The Coltons Point Times: colonial history

Showing posts with label colonial history. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Histories Mysteries - Next King of England (Prince William) Shares St. Clements Manor, Maryland bloodline

When the late Princess Diana's son Prince William of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne and grandson to Queen Elizabeth II, becomes King, it will be the first time in history that an English monarch is 1/16th American. Ancestors of Prince William and his brother Harry, sons of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, are from Coltons Point, also know as St. Clements Manor, settled 375 years ago near the mouth of the Potomac River.

How could this be you might ask? Good question. Because we thought we had run the British out of America a couple of centuries ago. But alas, one of the enduring mysteries of St. Clements Island and Coltons Point is the very strange history that abounds in this quiet little place lost in time yet just an hour from our nation's capitol. The first colony in the world to guarantee religious freedom, at a time when Catholics were being persecuted in England, everything about this place is mysterious.

And nothing is more mysterious than the first proprietors of the original St. Clements Manor, the Gerard family of England. Two of the Gerards, a brother and sister, were on the Ark and Dove in 1634 listed on the manifest as investors and gentlemen or women.

Some history books indicate that in 1633 when the Charter was first granted for Mary Land by King Charles II to the Calverts, well before the ships left for America, the King and Calvert gave a grant to the Gerard family for any land they wanted in the New World north of the Potomac River. If they did it would be indicative of the power and respect for the family.

You see, according to English Heraldry the Gerards trace their English heritage back to the 1100's to William Fitzgerald, (the Gerard family name was shortened from Fitzgerald to Gerard and also spelled Gerrard and Girard). William traveled with Richard Strongbow and was part of the force that took control of Ireland for the King of England. After that there were a lot of Sirs in the family over the years.

By the time of King Henry VIII the Gerard family was one of the most powerful Catholic families in England and never seemed to be prosecuted for being Catholic under the reins of Henry and Elizabeth I. During the later years of Elizabeth Sir Thomas Gerard began making plans to set up a colony in America where Catholics would be free of persecution.

Thus with George Calvert, an investor in Queen Elizabeth's efforts to colonize foreign lands, he helped finance the Calvert Maryland colony. George Calvert had also become a Catholic just when England was banning Catholics. Whatever the agreement between Gerard, Calvert and King Charles, two of the Gerard family members were dispatched on the first ships.

But the real Gerard claim was the charter for St. Clements Manor because the Gerard family was entrusted with the most sacred site of the expedition to establish religious freedom in America, St. Clements Island. History conscious England would normally protect National Treasurers like the first landing site in the New World guaranteeing religious freedom. It was another sign of the trust of the British crown in the Gerard family. Though the area was finally certified by surveys in 1639, since the 1634 landing it had been occupied by those in the first expedition.

In Father Andrew White's historic journal of the colonization it talks of St. Clements Island, the first landing site in the New World. It was here the first fort was built, the first Catholic Mass performed and the first peaceful encounter with Native Americans established the long term peaceful relationship. It was also in the St. Clements Manor area that Father White, thanks to the Indians, set up the first Catholic chapel in the New World.

For the first five years after the landing the St. Clements Manor area was one of just five settlement sites in all of the Maryland area where the Jesuit priests could go and meet with the Native Americans. It was considered safe enough for such interaction with the Native Americans. The site of the St. Clements Manor House complex became Coltons Point and has been lived in ever since.

Historians know that places like Jamestown, Plymouth and St. Mary's City all ceased to exist in their original sites by the 1690's. Thus Coltons Point was settled in 1634, chartered in 1638 and surveyed in 1639. Because of these reasons the St. Clements Manor area, now Coltons Point, is the oldest continuously lived in chartered settlement in all of colonial America.

Dr. Thomas Gerard, whose brother and sister were on the first ships, was the family member designated to settle and develop the New World holdings and he arrived with his family in 1638, immediately settling at Coltons Point (St. Clements Manor). In time his manor grew to one of the largest in all of America including over 20,000 acres. He also owned land in Virginia and he was a partner owning Capitol Hill, the land where the US Congress, Supreme Court and much of our federal government was build.

Gerard was an unusual person, exactly what King Charles would prefer. While Charles was a Protestant King with a Catholic Queen, Henrietta Maria from the powerful Medici family of France no less, Gerard was a Catholic from a powerful English family with a Protestant wife. When he reached America he built the first chapel for Catholics and Protestants on the Manor.

His Manor House in Coltons Point sat on the riverbank and faced the little Island where the landing took place. St. Clements Manor House was burnt down by the Protestants around 1645, rebuilt, burnt down by the English in 1713 and rebuilt, and finally destroyed by a hurricane in 1933. One day maybe it will be rebuilt on it's original site.

Gerard was the first doctor in Maryland, a gentleman and successful businessman. He was often at odds with the Calverts, the Lords from England, over the rights of the people versus the rights of the crown. After the protestant revolt in England his lands were seized for a time and he moved to his Virginia land. He was the neighbor and friend of John Washington, George Washington's great grandfather. In time two of his daughters married John Washington thus were step great grandmothers of our first President.

For those of you who find it odd that two sisters would marry the same person, regardless of the fact it was George Washington's great grandfather, a note on the Colonial ways. Way back then women were a rather rare feature in the early colonial days. Also death came early for many of the men. So to protect those women who choose to help settle the New World the families would often have the next available male or female marry the widows.

This was an extension of the rules of the English monarchy, the same rules that proved to be King Henry VIII's undoing. You see, his brother was King and died at age 15 in 1502 when Henry was just 10. Henry was thus required to marry his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of Queen Isabella I of Spain (the same Isabella who sent Columbus to discover America). Catherine was much older and Henry had to wait until he was 17 before the marriage took place.

Well Henry had difficulty adjusting to the older woman and was enamored by younger women like the Boleyn sisters, having an affair with one and marrying the second, Anne. Anne forced him to divorce Catherine. Thus began the religious wars that tore Britain apart for the next 150 years. For her part Anne got beheaded but her daughter with Henry, Elizabeth, became Elizabeth I, one of the most beloved Queens of England. She never married. Hummm.

Back in the colonies when he died Dr. Thomas Gerard was buried alongside his first wife at the St. Clements manor House overlooking St. Clements Island. We believe both grave sites have been located three centuries later and along with St. Clements Island they should become one of the most historical sites in Southern Maryland. Meanwhile, numerous smaller manors within St. Clements Manor were given as gifts or sold. Frances Scott Key, composer of our National Anthem, was even born on St. Clements Manor.

In England where the rest of the Gerard family remained their royal bloodlines continued and both Prince Charles of Wales and Princess Diana are blood relatives of the Gerards. When Prince William becomes King he will be the first British Monarch who is 1/16th American. He is also 1/16th German, 1/16th Hungarian, 1/32nd Irish and 1/64th French.

That means our Coltons Point bloodline (Gerards) will have a son of Princess Diana, Prince William, who becomes King of England who is related to King Henry VIII, a new King whose ancestors were step great grandmothers to George Washington who defeated the English, and who is the first British King who is 1/16 American. No wonder we always liked Princess Diana.

Prince William of Wales, heir to the English throne, can trace his family to St. Clements Island and Coltons Point. We even know the gravesite of his ancestors here in Coltons Point who first arrived 375 years ago. We really must celebrate when Prince William becomes King. Better yet, why not start now in honor of the future King of England whose ancestors were our founders.

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Histories Mysteries - The Landing at St. Clement's Island in 1634

In the past five years I have heard and seen many different versions of what happened when the colonists to Maryland arrived in 1634 and it is time that historical societies and historians finally get the record straight. With the arrival of Lord Baltimore's colonists in the new world and the unique grant that gave him unprecedented powers to colonize America including the power to establish religious freedom, it was one of the most significant colonies in our history.

First of all, in 1628 George Calvert, the 1st Lord Baltimore, traveled the Potomac River on a trip to Virginia to scout locations for his Mary Land settlement as soon as King Charles approved his grant. The grant was approved by the King shortly after George died in 1632 and his son, the 2nd Lord Baltimore was determined to complete his father's dream of a colony grounded in religious freedom.

The expedition left England in late 1633 and arrived at St. Clement's Island in the Potomac River just a few miles from the Chesapeake Bay about March 3-5, 1634. The approximately 315 passengers and crew used a barge or skiff they brought with them to move supplies to the island and immediately began building a fort. It was to serve as a fortress to prohibit foreigners from illegal trade on the river for it was the narrowest point for crossing the Potomac River.

On March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation, a ceremony with all members of the expedition was held on the Island to read the official grant, celebrate the first Roman Catholic Mass in English speaking America, and conduct the first Eucharist ceremony in the colonies. A huge cross was made from downed trees and carried by the Catholics to the site of the Mass where it was erected. The Stations of the Cross were also part of the ceremony. Also the new colony was first dedicated to the Holy Mother Mary.

A couple of days later the Ark and Dove took many of the colonists to the future site of St. Mary's City. St. Clement's Island and the Manor that evolved under the guidance of the Gerard family remained a settlement and to this day remains the oldest continuously occupied chartered settlement in America.

By the end of March some of the colonists moved to the present site of St. Mary's City to establish permanent quarters while others remained at St. Clements and White Neck Creek. Soon additional settlements were at Inigoes downriver from St. Mary's City, and at a site along the Patuxent River. By 1637 another settlement was underway across St. Clements Bay in Newtown.

Also in 1637 the population of the Maryland colony was recorded as about 350 in Maryland with 90 in St. Mary's City, 60 in St. Clements Manor, and the balance throughout other Maryland plantations. The Manor grant to the Gerard family was promised before the expedition left England and was formally made in 1638 with the survey completed in 1639.

In terms of historical accuracy, the following should be used.

While the 1st Lord Baltimore died before the first expedition, he did visit Maryland in 1628 and traveled the Potomac River following the Captain John Smith explorations documented earlier by the Governor of Virginia.

The Ark and the Dove carried about 322 passengers and crew on the voyage including the loyalists who left from Gravesend, England and the Catholics who boarded at the Isle of Wight. Twelve people died crossing the ocean.

The expedition first landed at St. Clement's Island about March 5, 1634, not at St. Mary's City as often mentioned in speeches.

While Governor Leonard Calvert traveled the Potomac to meet with Indian leaders the remaining colonists built a fort on St. Clement's Island and on March 25 a ceremony on the Island, now celebrated as Maryland Day, was held.

During the ceremony the charter to the Calvert family was read and made Maryland the first colony in the world to guarantee religious freedom to all residents.

Around March 27, 1634 some of the colonists remained at St. Clements while others went to establish St. Mary's City.

While St. Clement's Manor was chartered in 1638 and the Manor House finished the same year St. Mary's City was not chartered until 1668 and ceased to exist in 1699. Both English settlements in Jamestown, VA and Plymouth, MA ceased to exist in the 1690's as well.

The St. Clement's Manor House under Lord Thomas Gerard was completed in 1638 on the mainland overlooking St. Clement's Island (currently Coltons Point).

If we just correct these errors in historical records we can begin the process of accurately documenting all the historical records of this most sacred and significant time in American history.

Histories Mysteries - The Journey of the Ark and the Dove

For the past 376 years, ever since the Ark and the Dove sailed from England to the New World (1633-34) bringing the first Catholics and others to settle the Mary Land colony of Lord Baltimore, there has been confusion in the historical accounts on the timing of the departure, the number of passengers, and how did Catholics on board manage to leave England when they were being persecuted?

The Ark and the Dove were two ships owned by Lord George Calvert, whose son Cecil inherited his property, ships and grant from the King of England to the Mary Land colony in America. On the voyage to America the Ark, a merchantman, was under the command of Richard Lowe while the Dove was under the command of Captain Winter.

A full-rigged ship, the Ark of London was about 350 tons with a crew of forty. It was to carry the first settlers and supplies to the new colony. (Tons refers to tons burden, a measure of space available for cargo unless said to be weight). The Ark was a merchantman armed to repel pirates or enemy ships and "Kingbuilt" to serve as a warship if commandeered by the navy. For her first and second voyages from London to Maryland in 1633-35 the Ark had fifteen large carriage-mounted cast-iron cannon and other guns, probably some combination of demiculverins, cutts, sakars, and perhaps minions or falcons.

To repel boarders she would have had small swivel mounted antipersonnel guns called "murderers." In August 1635 before her third voyage she added eight sakars and two cutts. Guns of the seventeenth century were not standardized. Demiculverins might weigh 3,000 to 3,500 pounds, be nine to ten feet long, have a 4 to 4 ¾ inch bore and throw an 8 to 9 1/2-pound ball more than a mile. Sakers commonly weighed 2,000 to 2,500 pounds, were seven to nine feet long, had a 3.5 to 4 inch bore and a 5 to 6 pound shot. Cutts were demiculverins, with the barrel shortened by about six feet with little loss in range. They might throw a 9-pound ball about a mile but had extremely violent recoil and, as was the case with the sakers, were not accurate enough to have an effective range of more than about 500 yards. Minions could weigh 1,000 to 1,200 pounds, be 6 feet long and throw a 4 to 5 pound ball. Falcons weighed 600 to 800 pounds and used a 4 to 5 pound ball.

The armament of the Ark was important. Spain considered it her right to seize or sink any English ship found south of the "tropike" (of Cancer) and west of the "Grave Meridian" (probably considered by the Spanish to be by 18 degrees west longitude). The Ark was headed for the West Indies and would be in that area for weeks. Another danger was piracy. In 1631, the most dreaded of all pirates, those of Sallee, a port on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, held as slaves some 2,000 captives from English ships and the coasts of England and Ireland. In 1634-35 pirates captured some 2,000 people from English ships and towns.

Richard Lowe, the Ark's master, had reason to be wary of pirates. In March 1628, he was captured at sea by "Frenchmen" while master of the 130-ton Anne of London. In November 1630 he was master of the 160-ton Charity of London when she fought two Dunkirk pirate ships in the Narrow Seas for "two hours but quitted herself with some hurte."

The Dove was a small vessel, "of the burthen of fortie tons." On the first voyage to Maryland, it accompanied the Ark as its pinnace, a tender and scout, and carried some baggage and supplies. No precise information about the rig, dimensions, or layout of the Dove is known. Some representations show her with three masts, some with two. She is variously reported to be of forty to fifty tons burden. For the voyage with the Ark she had a crew of seven.

Over the past four centuries historians have estimated the number of passengers at between 123 to over 300 with the number of Catholics being most difficult to determine. It was not a surprise as Catholics were being persecuted in England at the time and it was only because George Calvert had faithfully served the King of England, James I, that an avowed Catholic like Calvert could get a land grant in the first place. He had previously invested in the East India Trading Company, the settlement of Avalon in Newfoundland, and the Jamestown settlement.

Maryland was to be the first English colony in America guaranteeing religious freedom by virtue of the failure to mention in the Maryland Charter loyalty to the Church of England. It was the only way Lord Calvert and his spiritual advisor Father Andrew White could devise to get around the English laws persecuting the Catholics, Puritans and other denominations not part of the Church of England.

As the journey to America neared preparations intensified and in mid-October 1633 after fitting out at Blackwall, England the Ark and the Dove dropped down the Thames to anchor off Gravesend where they were to take on stores and passengers. Gravesend was the main harbor for sailing to foreign lands as it sat just down the Thames River from London and was protected from the open seas. It was also where Pocahontas, the Indian princess, died a few years earlier as she was about to return to America. Pocahontas had a role in the colonization of America by saving John Smith, Governor of Jamestown, two times. It was Smith's exploration of the Potomac River that convinced George Calvert to land at St. Clements and settle along the river rather than the Chesapeake Bay.

The two ships then set sail for America. Soon after that, John Coke, the English Secretary of State, sent an urgent dispatch to Admiral John Pennington: "The Ark of London, Richard Lowe, master, carrying men for Lord Baltimore to his new plantation sailed from Gravesend contrary to orders" and those aboard had "not taken the oath of allegiance to the Crown" as they were required to do by a warrant from Whitehall dated July 31.

The Ark was intercepted by Pennington's ships and taken back under guard to Tilbury Hope across from Gravesend harbor. The oath was administered by October 29 at Gravesend to 123 people listed on the ship manifest and the ships received permission to leave England on October 30, "Provided there be no other person or persons aboard the said shippe or pinnace but such as have or shall have taken the oath of allegiance as aforesaid."

From Gravesend the colonists had to sail along the English coast for several days before reaching the Isle of Wight where they docked at Cowes to secretly pick up passengers who avoided the customs house in Gravesend and to await favorable weather before setting out to sea.

It was at Cowes that the Catholics who refused to take the oath boarded the two vessels, including Father Andrew White. As they waited at Cowes for weather to clear rumors spread through the docks that Catholics were on board the ships and were attempting to sail from England without taking the required oath. There was a fear among the colonists that English ships would again be sent to stop them if they did not get on their way.

From this point let Father White tell the story from his acclaimed journal of the voyage to America.

"On the 22d of the month of November, 1633, on St. Cecilia's day, the east wind blowing gently, we weighed anchor from Cowes, situated in the isle of Wight. When we had first placed the principal parts of the ship under the protection of God, the most holy Mother, St. Ignatius, and all the other guardian angels of Maryland, being carried a short distance between the two headlands, for want of wind we came to anchor off the Castle of Yarmouth, which is a port on the west of the same island. Here we were saluted by the festal thunders of the cannon.

We were not free from fear, however; for the sailors began to murmur among themselves that they expected a messenger from London with letters, and so appeared to frame causes of delay. But God interrupted their wicked designs, for the same night a favorable, but strong wind blowing, a French barque, which had lain in the same port with us, being compelled to weigh anchor, nearly drove against our pinnace.

Therefore, to prevent being run down, one anchor being cut loose and lost, she hastened to make sail as quick as possible, and since it is dangerous to be tossed by the waves in that place, she put out to sea. Therefore, lest we should lose sight of our pinnace, we determined to follow; so that whatever designs the sailors contemplated against us, were frustrated.

This happened on the 23d of November, St. Clement's day, on which he, being bound to an anchor and cast into the sea, obtained a crown of martyrdom, and afforded to his people a way to land, as the miracles of God declare."

So the next day, at ten o'clock in the morning, being honored again by a salute from the Castle of Hurst, we were carried beyond the breakers at the extremity of the Isle of Wight, which from their form, they call the Needles. But these are a terror to sailors on account of the double tide of the sea; on this side hurrying and dashing the ships upon the rocks, and on the other side against the neighboring shore.

To say nothing of the other imminent danger which we escaped at the Castle of Yarmouth, here the wind and tide raging while we remained, the anchor not yet being weighed and secured, the ship was almost dashed on shore, unless on a sudden, by great exertion, having tacked, and shipping a sea, we escaped the danger, by a propitious God, who vouchsafed to us this pledge of his future protection, through the merits of St. Clements."

As for the number of people aboard the two ships after the passengers were boarded at Gravesend and Cowes, Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, in a letter to Lord Wentworth, afterwards the Earl of Strafford, says :

" By the help of some of your Lordship's good friends and mine, I have sent a hopeful colony into Maryland, with a fair and favorable expectation of good success, without any danger of any great prejudice to myself, in respect that many others are joined with me in the adventure. There are two of my brothers with very near twenty other gentlemen of very good fashion, and three hundred laboring men."

In other words there were 2 Calverts, near 20 gentlemen and 300 laboring men, approximately 322 total colonists. Of these twelve died at sea, ten Protestants and 2 Catholics. Included among the passengers were two Jesuit priests and two Councillors of the Colony who were adherents of the Church of England. Approximately 310 passengers plus any additional people picked up in the Caribbean Islands and Virginia would have arrived at St. Clements Island.

Thus we have the answers to several historical puzzles regarding this most significant voyage to America including the background on the ships, the attempt to sail that was stopped by the English, the reason the passenger manifest was only a partial listing, the various ports involved in the first voyage, the reason everyone did not sign the oath of loyalty and other interesting facts.

Future postings of Histories Mysteries will investigate many other aspects of the colonizing of Maryland and the birth of religious freedom in America.

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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

St. Clements Island Maryland Colonial History - The Rest of the Story

England - Religious Freedom - Queen Elizabeth I - Henry the Eighth - Catholics - Jesuits - Colonial History - George Washington's Great Grandfather - St. Clements Island - Maryland - the Players and the Truth

Maryland and the nation owe a great deal to the brave colonists who ventured across the Atlantic in 1633 and landed on St. Clements Island in early 1634. St. Clements Manor, established within a couple of years, remains the oldest continually settled chartered community in colonial

America

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The following series of articles gives the latest research and solves the enduring mysteries about the colonial days in England and Southern Maryland giving a fascinating glimpse into the lives and politics of the colonial era. Click on the link to read.

Thursday, October 26, 2006
Where in the world is Coltons Point?
http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2006/10/where-in-world-is-coltons-point.html

Thursday, April 17, 2008
The Miracle of St. Clements Island
http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/04/miracle-of-st-clements-island.html

Saturday, March 21, 2009
Scenes from Coltons Point
http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2009/03/scenes-from-coltons-point.html

Friday, July 10, 2009
St. Clements Island and Manor - Four Centuries of Uninterrupted History
http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2009/07/st-clements-island-and-manor-four.html

Tuesday, August 11, 2009
St. Clement's Island Prehistory - Part 1.
http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2009/08/st-clements-island-prehistory-part-1.html

Monday, August 24, 2009
St. Clement's Island Prehistory - Part 2
http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2009/08/st-clements-island-prehistory-part-2.html

Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Histories Mysteries - The Journey of the Ark and the Dove
http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2009/09/histories-mysteries-journey-of-ark-and.html

Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Histories Mysteries - Next King of England (Prince William) Shares St. Clements Manor, Maryland bloodline
http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2010/01/histories-mysteries-next-king-of.html

Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Histories Mysteries - The Landing at St. Clement's Island in 1634
http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2010/04/histories-mysteries-landing-at-st.html
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Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Histories Mysteries - The Landing at St. Clement's Island in 1634

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Histories Mysteries - The Journey of the Ark and the Dove

Monday, August 24, 2009

St. Clement's Island Prehistory - Part 2 American Colonial History

Why did two ships of colonists risk a dangerous crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in 1633 to flee England for America and why did they bring their hopes for religious freedom to St. Clement's Island Maryland? To understand the history of St. Clements one needs to understand there is another part of the story, the history of events in the 16th Century which a few years later would cause the colonists to leave England for America.

Let's call it the European prehistory of St. Clements and quite frankly you might be a bit surprised by what you learn. This prehistory includes a series of international events involving the most powerful monarchies, legendary family dynasties, and mighty empires in Europe beginning with the infamous King Henry VIII of England.

St. Clements Island was the site of the first declaration of religious freedom to be guaranteed anywhere in the world, a freedom that in time would become embedded in our US Constitution. A little over 100 years earlier Henry VIII set in motion the series of events that would result in this charter.

Events in Europe during the 16th century led to the fall from favor of the Catholics and Puritans in England and the subsequent journey to settle the colony of Mary Land in 1634 where religious freedom would be guaranteed. Monarchies in England, Scotland, France, Spain and Italy and the Vatican in Rome were all to play a role in this decision to settle in the new world.

A web of intrigue led to a mosaic of treachery, murder, assassination, torture, arranged marriages and more in the alliances and enemies that came and went beginning with the reign of Henry VIII in England who was born in 1491, the year before Columbus discovered America, and was King from 1509 to 1547. Here are more of the people who made the landing at St. Clements possible.

Captain John Smith - 1st Governor of Jamestown

A leader of the first English attempt to colonize the new world at Jamestown, Captain John Smith was such a colorful character that when the boats arrived in America the officials in charge of the settlement wanted to prosecute Smith for mutiny because of his actions on the way to America. But when they opened the official charter for Jamestown the sponsors had designated that Smith would be one of the leaders and the first governor.

Smith was best known for being saved by the Indian Princess Pocahontas when her father the Chief was going to put him to death. A couple of years later Pocahontas again saved Smith from being killed in an ambush. But contrary to efforts by Walt Disney to change history, Pocahontas and Smith had no romantic involvement.

In 1609 Smith was injured during the Indian wars and returned to England for treatment. He never made it back to Jamestown but did explore New England in 1614 and 1615. During the latter expedition he was captured by French pirates but escaped several weeks later and made his way to England. It was the last time he was in the New World though his books on America inspired many English to become part of the colonization of America.

Pocahontas - Indian Princess

I mentioned that Pocahontas twice saved John Smith who later advised Calvert to secure the Mary Land territory. Though she had no romantic involvement with Smith like the Disney movie, she did marry an English settler who lost his wife soon after he arrived. John Rolfe fell in love with Pocahontas when she was being held captive by settlers afraid of an Indian uprising. They married and he took her to England to meet King James, with the help of John Smith.

As they were preparing to leave England and return home she came down with a disease and died at the age of 22. When he returned to America Rolfe went on to develop the tobacco crop that was more valuable than gold in trade with Europe. Because Mary Land was much better suited for raising tobacco it became the primary source of the valuable commodity for Europe.

Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore

If a father has to trust a son to finish his work there could be no better son than Cecil who spent the rest of his life after his father's death making sure the colony of Mary Land lived up to the dreams of his father. Just five weeks after his father died the long awaited charter came through but not until it had survived challenges from the Virginia colonists and from the Protestants in Parliament.

Since his father had already planned the mission and his two boats from the Newfoundland adventure were available, the Ark and the Dove, Cecil, the new Lord Baltimore set about finishing the work. Father White and others had been hard at work securing the gentlemen whose investment was crucial to make the journey. A total of 17 eventually invested in the effort and over 300 people sailed on the ships.

Well aware of the efforts in Parliament to strip the Calverts from their land in America because they claimed the right of religious freedom, Cecil decided to remain in England and defend against their enemies and it was a good thing he did. He sent two younger brothers, Leonard and George with the boats along with Father White while the passengers were about evenly split between the Catholics and Protestants.

The landing in March of 1634 was the culmination of his father's dream while the establishment of Mary Land as a palatinate gave Lord Baltimore and his descendants rights nearly equal to an independent state including the right to wage war, collect taxes and establish a colonial nobility. Such rights had never been granted before.

Sir George and Cecil Calvert were extraordinary visionaries dedicated to provide a safe haven where all religions could be practiced. The Calvert's ability to overcome the opposition from the Church of England and parliament and maintain the cooperation of the Protestant King while developing a colony with religious freedom was a major step toward the guarantee of religious freedom in the US Constitution some 153 years later.

Leonard Calvert - 1st Governor of Mary Land

Brother of Cecil Calvert, Leonard had accompanied his father Sir George on a voyage to Newfoundland so he was experienced in the demands of colonization and the need for food, safety and cooperation with the Native Americans. When Cecil had the expedition to Mary Land organized, with the help of Father Andrew White, it was his brother Leonard that Cecil chose to be the first governor of the new colony.

Upon arriving in Mary Land at St. Clements Island Leonard read the charter that had been prepared by Sir George Calvert and Father White guaranteeing religious freedom in Mary Land. Somehow his father and brother had negotiated a grant with the king that gave the colony nearly the same status as an independent state thus the Charter they drafted was the first one to guarantee religious freedom anywhere in the world. It was to be a major influence for freedom of religion in our Constitution.

Leonard had a fort built on St. Clements Island and went to meet the Emperor of the Algonquin tribes in Mary Land to assure them the settlers came in peace and to get their approval to develop a colony in Mary Land. No other European settlements did this and it is why the others were plagued with hostilities from the Native Americans while Mary Land was the only place where peace existed from the first day. About a month later he moved the colonists to the site of St. Mary's City.

The planning and management of the colony by the Calverts was exceptional as the first summer they were already shipping corn and fish to New England settlements. The history of colonial America does not do justice to the role played in settling the colonies by the Calverts or Father White nor to the model of Mary Land as the most successful colony in America. From 1634 to 1776 there were 37 governors in Maryland, of which 23 were appointed by Lord Baltimore, the Calvert family. Calvert family members served 8 of the 23 terms.

Father Andrew White - 1st Jesuit In English Speaking Colonies

Born in London, White entered a Spanish seminary, studied in Douai, France, and was ordained a priest in 1605. He risked a cruel death during a period of renewed Catholic persecution by becoming a missionary to Protestant England. In 1606, he was captured and banished from England following the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt by radical Catholics to kill the new King of England, James I and the entire English parliament. It was discovered just before the explosion was to take place.

The conspirators were put to death and many other priests were banished from England because of their Catholic sympathies. Father While was sent to Europe and joined the Society of Jesus the next year. Beginning in 1628 he began helping Sir George Calvert and later Cecil Calvert plan for the colonization of America.

He is principally known to American history for his writings and labors in connection with colonizing Maryland which earned him the title of "Apostle of Maryland". Sir George Calvert, first Lord of Baltimore, corresponded with him from Avalon in Newfoundland; Father Vitelleschi, General of the Jesuits, makes mention of him for the first time regarding a mission to English America in a letter dated Rome, 3 March, 1629.

In preparation for the founding of the Maryland Colony he composed the "Declaratio Coloniae Domini Baronis de Baltimore", to attract settlers and co-operators in the enterprise. The expedition set sail on 22 Nov., 1633, from Cowes, Isle of Wight. He is the author of the "Relatio itineris", which constitutes the classical authority in regard to colonizing early Maryland. His writings are the best surviving testimony to the colonization of America while his translations of various documents into the Native American language were the first in the new world.

The Ark and the Dove landed in early March and after several weeks were spent building the fort and meeting with Indian leaders on the Feast of the Annunciation, 25 March, 1634, the "Pilgrims" of Maryland held a formal ceremony on St. Clement's Island, where Mass was celebrated for the first time in English speaking America. "Maryland Day" on March 25 has been declared in remembrance of the amazing achievements of the St. Clements colonists.

When they arrived Father White was given a cabin by the Indians on a creek just north of St. Clements where he could meet with them and teach them about the Catholic religion. It was the 1st Catholic chapel in English speaking America and hundreds and maybe thousands of Native Americans were converted by Father White and the Jesuits. For ten years Father White devoted himself with apostolic humility, patience, and zeal to missionary labours amongst the settlers and the Native Americans.

The "Annual Letters" narrate his successful labors amongst the tribes of the Patuxent and Potomac; he carried the Gospel to the Anacostans in the neighborhood of our current nation's capital; he converted and baptized with solemn ceremonies on 5 July, 1640, with Governor Calvert and other civil dignitaries being present, Chitomachon, the Tayac or "Emperor of Piscataway". He composed a grammar, dictionary, and catechism in the native idiom, being the first Englishman to reduce an Indian language to grammatical form.

The Puritan party in England began to openly challenge the efforts by Queen Henrietta to rally the Catholics to help King Charles and the growing tension was felt with disastrous effects on Catholic interests in Maryland where a band of protestant marauders from Virginia plundered the Jesuit establishments in Mary Land. Three Jesuit priests in the Inigoes settlement were chased across the river to Virginia then hunted down and murdered becoming the first martyrs in Colonial America.

The invaders seized Father White with two companions and sent him in irons to London in 1645. After two years in prison he was finally tried on the charge of treason of being a Catholic priest in England which violated English law. Conviction would result in being put to death.

White was acquitted on the manifest pleas that he had entered the country (England) under force and much against his will but he still had been held at Newgate prison until January of 1648 before he was released and then never allowed to return to America again. Newgate was a 700 year old prison in London notorious for inhumane conditions, disease, torture and being a holding prison for those sentenced to death. Though he longed to return to his dear Marilandians" his earnest petitions would not be granted and he died in England in 1656.

During the journey to America twice the ships were caught in devastating storms and no one thought they would survive. Father White used a sacred relic, a piece of the True Cross of Jesus he brought with him to pray for help and credited it with saving the ships from the hurricanes. Again he used the piece of the True Cross to heal the son of the Native American Emperor who seemed to be dying. As a result the Emperor and his family converted to Catholicism.

His work to establish the Jesuits in America resulted in Father White being declared the founder of the Jesuits in America and forefather of Georgetown University, the most famous Jesuit university. Other firsts included erecting the first Catholic Cross on St. Clements Island, holding the first Roman Catholic Mass in English speaking colonies and establishing the first Catholic chapels and churches in the original colonies. Like the Calverts, Father White is largely ignored in history books and his contributions to religious freedom as well as the contributions of many others pointed out deserve a much more prominent place in American colonial history.

Dr. Thomas Gerard - Owner of St. Clements Manor

Gerard was from a prominent family in England whose direct descendants were Prince Charles and Lady Diana of the royal family. He was a Catholic and came from a noble lineage of Catholics who were activists against the Protestant royalty in England. Thomas Gerard's uncle, Rev. John Gerard, S. J., was convicted of conspiracy in the infamous Gunpowder Plot in 1605, and was tortured in the Tower of London.

Dr. Thomas Gerard's father, Sir Thomas Gerard, Lord Baron of Byrne, was one of the Catholic gentry who financed Cecilius Calvert, Lord Baltimore, for the initial colonization of Maryland in 1634. On that expedition of the ships the Ark and the Dove were Richard Gerard, Knight-Baronet who was brother of Dr. Thomas Gerard, and a sister, Ann Gerard Cox.

Sir Thomas Gerard was held in such high esteem in England that he was given a grant for any land he so desired in Mary Land before the expedition ever set sail and it was granted by Cecil Calvert and King Charles I, a rare action by a King. Dr. Thomas Gerard was named Lord of St. Clements Manor in 1634. It was the most powerful and one of the largest Manors in the colonies growing to nearly 20,000 acres.

Interestingly, Dr. Thomas Gerard from a noble Catholic lineage married a Protestant, Susannah Snowe and raised their eight children as Protestants. When the Manor House and accompanying chapel were built Dr. Gerard moved the rest of his family to America in 1638 where the Manor House at Coltons Point became one of the oldest homes continually lived in at the same location in America. The house was burnt down by the Puritans in 1645 and rebuilt. It was burnt down by British troops in 1814 and rebuilt. Finally it was severely damaged in a hurricane in 1933.

There you have it, some of the colorful characters from history who played a role in European developments that would eventually bring about the landing of the colonists here, at St. Clements Island, 375 years ago.

Those who know the story recognize that St. Clements Island and Manor rank among the most sacred and significant historic sites in America. They understand that the Calvert family and Father Andrew White have not been rightfully recognized as they were among the most successful visionaries to colonize America. The Mary Land colony was the most successful in the New World while the St. Clements Manor (now called Coltons Point) is the oldest continually lived in location in the original colonies.
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