History, DE, Sussex, County The History of Sussex County [PHOTO] Photo courtesy of Nick Varrato, Jr. 1890's era political gathering in Cherry Lane behind the Sussex County Courthouse By Dick Carter Of the one thousand copies of this first permanent edition of "The History of Sussex County," this copy is number.... 725 Page 1 of 198 History, DE, Sussex, County The History of Sussex County Written and edited By Dick Carter © 1976 Community Newspaper Corp. the permanent edition This history of Sussex County first appeared as a special bicentennial supplement to the July I, 1976 issues of THE DELMARVA NEWS and THE DELAWARE COAST PRESS. At that time, it existed only in newsprint form. In the months since the history first appeared, however, the response from the general public has been such that I and my employers at Community Newspapers, Inc., have decided to publish this permanent, limited edition of one thousand copies for those readers who wish to own a copy of the history in more durable form than its original newspaper version. In publishing the history in permanent form; we realize that we owe much to the nine Sussex County firms and organizations who sponsored the original printing. We also feel that their original sponsoring pages are an integral part of the whole. For that reason, those pages are a part of this edition as they were of the original. Dick Carter November, 1976 Page 2 of 198 History, DE, Sussex, County Table of Contents Preface...........................................................................5 The Age of Exploration...........................................................11 De La Warr never saw Delaware....................................................12 The Calverts file a claim........................................................15 Penn and the Three Lower Counties................................................20 The Great Boundary Dispute.......................................................22 Society Blossoms in pre-Revolutionary Sussex.....................................26 1776.............................................................................32 Peace Comes to the Delaware State................................................50 Sussex County-the first county of the "First State"..............................52 New County Seat..................................................................54 Bombs over Lewes.................................................................63 Between Wars.....................................................................68 Civil War........................................................................81 Towards the present..............................................................86 Sussex has been rural and agricultural through most of its history...............87 Sussex had been in decline for years when the railroads arrived..................97 In 1836, John M_ Clayton turned his attention to the question of railroads...101 Just when things were looking their worst.......................................104 The Broiler: Sussex County's "Golden Egg".......................................108 The Hundreds of Sussex County...................................................115 Cedar Creek.....................................................................126 Indian River....................................................................130 Dagsborough and Baltimore.......................................................135 Georgetown - the county seat....................................................146 Western Sussex..................................................................151 Northwest Fork..................................................................153 Seaford.........................................................................156 Little Creek....................................................................159 Broad Creek.....................................................................161 Gumborough......................................................................163 Twenty-four Sussex Countians have held Delaware's highest office................167 Daniel Rogers................................................................167 Col. David Hall..............................................................167 Col. Nathaniel Mitchell......................................................168 Joseph Haslet................................................................168 Daniel Rodney................................................................168 John Collins.................................................................169 Caleb Rodney.................................................................169 Samuel Paynter...............................................................170 Charles Polk.................................................................170 David Hazzard................................................................171 William B. Cooper............................................................172 Dr. Joseph Maull.............................................................172 William H. Ross..............................................................172 Peter F. Causey..............................................................172 Dr. William Burton...........................................................173 William Cannon...............................................................174 Dr. Gove Saulsbury...........................................................175 James Ponder.................................................................175 Page 3 of 198 History, DE, Sussex, County Charles C. Stockley..........................................................176 Joshua H. Marvil.............................................................176 Ebe W. Tunnell...............................................................178 Simeon S. Penniwell..........................................................178 John G. Townsend, Jr.........................................................179 Albert N. Carvel.............................................................181 Sussex has had its share of interesting characters..............................182 Helmanus Wiltbank............................................................182 Captain Thomas Fenwick.......................................................182 Rev. Matthew Wilson..........................................................183 General John Dagworthy.......................................................183 Colonel John Jones...........................................................184 William Hill Wells...........................................................185 Outerbridge Horsey...........................................................186 Russell Hobbs................................................................188 General Alfred T. A. Torbert.................................................189 Trusten Polk.................................................................189 Eugene Cooper................................................................190 Paynter Frame................................................................190 Chief William Russell Clark..................................................191 Mary Ann Sorden Stuart.......................................................192 Reference Notes.................................................................194 Chapter One..................................................................194 Chapter Two..................................................................194 Chapter Three................................................................194 Chapters Four and Five.......................................................194 Chapter Six..................................................................195 Chapter Seven................................................................195 Chapter Eight................................................................195 Chapter Nine.................................................................195 Chapter Ten..................................................................196 Chapter Eleven...............................................................196 Chapters Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen.............................196 Chapters Sixteen and Seventeen...............................................197 The Hundreds.................................................................197 Page 4 of 198 History, DE, Sussex, County Preface It has been a rare pleasure, and an immense pain as well, to prepare "The History of Sussex County" for publication in the Delmarva News and Delaware Coast Press. The project began in August of last year when my employers asked me - in all innocence, it should be noted - to write a history of the county. I suspect that they had no idea what their request entailed. I wasn’t in much better shape myself. although I thought even then that it was a pretty sizable request. But after months of research and writing and editing and laying out, the history is finished. Most readers conversant with the history of the county will realize that the work which follows contains little original research. That was not my objective. I sought, rather, to compile much of the vast body of writing which has been done on Sussex County and to distill it into concise and easily readable form, thus making the county’s past accessible to the average citizen. In preparing the history, I received assistance from many fine amateur Sussex County historians. I will not attempt