Diary of a Georgetowner

Chapter three

Edited by David Roffman

APRIL 2008

Two generations have made their home at the spot where Rock Creek flows into the Potomac River - the place called Tohoga by the original Indian inhabitants, then, briefly, New Scotland by the white settlers. On June 8,

1751 our Georgetowner wrote:

The Maryland Assembly has passed "An Act for laying out and erecting a Town on the Potomac River above the Mount of Rock Creek in Frederick County." It is believe that commissioners to survey the town will be appointed without delay.

Georgetown has been laid out as a town; its harbor is busy; the residents are thriving and building substantial houses; and its affairs are being handled by a body of commissioners who meet regularly at one of the local taverns. Trade is growing on the river above Great Falls, and the flat-bottomed boats make their way back and forth from Georgetown and Alexandria to Cumberland almost daily during the good weather. Already some citizens have been discussing plans for cutting canals around the falls of the river.

But stories of rebellion and retaliation have been coming in to the quiet little town. And their neighbors on the Virginia side have been up to all sorts of things. George Mason of Gunston Hall drew up a Bill of Rights for Virginia, and Thomas Jefferson, at the behest of the Continental Congress, was working on a Declaration of independence for all thirteen colonies. When he presented the results of his efforts, Congress approved it and made it known to the public on July 4, 1776.

May 10, 1775. There has been fighting at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, and a second Continental Congress has been called. The other delegates have been joined by Thomas Stone, a man of moderate views and conciliatory spirit, and the general sentiment in Maryland is hope that cooler heads will prevail. Mr. Stone's wife is a distant relative of ours, and we once had occasion to visit them in their fine home in Port Tobacco.

June 30,1775. George Washington has left Philadelphia to take command of an army in the north. Attempts at reconciliation led by New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, are still being made, but it is becoming daily more difficult to hope that matters can be peaceably adjusted. We hear that Mr. Johnson of Maryland made the nomination of General Washington as commander in chief.

March 29, 1776. A delegation of distinguished Marylanders - Charles Carroll of Carrollton, his cousin, Father John Carroll, and Samuel Chase – together with Dr. Franklin of Philadelphia, went to Canada to try to effect a union with the United Colonies, but hopes on that score have come to nothing. We are far from the conflict here, though my son talks of raising a militia company for our protection. The older men are more interested in the post office that is to be established in Georgetown later this year.

June 15, 1776. There is talk of a proclamation of independence for these colonies, a step which Maryland and others have resisted until recently. Now there seems no alternative if we are to uphold our honor and have the rights of free men.

July 15, 1776. Today I was privileged to see a copy of the document passed by Congress some days ago and of which I have heard much since then. It is eloquent in its language and irrefutable in its reasonableness. But is a grave venture we are embarked upon, these "United States of America," as the thirteen United Colonies are called in this remarkable document. Still, there is great hope for the world when a man may write: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."