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that the said Charles Hill be burnt in the Brawn of the Thumb of the Right Hand wth
the Letter A, and thereupon the Sherr (sic) of Anne Arundel County to witt Stephen
Warman Gent is commanded by the Court here to do Imediate Execution of the Judgmt
afd, Who afterwards makes return to the Court here that he has done Execution
accordingly—And thereupon the said Charles Hill is discharged.16
In all the history of the county courthouses of Maryland, in the course of which there
were so many burnings and so many charges of arson, Charles Hill is the unique convicted
arsonist. How serious the crime was considered is indicated by the fact that the death penalty
was mandatory—Hill escaped because of the plea of Benefit of Clergy, but even this loophole
was stopped by the General Assembly which was so shocked by the lightness of the sentence
that only six days later, October 27, 1720, it passed an act specifically excluding the plea of
Benefit of Clergy in such cases.17
Meanwhile, the Justices of Kent County who were meeting in temporary quarters agreed
with John Earle for repairing the courthouse. He was required to post a bond and to have
the job done by June 15, 1721. The time allowed, almost exactly one year, and the cost, 55,000
pounds of tobacco, would indicate the courthouse had to be rebuilt from the ground up rather
than repaired.18 But no details are available to us because there is a lacuna in the court records
of the county following the June term of 1720.
The courthouse of 1698, which was rebuilt in 1720-1721, appears to have served its
purpose satisfactorily until the middle of the century when, because of the growth of popu-
lation and business and also because of its dilapidated condition, a petition from the justices
and other inhabitants of the county was presented to the General Assembly asking for author-
ity to spend a considerable sum for "the repairing or enlarging of the courthouse." The act
which passed at the session of 1750 authorized the levying of 50,000 pounds of tobacco for this
purpose.19 It is not now possible to determine the extent of the enlargement, if any, because
none of the relevant records of the period have survived. We do know something more of
the enlargement undertaken in the last years of the eighteenth century.
In 1796, an act was passed authorizing the Levy Court of Kent County to spend up to
£400 current money to alter and repair the courthouse "so that the public records of said
county may be kept secure." 20 The same petitioners came before the General Assembly the
next year to report that they had found it would be less expensive and more convenient to
build a new record office rather than to remodel the old courthouse. Authority was granted
them to use the funds appropriated the previous year for this substitute project and they were
also instructed "to attach the same to the Courthouse of said county, or to build the same
separate therefrom ......."21 Since there appears to have been an addition to the courthouse
represented on Martenet's Map of Kent County, it can be assumed that the commissioners
chose to attach the record office thereto rather than otherwise.22
Forty years later, the Levy Court was authorized to spend up to $700 for "the enlarge-
ment and repair of the house in which the offices of the clerk of the court and register of
wills ..... are kept." 23 This appears to have been the last attempt made to fit this ancient
building to the needs of a rapidly growing population.
Third Courthouse at Chestertown
By 1860, it seemed hopeless to attempt to shore up the old courthouse; consequently an
act was passed "for taking down the present Court House and building in which the office of
Register of Wills is kept, and for executing a new Court House on the Public Square in Ches-
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16 Provincial Court Judgments, W. G. No. 1, f. 251, Ms.
17 Ch. 25.
18 Kent County/ Court Proceedings, 1717-1720, f. 470, Ms.
19 Ch. 6; Arch, of Md., XLVI, 468-59.
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20 Ch. 29.
21 Ch. 104.
22 Simon J. Martenet, Baltimore, 1860, Maryland State Library.
23 Ch. 132, Acts of 1831.
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