for July 75°. The average annual temperature for the State is between 53° and 54°. The average dates for first and last killing frosts in the plateau are October 1st and April 15th; on the Marine Islands the growing season is a month longer, extending from April 1st to October 15th.

The average rainfall for the State is 43 inches, of which 11.5 to 12 fall in spring and in summer and 9.5 to 10 in the fall and in winter. The effects of elevation and slope are clearly shown in the distribution of the rainfall. The western slope of the Alleghany Plateau receives 53 inches; the eastern slope of Parr's Ridge over 45; the inclosed valleys between Cumberland and Hagerstown and small sections at the extreme east and southwest of the State receive between 30 and 35. The Atlantic Plain in the main receives from 42 to 48 inches. The snowfall averages 25.4 inches for the State, 16.6 for the southern and 43.4 for the western districts. The number of days of precipitation on the coast is 130, in the mountains 140. The relative humidity varies from 80 in the sea islands to 65 at the extreme west. The climate is everywhere suitable to tree growth; hard woods, especially oak and hickory, predominate. The warm moist climate and light soil of the eastern shore cause that district to be the home of many southern plants not found elsewhere in the same latitude.

Maryland has a variety of soils corresponding with the geological formations. The more recent formations of the Atlantic Plain have light, sandy and loamy soils, unsuited to grass, but especially adapted to vegetables, truck-farming, small fruits, and peaches. The region of metamorphic rocks and the limestone and shale valleys of the west are of heavier, often clay, soils, usually very fertile and adapted to wheat, maize, grass, and clover. On the western slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Cambrian (Harper's) shale, crossing the State from Harper's Ferry northeastward, produces a strip of sandy, shaly soil with exceptional adaptation to peaches, which are here a highly specialized crop. Similar shaly soils are on the flanks of all the ranges, and the valley floors are usually limestone.

Geology. Maryland presents a great variety of geologic formations, owing to the fact that the various outcrops which run in broad bands parallel with the Atlantic coast are here so narrow that the whole series is encompassed by the State, from the coastal plain formation to the western coal fields, while farther south they widen out so that even the State of North Carolina does not include them all. The entire portion of the State east of Chesapeake Bay and a strip from 5 to 20 miles wide along its western shore are covered with the recent unindurated coastal plain formation, consisting of Tertiary sands and clays east of the bay, and chiefly Cretaceous, with some Eocene deposits, on the western shore. West of this follows the Archæan belt of the Piedmont Plain. It is here about 50 miles broad, occupying the whole central part of the State, but in early Mesozoic time this Archæan land was divided into two parts by a narrow arm of the sea running southwestward from the present mouth of the Hudson, and whose bed is now filled with a deep layer of Triassic red sandstone occupying the Frederick Valley. The narrow western part of the State is traversed by the various outcrops brought to the surface by the Appalachian upheaval and subsequent denudation. They are chiefly Devonian and Silurian strata, more or less tilted and covered in the extreme west by the carboniferous formation. In addition to these there are intrusions of eruptive rocks running in a chain of dikes east of the Blue Ridge. During the Eocene and Pleistocene periods the eastern part of the State was subjected to repeated changes of level, whose net result was the formation of a system of river valleys and their partial submergence into Chesapeake Bay and its branching estuaries.

Mineral Resources. The most valuable mineral resource of Maryland is coal, which is the best quality of bituminous and occurs in three areas known respectively as the Cumberland, Georgia Creek, and Frostburg ‘basins.’ One bed, the ‘Big Vein,’ is 14 feet thick, with others of less value below it. The area of the fields is more than 500 square miles. The output in 1901 was 5,113,127 tons, valued at $5,046,491, giving Maryland the twelfth rank among the States. Useful minerals are most numerous in the crystalline rocks of the Piedmont region. Here are many fine building stones, and there are found also, but mostly in unprofitable quantities, ores of copper, gold, chrome, lead, zinc, and iron, besides flint, feldspar, kaolin, and mica. The absence of large cities has limited the quarry industry to the region near the head of Chesapeake Bay. Of building stone for commercial use the State's output was $1,174,181 in 1901. Fine granite quarried near Port Deposit and Baltimore and marble from the vicinity of Baltimore have been used for the Government buildings at Washington and for important structures in New York and Philadelphia. Valuable clays are widely distributed, Baltimore County alone possessing clays suitable for building-brick, firebrick, pottery, stoneware, terra-cotta, sewer pipe, and paint. Natural cement is an important article of manufacture. The clay output is small, but the value of clay products is high, owing to the pottery and other clay manufactures of Baltimore, and the firebricks of the coal region, which are reported to be the best in the country. Potable waters of excellent quality abound; springs are numerous, and there are some mineral springs of local repute.

Fisheries. In 1897 Maryland ranked second only to Massachusetts in the value of its fisheries product. However, the industry has declined greatly since 1891, the value of the catch in 1897 amounting to $3,617,306, as compared with $6,460,759 in 1891. More persons are engaged in the industry than in previous years or in any other State, the number in 1807 being 42,812. The oyster catch amounts to about 80 per cent. of the entire product and exceeds that of any other State. The rivers flowing into Chesapeake Bay contribute largely to the fisheries products, particularly shad. The other more important varieties taken are crabs, alewives, striped bass, and white perch.

Agriculture. There is 81.9 per cent. of the land area of the State included in farms, and of this 68 per cent. is improved. The acreage of farm land increased 11.6 per cent. during the last half of the century, and there was a still greater increase in area of improved land. During the same period the number of farms more than doubled, while the average size decreased nearly one-half—the average in 1900 being 112.4 acres. The farms operated by owners amount to 66.4 per cent. of the total number. The proportion of rented farms is increasing, particularly the farms rented on the share method, which amounted to 24.8 per cent. of all farms in 1900. Only 12.7 per cent. of the farms are operated by colored farmers, while the proportion of renters among these is much larger than among the whites, and the average size of the farms is much smaller among the former than among the latter.

The area devoted to cereals in 1900 was considerably larger than it was in 1890, but almost the same as in 1880. Corn and wheat have almost equal areas devoted to them. In both cases there was an increase during the decade 1890-1900. As compared with 1850 the product of wheat more than doubled in amount, while the increase of corn was only a little less pronounced. Frederick County, in the Piedmont region, is the largest producer of these cereals. The area devoted to oats decreased more than one-half during the census decade 1890-1900. Other cereals raised in small amounts are oats, buckwheat, and barley. Hay and forage crops rank next to corn and wheat, both in the area devoted to them and the value of the product. A much smaller acreage is devoted to tobacco, but its large per acre value makes it one of the important crops of the State.

The lighter soils throughout the eastern part of the State are largely devoted to the raising of vegetables and fruits. In 1900 the value of the vegetable products, including potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions, amounted to 15.2 per cent. of the gross farm income. Maryland canned a larger amount of tomatoes and sweet corn than any other State. There were 43,612 acres devoted to tomatoes, and 16,575 to sweet corn. The region south and east of Baltimore is noted for its peach orchards. In 1900 the peach trees numbered over 4,000,000 and constituted 60 per cent. of all fruit trees, although there was a large decrease as compared with the number at the beginning of the decade. There was a large increase during that decade in all other varieties of fruit trees. In the same year 17,516 acres were devoted to small fruits, of which about four-fifths were strawberries. Floriculture is extensively developed in the vicinity of Baltimore. Gardening and fruit-raising have given rise to the extensive use of fertilizers. The increasing demands of the growing centres of population have given rise to a large dairy industry, and the number of dairy cows increased from 86,856 in 1850 to 147,284 in 1900. The greater intensiveness of cultivation and increased use of machinery have necessitated more work horses, and the number of these has nearly doubled in the period mentioned. The following comparative tables give the more important crops and the number of domestic animals for the census years 1890 and 1900 (figures for crops given in acres):


CROPS 1900 1890



Corn  658,010   586,817 
Wheat  634,446  510,727
Oats   41,625   99,195
Hay and forage   374,818  372,626
Tobacco   42,911   20,274
Potatoes (Irish)    26,472   24,987


 DOMESTIC ANIMALS  1900 1890



Dairy cows  147,284  142,198
Other neat cattle   145,362  124,991
Horses  148,994  130,395
Mules and asses    17,580   14,161
Sheep  111,520  132,329
Swine  317,902   312,020 

Manufactures. Manufacturing is of much importance, and has played an important part from the first settlement of the State. In 1850 6.2 per cent. of the population were engaged as wage-earners in that industry. In 1900 the per cent. of the population thus engaged was 9.1, a little less than the figure for 1890, though the actual number employed in the former year (108,300) was greater. The value of products increased during that decade 41.3 per cent., reaching $242,752,000 in 1900. The urban manufactures of the State are confined mainly to the city of Baltimore, the prominence of the manufacturing industry in the State being due largely to the commercial advantages of that city. The largest and most important group of manufactures draws extensively from the agricultural products of the State. The canning and preserving of fruits and vegetables, though of recent development, has become the most important in the State; the increase during the decade 1890-1900 was 66.7 per cent. California alone exceeds Maryland in this industry. The tobacco manufactures are also increasing, the growth, however, being confined to the manufacture of chewing and smoking tobaccos and snuff. The canning of oysters gives employment to many hands. The other industries belonging to this group import their raw materials largely from outside States. Of these the slaughtering and meat-packing industry made the largest gains during the last census decade. The flour and grist milling industry and the manufacture of textiles are long established industries. Baltimore is the largest producer of cotton duck in the United States.

Another group of industries is of note—iron manufactures. The iron ore was at first secured from the State mines, but when the Lake Superior region was developed the grade of ore was so much higher than the Maryland product that it rendered the latter unprofitable and greatly reduced the extent of the dependent industries. More recently ore has been imported from Cuba, and the industry has revived. Fuel is secured from the mines of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. During the decade 1890-1900 the value of the iron and steel product increased 204.6 per cent. There are now extensive shipments of steel rails to foreign markets. The revival of the industry is reflected in foundry and machine shop industries, whose products increased 113 per cent. during the same period. The same is true of shipbuilding. During the colonial period and the first half of the nineteenth century this industry was very prominent. The ‘Baltimore clippers’ were world famous and were instrumental in greatly extending the State's commerce. When iron and steel were substituted for wood in shipbuilding, the industry declined. Since the recent revival vessels have been constructed for the United States Navy. A less important group of manufactures derives its raw materials from the forest resources of the State and adjoining regions. Almost all the merchantable timber has been cut away in the region east of the Blue Ridge, and the pine and much of the hard wood have been cut from the western part of the State. The entire wooded area is estimated at 44 per cent. of the land area.

The most significant gain during the decade 1890-1900 was in the production of paper and wood pulp. A large increase was also made in the value of the lumber and timber products, planing mill products, and furniture. The extensive cultivation of fruits and vegetables has made a demand for fertilizers and the manufacture of this product is one of the principal industries. The following table on following page covers the fourteen leading industries for the years 1890 and 1900.



INDUSTRIES  Year  Number of
 establishments 
Average
number
 wage-earners 
Value of products,
including custom
 work and repairing 





  Total for selected industries for State 
 1900 1,877  37,241  $86,343,509 
 1890 1,470  36,110  57,685,323 








Increase, 1890 to 1900
Per cent. of increase
...... 407  1,131  $28,658,186 
...... 27.7   3.1 49.7
 
Per cent. of total of all industries in State 
 1900 19.0  34.4 35.6
 1890 19.6  36.9 33.6
 
Fruits and vegetables,
 canning and preserving
 1900 271  7,505  $11,996,245 
 1890 197  13,048  7,196,109 
Tobacco
 1900 387  4,311  9,896,928 
 1890 391  3,026  6,074,591 
Slaughtering
 1900 82  597  8,046,359 
 1890 17  389  4,670,690 
Flouring and grist-mill products
 1900 407  541  8,035,343 
 1890 335  625  6,904,888 
Textiles: Total
 1900 22  6,286  7,155,722 
 1890 32  4,921  6,218,131 
 Cotton goods
 1900 14  4,727  5,423,251 
 1890 15  4,256  5,457,792 
 Hosiery and knit goods
 1900 682  514,093 
 1890 289  180,823 
 Woolen goods
 1900 877  1,218,378 
 1890 376  579,516 
Iron and steel
 1900 2,138  8,739,405 
 1890 10  1,247  2,869,208 
Foundry and machine shop products
 1900 113  4,695  8,443,547 
 1890 81  3,352  4,925,672 
Shipbuilding: Total
 1900 47  2,615  4,161,525 
 1890 34  1,043  1,737,674 
 Ship and boat building, wooden
 1900 43  676  862,034 
 1890[1]      
 Shipbuilding, iron and steel
 1900 1,939  3,299,491 
 1890[1]      
Lumber and timber products
 1900 367  1,964  2,650,082 
 1890 217  1,552  1,600,472 
Lumber, planing mill products,
 including sash, doors, and blinds
 1900 53  1,323  3,753,083 
 1890 45  1,174  3,332,563 
Paper and wood pulp
 1900 21  937  2,589,540 
 1890 17  472  1,001,945 
Furniture, factory product
 1900 42  1,869  2,976,494 
 1890 33  1,376  2,110,955 
Oysters, canning and preserving
 1900 16  1,444  2,417,331 
 1890 2,834  2,834,400 
Fertilizers
 1900 40  1,016  5,481,905 
 1890 53  1,051  6,208,025 


Transportation and Commerce. Maryland is well supplied with transportation facilities, both natural and artificial. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the first lines operated in the United States. Other important lines are the Northern Central, the Queen Anne's, the Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic, the Western Maryland, the Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Annapolis and Baltimore Short Line, the Annapolis, Washington and Baltimore, and the West Virginia Central, The total mileage in operation in 1900 was 1339 miles. The Delaware and Chesapeake Canal connects the head of Chesapeake Bay with the Delaware River. Chesapeake Bay gives excellent facilities for water transportation, and the Potomac River is navigable to Washington. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, once a great highway of commerce, still carries some coal. Baltimore is the chief commercial centre.

Banking. The first bank in the State was the Bank of Maryland, chartered in 1790. In the early thirties there were half a dozen banks in Baltimore which suffered with all the other banks of the country from the money panic of 1837. Six or seven banks failed, among them the Bank of Maryland, seriously affecting the commercial interests of the State. In 1850 there were 27 banks, with a capital of $9,310,407. In 1902 there were 82 national banks, with capital of $16,835,000; surplus of $8,524,000; cash, $6,160,000; loans, $63,801,000; and deposits of $53,641,000. There were also 31 State banks with capital of $1,739,185, surplus $577,000, cash on hand $465,897. loans $6,279,112, and deposits $8,378,861; and 21 savings banks, with 186,293 depositors and deposits to the amount of $64,367,767. There are also a number of trust and deposit companies.

Finances. The State of Maryland led in the movement for internal improvements beginning in the early twenties, and the first public debt of the State was created in order to acquire 5000 shares of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. In 1836 an issue of bonds to the amount of $8,000,000 was authorized to be invested in various improvements, mainly canals and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; and by 1839 the public debt amounted to more than $16,000,000. A financial collapse resulted when in 1840 the State stopped payments of interest. Very heavy taxes were imposed in 1841, which it was almost impossible to collect; and a repudiation of the State debts was threatened. Finally in 1844 the arrears of interest were funded, and on January 1, 1848, payment of interest on the State debt was resumed. During the Civil War a considerable debt was incurred for defense, bounties, etc., but it has been paid off, and the debt now consists almost entirely of bonds sold to defray the cost of new public buildings.

The debt in September, 1902, amounted to $6,909,326, of which $4,112,057 was secured by interest-paying bonds and cash with sinking fund, leaving a net debt of $2,797,267. The receipts for the year 1901-02 were $3,631,259 (including a loan of $400,000), mainly from licenses, taxes, and taxes on corporations. The disbursements were $3,416,376, of which 25 per cent. was for school purposes.

Population. The population of the State increased from 319,728 in 1790 to 583,034 in 1850; from 780,804 in 1870 to 1,042,390 in 1890; and to 1,188,044 in 1900. The rank of the State has decreased during every census period, being in 1700, 15 in 1850, and 26 in 1900. The foreign born population in 1900 was only 93,934, nearly half of whom were Germans. The negro population for the same year was 235,064. The increase in the white population during the decade ending in 1900 was 15.2 per cent., as against an increase of 9 per cent. for the negro population. The density per square mile in 1900, 120.5, was greater than for any other State not included in the North Atlantic division of States. In 1900 there were five places having a population exceeding 8000, aggregating 46.9 per cent. of the total population. These cities were Baltimore, 508,957; Cumberland, 17,128; Hagerstown, 13,591; Frederick, 9296; and Annapolis, 8525. The State has six representatives in the Lower House of the National Congress.

Religion. The Roman Catholic and the Methodist churches far surpass all others in number of Church communicants. Of the other denominations the strongest are the Protestant Episcopal, Lutheran, Baptist, and Presbyterian.

Education. The per cent. of illiteracy for the native whites (4.1) is the lowest, and for the negroes (35.1) next to the lowest of any State which has a large negro population. The Governor, the principal of the State Normal School, the State Superintendent (an office established in 1900), and four persons appointed by the Governor constitute the State Board of Education. The Governor and Senate appoint a board of school commissioners in each county, who serve six years. These commissioners appoint for each district a board of school trustees of three persons. In 1899-1900 the average length of the school year for the State was 188 days, which was exceeded in only two other States. The State law requires that the term continue ten months when possible. In 1900 the number of children between five and eighteen years of age was 345,350, of whom 229,332 were enrolled in the public schools, and 132,685 were in average attendance. The total number of colored pupils was 45,495, of whom 22,577 were in average attendance. In 1900 there were 1074 male and 3965 female teachers, 828 of the total number of teachers being colored. The average yearly salary in the counties is less than $300, but in Baltimore city it is nearly double that sum. A law of 1902 introduced the pension system for such teachers as have reached the age of sixty, and have devoted twenty-five years to the service of the State schools. Professional training is given to teachers at the State Normal Schools at Baltimore and Frostburg, and at Washington College.

Johns Hopkins University (q.v.) at Baltimore, opened in 1876, is distinguished for the high rank of its graduate and medical schools. There are five other regular medical schools and a homœopathic one in the city, three law schools, three dental schools, two theological schools, and one of pharmacy. An excellent Woman's College, under the patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was opened in Baltimore in 1886. Saint John's College (chartered 1784) at Annapolis is a non-sectarian institution taking the place of King William's School (founded in 1696). Washington College at Chestertown (chartered 1782) is the oldest institution of collegiate character in the State. Western Maryland College at Westminster (founded 1867) is an important institution under care of the Methodist Protestant Church. The Agricultural College is in Prince George County. Prominent among Roman Catholic institutions are Saint Mary's Theological Seminary, in Baltimore (founded 1791), Mount Saint Mary's College, and the Jesuit Woodstock College. The Jacob Tome Institute, one of the most richly endowed secondary schools in the world, is at Port Deposit.

Charitable and Penal Institutions. According to a law of 1900, there is a Board of State Aid and Charities, appointed by the Governor and Senate. This board receives all applications for State aid and recommends to the Legislature that certain grants should be made, and in what amounts. In 1901 about 95 institutions and organizations applied for aid, 64 of which were favorably recommended by the board. These included 23 hospitals, of which the State Insane Asylums at Sykesville and at Spring Grove received the largest contributions; 7 reformatories, 3 of which were semi-State institutions, located at or near Baltimore, viz.: House of Refuge, for boys; Saint Mary's Industrial School, for boys; and the Female House of Refuge; 6 orphan asylums and 12 ‘homes’ for the friendless, infants, etc., including the Maryland Line Confederate Soldiers' Home near Pikesville, the buildings of which are owned by the State; and a number of schools, including the State asylums, the training school for feeble-minded children near Owings Mills, the State School for the Deaf and Dumb at Frederick, and the semi-State institutions at Baltimore, namely, School for the Blind, and School for Colored Blind and Deaf. The two last-named institutions do not receive aid from Baltimore, but most of the State-aided institutions are endowed and receive local aid also. The endowed Johns Hopkins Hospital at Baltimore is probably the most widely known institution of the kind in the United States. The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital for Mental and Nervous Diseases, located near Baltimore, is also worthy of note. The State penitentiary is in Baltimore. The convicts are generally employed under contract, the majority of them being engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes. Prisoners confined in jails do not, as a rule, have employment. About half the prison population are negroes.

Government. The present Constitution was adopted in September, 1867. Amendments must be proposed by three-fifths of each House of the Legislature and ratified by a majority vote of the people. Once in every twenty years the people must vote on the question of holding a convention to revise the Constitution. Voters must have resided in the State one year, and in the legislative districts of Baltimore city or in the county six months. The capital is Annapolis (q.v.).

Legislative. The Legislature, which meets on the first Wednesday of January of the even years, consists of a Senate and House of Delegates. The Senators, 27 in number, one from each county, and one from each of the four legislative districts of Baltimore, are elected for four years, one-half retiring biennially. The Delegates, 101 in number, are elected for two years by counties, the number of members being determined by the census. Members of the Legislature are paid $5 per day during the sessions, besides mileage. No minister or preacher of the Gospel or of any religious creed or denomination is eligible to the Legislature. Regular sessions are limited to ninety days, special sessions to thirty days. A majority vote of all the members elected to each House is required to pass any bill. The power of impeachment rests with the House, the trial of impeachment with the Senate.

Executive. The Governor is elected for four years, has a salary of $4500 per annum, and appoints all State officers with the consent of the Senate. In case of the vacancy of the Governorship the Legislature elects a man to that position, or if the Legislature be not in session the president of the Senate and Speaker of the House are respectively in the line of succession to that position. The Governor has a veto over any bill or any item of an appropriation bill, but this veto is overcome by a three-fifths vote of the members elected to each House.

Judiciary. The Court of Appeals, composed of the chief judges of the first seven circuits and a judge specially elected in Baltimore, has appellate jurisdiction only. The State is divided into eight judicial circuits, the city of Baltimore constituting the eighth. In each circuit, except the eighth, a chief judge and two associate judges are elected; and in each county a Circuit Court is held, having original jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, and appellate jurisdiction of the judgments of justices of the peace. In Baltimore city there are nine judges, who assign themselves to the several courts, usually sitting separately. All the above judges are elected by the people for a term of fifteen years. The orphans' courts with probate jurisdiction are composed of three men in each county, elected for a term of four years. The Governor and Senate appoint justices of the peace, and the county commissioners appoint constables for a term of two years. Each county elects a clerk for the Circuit Court, and a Register of Wills, and the State elects a clerk for the Court of Appeals.

Local Government. The General Assembly may organize new counties or alter the boundaries of old ones, but not without a majority consent of the parts concerned. County commissioners are elected as prescribed by law; the term, however, cannot exceed six years. A sheriff and a surveyor are also elected for each county. Coroners, elisors, and notaries public are appointed for each county.

Other Constitutional or Statutory Provisions. General elections are held biennially, on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The legal rate of interest is per cent. A married woman may acquire, hold, and manage property independently of her husband, and dispose of the same as if single. Her husband must join her, however, in the execution of any deed. Debtors are protected in the possession of property to the value of $500.

History. In 1632 Cecilius Calvert, second Lord Baltimore, received from Charles I. a charter conferring on him the possession of the territory now forming the States of Maryland and Delaware. The grant had been obtained by George Calvert, first Lord Baltimore, the father of Cecil, but he died before the charter was issued. It was the intention of the lord proprietor to found a feudal State in Maryland (named in honor of Charles's Queen, Henrietta Maria), and to that end he was invested with sovereign powers, subject only to the recognition of the King as lord paramount by the payment of a yearly tribute of two Indian arrows. One of the chief causes that led to the settlement of Maryland was the desire of Lord Baltimore, a Catholic, to found a colony where his fellow-believers might profess their religion openly without incurring the penalties to which they were subjected in England. Other denominations, however, in the proprietor's scheme, were to be on an equal footing with the Catholics, and of the twenty gentlemen and two or three hundred commoners who arrived at Point Comfort, Va., in February, 1634, under the leadership of Leonard Calvert, it is probable that more than half were Protestants. On the 25th of March mass was celebrated on Saint Clement's Island in the Potomac, and shortly after the site of the city of Saint Mary's was traced on land bought from the Yaocomico Indians, near the banks of the river.

In his use of the vast powers granted him by the King, Baltimore was as moderate as in the expression of his religious views, and he made no attempt to establish anything like an absolute government. By the terms of the charter, laws for the province could be made by the Proprietor only, with the consent of the freemen or their deputies, and on January 26, 1635, the first assembly of freemen met at Saint Mary's. The right of initiating laws, claimed both by the Assembly and by the Proprietor, was conceded in 1638 to the people, Baltimore reserving to himself the mere veto power. The first ‘statutes of the province’ were passed in 1638 and 1639. With the Indians friendly relations were established. The worst enemy of Lord Baltimore's colony was William Claiborne (q.v.), a Virginian, who had established a trading post on Kent Island in Chesapeake Bay in 1631. He refused to recognize the authority of Lord Baltimore, and in 1638 his settlement was captured by Leonard Calvert during Claiborne's absence in England. In 1643 a company of Puritans, excluded from Virginia for nonconformity, settled at Providence, now Annapolis, and put themselves in opposition to the Government. The outbreak of the Civil War in England enabled Baltimore's enemies to carry their opposition to a great length. In 1645 Captain Richard Ingle, acting ostensibly in the name of Parliament, seized Saint Mary's. Claiborne also returned from England, regained possession of Kent Island, and the Governor attempted in vain to dispossess him. For nearly two years Ingle held the province under his sway until Governor Leonard Calvert returned from Virginia with a military force and recovered possession. As early as 1638 the molestation of Protestants had been punished. In 1649 an act was passed at the desire of the Proprietor guaranteeing freedom of worship to all followers of Jesus Christ. The Puritans continuing to be turbulent, their settlement by way of conciliation was in 1650 erected into a separate county, named Anne Arundel, and as other Puritans arrived from England, Charles County was shortly afterwards organized for their benefit. Their numbers increased to such an extent that they soon had a majority in the Assembly. In 1652 commissioners from England visited Maryland, among whom were Claiborne and Bennett, the Puritan leader of Anne Arundel County. The authority of the English Commonwealth was completely established in the colony, and Kent Island was given up to Claiborne. A commission for the government of the colony was organized with Captain William Fuller at its head. The Puritans made use of their ascendency to repeal the Toleration Act of 1649 and to enact penal laws against the Catholics. A severe conflict ensued. Providence was attacked March 25, 1655, by the proprietary party; but the assault was repulsed, the whole invading force being either killed or taken prisoners. In 1654 Lord Baltimore made a vain attempt to regain possession of the province, but succeeded only in defeating a scheme for uniting Maryland to Virginia. Three years later his title was recognized by the Protector and in 1658 the proprietary government was restored. The period before the Revolution of 1688 was marked by an important treaty with the Susquehanna Indians (1661) and some difficulties with William Penn concerning the boundary line between the two provinces in the Delaware country. Upon the deposition of James II., the incompetency of the Governor, the failure to proclaim the new monarchs, and preposterous rumors of a Popish plot stirred up the people and an Association of the Protestant Freemen headed by Captain John Coode seized the province in the name of William and Mary. The Legislature laid before the King a list of complaints against the government of Lord Baltimore, and in August, 1691, the Proprietor was deprived of his political privileges, though his property rights were left intact. In 1715, however, the province was restored to the fifth Lord Baltimore, a Protestant. At the beginning of the eighteenth century tobacco was the staple product. Commerce and manufactures were greatly restricted by the Navigation Acts. There were very few towns, Baltimore being founded as late as 1729, Frederick in 1745, and Georgetown in 1751. Prosperity was widely diffused, and the standard of living, owing to the abundance of game and fish, high. All sects were tolerated, except the Catholics, who were denied the suffrage and forbidden to worship in public. The Anglican Church was established in 1692. Four years later a free high school was opened at Annapolis. The question of the northern boundary, which after 1730 threatened to bring on war with Pennsylvania, was settled by the drawing of the famous Mason and Dixon's line (1763-67).

Maryland took an active part in the wars resulting in the extinction of the French domination upon this continent, and in the last and most important of these its western border suffered severely from Indian attacks owing to the obstinacy of the Legislature in refusing to vote means for defense. The colony was also among the first to oppose the aggressions of the British Government, which led to the War of the Revolution. The Stamp Act was received with great indignation and the imposition of duties on tea was responded to by the burning of a tea ship (1774). In the same year a popular convention began to direct the revolutionary movement. It gradually assumed charge of the government. A bill of rights and a constitution were adopted in November, 1776, and the Legislature assembled at Annapolis, February 5, 1777. Maryland took a most efficient and honorable part in the Revolutionary War, though it did not join the Confederation till 1781, owing to her claim that the western lands should belong to the Union. In 1783 Congress met at Annapolis, and here, on December 23d after the conclusion of peace, Washington resigned his commission as general-in-chief. The Federal Constitution was adopted in the Maryland convention April 28, 1788, by a vote of 63 to 11. Maryland suffered considerably in the War of 1812. (See United States.) The beginning of the war was marked by a fierce riot against a Federalist newspaper of Baltimore, in which a number of people were killed. Havre de Grace and other villages were burned by the English fleet in 1813, Baltimore was unsuccessfully attacked by a British army, and Fort McHenry was bombarded in September, 1814. An elaborate system of internal improvements was initiated in 1828, when the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad were begun. In 1844 the first line of electric telegraph in the United States was run from Baltimore to Washington. The position of Maryland in the Civil War was peculiar. As a slave-holding State her sympathies were naturally to a great extent with the South; but her proximity to Pennsylvania made her truly a Border State. Many of her people favored secession, a large number entered the Confederate Army, and in the first days of the war the passage of Union troops through Baltimore was opposed, several Massachusetts soldiers being killed on April 19, 1861; but the strength of the Union party, added to the efforts of the Governor, served to keep the State from seceding. Later, bitter feelings were aroused by the policy of the General Government in establishing military rule and suspending the habeas corpus in a large part of the State. The adherence of Maryland to the Union was extremely important in that it saved Washington from falling into the power of the Confederates.

Railroad development was facilitated by a system of State and county aid. For many years the claims of the State against the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad for the recovery of the subsidy granted the company in 1836 were fought in the courts without definite result. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was constructed as far as Cumberland and was profitable for some years, but diversion of traffic and danger from storms made it bankrupt. In 1865 the educational system, antiquated and inefficient, was reformed. The present system of county boards was begun in 1868. The prevalence of corruption in city elections led to a revision of the election laws in 1889, and the adoption of the Australian ballot in 1890. In 1896 the bi-partisan system of election boards was fully recognized.

The Constitution of 1776 was often amended, especially in 1802, when the property qualification for the suffrage was abolished, and in 1837 the election of the Governor was given to the people. New constitutions were adopted in 1851, 1864, and 1867, the second of which abolished slavery. Its electoral vote has been as follows: 1796, Adams 7, Jefferson 4; 1800, Adams 5, Jefferson 11; 1804, Pinckney 2, Jefferson 9; 1808, Pinckney 2, Madison 9; 1812, Clinton 5, Madison 6; 1816, Monroe 8; 1820, Monroe 11; 1824, Jackson 7, Adams 3, Crawford 1; 1828, Adams 6, Jackson 5; 1832, Clay 5, Jackson 3. It went Whig from 1830 to 1848, Democratic in 1852, American Party (Know-Nothing) in 1850, and Democratic in 1860. In 1864 it voted for Lincoln, but from 1868 to 1892 was Democratic. In 1896 and 1900 it went Republican. The following is a list of the Governors of the State:

PROPRIETARY GOVERNORS
Leonard Calvert 1634-47
Thomas Greene 1647-49
William Stone 1649-54
Commissioners 1654-58
Josias Fendall 1658-60
Philip Calvert 1660-61
Charles Calvert (became Lord Baltimore 1675)  1661-76
Cecilius Calvert 1676
Thomas Notley 1676-79
Charles, third Lord Baltimore 1679-84
Benedict Leonard Calvert and Council 1684-88
William Joseph (President of Council) 1688-89
Protestant Associators 1689-90
Nehemiah Blakistone and Committee 1690-92
ROYAL GOVERNORS
Sir Lionel Copley 1692-93
Sir Edward Andros 1693-94
Francis Nicholson 1694-99
Nathaniel Blakistone 1699-1702
Thomas Tench (President of Council) 1702-04
John Seymour 1704-09
Edward Lloyd (President of Council) 1709-14
John Hart 1714-13
PROPRIETARY GOVERNORS (RESTORED)
John Hart 1715-20
Charles Calvert 1720-27
Benedict Leonard Calvert 1727-31
Samuel Ogle 1731-32
Charles, fifth Lord Baltimore 1732-33
Samuel Ogle 1733-42
Thomas Bladen 1742-47
Samuel Ogle 1747-52
Benjamin Tasker 1752-53
Horatio Sharpe 1753-69
Robert Eden 1769-76
The Convention and Council of Safety 1776-77
STATE
Thomas Johnson 1777-79
Thomas Sim Lee 1779-82
William Paca 1782-85
William Smallwood 1785-88
John E. Howard 1788-91
George Plater 1791-92
Thomas Sim Lee 1792-94
John H. Stone 1794-97
John Henry Democratic-Republican 1797-98
Benjamin Ogle Federalist 1798-1801
John F. Mercer  Democratic-Republican  1801-03

Robert Bowie 1803-06
Robert Wright 1806-09
Edward Lloyd 1809-11
Robert Bowie 1811-12
Levin Winder Federalist 1812-15
Charles Ridgely 1815-18
Charles Goldsborough 1818-19
Samuel Spring Democratic-Republican 1819-22
Samuel Stevens, Jr. 1822-25
Joseph Kent 1825-28
Daniel Martin Anti-Jackson 1828-29
Thomas K. Carroll Jackson Democrat 1829-30
Daniel Martin Anti-Jackson 1830-31
George Howard Whig 1831-33
James Thomas 1833-35
Thomas W. Veasey 1835-38
William Grason Democrat 1838-41
Francis Thomas 1841-44
Thomas G. Pratt Whig 1844-47
Philip F. Thomas Democrat 1847-50
Enoch L. Lowe 1850-53
Thomas W. Ligon 1853-58
Thomas H. Hicks American 1858-62
August W. Bradford Unionist 1862-65
Thomas Swann Unionist, later Democrat 1865-68
Oden Bowie Democrat 1868-72
William P. Whyte 1872-74
James B. Groome 1874-76
John L. Carroll 1876-80
William T. Hamilton 1880-84
Robert M. McLane 1884-85
Henry Lloyd 1885-88
Elihu E. Jackson 1888-92
Frank Brown 1892-96
Lloyd Lowndes Republican 1891-1900
John W. Smith Democrat 1900-

Bibliography. Maryland, Its Resources, Industries, and Institutions (Baltimore, 1893), largely by members of Johns Hopkins University; Maryland Geological Survey Reports. History. McSherry, History of Maryland from Its First Settlement in 1634 to the Year 1848 (Baltimore, 1849); Bozman, History of Maryland, 1633-60 (Baltimore, 1837). The most extensive history is Scharf, History of Maryland from the Earliest Period (Baltimore, 1879); Browne, Maryland, the History of a Palatinate, “American Commonwealth Series” (Boston, 1884); Gambrill, Studies in the Civil, Social, and Ecclesiastical History of Early Maryland (New York, 1893); Thomas, Chronicles of Colonial Maryland (Baltimore, 1900); Mereness, Maryland as a Proprietary Province (New York, 1901); McMahon, History of Maryland to 1776 (Baltimore, 1831); Hall, Lords Baltimore (Baltimore, 1903); Gambrill, School History of Maryland (Baltimore, 1903). The Johns Hopkins Studies in Historical and Political Science contain many useful monographs. The colonial Archives are being published under the care of the Maryland Historical Society (twenty volumes have appeared); Steiner, Institutions and Civil Government of Maryland (Boston, 1899).


  1. 1.0 1.1 Not separately reported in 1890.