The Chesapeake Bay Country - A 1923 Reissue with 275 photographs and Maps

by Swepson Earle

Book Overview

The Chesapeake Bay region is littered with historical relics dating from the 1607 Jamestown settlement through the American Revolution and the Civil War. This author's knowledge of Bay area history is... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 051717782X
• ISBN13: 9780517177822
• Release Date: January 1973
• Publisher: Weathervane Books
• Length: 511 Pages
• Weight: 2.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful

Long considered "the classic" volume on the Chesapeake Bay country. Now the famous figures live again: Captain John Smith, known to every school child as the man rescued by Pocahontas, who said of the Eastern Shore of Virginia: "Heaven and earth seemed never to have agreed better to have framed a place for man's habitation," and whose explorations were such an integral part of the history of the region; Francis Scott Key, who was inspired to write "The Star-Spangled Banner" aboard a British ship which was bombarding Fort McHenry; signers of the Declaration of Independence. But if the reader is given new insights into familiar personalities and their exploits, he is also made privy to tales concerning lesser known persons and places which are no less interesting. Many of these, described in brief, could well be the nuclei of whole novels. There is, for example, the tale of Col. George Talbot of St. Mary's County, a member of the Council, who had an altercation with the King's Collector-General and fatally stabbed him. Fearful that he could not receive a fair trial in Maryland, he had a change of venue made to Virginia, then subsequently received permission to go to England. But by that time he had already fled the environs. Legend has it that he found a haven in a distant manor in Cecil County, took refuge in a cave, and was fed by two trained hawks who brought him wild fowl from the river to serve as sustenance. Or there is the story of Tulip Hill in Anne Arundel County, an outstanding example of colonial architecture at its best. Sometimes known as the "Old Galloway Place,". When it was being built Mrs. Galloway was an invalid, and the staircase was therefore constructed with exceptionally easy rises. It is reported that one of the Galloway sons returned from the capital one night in such high spirits after an evening of revelry that he rode his horse straight up to his room. Which may explain the print of a rough-shod horse's hooves on the stairs, which one can discern if one looks closely. What material for a romantic historical novel in the section on the "Taney Place", the birthplace of Chief Justice Roger Taney and the site of a duel between Miles Taney and John Magruder, both of whom were smitten by the same beautiful Baltimore belle. During the course of a festive dinner Taney made a remark about the lady which angered Magruder to such a point that the latter, undoubtedly encouraged by a generous comsumption of wine, slapped his rival's face. Whereupon Taney drew his pocket knife and stabbed Margruder through the heart. Then, aided by his slaves and the darkness of the night, he escaped through a secret passage and made his way out of the state. How Hope House was sold for a case of spirits, how Bowie Racetrack got its name, why early colonists burned down plantation houses to secure the nails used in building them - these are but a few of the nuggets to be found in this historical treasure chest. And the copious photog