Evening star. [volume], October 28, 1934, Page 13, Image 87

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
GEORGE WASHINGTON'S FOREFATHER
Aided in the Founding of Maryland
* BY FRANK W. HUTCH INS.
IN THESE days of commemorating the
founding of Maryland, how many of us
know that a great-great-grandfather of
George Washington played a considerable
part?
We may read a dozen histories of
Maryland and never come across the man »
name. But, delve into the original records of
the Colony, and we come upon this ancestor
of George everywhere. That his name was not
Washington, only serves to remind us that
George's American ancestry got quite · start
before the Washing tons came Into it. This par
ticular forefather (who had rather distin
guished himself in Maryland before there was
• Washington in America) was Nathan Pope.
Now the way from Nathaniel Pope to
Georfe Washington was to be this: Pope's
daughter was to marry John Washington, and
their son Lawrence was to have a son. Au
gustine, who was to have a son the leather
of His Country.
Nathaniel Pope was a Londoner, probably
a merchant, but evidently one of thoee vital,
forceful chaYacters who go places and do
things. His story is a pretty good story of the
founding of Maryland. Just how early he
reached America nobody really knows. When,
in 1034. Lord Baltimore's company of ad
venturers landed for the first settlement in
Maryland, Nathaniel was not among them. But
they had scarcely got a rough fort and a few
huts up before Washington's ancestor put in
an appearance.
I I PON one of tho *e bits of craft from Eng
land, about as big as a tug, Nathaniel
Pope came sailing out of the Atlantic into
Chesapeake Bay. up the Potomac River, and
Into the broad tributary or estuary that the
colonists had named St. Georges River, but
soon renamed St. Marys River. And there, on
the high eastern bank, was the white man's
puny break in the wilderness—all that there
was of the Colony of Maryland. Already the
little settlement was proudly named St. Marys
City.
jropt. Will/ luilltru UUl tu urc « iiinu η ινιι —
good eye for location, must have been pleased
with his new home. A much more attractive
spot than the site of either of the other two
English settlements then in America, Plymouth
and Jamestown. Quite high was the river
bank where little St. Marys City perched, and
When Nathaniel Pope got up there he found
a strange scene. A crude fort and some cabins
were there, but more Indian wigwams than
Anything else. There had been a native village
on the spot before the coming of the white
man. One of the Indian huts made of poles
was now the white man's church or chapel.
The colonists numbered some two or three
hundred, varying widely in social rank and
appearance.
Did Nathaniel Pope now meet that really
great man, the Governor, with whom he was
to have peculiar relations in the founding of
Maryland? This man. Leonard.. Calvert,
brother of Lord Baltimore, was quite the man
for the part as Governor of the Province.
Maryland differed radically from the other
English Colonies and required a man of
breadth rather than of force to establish it.
Two peculiar things especially characterized
Its establishment: Lord Baltimore's proprietor
ship was bo complete that he was virtually
a feudal lord—end yet this Colony was to be
come a leader in representative government;
Lord Baltimore was a Catholic and his set
tlement essentially Catholic—and yet this
Colony was to become a sanctuary for Prot
estants and the first home of religious freedom
in America. Gov. Leonard Calvert met and
handled well these somewhat surprising de
velopments.
For some time after the landing the affairs
®f the Colony, and of Nathaniel Pope, were
little noteworthy. Pope was given a freehold
and was classed as a planter. Everybody was
busy "getting settled." What governing was
done was done by the Governor. Tradition has
it that his edicts were fastened up on a mul
berry tree not far from the fort. In proof,
some nails were found long afterward sticking
in the tree.
But soon the colonists became more political
minded, and it was remembered that under the
charter they also were entitled to a voice in
legislation. In 1635, voluntarily or otherwise.
Gov. Calvert called the freemen of the Colony
together in general assembly. But nothing
came of the proceedings as Lord Baltimore
refused his sanction. So the Governor again
governed under the common law of England.
NOW a matter long to be a thorn in Mary
land's side, and one day to prick Wash·
lngton's grandsire rather sharply. All along,
the Colony of Virginia had resented the coming
of the Colony of Maryland as an invasion of
her chartered territory. One island of the
Chesapeake, within the grant to Lord Baltimore,
Virginia especially claimed as having been pre
viously settled by Virginians. This was Kent
Island, lying opposite the site of present-day
Annapolis.
By this time Virginia had about given up
the fight, but one of her high officials, William
Claiborne, who had a trading station on this
island, had no idea of giving up. And so, on
an April day of 1635 a memorable encounter.
A little armed boat from St. Marys captured
a little armed boat from Kent Island—and
Maryland annals proudly entered the first
naval engagement in American waters. But
It settled nothing, and Cla.bo.ne went on fi^ht- .
Few Histories Mention This Great-Great
Grandfather JVho Played Such an Impor
tant Part in the Colonization of Section
Around St. Marys.
a. '^*»niiimwwwr—> — t- ■■ ■ , ■
Proclaiming the establishment of the Province of Maryland at St. Marys.
Drawing made from an orldnal by Edwin Tunis.
big for his claim to a bit of Virginia In the
heart of Maryland.
"it 1ε in 1637 that we b?gin to see Nathaniel
Pope clearly in the affairs of the Colony. By
that time settlements were reaching out some
what beyond little St. Marys City, and tome
thing of civil division was attempted. A con
siderable district about St. Marys was organ
ized as St. Marys County, and promptly at the
county court appeared Nathaniel Pope as one
of the freemen chosen for the "Grand Enquest."
About this time, too, Pope received an im
portant notice—or perhaps it was just nailed
up on the mulberry tree. Anyway it announced
that another Assembly was to be held. St.
Marys County was now divided into hundreds.
One of these, including the "city" itself, was
called St. Marys hundred, and from this Pope
would be a member of the Assembly.
With the opening of 163S the freemen of
the Colony gathered in the large, rough build
ing within the fort, and the second Assembly
of Maryland was in session. An odd scene of
mingled elegance and crudity. Presiding were
the dignified Governor and his councilors; next,
the score or so of "gentlemen," and then the
body of freemen with their hats on.
But at the formal opening» of this Assembly
we look in vain for that ancestor of George
Washington. AU that we see is the clerk
writing down Nathaniel Pope's name with sev
eral others and adding, '"Riey made not ap
pearance for proxies." Although this gentle
man from St. Marys at once arranged for rep
resentation by proxy, It was several days be
fore be personally appeared in the legislative
hall, or hut, of Maryland.
So it was without his help that the Assembly
got under way and determined several things.
The house "shall sitt every day at eight of
the clock in the morning, and two of the
clock in the afternoon." Any member "that
is to speake to any matter shall stand up and
be uncovered." No member "shall stand up
to speake un till the party that spake last
before have sate downe." Even after Pope
began craning to the Assembly his attendance
was strangely irregular.
In the next year a sort of land-hunger that
was to characterize· Nathaniel Pope (apd
surely his iai-ofl giwù-citoceftùant, lco) L>cian
to show. He now patented tvo tracte. One
wes virtually town property, being on the
edge of St. Marys; the other, a slightly
headland farther up the river. This headland
was called East St. Marys. It is odd, the
number of places figuring in Maryland history
that were once associated with Pope's name.
This one became prominent later as the prop
erty of Lord Baltimore himself and was long
the military rendezvous and quaint little port
of entry for St. Marys City.
There was a change in this 1639 in the way
of constituting the Assembly. Heretofore, the
Governor had summoned the freemen directly;
now, he Issued writs for them to elect repre
sentatives. Burgesses were to be chosen from
every hundred. Perhaps George Washington's
forefather had not made so bad a legislator
after all—he was one of the two burgesses
elected now from St. Marys hundred.
Again the Assembly met in the fort, but soon
adjourned to the Colonial Secretary's "man
sion house," called' St John's. As Nathaniel
Pope sat there, law-making In the secretary's
big house, his sense of importance would have
fattened had he known that one day the
Assembly of Maryland would be held In his
house.
Evidently, by the early 1640s, this man was
a fast-growing figure in the Colony. He
seemed the star feature on the "Grand
En quest," held various commissions, and was
on Important committees in the Assemblies.
But Nathaniel Pope was not only important,
he was also well-to-do. He paid higher taxes
than almost anybody else in St. Marys
hundred, had quite a retinue of servants, and
just now he was about to make something of
display. In St. Marys City, adjoining the
fort on -the northwest, was a large lot be
longing to Leonard Calvert, and called
"Governor's Field." Pope bought this lot from
the Governor, and proceeded to build a house
upon it. As this house was to become noted,
it is too bad the records remember so little
about it. Only that it was a very large frame
house facing Middle street though far back
from it, and about 250 yards from the river.
We can glimpse the Pope family in their
new home. Aside from Nathaniel and his
wife, apparently named Lucy, there were at
this time two boys. Thom?s and Nathaniel,
and a baby girl, Ann. A most important
person this little Ann Pope—the future greiî- ' *
grandmother of George Washington.
Doubtless, almost from the first. Nathaniel
Pope occupied a peculiar position In the Coloi:y
as agent, In some sense, for Gov. caiveit.
It is all very indefinite the records only hint
ing of Pope's acts and missions for the Go\ -
ernor. But such relation plain'y existed. It
led the Governor In 1643 to do a very im
politic thing. To the surprise and displeasure
of the colonists he istued a writ exempting
Nathaniel Pope from mil tary service. Pope,
with nine of his servants, was freed from "til
watches & wardings, it from all attendance at
musters St trainings, & from being called out
from his house upon any march without hi}
consent."
Another indication of Pope's standing was
in 1644 vhen an expeditloD was fitting out to
deal with hostile Indians. Its leader was com
manded to take counsel with certain promi
nent men, among whom was Nathaniel Pope.
But Indian troubles were not all. By this
year Got. Calvert's popularity was waning.
Insurgency was showing in the Colony. Wcs
it for this reason that the Assembly was con
vened, not in the fort, nor yet at St. Maiys,
but "at Mr. Pope's house"?
iiuuigcuiy grew. nujutm i/fiuuu iuc, st.-u
fighting for Kent Island, turned many colonics
against Calvert. But the dramatic element
was supplied by another man. Richard In? le
was probably pretty much oi a pirate. But
he clamed that be and his armed ship w?re
honestly sailing under letters of marque when
he appeared in St. Mary» River one Autuim
day of 1644, and took part against Calvert. Tiie
attack was successful. St. Marys City was
taken and Gov Calvert fled to Virginia.
For two years Maryland was under irregular,
largely brigand, rule. Nathaniel Pope was now
active in behalf of the exiled Governor. Calvert
had taken refuge in the little town of Kecough
tan (now Hampton), Va. He was seeking to
raise forces in Maryland and Virginia for the
recovery of his loet Colony. Time after time
Pope traveled back and forth between St.
Marys and Kecoughtan. At last, in 1646, the
moment arrived. At the head of a strong
force, Calvert surprised and seized St. Marye
City. He found the Assembly, with the Acting
Governor, in full session, and captured thtm
all. He soon regained the entire Province.
One of the first acts of the reinstated Gov.
Calvert was to buy Nathaniel Pope's new houte.
Apparently a rather sudden affair. And it was
provided that the Governor was to allow Mr.
Pope a place "at the En de of the house to putt
his things in till Spring of the yeare that be
can Remove them."
That sale befuddled history. The Governor
probably did not more than get moved into
the house, in the short time he had yet to live.
And still, so potent is a great name that the
house has come down in the annals as the
"Calvert House." The site, still approximately
determinable, passes for that of the historic ^
home of the first Governor.
Now, an unfortunate incident in the career
of Nathaniel Pope. Even after Calvert's vie·
torious return, Kent Island kept muttering in·
subordination. The Governor again turned to
this man, "imploying him as agent'' to paciiy
the island. For after his return to St. Marys
a story grew that he had sought at Kent to
lead the islanders into a scheme of his own
involving disloyalty.
Gov. Calvert investigated the charge and
found it baseless. But, unfortunately, in this
1647, the Govern of died—and the story did
not. Nathaniel was hailed to court and was
ordered "into the sherifle's hands until be «
should putt in security to the valew of 10.000
pounds of tobacco." ''Into the sherifle's hands'*
likely meant only that; for, even up to this
time, there was probably no jail in St. Mary·
City. Ultimately Pope was acquitted.
Now the days of Washington's great-great
grandfather, as a Marylander were about over.
He «was planning to move with his family to
Virginia. That removal was to be historically
significant. In the American ancestry of
George Washington every forefather except
Pope was a Virginian. About 1650 he, too,
crossed the river into the Old Dominion.
Nathaniel Pope flourished in Virginia as In
Maryland, became a large land holder there
and was commissioned a lieutenant coloneL
After a while that daughter Ann met and mar- ·»
ried Col. John Washington. Col. Pope lived
long enough to behold their little son Lawrence,
the future grandfather of George Washington.
Then, in 1660, be died.
Drought Kills Duels
"THE drought conditions of the West hav#
taken heavy toll of the wild duck popula
tion through development of what is termed
Western sickness. The cause of the illness is
a bacterium known as Clostridium botulinum.
The bacteria thrive in some forms of decayed
vegetable matter made available to the ducka
in places of stagnant water and in mud floods.
Without adequate water, the ducks have taken
to these areas and have become infected by
the disease in great numbers. The only rem
edies are preventive, either the flooding ·{
the stagnant areas or a drying operation.
Sometimes the birds can be frightened away
by gunshot, but the result likely would be a
seeking out of similar conditions elsewhere.