Page 60 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

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A rare surviving wax seal of Jerome White’s family.
it long predates this period, so any planner would need to take it as a given, a fixed element. The two earliest structures appear to be Smith’s Ordinary and the Brick Chapel. The Smith’s property was laid out in September of 1666 and construction began soon afterward on the ordinary. There are no firm dates for the Chapel, although it was apparently finished by 1669. Having rebuilt that structure in the early 2000s, we have definitive evidence that it would have taken at least three years for construction and probably another year for making or acquiring materials. This would place the decision to build it and the choice of location around 1665 or 1666. All the other ele- ments are later, such as the Lawyer’s Messuage in 1670, Cordea’s Hope in 1674 and the brick state house and prison also planned in 1674. Hence, a date in the mid-1660, between 1664 and 1666, can be identified for the planning.
Corresponding with this mid-1660s date is Lord Baltimore’s action to formally incorporate St. Mary’s as Maryland’s first city. This was en- acted in 1668 although the request, preparation, and charter drafting almost certainly began ear- lier. It created a governing board of aldermen, led by a mayor and recorder.The first mayor was Lord Baltimore’s brother Philip Calvert, suggesting that he considered development of the capital a matter of some significance.The recorder was John Morecroft, an individual described as “the best
lawyer in Maryland” by then governor Charles Calvert. The board was completed by six alder- men: Lord Baltimore’s nephew William Calvert, Mark Cordea, Thomas Cosden, Daniel Jenifer, Garrett Van Sweringen, and Jerome White.37 Four were of English origin but it is notable that Van Sweringen was Dutch and Cordea French. Thus, the city leadership displayed an unusual ethnic di- versity for the time. And they were equally diverse in religion and education. Three were Protestant and five Catholic. Cordea was schooled in Nor- mandy and Van Sweringen probably was taught in Amsterdam. Philip Calvert was educated in Lisbon, William Calvert in Flanders, and Jerome White in Rome. Thus, five of the eight leaders of the city government had continental educa- tions, a highly atypical situation for an English colony. These individuals would have been the ones to oversee development of the capital, with Philip Calvert as mayor and brother of the pro- prietor having primary authority. But designing and physically laying out a plan required mathe- matical and surveying skills and equipment. The only one who possessed these with certainty is the alderman who also served as the Surveyor General for the colony, Jerome White.
Archaeology often leads one in unexpected directions. Following clues about Jerome White was such a case. He is a person almost totally ignored by historians and the archaeology com-
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