A historical marker in the center of Chestertown boasts of Kent County's rich colonial history and commemorates the visits of the first president: "George Washington made eight known visits here between 1756 and 1793." Careful research reveals that the information is not wholly accurate. But it is true that Washington had a nearly lifelong acquaintance with this area.
In the 18th century, Kent County lay on one of the two main north-south travel routes through the Chesapeake region. One route, on the Western Shore, ran through Anne Arundel County, bypassing Annapolis, and then continued through Baltimore and around the top of the Bay. On the other route, travelers would board a ferryboat in Annapolis and cross the Bay to Rock Hall, proceed to Chestertown (where they often stopped for food, drink and lodging), and then continue through Georgetown and into Cecil County. The two routes converged near New Castle, Delaware, and continued on toward Philadelphia (then the leading city in the American colonies) and further north.
Tracing Washington's trips to Chestertown therefore means tracing his quest—and, of course, attainment—of prominence beyond his native province of Virginia. From his secluded country seat on the Potomac, he would repeatedly set out northwards in search of glory.
It is widely believed that George Washington's military career began during the French and Indian War. But in fact, it started two years before that war was officially declared. In the summer of 1754, Governor Robert Dinwiddie sent Washington, as lieutenant-colonel of militia, into the Ohio Country to remove the French by force. Young Washington's troops were attacked and defeated at Fort Necessity. Though off to a bad start, he was still optimistic about a military career; a year later, he accepted the command of the Virginia Regiment. And higher honors than these colonial appointments still beckoned: James MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn describe this period as Washington's "quest for a holy grail" in the form of a royal commission in the British army.
It is possible this quest brought Washington to Kent County for the first time. It was the winter of 1756, and young Colonel
Washington was on his way to Boston to meet with Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts. His diary places him in Bladensburg, Maryland, on February 4 and in Philadelphia on February 8. Some historians have speculated that those three lost days were spent in Annapolis and on the Eastern Shore, since after a later trip through Kent County, Washington stopped in Annapolis and then stayed in Bladensburg.
Regardless of how he got there, in Boston, Washington met with Governor Shirley, the senior officer of British forces in America, to take care of some military business and seek commissions for himself and his men in the British army. In numerous letters preceding the meeting, Washington asked for better supplies for his troops, with an emphasis on clothing. A royal commission could solve the problem. Although Governor Shirley found him impressive enough to grant him rank over a British captain, the main purpose of the visit failed: he did not give Washington or his men commissions in the British army.
There is a more certain early instance in which Washington passed through Kent County. A year after the Boston journey, Washington traveled to Philadelphia to meet with Virginia governor Lord Loudon and the governors of the other southern colonies. According to his diary, on February 15 Washington was in Annapolis and mentioned ferrying across the Potomac. He wrote, "Ditto at N. Town," on the nineteenth, indicating he had ferried to Kent County: "New Town" or "Newtown on Chester" was then the common name for Chestertown. His expense account for the trip also indicates that he spent ten shillings while in town, which probably indicates that he spent the night in a tavern here. Washington would reach Philadelphia perhaps two days later, three at the latest.
At Philadelphia, Washington delivered a memorial to John Campbell, Earl of Loudon, on the trials of the Virginia Regiment, pleading on behalf of his men for a commission.... Again, however, Washington bolstered his reputation but failed to secure his commission.
Washington's fifth visit to Chestertown was occasioned by the departure of his stepson, John "Jacky" Parke Custis, to be enrolled at King's College in New York (now Columbia University).... Washington stayed in Chestertown four days into his journey, on May 13. He had left Mount Vernon on May 10 and met Jacky at Mount Airy, the home of Benedict Calvert in Prince George's County, Maryland. (Jacky had arrived there two days earlier to visit with his fiancée, Nelly, who was Calvert's daughter.) On the second and third nights of his journey, Washington stayed in Annapolis with Governor Robert Eden, who then accompanied the men to Philadelphia to watch his horse race at the Jockey Club.
Washington, Custis and Eden took a two-and-a-half-hour ferry ride across the Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis to Rock Hall and then rode to what Washington now called in his diary "Chester Town." (The old name of "New Town" was by then used less frequently.)
Chestertown at this time was a thriving port of entry for the upper Eastern Shore, and many merchants could be found near the water. One such merchant was the governor's brother, Captain Thomas Eden, whose ship, the Annapolis, was there. That afternoon, Washington dined aboard Captain Eden's boat on the Chester River.
His next diary entry for that day, "Supped & lodgd at Mr Ringolds," has caused much local speculation. There were three different Ringgold households along Water Street, but the one where the men spent the evening was probably that of Thomas Ringgold V and his wife, Mary Galloway Ringgold—and what is now known as the Hynson-Ringgold House. Ringgold's father, who had died the year before, was a business acquaintance of both Washington and Eden, and he had stayed overnight at Mount Vernon in 1771 (accompanied by Samuel Galloway, who was Mary's father and the elder Ringgold's business partner in slave-trading and other pursuits).
Washington, Custis and Eden left Chestertown the next day, continuing their leisurely trip only as far as Georgetown, a mere sixteen miles away. After a night visiting Daniel Charles Heath, (nephew of Daniel Dulany, Jr., a prominent Maryland lawyer and friend of Governor Eden), they continued on into Delaware and Pennsylvania. Washington would take the Western Shore route on his return to Virginia.
Washington's journeys to and from the first Continental Congress in 1774 were the occasions of his sixth and seventh visits, when he and Patrick Henry dined and lodged in Chestertown.Although the Chestertown historical marker claims the route to be "the most traveled highway situated between north and south in the Revolutionary Period," Washington did not pass through once during the war itself.
While no written response from Washington survives, [WC founder] William Smith must have received word that the great man would return to Kent County, for he postponed the visitation ceremonies until May 20—the day Washington passed through on his journey back to Mount Vernon. Washington apparently considered the act of affixing his name to the list of board of visitors and governors truly "trifling," because he never once mentioned it in his letters or diaries. On the other hand, Smith and his infant college would never stop mentioning it.
George Washington's next experience with Kent County would be more peculiar than pleasurable. In 1791, having completed a tour of the Northeast, Washington set out on a Southern Tour as an opportunity to meet citizens south of Mount Vernon. Before the trip began, Washington had to travel from Philadelphia to his Potomac estate. He ended up taking his old route, passing through Chestertown for the first time as president. The entourage that accompanied him was likely the largest he had ever brought through Kent County. (After all, he never did bring the Continental Army). Washington's diary states, "In this tour, I was accompanied by Major Jackson, my equipage, & attendance consisted of a Charriot & four horses drove in hand—a light baggage wagon and two horses—four saddle horses beside a led one for myself and fi ve—to wit—my Valet de Chambre, two footmen, Coachman & postilion."
Washington left Philadelphia in the late morning of March 21. He stopped in Chester, Pennsylvania, and then Wilmington the next day. Washington had intended to go down the Western Shore of Maryland to Baltimore but on the way to Wilmington found "the Roads very heavy—and receiving unfavorable Accts. of those between this place and Baltimore, determined to cross the Bay by the way of Rockhall." Having never had much trouble on the water, Washington knew little of what the Chesapeake had in store for him this time.
On Wednesday, March 23, Washington reached Chestertown. He dined and lodged at Worrell's Tavern, which stood on the corner of Cannon and Queen Streets. (The building was torn down around 1900.) Two of his horses had fallen ill: his riding horse lost its appetite and another suffered "stiffness in all his limbs." While the president enjoyed himself, he sent one of his many servants ahead to Rock Hall to ready boats for departure at nine o'clock the next morning. Even the Revolutionary War naval veteran and Chestertown resident Captain James Nicholson went to Rock Hall to prepare for Washington's boat journey.
The next morning Washington left town at six o'clock, rode for three hours to Rock Hall and ate breakfast there. A little after nine o'clock, the group hoped to leave but were severely delayed "for want of contrivance." Of the "two Boats in aid of the two Ferry Boats," not one was large enough to accommodate all of Washington's entourage and luggage. As it was getting late in the afternoon, Washington decided to fi ll the largest boat with as much as he could. He had to leave a servant and two horses behind when he fi nally departed at three o'clock.
But the delay was nothing compared to the events of the next twenty-four hours.
Washington's usually laconic diary becomes effusive, even melodramatic, in describing his crossing of the Chesapeake.
The wind on the Bay was light until five o'clock, when it turned "stark calm" for another hour. As the sun was setting, a southwesterly wind picked up, slowly becoming a gale, and Washington's life was "in imminent danger, from the unskillfulness of the hands, and the dulness of [the boat's] sailing." At eight o'clock Washington's boat reached the mouth of the Severn River, leading to Annapolis, but his luck was not getting any better. It was dark, and thanks to "the ignorance of the People on board, with respect to navigation," the vessel ran aground on Greenbury Point. "With much exertion and difficulty," the boat got off, only to sail deeper into the darkness and gathering storm.
Washington describes the night as "immensely dark with heavy and variable squals of wind—constant lightning & tremendous thunder" made worse by the crew "having no knowledge of the Channel." The confl uence of these factors grounded the ship again at Horne's Point. "Not knowing where [he] remained, not knowing what might happen," President Washington—the triumphant general who had brought the British war machine to its knees—nearly surrendered to a Maryland waterway.
The 59-year-old president spent the night in his "Great Coat & Boots, in a birth not long enough for me by the head, & much cramped." His servants, the crew and his horses spent the night without cover stuck in the Severn riverbed.
The boat was still stuck when the sun came up the next morning. Another vessel sailed by and picked up Washington and his baggage. He left his coachman behind to tend his horses and carriage until he could send another vessel to fetch them. Maryland Governor John Eager Howard honored Washington with parties and dinners in Annapolis to help him recover. Howard had actually set out the night before to meet Washington in Rock Hall but turned back due to the storm.
Rumors of Washington's ordeal circulated throughout tidewater Maryland. In its next issue, the Maryland Gazette, a popular Maryland newspaper, ran the story of "the chief treasure of America" and his Chesapeake adventure.
After an experience like that, why would Washington ever cross the Bay again? Royal commissions? Acts of Parliament? Political instabilities? No. Wild horses couldn't drag Washington back to the Eastern Shore.
John R. Bohrer will graduate in May with a degree in political science and economics.
300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, Maryland 21620 | 410-778-2800 | 800-422-1782