PA^B "ALL OF RE '\Jt \i*>0 •Spring 1997 M A D Historical Magazine Mil \ 1730 1880 \^. 4-%^ i 1 TJ!*f>n v r r&m THE MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY Founded 1844 Dennis A. Fiori, Director The Maryland Historical Magazine Robert I. Cottom, Editor Patricia Dockman Anderson, Associate Editor Donna B. Shear, Managing Editor Jeff Goldman, Photographer Angela Anthony, Robin Donaldson Coblentz, Christopher T.George, Jane Gushing Lange, and Robert W. Schoeberlein, Editorial Associates Regional Editors John B. Wiseman, Frostburg State University Jane G. Sween, Montgomery Gounty Historical Society Pegram Johnson III, Accoceek, Maryland Acting as an editorial board, the Publications Committee of the Maryland Historical Society oversees and supports the magazine staff. Members of the committee are: John W. Mitchell, Upper Marlboro; Trustee/Ghair Jean H. Baker, Goucher Gollege James H. Bready, Baltimore Sun Robert J. Brugger, The Johns Hopkins University Press Lois Green Garr, St. Mary's Gity Gommission Toby L. Ditz, The Johns Hopkins University Dennis A. Fiori, Maryland Historical Society, ex-officio David G. Fogle, University of Maryland Jack G. Goellner, Baltimore Averil Kadis, Enoch Pratt Free Library Roland G. McGonnell, Morgan State University Norvell E. Miller III, Baltimore Richard Striner, Washington Gollege John G. Van Osdell, Towson State University Alan R. Walden, WBAL, Baltimore Brian Weese, Bibelot, Inc., Pikesville Members Emeritus John Higham, The Johns Hopkins University Samuel Hopkins, Baltimore Gharles McG. Mathias, Ghevy Ghase The views and conclusions expressed in this magazine are those of the authors. The editors are responsible for the decision to make them public. ISSN 0025-4258 © 1997 by the Maryland Historical Society. Published as a benefit of membership in the Maryland Historical Society in March, June, September, and December. Articles appearing in this journal are abstracted and indexed in Historical Abstracts and/or America: History and Life. Second class postage paid at Baltimore, Maryland and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: please send address changes to the Maryland Historical Society, 201 West Monument Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201. Composed by Publishing Concepts, Baltimore, Maryland, and printed in the USA by The Sheridan Press, Hanover, Pennsylvania 17331. Individual subscriptions are $30.00. (Membership in the Society with full benefits is $40.00.) Institutional subscriptions are $24.00 per year, prepaid. MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY 201 WEST MONUMENT STREET BALTIMORE MARYLAND 21201 MARYLAND^ ^D i Historical Magazinel m 27 m? VOLUME 92, i (SPRING 1997) I MARYLAND ST* 1 __ STATE ARCHIVES CONTENTS Neither Separate Nor Equal: Foreshadowing Brown in Baltimore County, 1935-1937 5 W. EDWARD ORSER The Reading Habits of Maryland's Planter Gentry, 1718-1747 37 CARLE.GARRIGUSJR. The NewCastle & Frenchtown Turnpike & Railroad Company 55 EDWARD ZERIN Portfolio: Weaver's "Birds-Eye Views" of Baltimore 83 The8thNewYorkHeavyArtilleryinBaltimore, 1862-1864 93 KATHRYNW.LERCH Book Reviews 119 Abbot, ed.. The Papers of George Washington, Volume 9, January, 1772-March, 1774 and Volume 10, March 1774-June, 1775>by Orlando RidoutV Hoffman and Albert, eds.. The Transforming Hand of Revolution: Reconsidering the American Revolution as a Social Movement, by Brendan McConville Blumgart, ed., At the Head of the Bay: A Cultural and Architectural History of Cecil County, Maryland, by Christopher Weeks YamimndMetheny, eds.. Landscape Archaeology: Reading and Interpreting the American Historical Landscape, by Barbara Wells Sarudy Daniel, Jimmie Foxx: Baseball Hall ofFamer, 1907-1967, by James H. Bready Hearn, Six Years of Hell: Harpers Ferry During the Civil War, by Dennis E. Frye Luraghi, A History of the Confederate Navy, by Henry S. Morgan Books in Brief 131 Notices 132 Maryland Picture Puzzle 134 Cover: Baltimore's Sesquicentennial Photograph of Howard Street looking south from Baltimore Street in 1880 showing one often arches raised in celebration of the city's first charter granted in August 1729 and its settlement in 1730. Patriotic banners, bunting, flags, and seals adorned public buildings, businesses, and tens of thousands of private homes. The highlight of the festivities was a parade of more than thirty thousand people and two thousand vehicles. This year the city once again celebrates an anniversary. On December 31, 1796, the Maryland legislature passed a law converting Baltimore Town to Baltimore City that went into effect the following year. The Maryland Historical Magazine is proud to recognize Baltimore's bicentennial. P.D.A./A.A. Editor's Notebook Lighten Up Recently, in the Princeton Alumni Weekly, distinguished historian James M. McPherson asked "What's the matter with history?" With a logic we should per- haps call McPhersonian because he has used it so often and so well, the author of several important works on the Civil War, most notably Battle Cry of Freedom, cut the question several ways and even threw in some quantitative analysis. He noted the wide, apparently cultural, gap between professional historians—generally aca- demics—and well-meaning but perhaps not-so-thorough amateurs, that is, non- academics. The first group writes for colleagues who can bestow professional ap- proval and for a captive audience of students. The latter group writes for educated men and women who want to know more about history but are put off by an academic style that is frequently analytical and too often over-specialized for a general readership. What is wrong with history, McPherson concluded, is that the professional historical community is not fulfilling its role of communicating, via cogent, literate, narrative synthesis, with a public hungry for well-written history. Academic culture in fact frowns on the very possibility. McPherson is certainly right about that: history would be far more appeal- ing if more of it were written as entertaining narrative. One need look no farther than the successes of Bruce Catton, Shelby Foote, and Barbara Tuchman, and the 600,000 copies sold (so far) of McPherson's own Battle Cry of Freedom. But the unwillingness of professional historians to write popular narrative is not the only thing wrong with history at the end of the twentieth century. A second flaw is that so much recent history is written not with a pen but with a vengeful sword. From the time I first sat in this chair last fall and looked through the amassed submissions to this magazine, most from professionals, I have been overwhelmed by the sense of righteous anger affecting the historical community. For many, history is apparently atrocity leavened with suffering and unfairness. Oh, of course there is the occasional heroic struggle against oppression that is usually beaten down by overwhelming odds, but all in all things have been horrible since the beginning of time. The apotheosis of local negativism came with a collection of papers presented at a Baltimore history conference last fall whose theme was "Work- ing through Diversity" and which was intended to be part of the city's bicentennial celebration. One pathetic optimist thought the building of the city's public squares might be interesting, but he was swamped by accounts of racism, gender issues, political infighting, class warfare, and the fall of the school system. Righteousness is for the most part a fine thing for those who can afford it, but it quickly becomes tiresome. As it applies to redressing historical wrongs via angry it quickly becomes tiresome. As it applies to redressing historical wrongs via angry books and articles, we on the editorial staff think we speak for a large number of readers in saying: Enough. We know that life was not good for Native Americans, indentured servants, slaves, most immigrants to the United States, most women, or most men. We are more than sufficiently aware that selfishness, cruelty, callous- ness, exploitation, small-mindedness and various other human and societal short- comings did not begin in the 1980s. It seems, therefore, that our first editorial duty to the readership of this magazine is to make the following call to writers: What we want in this journal (and on bookstore shelves) is history that has more than one dimension. We want evidence of intellect, clear thinking, and a sense of style. A lighter spirit would be nice, even from time to time a sense of humor (though these days only the brave should try it). We prefer information to indoctrination. We want to move toward an understanding of events, and we want a sense of perspective, the discipline's most valuable gift. These are some of the elements of good history. If you write it, we will applaud. The editorship of this venerable journal brings with it honor and humility in equal measure, for the traditions and standards of the Maryland Historical Soci- ety are second to none. With profound gratitude to those who have come before, and especially to my predecessor, Ernest L. Scott, a devoted friend to all who love books and good writing, we welcome you to Volume 92. R.I.C. Clarification In the fall issue of this journal, book reviewer Jennifer Bryan wondered in print why passages of Bruce A. Ragsdale's recent A Planter's Republic closely re- sembled parts of her own master's thesis but concluded that it was probably the result of using identical examples from a limited field. Dr. Ragsdale has written to object that this sounds to him like a suggestion that he plagiarized Ms. Bryan's thesis, and to say that this portion of his work derived from a doctoral dissertation completed five years prior to hers. He sent along the relevant portions as proof. The editors would like to assure Dr. Ragsdale and our readers that we did not intend and would not permit a casual suggestion of plagiarism. Ms. Bryan did not write one. Unaware of Dr. Ragsdale's dissertation, she naturally questioned the resemblance, then attributed it to coincidence, something that has happened in the past and will again in the future as fields with limited evidentiary sources are more closely scrutinized.