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Archiver > MDFREDER > 2004-10 > 1098370665


From: Paul Gordon <>
Subject: Middletown
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2004 10:57:49 -0400


Your inquiry about Williams "History of Frederick County" and its
accuracy based on Millard Rice's research into the laying out of
Middletown.

The accuracy of any historical research is based on the point of
view of the researcher many times. When a town was "laid out" and
what it was called depends on the tradition of the area as much as
court records. A number of towns in Frederick County have founding
dates that do not match with references in court documents, but
agrees with traditional factors, such as an ancient meeting of residents who
talked about the area by a certain name. The exact date of when Frederick
Town was founded will never be known, since there was no act by Maryland's
legislature "laying out" the town, even though there was discussion for
over a
decade about creating a county with a countyseat. We just know that 1745
is mentioned in documents and accepted traditionally.

Thus Rice's dependence on courthouse records is legally correct, but
that doesn't
overcome the traditional credit for Margaret Crone. Rice raised the
question about
whether the Repudiation of the Stamp Act in Frederick County was
contrived, instead
of spontaneous. My in-depth research based on correspondence of
Governor Sharpe
indicates a preponderence of evidence that it in fact was contrived by
Cresap and
perhaps Sharpe. But then, we'll never will be able to say for sure.

That is the intrigue of history, trying to tie down the facts of events
which happened
centuries ago.






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