The Shemwell Family

The Great Fire of 1882 - Newspaper Series on the 1882 Fire Submitted by Rita Bergendahl Date: 1882-03-07 Paper: Baltimore Sun A MARYLAND VILLAGE IN ASHES. Burning of Prince Frederick, Calvert County - Fourteen Buildings Destroyed - Courthouse and Methodist Church in Ruins - Valuable Records Gone - Loss $50,000. [Reported for the Baltimore Sun] The village of Prince Frederick, the county seat of Calvert county, Md., was nearly destroyed by fire last Friday evening, and of eighteen buildings of different descriptions in the place only three remain, besides a log jail. Among the burned buildings were a new Methodist church and parsonage, the courthouse, the Brentford House hotel, the store of J. W. Shemwell & Bro., the law offices of Jos. A. Wilson, John P. Briscoe and John B. Gray, and the dwelling of S. R. King. News of the conflagration did not reach Baltimore until yesterday morning, as there was no mail connection sooner, and that section of the State has no telegraph communications. The steamer Wenonah, of the Weems Line, from the Patuxent route, arrived last evening at Light street with a number of Calvert county passengers, several of which were witnesses of the burning of Prince Frederick. From these and from Mr. Thomas B. Gourley, purser of the Wenonah, a statement of the disaster was obtained. The fire started with the Methodist Church, Rev. J. P. Wilson, pastor. The edifice, a neat structure of wood, was to have been dedicated last Sunday, and workmen were putting the finishing touches on the interior, the pastor being also present. It is said that a child, son of the minister, playing outside with matches among some shavings, accidentally started the fire, and as a high north-west wind was blowing, the flames spread rapidly, and in an incredibly short space of time nearly the entire village was laid in ashes. The Methodist Episcopal parsonage adjoining the new church, and occupied by Rev. Mr. Wilson and family, was much destroyed, and the occupants saved nothing, not even their wearing apparel. Next the wind carried burning shingles a quarter of a mile distant to the dwelling occupied by Mr. S. R. King, which was burned. Mr. King lost everything, including a sum of money. The fire then became general, involving the hotel, courthouse, law offices, Journal newspaper office, storehouses of Shemwell & Bro., &c. In an hour and a-half, or by dusk, the place was in ashes except the jail, which is a log structure in rear of the courthouse, the dwellings of Mrs. Dowell and Mr. Shemwell, and an old house built by Judge Magruder. Mr. Somerville Sollers, clerk of the county court, was in his office in the courthouse, and saved some papers, but with these exceptions all the county records were lost. Every book and paper in the county commissioners office and in the office of the register of wills were burned up. In the clerk's office all the original papers were lost, and a great many records, running as far back as 1650, and many papers of great interest raising to the early history of the county. These records and papers were invaluable, and their loss will cause inconveniences and expense that will be felt for many years. The courthouse was a brick structure, build in 1818 to replace one that stood on the river bank and was burned by the British in 1813, after the records had been removed by the county authorities, however. The Brentford House, the hotel that was burned, was build a dozen years ago by Judge Daniel R, Magruder, at a cost of about $30,000, and it was the finest hotel in Southern Maryland. It was named for Judges Brent and Ford, who were the association of Judge Magruder on the bench, Mrs. Johnson, who had charge of the hotel, lost a great many things. Rev. J. H. Chesley, rector of St. Paul's P. E. parish, who boarded at the hotel, lost clothing and his entire library, a most serious mishap to him, as he cannot replace it without assistance. The other boarders, ??? Mr. Somerville Sollers and wife, Miss Sollers, Mrs. R. D. Sollers and Mr. John B. Gray, all met with serious losses. It was stated that Mrs. Somerville Sollers had $11,000 in bonds burned up with her effect. It was understood there was an insurance of $7,500 on the hotel, but none on the furniture. Messrs. Wilson, Briscoe and Gray lost very valuable law books and private papers in the destruction of their offices. Mr. Briscoe estimates his loss at $1,000 in law books and office, and he had a $700 piano burned up in the hotel, where he had boarded until recently. There was an insurance of $275 on the Journal building, but none upon press, type, etc. Messrs. Parran & Bolters, proprietors of the Journal, will at once proceed to re-establish the paper with new type and press, and will send out as quickly as possible, as they say, a better paper than the old one. Messrs. J. W. Shemwell & Bro. lost their entire stock of goods, but the loss is covered by an insurance of $4,000 in a Montgomery county and in a Baltimore office. A dog much prized by Mr. Shemwell ran back into the burning storehouse after being rescued, and the animal was burned up. The new Methodist Church cost $1,500. The home occupied by Mr. King and owned by Judge Magruder was valued at $2,000. Mr. Jos. A. Wilson loses $1,000. The jail made a narrow escape from destruction. The only prisoner was liberated and assisted the citizens at the fire. Miss Edith Dowell, postmistress, saved the stamps and postal cards and a sewing machine from the postoffice. The loss by the fire is estimated at $50,000, and is a calamity from which Prince Frederick will not emerge for a long time to come. Senator Bond, of Calvert, who came to Baltimore last evening from the scene of destruction, said the county commissioners met yesterday to take steps for securing courthouse and record office room. A new courthouse will be built, but it will be next to impossible to carry on the business until the assessment and other papers are supplied. He said the people could not recover easily from such a disaster, and Prince Frederick will not soon have another fine hotel. Shemwell & Bro. will go on with their business in other quarters in the village. On Sunday county people from many miles around visited the scene of destruction and carried home relics. Senator Bond says pieces of partly burned paper were found four miles from the place, where the high wind had carried them. Melted type metal ran out into the street from the newspaper office. Rev. Mr. Wilson and family came to Baltimore last evening. They have the sympathy of the people of Calvert in their distress. The Calvert Journal dated last Saturday was issued on Friday before the fire, and was mailed to subscribers. Prince Frederick, like many country towns, was built all on one road. It is 23 miles from Drum Point, Calvert county, and 20 miles from Friendship, on the border between Calvert and Anne Arundel, and is on the plateau between the Chesapeake bay and the Patuxent river, and four miles from each, entering from the north. The first building on the left side of the road is Dowell's residence, then Shamwell's, both of which escaped. On the same side, in the order named, were the old Calvert County Journal office, Joseph A. Wilson's law office, the new Journal office, Shamwell's store, a shoe store, John P. Briscoe's law office, John T. Gray's law office, the hotel and outbuildings, and on the extreme south the Magruder estate of 140 acres, tenanted by Silas King. On the right-hand side, coming from the north, the first building was the new Methodist Church, where the fire began. It was opposite the old Calvert County Journal office, adjoining it the parsonage, and to the south was the courthouse. Back of the courthouse, and removed from the public street, was the jail, which escaped. The northwest wind, it will be seen, could not have done otherwise than cause a dreadful havoc under these circumstances, and owing to the inflammable nature of the buildings. A careful count of buildings and outbuildings foots up fourteen destroyed. Judge Magruder, who resides in Annapolis, comes in for a large amount of sympathy, as he is the heaviest loser. Date: 1882-03-11 Paper: Baltimore Sun THE RECENT FIRE AT PRINCE FREDERICK - In the Supplement of today's issue will be found a graphic and interesting description of the scene of the recent disastrous fire at Prince Frederick, Calvert county, Md., with further details confirming in most particulars the account already published in THE SUN. Apart from the general interest attaching to the description of a disaster which is very serious moment to the people of Calvert county, and in some respects to the people of every section of the State, on fact of no little importance to the community has been developed by thorough investigation and inquiry It was intimated through a paper in this city that the Methodist church, from which the flames were communicated to the other buildings, was fired by white persons to prevent the use of the edifice by the colored people of the vicinity. This suggestion is proved to be utterly without foundation, and is universally repudiated by people of shades of political opinion in the neighborhood. The idea is one that probably would never have occurred to any mind not afflicted with a chronic and constitutional tendency to the stirring up and perpetuation of strife for partisan purposes; and it is surprising that at this late day there should be an attempt to revive these appeals to passion and prejudice which darkened and disfigured the national history after the close of our civil strife. Date: 1882-03-11 Paper: Baltimore Sun - Supplement THE FIRE AT PRINCE FREDERICK, MD (Special Correspondence of the Baltimore Sun.) PRINCE FREDERICK, CALVERT CO., MD., March 9, 1882 Ruins of the Burned Village - Rapid Progress of the Fire - A Scene of Desolation - Heavy Losses - Families Homeless - Destruction of Colonial Records. The scene of desolation presented by this ruined village is difficult of description. The tall chimneys of the burnt houses stand like sentinels along the roadsides. The fences are burned in many places, showing that the fire ran up the road in that way for some distance. The effect of the great heat during the burning is seen on every hand. Trees standing in the street near the near the houses are in many instances badly burned, and several large locust trees were burned, and several large locust trees were burned through. It is a remarkable fact that all the houses were burning simultaneously, and that the whole conflagration did not last over an hour and ten minutes. The striking sight was presented to the bewildered villagers of their homes burning, not by piecemeal, but all at once. Furniture and articles carried from a house in flames to a supposed place of safety were in a few minutes consumed by the house to which they had been removed took fire. The conflagration started at the upper end of the town at the M. E. church, which was just finished, and was to have been dedicated the following Sunday. It is supposed that a little son of Rev. J. P. Wilson, pastor of the church, set it on fire accidentally while playing with matches among the shavings. The writer of this, after careful inquiry, has been unable to find a single person who does not indorse this supposition. Persons remote from the town have thought it strange that the houses should have burned so rapidly, and that they should have caught at such great distances from each other, but no one in this vicinity has hinted that the fire had an incendiary origin. There is no color line drawn here between the white and colored races, and the publication in a paper of Baltimore intimating that the fire had its origin through some incendiary in consequence of the statement that the church was to be used in part by colored people is regarded as absurd, and this community is indignant that such an aspersion should be thrown upon it. BEGINNING OF THE FIRE. Immediately on the cry being made that the Methodist Church was on fire the major part of those in the village flocked to the spot to fight the flames and keep them away from the other buildings. While they were thus engaged the other buildings caught, and it was then too late for the different parties to save the contents of their own houses. No one imagined when the church was seen burning that all the other houses were to be swept away, and when they realized that such was the fact, their possessions were already beyond their control. Had it not been for the breeze which sprung up soon after the church caught and for the tinder-like material of the old buildings of the town, the fire would probably have been confined to the church and parsonage which adjoined it. The day was one of unusual beauty, and as a consequence there were few in town from the surrounding country, all being farmer, were engaged in plowing or otherwise employed in making the best use of the fine weather. When it was found that the town would go, then all scattered to their homes to save what they could and remove their families to places of safety. In doing this they had no help, for the country people did not come in until the fire had destroyed the town. The fire broke out under the church about 3 o'clock Friday afternoon. At this time there was only a slight breeze blowing, yet cinders were carried down the street for a quarter of a mile or more, passing other houses, and igniting an old ice-house near Silas R. King's house. The ice-house blazed right up, and in three minutes Mr. King's house was also blazing. Mr. King was away. His family were in the house, Mrs. King and three or four children. They made their escape into a field in the rear, where they remained until late in the evening. J. S. Parran and George P. Dorsey went to the assistance of Mrs. King, and succeeded in saving some furniture and groceries. Mr. King sustained heavy loss, among other things $45 in cash, which was in a trunk upstairs. In ten or fifteen minutes the house was totally consumed. It was owned by Judge D. R. Magruder, and had been insured for $1,000, but the policy expired January 1, 1882. While the church and Mr. King's house were blazing the parsonage, which stood close to the church, was also furiously burning. Rev. J. P. Wilson, pastor of the church and of the circuit, was very energetic in trying to control the fire, but his efforts were useless. His wife, daughter and little son were in the parsonage at the time the fire broke out. Maj. Somerville Sollers, John Parron, John P. Briscoe, Richard Buckmaster, Rev. J. H. Chesley, Miss Edith Dowell and Miss Sally Lambeth, of Washington, D.C., were active in aiding Mr. Wilson to save his effect and succeeded in saving considerable clothing, crockery and other things, but the greater part of Mr. Wilson's library was destroyed. During the height of the fire at the parsonage, after a great deal of the family effect had been saved and the family had been taken to a place of safety, Mrs. Wilson was missed, and was seen going back into the burning building in a state of great excitement. Maj. Somerville Sollers at once pursued her, and succeeded in rescuing her from the blazing structure. She was at once taken to the Brentford Hotel, where she fainted. The parsonage had been insured for $1,?00, but the policy had run out. There was a debt of $600 on the church, which has to be paid. The flames from the parsonage shot out across the road and set fire to the office in which the Calvert Journal was formerly printed. This was an old building, and burned very rapidly. It contained a lot of new wheat fans, valued at $450, and owned by J. W. Shemwell & Bro., and a portion of it was occupied by Thos. E. Hall as a shoe shop. He kept about $50. Messrs. J. W. Shemwell & Bro. had just purchased the office for $100 in gold. Mr. Joseph A. Wilson's law office adjoined the old printing office, and it was speedily in flames. Mr. Wilson was sick in bed at home, but his son, A. Sollers Wilson, was present and went into his father's office and saved a number of valuable books, Mr. Wilson's loss is put at $300. The fire skipped the Calvert Journal's office and caught the store of J. W. Shemwell & Bro., about ten yards from the Journal office. The roof on the latter was new, and the cinders and burning pieces of wood blown about by the wind did not lodge on it as they did on the roofs of the other buildings whose shingles seemed to blaze up as each spark fell on them. The store contained the postoffice and a large stock of goods. The building had been originally the hotel of the town, and contained the grange hall. The gunpowder was taken out of the store when the roof was soon to burning, and was the only thing saved in addition to valuable papers. When the barrels of kerosene oil commenced burning the flames shot up to a great height. It was but a short time burning this store out. While the buildings of the town generally were burned up like paper, there was one instance in which some power of resistance was shown. Two stacks of fodder stand within twelve feet of a corn-house in the rear of J. W. Shemwell & Bro.'s store. The fodder was consumed, but the corn-house and contents escaped. Shemwell & Bro. put their loss on the store property at $7,000, insured in Baltimore Home Company at $2,000, and Montgomery County Mutual at $2,000, also a policy on the building in the Calvert County Mutual Fire Insurance Company for $450. Outside of this property, they put their loss at $750, on which there is no insurance. An old bowling alley attached to this premises was burnt up. HOW THE FLAMES SPREAD. By the time the Calvert Journal had taken fire from the great heat. It contained the law office of C. S. Parron, who was also one of the editors of the Journal. Everything in the office was destroyed, embracing printing press, type, old and valuable papers, and a large number of that day's issue of the paper. The building, owned by Mr. Parron, was insured for $285 in the Calvert County Mutual Fire Insurance Company. A building near Shemwell's store, owned by Judge Magruder and occupied by Silas R. King as an oyster restaurant, was also burnt. Adjoining this was the law office of John P. Briscoe, which was totally destroyed, Mr. Briscoe saving only his papers. The loss is put at $500. The next building to catch fire was a two-story law office owned by Judge Magruder, occupied by Mr. John B. Gray. Mr. Gray had left the office about twenty minutes before the fire broke out. His loss is between $200 and $300. Judge Magruder loss in this building about $500 worth of law books. BURNING OF THE HOTEL. During this time the Brentford Hotel and the courthouse were enveloped in flames, adding not a little to the horrible scene. These were set on fire by the sparks carried about by the breeze, which had developed into a strong, heavy wind from the northwest, but the Brentford House was also set on fire by the heat and flames from Mr. John B. Gray's office. The wind was playing wild work, and shingles fully ablaze were whirled through the air, falling on the tops of houses and about the heads of citizens. The wood pile in the hotel yard was set on fire by this means. In about ten minutes all the buildings were on fire, and well under way towards destruction. The hotel was kept by Mrs. Mary Johnson. She, with her two daughters, Maj. Sollers and wife, Miss Fannie R. Sollers, Rev. J. H. Chesley, wife and two children, and a number of servants were in the hotel when it took fire. It caught simultaneously in a number of places and was speedily a mass of flames. Great tongues of fire shot up a long way above the tall chimneys of the great house. Trees in the yard of large also were withered and burnt by the intense heat and by the actual contact of the flames. Nothing was saved in the upper part of the house, for the roof seemed to meld right away, so active was the fire. Rev. Mr. Chesley, rector of St. Paul's parish, had two rooms in the third story, and lost everything. The Mason's lodge and lodge furniture were also on the third floor and were a total loss. The two front rooms on the second floor were held by Major Sollers and Mr. J. P. Briscoe. Major Sollers saved most of his furniture. Mr. Briscoe lost a very valuable piano. The furniture in the other four furnished apartments on this floor belonged to Mrs. Mary Johnson. Mrs. R. D. Sollers and her daughter, Miss Fannie Sollers, lost all their furniture and part of their clothing. Major Sollers and wife, occupying apartments on the first floor, sustained serious loss. Fine furniture was destroyed, also valuable papers contained in a handsome cabinet, pictures, &c. They saved all their wearing apparel. The hotel furniture and Mrs. Johnson's furniture were a total loss. The only thing saved was an old English hall clock which Mr. George P. Dorsey shouldered and brought out from the dining room, and a few chairs. This clock stopped at 4.10 o'clock, the hour of its removal recording the hour of loss. From the time that this the largest hotel in Southern Maryland, took fire until it was reduced to ashes, was less than twenty-five minutes. Judge Magruder is not here, but it is thought the building was insured and that he will not sustain any loss. None of the outbuildings of the hotel were injured. COLONIAL RECORDS LOST. The courthouse was a large brick building, built in 1814 on the site of the one destroyed by the British in 1812. This is the second courthouse destroyed at Prince Frederick town. The building was not suited for its purposes, and, except on account of the destruction of the records, its loss is not regretted. The fire was communicated to it from the parsonage, the whole roof becoming ignited at once, and it fell in in an incredible short space of time. While the roof was blazing Major Somerville Sollers effected an entrance through the window of the clerk's office and saved the land records, commencing from 1868, and the dockets commencing at 1873. Not an original paper was saved. The seal of the Circuit Court was secured. In this connection two faithful colored men deserve honorable mention - Thomas Smallwood, keeper of the court-house, and Israel Morsell, Jr. Major Sollers broke in the windows, cutting himself in doing so, and these two colored men brought out the books and things saved. Morsell had a narrow escape, and had to jump out of the window to save his life, when the roof and ceiling came crushing down. When Smallwood emerged from the burning building with his last armful of books his clothes were blazing. Major Sollers was so intent on saving the public records that he forgot all about his own private papers in a light desk in the office, which might have been readily passed out, and they were all burned. In a room upstairs were stored all the old records and papers connected with the colonial history of the county. These were all destroyed. Some of them were very valuable, and Maj. Sollers had just been approached about giving an insight into much valuable Maryland history through them. They were in a good state of preservation. In the register's office every book and paper was lost, in the county commissioners' office everything went but one book, which the clerk, Mr. Thomas, had at home. The levy books, assessment books, the order book, and all the papers pertaining to the businesses of the county were lost. The school commissioners lost everything but a few books in possession of the secretary of the board. From the moment of catching fire until there was nothing left but the bare walls of the courthouse was not over ten minutes. An iron fire-proof safe belonging to the Calvert County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and containing its assets to the amount of $7,000, was in the office of Mr. Jos. A. Wilson. After the building was all burnt down there was considerable interest manifested as to the preservation of its contents. After the building fell in, the safe, red hot, was dragged from the ruins by means of iron rods It was a long time before it was opened, but everything was found in good condition when its contents were examined. Through the iron safe in the clerk's office the blank licenses were preserved. A DESOLATE SCENE. In the village proper there are now only two houses of any pretension, those of J. W. Shemwell and George W. Dowell, but the devastated town is surrounded by a number of beautiful residences perched on delightful eminences. The only person in the jail at the time of the fire was a colored man, put there on account of an infirmity of mind. He worked well at the fire, and then contentedly went back again to his old quarters after it was all over. Wm. C. Fowler, president of the board of county commissioners, and John Sedgwick and Jas. F. Smith, constituting the board, met last Monday amid the ruins to see what ought to be done. They could do nothing, but decided to await the action of the Legislature giving them power to issue bonds preparatory to rebuilding to courthouse. It is a matter of debate as to where it shall be put, but the impression is it will be built on the old site. The law books lost in the clerk's office, register's office, law offices and hotel, all insured, will aggregate in value about $2,500. The other losses not heretofore referred to are about as follows: J. J. Hatt (?), one of the builders of the church, tools, $15; J. W. Shemwell & Bro., new wheat fans, $450. Major Somerville Sollers lost in all $800. AFTER THE FIRE The scene of the fire the night following the conflagration is described as being a weird one. The tall chimneys, long brick walls and ruins of brick outhouses, still red hot, gave off light. Long streams of gaseous flame shot up from time to time from the smoldering ruins, while the trees and fences for a distance up and down the road gave broken lines of live coals and tiny flames. Locust trees in some instances were still burning, and occasionally fell across the road with a crash as the fire burnt through the body of the tree near the ground. The victims of this unequaled rural fire gazed on the striking picture hardly realizing its painful significance, while attracted by its beauty, which had fascination for all present. The Protestant Episcopal rectory, on the outskirts of the town, was not burned. Rev. J. H. Chesley, rector, lived at the hotel in the winter time, and had left the rectory partially furnished. This house became the refuge of many of those rendered homeless by the fire. Mr. Chesley, wife and children took up their abode there, as did Mrs. Johnson, daughter and others. Strangers reaching this town are also hospitably entertained there by Mrs. Johnson. They are given something good to eat, but have to sleep on pallets on the floor, and the more ordinary household furniture is not over-abundant. In this small dwelling a good deal has been crowded. Here are the offices of the clerk of the county, county commissioners, clerk of circuit, deputy-register of wills, John R. Gray, John P. Briscoe. The thoroughness with which things were destroyed is well shown by the fact that the day after the fire not a sheet of paper, a pen or any ink could be procured in the town. HOW THE NEWS TRAVELED. The news of the disaster reached Upper Marlboro Saturday about midday. A mailrider who left Prince Frederick Friday afternoon before the occurrence heard of it and told the driver to whom he delivered the mail, of it, but the news was so astounding that the residents of Marlboro' refused to credit the report, and they knew nothing of it definitely until THE SUN of the following Tuesday gave them by the early train a full account. Letters sent from the vicinity of Prince Frederick, giving a description of the affair, did not reach Marlboro' until later in the day on Tuesday, though the letters were written on Saturday. The plea in Prince Frederick seems to be to rebuild at once, and some say that the fire will ultimately improve the place. Shemwell & Bro. have already started, and the cornhouse is the only thing which they can make into a store. A counter is already up in it and goods are expected at once from Baltimore. The house has no windows, but until these are provided the world outside have simply to look between the logs forming the house in order to admire the stock of goods. The firm will commence to building of a regular storehouse later in the spring on the site of the old store. The Calvert Journal will be started again as soon as a house can be secured an the necessary press, type, paper and other material put in it. The Journal will probably start next month. Messrs. Parran & Sollers, owners, editors and publishers of the paper spoke of the grand special they had in the burning of their town, and their disgust at not having the Journal in which to print it. Rev. Jos. P. Wilson is now attending the conference of his church. He is desirous of returning to Prince Frederick and rebuilding the church and parsonage, but can only be sent back as a missionary, having already served in the town the period allowed by his church. His parishioners are anxious to have him return to them and have faith in the ability he has expressed to rebuild the church and parsonage in a short time. Rev. J. H. Chesley, the popular Episcopal rector in charge of the church of that denomination here, and also of the parish, leaves here next week for Hampton, Va., where he will take charge of the Episcopal Church. He preaches his last sermon here next Sunday. The losses which this gentleman has sustained have called forth much sympathy for himself and family. DIFFICULTIES OF TRAVEL. All along the line of road, 35 or 40 miles in length, from Upper Marlboro' to Prince Frederick, the greatest interest was manifested in the disaster. Questions were freely asked those going either to or from the ill-fated place, and the information on the subject was such as to show that news in this section travels slowly, and at best imperfectly. The roads were bad and in many places almost impassable. The horse driven to Prince Frederick by THE SUN correspondent, though a powerful animal, became entangled in heavy clay in the centre of the road in Prince George's county and falling, broke the buggy. In the drive through Anne Arundel county gates across the road were plenty, and even where the road was winding the traveler could see as he passed through one gate another just ahead of him that would speedily require him to again alight and go through the gate-opening process. Anne Arundel county hangs on to this evil. Calvert county had, by law, abolished the gates, but one is occasionally found closed across the road. Date: 1882-04-15 Paper: Baltimore Sun [Special Dispatch to the Baltimore Sun] Rebuilding Prince Frederick, Md. PRINCE FREDERICK, Calvert county April 13. Judge Magruder of Calvert county, has erected a saw-mill here for the purpose of turning out lumber to rebuild the houses destroyed by the late fire. It is understood the hotel will not be rebuilt. Pending improvements a number of people have been accommodated at Judge Magruder's private residence and at the parsonage. There is a bill before the Governor authorizing the county commissioners to expend $15,000 in rebuilding the courthouse, which was burned with all the records; and another bill appointing Hon. Joseph A. Wilson commissioner to supply the burnt records. Date: 1882-06-05 Paper: Baltimore Sun The Circuit Court for Calvert County is now being held in the Protestant Episcopal parsonage, the court house having been burned some months ago. Date: 1882-06-29 Paper: Philadelphia Inquirer The Episcopal rectory, at Prince Frederick, Calvert county, Md., where the county records and papers have been stored since March last, when the court house was destroyed by fire, has been burned. All the papers were destroyed.