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DEPOSITIONS OF WITNESSES 

(Taken in June and July, 1876,) 
TO BE USED AS EVIDENCE 

IN THE 

ARBITRATION OF THE BOUNDARY LINE 

Between the States of Maryland and Virginia. 



3Boari o| z.x 1>\ tra.'tflrs "to adjust "ifK e tonnJar^ 
. , line. bet*/e.en lAar^Uai and Virginia., 



DEPOSITIONS OF WITNESSES 

■* 

(Taken in June and July, 1876,) 
TO BE USED AS EVIDENCE 



ARBITRATION OF THE BOUNDARY LINE 

Between the States of Maryland and Virginia. 



Hon. JEREMIAH S. BLACK, 

of Pennsylvania, 

Hon. JAMES B. BECK, 

of Kentucky, 

Hon. CHARLES J. JENKINS, 

of Georgia, 



Arbitrators. 



Messrs. ISAAC J). JONES, ) 

y Counsel for Maryland. 
WM. PINKNEY WHYTE, j 



Messrs. RALEIGH T. DANIEL, 

WILLIAM J. ROBERTSON, 



Counsel for Virginia. 



A. \Y. Graham, Secretary to Board of Arbitrators, 
C. M. Dashiell, Clerk to Counsel. 




Baltimore: 

INNES & COMPANY, LEADING BOOK PRINTERS AND BINDERS, 

1876. 



f 1ST 



DEPOSITIONS. 



Depositions of witnesses, to be read as evidence before 
the Arbitrators to adjust the Boundary Line between the 
States of Maryland and Virginia, taken, by agreement of 
counsel for the respective States, before a Justice of the 
Peace of Maryland, at Crisfield, Somerset County, Maryland. 



DEPOSITION OF JOHN G1LLET. 

Crisfield, Md., June 15th, 1876. 

Mr. John Gillet, a witness on the part of Virginia, having 
been duly sworn, deposes and says : 

1st Question by Counsel for Virginia (Mr. Daniel ).— State 
any information you possess as to the enforcement of the 
oyster laws of Virginia in Pocomoke Sound and Tangier 
Sound ; and state your opportunities of knowledge on the 
subject. 

Answer. — I qualified as deputy-clerk of the Circuit and 
County Courts of Accomac in October, 1842, and continued 
such deputy until 29th January, 1850. On the last men- 
tioned day I was elected and qualified as clerk of the County 
Court, and continued in that office until January 1862. 
From the 1st of March, 1864, until the 1st of June, 1865 3 I 
was a practising attorney in the courts of Accomac. On the 



4 



1st of June, 1865, I qualified as clerk both of the Circuit 
and County Courts of that county, and remained such 
until March, 1868. In November 1869 I again resumed the 
practice of law in those courts, and have continued to 
practise therein to the present time. During the whole of 
these periods I have been in regular attendance upon the 
courts, and believe I was present at every trial had for the 
violation of the oyster laws for the State of Virginia. 
Daring these periods there were trials for violations of the 
oyster laws in'each of these sounds. The accused parties 
were in some cases citizens of Virginia, and in others non- 
residents of the State. In "the non-resident cases the accused 
were sometimes citizens of Maryland, but more generally of 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is impossible for me to state 
the names of all the defendants in these several cases ; but 
the ones that I remember particularly, in which citizens of 
Maryland were defendants, were the cases of John J. Lawson 
and sixteen others in 1870, and Edward W. Horsey and 
three others in 1874. 

2d Question by same.— State the incidents of those trials, 
and what you know about them, and the accusations and 
results. 

Answer.— In the case of John J. Lawson and others, the 
prosecution was for a violation of the first section of the Act 
of General Assembly of Virginia passed April 23d, 1867, 
which prohibited any person from taking oysters in the 
waters of that State during the months of June, July and 
August, and imposed a fine of not less than ten nor more 
than fifty dollars, recoverable by the judgment of a justice 
of the peace. A warrant, issued against the parties, charged 
the taking of oysters in Pocomoke Sound on the 7th of June, 

18 The accused were defended, on the trial, by the Hon. John 
W Crisfield and James U. Dennis, of Somerset County, 
Maryland, and Messrs. Parker and Neely, of Accomac. The 
ground taken by the counsel for the defence was that, as 



5 



regarded the taking of oysters in Pocomoke Sound, the act 
under which the prosecution was had was inoperative as to 
citizens of Maryland, because it was not joint legislation on 
the part of both Maryland and Virginia ; and that citizens of 
Maryland had concurrent right with the citizens of Virginia 
to take oysters from that sound. The parties were convicted 
by the justice, and fines were imposed upon them ; and, in 
default of payment of these fines, they were committed to 
the jail of Accomac, Their counsel immediately obtained 
from Judge George T. G-arrison, of Accomac Circuit Court, 
the writ of habeas corpus. The petitioners in the writ were 
brought before the judge, and, after full hearing, were 
remanded to jail. The counsel, before the judge, took the 
same grounds they had taken before the justice. All of the 
convicted parties, except John J. Lawson, then paid the 
fines imposed upon them, and were discharged from custody. 
John J. Lawson took an appeal, having given the necessary 
bond, from the judgment of the justice to the County Court 
of Accomac, and the judgment of the justice was affirmed in 
October 1870. 

Iu the case of Edward W. Horsey and others, the parties 
were charged with taking oysters, with dredges, on some 
day in September 1874, in Pocomoke Sound, they being non- 
residents of the State of Virginia. Horsey, John H. Gar- 
rison, and Henry T. Curtis, three of the parties, were tried 
on a joint indictment, and convicted. Luther J. Lewis, the 
remaining one captured at the same time and charged with 
a similar offence, was tried separately, and acquitted. Lewis 
was defended by my partner and myself. In his defence we 
introduced, as a witness, the former oyster inspector, Capt. 
0. A. Browne, by whom we hoped to prove that a line had 
been agreed upon by him and Capt. Davidson, of the Mary- 
land Oyster Police force, passing across Pocomoke Sound, 
north of which line the offence of Lewis was alleged to have 
been committed ; but in this we failed. Capt. Browne only 
proved that, owing to the shoalness of the water in the 



6 



northern part of Pocomoke Sound, and his inability, owing 
to the draft of his boat, to enforce the law in that part of 
the sound, and also actuated by a feeling of State comity, 
during the pendency of a question of boundary between the 
States of Maryland and Virginia, he had not enforced the 
law against citizens of Maryland taking oysters in Po- 
comoke Sound to the north of a line drawn from the north 
side of Cedar Straits to the southern end of Sykes Island, in 
Accomac County. We also introduced evidence to prove 
that Lewis had "removed from the State of Maryland to the 
county of Accomac, several months previous to the com- 
mission of the alleged offence, with the intention of becoming 
a citizen of the State of Virginia. The jury were unable to 
agree on a verdict, and were discharged. At the next term 
of the court, a second trial was had, upon which we intro- 
duced the same evidence, and additional and much stronger 
evidence, as to his being a citizen of Virginia, and he was 
acquitted. Horsey, Garrison and Curtis, upon their trial, 
proved, by their own witnesses, that each and all of them 
were citizens of Maryland. In Lewis's case the Common- 
wealth proved that he had been a citizen of Maryland for 
many years, and up to the time of his alleged removal to 
Virginia. 

In September or October, 1870, a number of vessels, with 
their crews, who were citizens of Maryland, were arrested 
for dredging for oysters in the waters of Virginia, to wit, in 
Tangier Sound. I do not recollect particularly the pro- 
ceedings in this case, but know that the Hon. Isaac D. 
Jones,° then Attorney-General of Maryland, was present. 
But, by a resolution of the Legislature of Virginia, these 
parties' were discharged and their vessels restored to^ them ; 
and I feel confident that this was after an examination and 
their commitment. 

3d Question by same— Do you remember whether the 
charge in the first mentioned case, to wit, Lawson and others, 
was changed, in form, after the prosecution was instituted, 
and why ? 



7 



Anstver. — It was not changed after the prosecution was 
instituted. These parties were arrested by Capt. Browne, 
inspector, for a violation of law committed in his view. 
Upon consultation with his counsel, after the arrest, the 
question arose whether it was advisable to prosecute for a 
violation of the first section, or of the second section, of the 
act to which I have referred. The second section punished 
the taking of oysters by a non-resident, in any of the waters 
of Virginia, by a fine of five hundred dollars, and also for- 
feiture of the vessel and appurtenances used. Capt. Browne 
stated that the captured parties were represented to be, and 
he believed were, poor men, unable to pay a fine as great as 
five hundred dollars, and that their conviction for a violation 
of the second section would lead to their incarceration for a 
long time ; that his principal object, in arresting and prose- 
cuting them, was to convince citizens of Maryland that he 
intended to enforce the oyster laws in Poeomoke Sound ; 
and that .he thought a conviction and imposition of even a 
small fine would have the effect to convince them that this 
was his intention, and would deter them in the future. 
Under these circumstances I, as one of his counsel, advised 
him to proceed against them for a violation of the first 
section, because the fine was limited to a small amount, and 
a justice of the peace had jurisdiction, and trial could be had 
immediately, and their detention, if willing to pay the 
smaller fine, would be short ; whereas, if the prosecution 
was under the second section, no trial could be had until 
after an indictment by a grand jury, and, owing to their 
inability, as I supposed, to give bail, they would be com- 
mitted to jail until a term of the court at which a grand 
jury could be empanelled. He took my advice, and made 
complaint against them under the first section. 

4th Question by same. — You say that the defendants in the 
second case, to wit, Horsey and others, proved by their own 
witnesses that they were citizens of Maryland. How was 
that proof by them connected with their defence ? 



8 

Answer.— They claimed that the place, where they were 
arrested and were working at the time, was near the mouth 
of Broad Creek, within some two or three miles of the Mary- 
land shore, and certainly to the northern and western side of 
the channel of Pocomoke Sound ; and that they, as citizens 
of Maryland, had the right to take oysters from the Mary- 
land shore down to the channel, and that this right had been 
exercised by them for many years, without any demand on 
the part of Virginia authorities for the payment of tax for 
the privilege. 

bth Question by same.— Was it stated, by the defence, 
under what law they claimed that right ? 

Answer.— I do not recollect whether it was stated in so 
many words, or not ; but the impression made upon my mind 
was that it was claimed under the compact of 1785. 

Uh Question by same.— As far as your knowledge extends, 
have the oyster laws of Virginia as to non-residents been 
enforced in Pocomoke Sound and the part of Tangier Sound 
claimed to be in Virginia, against citizens of Maryland? 

Answer .—At times there has been great laxity in en- 
forcing the laws, by the authorities, against violators, both 
resident and non-resident, in these sounds ; but, whenever 
an effort has been made to enforce them against non-residents, 
there has been no discrimination in favor of citizens of 
Maryland over other non-residents. The citizens of Mary- 
land were looked upon as equally open to punishment for 
taking oysters in violation of the laws of Virginia in these 
sounds, as the citizens of any other State, with the excep- 
tion of the rule that I have before stated, adopted by Inspector 
Browne, as to a part of Pocomoke Sound— and that rule was 
not observed by Captain Browne's immediate successor, 
William Samuel Custis, who captured Horsey and others 
soon after his succession to office. 



9 



Cross-examined by Counsel for Maryland. 

1st Question by Mr. Jones— State, if you know, in what 
part of Maryland, Lawson and others, and Horsey and others, 
of whom you have spoken, resided ? 

Answer. — In Somerset County. Horsey and others resided, 
as I understood from the proof in their case, to the east of 
Crisfield, and very near to the shores of Pocomoke Sound. 

2d Question by same.— State by whom Horsey and others 
were arrested, and whether it was in the same transaction in 
in which Thomas Riggin lost his life ? 

Answer. — The arrests were made by William Samuel 
Custis, Inspector of Oysters for Accomac County ; and it 
was in the same transaction in which Mr. Riggin lost his 
life. 

3d Question by same. —Did, or not, the Virginia laws, 
prohibiting non-residents from taking oysters in Virginia 
waters, except citizens of Maryland taking oysters in the 
waters of Pocomoke Sound ? 

Answer. — They did not. But there was an exception, in all 
of the laws of Virginia relative to the taking of oysters 
(except one act), in favor of citizens of Maryland taking 
them in the rivers Potomac and Pocomoke. I do not recollect 
of any law in which there was an exception in favor of 
citizens of Maryland as to Pocomoke Sound. 

And further this deponent saith not. 

J. W. GILLET. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, a Justice of the Peace 
for Somerset County, in the State of Maryland, this 15th 
dav of June, 1876. 

HARVEY F. JOHNSON, J. P. 

Attest : 

C. M. Dashiell, Clerk. 



2 



10 



DEPOSITION OF ORRIS A. BROWNE. 

Crisfield, Md., June 15th, 1876. 

Capt. Orris A. Browne, a witness on the part of the State 
of Virginia, having been duly sworn, deposes and says : 

lit Question by Counsel for Virginia {Mr. Daniel).— "Were 
you inspector under the oyster laws . of Virginia ; and 
when did your official term begin and end ? 

Answer.— I was Inspector of Oysters for Virginia from 
March 1870 until April 1874. 

2d Question by same.— -Who was the inspector for Mary- 
land during that time ? 

Answer.— Capt. Hunter Davidson, and afterwards Capt. 
William E. Timmons, were the commanders successively of 
the Maryland Oyster Police Force. 

3d Question by some.— Was the line, known as the David- 
son-Lovett line, or the agreement for it, in operation when 
you went into office ? 

Ansioer. — It was. 

Uh Question by same.— You have heard what has been 
stated by Mr. Gillet as to the enforcement of the oyster 
laws of Virginia in Pocomoke Sound ; was there any agree- 
ment as to the line across that sound, and state what occurred 
in regard to it? 

Ansioer.— I never made an agreement with any one to 
establish a line across Pocomoke Sound. I received a letter 
from Capt. Davidson, dated January 17th, 1871 (a copy of 
which is filed herewith, and marked Exhibit A in the 
Appendix), in which he asked me to meet him at Chesco- 
nessex, to agree upon some terms by which Maryland oyster- 
men might take oysters in Pocomoke Sound. And I find 
the following entry in my log-book as to what occurred at 
the visit : 



11 



u Oyster Rev. Stmr. Tredegar, Tuesday, Jan. 24th, 1871. 
Com. Hunter Davidson, Comdg. Oyster Police Force of 
Maryland, came in at 10 A. M. The object of his visit was 
to obtain my consent for citizens of Maryland living near the 
Pocomoke to tong in said sound — which, by the law, the 
courts, and the Governor's instructions, I could not accede to. 

" After talking over the matter, and many other points of 
interest, we decided to go to Drummondtown, to have an 
overhauling, &c, &c, of old papers and records. 

" At 2 P. M. got steam, and went to Onancock. 

" Orris A. Browne." 

I based my refusal upon the Act of April 23d, 1867, in 
relation to oysters, Judge Garrison's decision in the case of 
John J. Lawson, and a letter received from Governor Walker, 
dated January 16th, 1871 — a copy of which letter is here- 
with filed, and marked Exhibit B in the Appendix, I took 
a copy of my own letter to the Governor, but have mislaid it. 

5th Question by same. — You have heard Mr. Gillet's state- 
ment of your mode of executing the law in Pocomoke Sound, 
on that part of it between Cedar Straits and Sykes Island — 
will you give an account of it? 

Answer. — What Mr. Gillet has said is true. The line re- 
ferred to from the south end of Sykes Island to the north side 
of Cedar .Straits, was first mentioned in a letter by me to 
Governor Walker, in which I replied to certain statements 
published in one of the newspapers in Norfolk, which were 
taken from the Baltimore papers, in which I was charged 
with being unnecessarily zealous in arresting oystermen in 
Pocomoke Sound, and depriving the people of Somerset 
County north of Pocomoke Sound of rights they had hereto- 
fore exercised. In my letter to Governor Walker I denied 
the charge of any unnecessary officiousness in carrying out 
the law ; and stated as a fact, that I had not arrested 
any one north of a line running from the south end of Sykes 
Island across Pocomoke Sound to the north side of Cedar 



12 



Straits, owing to the shallow water in that vicinity, on 
which these people sought refuge, owing to the draft of the 
steamer at my command, and because I sympathized with 
those people who lived there, and were dependent upon those 
waters for their living. 

m Question by same.— In executing the oyster laws ot 
Virginia in Pocomoke Sound and the part of Tangier m 
Virginia, did you regard them as containing any exception 
for the people of Maryland over other non-residents of 
Virginia? 

Answer.— I did not. 

nth Question by same.— Did you know of any instances ot 
Marylanders oystering under Maryland license in Pocomoke 
Sound, or in Tangier Sound in Virginia? 

Answer.— I did not. I have been applied to by Maryland 
people to license them over there, but I refused them. I ap- 
plied to members of the Legislature to get some leave to 
license them, as they would oyster there anyhow ; but nothing 
was ever done. 

Cross-examination by Counsel for Maryland. 

1st Question by Mr. Jones.-Vo you intend to be understood 
that, in executing the Virginia law of 1867, and other Vir- 
ginia laws regulating the taking of oysters, while Virginia 
Oyster Inspector, you treated all citizens of Maryland resid- 
ing north of Pocomoke Sound, in Somerset County, as non- 
residents of Virginia within the meaning of those laws? 

Answer. — I did. 

2d Question by same.- In what part of Pocomoke Sound 
was John J. Lawson arrested? 

Answer —As well as I remember it was about the same 
latitude as the north end of Pox's Island, and on the west 
side of the channel. 

U Question by same.— Were you aware, after the arrest 
and release of Lawson, that he had caused a writ to be issued 



13 



out of the Circuit Court for Somerset County against you on 
account of that arrest ? 

Ansiver.— I was not ; but I had heard he expected to take 
some action against me. 

4th Question by same. — Did you, on that account, keep out 
of the jurisdiction of Somerset County while oyster inspector ? 

Answer.— I had no business in Somerset County ; but 
came here on one occasion, and visited other ports of 
Maryland. 

5th Question by same. — Were you not frequently at the 
port of Crisfield in your steamer before the arrest of John J. 
Lawson ? 

Answer.— -I never was here in my steamer before that. 

Qth Question by same. — Were you at the port of Crisfield 
after that, while oyster inspector, and when ? 

Answer. — Yes, sir — I came here for General Wise. I was 
hereon the 16th and 17th of October, 1871. 

Re-examination by Counsel for Virginia. 

\st Question by Mr. Daniel.— -You have said that you did 
not execute the law against the tongers in Somerset County, 
north of Pocomoke Sound, north of a certain line. Was 
that line formed merely by a purpose in your own mind, or 
was it communicated to any one ? 

Answer. — It was communicated to Governor Walker. I 
do not remember having told any one else. 

2d Question by same.— Did you execute the law against 
them north of that line in other respects ? 

Answer. — I executed the law, in collecting the tax on the 
carrying trade, north of that line. The dredgers went up 
there in considerable force. I went up there and told them, 
_ if they did not leave I should arrest them. 

And further this deponent saith not. 

ORRIS A. BROWNE. 



14 



Sworn to and subscribed before me, a Justice of the Peace 
for Somerset County, Maryland, this 15th day of June, 1876. 

HARVEY F. JOHNSON, J. P. 

Attest : 

C. M. Dashiell, Clerk. 



DEPOSITION OE JOHN RICHARD DRUMMOND. 

Crisfield, Md., June 15th, 1876. 

John Richard Drummond" a witness on the part of Virginia, 
having been duly sworn, deposes and says : 

1st Question by Counsel for Virginia {Mr. Daniel).— Weve 
you the pilot of Captain Browne's vessel during the period ot 
his service ? 

Answer. — I was. . 
2d Question by same.— Did you go with the vessel in the 
execution of his duties as inspector? 
Answer. — I did. 

3d Question by same.— You have heard his statements on 
his examination on this occasion ; state if you concur in 

them? . 

Answer —I have heard them, and do concur in them. 

JOHN RICH. DRUMMOND. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, a Justice of the Peace 
for Somerset County, Maryland, this 15th day of June, 1876. 

HARVEY F. JOHNSON, J. P. 

Attest : 

C. M. Dashiell, Clerk. 



15 



Crisfield, Md., June 24th, 1876. 

John Richard Drummond re-called by the counsel for 
Virginia. 

1st Question by Counsel for Virginia {Mr. Daniel). — What 
is your age, and where have you resided all your life ? 

Answer. — My age is forty-eight. I have resided in Acco- 
mac County, Virginia, all my life, with the exception of 
four years, from 1850 to 1854, I think. 

2d Question by same.— Have you been engaged in oyster 
dredging from an early period of your life, and how long? 

Answer. — I have been engaged in dredging from an early 
period of my life, with the exception of the time I was absent 
as above stated, up to 1873, when I became pilot for Captain 
0. A. Browne, of the oyster steamer Tredegar. 

3d Question by same. — Were you well acquainted with Po- 
comoke Sound during that time, and were you acquainted 
with the enforcement of the oyster laws of Virginia in those 
waters ? 

Answer. — I am thoroughly acquainted with the oyster 
rocks and oyster grounds in Pocomoke Sound ; and I was 
acquainted with the enforcement of the oyster laws ever since 
I commenced. 

4th Question by same. — What State exercised jurisdiction, 
as to oystering, in Pocomoke Sound during that period? 

Answer. — The State of Virginia exercised tbe exclusive 
right in Pocomoke Sound. 

5th Question by same. — Was there a law of Virginia 
against dredging in waters under twenty feet, L e. against 
dredging in tonging-grounds, during that period ? 

Answer. — There was a law against it. 

6th Question by same. — Was the law, during that period, 
loosely executed against citizens of Maryland and others? 

Answer. — It was; and the reason was that the only mode 
of executing the law then was either to hire or press a vessel 
to aid in executing the law. The owners of the vessel would 



16 



always object to either, on the ground that the Baltimore 
market was their only market at that time, and they were 
afraid that the Marylanders would burn or scuttle their 
vessel. 

1th Question by same.-Did the Marylanders on Pocomoke 
Sound violate the oyster laws of Virginia, and did they 
escape arrest, and how ? 

Answer.— They did violate the law in Pocomoke Sound ; 
and when they thought there was any danger of arrest, they 
would always go in shoal water, where the officers could not 

get to them. . 

Sth Question by §ame.-Did you ever know, during tne 
time you speak of, any jurisdiction of the State of Maryland 
to be exercised over Pocomoke Sound in enforcing the oyster 
laws of Maryland ? 

Answer. — I never did. 

toh Question by same.— State any instances you may re- 
member of arrests under the Virginia oyster law m Poco- 
moke Sound, and where the arrested parties were arraigned 

and tried. . 

Answer.— I have been arrested twice for violating the Vir- 
ginia oyster law in Pocomoke Sound ; once in 1858, and 
once in 1864. The charge was for dredging in waters less 
than twenty feet, i. e. on tonging grounds. I was taken to 
Drummondtown, Accomac County, and tried in the Court o 
Virginia In 1858 I was arrested for dredging on Shell 
Rock, in Pocomoke Sound. In 1864 I was arrested for 
dredging on Gravel Rock, in the mouth of Ape's Hole Creek, 
in Pocomoke Sound. m 

10th Question by same.— Were there other arrests m Poco- 
moke Sound, during that time, under the Virginia laws? 

Answer.— Yes, numbers of them. It was almost an every 
year occurrence. I think a search of the records will show it. 

llth Question by same.-When did the oyster license 
system of Virginia commence, as near as you remember? 

Ansiver.— In 1866 or 1867, I think. 



11 



12th Question by same.— Who were the first oyster in- 
spectors? and when was Capt. 0. A. Browne appointed? 

Answer. — The first oyster inspector aboard of the steamer 
was William Peed. The next was Jesse N. Jarvis. In 1873 
0. A. Browne was inspector. 

13th Question by same.— Were you the pilot of his steamer ? 

Answer. — I was. 

ltth Question by same.— Did he enforce the oyster juris- 
diction of Virginia exclusively over Pocomoke Sound whilst 
you were his pilot ? 

Answer. — He did. 

Ibth Question by same.— Was Virginia laid off into oyster 
districts, and which were the districts ? 

Answer. — Virginia was laid off into three districts: the 
first district was Hampton Koads and its tributaries ; the 
second embraced the west side of Chesapeake Bay, from Old 
Point to the Potomac River ; the third extended from Cape 
Point to the Pocomoke Mud, as far as there were any oysters 
in Pocomoke Sound, and Tangier Sound as far as the line 
which was in operation between Lovett and Davidson, 

lQth Question by same.— Was there a chief inspector of 
these districts, and who was he? 

Answer. — There was a chief inspector — his name was 
William H. C. Lovett— whose authority lasted through 
Peed's and Jarvis's service, and for one year of Browne's 
service. 

11th Question by same.— Where did the Lovett-Davidson 
line commence and terminate? 

Answer. — It commenced at the house on Horse Hammock, 
on Smith's Island, and crossed Tangier Sound to Cedar 
Straits, and ended at Cedar Straits. 

18th Question by same— -Where is the Pocomoke Mud, of 
which you speak? 

Answer. — It commences at Williams Point and comes 
nearly to Sykes Island, to the northern end of said island. 

12th Question by same.— -Where does the sound head, and 
3 



18 



where does the Pocomoke river commence, and what is the 
distance between the two ? 

Answer. The Pocomoke Sound commences at Watts 

Island. Williams Point, we have always considered, was 
the mouth of the Pocomoke river, and that is the head of 
the sound. " The Mud " extends for four miles from Wil- 
liams Point. 

And further this deponent saith not. 

JOHN RICH. DRUMMOND. 

Attest : 

CM. Dashiell, Clerk. 



DEPOSITION OF HARVEY F. JOHNSON. 

Cmsfield, Md., June 15, 1876. 

Harvey F. 'Johnson, a witness on the part of the State of 
Maryland, having been duly sworn, deposes and says : 

1st Question by Counsel for Maryland {Mr. Jones).-— State 
your name, age, residence and occupation. 

Ansiver.— Mj name is Harvey F.Johnson; my age is 
forty-nine years out, that is, I am in my fiftieth year. My 
residence is Somerset County, Maryland ; has been from my 
birth ; my occupation is now that of a farmer. 

2d Question by same.— Look upon those documents pur- 
porting to be authenticated copies of your appointment and 
qualification as Constable in Somerset County in June 1847, 
and say if you are the person named as constable in them. 

Answer. — I am. 



19 



3d Question by same. — State when you were first appointed 
constable, and how long you served in that capacity. 

Answer. — In June, 1847, I was appointed constable for 
Somerset County, Maryland, and served for eleven years suc- 
cessively, by annual appointment and qualification. 

4th Question by same. — Did you, during the time you were 
acting as such constable, make any arrests of schooners in the 
waters of Pocomoke Sound, charged with dredging therein in 
violation of the laws of the State of Maryland? If yea, state 
the names of such schooners, and the time or times at which 
they were arrested, and the particular place or places in 
Pocomoke Sound at which the arrests were made. 

Answer. — In the spring of 1848 I arrested a schooner 
called the " Swan." I do not know where she hailed from ; 
she was a Philadelphia boat. I arrested her upon Travers 
Rock, which is on the north side of what is called the channel 
of Pocomoke Sound, about south-east from the entrance of 
the narrows of Ape's Hole Creek, about two or two and a 
half miles from mouth of Ape's Hole Creek. I brought the 
vessel in Ape's Hole Creek. I carried the captain and crew 
before Joshua H. Miles, a Justice of the Peace for Somerset 
County, in the State of Maryland, there laid the charge before 
him against schooner, captain and crew. Upon investiga- 
tion, the schooner was condemned. I am not sure whether 
the captain and crew were fined or not. I sold the vessel 
under judgment of condemnation, they not having appealed 
in the time prescribed by law. My recollection is that she 
was bought by William T. Cullen, at forty-five dollars. I 
think she was brought up Ape's Hole Creek near Dow Law- 
son's, and went to pieces after he bought her. 

The next schooners I arrested were in 1849. I think it 
was in the spring of 1849. I recognize the copies of two 
judgments now shown to me as being in the handwriting of 
John "W. Handy, who was a justice of the peace for Somerset 
County, Maryland, at the time the arrests were made and 
the judgments were rendered, viz. March 17th, 1849. (Said 



20 



judgments are filed herewith, and marked Exhibits and D 
in the Appendix.) I arrested « War Eagle and Tippe- 
canoe " on the north side of Poeomoke channel, on Ware 
Point and Gravel Rocks, about a mile and a half from the 
shore I took the crews before John W. Handy ; I carried 
the vessels to Ape's Hole Creek, took off their sails and 
detained them. On trial, they were condemned for violating 
the oyster laws for the State of Maryland. There was no 
appeal from the judgment of condemnation. I advertised 
and sold them after the time limited for appeal had elapsed 
Clement R. Sterling, I think, purchased « War Eagle. 1 
do not remember who purchased the "Tippecanoe I re- 
member distinctly that there were several suits about he 
« War Eagle," and that they were all compromised at llie 

same time. , 

I don't remember any other arrests of vessels made in 
Pocomoke Sound. I do remember arrests made by me in 

Tangier Sound. 

Question by same— State in what part of Somerset 
County vou have resided from your birth. 

Answer.-! was born within two or three hundred yards 
of Ape's Hole Creek, and have resided there all my lite. 
From 1835 I commenced oystering, and continued to oyster 

mvself until 1848. ,. , , A 

%th Question by same.-What was your father s name, and 
how old was he when he died, and where did he reside ; 
and where did your ancestors reside since the first settlement 
of Somerset County ? 

Answer— My father's name was Isaac Johnson; lie was 
seventy-one when he died; he resided in Little Annamessex 
all his life. Have heard my father say that his ancestors 
settled near the head of Great Annamessex river, upon the 
farm now owned by John C. Horsey. 

1th Question by same.- State any tradition you may have 
heard from your father or others as to the dividing line 
between Maryland and Virginia. 



21 



Answer. — I have heard my father say the dividing line 
was the Pocomoke Sound channel. 

Sth Question by same. — Have you heard it from other 
persons? And state your own knowledge of the acts of ex- 
ercise of jurisdiction and use of the waters of Pocomoke Sound 
by the citizens of Maryland and its authorities. 

Answer. — I have heard this tradition from others. From 
1835 to 1848 I was in the habit of oystering in that sound 
myself; and the citizens of the lower part of the county 
used and oystered in it at the same time. We oystered all 
over the Pocomoke Sound in common with the Virginians. 

I, as one of the officers of the State of Maryland, made 
arrests up to the Sound channel for violation of the State 
law in regard to the taking of oysters, and also for larceny, 
which parties were convicted by our court. I arrested the 
party for larceny in 1848 ; I arrested the vessels in 1848 and 
1849. The first vessel I arrested in the spring of 1848, and 
the second in 1849. 

9th Question by same.— State, if you recollect, any case of 
pursuing vessels for the purpose of arresting them for 
violating the laws of Maryland by dredging for oysters, and 
of their escaping arrest by getting beyond Maryland juris- 
diction. 

Answer. — I know of two cases. At the time 1 arrested 
the " Swan," in 1848, there were two other vessels dredging 
on Travers Kock with her, which escaped by going across 
the Sound channel. 

10th Question by same.— State your knowledge of the use, 
by citizens of Somerset County, of Pocomoke Sound by 
taking oysters therein since 1848, and down to what time, 
without any interruption, that you know or have heard. 

Answer.— Since 1848 up to 1861 I have heard of no inter- 
ruption by any Virginia authorities with Marylanders taking 
oysters from Pocomoke Sound. The Marylanders have fre- 
quented that sound. I have been furnishing wood to oyster- 
men who reside on the border of the sound. I have seen 



22 



them engaged in taking oysters in the sound frequently, 
while going up and down the sound. 

11th Question by same.— State the nature of the inter- 
ruption since 1861. 

Answer.— 1 have heard of military interference; also of 
the interference of Custis, when Riggin was shot. I have 
no personal knowledge of the transaction ; I did not see it. 

12th Question by same.— Do you remember a survey across 
Annamessex ? 

Answer. — I do remember that the survey was made. I do 
not recollect the time. The surveying party was at Mr. 
John Bell's store, and went down to Mr. Benjamin Lank- 
ford's, and I went down to see them. 

IMh Question by same— Did you ever hear any tradition 
of any boundary line between Virginia and Maryland having 
been run, at any time, across Annamessex Neck? 

Answer. — I have not heard of any. 

\Zth Question by same.— Look at the paper now shown 
you, and say if it is an affidavit made by you as to the value 
of the schooner Tippecanoe, and state whether it is the 
schooner which you arrested in Pocomoke Sound. 

Answer.— It is. I recognize the affidavit. I recollect 
making it ; and the schooner Tippecanoe therein mentioned 
is the. one I have mentioned as having been arrested in 
Pocomoke Sound. 

Cross-examination by Counsel for Virginia. 

1st Question by Mr. Daniel.— What was the charge made 
before the magistrate against the " Swan "? 

Answer. — A violation of the oyster laws of Maryland by 
catching oysters by dredging. 

2d Question by same.— You say she was arrested about two 
and a half miles from the mouth of Ape's Hole Creek ; how 
far was it from shore? 

Answer.— About the same distance. 



23 



3c? Question by same. — What was the name of her captain? 
Answer, — I do not know. 

4th Question by same. — Of what State was he a resident ? 
Answer. — I do not know. 

5th Question by same. — Was she a licensed or enrolled 
craft, and of what port ? 

Ansiver. — I do not know as to either. 

Qth Question by same. — Why do you say she was a Phila- 
delphia boat? 

Answer. — She was claimed by a citizen of Philadelphia. 
I do not know the name. 

*Ith Question by same. — How did they claim her ? 

Ansiver. — They were on board, and resisted my taking 
possession of her. 

8th Question by same. — How do you know the parties on 
board owned the vessel, or were citizens of Philadelphia ? 

Answer. — Only from what they said when I arrested 
them ; they claimed to be citizens of Philadelphia, and 
claimed the boat. 

9th Question by same. — Do you know what was the oyster 
law of Maryland at that time as to non-residents ? 

Ansiver. — I do not, without reference to the law. 

10^ Question by same. — Who did you say bought her? 

Answer. ~l said I thought William T. Cullen bought her. 

11th Question by same. — Did the purchaser take possession 
of her. 

Ansiver. — I suppose he did ; I don't know. 
12th Question by same. — Do you know why she was suffered 
to lie until she went to pieces ? 
Answer. — I do not know why. 

13th Question by same. — How far from the shore did you 
arrest the " War Eagle" and " Tippecanoe "? 

Answer.— About a mile, or mile and a half. 

14th Question by same. — Was a suit brought against you 
and others at U. S. Court of Baltimore for seizure of these 
vessels, or either of them ? 



24 



Answer I do not know. There was a suit against 

others • whether I was a witness or defendant, I do not know. 
\m Question by some.— What became of the suit? 
Answer — It was compromised, I think. 
Uth Question by same.-Was there a suit for seizure of 

both vessels? , , . , 

^ wer ._I think there was a suit for both vessels, and 

both suits were compromised at same time. _ 

nthQuesHmbysame.-Were the Virginians allowed to 

oyster on the Maryland side without any license? 

Aswer.-They did so. Don't know anything about their 

license. . c 

18th Question by same.-Was there no law, of any sort, 

enforced against them? 

Answer— There was not, to my knowledge. 

mh Question by same.- Do I understand you to say there 
was no interruption by Virginia authorities to Marylanders 
oystering in Pocomoke Sound from 1848 to 1861 ? 

Answer.— None to my knowledge. 

2<Mft Q«esta % same.-Do you know when the Maryland 
or Virginia license law went into effect? 
Answer. — No, sir, I do not. 

21st Question by same.- What rock did you say you 
arrested the vessels upon ? 
Answer.— Travers Rock. 

22d 0«esf«m same. -What two vessels were they dredg- 
ing on Travers Rook that escaped across the Sound channel ? 
Ansicer.— I do not know. 

23d Qaesto same.-Why were they not pursued ? 

A«,_Trom the fact that I did not believe that I had 
the right to pursue them. I thought the jurisdiction of 
Maryland ceased at the Sound channel. • 

2*ft Questo 62/ same.-Did you think that the jurisdic- 
tion of Maryland as to larcency had the same extent ? 

Answer.— I did, sir. 

25<fc e«es<io» 62/ same.- If the jurisdiction of Maryland 



25 



extended to the middle of the channel, why is it that the 
Virginians oystered on the Maryland side of the channel ? 
Was not that a violation of Maryland law ? 

Answer. — I know of no reason why they should do it, 
unless the Marylanders did not object to their so doing ; and 
if it was a violation of law, it was looked over. 

Re-examination by Counsel eor Maryland. 

Question by Mr. Jones. — How were oysters taken, up to 
1861? 

Answer. — They were taken principally with tongs. 

Re-cross-examination by Counsel for Virginia. 

1st Question by Mr. Daniel. — Do you know whether the 
practice of dredging for oysters in the Chesapeake was in 
use in 1848 and 1849? 

Ansiver. — I think it was. 

2d Question by same. — Was there ever any suit for the 
seizure of the u Swan " ? 

Answer. — I know of none ; have heard of none. 

Question by Mr. Jones.— Do you recollect that dredging 
was allowed in waters over twenty-one feet in 1848 and 1849, 
by law ? 

Answer.— I do not recollect that it was allowed by law at 
all. 

And further this deponent saith not. 

HARVEY F. JOHNSON. 

Sworn to by the above-named Harvey F. Johnson, before 
me, a Justice of the Peace for Somerset County, Maryland, 
this 15th day of June, 1876. 

OLIVER S. HORSEY, J, P. 

Attest : 

C. M. Dashiell, Clerk. 
4 



26 



1st Note.— Is* Exception. -The record of proceedings m the 
ca«e of " The Swan," which the witness says he arrested in 
the spring of 1848, not heing produced when required, excep- 
tion was taken by Mr. Daniel, as counsel for Virginia, as to 
the proof of its contents, and of any action under it. 



In reply to the above exception is filed the following letter 
from W. H. Brown, deputy Clerk of the Circuit Court for 
Somerset County, Maryland, in reply to a request by I. D 
Jones, as counsel for Maryland, for a copy of the judgment, 
by Joshua H. Miles, of condemnation of the schooner Swan, 
referred to by H. F. Johnson, as witness : 

"Princess Anne, June 16th, 1876. 
"Dear Sir:— Not noticing from what point Mr. Dashiell's 
letter came, I answered you by the same day's mail at . Balti- 
more, that Joshua H. Miles' docket had never been filed m 
the clerk's office ; or if so filed, it has been lost. I made a 
thorough search, going up stairs and overhauling the : docket, 
running back to the days of John H. Bell and Geo. M. 
Willing fifty years back, but found no docket of Miles . 
" Yours very truly, 

" Wm. H. Beown." 

2d Exception.- Exception was taken by Mr. Daniel to the 
justice's judgments in the ease of the State of Maryland 
'against schooners "War Eagle " and "Tippecanoe as 
insufficient. Q M DASHIBLLj C i erk . 

2d Note.- Mr. Jones says copies of the record of U. S. Court 
for the District of Maryland, in the cases of Joseph D. War- 
dell and Robert Cook vs. Clement B. Sterling, referring to 
the schooner " AVar Eagle," and of Francis Lucas vs. Thos. 
Nelson, referring to the "Tippecanoe," also a copy of the 



27 



record of the Circuit Court for Somerset County in the case 
of John Gyant vs. John Sale, referring to the schooner 
" Edmund S. Conner/' are all in his possession, and will be 
produced at the hearing before the Arbitrators. 

C. M. DASHIELL, Clerk. 



Crisfield, Md., June 17, 1876. 

Harvey F. Johnson recalled by counsel for Virginia, and 
further cross-examined. 

1st Question by Counsel for Virginia (Mr. Daniel).— In 
making the arrests of which you have spoken in your former 
examination, was any legal warrant necessary, or were you, 
under the law, proceeding by virtue of your office, on your 
own responsibility ? 

Answer. — I was acting under the authority granted to me 
in the law, which did not require a warrant. 

2d Question by same.— Who was engaged with you in taking 
the Swan ? 

Answer. — I ca& only tell you a few of them. My recol- 
lection is that John T. Lawson, Sr., living at Ape's Hole, in 
Lawson's District, in Somerset County, was with me. I 
think Noah Sterling, Sr., was with me. I feel satisfied that 
George W. Sterling was with me. 

3d Question by same.— Was there any appearance before 
the magistrate, or in any way, by any person, to resist the 
sale of the vessel ? 

Answer.— There was. It was the gentleman purporting 
to be the captain of the boat. 

Ath Question by same. — Were all hands carried before the 
magistrate ? 

Answer. — They were ; but I think there was one man left 
to take care of the boat. 

Uh Question by same. — On what ground did the defendants 
resist the sale of the vessel ? 



28 



Ansiver. — I really don't remember, sir. 
Uh Question by same.- You say you obtained forty-five 
dollars for the vessel ; with, whom did you account for the 

nionev? . T ,. 

Answer.— Aitev taking out for my own services, I applied 
the balance of the money to pay the expense of making the 

^th Question by same.— Bid you render any account of it 
to any one ; and to whom ? 

Answer.— To the parties engaged by me m making the 

arrest 

Sth 'Question by same.— Did you render any account to any 
one else ? 

Answer —1 did not, to my knowledge, from the fact that 
the law gives the parties the balance, after taking out the 
expenses^ the party making the arrest. 

9th Question by same.-DiA you pay the Justice anything 

for his services ? 

Answer.-im. I paid the whole expenses . 

10th Question by same.— Who, do you say, bought the 

vessel? , • 

Answer.— I think William T. Cullen bought her. 

lltt Question by same.- Do you know why he made no 

use of her after buying her ? 
Answer.— I do not. 

nth Question by same.- Did you hear, that the owners 
threatened to take the vessel away from him ? 

Anstoer .-I don't know that I heard in that particular 
case The general rumor was that boats condemned lor 
violation of the oyster law, belonging in Philadelphia or 
Pennsylvania, would be taken back when found. 

ISA Question by same.— Who was engaged with you in 
taking the other two vessels, "War Eagle" and '< Tippe- 
canoe/ ' in 1849 ? 

Answer.- Clement K. Sterling and Thomas Nelson, and a 
variety of other persons unknown to me at this time, whose 
names I cannot recollect at this time. 



29 



14:th Question by same.— Were suits brought against them 
for it? 

Answer. — There were, 

15th Question by same.— In what court were they brought, 
and what became of the suits ? 

Answer.— Tney were brought in the U. S. Court for the 
District of Baltimore, and, I think, they were compromised 
by consent of counsel, by the plaintiffs paying to the defen- 
dants the amount of damages alleged by the defendants to 
have been received. 

Question by same.— How was that a compromise of 
the suits ? 

Answer. — Those boats were sold by me as an officer of the 
law, to Thomas Nelson and Clement R. Sterling. I think 
that Thomas Nelson was agent for a gentleman from Phila- 
delphia by the name of John Sale (that is my recollection), 
to buy the schooner "Tippecanoe." Clement R. Sterling 
bought the "War Eagle" for the sum of eight hundred 
dollars — this is my recollection. I do not know what the 
"Tippecanoe" brought. That compromise was by the 
plaintiffs paying the defendants the amount both boats 
brought at the sale and the costs of' the suits. 

l*lth Question by same. — Did the owners get back both 
boats ? 

Answer. — I suppose so. 

\Wi Question by same. — Were the suits ever brought to 
trial? 

Answer. — I think not. 

\Wi Question by same. — Do you know the grounds on 
which the plaintiffs in those suits claimed to get back the 
boats ? 

Answer. — Only what they alleged, viz., that they were 
out of the jurisdiction of the officers of Maryland. 

20th Question by same. — Did they claim to have been 
oystering in Virginia waters ? 

Ansiuer.— They did. At the time of their arrest, I do 
not know whether they did or not. 



30 

2Ut Question by S a«e._When you carried the case before 
the magistrate, after seizing the "War Bag e W 
« Tippecanoe," was defence on that ground made before the 
magistrate ? 

Answer I don't know. 

22rf Question by S <me.-Did the vessels « War Eagle 
and « Tippecanoe " bring as much as they were worth when 

you sold them ? 

Answer.-I don't know what they were worth 

23d Qwesto by same.- Was there a suit about the War 
Eagle," and a suit against the » Tippecanoe, in U. b. 
Court in Baltimore ? 

Answer. — I think there was. . 

24«ft Question by same.-Wexe both suits embraced in the 
same compromise? 

Answer. — I think they were. 

And further this deponent saith not^ ^ JQRm 

Sworn to by the above named Harvey F. Johnson, before 
me a Justice of the Peace for Somerset County, Maryland, 
this nth day of June, 1876. ^ ^ f p 

Attest ; 

C. M. Dashiell, Clerk. 



31 



DEPOSITION OF JOHN W. MARSH. 

Crisfield, Md. 3 June 16th, 1876. 

John W. Mabsh, a witness on the part of the State of 
Virginia, having been duly sworn, deposes and says : 

1st Question by Counsel for Virginia (Judge Robertson). — 
Please state how old you are, where you were horn, and 
where you have resided up to the present time. 

Answer. — I will be forty-nine years old the 16th of De- 
cember, 1876. I was born on Smith's Island, near the centre, 
on a line from north to south, rather near the bay shore, on 
the land called Pitchcraft. I lived there— that is the place 
where I was born — until I was about twenty-one years old. 
I then married Peter Evans' daughter, who was living 
on Horse Hammock, on Smith's Island, and I moved to that 
place. I lived at Horse Hammock from four to five years, 
I think ; I am not positive as to the exact time. I then pur- 
chased a part of Pitchcraft from Wm. Tyler, who lived on 
the Tyler land, on Drum Point ; Drum Point is on Tyler's 
Creek, in Smith's Island. I lived there until 1857 ; I then 
bought Horse Hammock from Peter Evans, and lived there 
until 1864 or 1865— until 1865, I think ; then I moved to 
Chesconnessex, in Accomac County, Virginia, where I still 
reside. 

2d Question by same.— How far is the Tyler land, on 
Drum Point (a part of which you say you purchased from 
William Tyler) from Horse Hammock ; and how is it sepa- 
rated from Horse Hammock ? 

Answer. — I suppose it is from two to two and a half miles 
distant. It is separated from Horse Hammock by Tyler's 
Creek, which makes an elbow below Drum Point, and passes 
eastwardly along the southern bounds of Drum Point, and 
between it and Horse Hammock. Tyler's Creek passes on 



32 



both sides of Drum Point ; the eastward branch, or elbow 
that I have spoken of, separating it from Horse Hammock 
on the south-east, and the other branch or main creek pass- 
in- around Drum Point on the westward side, and going m 
a north-easterly or northern direction until it connects with 
Mister's Thoroughfare. 

I bought Horse Hammock from Peter Evans by a line on 
the north running west from the stone on the Sound side, 
about three-quarters of a mile above the house ; hut I always 
supposed that the marsh land north of that boundary, as tar 
up as Pock Creek, was originally part of the Horse Ham- 
mock land ; and I have heard that the Tylers, who owned 
Drum Point originally, owned also the land where Hamilton 
Bradshaw formerly lived, and my brother Benjamin *. 
Marsh now lives ; and if that place be treated as part of the 
Drum Point-Tyler land, that land would be separated irom 
this marsh land of Horse Hammock, above the line by which 
I bouo-ht, by Rock Creek, which connects the Big Thorough- 
fare with the elbow of Tyler's Creek, of which I have spoken 
as being north of Horse Hammock ; connecting with the Big- 
Thoroughfare nearly amile (by the Sound and Big Thorough- 
fare side) north of a stone from which the line was run by 
which I bought Horse Hammock, and passing south-west- 
wardlv into the elbow of Tyler's Creek, near to, or a little 
south" of, the line by which I bought. The marsh land of 
which I have spoken as being, in my opinion, originally part 
of the Horse Hammock land, has now on it some ridges ot 
firm land, which I suppose show where there was formerly 
high arable land, judging by the stumps of trees which are 
still to be seen there, and the way in which I myself know 
that land has generally sunk on the island. I considered it 
of little or no value when I bought Horse Hammock, and 
was therefore willing for the northern boundary to be put at 

the stone. . . ., 

When I say Drum Point is two or two and a halt miles 
from Horse Hammock, I mean from the Horse Hammock 



33 



house, where is the only firm arable land now to be found on 
Horse Hammock, being not more than about two acres in 
quantity. 

3c? Question by same. — How much land is in the Tyler 
land at Drum Point, exclusive of the place where Hamilton 
Bradshaw formerly lived, and where your brother now lives? 
What proportion of it was fast or arable land, and what 
proportion marsh ; and if any portion of said lands were or 
are known by any other names, state what, and how such 
portions were situated relatively to Drum Point proper? 

Answer— Drum Point and Black Walnut Point are all 
one tract of land ; there are about twenty acres of arable 
land on the two. There is another part of the Tyler land 
at Drum Point called Oak Hammock, where Alexander 
Tyler now lives, containing about five acres of upland. 
These three comprise the land from Drum Point up to where 
Hamilton Bradshaw formerly lived, and where my brother 
now lives. Taken all together, they comprise about two 
hundred acres, of which about twenty-five are arable, and 
one hundred and seventy-five are marsh. 

In saying that Drum Point and Black Walnut Point are 
one tract of land, I do not mean that they are owned by one 
person at present — they have been sold to different parties. 
I understand they, that is, Drum Point, Black Walnut Point 
and Oak Hammock, were all originally owned by a man 
named Tyler. 

Mix Question by same. — How much land is in the place 
where Hamilton Bradshaw formerly lived and your brother 
now lives, adjoining that you have just spoken of; and what 
proportion of it is fast or arable land, and what proportion 
of it marsh land ? 

Answer. — I think there are about 10 acres of upland, 
and about 190 of marsh land, making about two hundred 
acres in all. 

htk Question by same.— Did you ever hear who was the 
original owner of this land ? 
5 



34 



Answer. -I always understood the Tylers owned it- 
the same who owned the two hundred acres below, com- 
mencing at Drum Point, I do not know how the Brad- 
shaws got it, whether they bought it from the Tylers, or got 
it by marriage with the Tylers. «j m :+v. 
Question by same.-While yon were residing on Smith s 
Island, did yon ever hear anything about the bound ary hue 
between the States of Maryland and Virginia? If so, state 
from whom, and what you did hear about it. 

Ansive r.-l always heard the line was three-quarters of a 
mile north of Horse Hammock, at a stone, running east and 
west . I always heard the line ran along m the direction of 
Parks' Ditch, which connects Shanks' Creek and Tyler s 
Creek The lands south of that ditch have always been 1 
have heard, taxed in Virginia. The South Pom land 
which extends from Parks' Ditch to the southern extremity 
of the island, has always been considered m/W™-' * 
have heard that this was the line from everybody-from my 
grandfather John Evans, for one, who has been dead I 
suppose, twenty-five years. He was over sixty when : he , <hed. 

It was the general opinion of all the old people on the 
island, that the line ran as I have described it. I never 
heard it questioned or denied by anybody. William Tyler 
who lived on Drum Point, told me that he considered that 
the south end of the Drum Point and Black Walnut lands 
were in Virginia. , , 

1th Question by same.-Did you ever hear anything about 
a house on the island where runaway marriages from Vi - 
ginia and Maryland took place? If so, state what hou e it 
was, and what you heard as to the way in which couples 
were married there. , 
Answer. -I have heard my grandmother and others speak 
of it ;' it was common talk. My grandmother was Mary 
Parks before marriage. She was a daughter of John Parks 
who owned this marriage-house at one time. Arthur Parks 
who was the father of John Parks, owned it, as I have heard, 



35 



"before John did. I have heard my grandmother say that 
there were two houses, standing north and south ; that there 
was a vacancy between them, and that the line ran between 
the two houses ; and that parties from Virginia went there 
to get married in the house supposed to be in Maryland. 

8th Question by same. — Did you understand how the line 
between the two States ran, from the stone you have men- 
tioned, across Tangier Sound ? 

Answer. — I always understood it ran an east course to 
Watkins' Point. I do not know where Watkins' Point was. 
I was with a surveying party once, with a Mr. Blunt, who 
put signal poles up, the first pole at Jack's Hammock, the 
mouth of Morumsco; the second on the south-west end of 
Sykes' Island ; another on the point farthest south, on the 
east side of Ape's Hole Creek, and Blunt said that that was 
Watkins' Point. I did not know whether it was or not ; I 
have heard some say that Watkins' Point was on Jane's 
Island, and others that it was on Fox's Island. 

$th Question by same. — Do you know what portion of 
Tangier Sound was considered as being within the limits of 
Virginia, and over what part of it Virginia exercised juris- 
diction ? 

Answer. — As far as Big Island. Virginia exercised juris- 
diction as far as Big Island ; from Big Island, which is situ- 
ated just opposite to and near the stone I have spoken of as 
being near three-fourths of a mile from Horse Hammock, 
across to Jane's Island. 

10th Question by same.— -Did Maryland ever exercise juris- 
diction over any part of Tangier Sound south of the line you 
have described, from Big Island across to Jane's Island? 

Answer. — None that I know of. This part of the sound 
was always considered as being within the limits of Virginia. 
I know of one case where a vessel was taken south of that 
line ; it was the schooner " Fashion," taken by John Cullen. 
I do not remember any other case. The u Fashion" was 
owned, I think, by John Tyler and William Griffin Hoffman. 



36 



I am not sure Hoffman was an owner ; he was on board 
when she was taken by Cullen. „ „ v 

Uth Question by same.-ln what State were F.lliby s Rock 
and the Great Rock in Tangier Sound considered to be, 
Virginia or Maryland ? . , 

^wer — Thev were considered to be in Virginia. 
Uth Question by M me.-What was your occupation while 
vou lived on Smith's Island, and what opportunities did you 
have of learning what portion of Tangier Sound was con- 
sidered to be in Virginia, and what portion m Maryland ? 

Answer _I commenced following the water when I was 
twelve years old. I did not follow it steadily while so 
youn- ; I stayed at home some time and went to school. I took 
charge of a vessel as captain at eighteen years old. My first 
business was dredging for oysters, in Tangier Sound most y. 
I continued the oyster business steadily until about 1846 
then I would stay at home a while, and afterwards would 
start out again in the oyster business I <™^ ed 
keeping store at Horse Hammock in 1858, 1 think, and con- 
SK in that business until 1865. I was in constant com- 
munication with the oystermen ; they were my customers, 
and thev were mostly dredgers. 

ISA Question by seme.- Did you ever hear anything said 
about a cedar stump, near the stone which you have referred 
to as being about three-quarters of a mde above Horse 
Hammock? If so, say from whom, and what you heaid about 

lt ' Answer.- 1 heard William Tyler, and Thomas Tyler his 
brother, say that when they were small boys they were taken 
to the Sound side, near where the boundary stone was (the 
one three-quarters of a mile above the Horse Hammock house), 
by an old Mr. Joseph Crockett, a very old man at that time 
and there was a stump there, and Mr. Crockett told one o 
them to break off a piece of the stump and see if i was not 
red cedar • they broke off a piece, and it was red cedar 1 hey 
sati thatMr. Crockett then said that he would ma.e oath 



37 

that he was right on the State line between Maryland and 
Virginia. They said he then took both of them and ducked 
them in the water. Wm. Tyler and John Tyler were both 
together at my house when they told me that. I was then 
living at Drum Point, on the parcel of land I bought from 
William Tyler. William Tyler was living at the time at 
Drum Point, and Thomas Tyler was living at Black Walnut 
Point, the one on one side of me and the other on the other 
side. They were both of them then old men ; they both have 
been dead some time. I think Thomas Tyler was in the 
neighborhood of seventy years old, and William Tyler was 
sixty-odd, at the time of this conversation with me. 

14th Question by same. — Do you know, or did you ever 
hear of any place on Smith's Island called Home Hammock? 

Answer. — No, sir, I never heard of any such place on 
Smith's Island. 

15^ Question by same.— Was Horse Hammock or any part 
of it ever called by any other name than Horse Hammock, so 
far as you know, or have heard? 

Answer. — I have heard it was called Horse Island. I never 
heard it called any other name than Horse Island and Horse 
Hammock. I have heard old people say that a long time it 
was called Horse Island in the Coast and Pilot. 

16th Question by same. — What lands were embraced in what 
was called Pitchcraft (or Pittscraft) ? 

Answer. — I always understood it was the land from the 
south side of Mister's Thoroughfare down to Drum Point and 
Rogue's Point. Rogue's Point is farther west, and somewhat 
north of Drum Point. Drum Point and Rogue's Point were 
considered a part of Pitchcraft. 

Cross-examination by Counsel for Maryland. 

1st Question by Mr. Jones. — Who now occupies the house 
where you were born ? 

Answer. — Francis Evans, my uncle. 



38 



2d Question by same.— How many acres did you buy of 
William Tyler ? 

Answer.— I suppose it was four acres. 

3d Question by same.— Who occupies that house on that lot 

Answer.— Pbuilt the house, and sold the house and lot to 
James T. Evans, who has since sold it to William Evans, his 

S °4i/i Question by same.— Is there any house, or houses, south 
of the last mentioned house and lot on Drum Point? 
Answer.— -There is one dwelling. 

Uh Question by same.— -Who occupied it when you bought 
it from William Tyler ? 

Answer.— William Tyler himself. 

6th Questionby same.— Did your lot extend from creek to 

creek ? , 
Answer— Marsh was on the east of my house, and lyLer s 

Creek on the west. 

7th Question by same.— Did William Tyler own all south 
from where you purchased on Drum Point ? 

Answer. — Yes, sir. 

Sth Question by same.— -How many acres did he retain ? 

Answer. — I do not know, sir, how many ; I bought four 
acres, and I do not think he had more than five acres of up- 
land left. 

9th Question by same.— Where were the lands which you 
purchased from William Tyler assessed ? 

Answer —All Drum Point was taxed in Maryland as part 
of Pitchcraft. I have heard William Tyler talk of paying 
taxes in Virginia, but what it was on I do not know. He 
paid taxes on the place where he lived, in Somerset County. 

lMi Question by same.— When you purchased Horse Ham- 
mock from Peter Evans, where was the deed recorded? 

Answer.— In Princess Anne, in Somerset County. 

Uth Question by same. -Whilst you resided on Horse Ham- 
mock, and kept store there, where was the land upon which 
you dwelt, where your store was situated, assessed and taxed t 



39 



Answer. — In Somerset County, Maryland. 

12th Question by same. — Who lives upon the property 
where William Tyler lived and died ? 

Answer. — Benjamin Bradshaw ; William Tyler devised it 
to him. 

13th Question by same. — Where did Butler Tyler live? 

Answer. — He lived on Drum Point and Black Walnut 
Point tract of land ; the house stood near the graveyard, but 
has gone down ; this I have heard. Butler Tyler died before 
my recollection. 

14th Question by same— Did William D. Bradshaw own 
any Tyler land ? 

Answer. — I have heard that the tract his father, Hamilton 
Bradshaw, left him used to belong to the Tylers. This was 
not a part of Drum Point or Black Walnut Point ; it is 
north of these places. 

lbth Question by same— Did you hear William Tyler say how 
many acres of his land were in Virginia? 

Answer. — No, sir, I did not ; he simply said the south end 
of it was in Virginia. 

16th Question by same. — On what rocks did you dredge ? 

Answer. — I used to dredge on Great Island, Great Rock, 
Filliby's Bock, and Woman's Marsh Rock. Woman's 
Marsh Rock is south of Horse Hammock ; it extends from 
Horse Hammock Point nearly to Tangier Island. Great 
Rock is east of Horse Hammock, and bears south of an east 
course, and on the east side of Tangier Sound. 

11th Question by same. — How came you, a citizen of Mary- 
land, to dredge upon the rocks you have mentioned, which 
you state were considered to be in Virginia? 

Answer. — -Because it was my interest to dredge there ; and 
I did not feel that I was in any danger, because, although 
I was taxed in Maryland, I believed I lived in Virginia, and 
I thought if it came to a test it would be shown I lived in 
Virginia, although the place where I lived was taxed in 
Maryland. I always took vessel license out in Virginia 



40 



while I lived at Horse Hammock. I am not sure whether I 
ever took dredging license out in Virginia while I lived at 
Horse Hammock. I know I did not take out dredging 
license in Maryland while I lived at Horse Hammock 

18ft Question by aarae,— Did, or not, other citizens of Mary- 
land oyster upon the same rocks where you oystered? _ 

Answer.— Only those who supposed they lived within the 
disputed waters. , ™ vv , 

19ft Question by same.-Weve not Great Rock and Filliby s 
Rock claimed by Maryland authorities to he in Maryland 
jurisdiction in 1848, 1849, and 1850, and subsequently ? ? 

Answer.— Great Rock was not ; and only a part of Filliby s 
was claimed to be in Maryland. < 

20ft Question by same.- Where was the « Fashion charged 
with having been dredging when she was arrested ? 

Anww.— On Filliby's Rock, to the best of my knowledge. 
I did not see the arrest. 

21** Question by same.— By whom was the arrest made t 

Answer.— By John Cullen, I have heard. 

22d Question by same.-Undev which State was he an officer 
when the arrest was made? 

Answer.— Under Maryland. 

23d Question by same.— Did you own vessels all the time 
you were living at Horse Hammock ? 

Answer. — Yes, sir. . 

24ft §uesfo'on by same.— Were not those vessels taxed in 
Maryland with your other personal property ? 

Answer — I do not recollect whether they were or not. 

25ft Question by same.- Is there any other house upon the 
lands which belonged to William Tyler, where Benjamin 
Bradshaw now lives, except the one occupied by Benjamin 
Bradshaw ? 

Answer. — No, sir. 

26ft Question by same.— Has there ever been any other 
dwelling on that land where William Tyler lived, since his 
death, except the one in which he resided ? 



41 



Ansiver. — None since his death, hut there was one before, 
built by John Tyler of Severn, which was burnt down about 
fifteen or twenty years ago. I had forgotten this last men- 
tioned house until your last question recalled it to my mind. 

27th Question by same. — Did you ever pay a tax on your 
store goods, that is, a license, to any Virginia authorities 
while you resided at Horse Hammock ? 

Answer. — Not that I recollect of. 

28th Question by same— Did you pay any tax on your 
house and lot at Horse Hammock where you resided, while 
you resided there, to any Virginia authorities? 

Answer. — None that I recollect of. 

29th Question by same. — Where did you get your license 
to retail store goods while you lived at Horse Hammock? 

Answer. — At Princess Anne, Maryland. 

30^ Question by same. — Did you live at Horse Hammock in 
1858-1859 and 1860? 

Answer. — >Yes, sir. 

Re-examined by Counsel for Virginia. 

1st Question by Judge Robertson. — You said, in answer to a 
question asked you on cross-examination, that William Tyler 
said the south end of his land at Drum Point was in Vir- 
ginia. What was the most southern part of that land : the 
spot at Drum Point where his house was, or some other part 
of the land ? 

Answer. — It was the part that lay between where the house 
stood on Drum Point, and the elbow of Tyler's Creek, of 
which I have spoken in my examination in chief. It is 
shelly land. Indian banks were once there ; marshes are 
connected with it, but the shell-banks are higher than the 
marsh. I cannot estimate the quantity of this part of the 
land, nor do I recollect the name of it, although I think 
there was a name for it. 

2d Question by same.— In answer to the question (upon 
6 



42 



your cross-examination) whether other citizens of Maryland 
oystered upon the same rocks where you oystered, you said 
"only those who supposed they lived within the disputed 
waters " Will you explain what you meant by tttis answer . 

lnsM)er _I did not think I lived in Maryland, although the 
deed for my place was recorded in Maryland. I always 
thought that Horse Hammock was in Virginia. By living 
within disputed waters, I meant working, in disputed 
waters. Some said the line was up to Mister's Thorough- 
tare ; some said it was below, as far as Cedar Straits, ibis 
dispute has only been within late years; in former years the 
line was always considered to be where 1 have described it 
elv from 'the stone above Horse Hammock, running east 



nam 



3c/ Question by same.— Will you explain how it was, be- 
lieving as you did that Horse Hammock was in Virginia, 
you came to have your deed for the place recorded in Mary- 
land, and to pay your taxes in Maryland instead of Vir- 

§l "Answer -I beard that the old right of Horse Hammock 
was recorded in Accomac County, Virginia, and that one 
John Tyler lived at Horse Hammock, whom the people ot 
Smith's "island wished to be their magistrate, and that he 
changed the right, and had it recorded in Princess Anne, 
Maryland, and be was appointed magistrate by Maryland 
authorities-and that that was the way that Horse Hammock 
was changed from Virginia to Maryland. That was a great 
many vears before I bought the land. When I bought tne 
land', I found it recorded in Maryland. I was aware it was 
recorded there, and that Peter Evans, from whom I pur- 
chased the land, paid bis taxes there. I thought, as long as 
it was recorded in Maryland, it might stay there. _ _ 
W Quezon by same.— Were the sheriffs of Virginia in the 

habit of coming to Smith's Island to collect taxes ? 

iwmer _Not within mv recollection. I do not remember 

ever seein- a sheriff from Virginia on Smith's Island while 



43 



I lived there. They would sometimes send their taxes there 
to be collected. Chesconessex or Onancock is about the 
nearest point of the Accomac peninsula, where most of the 
county lies, some twelve miles distant by water. The 
county-seat of Accomac is Drumraondtown, some eighteen 
miles from Smith's Island, of which twelve are by water. 

5th Question by same. — If you now remember anything 
you have heard bearing upon the question whether Horse 
Hammock was considered to be in Virginia or not, please 
state it. 

Answer. — I have heard William Tyler say that he had 
paid taxes on Horse Hammock in Virginia. William Tyler 
was the person who sold Horse Hammock to Peter Evans. 

Re-cross-examination by Counsel for Maryland. 

1st Question by Mr. Jones. — Where did you vote before you 
removed from Horse Hammock to Chesconessex? 

Answer. — I voted on Smith's Island, while I lived at 
Horse Hammock. 

2d Question by same. — At what place on Smith's Island 
did you vote — and whether the candidates for whom you 
voted were citizens of Maryland or Virginia? 

Ansiver.— The polls were held at Severn Bradshaw's, near 
the Church, south of Mister's Thoroughfare. The candidates 
for whom I voted were citizens of Maryland. 

3c? Question by same. — Did your children go to the Mary- 
land schools on Smith's Island? 

Ansioer. — There was no free school while I was there. I 
had a daughter whom I sent to school at Onancock, while I 
was living at Horse Hammock. 

tth Question by same. — Did you not know, or hear while 
you resided at Horse Hammock, that in 1860, the Legisla- 
ture of Maryland, by an Act of Assembly, declared that the 
boundary line between Virginia and Maryland was a line 
from Smith's Point to Cedar Straits? 



44 



Answer.— No, sir, I never heard it. 

5ft Question by same.-Did you believe that by the appoint- 
ment of a resident of Virginia, a Justice of the Peace by 
Maryland, and his having his right recorded m Maiyland, 
the State line could be changed? 

Answer.— No, sir. • . , . * - 

6ft Question by same.-How then could the hearing of the 
appointment of John Tyler, a Justice of the Peace by Mary- 
Ed, inflnence yon to have yonr deed for Horse Hammock 
recorded in Maryland ? • 

l^.-I had heard that, but I did not know whether it 
wa s a fact or not. As Peter Evans, -from whom I bought 
tTe land had Uis dee d recorded in Maryland, I took it in 

» —Did you understand WiHiam Tyler 
to intend to say that he paid taxes to V.rginia for he land 
where the dwelling on Horse Hammock stood, or on the 
marsh lying to the south of the high land? 

Zwer -He said he paid taxes on Horse Hammock; he 
did not say whether it was marsh or upland I supposed he 
£eant the upland as well as the marsh. . The marsh was of 
but little or no value. 

,th Question by same .-Did you pay toe. upon your store 
license and land at Horse Hammock for the years of 1859 
and 1860 to Mr. W. 8. Oustis, Sheriff of Accomac County, 
he bein- at your residence at Horse Hammock f 

iSr-Sot that I recollect of. I have no recollection 
of paying Mr. Oustis any taxes there 

dth Question by same — Did you evei bee 
Smith's Island during 1859 or 1860? 
Answer.— Not that I recollect of. 

Re-examined by Counsel for Virginia. 

1st Question by Judge Robertson.- ; Mr William Samuel 
Oustis, in a deposition given by him about a year ago, 



45 

stated that he collected taxes in 1859 at Horse Hammock 
from John M. Marsh, who was the only person that then 
lived there, and that the taxes were upon his store license 
and land, as appears hy a printed copy of his deposition 
now before me. The M no doubt is a misprint for W in 
your name. Are you to be understood as denying the truth 
of Mr. Custis's statement, or merely as saying that you do 
not yourself now recollect the fact testified to by him as to 
your payment of taxes to him? 

Answer. — I do not deny the truth of his statement, but I 
have no recollection of it whatever. I do not recollect 
whether I paid him the taxes or not. 

2d Question by same. — At what place did those who lived 
in the Virginia part of Smith's Island vote when they cast 
their votes in Virginia elections ; and did you ever vote in 
Virginia while you lived at Horse Hammock ? 

Ansiver. — They voted at Drummondtown. I voted at 
Drummondtown for Governor Wise. I do not recollect 
whether I was living at Horse Hammock. I think I voted 
for Mr. Wise for Governor. Several of us who supposed we 
lived in Virginia went over to Mr. Wise's, and he carried us 
out from his residence near Onancock to Drummondtown, 
where we voted for him. I was living at Smith's Island at 
the time. 

And further this deponent saith not. 

JOHN W. MARSH. 

Sworn to and subscribed by the above named John W. 
Marsh, before me, a Justice of the Peace for Somerset County, 
Maryland, this 16th day of June, 1876. 

OLIVER S. HORSEY, J. P. 

Attest : 

CM. Dashiell, Clerk. 



46 



DEPOSITION OF BENJAMIN THOMAS. 

Criseield, Md., June '17, 1876. 

Benjamin Thomas, a witness on the part of the State of 
Maryland, having been duly sworn, deposes and says : 

Ut Question by counsel for Maryland (Mr. Jones) .-State where 
you were born, and where you have resided all your life ; and 
what is your age and occupation. 

Answer J was born on Jane's Island, State of Maryland, 

Somerset County. I am about sixty years of age. My occu- 
pation is oystering and fishing. All my life I have resided 
on Jane's Island, was born, and have lived there all my life 

2d Question by same.- What was your father's name, and 
where did he reside? 

Answer.— His name was Thomas Thomas, and he resided 

on Jane's Island. 

3d Question by same.-Wheve was he born, as you have 

^Amwer.—To the best of my knowledge, I have heard he 
was born there, on Jane's Island. 

4th Question by same.— What was his father's name? 

Answer.— His father's, my grandfather's, name was Ben- 
jamin Thomas. - . 

m Question by S «me.-Where is the house in which you 
reside situated, and how far is it from Tangier Sound ? 

Answer __It is situated on the western end of Jane s Island 
about one hundred and forty to fifty yards from the Sound 

8l(l m Question by same.-Bo you own the house and land on 
which von live ; if yea, how did you obtain title to it ? 

Answer. — I do own it : I got it from my lather ; the house 
I had built myself. 

Tth Question by same.-From whom did your father obtain 

it? 



47 



Answer. — He got it from his father in some manner, I don't 
know how. 

8th Question by same. — How old was your father when he 
died? 

Answer. — Somewhere near eighty. 

9th Question by same. — How old was vour mother when she 
died? 

Answer. — She was about ninety — a very old woman. 
10th Question by same. — Do you know what her maiden 
name was ? 

Answer. — Her maiden name was Betsy Conner. 

Wth Question by same. — Did you ever hear from your 
father, or mother, or any of the old people of your acquaint- 
ance, of any boundary line between Virginia and Maryland, 
crossing Jane's Island ? 

Answer. — I never did, sir ; I never heard of any line 
crossing the island. I always heard my father and mother say 
that Jackey Tyler, who owned the house at Horse Hammock, 
told them that the line went through this house. 

12th Question by same. — How long has your father been 
dead ? 

Answer.— About twenty-two or three years. 
13th Question by same. — How long has your mother been 
dead? 

Answer. — About fifteen years. 

lMh Question by same. — Did you ever hear of any line, as a 
boundary between the two States, having been run, in old 
times, across any part of Annamessex Neck? 

Answer. — I never did ; never heard it, sir. 

lbth Question by same. — Who lived on Jane's Island when 
you first recollect. 

Answer. — My grandmother, whose name was Sally Thomas. 
After my uncle died she continued keeping house in her own 
house ; the frame of the house is there yet. 

16th Question by same. — How old was she when she died? 

Answer. — I do not know ; she was a very old woman, but 



48 



I cannot say how old she was. I recollect her ; I have seen 
her, when I was very small. 

17* Question by same.- Name any other persons who 

BT £2r t -iS name any others who lived on the island 
^Wbatwa, your grandmother's hus- 

band's name ? 

Answer.— Benjamin Thomas. 

1M " Qu^on by S am, T Have yon heard where he was 
born ? 

jT^i^H- Jane's Island been washed 
awav within your recollection, and to what extent r 

Answer.- Some, sir. One place I know, „ my recolhaet on 
is washed in fifty yards. This place is right against 

^ra^-Are there stumps of trees in the 

thumps in the woods, if yon should cut the trees down 

now. ~ 

22cf §Mes«ion 63/ same.— Are they large stumps ? 

Answer.— Some are very large. ^ ;■ 

23d Quesiion by S ame.-How many families have you e^et 
known to reside on Jane's Island ? 

Answer.- 1 know four or five families have lesidea 
there, since my recollection. 

Cross-examination by Counsel eor Virginia. 

1st Question by Mr. iW.-Have yon, or not, heard of a 
line between tire States, running from Jane s Island to 
Smith's Island? 

A n «tner — I never have, sir. . , 

^ Question by same.-Did you know of a suit against 



49 



John Cullen for seizing the schooner Fashion for dredging 
in the sound between Smith's Island and Jane's Island? 

Answer. — I think I heard, some talk of it, sir, but I 
know nothing else about it. 

3d Question by same. — Do you know where the Fashion was 
said to be dredging when she was seized ? 

Answer. — I don't, sir ; I have never heard of the place 
where she was seized. 

4th Question by same. — Do you know, or have you heard, of 
any question raised in that case as to where the line between 
the States ran between Jane's Island and Smith's Island ? 

Answer. — I do not know. I heard so much going on about 
it, I did not pay any attention. 

hth Question by same.-- -Did you learn the result of the suit ? 

Answer. — I did not. 

6th Question by same. — You say there are a great many 
stumps in the water near Jane's Island ; have you heard 
from old people, or in any way, how the stumps came to be 
there, instead of trees ? 

Answer.— I have heard old people say there used to be a 
woods there, thick at one time. Great many of the trees were 
cut down ; it is plain enough to see that the trees were cut ; the 
stumps are under the salt water in many cases ; the water 
preserves them ; there is fine light-wood now in many of them. 

7th Question by same. — Did you hear from old people, or 
otherwise, how far into the sound, from Jane's Island, these 
woods, or the land, extended? 

Answer. — No, sir ; I never heard them say how far. 

8th Question by same. — Did you ever know or hear of a 
line being run from Pocomoke river to Jane's Island by 
Michler, or De la Camp, about the year 1858, and where 
that line was run on Jane's Island? 

Answer. — I never did hear of any such line. 

And further this deponent saith not. 

BENJAMIN THOMAS. 
[His + mark.] 

Witness : C. M. Dashiell. 
7 



50 



Sworn to, by the above named Benjamin Thomas, before 
me, a Justice of the Peace for Somerset County, Maryland, 

this 17th day of June, 1876. ^^^^ _ _ 

OLIVER S. HORSEY, J. P. 

Attest : 

C. M. Dashiell, Clerk. 



DESPOSITION OF JOHN W. HANDY. 

Crisfielb, Md., June 17th, 1876. 

John W. Handy, a witness on the part of the State of 
Maryland, having been duly sworn, deposes and says : 

1st Question by Counsel for Maryland {Mr. Jones).— Give your 
full name, place of birth, residence, and age, and state where 
you have resided all your life. _ 
Answer— My full name is John Whittington Handy; 1 
was born at Johnson's Creek, otherwise called Ape's Hole 
Creek. I am about seventy years old. I have resided within 
half a mile of Ape's Hole all my life. 

2d Question by same.-SteM what offices you have held 
under the State of Maryland ? , 
Answer. -I have been Deputy Sheriff, Constable, and 
Justice of the Peace. 

U Question by same.— Were you a Justice of the Peace m 

1848 and 1849? ^ . 

Answer.-Yes, sir, I was a Justice of the Peace in 1848 

and 1849. 

4th Question by same.-Look upon the two papers now 
shown you purporting to be judgments rendered by John W. 
Handy, and say if you recognize them? 



51 



Answer. — Yes, sir ; they are in my handwriting, and 
were rendered by me as Justice of the Peace. 

5th Question by same. — State the circumstances under which 
those judgments were rendered, and what was the offence 
for which the vessels named in them were condemned? 

Answer. — Mr. Harvey F. Johnson was the constable who 
captured the vessels ; he brought the captain and crews be- 
fore me. I don't think they paid the fine ; he carried 
them to jail. The vessels were charged with dredging for 
oysters, contrary to the law, in Pocomoke Sound, in the waters 
of Maryland. That was the proof before me. 

6th Question by same. — State where the vessels were owned. 

Answer. — I don't think there was any proof as to their 
ownership ; am pretty certain there was none. 

7th Question by same. — Have you any knowledge of the sale 
of the vessels under the judgments of condemnation? 

Answer. — I have none ; they were sold, as I was informed. 

8th Question by same. — Have you any recollection about the 
case against the schooner " Betsy Anne," of Cherrystone? 

Answer.— I recognize the copy of the judgment shown me 
now (State of Maryland vs. Schooner " Betsy Anne," of 
Cherrystone) as rendered by me. I have no recollection as to 
where she was taken. 

(Said judgment is herewith filed, and marked " Exhibit B" 
in the Appendix,) 

9th Question by same. — State if you recollect the circum- 
stances of the capture of the schooner " Edmund S. Conner," 
of Philadelphia, and of the trial of the said schooner, and 
of the captain and crew, for catching oysters, and having 
unlawful instruments on board, contrary to the laws of the 
State of Maryland ? 

Answer. — I was summoned by Harvey F. Johnson, the day 
before she was captured, to go with him and assist in cap- 
turing any vessel that was found dredging in the waters of 
Maryland. There were several captured that day, and among 
them the " Edmund S. Conner ;" she was taken in Tangier 



52 



Sound I was present when she was captured, and went on 
board of her after she was captured. The capturing vessels 
were two, or three, manned and armed ; there must have been 
from fifty to a hundred persons on board the several cap- 
turing vessels ; we had a swivel on board, and we fired upon 
the "Conner " several times before she was taken. The men 
were brought before me and were fined, and the schooner 
was condemned and sold. The result of these captures was 
to break up the Philadelphians from dredging m our waters. 

Previous to this time nobody was safe on those waters ; 
women were not at all safe. The Philadelphians would 
come up in crowds and steal, and would fight the citizens ot 
the islands that they might find at the several stores that 
they mi-ht frequent. They would steal women's clothing ; 
also chains, &c, from boats, and behaved in a most unruly 
manner And the citizens of Maryland ultimately, atter 
great forbearance, determined to put an end to these trans- 
actions, and went as an armed force and captured the parties 
en-a-ed in such depredations. The Virginians living in the 
vicinity sympathized with us, as they suffered in the same 
way, and were willing to codperate, and did cooperate with 
us in putting an end to these transactions. The Virginians, 
on one occasion, blockaded Broad Creek, which connects 
Pocomoke Sound and Tangier Sound, near its mouth at 
Pocomoke Sound, and captured some eight or ten of these 
Northern vessels, which I suppose had been dredging m Vir- 
ginia and Maryland both. They were, when taken by the 
Virginians, in Broad Creek harbor. 

10th Question by same.-Wkere was the " Conner " taken ? 
Answer. — I think she was taken north of Jane's Island, 
between there and Kedge's Straits. 

11th Question by same.— State to what part of the Pocomoke 
Sound, while you were a justice of the peace, the jurisdiction 
of the State of Maryland was claimed and exercised, in the 
discharge of your official duties. 

Answer. — I always considered from the sand-bar at Mes- 



53 



songa, to the Muddy Marsh, that Maryland had as free 
access as Virginia had, as to oystering and fishing. I should 
not think my writ as magistrate would extend any farther 
than to those points. Muddy Marsh is near Watts' Island. 
Messonga is up the sound, near Sykes' Island, on the Vir- 
ginia side. 

12th Question by same. —Did you ever exercise jurisdiction 
as justice of the peace in any case of arrest on the Virginia 
side of the channel of Pocomoke Sound for anything ? 

Answer. — I never did act on a case of anything taken in 
Virginia waters. All the cases before me were cases for 
offences committed in Maryland waters. 

12>th Question by same. — What did you consider Maryland 
waters in Pocomoke Sound? 

Answer, — All to the westward side of the channel of Poco- 
moke Sound. As to fishing and oystering, Marylanders and 
Virginians went on either side ; always did, when 1 followed 
oystering . 

lith Question by same. — Did you ever hear of any line, in 
ancient times, run across the lands of Annamessex Neck, from 
Tangier Sound to Pocomoke River? 

Answer. — I never did, sir, that I recollect of. I have heard 
it talked over ; some would say the Maryland and Virginia 
line was in one place, and some would say another. But I 
never heard of any line run as a boundary between the two 
States. 

Cross-examination by Counsel for Virginia. 

1st Question by Mr. Daniel. — Under what law, when you 
were a magistrate, did you consider that your jurisdiction, as 
a magistrate, extended to the middle of Pocomoke Sound ; 
and the right of Marylanders and Virginians to fish and 
oyster, in common, extended over the whole sound? 

Answer. — I don't know whether there was any law or not ; 
they fished and oystered as though they belonged to one 



54 



State. I thought I had a right, under the laws of Maryland, 
to issue a writ to the middle of the sound. 

2d Question by same.— Did you ever hear of a compact as to 
jurisdiction between the States on the Potomac, Chesapeake 
Bay and Pocomoke River? 

Answer. — I have heard something of a compact, but its 
terms I do not know. 

3d Question by same.— You say you have heard the line 
between the States talked over, and some said it was in one 
place, and some in another ? State what you have heard on 
that subject. 

Answer —I never heard anything more about it. I asked 
no questions about it. 

And further this deponent saith not. 

JOHN W. HANDY. 

Sworn to, by the above named John W. Handy, before me, 
a Justice of the Peace for Somerset County, Maryland, this 

17th day of June, 1876. ^^ot^t t t> 

OLIVER S. HORSEY, J. P. 

Attest : 

C. M. Dashiell, Clerk. 



DEPOSITION OF JAMES LAWSON. 

Crisfield, Md., June 17th, 1876. 

James Lawson, a witness on the part of the State of Mary- 
land, having been duly sworn, deposes and says: 

1st Question by Counsel for Maryland {Mr. Jones) .—State 
your name, age, residence and occupation. 



55 



Answer. — My name is James Lawson, My occupation lias 
been that of a mariner for forty-five years ; for the last six 
years I have been keeper of the light-house at Somers' Cove. 
I am sixty-six years old. My home has been in Little Anna- 
inessex; was born there, and still reside there. I reside on 
the eastern part of the tract of land that formerly belonged 
to my father, James Lawson. My brother, Hance Lawson, 
and myself own the land together. 

2d Question by same. — State whether you were assessor for 
Somerset County, Maryland, in 1866? 

Answer. — I was, together with Isaac Smith Lankford and 
Benjamin Coulbourn. I recognize the assessment book now 
shown to me as the one we used in 1866. 

3d Question by same. — State whether, in the execution of 
your office as assessors, the assessors were on Smith's Island, 
and whether you were at Horse Hammock? 

Answer. — We were at Horse Hammock, on Smith's Island. 

ith Question by same. — State the mode in which you made 
the assessment ; what formalities were required by the law ? 

Answer. — We were required to assess all property in Mary- 
land ; and every person was required to give in a list of his 
property on oath. I administered the oaths, Mr. Lankford 
took the property down, and if Mr. Coulbourn and myself 
could not agree as to the value of the property we called 
in Mr. Lankford. 

5th Question by same. — Whom did you find at Horse Ham- 
mock ? 

Answer. — We found Johnson Evans. Johnson Evans gave 
in the list of property to us without any objection. We 
administered the oath to him and assessed the property. 

Qth Question by same. — State if you were at the house of 
William Tyler, Sr. 

Answer. — I will not say whether we were at his house, or 
not. We saw the house, and, I think, he was at James T. 
Evans's. I was well acquainted with him. 

1th Question by same.— Did he give you a list of his 
property ? 



56 



Answer.— I expect he did. We did not take any property 
down except what was given in to us. 

%th Question by same.—- You recognize his name on the book 
of assessment of Smith's Island? 

Answer. — I do, sir. 

%th Question by same.— Did you know John Tyler of 
Severn, and did you assess his property? 

Answer.— I knew him, and assessed his property. He 
gave it in himself. 

10th Question by same.— Where did you meet with him? 
Answer.— I can't say exactly. I think we were at the next 
house, and he came over. 

Uth Question by same.— What property did he give in ? 
Answer.— I cannot tell without looking at the Assessment 
Book. He gave in his house and lot, and I think he gave 
in a vessel. The assessment-hook will show. 

12th Question by same.— Where did Wm. Tyler live ? 
Answer.— Re lived on the southern part of the island, 
near James Evans's. 

Uth Question by same.— Where did John Tyler live? 

Answer. I don't know the name of the place, hut in the 

southern part of the island ; I don't know in what direction 
from William Tyler's. We did not assess any marsh land, 
unless where there was a lot enclosed. 

Uth Questionby same.— Were you ever engaged in oyster- 
ing, and from what time ; if yea, when, and in what waters 
were you in the Habit of taking oysters ? 

Answer. — I commenced oystering when I was a hoy. I 
took charge of a vessel when I was sixteen years old. I ran 
oysters, potatoes, grain, fro. I traded from Cherrystone, 
Northampton County, Va. 3 for several years. I traded con- 
siderably in Pocomoke Sound. 

lMh Question by same.— State whether , or no, citizens of 
Maryland and Virginia exercised equal privileges in taking 
oysters in Pocomoke Sound. 

Answer. -They did, sir, all over the sound; down the 
sound and up the sound. I have loaded on Shell Bock, 



57 

abreast of Sykes' Island, and I have loaded nearly off the 
Muddy Marsh, just below Messonga. Never loaded in Poco- 
moke Sound much below Muddy Marsh ; the oysters were too 
small below there to be valuable. Marylanders and Vir- 
ginians were both taking oysters for me and loading my 
boat. This was their custom. 

lQth Question by same. — How long did this, state of things 
exist, down to what time ? 

Answer. — For a long time — as long as I ran oysters out 
of that sound, which I suppose was for twenty-five years. 
I stopped before the commencement of the war. I built a 
vessel before 1847, and quit 03'stering about 1847 in Pocomoke 
Sound, the business having grown dull, and I began 
running grain, potatoes, &c. 

VI th Question by same. — During the time that you were 
engaged in running oysters from Pocomoke Sound, did any 
question arise, so far as you know, or have heard, as to the 
line of the two States, Maryland and Virginia, in that sound? 

Answer.— Never heard anything about it, and never heard 
it named. 

ISth Question by same. — What had you heard said, down 
to the late war, about the line between Maryland and Vir- 
ginia, across the Chesapeake Bay and Pocomoke Sound ? 

Answer. — I have heard a great deal said by those who 
knew no more about it than myself. I have heard some of 
the old folks say that the line from the Potomac came 
right across Horse Hammock, then running to the south 
point of Annamessex land, then running up the channel of 
Pocomoke Sound. I have heard nothing more ; but there 
has been a great argument as to where that south point of 
Annamessex was. I never, before the commencement of the 
late war, heard of any other line than the one that I have 
mentioned. 

Ityth Question by same. — Did you ever hear of any line, in 
ancient times, being run across Jane's Tsland and Anna- 
messex Neck to Pocomoke River ? 

Answer. — I never did. 
8 



58 



Cross-examination by Counsel for Virginia. 

Id Question by Mr. Daniel- -Have you not always under- 
stood that the State line ran from the Potomac across Smith s 

Island ? , _ , 

Answer— Yes. I have always heard the old people say 
that the State line ran across Smith's Island to Horse Ham- 
mock, leaving the portion of the island south of that line m 
Virginia, and the portion north in Maryland. 

2d Question by same. -Then did you make any assessment 
south of that line, on Smith's Island ? 

Answer __I think we did. I think John Tyler s was south 
of Horse Hammock, hut am not sure. We asked no question 
about the line, and the line was not named to us. We 
assessed the largest part of the island. We did not assess 
John Marshall's, because they said he lived in Virginia, and 
there may have been others whom we did not assess for the 

same reason. . ■ . 

U Questionbysame.-Wheu you were oystering, at the time 
and manner you have mentioned, had you, or the persons 
who loaded for you, any oyster license ? 

Answer —No, sir ; there were no canoes licensed then. 
ith Question by same.— Was there any particular officer m 
either State charged with the execution of the oyster law? 
Ansiver. — I think not. . u -i 

bth Question by same.— Ave you acquainted with the soil, 
timber, and marshes of Smith's Island, and the changes they 
have undergone within your recollection? 

Answer.-! see very little change in it; there was no 
timber there to cut, within my recollection. 

Uh Question by same.— State if the waters in and about 
the island are filled with stumps, and their appearance. 

Answer.— There are plenty of stumps in places, in the 
waters mentioned, but they do not appear tome to have been 
cut in my time. They have been there since my earliest 
recollection ; they are four or five feet under water. 



59 



*lth Question by same. — Would the stumps in the water he 
preserved hetter than those on the land ? 
Answer. — I suppose they would. 

8th Question by same. — How much of the land do you 
suppose has been washed away at Sassafras Hammock on the 
Bay side? 

Answer. — I cannot say. T should think it had washed 
away a great deal, although I have not seen it. I have 
heard that a house has been washed away there which stood 
on firm land, and that the place where it stood is now 
covered by water, about one hundred and fifty yards from 
the present shore. 

And further this deponent saith not, 

JAMES LAWSON. 

Sworn to by the above named James Lawson, before me, a 
Justice of the Peace for Somerset County, Maryland, this 
17th day of June, 1876. 

OLIVER S. HORSEY, J. P. 

Attest : 

C. M. Dashiell, Clerk. 

Certificate. — I hereby certify that, upon careful examin- 
ation of the assessment-book for Smith's Island for 1866 (the 
last assessment made in Maryland), it does not appear that 
marsh was generally assessed ; the quantity of marsh assessed 
on the whole island to sundry individuals being 153 acres at 
a total valuation of 113 dollars. 

C. M. DASHIELL, Clerk. 



60 



DEPOSITION OF JOHN MARSHALL. 

Cmsmeld, Mb., June 21st, 1876. 
John Marshall, a witness on the part of the State of Vir- 
ginia, having heen duly sworn, deposes and says : 

1st Question by Counsel for Virginia (Judge Bobertson.)- 
State whether yon are the same John Marshall who gave a 
deposition before the Maryland and V.rgima Boundary 
Commissioners in May 1872 ; which deposition has just heen . 
read over to you; if you are, and there is anything incor- 
rectly stated in that deposition, be so good as to point it out. 

Answer.-! am the same John Marshall who gave the 
deposition. It is all correct, as far as I know, with the ex- 
ception that the deposition states that John Parks land was 
conveyed to John Hoffmann who removed to Pungoteague 
Creek Ac: it should have stated that it was conveyed to 
James' E. Hoffman, &c. I think that I said so at the time I 
gave my former deposition ; the mistake was made by the 
person who wrote my deposition down, or by the printer. 

2d Question by same.-SMe whether you ^ are the same 
person to whom land was conveyed by Richard fevans by 
deed dated 29th August 1848, and recorded in the County of 
Accomac, and described as "lying on Smith's Island in the 
parish of St. George, in the County of Accomac containing 
thirty acres, be the same more or less, the same being a part 
of the tract belonging to, and occupied by the said Richard 
Evans, and sold by estimation, not havin § b f VT^ i 
and bounded as follows, to wit : on the north by the lands of 
Elijah Evans (of Somerset County, Maryland,) and the State 
line separating the States of Virginia and Maryland , on he 
east bv Tyler's Creek, separating it from the lands of Elijah 
Evans ; on the south by the other land of said Richard Evans ; 
and on the west by Shanks' Creek, separating the said 



61 



land from Harvey Hoffman's a copy of said deed being 
now read to you ; and if you are the same person, say on what 
part of Smith's Island said land is situated, and what it is 
called, also how much land there really was within the 
boundaries given in the deed, and which was then estimated 
to be thirty acres, more or less. 

Answer. — I am the same person who bought the land re- 
ferred to. The land lies immediately south of Parks' Ditch, 
which connects Shanks' Creek with Tyler's Creek, and is be- 
tween these creeks. It is called South Point. Within these 
boundaries, which were supposed to contain thirty acres 
only, I suppose there are as many as one hundred acres. It 
is all pretty much marsh now ; when 1 bought it there was 
on it f of an acre of high land. There was a house upon it, 
which I had built on it before I bought it, being the son-in- 
law of Richard Evans, from whom I bought it. I lived there 
twelve or fifteen years, I think. This high land, upon 
which my house stood, has sunk and become marsh ; the 
house has been moved away ; I now live on Shanks', on the 
lowest part of the island, which I purchased from the heirs 
of Richard Evans. 

3d Question by same.— State whether, while you lived on 
South Point, as above stated, you paid your taxes in Virginia, 
and were considered to be and acted as a citizen of Virginia? 

Answer. — Yes, sir, I did pay my taxes in Virginia, and have 
always been considered to be, and have always acted as a 
citizen of Virginia ever since I have been living on Smith's 
Island — indeed ever since I was born ; for I was born on 
Sykes' Island, and moved from that place to Smith's Island. 

4th Question by same— I now read to you a copy of a deed 
from Richard Evans and Rachel his wife, dated 28th August, 
1849, conveying to John Marshall a tract of land contain- 
ing, in the whole, about one huudred acres, of which less 
than one and a half acres are high land and the balance is 
marsh ; the same being recorded in Accomac. State whether 
you are the John Marshall to whom said conveyance was 



62 



made, and where the said land is situated. Please describe 
the same, and the lands adjoining, or near to it. 

Answer. — I am the John Marshall to whom said land was 
conveyed. It lies immediately south of the land conveyed 
by the deed referred to in the second question asked me to- 
day, and my answer thereto. It is a part of the land called 
South Point. There is still another part of South Point, 
lying immediately south of this, which then belonged to 
Teackle Evans, and now belongs to Thomas Bradshaw. It 
belonged to William Evans before Teackle Evans bought it. 
The first person, of all that I ever heard of, to whom this 
land (now belonging to Thomas Bradshaw) belonged, was 
a man named Crockett; I think his name was Joseph. 
The place where I live now is Shanks', on the west side 
of Shanks' Creek. South Point is the land lying between 
Shanks' Creek and Tyler's Creek, and extending all the 
way from Parks' Ditch down to the sound. There is no 
person now living on South Point. I have known when 
there were as many as seven families living on it at the 
same time. They were Thomas Spence and his family, 
John Dies and his family, Teackle Evans and his wife (they 
had no children), Dennard Evans and his family, Joshua 
Spence and his family, Samuel Stant and his family, and 
Napoleon Bonaparte Davis and his family. I think Samuel 
Stant was the last one who left South Point ; I think it was 
between three and four years ago that he left it. There are 
only three houses now standing there, and none of them are 
tenanted. The whole of South Point now belongs to my- 
self, and my son, who lives at Black Walnut Point, who 
owns the northern portion, and Thomas Bradshaw, who lives 
on Black Walnut Point near the line of Drum Point, (that 
is to say on what was known as the Tyler-land, that having 
been divided at Drum Point and Black Walnut Point be- 
tween William Tyler and Thomas Tyler, John Tyler having 
in right of his wife Ann got the Oak Hammock part of the 
Tyler land in the division referred to). 



63 



There is a small part of South Point, not more, I think, 
than an acre, that is now owned hy Joshua Spence ; but it is 
of little or no value, being marshy. Thomas Bradshaw cul- 
tivates a part of the arable land owned by him on South 
Point, and I cultivate a part of that owned by me. I do not 
think there are now more than four or five acres of it that 
can be cultivated; the rest being marshy. At Shanks', 
where I now live, there are, I think, about two and a half or 
three acres that can be cultivated, the rest being marsh. 

5/7i Question by same. — How many persons by the name of 
John Tyler have you known on Smith's Island, and where 
did they reside respectively ? 

Answer. — The first one that I knew anything about was 
John Tyler, who lived at Horse Hammock (or Horse Island, 
for Horse Hammock was sometimes called Horse Island, and 
I think that is the right name of the place). This John Tyler 
was made a magistrate in Maryland forty-odd years ago ; it 
may have been longer, for it was soon after I came on the 
island to live. I am not able to say how long ago this John 
Tyler died, but think it was some forty years ago. 

The second John Tyler that I knew anything of was called 
John L. Tyler, I think. He lived on Oak Hammock, just 
above Drum and Black Walnut Points. He was the father 
of Alexander Tyler, who now lives at Oak Hammock. He 
died, I think, some fifteen years ago, though I am not sure 
as to the time. 

The third John Tyler is now living on Hog Neck, in the 
Parks', or what is sometimes called the Marriage House. He 
is a son of Severn Tyler, and is sometimes called John Tyler 
of Severn. Severn Tyler, his father, was a brother of David 
Tyler, whose deposition was taken by G-ov. Wise in 1872, 
and who died in the year 1874. I have heard that the 
grandfather of this David Tyler was named David Tyler. 

I do not know of any persons named John Tyler who have 
lived on Smith's Island since I have been living there, ex- 
cept the three I have mentioned. 



64 



Uli Question by same.— In which State was Horse Ham- 
mock (or Horse Island) considered to be by the residents on 
the island, since you have first known it, Virginia or Mary- 
land ? 

Answer. — In Virginia. 

7th Question by same.— Was John Tyler residing at Horse 
Hammock when he was made a magistrate in Maryland? 
If so, state what you may have heard about it. 

Answer .—Yes, sir, he was residing at Horse Hammock at 
the time. I heard from old Mr. William Tyler, that the way 
John Tyler came to be a Justice of the Peace in Maryland, 
was, that they wanted a Justice of the Peace on Smith's 
Island, and that John Tyler was the fittest man on the 
island for the position, and that old Mr. Solomon Evans, 
to get him made a Justice, swore him in — that is to say, 
swore he lived in Maryland. 

nth Question by same. — Who was the Mr. William Tyler 
who told you this ? 

^ ?mf;er "_William Tyler, was the brother of John Tyler, 
who was made a magistrate as above stated, and of Thomas 
Tyler. He was one of the witnesses examined in the case of 
the Fashion, and in the case against John Cullen. He and 
Thomas Tyler and John L. Tyler were all examined as 
witnesses in those cases. It was the same William Tyler 
who got a lien of some sort from John Tyler upon Horse 
Hammock, and had it sold, or sold it himself to Peter Evans, 
who several years afterwards sold it to John W. Marsh, who 
afterwards sold it to Johnson Evans, who is now living there. 

8th Question by same.— Did you ever hear William Tyler 
or any of the old persons on Smith's Island express the 
opinion that Horse Hammock was really in Maryland? 

Answer.— I never did in my life hear William Tyler, or 
any other person on the island, express the opinion that 
Horse Hammock was in Maryland. Everybody I ever heard 
speak of it, spoke of it as being in Virginia. I think I have 
heard that an old man named Pruitt (I do not know what his 



65 



first name was) lived at Horse Hammock a great many years 
ago. But I cannot say that any man named Pruitt ever did 
live there. I only think I have heard that a man lived there 
about the year 1780 — the cold winter — named Pruitt. I 
cannot say whether any person named Tyler ever lived there 
before Pruitt did, or not ; and I do not wish to be under- 
stood as saying that any man named Pruitt ever did in fact 
live there. I only tell what I have heard some old people say. 

9th Question by same. — How much firm land is in the Horse 
Hammock property ? 

Answer. — I do not know, but do not think there are more 
than two acres of firm land. I think there is hardly as 
much as two acres. The rest of the place is marsh, not 
fit for anybody to live on. 

10th Question by same. — Has the land on Smith's Island 
been undergoing any change since you have been living 
there? If so, state in what respect. 

Answer. — I think the land has changed a great deal since 
I have been there. There has been a good deal of washing 
on the Bay shore. At one place particularly on the Bay 
shore, where Revell Evans lived before I came on the island, 
the laud has been washed away, so that the place where 
his house then stood is now, I think, more than two hundred 
yards from the present shore, and covered with water, pro- 
bably some four or five feet deep at high tide — at low water 
about one-half that depth. This is the place which I have 
heard was called Sassafras Hammock on the Bay shore. 
My wife has told me that she has been in the house which 
was washed away at that place, that she recollects having 
stayed there when she was a child. My wife is some two 
years, I think, older than I am — which would make her 
now about sixty-seven years old. 

I think' the land on the island, particularly the marsh land, 
is a good deal lower now than it was formerly; and that a 
good deal of what was formerly high land is now marsh. 
Where trees of considerable size formerly stood there is now 
9 



66 



nothing but marsh ; but a great many stumps are still to be 
seen standing in the water, wherever the land has been 
washed away, and in many cases a long way, sometimes 
nearly a half a mile, from the present shore. And a good 
many stumps are also to be found in the marsh itself, ■ 
throughout a large part of the island, I think this sink- 
ing of the land has been caused by the habit, which formerly 
prevailed, of burning the marsh, which the old people used 
to do because they thought it would improve the grass. The 
result was that the surface of the earth would be burnt into, 
and when it afterwards was covered by high tides, it would 
be washed off, and the salt water would settle it and make 
it sink. So that land which had been of value, and upon 
which trees of considerable size had stood, would, after these 
trees had been cut down, and the marsh subjected to these 
burnings, sink into mere marsh land of no value whatever. 
I have myself seen this thing going on, and think there can 
be no doubt that most of the island is very much lower and 
more marshy now than it was formerly. 

The shores, too (particularly the western one exposed to 
the Bay), have been very much washed away. The instance 
I have stated of the washing at Evans' house (or Sassafras 
Hammock on the Bay) is by no means the only one of very 
great washing away of the land. It is very general on that 
side of the island. I think it has, in my own recollection, 
washed away more than two hundred yards, opposite the 
place where I am now living at Shanks'. By my recollec- 
tion, I mean since I have been living on Smith's Island. 

My father-in-law, Richard Evans, told me that his father 
had owned a piece of land, near Oheesman's (which is north 
of Shanks', where I am now living), which extended west 
more than two hundred yards out into what is now the Bay, 
which his father cultivated in corn and potatoes and wheat, 
and which had been washed away before I went to live on 
the island. I should think the place they spoke of is now 
more than a quarter of a mile out from the shore. We now 
make it a fishing ground. 



67 



11th Question by same.— Did you ever hear anything said 
ahout the washing away of the land at Jane's Island, on the 
opposite side of Tangier Sound to Smith's Island ? If so, 
state from whom and what you have heard. 

Answer. — I have heard my father-in-law, Richard Evans, 
say that in his time there was a piece of high land out from 
Jane's Island, in a southwestern direction, upon which peach 
trees were growing. 1 do not recollect that he said how far 
out it was, but the place where he spoke of its being was 
then entirely covered by water. 

12th Question by same. — Do you know where Filliby's Rock 
and the Big (or Great) Oyster Rock are situated ? If so, de- 
scribe where they are. 

Answer. — Yes, sir ; I have been on them both. I would 
say Filliby's Rock is southerly from the outer light-house — 
that is to say, the one opposite Jane's Island — and that the 
Big Rock, or as we most usually call it, the Great Rock, lies 
southerly down the sound, and I think somewhat easterly 
from Filliby's Rock, extending down nearly opposite to 
Cedar Straits. There are some mud sloughs in it, or rather 
there were when I first knew it, but by dredging the oysters 
have been scattered, and those mud sloughs are now nearly 
all of them filled up, so that it may be said now to be one 
rock, nearly all the way from where it commences below 
Filliby's Rock, being separated from it by a mud slough. 
The upper part of the Great Rock is almost abreast of Fil- 
liby's Rock, if indeed it does not run up a little above and 
to the east of the lower part of Filliby's Rock. There was a 
little rock, when I first knew the place, inside of the Great 
Rock — that is, between it and the Annamessex shore — but it 
may now be said to be pretty much a part of the Great Rock, 
they having been brought together by dredging. 

All these rocks are on the eastern side of Tangier Sound. 
The little rock commences, I should think, not more than a 
quarter of a mile from the Annamessex shore. They go out 
a considerable distance ; I should think to eight fathom 



68 



water. The western side of the Great Rock extends to very 
near the channel of the sound, and the western side of Fil- 
liby's Rock extends to the Sound channel. The channel of 
the sound is nearer to the Annamessex side than it is to 
Smith's Island. 

13th Question by same. —What are these " rocks " of which 
you have been speaking, composed? 

Answer.— Of oysters. The oysters fasten themselves to 
each other, and grow up into what we call a " rock." Among 
oystermen a bed of oysters is called a " rock." 

lith Question by same.— Has much timber been cut down 
on Smith's Island since you have known it? 

Answer. — Yes, sir, there has been a good deal of it cut 
down, and destroyed by fire since I have known the island. 
There is very little timber left on the island now. 

Cross-examined by Counsel for Maryland. 

1st Question by Mr. Jones — On how many acres of land, 
including marsh, do you pay taxes in Virginia? 

Answer— I pay taxes for all I have got. I pay for what 
my deeds call for, viz. thirty acres more or less on South 
Point, and a hundred acres more or less on South Point, 
and on one hundred and fifty or two hundred and fifty 
acres, I cannot say exactly, at Shanks'— all marsh except 
about two acres. It (Shanks') extends some three miles up 
to John Tyler's lands. 

2d Question by same.— What is the amount of taxes yearly 
you have generally paid, and where have you always paid 
them ? 

Answer. — My taxes have been from ten to eleven dollars 
annually. I have always paid them at Drummondtown 
generally ; sometimes on Tangier, and at other places, 
wherever I met the sheriff. I never paid any to any person 
on Smith's Island ; the sheriff never came there to collect any. 
I have never paid any taxes in Maryland, and none have 
ever been demanded of me. 



69 



3d Question by same. — Were you acquainted with Solomon 
Evans, of whom you spoke in your examination in chief ; if 
yea, is he living or dead? If dead, how long has he been 
dead? 

Answer. — I was well acquainted with him. He lived on 
Kedge's Straits. He has been dead some twenty-odd years. 
I have often heard him preach and lead the class ; he was a 
local preacher in the Methodist Church. I think there was 
a great change in him in his latter years. In his earlier 
years he was accustomed to take his dram ; this he gave up 
in his later years, but he never gave up his cider. There 
was a great alteration in him after the time he procured the 
appointment of John Tyler as Justice of the Peace. He 
was much more to be depended upon after the time he was 
said to have procured the appointment of John Tyler as 
J ustice of the Peace. 

4th Question by same. — Did you hear him preach and lead 
the class before the appointment of John Tyler, a Justice 
of the Peace ? 

Ansiver. — No, sir, I did not, sir. 

oth Question by same. — Did you ever hear any one question 
at any time the character of Solomon Evans for truth and 
veracity ? 

Answer. — No, sir, I never did. All that I ever heard was 
what I have said Mr. Wm. Tyler told me about his swearing 
John Tyler in as a magistrate, and I do not know that he 
ever did that. 

And further this deponent saith not. 

JOHN MARSHALL. 

[His _j_ mark.] 

Witness : C. M. Dashiell. 

Sworn to by the above named John Marshall, before me, a 
Justice of the Peace for Somerset County, Maryland, this 
21st day of June, 1876. 

OLIVER S. HORSEY, J. P. 

Attest : 

C. M. Dashiell, Clerk. 



70 



DEPOSITION OF WILLIAM G. HOFFMAN. 

Crisfield, Md. 5 June 24th, 1876. 

William Gr. Hoffman, a witness on the part of Virginia, 
having "been duly sworn, deposes and says : 

1st Question by Counsel for Virginia {Mr. Daniel). — What 
is your name and age, and who was your father? 

Answer. — My name is William Gr. Hoffman ; my age is 
fifty years old ; my father was James H. Hoffman. 

2d Question by same. — What is your father's age, and will 
vou slate, if you know, why he is not here to-day as a 
witness 9 

Ansicer. — His age is seventy-two ; the reason he is not 
here is hecause he has a broken thigh, and cannot leave 
home to come this distance ; he is very feeble. 

3d Question by same. — Did your father ever reside on 
Smith's Island ? If so, when, and how long did his residence 
continue there, and when did it commence and end ? 

Answer.— -My father lived at Hog Neck ; he lived there 
from about 1842 to about 1855. He went from there to 
Accomac County, Ya., on Pungoteague Creek, where he has 
resided ever since. 

4th Question by same. — Where did he live before he went 
to Hog Neck. 

Ansicer. — He lived at South Point, on Smith's Island. 
bth Question by same— Did you live with your father on 
Smith's Island until he left it in 1855 ? 
Ansicer— I lived on the same land. 

Uh Question by same— What property did your father own 
in Hog Neck ; how much of it, and from whom did he 
acquire it ? 

Answer.— He owned, I think, some nine hundred acres ; I 
can't say particularly, but I have seen the deeds. He acquired 
it from John Parks. 



71 



ItJi Question by same. — Did it embrace the land now owned 
by John Tyler of Severn, at Hog Neck? 
Answer. — It did. 

8th Question by same. — Is the present residence of the said 
John Tyler that in which your father lived? 
Answer. — It is. 

S)th Question by same. — Was the land of your father spoken 
of in Maryland, or Virginia ? 

Answer. — There was a part in each State, I know that 
the larger portion was in Virginia, the smaller in Maryland. 
I have seen the deeds, but cannot say as to the exact amount 
in each State. 

10^ Question by same. — Did he get separate deeds from 
Parks for land in Virginia and for land in Maryland? 
Answer. — He did. 

llth Question by same. — Where was the State line dividing 
these lands supposed to run ? 

Answer. — It ran right through the yard. The old gentle- 
man Parks that sold the land, always told me that it ran 
right between the house and kitchen. 

12th Question by same.- — How far apart were the house and 
kitchen ? 

Answer. — I should suppose they were about forty feet, 
more or less, apart. 

IWi Question by same.— On what terms did your father 
purchase this property from John Parks? 

Answer. — He bought it for, I think, $600, and he (Parks) 
was to have his lifetime on the land. Parks retained the 
old house as long as he lived. My father built a new house 
for himself on the land. Parks died some time before my 
father left the island. 

14:th Question by same. — Where was the line reputed to 
run, or what was the course of the line reputed to be, from 
the Sound to the Bay, across the island ? 

Answer. — It started from the line stone above Horse 
Hammock, and went across, through my father's land he 



72 



owned at that time, between Black Walnut Point and Drum 
Point as I believe, but I don't recollect particularly, about 
an east and west course. 

\5th Question by same. — From whom did you learn this? 

Answer. — I learned this from the old man John Parks, 
and from old Mr. Tommy Tyler, and other old people, such 
as Hamilton Bradshaw, Littleton Bradshaw, Jacob Brad- 
shaw, William Tyler, and the old man Elijah Evans. It was 
frequent matter of talk among the old people. 

lUh Question by same — Are you aware of any judicial 
trial, in which the line across the sound from the line stone, 
which you have mentioned, in the direction of Little Anna- 
messex, was the subject of examination ? 

Answer. — I was taken in a vessel, by name Schooner 
" Fashion." Severn Tyler, father of the present John Tyler 
of Hog Neck, was on her. She was taken for dredging for 
oysters contrary to law. She was brought to trial before 
John Stevenson, a Justice of the Peace for Maryland, and 
was there condemned. We then brought suit, claiming we 
were in Virginia. The vessel was taken three miles below 
Crisfield. We were dredging on Little Rock, so called at 
that time ; between Filliby's Rock and the Great Rock. We 
gained the suit on the ground that we were in Virginia 
waters some three miles. The condemnation of the vessel 
was reversed on appeal, and we afterwards sued for damages. 

11th Question by same.— Was the case for condemning the 
vessel a prosecution by the State of Maryland? 
Answer. — It was. 

18th Question by same. — Were you present at that exami- 
nation ; and who were examined as witnesses ? 

Ansiver. — I was present at the examination. Thomas 
Tyler, William Tyler, myself, (I was not owner of the vessel, 
Tyler was the owner) and others were present as witnesses. 

l§th Question by same.— Do you recollect the substance of 
the evidence of Thomas Tyler and William Tyler about the 
line across the sound ? 



73 



Answer. — Their evidence was that the line came from the 
line stone upon the island, to somewhere ahout the mouth 
of Little Annamessex River. I do not recollect any par- 
ticulars ; it has been a long time, and I never expected to be 
called on to testify. 

20th Question by same. — Was James Lawson, the father of 
Hance Lawson, examined on this subject, in this case? 

Answer. — Yes, sir, he was evidence for the State of Mary- 
land. 

2\st Question by same.— What was the substance of his 
evidence ? 

Answer. — He testified that the line went through his 
woods across to the Pocomoke. His woods are near Crisfield, 
on Jenkins' Creek. The building in which he lived was at 
the head of Jenkins' Creek, but it is now gone down. Law- 
son's heirs now own the land, of whom Hance Lawson is 
one. This line threw us in Virginia about three miles south 
of the line. 

22c? Question by same. — Where was that prosecution tried ? 
Answer. — It was tried at Princess Anne,'Somerset County, 
Maryland. 

23<i Question by same. —Who was captain of the vessel 
when she was taken ? 

Answer. — John Tyler, the son of Severn, who now lives 
at Hog Neck, where my father formerly lived. 

24th Question by same. — -Where was the line stone, near 
Smith's Island, of which you have spoken ? 

Answer. — I have always thought that it was directly north 
about one-half to three-quarters of a mile above Horse Ham- 
mock house. 

25th Question by same. — Was your father James H. Hoff- 
man examined in this case ? 
Answer. — He was. . 

26th Question by same. — -Do you remember what his testi- 
mony was ? 

Ansiver. — He testified that the line ran across Hog Neck 
10 



to the Bay. He testified, at that time, to the exact number 
of acres he owned there, and that it threw the larger portion 
in Virginia. 

21th Question by same.— What line did the testimony seem 
to establish between Grisfield and Hog Neck, where your 
father lived ? 

Answer. — I suppose the line they established would go 
from just below Crisfield across the sound to the line-stone, 
and from thence across the island to Hog Neck, where my 
father lived. 

28th Question by same— Have you seen the deeds from 
John Parks to your father, and what were their dates ? 

Answer. — I have seen the deeds, and as near as I recollect 
the deeds were dated about 1842. They are now, I think, in 
my father's possession. 

29th Question by same.— From whom did John Parks pur- 
chase the nine hundred acres or thereabouts, and have you 
seen the deed ; where did you see it, and what is its date ? 

Answer.— J o\\n Parks purchased nine hundred acres or 
thereabouts from John C. Wilson in 1794. I have seen the 
deed; I saw it in my father's possession, and I think it is 
dated 1794. I think my father has still a copy of the old 
Wilson deed. 

30th Question by same.— Had there been parts of the nine 
hundred acres sold off before your father purchased it, and 
who purchased them ? 

Answer .— Before my father bought it, a man by the name 
of Johnson Mezick had bought one part, and a man by the 
name of Crockett had bought another part, and my father 
bought the residue. Since that time, that part I have men- 
tioned was sold from it has been sold to William Lewis and 
William Bradshaw. 

3\st Question by same. — Where is each place situated, and 
what are the lines of each ? 

Answer. — Lewis's place was in Maryland, bounded on the 
west by Chesapeake Bay, on the north and east by Shanks' 



75 



Creek, on the south by James H. Hoffman's lands. Brad- 
shaw's place was in Virginia, bounded on the east by Shanks' 
Creek, on the west, north and south by said James H. 
Hoffman's lands. 

32c? Question by same. — To which State did your father pay 
taxes when he lived at Hog Neck, on Smith's Island ? 

Answer. — He paid the first three years in both States, 
and after that he had it changed (he was inconvenient to the 
Accomac sheriff) to Somerset County, Maryland, so as not to 
have to go to Accomac, Virginia. 

33c? Question by same. — Was that an arrangement between 
the sheriffs of the two States ? 

Answer. — I suppose it must have been. 

3kth Question by same. — To which State did John Parks 
pay taxes while he owned the land? 

Answer. — He paid taxes to both States during the time he 
owned it. 

35th Question by same. — Do you know of tax tickets paid by 
Hoffman to the sheriff of Virginia? 

Answer. — I do, sir. The reason they are not produced is 
because I had no time to look for them. I sent my father 
from the wharf to the house to look for them, but the boat 
by which I was to come to Crisfield to testify, left before he 
returned. I received the summons to come about fifteen 
minutes before the boat left. 

36//i Question by same. — In the trial of which you have 
spoken, was the question made as to the direction of the line 
by the head of Jenkins' Creek to the Pocomoke River? 

Ansiuer. — The question was made. 

31th Question by same. — What was the effect of the 
testimony on that question — was it to establish that line, or 
not ? 

Answer. — It was to establish that line. 
38th Question by same. — Did other witnesses testify on that 
question ? 

Answer. — Yes, they did, and agreed on that line. The 
court and jury decided that case upon that whole line. 



76 

39/7i Question by same. —Where is South Point, of which 
you have spoken ? 

Answer.— South Point is a mile and a half helow the 
State line of which I have spoken, on the Virginia side. 

4Qth Question by same— -Do you know of whom the Tylers 
got Horse Hammock? 

Answer. — I do not. 

41st Question by same.— Do you know how far the Horse 
Hammock lands ran in a northerly or north-easterly 
direction ? 

Answer.— I do not know. There is a large body of marsh 
land up there, between Horse Hammock and Drum Point, 
but I do not know where the line runs. 

42a 7 Question by same.— Has the laud on the side of Hog 
Neck property next to the Bay washed much, in your 
recollection ? 

Answer. — Yes, sir ; I should suppose it has washed a 
quarter of a mile, in my recollection. Old Mr. Parks said, 
when my father bought the property, that he owned a lot of 
the same tract a half a mile in the Bay from the then shore. 
Mr. Parks was ninety-odd years old when he died. 

43a 7 Question by same.— While you were living on Smith's 
Island, were you acquainted with Pocomoke Sound, and the 
part of Tangier Sound claimed by Virginia; and do you 
know what was the jurisdiction exercised, as to oystering, by 
either State in those waters ? 

Answer. — I was acquainted with both sounds. All the 
oysters from Horse Hammock below, inclusive of Pocomoke 
Sound, were claimed and used by Virginia. The only 
captures that were made in Pocomoke Sound for violation 
of the oyster law, were made by Virginia authorities. 
When dredging began, the laws of each State were against 
it ; since that time, the laws have been changed so as to 
tolerate it. While the laws were in force, the Virginia 
authorities enforced them in Pocomoke Sound, and in that 
part of Tangier Sound claimed to be in Virginia. 



77 



44th Question by same. — Are you acquainted with the 
enforcement of the laws since the license system has been 
adopted by the two States ? 

Answer. — I can hardly say that I am. I have not been con- 
cerned in the business of dredging since the license system 
began, but I was at the period to which I have referred. I 
was so engaged in the 11 Fashion " when she was arrested. 

And further this deponent saith not. 

W. G. HOFFMAN. 

Sworn to by the above named W. Gr. Hoffman, before me, 
a Justice of the Peace for Somerset County, Maryland, this 
24th day of June, 1876. 

ALEXANDER LONG, /. P. 

Attest : 

C. M. Dashiell, Clerk 

[Memorandum.] Crisfield, Md., June 26, 1876. 

The witness, W. Gr. Hoffman, being desirous of correcting 
his statement in regard to the deeds mentioned in his depo- 
sition, from Parks to his father, says : that he was mistaken 
in saying that there were two deeds from Parks to his father; 
there was one deed only, which was executed by the executor 
of Parks to his father, and which was recorded in Maryland. 
The way in which he fell into the error was, that there were 
two deeds executed by Wilson to Parks for this land, one of 
them for about 900 acres, which was recorded in Virginia, 
and the other for something over 100 acres, which was re- 
corded in Maryland. He has seen copies of both these 
deeds in his father's possession. Pie is not certain whether 
these copies of the deeds and the tax tickets can now be 
found or not, but, if they can be found, he will send them 
to the counsel for Virginia. 

The witness also desires to explain that, in speaking of 
South Point, he referred to the place where his father lived 



78 

on South Point before lie bought the land from Parks, and 
not to the whole body of land called by that name, which 
extends up to Parks' Ditch. 

[Signed] W. G. HOFFMAN. 

C. M. Dashiell, Clerk. 



DEPOSITION OF JOHN TYLER. 

Crisfield, Md., June 27, 1876. 

John Tyler, a witness on the part of Virginia, having 
been duly sworn, deposes and says : 

1st Question by Counsel for Virginia {Mr. Daniel).— Are 
you the John Tyler that formerly testified in this cause? 

Answer.— 1 am the same John Tyler, sometimes called 
John Tyler of* Severn. 

2d Question by same. — Where did you live before you came 
to Hog Neck, where you now reside? 

Answer. — I was born on Black Walnut Point, and have, 
with the exception of a few years, always resided on Smith's 
Island. 

3d Question by same. — Were you concerned in the trial of 
the schooner Fashion for dredging for oysters unlawfully in 
Tangier Sound in 1851, and how? 

Answer. — I was captain of the vessel, and was arrested by 
Captain John Cullen, who was on board of the steamer 
Herald, and was carried before Justice J. B. Stevenson of 
Maryland, and was convicted, and the vessel was condemned. 

4th Question by same. — Where were you dredging? 

Answer. — I was dredging on the Little Rock, which is 
between Great Rock and Filliby's Rock. 



79 



6th Question by same. — Were you present when the appeal 
in the case was tried at Princess Anne? 
Answer. — I was. 

Qth Question by same. — Did the question arise in the case 
as to where the State line ran from Smith's Island to Little 
Annamessex, or what was the question in the case? 

Answer. — That was my only plea, that I was dredging in 
Virginia waters. 

Vh Question by same. — Did you hear the testimony in the 
case, and who were examined as witnesses ? 

Ansiver. — I heard' the testimony, and Thomas Tyler my 
grandfather, William Tyler, James H. Hoffman, W. G. 
Hoffman, and others, were my witnesses. The State 'had 
Mr. James Lawson and other old gentlemen from the lower 
part of Annamessex Neck, on her behalf. 

8th Questionby same. — Were other parts of the line between 
the States inquired into, and what parts ? 

Answer. — My grandfather I had heard speak a great deal 
about the line, and I rested on what he had told me about 
the line, and dredged in accordance with what he told me. 
The line across the island, and I believe also the line ex- 
tending from the island as far as to Pitt's Creek on the 
Pocomoke river, was discussed in court. 

$th Question by same. — State what was proved as to the 
line across Smith's Island, and the line across the sound? 

Answer* — My grandfather said that the line ran from the 
stone three-quarters of a mile above Horse Hammock, west to 
the Bay, and from the stone easterly to the mouth of Little 
Annamessex river. He and Mr. James Lawson, the two 
oldest men summoned in the case, agreed as to the line, and 
upon their evidence I was cleared. Mr. James Lawson was 
summoned for the State of Maryland, and my grandfather 
was summoned on my side. 

Question by same. — Was the evidence sustained by 
other witnesses in the cause? 

Answer. — It was — I think by all who testified about the 
line. The old witnesses testified on that point. 



80 



11th Question by -same.— What was proved in the cause as 
to the line eastwardly from Little Annamessex to the Poco- 
moke river. 

Answer.— I don't think that anything was proved more 
than what was said, that the line ran from Little Anna- 
messex river to Pitt's Creek on the Pocomoke river. 

12th Question by same.— Do you recollect who testified 
particularly on that subject ? 

Answer.— My grandfather testified that he had always 
heard it, and, if I am not mistaken, Mr. James Lawson 
testified to the same. 

13th Question by same.— Had you heard then of the Calvert- 
Scarborough agreement, fixing the bounds of Virginia and 
Maryland on the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay ? 

Answer. — I had never heard of any such line. There was 
nothing said about it in that case. I never heard of it until 
I saw the report of Gov. Wise and others on the boundary 
question a few years ago. 

lith Question by Judge Robertson.— Please describe the 
situation of Filliby's Rock, of the Great Rock, and of 
the Little Rock at which you were dredging when the 
"Fashion" was arrested, relatively to the light-house near 
Jane's Island, and also relatively to the Sound channel 

Answer -—They all three lie east of the Sound channel : 
and Filliby's Rock is farthest north, the northern part 
of which is perhaps one-quarter of a mile south of the 
light-house near Jane's Island. The Little Rock is farther 
south, perhaps from one-half to three-quarters of a mile 
south of the light-house aforesaid, it lying between Filliby's 
and the Great Rock. Great Rock lies south-west of Little 
Rock ; the western part goes down to the channel, but the 
great body of it lies toward the Annamessex shore. By 
rock we mean a bed of oysters.- 

15th Question by same— Does the State line, as you have 
understood it to run from the old people on the island, 
really pass, according to your opinion, just between the house 



81 



and kitchen (or where the kitchen formerly stood), at what 
is called the Marriage House? 

Ansiuer. — I have heard from my earliest childhood that 
the line passed between the house and kitchen. I have also 
heard that the line passed by Drum Point and through 
Parks' Ditch ; and if it does, this would throw the line north 
of my house (the Marriage House) about 300 or 400 yards, 
as well as I can judge without laying it off. I have heard 
these accounts of the line all my life, one as often as the 
other ; those who would give them did not seem to think 
that the running of the line by Drum Point and through 
Parks' Ditch would throw it off from the Marriage House; 
but it seemed to me that it would, and therefore when I 
gave my former deposition, I said that I thought that I lived 
in Virginia, though I lived in the dwelling-house which, if 
the line ran between it and the kitchen, would be in Mary- 
land — -my own idea being, that the line really ran through 
Parks' Ditch and north of my house. 

lQth Question by same. — From whom and when did you buy 
the place on Hog Neck where you now live, the house on 
which is called the " Marriage House "? 

Answer. — I bought it from James H. Hoffman in Novem- 
ber, I believe, 1855. 

11th Question by same. — Did you learn from James H. 
Hoffman from whom he had bought it? 

Answer. — He bought it from John Parks. 

IWi Question by same. — Did you learn from him from 
whom John Parks bought it, and when ? 

Answer. — Hoffman said that Parks bought it from John 
0. Wilson about the year 1794, I believe he said. He 
showed me the copy of a deed from Wilson to Parks that 
fell into his possession after Parks' death, for the land. He 
carried me to Drummondtown and showed me a copy of the 
deed on record there. Hoffman regarded the land to be in 
Virginia. 

18th Question by same. — Was Hoffman's deed from Parks 
II 



82 



for the land recorded in Virginia, as well as Wilson's deed 
to Parks? If it was not, state what reason, if any, Hoff- 
man gave for having it recorded elsewhere; 

Answer. — It was not. I think it was recorded in Princess 
Anne, Maryland. I don't think I ever heard Hoffman give 
any reason for having it recorded there. 

19th Question by same. — State what, if anything, Hoffman 
said about the payment of taxes in Virginia on this land. 

Answer. — I heard Hoffman say that Parks paid taxes, 
after he bought it, for three years in Virginia, the amount 
being 37 J cents a year, and the amount was so small that 
the collector from Accomac would not come up to collect 
the tax. I think he showed me three tax tickets which had 
been paid by Parks in Virginia, though I would not be posi- 
tive that I saw them. 

20//* Question by same. — What proportion of firm land and 
what proportion of marsh is on the place, and how far 
would you have to go north of the house before you come to 
another dwelling? 

Answer. — I suppose there are probably from three to four 
acres of firm land, and the remainder of some 900 or 1,000 acres 
is all marsh. There are some ridges where formerly there 
were dwellings. There are now three other dwellings on 
Hog Neck besides mine. I would have to go north some 
250 or 300 yards before I should come to another dwelling. 
The place on which this house stood Parks had given to his 
son before he sold to Hoffman, and his son built the house 
upon it some thirty or forty years ago, I suppose. 

21 st Question by same. — What changes have taken place 
in Smith's Island, from washing and otherwise, according to 
what you have yourself observed, and what you have heard 
from old people as to the former condition of the island ? Is 
there more or less arable land on the island now than 
formerly ? 

Answer. — Down in the part of the island where I live it has 
washed away badly on the Bay shore, within my recollection ; 



83 



within the last twenty years it has washed some twenty-five 
yards at least. It washes more at some places than at others. 
On the creeks it washes also, but not so badly as on the Bay 
shore ; the creeks are widening all the time. In regard to 
the marshes sinking, I cannot account for it ; but there are 
in places, stumps washing out with their tops all burned. I 
see sometimes stumps iu the marshes themselves, where the 
land is now entirely too low for anything to grow ; this is, I 
think, a general thing all over the island. There is no doubt 
that the island is getting lower and more marshy, that is to 
say, that the marsh is not so firm now as formerly, and the 
ridges that formerly existed have now sunk. I think a 
^great deal of this can be accounted for by the habit of burn- 
ing the marsh in former times, when the tide would come 
over it and carry off some of the soil, and would settle upon 
it, so that what was formerly firm ground is now, in many 
instances, a quagmire. I think it due also to the cutting of 
the timber off of the island ; all of it nearly has been cut off. 

22d Question by same. — Are you acquainted with the lands 
at Drum Point, Black Walnut Point, Oak Hammock, and 
Sassafras Hammock, and do you know who formerly owned 
them ? 

Answer. — They were all once owned by David Tyler, who 
was my great-grandfather. At his death a distribution was 
made, in which his son Thomas, my grandfather, got 
Black Walnut Point ; William got Drum Point ; his 
daughter Anne, wife of John L. Tyler, got Oak Hammock. 
They all three held Sassafras Hammock, where Tubman 
Evans now lives, jointly ; and they also held the marsh 
attached to all these places in common. These places all lay 
adjoining each other, between the two arms of Tyler's Creek, 
and extended up to the land formerly owned by Hamilton 
Bradshaw, and before him by Richard Bradshaw, where Ben- 
jamin F. Marsh now lives. Juggling Creek is near the line 
between the places. 

23<i Question by same.— Have these lands — I refer to Drum 



84 



Point, Black Walnut Point, Oak Hammock, and Sassafras 
Hammock— washed away, within your recollection, and if so, 
to what extent? 

Ansiver.—The lands immediately at Drum Point, Black 
Walnut Point and Oak Hammock have washed, on the west, 
very little within my recollection, because means have been 
used to protect them. Leaving Drum Point and going east- 
ward, they have washed considerably, in some places more 
than others. There are two places which, I think, have 
washed at least forty feet, or more, within my recollection ; 
these are between Drum Point and Juggling Creek. I have 
heard my grandfather, Thomas Tyler, speak of the shore 
washing away before my day, particularly in these places- 
referred to, and of the general widening of Tyler's Creek in 
that direction. One of the places that I have referred to was, 
in my first recollection, a nice little hammock, on which a 
laro-e tree stood ; this has been washed entirely away some 
twenty years ago. 

2ith Question by same. — How much firm or arable land is 
in the places referred to, and how much marsh — I mean in 
Drum Point, Black Walnut Point, Oak Hammock and Sas- 
safras Hammock, all together? 

Answer.— I think I have heard my grandfather, Thomas 
Tyler, say there were 18 acres of firm land in Drum Point 
and Black Walnut Point. I don't know that I ever heard 
anybody say how much firm land there was in Oak Ham- 
mock; I should think there are from three to four acres. In 
Sassafras Hammock I suppose there are from one and a half 
to two acres. I think, but I am not positive, that I have 
heard that there were 200 acres, marsh and all, in all these 
places. 

2bth Question by same.— How much firm land and how much 
marsh are there in the place adjoining those just referred to, 
which is now owned by Benjamin F. Marsh and the heirs of 
Nathan Bradshaw ? 

Answer— I don't know that I ever heard — I cannot say. 



85 



26th Question by same.— Have you ever heard Horse Ham- 
mock called by any other name? 

Answer. — Never , except I have heard that it was formerly 
occasionally called Horse Island. 

21th' Question by same.— Rave you ever heard of any place'on 
Smith's Island called Home Hammock ; or of any thorough- 
fare called Fort Thoroughfare? 

Answer. — I never have heard of any places called by 
such names. 

28th Question by same.— Have you ever heard of a creek 
called Dogwood Ridge Creek? 

Answer. — I never have heard of a creek called by that 
name ; but the creek that is called Shanks' Creek goes up to 
Dogwood Ridge, and by it, and it is there called the " Head 
of the Creek " where it joins with the Bay. 

2$th Question by same. — Did you ever hear of a " Ditch 
Thoroughfare from Tyler's Creek to Dogwood Ridge Creek"? 

Answer. — I never heard of it by that name, but Parks' 
Ditch is the only water passage from Tyler's Creek to Dog- 
wood Ridge, and I suppose that Parks' Ditch, which passes 
from Tyler's Creek to Shanks' Creek, must be the ditch re- 
ferred to. 

Cross-examination by Counsel for Maryland. 

1st Question by Mr. Jones— State whether you did, or did 
not, give in to the assessors of Somerset County in 1866, viz. 
James Lawson, Isaac Smith Lankford, and Benjamin T. 
Coulbourn, the land on which you then lived, on Hog Neck, 
and your personal property, to be taxed in Maryland ; and 
whether, before and since 1866, you have not paid taxes on 
that property in Maryland, to the Collector of Somerset 
County? 

Answer. — I gave in a part, but not all. I gave in to them 
the part they claimed to be in Maryland. I also paid taxes 
in Accomac, Virginia. I paid taxes on this same property 



86 



before 1866, and I paid them last year also, to the Collector 
of Somerset County, Md. Hoffman paid taxes in both States, 
I think, before he sold the property to me. I continue to 
pay my taxes in both States ; they both have a claim upon 
me. The years that I paid taxes in Maryland, in those same 
years T paid taxes in Virginia also. 

Be-examination by Counsel for Virginia. 

1st Question by Judge Robertson.— Will you say whether 
you have seen the stones in the water near the Bay shore, at 
the western side of Smith's Island, just below Mister's Tho- 
roughfare ; that in Mister's Thoroughfare, near Beaver 
Hammock ; and those near Barn Point, on the eastern side of 
the island? If so, say when you last saw them, and under 
what circumstances; and please describe them, stating also 
how they were situated relatively to each other. 

Answer. — I took all the stones up last week, and removed 
them from the water to the land adjoining. This I did in 
accordance with a request from the counsel for Virginia. I 
had help in taking up the stones, which was furnished me by 
the islanders, in accordance with a request of Virginia 
counsel. The stones on the Bay shore I never saw before I 
went to take them up. When I got to them, they appeared 
as a single rock, about six feet long and three feet broad. 
When we got overboard and dug under them, we found they 
were a pile of stones, say some fifteen or twenty, perhaps 
more ; I never counted them. They were made to appear as 
one stone by their being piled together and thickly encrusted 
with 0} sters. We dug them up and removed them to the 
shore, where they now remain. They were situated about 
150 yards from the shore, in water about three and one-half 
feet at low water, and about five feet at high water. The 
stones were of a medium size, such as 1 have seen used for 
ballast. 

The stone at Beaver Hammock was in two parts, about 



87 



twenty-five to thirty yards from the shore, embedded in the 
mud about eight inches; and I am satisfied in my mind that 
at one time they were one stone. The parts, when taken out 
and placed together, fitted, and formed a stone such as I 
have never seen in this neighborhood ; it is the largest I 
have ever seen about here. I never saw one of the same 
character anywhere, except in the Potomac river : I have 
seen some of that sort there. I should say it was, when 
placed together j about two and one-half by three feet. I 
should think it would weigh about a ton, or more. It was 
broken down, from top to bottom ; and, as I have said, the 
parts, when placed together, fit. 

The stones at Barn Point I saw some fifteen or twenty 
years ago, and I thought then that they were one stone. 
When we took them up, we found there were four. They 
were lying on the bottom in a four-square position ; the four 
stones forming a square. When we raised them they 
appeared to be pretty much of a size, and of the same 
character with each other. They differed from the stones 
on the Bay shore, both in size and character, and were not 
of the same character of stone with the one at Beaver Ham- 
mock. These stones were, I should think, each of some two 
hundred to three hundred pounds weight ; one was not quite 
so large as the others. I have seen ballast, I expect, as 
large as these stones were, but it is not the common occur- 
rence. These stones were about fifteen yards from the shore, 
in about three feet water, ranging to five feet at high water. 
All these stones seemed to range in an east and west line 
across the island. 

2d Question by same. — Will you give the names of all the 
persons who now reside on the Drum Point, Black Walnut 
Point, Oak Hammock and Sassafras Hammock lands ? 

Answer. — Beginning at Drum Point, the present owners 
are : Benjamin Bradshaw, William C. Evans, William S. 
Bradshaw, Steuart H. Evans ; all of whom reside now on 
Drum Point. Thomas Bradshaw resides at Black Walnut 



88 



Point, and also has a store there. John H. Bradshaw, 
Hezekiali Brown, Peter J. Marshall, John W. Marshall and 
John Smith, all reside also on Black Walnut Point. John 
Mumford also lives there. Alexander D. Tyler resides at 
Oak Hammock, and also has a store there. Tubman Evans 
lives at Sassafras Hammock. 

And further this deponent saith not. 

JOHN TYLEK. 

Sworn to and subscribed by the above named John Tyler, 
before me, a Justice of the Peace for Somerset County, 
Maryland, this 27th day of June, 1876. 

OLIVER S. HORSEY, J. P. 

Attest : 

C, M. Dashiell, Clerk. 



DEPOSITION OF SEVERN BRADSHAW. 

Crisfield, Md.j June 26th, 1876. 

Severn Bradshaw, a witness on the part of Virginia, 
having been duly sworn, deposes and says : 

1st Question by Counsel for Virginia (Judge Robertson). — Are 
you the same person whose deposition was taken (twice) in 
1872, before Messrs. Wise, Jones and others, as Commissioners 
to settle the boundary line between Maryland and Virginia ? 

Answer. — I am the same person. 

2d Question by same. — In one of those depositions you said, 
"I think the west side of this island (referring to Smith's 
Island) u has not washed away more than seventy or eighty 



S9 



yards since the war of 1812." Does this statement express 
accurately your opinion as to the extent to which the western 
side of the island has washed away? If it does not, state 
the extent to which you think it has "been washed. 

Answer. — In the former deposition I was alluding to the 
Bay side, near where I live, just south of Mister's Thorough- 
fare. A mile or two south it is washed for a half a mile or 
more since 1812. The old place, where Revel Evans formerly 
lived, I have been at when I was a child ; it had on it pear 
trees and fig trees and a house, all of which have, within 
my recollection, been entirely washed away for more than 
half a mile from the present shore. It washed away so that 
they were compelled to move away the house ; I helped to. 
move it. This was about 40 years ago. The Sassafras 
Hammock joined this land (the old place), and, when that 
washed away, Sassafras Hammock became exposed to the 
Bay, and it has since washed away also, to a considerable 
extent. This is a different Sassafras Hammock from that 
where Tubman Evans now lives, which is near Oak Hammock 
and Black Walnut Point, and was a part, originally, of the 
Drum Point Tvler land, 

del Question by same. — You stated in your former examin- 
ation that "you have heard that old Uncle Solomon Evans 
had John Tyler, then living here" (at Horse Hammock) 
" made a magistrate about 1835." Did you hear why it was 
that he had him made a magistrate? If so, state the reason. 

Answer. — The reason was because he was a very sensible 
man, and a favorite of his, and had married his daughter, 
and was very popular generally with the people on the 
island, had a very good education, and was the best fitted 
man on the island for the appointment. There was only one 
magistrate on the island at the time (old Uncle Solomon 
Evans himself), and they needed two to take acknowledg- 
ments of conveyances of land. Uncle Solomon and others 
thought that, as he lived so near the line, it made no differ- 
ence, that they had better have him appointed. 
12 



90 

4th Question by same. — Did you ever hear that Solomon 
Evans, or any one else, had to make oath that John Tyler 
resided in Maryland in order to secure his appointment? 

Answer, — I never did, and do not believe he, or any one 
else, ever did. Although everybody believed that Horse 
Hammock was in Virginia, no question was raised by any 
one as to the propriety of his appointment. It was a matter 
of convenience to the whole island to have him as a 
magistrate. 

oth Question by same.- — So far as you know, or have heard, 
by whom was the place called Horse Hammock first owned? 

Answer. — The first person I ever heard of living there was 
the mother of Joshua Thomas, the preacher, and widow of 
John Thomas, I think. I am not sure, however, whether his 
name was John or William. A man by the name of George 
Pruitt, from Virginia, married her, and lived there with her 
for several years, when they moved away. David Tyler 
then became owner of the place, and his son Thomas went 
there first to live, in his father's lifetime, and built a new 
house there. He stayed for some years and moved away, 
when John Tyler, another son of David Tyler, went there 
to live, and was living there at the time of his father's 
death. After his father's death, John Tyler kept Horse 
Hammock as his portion of his father's estate. John Tyler 
afterwards became indebted to his brother, William Tyler, 
for money paid for him as security, and, to secure this 
security money to him, he gave some sort of a lien on the 
land to William his brother, under which it was sold, after 
John's death, to Peter Evans, who afterwards sold it to John 
W. Marsh. 

Qth Question by same. — Do you know what lands David 
Tyler owned? If so, describe them. 

Answer. — He owned Drum Point, Black Walnut Point, 
Oak Hammock, and Sassafras Hammock, just east of Oak 
Hammock. These lands, with the marshes adjoining, I 
suppose would cover some 200 acres. He got these lands 



91 



from his brother Butler Tyler. Besides them he owned 
Horse Hammock, above stated, having got it from the heirs 
of Thomas, or from Pruitt. In Horse Hammock there are 
not more than two or three acres of upland, but it contains 
a good deal of marsh — I expect 100 or 200 acres of marsh. 
It was considered by David Tyler that the Horse Hammock 
marsh ran up to the Virginia boundary, about three-quarters 
of a mile above Horse Hammock. 

Yth Question by same. — What have you heard about this 
boundary ? 

Answer. — As stated in my former deposition, I have heard 
conflicting statements about the boundary : some thought it 
passed along the south side of Mister's Thoroughfare, near 
where I live, and I myself have thought that the big stone 
at Beaver Hammock was a mark of a former boundary, 
although I have never heard when, or by whom, it was put 
there. Nearly all of the old people on the island, however, 
have thought that the boundary between the States was at 
the lower line — I mean the one commencing at the stone 
about three-quarters of a mile above Horse Hammock, and 
running west by Drum Point and Parks' Ditch and the 
Marriage House, where John Tyler now lives, on to the Bay. 
I refer to my former depositions for what is there stated in 
reference to this lower line, here reaffirming all that I have 
said in them respecting it. I am satisfied that this has been 
considered by the old people on the island, for 150 years 
past, as the boundary between the two States. 

8th Question by same. — Who owned the place above Oak 
Hammock, now owned by Benjamin F. Marsh and the heirs 
of Nathan Bradshaw, when you first knew it ; and from 
whom did he get it ? 

Answer. — It belonged to Richard Bradshaw, my grand- 
father, when I could first recollect ; I think he obtained it 
from John Tyler, who lived there before him. I think this 
John Tyler was a son of Thomas Tyler, and a brother of 
Butler and David Tyler ; and my mother says that she heard 



92 



her mother-in-law (Arabella Bradshaw, the wife of Richard 
Bradshaw, who lived at the place) say that her husband 
(Richard Bradshaw) got it from her brother John Tyler; 
this must have been 75 or 80 years ago, perhaps more, since 
Richard Bradshaw got it from John Tyler. 

9t7i Question by same. — Do you know any creek on the 
island called Dogwood Ridge Creek, or any place called Dog- 
wood Ridge ? 

Answer. — I know a place called Dogwood Ridge Ham- 
mock ; it is just to the west of Wesley Marsh's, at the place 
now called the " Head of the Greek," which is where what is 
now called Shanks' Creek connects with the Bay. The upper 
part of Shanks' Creek, for forty years or more, has been 
called the " Head of the Creek"; the lower part has, for 
about the same time, I think, been called Shanks' Creek. I do 
not know what it was called more than forty years ago. The 
Dogwood Ridge is close to the 11 Head of the Creek," which 
runs west of it. There is nothing but marsh west from the 
" Head of the Creek," between it and the Bay. There are 
some settlements south-west of it, but west and north-west 
of it there are none between it and the Bay. 

10th Question by same.— What part of the island chiefly 
was formerly owned by the -Evans family ? 

Answer. — They owned " Rogue's Point," which lies south 
and east of Dogwood Ridge (now owned by Wesley Harsh). 
I cannot say what other lands the Evans owned in this part 
of the island ; they may have owned more, before my day, 
that I know not of. My grandfather, Richard Evans, owned 
Rogue's Point, and his brother, Francis Evans, owned Dog- 
wood Ridge, where Wesley Marsh now lives. 

llth Question by same. — Where are the places called North 
End and Pritchett's Hammock? 

Answer.— North End and Pritchett's Hammock are about 
east of where I live ; they are separated from each other by 
a gut called the" Deep Gut," which divides my land from 
that of Haney Bradshaw' s. 



93 



12th Question by same. —Will you give, as nearly as you can, 
the boundaries of the place where you live, and say from 
whom the title to it was derived, as far back as you know? 

Answer. — The place where I live belonged formerly to 
Marmaduke Mister, as I have heard my father say ; I do 
not recollect him myself. It passed by his will to his wife 
Sarah, and to his son Severn, and they sold it to my father 
Jacob Bradshaw, I think about the year 1800. I got it in 
the division of my father's estate. It commences at the 
mouth of the "Deep Gut" between Pritchett's Hammock 
and North End, at a locust post which I placed there some 
six or seven years ago, in the place of an old one which was 
washed up by the surf, and runs thence 180 perches due 
south, thence south-west by west 20 perches, thence, I think, 
south and by west 200 perches to a little gut near Wesley 
Marsh's called Dogwood Ridge Hammock Gut, thence to 
the " Head of the Creek," thence by the Bay northerly to 
the Thoroughfare, and by the Thoroughfare to the beginning 
boundary. The deed calls for 100 acres more or less ; I 
expect there are 200 acres, if not 300, including the marsh. 
There is said to be 14 acres of arable land upon it. 

13th Question by same. — Do you know of any thoroughfare 
called " Fort Thoroughfare," which connects with a " Ditch 
Thoroughfare" from Tyler's Creek to Dogwood Ridge Creek? 

Answer. — I never heard of any place called by the name 
of "Fort Thoroughfare," within my recollection. The 
61 Ditch Thoroughfare " from Tyler's Creek to Dogwood Ridge 
Creek must be " Parks' Ditch," which connects Tyler's 
Creek with what is now called Shanks' Creek and the " Head 
of the Creek," which last, as I have said, is the upper part 
of Shanks' Creek. 

lith Question by same. — Did you ever hear of any place 
called " Home Hammock " on Smith's Island ? 

Ansiuer. — I never heard of such a place, as I know of. 
My mother, who is a very old woman, nearly ninety years 
old, says she never heard of such a place. 



94 



15th Question by same.— Have you ever heard of Horse 
Hammock being called by any other name than that of Horse 
Hammock ? 

Answer. — I have never heard it called by any other name. 
I have been told that it was formerly called by some Horse 
Island. 

And further this deponent saith not. 

SEVERN BRADSHAW. 

Sworn to by the above named Severn Bradshaw, before me, 
a Justice of the Peace for Somerset County, Maryland, this 
26th day of June, 1876. 

OLIVER S. HORSEY, J. P. 

Attest : 

CM. Dashiell, Clerk. 



DEPOSITION OF MRS. POLLY BRADSHAW. 

Crisfield, Md., June 26th, 1876. 

Mrs. Polly Bradshaw, a witness on the part of Virginia, 
having been duly sworn, deposes and says : 

1st Question by Counsel for Virginia (Judge Robertson). — 
Please state your age, whose wife you are, who were your 
father and grandfather, and where you have resided and still 
reside. 

Answer. — My age is sixty-four. I am the wife of Haney 
Bradshaw. My father was Hamilton Bradshaw ; Richard 
Bradshaw was my grandfather, and Arabella, his wife, was 
my grandmother. I have resided, all my life, on Smith's 



95 



Island, and still reside there. My grandfather died when I 
was quite young, (about 4 years old). I can remember him, 
though I cannot remember anything of his conversation. 
My grandmother lived to be quite old ; she has been dead 
forty years. My grandfather died about sixty years ago. 
I lived with my grandmother until she died : living with 
her after I was married. ' My grandmother, I should suppose, 
was about 86 or 88 years old when she died. 

2c? Question by same. — Did your grandmother continue to 
reside on the place at which your grandfather lived at the 
time of his death, and what place was it that they did reside 
upon ? 

Answer, — Yes, sir ; she lived and died on the same place 
that my grandfather lived at. It was the place upon which 
her uncle, John Tyler, had lived ; but it did not belong to 
him, though he claimed it. My grandmother's brother, 
Littleton Tyler, when he heard of the defect in the title, 
took it up, or got title in some way, and sold it to my grand- 
father, Richard Bradshaw. Upon this same place Benjamin 
F. Marsh now lives, and it is owned by him and the heirs of 
Nathan Bradshaw.^ At the death of Richard Bradshaw, 
Littleton and Hamilton Bradshaw got it. Hamilton 
Bradshaw, who was my father, left his share to his son 
William Bradshaw, and Benjamin F. Marsh has now 
become the owner of that share. Littleton Bradshaw's 
share went to his son Nathan, and Nathan's heirs now live 
on it. The place I speak of is just above Oak Hammock, 
which adjoins Black Walnut Point. Sassafras Hammock 
lies a little to the east of Oak Hammock. 

3c? Question by same. — How are you related to Severn 
Bradshaw, who has been examined as a witness in this case? 

Answer. — I am the cousin of Severn Bradshaw ; he is a 
son of Jacob Bradshaw. Severn Bradshaw and I are also 
cousins of my husband Haney Bradshaw ; his (Haney's) 
father was named Richard. 

4tth Question by same. — Have you ever heard your grand- 



96 



mother and other old people on the island say anything 
about the boundary between Maryland and Virginia? If so, 
state what you may have heard them say about it. 

Answer. — I have heard them say the line came through 
Mr. Parks' place, passing between the house and kitchen, 
leaving one in Maryland and the other in Virginia ; that it 
passed through Parks' Ditch, along by Drum Point by a 
point of shells, and thence on across Cedar Hammock, and 
thence to the mouth of Annamessex river. Captain John 
Tyler of Severn now lives at Parks' place, where the line 
was said to run between the house and kitchen. Cedar 
Hammock is where there is a big rock, about three-quarters 
of a mile above Horse Hammock, and where there is a cedar 
stump ; at least I know there used to be a cedar stump near 
where the rock now is ? 

6th Question by same. — Who was the first person you know 
of who live J at Horse Hammock, or owned that place ? 

Answer. — The first that I know that lived there was John 
Tyler, sometimes called Jackey Tyler. I have heard that a 
man named George Pruitt lived there before he did ; I don't 
know whether Pruitt owned it or not. He married Martha 
Thomas, the widow of John Thomas, who lived there. I 
don't know whether it belonged to her husband John 
Thomas, or to Pruitt. Martha Thomas was the mother of 
Joshua Thomas the preacher, and of Josiah Thomas. John 
Tyler, who lived there, was the son of David Tyler, who got 
the place after Pruitt had lived there. John got it as his 
share of his father's estate. I don't know whether David 
Tyler got it from Pruitt or Thomas's heirs ; it was before I 
can remember. 

Qth Question by same. — Did you ever hear of a place called 
Fort Thoroughfare, or of a Ditch Thoroughfare, from Tyler's 
Creek to Dogwood Ridge Creek? 

Answer. — I never did hear of a place called Fort Thorough- 
fare. I would suppose that the ditch from Tyler's Creek to 
Dogwood Pudge Creek was Parks' Ditch, which connects 



97 



Tyler's Creek with Shanks' Creek, which goes up to Dog- 
wood Ridge Creek, and connects with the Bay by what is 
now called the u Head of the Creek." 

7th Question by same. — Have you ever heard of a place called 
Home Hammock on Smith's Island? 

Answer. — I have never heard of any place called by such a 
name. 

8th Question by same. — Has the land at Drum Point, Black 
Walnut Point, Oak Hammock, Sassafras Hammock, and 
where your grandfather Richard Bradshaw lived, washed 
away much, within your recollection ? 

Answer.— Yes, sir, right smart ; from eight to ten yards 
from where my grandfather lived ; and at Drum Point and 
Black Walnut Point the land has washed away, I think, not 
less than one hundred yards. Sassafras Hammock is sur- 
rounded by marsh, and I cannot say how much that has 
washed away. In saying that Drum Point and Black 
Walnut Point have washed away one hundred yards, 1 do 
not wish to be understood as saying positively that they 
have washed away as much as one hundred yards, but I 
know they have washed away considerably. Where the 
marsh came down to Tyler's Creek the creek has encroached 
a great deal upon the marsh, within my recollection, and is 
much wider now than it formerly was. Just at the end of 
Dram Point it is not washed as much as elsewhere, being 
protected by shells. 

9lh Question by same. — What land did David Tyler own at 
the time of his death, and to whom did it go after his death ? 

Answer. — He owned Drum Point, Black Walnut Point, 
Oak Hammock, and Sassafras Hammock, which he had 
bought from his brother Butler Tyler. He also owned 
Horse Hammock, which he had got from Pruitt, or the heirs 
of Thomas. He made a will, but there was some defect in 
the execution of it ; it was not duly witnessed, but his 
children carried it out after his death. Thomas got Black 
Walnut Point; William got Drum Point; his daughter 
13 



98 



Anne, who had married John L. Tyler, got Oak Hammock. 

Sassafras Hammock went to the three jointly, and so did the 

marsh to all the places. His son John got Horse Hammock. 

And further this deponent saith not. 

POLLY BRADSHAW. 
[Her + mark.] 

Witness : 

C. M. Dashiell. 

Sworn to by the above named Polly Bradshaw, before me, 
a Justice of the Peace for Somerset County, Maryland, this 
26th day of June, 1876. 

OLIVER S. HORSEY, J. P. 

Attest : 

CM. Dashiell, Clerk. 



DEPOSITION OF A. D. TYLER. 

The following deposition was taken on Smith's Island, 
Mr. A. D. Tyler being sick, and unable to go to Crisfield to 
testify. 

C. M. DASHIELL, Clerk. 

Smith's Island, June 27th, 1876. 

Alexander D. Tyler, a witness on the part of Virginia, 
having been duly sworn, deposes and says : 

1st Question by Counsel for Virginia (Judge Bobertson.) — 
Please state your age, where your reside, and who were your 
father and grandfather. 



99 



Answer. — My age is 43 years ; I reside at Oak Hammock, 
Smith's Island ; my father was John L. Tyler, who married 
Anne, the daughter of David Tyler, who lived at Black 
Walnut Point ; he (David) owned Sassafras Hammock, 
Drum Point, and Oak Hammock. The place where I now 
live fell to my mother in the division of his estate, and it 
came to me at her and my father's death. My grandfather 
(David Tyler) died before I was born. Besides the places 
above named, David Tyler owned, I think, Horse Hammock 
also, which fell to my uncle John in the division of his 
estate. 

2c? Question by same. — Please state whether you have in 
your possession an extract from a deed to John Tyler from 
Henry Smith, dated 8th day of August 1693, certified by 
George Handy, Clerk, and with the seal of his office attached. 
If so, please say when and how said paper came into your 
possession ; and be so good as to produce the said paper, and 
allow a copy of it to be made, as a part of this your depo- 
sition. 

Answer. — I have in my possession the paper referred to in 
the question, and now produce the same, for a copy to be 
made as a part of this answer., which copy is as follows : 

"Extract from a deed to John Tyler and Henry Smith, 
dated 8th day of August, sixteen hundred and ninety-three. 
Beginning at the west point of the Home Hammock, running 
north north-east along the creek side three hundred and 
seventy perches, for length to a pine, and from thence one 
hundred perches for breadth east south-east to a marked 
post, from thence south south-west three hundred and twenty 
perches to the main creek to the first bounder, containing 
and laid out for two hundred acres, being part thereof in 
Virginia and part in Maryland, taken out of the two afore- 
said tracts containing two thousand acres aforesaid, with all 
and singular the houses, yards, gardens, orchards, meadows, 
marshes, feeding pastures, ways, fishing or fishing pawns, 
with ail the appurtenances and emoluments thereunto be- 
longing or in any wise appertaining. 



100 



c< In testimony that the foregoing is a true extract from 
the records now remaining in the office of the Clerk of 
Somerset County, I have hereto set my hand and affixed 
the seal of my office, this 4th day of December 1823. 

[l. s.] George Handy, Clerk." 

I got the paper, of which the foregoing is a copy, soon 
after the death of my uncle Thomas Tyler, a son of David 
Tyler. 

Thomas Tyler was living on Black Walnut Point at the 
time of his death, and the place was sold soon after his 
death, in some legal proceedings. I was with his family 
while they were looking over his papers, not long after his 
death ; this paper was found among them, and his son David 
Tyler handed it to me, and told me that, as I was living on 
part of the land, I had better take it, that it would he of no 
further use to David Tyler's family, as they would not con- 
tinue to own the land on which David Tyler had lived. It 
has been in my possession ever since. 

3d Question by same. — Do you know of any other land on 
the island to which the courses given in the above extract 
would apply ? 

Answer. — I do not. 

4£h Question by same. — Will you state whether, or not, the 
land on which you reside, and the Drum Point, Black 
Walnut Point, and Sassafras Hammock lands have washed 
away on their south-eastern side, within your recollection, 
and, if so, how much? Also, whether you have heard the 
old people say anything about their having washed away 
formerly. 

Answer. — I don't recollect having heard the old people 
talk of the washing of the land. These lands have washed 
away considerably, within my recollection; the washing has 
taken place south-east from Drum and Black Walnut Points, 
but pretty much south of Oak Hammock, where I live, and 
about south south-west from Sassafras Hammock. The 



101 



washing of which I speak is on the "branch of Tyler's Creek, 
which trends eastwardly from Drum Point. I recollect that 
where there were formerly trees, now there is only marsh. 
I think Tyler's Creek has widened somewhat in some parts, 
probably from 20 to 25 feet, within my recollection. There 
has been very little washing of the land on the western part 
from Black Walnut Point to Drum Point. Besides the 
ridge that I have referred to as having been washed away 
on the south part, a good deal of the marsh along that 
branch of Tyler's Creek has washed away also. 
And further this deponent saith not. 

A. D. TYLER. 

Sworn to and subscribed by the above named A. D. Tyler, 
before me, a Justice of the Peace for Somerset County, Mary- 
land, this 27th day of June, 1876. 

OLIVER S. HORSEY, J. P. 

Attest : 

CM. Dashiell, Clerk. 



DEPOSITION OF EPHRAIM TYLER. 

The following Deposition was taken at Baltimore, Md., 
Julv 1st, 1876. 

C. M. DASHIELL, Clerk. 

Baltimore, Md., July 1st, 1876. 

Ephraim Tyler, a witness on the part of Maryland, having 
been duly sworn, deposes and says : 



102 



1st Question by Counsel for Maryland {Mr. Jones). — State 
your name, your place of birth, the time of your birth, and 
where you have resided since your birth. State your parent- 
age and your employment. 

Answer. — My name is Ephraim Tyler. I was born in 
Little Annamessex, at the house of Thomas Tyler, and, as I 
was told by my grandfather, Butler Tyler, I was born on the 
10th day of May, 1797. When I was but a few months old, 
I was carried to my grandfather's, Butler Tyler's, on Smith's 
Island, and have resided there ever since. 

My mother's name was Fanny Tyler. She was engaged 
to be married to Ephraim Somers, who was a mariner, who 
went to the West Indies before they were married and was 
supposed to have been lost, as he never returned or was 
heard of. The vessel was never heard of after her departure. 
My mother said that Ephraim Somers, above mentioned, was 
my father, and I was named for him. My mother was 
daughter of Butler Tyler, and niece of Thomas Tyler, Butler's 
brother. Before my birth she went to her uncle Thomas 
Tyler's in Annamessex, where I was born. My mother re- 
turned to her father's house, on Smith's Island, which was 
a little south of Black Walnut Point, on the same land. The 
house is now gone down. The nearest house to it, now stand- 
ing, is Thomas Bradshaw's, which is southwest of it. I was 
raised at that place by my grandfather, Butler Tyler, who 
made a great pet of me, and I lived with him until his death. 
I think he has been dead between forty-five and fifty-five 
years. He died near the time of his brother David Tyler's 
death. He had lost his wife before my recollection, and my 
mother, together with two other sisters, kept house for him. 
One of the sisters married Jesse Evans, and went to live on 
North End, near the Thoroughfare. The other two sisters 
lived with him until his death. The other sisters' names 
were Jemima, who never married, and Nancy, who married 
J esse Evans, the father of Laban Evans, who was the father of 
James T. Evans, John T. Evans, William D. Evans and Tub- 



103 



man Evans, who lived at Sassafras Hammock, all of whom are 
now living on Smith's Island. My mother died in 1854. My 
grandfather was very much afflicted, and, before ray recollec- 
tion, had given a deed for all his property to his brother 
David Tyler, reserving to himself one-half of the profits of 
the lands during his life. He died very poor, although he 
had inherited all the lands of his father, Thomas Tyler, as I 
have heard him say. 

In my early life I owned a vessel and sailed her for many 
years ; but for the last eighteen years I have been keeper of 
the light-house at Fog's Point, and since the discontinuance 
of that light, of the light-house on Solomon's Lump, at 
Kedge's Straits. 

2d Question by same. — State the name of the first Tyler of 
your family of whom you have heard in the family, and 
where did he come from, and where did he settle? 

Answer. — I have heard that the first were father and son, 
(John Tyler and his son Thomas Tyler), who came from 
England and settled on Smith's Island. Thomas Tyler, my 
grandfather Butler Tyler's father, lived on the tract of land 
known now as Black Walnut Point. Butler Tyler told me 
that when he married he built a small house near his father's, 
Thomas Tyler's; after his third daughter was born, his 
(Butler Tyler's) wife soon died, and he then went to live at 
his father's (Thomas Tyler's), where he lived until he died. 

3<i Question by same. — State the names of the brothers and 
sisters, if any, of Butler Tyler, whom you recollect, and the 
names of their descendants. 

Ansiver. — Butler Tyler's father Thomas, in addition to 
Butler, who was the oldest heir, had the following children 
whom I recollect, viz: Thomas, Littleton, and David; he 
had a daughter named Ailsey, who married a Mr. Taylor, 
and went to live at St. Jerome's, in St. Mary's County, 
Maryland, and a daughter named Arabella, who married 
Richard Bradshaw. Thomas Tyler, the brother of Butler, 
was raised on Smith's Island, and married in Little Anna- 



104 



messex, and went there to live. During the Revolutionary 
War he did a kindness for old Mr. Jacob Cullen (I think 
this was his name, the father of John Cullen,) who recently 
died near Orisfield, and old Mr. Cullen gave him a piece of 
land for his lifetime, on which he lived until his death — 
this I bad by tradition. This Thomas left four sons, James, 
Levin, Jacob, and Littleton. Levin was Col. Levin Tyler, 
who lived and died on Pocomoke River. Jacob went to York 
County, Virginia, and died there. Littleton, the son of this 
Thomas, married, lived and died in Little Annamessex. 
Ailsey, one of the daughters of this Thomas Tyler, married 
Peter Dougherty of Annamessex, and lived and died there. 
Elizabeth, another daughter, married Laban Evans, and lived 
and died on Smith's Island. Littleton Tyler, brother to 
Butler, who lived on Smith's Island for many years and then 
removed to Alexandria, was a carpenter and married in 
Alexandria, and was killed while building a bridge at a 
place called Colchester. He (Littleton Tyler, brother of 
Butler) left the island before my remembrance ; what I 
have stated as to this Littleton Tyler is from tradition. 
He left two sons, William Tyler, who went to sea and 
was lost, and John L. Tyler, sometimes called John Tyler of 
Littleton, who returned to Smith's Island and lived with his 
uncle, David Tyler, and married his daughter, Anne Tyler; 
and Alexander D. Tyler, who now lives on Oak Hammock, is 
the son of that marriage. 

David Tyler, the brother of Butler, had four sons, Thomas 
Tyler, who lived on Black Walnut Point ; John, sometimes 
called Jackey Tyler, who lived on Horse Hammock ; Severn 
Tyler, who married near Onancock, Virginia, and lived and 
died there ; and William Tyler, who lived and died on 
Drum Point, and devised his land to Benjamin Bradshaw, 
who now lives on it. 

William Tyler met with an accident and was taken to 
Benjamin Bradshaw's house, at a place called Point Comfort, 
near North End, where within a week or two he died. Up to 



105 



the time of the accident he had always lived at Drum Point 
ever since I could recollect. 

David Tyler had also three daughters: Nellie, who 
married George Evans, of Jane's Island, and went there to 
reside, but after the death of her husband she returned to 
Smith's Island and died there ; Zipporah, who married 
William Croswell, went to reside at Jericho, near the 
mouth of Great Annamessex River, and was left a widow ; 
Anne, another daughter of David Tyler, married John L. 
Tyler, and was the mother of Alexander D. Tyler, who now 
lives on Oak Hammock. Thomas Tyler, son of David above 
mentioned, who lived at Black Walnut Point, and John 
Tyler, who lived at Horse Hammock, and William Tyler, 
and Nellie, wife of George Evans, and the widow of Zipporah 
Croswell, all agreed, whilst their father David Tyler lay a 
corpse in the house, that they would carry into effect the 
will of David Tyler their father, which had either not 
been executed according to law, or was in some way defective. 
Under this arrangement Thomas Tyler got a deed for Black 
Walnut Point, William Tyler got a deed for Drum Point, 
and John L. Tyler, sometimes called J ohn Tyler of Littleton, 
got a deed for Oak Hammock, his father being dead. 

John Tyler, sometimes called Jackey Tyler, who lived at 
Horse Hammock, was not satisfied with Horse Hammock as 
his share intended for him by the will, and objected to the 
arrangement, that not being, in his opinion, an equal share ; 
and, to induce him to consent to the arrangement, Thomas 
Tyler agreed to pay him 200 dollars, in addition to Horse 
Hammock, for his share of his father's estate ; he then con- 
sented to the arrangement. 

4th Question by same. — State who owned and lived on Horse 
Hammock when you could first recollect, and who have 
successively occupied it and owned it since that time ? 

Answer. — Before my remembrance, but I have heard from 
the old people, that George Pruitt lived at Horse Hammock; 
he had married Martha Thomas, the mother of Joshua 
14 



106 



Thomas, " The Parson of the Islands ;" but I do not think 
that either Mrs. Thomas, before her marriage, or her first 
husband, or George Pruitt, her second husband, ever owned 
Horse Hammock, for they were exceedingly poor. George 
Pruitt was a drunkard, and continued to be a drunkard until 
he was drowned, while drunk, having fallen oat of his 
canoe in Pocomoke Sound, I think. I have seen him a great 
many times, though I had but very little personal acquaint- 
ance with him. In the biography of Joshua Thomas, the 
Parson of the Islands, there is given an account of the ex- 
treme poverty of his mother, and of the body of George 
Pruitt being found, and a bottle of liquor having been found 
with him. 

David Tyler, brother of Butler, owned Horse Hammock, 
as far back as I can recollect ; but I am confident that he 
never lived there. The first Tyler that ever lived there, to 
my knowledge, was Thomas Tyler, the son of David who was 
brother of Butler, and the father of David who died in 1874. 
Thomas Tyler lived there some six or eight years, when his 
father David Tyler got him to break up and come and live 
with him at Black Walnut Point, where he lived until his 
death in about 1864. 

After Thomas left Horse Hammock, John, sometimes 
called Jackey Tyler, another son of David, went there to 
live. He married a woman by the name of Euphemia Evans, 
and he continued to live there until his death. Before his 
death he got in debt, and his brother William Tyler paid 
the debt, and took a deed for the land, giving a bond of re- 
conveyance upon the payment of the money advanced. 

After the death of John Tyler (he nor his family not 
having been able to pay for the land), William Tyler sold 
it to Peter Evans, who lived there some years and made a 
great deal of money, and then moved to Chesconessex, 
Virginia. Peter Evans sold this land to his son-in-law, 
John W. Marsh, who lived there for several years, and he 
sold it to Johnson Evans and John W. Evans his son — 



107 



they bought it jointly — and John W. Evans sold his share 
to his father Johnson Evans, who still resides at Horse 
Hammock. 

hth Question by same. — State what you have heard about 
the Horse Hammock property being in Virginia or Maryland? 

Answer, — I have heard some people say that Horse Ham- 
mock was in Virginia, and others that it was in Maryland. 
I have also heard people say that when the owners of the 
property paid their taxes, they paid part in Virginia and part 
in Maryland. I have heard William Tyler himself say 
that, when he owned it, he had to pay part of his taxes in 
Virginia and part in Maryland. I have heard it disputed 
in which State Horse Hammock was, long before John Tyler 
was appointed a Justice of the Peace. There was sf& election 0v# 
district on Smith's Island at that time, and I think very few 
people ever went off to vote. I do not know where John 
Tyler voted, if he voted at all. 

6th Question by same.— State what you have heard about 
John Tyler's having been appointed a Justice of the Peace for 
Somerset County, Maryland, whilst he lived at Horse Ham- 
mock. 

Answer. — Solomon Evans, who lived on Kedge's Straits, 
who was a very old man, and a very knowing one, said that 
he knew that Jolm Tyler lived in the State of Maryland, 
and on his recommendation he was appointed a Justice of 
the Peace. This I have been told as coming from Solomon 
Evans, but I did not hear him say so. I have also heard 
that Solomon Evans made oath that John Tyler lived in 
Maryland, but. I have no knowledge whether it was so or 
not. I am almost confident that I heard that Solomon 
Evans and John Tyler, after John Tyler's appointment, 
went together to Princess Anne and were there sworn in as 
Justices of the Peace for Somerset County, Maryland. I 
also heard that it required two Justices of the Peace to take 
the acknowledgment of a deed, and that Solomon Evans 
and John Tyler were appointed Justices, as being the two 
most competent men on the island. 



108 



*iih Question by same. — State what was the character and 
reputation of Solomon Evans. 

Answer. — He was one of the most respectable men on the 
island at the time of the appointment, was the largest 
property-holder on the island, and had some education. He 
was a class-leader and exhorter in the Methodist Church, 
and stood high in the Church at the time John Tyler was 
appointed a Justice of the Peace. 

8th Question by same. — What have you heard about a stone 
on the Tangier Sound side of Smith's Island, in connection 
with a boundarv line between the States of Maryland and 
Virginia, and where was the stone said to be located? 

Answer. — I never heard anything about the stone, to the 
best of my recollection, until the trial of the Fashion, 
arrested for dredging in Tangier Sound. I heard then that 
there was a stone about half-a-mile north of Horse Hammock, 
at a place called Cedar Hammock ; and that Thomas Tyler 
said that when he was a boy he was ducked at that place, to 
make, him remember that a west line from that place across 
Smith's Island was the line between the two States, and that 
the line ran an east course from that stone across the sound 
to Watkins' Point ; and I also heard that this east and west 
line ran from Smith's Point at the mouth of the Potomac. 

9th Question by same. — State from whom you heard any- 
thing said about the line between Virginia and Maryland, 
and what you have heard. 

Answer. — I have heard of it since I was a young man, but • 
I do not recollect anybody in particular having said anything 
about it, except my grandfather Butler Tyler. I am almost 
confident that I have heard him say that the line ran an 
east course from Smith's Point to Watkins' Point. Where 
Watkins' Point was I never knew, but I always thought it 
was Watt's Island, because it was said it was a place of high 
land. Referring to the stone at Cedar Hammock, I had 
never seen it until some time after the trial of the Fashion. 
James H. HofTmam, who lived where John Tyler lives, was 



109 



elected a Justice of the Peace for Maryland, on Smith's 
Island ; and some persons said that if that stone was on the 
line between the two States, Hoffman lived in Virginia, 
because he lived south of a west line from that stone ; and 
passing along there in my canoe, I took my compass with 
me from my vessel, which was in Horse Hammock harbor, 
and I looked for the stone, which had never been shown to 
ine but I had heard of its location, and found it, and took my 
compass and sighted a west course from the stone. I could 
see Hoffman's house from where I stood, and it seemed to be 
300 or 400 yards south of a west line. I have also heard 
persons, in speaking of the line between the two States, say 
that it ran from Smith's Point through Old Heron Island 
Straits, taking in all Smith's Island into Maryland. 

10th Question by same.— Did you ever hear of Dogwood 
Kidge, or Dogwood Ridge Creek, on Smith's Island? 

Answer. — I have heard of these places down on Hog Neck. 
I live on the northern part of the island ; Hog Neck is on 
the southern and western portion of the island. Dogwood 
Ridge Creek must be what is now called Shanks' Creek. 

11th Question by same. — Did you ever hear of Sassafras 
Hammock on the bay; and state what you know of it? 

Answer. — I knew a place called Sassafras Hammock on 
the Bay a great many years ago, which is now washed in 
the Bay. There was formerly on this Hammock four or five 
acres of high land, and a house upon it, in which James 
Spence lived. This Hammock from John Tyler's house, 
where he now lives, was situated a west south-west course. 

12th Question by same, — What have you heard of runaway 
marriages at the house where John Parks formerly lived, and 
where John Tyler now lives? 

Answer. — To my recollection I have not heard anything 
whatever. If any runaway marriages took place there I 
never heard of them, to my recollection. I did hear a great 
many years ago of a couple who wanted to get married, and 
had a Virginia license, and sent for Joshua Thomas to marry 



110 



them. They went to some place in the south towards Mis- 
ter's Thoroughfare, and there, having concluded they were 
far south enough, they stretched a fishing line and crossed 
over it, and having crossed the line, they concluded they 
were in Virginia, and Joshua Thomas married them. 

lWi Question by same. — Did you know a man hy the name 
of William Mister who lived on Smith's Island about 1829? 

Answer. — I knew him ; he was a son of Marmaduke Mister, 
and, I suppose, lived with his father at about where the 
church dow stands. 

14th Question by same. — Do you know places called 
Pritchett's Hammock and North End ? 

Answer. — North End is, I think, where Haney Bradshaw 
lives ; and Pritchett's Point lies north-west from there, and 
I suppose the Hammock has washed away — there is only a 
point of marsh there now. The land has washed away greatly 
all around Smith's Island, and in the Thoroughfares. The 
land seems a great deal lower than when I first knew it — 
it seems to be settling all over the island. 

And further this deponent saith not. 

EPHRAIM TYLER. 

Sworn to and subscribed by the above named Ephraim 
Tyler, before me, a Justice of the Peace for Baltimore City, 
Maryland, this 1st day of July 1876. 

JNO. T. MADDOX, J. P. 

Attest : 

C. M. Dashiell, Clerk. 



.A. IP IP IE 1ST ID X IX. 



EXHIBIT A. 

(Letter from Hunter Davidson to 0. A. Browne.) 

Baltimore, Md., Jan. 17th, 1871. 

Capt. Orris A. Browne, 

Com. State of Va. Steamer Tredegar. 

My Dear Sir : — Please try and make it convenient to meet 
me in the Chesconessex on Tuesday, the 24th inst. It is 
very necessary that we should have some understanding 
about the Pocomoke oysterrnen, in order to prevent any un- 
pleasant occurrence between our citizens in the future. 

I am very much obliged for the able letters you were kind 
enough to send me, on the oyster trade, &c, and will talk at 
length with you on the subject when we meet. 

If you cannot come, please write me, and direct to Cris- 
field, Somerset County, Maryland. 

I am very truly yours, 

Hunter Davidson. 

EXHIBIT B. 

(Letter from Gov. WalJcer, of Va., to 0. A. Browne.) 

Richmond, Jan. 16th, 1871. 

Capt. Orris A. Browne. 

My Dear Sir : — I enclose you copy of my letter trans- 
mitting to Governor Bowie a copy of your letter to me of the 



112 



12th inst.; also copy of an unofficial letter of mine to Gov. 
B. relative to his late communication to me. 

I am much gratified with your letter of the 12th inst.; 
it is, I conceive, a complete justification of your action, if any 
was needed. You will proceed and execute the law as you 
have in the past, carefully, faithfully, and firmly. When we 
desire a change we will inform you, and rest assured that in 
the performance of your duties you will always have the 
cordial and firm support of 

Your obedient servant, 

G. 0. Walker. 



EXHIBIT C. 
{Copy of Judgment.) 

State of Maryland vs. Schooner War Eagle, of Phila- 
delphia. 

March 17th, 1849. Judgment of Condemnation against 
the Schooner War Eagle of Philadelphia, for catching oysters, 
and having unlawful instruments on board, contrary to the 
laws of this State. 

Witness my hand : John W. Handy. 



EXHIBIT D. 

(Copy of Judgment.) 

State of Maryland vs. Schooner Tippecanoe of Philadelphia. 

March 17th, 1819. Judgment of Condemnation against 
the Schooner Tippecanoe of Philadelphia, for catching oysters, 
and having unlawful instruments on board, contrary to the 
laws of this State. 

Witness my hand : John W. Handy. 



113 



EXHIBIT E. 

{Copy of Judgment.) 

State of Maryland vs. Schooner Betsey Ann of Cherrystone. 

March 8th, 1849. Judgment of Condemnation against the 
Schooner Betsey Ann of Cherrystone, for catching oysters, 
contrary to the laws of this State. 

Witness my hand and seal : 

[seal.] John W. Handy. 



IliTDEZ. 

DEPOSITION OF WITNESSES. 



FOR VIRGINIA. 

PAGES. 

Deposition of John W. Gillet 3- 9 

" Orris A. Browne 10-14 

" John Richard Drurnrnond 14-18 

" Harvey F. Johnson 27-30 

" John W. Marsh 31-45 

John Marshall 60-69 

William G. Hoffman . 70-78 

John Tyler 78-88 

" Severn Bradshaw 88-94 

Mrs. Polly Bradshaw 94-98 

Alex. D. Tyler ........98-101 

FOR MARYLAND. 

Deposition of Harvey F. Johnson ,.. 18-25 

" Benjamin Thomas , — 46-50 

" John W. Handy 50-54 

" James Lawson * 54-59 

Ephraim Tyler ...101-110