ARYLAND AZIN N Published Quarterly by the Maryland Historical Society SUMMER 1976 Vol. 71, No. 2 BOARD OF EDITORS JOSEPH L. ARNOLD, University of Maryland, Baltimore County JEAN BAKER, Goucher College GARY BROWNE, Wayne State University JOSEPH W. COX, Towson State College CURTIS CARROLL DAVIS, Baltimore RICHARD R. DUNCAN. Georgetown University RONALD HOFFMAN, University of Maryland, College Park H. H. WALKER LEWIS, Baltimore EDWARD C. PAPENFUSE, Hall of Records BENJAMIN QUARLES, Morgan State College JOHN B. BOLES. Editor, Towson State College NANCY G. BOLES, Assistant Editor RICHARD J. COX, Manuscripts MARY K. MEYER, Genealogy MARY KATHLEEN THOMSEN, Graphics FORMER EDITORS WILLIAM HAND BROWNE, 1906-1909 LOUIS H, DIELMAN, 1910-1937 JAMES W. FOSTER, 1938-1949, 1950-1951 HARRY AMMON, 1950 FRED SHELLEY, 1951-1955 FRANCIS C. HABER, 1955-1958 RICHARD WALSH, 1958-1967 RICHARD R. DUNCAN, 1967-1974 P. WILLIAM FILBY, Director ROMAINE S. SOMERVILLE, Assistant Director The Maryland Historical Magazine is published quarterly by the Maryland Historical Society, 201 W. Monument Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201. Contributions and correspondence relating to articles, book reviews, and any other editorial matters should be addressed to the Editor in care of the Society. All contributions should be submitted in duplicate, double-spaced, and consistent with the form out- lined in A Manual of Style (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969). The Maryland Historical Society disclaims responsibility for statements made by contributors. Composed and printed at Waverly Press. Inc., Baltimore, Maryland 21202. Second-class postage paid at Baltimore, Maryland. © 1976, Maryland Historical Society. K^A ^ 5^'l-2tSZ. I HALL OF RECORDS LIBRARY MARYLAND "^ TSTOBTr/^frQUS, MARYLAND No. 2 L\J( IS Summer 1976 Ralph B. Levering John Hanson, Public Servant 113 James Haw The Patronage Follies: Bennet Allen, John Morton Jordan, and the Fall of Horatio Sharpe 134 Jean H. Vivian The Poll Tax Controversy in Maryland, 1770-76: A Case of Taxation With Representation 151 Anne Y. Zimmer The "Paper War" in Maryland, 1772-73: The Paca- Chase Political Philosophy Tested 177 Michael D. Clark Jonathan Boucher and the Toleration of Roman Cathol- ics in Maryland 194 Dale J. Schmitt The Capture of Colonel Moses Rawlings 205 John M. Luykx Fighting for Food: British Foraging Operations at St. George's Island 212 Edward C. Papenfuse An Undelivered Defense of a Winning Cause: Charles Carroll of Carrollton's "Remarks on the Proposed Federal Constitution" 220 Manuscript Notes Richard J. Cox A Checklist of Revolutionary War Manuscript Collections 252 Reviews of Recent Books Parker and Urness, The American Revolution: A Heritage of Change, and Kegan, Leadership in the American Revolution, by James Kirby Martin • Davis, The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770-1823, by Michael Mullin • Shaw, The Character of John Adams, by Constance B. Schulz • Lopez and Herbert, The Private Franklin, The Man and His Family, by Edwin Wolf 2nd • Ketchum, Decisive Day: The Battle for Bunker Hill, and Elting, The Battle of Bunker's Hill, by Paul David Nelson • Papenfuse, The Pursuit of Profit: The Annapolis Merchants in the Era of the American Revolution, by Norman K. Risjord • Earle, The Evolution of a Tidewater Settlement System: All Hallow's Parish, Maryland, 1650-1783, by Paul G. E. Clemens • Beitzell, St. Mary's County, Maryland in the American Revolution: Calendar of Events, by Bayly Ellen Marks • Yazawa, ed., Representative Government and the Revolution: The Maryland Constitutional Crisis of 1787, by John C. Van Home 264 Book Notes 280 Notes and Queries 282 THE EDITOR'S Ef Because the bicentennial craze is threatening to get out of hand, it is with some trepidation that this issue offers a spate of articles on the era of the Revolu- tion. Perhaps some thoughtful essays will be found refreshing. Yet even the more ephemeral of our bicentennial celebrations speak to a deep-seated urge to com- memorate our national heritage. Most citizens take pride in our past accomplish- ments, and even those more critical of our past and present performance as a nation find within our announced intentions—as summarized in the opening para- graphs of the Declaration of Independence—the grounds for their criticism. There is a national desire to rediscover a sense of purpose, a destiny higher than military and political shortsightedness. The public mood seems to be one of an- ticipation, waiting for a leader who can reconcile and inspire the people. In this period of concern about both the present and the next century, many seek to find in our history a sense of worth and a national agenda for the future. But this well- meaning awakening to the value of knowing from whence we came is undercut by the shocking historical ignorance of a large proportion of the public. A recent New York Times study showed that college freshmen are woefully deficient in their knowledge of United States history. The February Gallup poll, reporting how Americans rated the "great" presidents, suggests a staggering public ignorance. There are no doubt many causes for our historical illiteracy—the fault of the schools and the family quickly comes to mind. Moreover, few scholars today write for the public, and the primitive state of book distribution by the university presses prevents the educated layman from even seeing many quality publica- tions. The most widely available history is often at a level of popularization that does little credit to the average reader. Part of the task of the Maryland Histori- cal Society is to introduce the larger public—from school children to senior citi- zens—to the vitality of our past. The bicentennial exhibit, for example, is a vivid portrayal of selected aspects of life in the eighteenth century. The articles in this magazine attempt to illuminate the state's past, and the book reviews serve as a Baedeker for the traveler through the pages of history. We hope to make the Maryland Historical Magazine live up to its purposes, and we solicit your sug- gestions and support. This nation and all its people have a heritage too valuable to lose through neglect. The Maryland Historical Society wants to help us collec- tively understand and live up to the promises declared 200 years ago. JOHN B. BOLES M^YMMD HCENTHWA aSvMtsaoN This special enlarged issue is made possible by a grant from the Maryland Bicentennial Commission. The Editor, the Maryland Historical Society, and the readers extend their appreciation to the Commission for its sup- port of historical scholarship and publishing. JOHN HANSON, PUBLIC SERVANT RALPH B. LEVERING JOHN HANSON IS REMEMBERED TODAY LARGELY BECAUSE HE SERVED AS "PRESIDENT of the United States in Congress Assembled" from November 1781 until November 1782. Marylanders are aware of the John Hanson Highway between Washington and Annapolis, and some also know that Hanson and Charles Carroll of Carrollton are the two Marylanders honored by statues in the Capitol in Washington; yet most know little, if anything, about the man. Hanson, in fact, did serve the first full term as president of Congress under the Articles of Confederation and is the only Marylander ever to serve in the highest office of the United States. Unfortunately, so much attention focused on the honor of his service as presiding officer of the Continental Congress has resulted in too little attention being devoted to understanding his earlier career in provincial politics and in the revolutionary movement in Maryland. This essay seeks not only to place Hanson's life in better perspective, but, by so doing, also to contribute to an understanding of how the American Revolution unfolded in Maryland and what it meant to those who experienced it. At the time of John Hanson's birth in 1721, his family had already risen to a position of wealth and prominence in the Charles County gentry.' It was a classic American success story: Hanson's grandfather, Col. John Hanson, was an orphan who came as a youth to the Swedish settlement on the Delaware in the 1640s and proceeded to Maryland about a decade later. By the 1670s he was a respected citizen of the rapidly developing area around Port Tobacco in Charles County. He served as executor of many estates, bought land whenever possible, and fathered seven children, most of whom married well and had large families of their own. Through marriage the Hansons became related to the Briscoes, the Jenifers, the Stones, and other prominent families in southern Maryland. Dr. Ralph B. Levering is an assistant professor of history at Western Maryland College. 1. See Harry Wright Newman, Charles County Gentry (Baltimore, 1971), pp. 219-44. A grant from the Maryland Bicentennial Commission helped to defray the travel and other expenses incurred in researching and writing this essay. I also appreciate the assistance of librarians and archivists at Western Maryland College, the Maryland Historical Society, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the American Swedish Historical Museum, and the Hall of Records in Annapolis. I especially wish to thank Mr. David Wise for providing unprocessed data from the Legislative History Project of the Hall of Records, and Judge Edward S. Delaplaine of Frederick for sending me materials he has written about Hanson. This article was published in a limited edition as a pamphlet by Western Maryland College. 113 MARYLAND HISTORICAL MAGAZINE VOL. 71, No. 2, SUMMER 1976 114 MARYLAND HISTORICAL MAGAZINE Colonel Hanson's youngest son, Samuel, married Elizabeth Story about 1706. The seventh of their eleven children, John, was born on the family plantation of Mulberry Grove on April 13, 1721, "about 2 or 3 in ye afternoon."2 Very little is known about John Hanson's early life. Because of his known competence in writing and bookkeeping as a young adult, one can infer that he received instruction from private tutors, as was the custom among well-to-do families.