Calverts Make Maryland a Unique Colony
First Colonists Arrived on the Ark and Dove in 1634
Aug 29, 2008
“Never had I beheld a larger, more beautiful river," Father Andrew White, a Jesuit on The Ark, wrote of the Potomac. "The Thames seems a mere rivulet in comparison with it."
Crowded onto the two small wooden ships during the three-month crossing were men such as Dr. John Briscoe, John Bowles, Capt. Thomas Cornwallys, Cuthbert Fenwick and Nicholas Harvey, each with their own stories and each destined to make a contribution to Maryland history. The same was true of most of the other passengers.
The Calverts Shape Maryland
England had the land we call Maryland in its binoculars as far back as Capt. John Smith’s 1608 exploration of Chesapeake Bay.
The man who envisioned this colony was not on The Ark or The Dove, but the “first families” of Maryland were. Sir George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, was granted the Palatinate of Maryland by King Charles I of England as recognition of Calvert’s service as a Secretary of State and member of the Privy Council. He died before the grant was finalized, but his dream of a New World colony lived on in his sons.
It was son Cecil (Cecilius) who inherited the title of Second Lord Baltimore and received the grant, but he stayed in England to handle the business end. He also chose the first colonists, selecting people with a variety of skills ranging from farmers to shipbuilders and soldiers. Several of the first passengers were listed as “gentlemen,” indicating that Maryland may have started out with more moneyed people than most of the other American Colonies.
Cecil’s brothers, George and Leonard, arrived in 1634 with the first colonists. Leonard became the province’s first governor. Soon the tobacco-growing state became a haven for England’s persecuted Catholics.
Maryland Unlike Most Other American Colonies
Maryland was unlike the other American colonies. Many know it was unique because it was founded by Catholics and espoused freedom of religion and separation of church and state, but don’t know it was run as a feudal estate until the Revolutionary War took away the Calverts' right to rule with the force of feudal kings.
The Calverts had owned all the land and granted—in effect, leased—it out in chunks both great and small. A Calvert 10,000 acre manor in Western Maryland was forfeited to the United States after the Revolution and parceled out to War veterans as bounty land in payment for their service.
Historic St. Mary’s City, Maryland’s first capital, was the fourth permanent settlement in British North America. It claims to be the birthplace of religious tolerance.
The Society of The Ark and The Dove is a good resource on early Maryland and its people. Its membership rolls include former President Richard Nixon.
A companion article lists 95 qualifying ancestors of current members of The Order of the First Families of Maryland, giving arrival dates and naming the county where each settled.
SOURCES: Society of the Ark and the Dove; “Shipmates: Descendants of the Ark and the Dove Help Keep Memories of Maryland Day Afloat,” by Michele McFarland, March 22, 2006 edition, the Baltimore Messenger; The Ark and the Dove Adventurers, by George Ely Russell and Donna Valley Russell (2005: Baltimore); The Maryland Historical Society's Fund Publication No. 1, Baltimore, Maryland, 1874
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