![[photo, Francis Scott Key plaque, Mt. Vernon Place United Methodist Church, 10 East Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/bcity/images/1198-1-4082.jpg)
Francis Scott Key plaque, Mt. Vernon Place United Methodist Church, 10 East Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore, Maryland, September 2009. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
![[photo, George Peabody statue before Peabody Institute, Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/bcity/images/1198-1-3829.jpg)
George Peabody (1795-1869) statue (1869), by William W. Story, before Peabody Institute, Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, Maryland, March 2009. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
A Baltimore merchant who moved to London, George Peabody became a philanthropist and diplomat. He established the first charitable foundations in America and England, and founded the Peabody Institute at Baltimore in 1857.
1802. Property qualifications for voting in local and State elections removed by constitutional amendment, granting suffrage to adult white males (Chapter 90, Acts of 1801, ratified 1802).
1802. Daniel Coker (1780-1846) ministered to black Methodists, Baltimore.
1803. Viva voce voting at elections changed to voting by ballot.
1803, Dec. 24. Maryland ratified 12th Amendment to U.S. Constitution, providing for election of U.S. President and Vice-President by Electoral College.
1803, Dec. 24. Elizabeth Patterson (1785-1879) of Baltimore married Jerome Bonaparte (1784-1860), brother of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), in Baltimore.
1803-1806. Robert Bowie (Democratic-Republican), governor.
1804, April 20. Baltimore Water Company formed (chartered 1792).
1804. Gunpowder Copper Works, a mining operation, established by Levi Hollingsworth at Glen Arm, Baltimore County.
1806. Construction started for Basilica of the Assumption, America's first Roman Catholic cathedral. Designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820), main section completed 1818.
1806. Maximilien Godefroy (1765-1838) designed first Gothic Revival structure in United States, St. Mary's Seminary Chapel, Baltimore (completed 1808).
1806-1809. Robert Wright (Democratic-Republican), governor.
1807, Dec. 18. University of Maryland chartered at Baltimore as the College of Medicine of Maryland.
1808. John Carroll (1735-1815) became Archbishop of Baltimore, first Catholic Archbishop in United States.
![[photo, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton statue, National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 339 South Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/chron/images1800/1198-1-07742c.jpg)
1808. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) opened female academy, Baltimore.
1808. John Dubois (1764-1842) established Mount St. Mary's College (now Mount St. Mary's University) in Emmitsburg.
1809. Washington Cotton Manufacturing Company, Mount Washington, first in State, incorporated.
1809. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) adopted modified rule of Sisters of Charity, established order in Emmitsburg.
1809. St. Joseph's College, Emmitsburg, founded.
1809-1811. Edward Lloyd V (Democratic-Republican), governor.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton statue, National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 339 South Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, Maryland, July 2016. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.
1810. Property qualifications for State officeholding abolished by constitutional amendment.
1810. Free blacks disenfranchised.
1811. Work started on National Road.
1811. Alexander Brown & Sons opened as investment banking firm, Baltimore.
1811, Sept. 7. Hezekiah Niles (1777-1839) began publishing Weekly Register, a national newspaper, in Baltimore.
1811, Dec. 11-1814, Feb. 10. William Pinkney (1746-1822) served as U.S. Attorney General.
1811-1812. Robert Bowie (Democratic-Republican), governor.
1812. College of Medicine chartered as University of Maryland, Baltimore.
1812, June 18. United States declared war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1812, June 27. Mob attacked Alexander Contee Hanson (1786-1819), editor of Baltimore Federal Republican, and party.
1812-1816. Levin Winder (Federalist), governor.
1812, Dec. 12. Thomas Kemp, Fell's Point, launched Baltimore Clipper Chasseur, a privateer later famous under command of Thomas Boyle.
1813. British conducted raids on Chesapeake targets, including Havre de Grace.
1813. Hagerstown incorporated (Chapter 121, Acts of 1813, Dec. session).
1813, June 13. Chesapeake, first steamboat on Chesapeake Bay, traveled between Baltimore and Annapolis.
1814, June 8-10. Commodore Joshua Barney (1759-1818) commanded flotilla of barges and gunboats against British forces at First Battle of St. Leonard Creek, Calvert County. Battle ended with withdrawal of both fleets.
1814, June 26. Second Battle of St. Leonard Creek, Calvert County. British fleet bombarded by Barney’s Flotilla and American shore artillery. 36 vessels engaged with no clear victory. Flotilla withdrew to Benedict.
![[photo, Peale Museum and Kurt L. Schmoke Conference Center, 225 North Holliday St., Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/bcity/images/1198-1-3195.jpg)
1814, Aug. Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860) opened Baltimore Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts, designed by Robert Cary Long, Sr.
1814, Aug. 19. Under Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, British fleet sailed up Patuxent River. British troops disembarked at Benedict for attack on Washington, DC.
Peale Museum & Kurt L. Schmoke Conference Center, 225 North Holliday St., Baltimore, Maryland, Septmber 2008. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1814, Aug. 24-25. British burned the White House, the U. S. Capitol, and the Library of Congress and other public buildings in Washington, DC. District residents fled to Maryland and Virginia. President James Madison first retreated to Virginia.
![[photo, Battle of North Point Monument, Calvert St. and Fayette St., Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/images/i006114a.jpg)
1814, Aug. 26. President James Madison and members of his cabinet arrived at Rockville and then retreated to Brookeville, Maryland, which served as U.S. Capital for a day.
1814, Aug. 27-28. Fort Warburton (now Fort Washington) on Potomac River bombarded by British fleet.
1814, Aug. 31. Battle of Caulk’s Field, Kent County.
1814, Sept. 12. Battle of Baltimore began. Local militia repulsed British troops at Battle of North Point. British suffered heavy casualties, including death of Major General Robert Ross. Commemorated annually as Defenders' Day.
Battle of North Point Monument (dedicated 1815), Calvert St. & Fayette St., Baltimore, Maryland, June 2001. Photo by Diane F. Evartt. Monument was designed by Baltimore architect J. Maximilion Godefroy. Its female figure, four griffins, & the reliefs were created by Italian sculptor Antonio Capellano.
![[photo, Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine, 2400 East Fort Ave., Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/chron/images1800/1198-1-07642b.jpg)
1814, Sept. 13-14. Bombardment of Fort McHenry, commanded by Major George Armistead and defended by some 1,000 soldiers, militiamen and sailors, lasted 25 hours. Sight of American garrison flag flying above Fort in bombardment's aftermath inspired Francis Scott Key to write "Defence of Fort McHenry," which later became known as "The Star-Spangled Banner."
1814, Sept. 15. British forces retreated from Baltimore, ending the Battle and the Chesapeake Campaign.
Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine, 2400 East Fort Ave., Baltimore, Maryland, July 2016. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.
![[photo, Terra Rubra, birth site of Francis Scott Key, Keymar, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/carr/images/1198-1-1532.jpg)
1814, Sept. 19. British ships under Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane and Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn left the Chesapeake Bay and sailed for Halifax and Bermuda, respectively.
1814, Oct. 14. British ships under Rear Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm left the Chesapeake Bay and sailed for Bermuda.
1814, Dec. 24. Treaty of Ghent signed at Ghent, United Kingdom of the Netherlands (now Belgium).
Terra Rubra, birth site of Francis Scott Key, Keymar, Maryland, September 2006. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1815, Feb. 7. Battle of the Ice Mound, Taylor's Island, Dorchester County.
1815, Feb. 16. Treaty of Ghent ratified by U.S. Senate, ending War of 1812.
1815, July. Baltimoreans laid cornerstone for Robert Mills' Washington Monument (completed 1829).
1815, Sept. Baltimoreans laid cornerstone for Maximilien Godefroy's Battle of North Point Monument (completed 1825).
1816. Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860) demonstrated gas lighting at his museum.
1816. Delphian Club, a literary group, organized, Baltimore.
1816. Daniel Coker (1780-1846) and other black church leaders formed independent African Methodist Episcopal Church.
1816-1819. Charles Ridgely (Federalist), governor.
1817. Maximilien Godefroy (1765-1838), architect, began Unitarian Temple, Baltimore.
1817. Maryland auxiliary of American Colonization Society formed at Baltimore.
1817, Feb. 5. Gas Light Company incorporated to provide streetlights in Baltimore, first such firm in country. Two days later, its first lamp was lit at corner of Market and Lemmon (now Baltimore & Holliday) Streets.
1817-1829 William Wirt (1772-1834) served as U.S. Attorney General.
1818. National Road completed from Cumberland to Wheeling, now West Virginia.
1818. Savings Bank of Baltimore, first of its kind in State.
1818. Maryland Agricultural Society organized, Baltimore.
1819. Charles Goldsborough (Federalist), governor.
1819, March 6. In McCulloch v. Maryland, U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall interpreted Constitution to signify implied powers of federal government.
1819, April 2. John Stuart Skinner (1788-1851) published at Baltimore, The American Farmer, first agricultural journal in United States.
1819, April 26. Independent Order of Odd Fellows organized in Baltimore.
1819, May 5. At First Independent Church of Baltimore, William Ellery Channing delivered sermon defining Unitarianism, which led to formation of American Unitarian Association in 1825
1819-1822. Samuel Sprigg (Republican), governor.
1822. Isaac McKim milled flour with steam power, Baltimore, first such operation in country.
1822. Araminta (Minty) Ross (later known as Harriet Tubman) born south of Madison, Dorchester County.
1822-1826. Samuel Stevens, Jr. (Republican), governor.
1824. Benjamin Lundy published the Genius of Universal Emancipation, an anti-slavery newspaper in Baltimore.
1824-1829. Chesapeake & Delaware Canal constructed through Cecil County to link Chesapeake Bay with Delaware River.
1825. Marquis de Lafayette, revisited Baltimore.
1825. Maryland Institute held first exhibition.
1826, Jan. 5. Jewish enfranchisement, religious qualification for civil office removed.
1826, Jan. 10. Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts (now Maryland Institute College of Art) chartered.
1826. Public school system authorized by General Assembly, but rejected by most counties at referendum.
![[photo, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum,
901 West Pratt St. (at Poppleton St.), Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/museums/bcity/images/1198-1-06213.jpg)
1826-1829. Joseph Kent (Republican), governor.
1827, Feb. 28. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad chartered.
1827, July 4. Boonsboro citizens erected monument to George Washington, South Mountain.
1828. Maryland and Virginia Steam Boat Company offered regular Baltimore to Norfolk service.
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, 901 West Pratt St. (at Poppleton St.), Baltimore, Maryland, May 2013. Photo by Adam N. Wexler.
1828. Maryland Penitentiary directors appointed committee to recommend plans for expansion.
1828, June. Baltimore Shot Tower begun.
1828, July 4. First earth turned for construction of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (chartered Feb. 1827) and Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.
1828, Dec. Peter Cooper (1791-1883), Columbus O'Donnell (1792-1873), and William Patterson (1752-1835) form Canton Company, Baltimore.
1828-1848. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal constructed (reached Cumberland in 1850).
1829. Work began on Baltimore & Susquehanna Railroad (completed to Pennsylvania line 1832).
1829. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's Carrollton Viaduct, first masonry railroad bridge in country, crossed Gwynn's Falls.
1829. Chesapeake & Delaware Canal opened.
1829, July 2. Elizabeth Lange, Maria Balas, Rosine Boegue, and Theresa Duchemin took their vows and established the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore, first order of African-American nuns in Roman Catholic Church.
1829-1830. Daniel Martin (anti-Jackson), governor.
1830. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station established at Mount Clare, first railroad station in United States.
1830. Peter Cooper (1791-1883) and other investors started Canton Iron works, earliest planned industrial area in country at Canton, Baltimore.
1830. John M. Dyer and twelve others organized State's first Jewish congregation, Nidhei Israel (now Baltimore Hebrew Congregation), Baltimore.
1830, Aug. 28. Race at Baltimore between Peter Cooper's Tom Thumb locomotive and a train pulled by horse on Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
1830-1831. Thomas King Carroll (Democrat), governor.
1831. Heirs of John Eager Howard (1752-1827) donated land for parks to extend north, south, east, and west of Washington Monument, Baltimore.
1831. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station built at Ellicott's Mills (now Ellicott City).
1831, Feb. Maryland State Colonization Society formed in Baltimore.
1831, Sept. 26. Anti-Masonic Party Convention (the first national political convention) met in Baltimore.
1831, Dec. 12. National Republican Party Convention met in Baltimore.
1831-1833. George Howard (anti-Jackson), governor.
1831-1833. Roger Brooke Taney (1777-1864), served as U.S. Attorney General.
1832. Swallow Barn, by John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870), published.
1832. In aftermath of Nat Turner (1800-1831) rebellion in Virginia, Maryland laws enacted to restrict free blacks.
1832. Legislation prohibited oyster dredging.
1832. First omnibus lines began operating in Baltimore.
1832, March 5. Baltimore & Port Deposit Rail Road chartered.
1832, March 14. Delaware & Maryland Rail Road Company chartered.
1832, May 21-23. First national convention of Democratic Party met in Baltimore.
1833. Monocacy Aqueduct, largest on the C&O Canal, completed.
![[photo, Original Burial Place of Edgar Allan Poe, Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery, West Fayette St. & Greene St., Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/bcity/images/1198-1-09180b.jpg)
1833, Oct. Baltimore Saturday Morning Visitor published story of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849): "Ms. Found in a Bottle," winner of fifty-dollar prize.
1833, Nov. 28. Under auspices of Maryland State Colonization Society, first settlers sailed on the brig Ann for Cape Palmas, Liberia.
1833-1834. Roger Brooke Taney (1777-1864), served as Secretary of the Treasury.
1833-1836. James Thomas (anti-Jackson), governor.
1834. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad reached Harpers Ferry.
1835. Improved Order of Red Men (secret fraternal society) organized Great Council of Maryland, Baltimore.
1835. George's Creek Coal and Iron Company formed.
Original Burial Place of Edgar Allan Poe, Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery, West Fayette St. & Greene St., Baltimore, Maryland, August 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1835, May 20-23. Democratic Party National Convention met in Baltimore, more than a year before other party conventions convened.
1835, Aug. 6-8. Baltimore mobs demonstrated against Bank of Maryland and its directors .
1835, Aug. 25. Baltimore & Washington Railroad opened.
![[photo, Roger Brooke Taney statue, State House grounds, Annapolis, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/25ind/images/statehouse/i004460b.jpg)
1835-1864. Roger Brooke Taney (1777-1864), served as Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court.
1836-1839. Thomas W. Veazey (Whig), governor.
1837. Whig-controlled General Assembly enacted law for popular election of governors and State senators, and rotated geographical districts of successive governors.
1837. Carroll County formed from Baltimore and Frederick counties.
1837, Feb. 12. Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney (1777-1864) wrote majority opinion in Charles River v. Warren Bridge case.
Statue of Roger Brooke Taney, State House grounds, Annapolis, Maryland, April 2000. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1838. Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery in Baltimore.
1838, Feb. 12. Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad Company formed.
1838. Voter registration system initiated in Baltimore.
1838, Oct. 3. Governor and State senators first elected by voters rather than by legislature.
1839. David Carroll and Horatio Gambrill opened textile mills, Hamden-Woodberry.
1839, Oct. 20. Baltimore City Council established Male Central High School (now Baltimore City College).
1839, Nov. 14. Mercantile Library Association established in Baltimore.
1839-1842. William Grason (Democrat), governor.
1840, Feb. 1. Baltimore College of Dental Surgery founded.
1840, March 18. Baltimore Steam Packet Company (Old Bay Line) chartered.
1840, April 2. Washington Temperance Society of Baltimore founded (Chapter 26, Acts of 1840).
1840, May 5-6. Democratic Party National Convention met in Baltimore, the first time a Party platform was adopted.
1841, Jan. Maryland College of Pharmacy founded.
1842, Jan. Slaveholders' convention met at Annapolis.
1842, Nov. 5. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad reached Cumberland.
1842-1845. Francis Thomas (Democrat), governor.
1843, July-1845, March. John Nelson (1791-1860) of Frederick served as U.S. Attorney General.
1844, Jan. Maryland Historical Society founded in Baltimore.
1844, Feb. 29-March 31. John Nelson (1791-1860) of Frederick served as U.S. Secretary of State ad interim.
1844, May 1. Whig Party National Convention met in Baltimore.
1844, May 24. Samuel F. B. Morse demonstrated telegraph line, sent first telegraph message from Washington, DC, to Baltimore.
1844, May 27-29. Democratic Party National Convention met in Baltimore.
1845. Lloyd Street Synagogue constructed in Baltimore, first Maryland synagogue, a Robert Cary Long, Jr. (1810-1849), design.
1845. Frederick Douglass published Narrative of his life in slavery.
1845. Baltimore & Cuba Smelting and Mining Company, Baltimore, began operations.
1845, July 7. Seeking their freedom, a large group of Charles, St. Mary's and Prince George's counties slaves marched from Charles County toward Pennsylvania.
1845, Oct. 10. U.S. Naval Academy founded at Annapolis, when Department of the Navy established officers' training school at Fort Severn, Annapolis.
1845-1848. Thomas G. Pratt (Whig), governor.
1846. James Corner opened first transatlantic packet line, Baltimore to Liverpool.
Frederick Douglass from "Strike for Freedom" exhibit, House of Delegates Office Building, Annapolis, Maryland, April 2019. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1848. John Nepomucene Neumann (1811-1860), Redemptorist priest, built Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Baltimore.
1848. Whig Party National Convention met in Baltimore.
1848, May 22. Democratic Party National Convention met in Baltimore.
1848-1851. Philip Francis Thomas (Democrat), governor.
![[photo, Tombstone of Edgar Allan Poe, Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery, West Fayette St. & Greene St., Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/bcity/images/1198-1-09171b.jpg)
1849, Oct. 7. Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore.
1849. Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) escaped slavery in Dorchester County.
1849. Josiah Henson, former Charles County slave, published his Life.
1849. Thomas Kensett, Jr. began canning oysters in Baltimore.
1849-1850 Reverdy Johnson (1796-1876) served as U.S. Attorney General.
1850. Baltimore railroad stations at President St. (Philadelphia, Wilmington, & Baltimore Railroad) and Calvert St. (Baltimore & Susquehanna Railroad).
1850. Sun Iron Building built, Baltimore's first all-iron structure.
Tombstone of Edgar Allan Poe & Maria Clemm, Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery, West Fayette St. & Greene St., Baltimore, Maryland, August 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1850, Nov. 4-1851, May 13. Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851 met in Annapolis.
1850-1860. Harriet Tubman made at least 13 trips into Maryland's Eastern Shore, leading more than 70 people to freedom on the Underground Railroad, and providing resources that allowed the freedom of at least 50 others.
1851, June 14. Constitution of 1851 (2nd State constitution) adopted; Howard District recognized as Howard County.
1851, July 7. Charles Albert Tindley (1851-1933) born in Berlin, Maryland. His gospel song, "I'll Overcome Some Day," (1901) is considered the source for civil rights anthem, "We Shall Overcome."
1851, Sept. 11. William Parker, former slave from Anne Arundel County, resisted efforts of Edward Gorsuch of Baltimore County, Maryland, to recapture fugitive slaves at Christiana, Pennsylvania.
1851. Three-masted clipper Seaman, Baltimore, established unsurpassed speed record for sail (94 days) from San Francisco to Capes Henry and Charles.
1851-1854. Enoch Louis Lowe (Democrat), governor.
1852. Martin J. Kerney introduced and later withdrew bill to aid parochial schools.
1852. Loyola College (now Loyola University Maryland), Baltimore, founded.
1852. Association of Maryland Pilots formed.
1852, April 24. Merchants and Miners Transportation incorporated in Baltimore to begin coastal shipping service.
1852, June 1-5. Democratic Party National Convention met in Baltimore
1852, June 17-20. Whig Party National Convention met in Baltimore.
1852, July 27-29. Statewide convention of free blacks, Baltimore.
1852, Nov. Evangelical groups formed Young Men's Christian Association, Baltimore.
1852, Dec. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad lines reached Wheeling, Virginia.
1853. Henry Sonneborn, Baltimore, began manufacturing clothing.
1853. Baltimore, Carroll, and Frederick Railroad organized, later became Western Maryland Railroad.
1854. Baltimore County seat moved to Towson Town.
1854-1858. Thomas Watkins Ligon (Democrat), governor.
1854-1859. Rise of Know Nothing Party. Baltimore riots named city "Mobtown."
1855. Mary Whitridge, Baltimore-built clipper ship, sailed from Cape Henry to English Channel in record-setting 12 days and 7 hours.
1855, Nov. 7. Know-Nothing Party won elections.
1856. Camden St. Station (Baltimore & Ohio Railroad), Baltimore, opened.
1856. Hebrew Benevolent Society, Baltimore, incorporated.
1856, Sept. 17-18. Whig Party National Convention met in Baltimore.
1856, Oct. & & Nov. 4. Election violence, known as Know-Nothing Riots, took place in Baltimore.
1857. Baltimore gentlemen formed Maryland Club.
1857. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney (1777-1864) wrote majority opinion in case of Dred Scott v. Sanford.
1857, Feb. Peabody Institute founded in Baltimore by philanthropist George Peabody (affiliated with The Johns Hopkins University in 1977). It was first academy of music established in United States.
George Peabody (1795-1869) statue (1869), by William W. Story, before Peabody Institute, Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, Maryland, March 2009. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
A Baltimore merchant who moved to London, George Peabody became a philanthropist and diplomat. He established the first charitable foundations in America and England, and founded the Peabody Institute at Baltimore in 1857.
1858. John Brown (1800-1859) and Harriet Tubman (c. 1820-1913) met at St. Catharine’s, Ontario, Canada, to discuss his planned raid on Harpers Ferry in order to start an armed slave uprising. While raising funds for the raid, Tubman did not participate due to illness.
1859, July 26. First Baltimore horsecar line, began operating from Broadway to Baltimore St. and North St.
1859, Oct. 5. Maryland Agricultural College (now University of Maryland) opened at College Park, Prince George's County.
![[photo, Kennedy Farmhouse, 2406 Chestnut Grove Road, Sharpsburg, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/wa/images/1198-1-10199c.jpg)
1859, Oct. 16. John Brown (1800-1859) launched unsuccessful raid from Kennedy Farmhouse, Sharpsburg, Maryland, on United States Armory and Arsenal in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Brown was arrested, tried, and convicted of treason, murder, and insurrection, and later hanged in Charles Town, West Virginia.
1860. General Assembly passed Jacobs bill to enslave free blacks, but measure failed referendum.
Kennedy Farmhouse, 2406 Chestnut Grove Road, Sharpsburg, Maryland, October 2019. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1860, May. Constitutional Union Party formed in Baltimore.
1860, June 18-23. Democratic Party National Convention (first assembled at Charleston, South Carolina, April 23 - May 3, 1860) reconvened in Baltimore
1860, Oct. 19. Druid Hill Park opened, Baltimore.
1860, Nov. Maryland voters gave John C. Breckinridge (Southern rights Democrat) 42,482 votes, John Bell (Constitutional Union) 41,760, Stephen A. Douglas (popular sovereignty Democrat) 5,966, and Abraham Lincoln (Republican) 2,294 in presidential election.
1861. Peabody Institute (later west wing) opened in Baltimore.
![[photo, Civil War re-enactors, Carroll County Farm Museum, Westminster, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/museums/carr/images/1198-1-1128.jpg)
1861, April 19. Sixth Massachusetts Union Regiment attacked by Baltimore mob in the first bloodshed of the Civil War.
1861, April 22. Federal troops occupied Annapolis.
1861, April 26. "Maryland, My Maryland", by James Ryder Randall (1839-1908), published in New Orleans.
Civil War re-enactors, Carroll County Farm Museum, Westminster, Maryland, May 2005. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1861, April 27. President Lincoln suspended writ of habeas corpus between Washington and Philadelphia.
1861, May 13. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's Union forces occupied Baltimore.
1861, May 27-28. Sitting on circuit, Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney (1777-1864) called in vain for release of John Merryman.
1861, June 27. Military arrested Baltimore's Marshall of Police George P. Kane and imprisoned him at Fort McHenry. Police Commission suspended.
1861, July 1. Military arrested Baltimore's Police Commissioners and imprisoned them at Fort McHenry.
1861, June 13. Congressional elections returned Unionist delegation.
1861, Sept. 11. Secretary of War Simon Cameron ordered arrest of secessionist members of General Assembly.
1861, Nov. Voters defeated states' rights candidate for governor, Benjamin Chew Howard.
1862. Harriet Tubman (c. 1820-1913) moved to Beaufort, South Carolina (then occupied by federal forces), aiding slaves in transition to freedom, as well as acting as a spy and scout for the Union.
1862, May 23. Marylanders opposed one another at Battle of Front Royal.
1862, June 16. Confederate cavalry entered Cumberland.
1862, Sept. 14. Battle of South Mountain; Union troops forced Confederates from Crampton's and Turner's gaps.
1862, Sept. 17. Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg), 4,800 dead, 18,000 wounded.
![[photo, Maryland Monument, Gettysburg Battlefield, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/monuments/images/1198-1-1529.jpg)
1862, Oct. 10-12. Confederate cavalry under Gen. J.E.B. Stuart (1833-1864) rode through Washington, Frederick and Montgomery counties during raid into Pennsylvania.
1862-1866. Augustus W. Bradford (Unionist), governor.
1863. Harriet Tubman (c. 1820-1913) recruited former slaves to act as spies and scouts for federal forces, guiding Union gunboats in raids against Confederate coastal encampments, and relocating slaves north.
1863, late June- early July. Confederate army under Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) passed through Washington County en route to Gettysburg and in retreat.
1863, July 1-3. Maryland troops fought at Battle of Gettysburg.
Maryland Monument, Gettysburg Battlefield, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, August 2006. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1864, April 27-Sept. 6. Constitutional Convention of 1864 met in Annapolis.
1864, June 7. Republican Party National Convention met in Baltimore.
1864, June 7-8. National Union Party Convention met in Baltimore.
1864, July 6. Hagerstown held for ransom by Confederate forces under Gen. Jubal Early.
1864, July 9. Frederick held for ransom by Confederate forces under Gen. Jubal Early.
1864, July 9. Battle of Monocacy; Confederates defeated Gen. Lew Wallace, and sent cavalry raiders north of Baltimore, then back through Prince George's County.
1864, Oct. 12-13, 29. Gov. Bradford declared Constitution of 1864 (3rd State constitution) adopted after soldiers' vote was added to election totals. Soldiers' vote assured adoption of 1864 constitution, which abolished slavery (effective Nov. 1) and required strict loyalty oath of voters. A test oath was required of all voters.
1864, Nov. 1. Maryland slaves emancipated by State Constitution of 1864. To celebrate, under direction of Baltimore City Council, five hundred guns were fired, bells were rung, and flags displayed "to attest the joy of the people at their great deliverance."
1865. Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company, first black-owned business in State, established in Baltimore by Isaac Myers.
1865. General Assembly permitted oyster dredging, but only under sail.
1865. First statewide voter registration system in Maryland.
1865-1959. Oyster Wars; Maryland and Virginia watermen fought on Chesapeake Bay.
1865, Feb. 3. Maryland ratified 13th Amendment to U.S. Constitution.
1865, April 14. John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865) assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, and escaped through Prince George's and Charles counties.
1865, April 26. John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865) was shot and killed in Port Royal, Virginia; later buried in Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore.
1865, Oct. Frederick Douglass (c. 1818-1895) dedicated Douglass Institute named in his honor, Baltimore.
1866. First library of Peabody Institute opened in Baltimore.
1866, Aug. 20. National Labor Union, the first national labor union in America, organized in Baltimore.
1866-1869. Thomas Swann (Unionist Democrat), governor.
1867. Centenary Biblical Institute chartered under auspices of Methodist Episcopal Church; later became Morgan State University.
1867. Wicomico County created from Somerset and Worcester counties.
1867. Isaac Freeman Rasin won election to clerkship, Baltimore City Court of Common Pleas.
1867, March 23. Maryland voted to reject 14th Amendment to U.S. Constitution.
1867, May 8-Aug. 17. Constitutional Convention of 1867 met in Annapolis; Democrats rewrote constitution.
1867, Sept. 18. Constitution of 1867 (4th State constitution) adopted by voters.
1867, Nov. 27. Knights of Pythias formed in Baltimore.
1868. State Oyster Police authorized.
1868. Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) chartered by Methodists (organized 1866), the first coeducational school south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
1868. Regular steamship service between Baltimore and Bremen inaugurated by Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and North German Lloyd.
1869. Arthur Pue Gorman (1839-1906) won seat in House of Delegates.
1869. Wendel A. Bollman (1814-1884) built iron truss bridge for Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at Savage.
1869, July. Isaac Myers (1835-1891) and black caulkers in Baltimore formed national black labor union.
1869-1872. Oden Bowie (Democrat), governor.
1870. University of Maryland School of Law reopened.
1870, Feb. 26. Maryland voted to reject 15th Amendment to U.S. Constitution.
1870, May. Baltimore African Americans paraded to celebrate passage of 15th Amendment to U.S. Constitution.
1870, Oct. 27. Maryland Jockey Club sponsored racing at Pimlico track.
1872. Garrett County formed from Allegany County.
1872. General Assembly mandated separate but equal white and black public schools.
1872. Western Maryland Railroad completed line, Hagerstown to Baltimore.
1872, July 9. Democratic Party National Convention met in Baltimore.
1872-1874. William Pinkney Whyte (Democrat), governor.
1873, April. William H. Butler, Sr. (c. 1829-1892), elected as Annapolis Alderman, first African American to hold elected office in Maryland.
1873, May. Allegany County coal miners established Miners and Laborers Protective and Benevolent Association.
1873, July. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad opened Deer Park Hotel, Garrett County.
1873, Sept. 21. School Sisters of Notre Dame established Notre Dame of Maryland Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies, later to become Notre Dame of Maryland University, Baltimore, first Catholic women's college in United States.
1874. Commissioners of Fisheries authorized.
1874-1876. James Black Groome (Democrat), governor.
1875. Work began on east or library wing, Peabody Institute (completed 1878).
1875, July 4. Atlantic Hotel opened, first hotel in Ocean City.
1875, Oct. 25. Ceremonies dedicated Baltimore City Hall, a George Frederick design.
1876. Railroad/carriage trestle crossed Sinepuxent Bay at Ocean City.
1876, Oct. 3. The Johns Hopkins University opened in Baltimore, founded by philanthropist Johns Hopkins.
1876-1880. John Lee Carroll (Democrat), governor.
1877, Jan. 16. Maryland-Virginia boundary in lower Chesapeake Bay demarcated by Black-Jenkins Award.
1877, July 20-22. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad strike; workers went on strike along line, demonstrated in Cumberland, struck and rioted at Baltimore.
1878, June. William Brooks with The Johns Hopkins University established Chesapeake Zoological Laboratory at Fort Wool, Hampton Roads.
1878, Aug. Young men of Baltimore Athletic Club returned from Newport, Rhode Island, with lacrosse sticks.
1878. Knights of Labor organized, Baltimore.
1879. Telephone exchange opened in Baltimore, first in State.
1880. Consolidated Gas Company founded at Baltimore.
1880. Electrical energy debuted in Maryland at Sun Building, Baltimore.
1880-1884. William T. Hamilton (Democrat), governor.
1881, Sept. Oriole Festival celebrated opening of Loch Raven Reservoir.
1882. Baltimore reformers won "good judges" election.
1882. Harry Vonderhorst sponsored Baltimore team in American Association of baseball clubs.
1882. Colored High and Training School (now Douglass Senior High School) opened, Baltimore.
1883. Baltimore Federation of Labor organized.
1883. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad opened polygonal Passenger Car Shop, largest such structure in world, Baltimore.
1883, June. Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company formed.
1884. General Assembly, pressured by Knights of Labor, created Bureau of Industrial Statistics and Information (now Division of Labor & Industry).
1884-1885. Robert M. McLane (Democrat), governor.
1885. Baltimore civic leaders established Baltimore Reform League.
1885. African-American leaders established Mutual Brotherhood of Liberty, Baltimore's first civil rights organization.
1885. Woman's College of Baltimore chartered by Methodists, later became Goucher College.
1885. Bryn Mawr School, Baltimore, founded by Martha Carey Thomas (1857-1935).
1885. Baltimore-Union Passenger Railway Company, first commercial electric street railway in country.
1885-1888. Henry Lloyd (Democrat), governor.
1886. Linotype machine perfected by Ottmar Mergenthaler, Baltimore.
1886. Maryland Progressive State Colored Teachers Association formed.
1886, Jan. 5. Enoch Pratt Free Library, the gift of Enoch Pratt, opened in Baltimore.
1887. Pennsylvania Steel (Maryland Steel, 1891) built blast furnace at Sparrows Point.
1887. Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., designed summer retreat, Sudbrook Park, near Pikesville.
1888. Voters north and west of Baltimore City agreed to annexation.
1888, Oct. Maryland flag of Calvert and Crossland colors flown at monument dedication ceremonies, Gettysburg.
1888-1892. Elihu E. Jackson (Democrat), governor.
![[photo, Henrietta Szold (1860-1945) sculpture, by Dina Lee Steiner (1989), Jewish Museum of Maryland, 15 Lloyd St., Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/museums/bcity/images/1198-1-09234c.jpg)
1889. Henrietta Szold (1860-1945) opened night school for immigrants in Baltimore, first of its kind in nation.
1889, May. Floodwaters inundated Cumberland.
1889, May 7. The Johns Hopkins Hospital dedicated in Baltimore.
1890. Morgan College (now Morgan State University) formed from Centenary Biblical Institute.
1890. German-born population of Baltimore City peaked (41,930 of 365,863).
1890. Australian secret ballot in elections adopted.
1890, Jan. Columbian Iron Works, Baltimore, produced Maverick, first steel tanker ship in United States.
1891. Charles H. Grasty (1863-1911) assumed control of Baltimore Evening News.
Henrietta Szold (1860-1945) sculpture, by Dina Lee Steiner (1989), Jewish Museum of Maryland, 15 Lloyd St., Baltimore, Maryland, September 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1892. Francis G. Newlands (1846-1917) developed Chevy Chase.
1892, Aug. 13. Baltimore Afro-American founded by John H. Murphy, Sr.
1892, Dec. Sheppard Asylum for the mentally ill founded by Moses Sheppard, opened to patients; later became Sheppard-Pratt Hospital.
1892-1896. Frank Brown (Democrat), governor.
1893. Women's College of Frederick founded, later became Hood College.
1893, Oct. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine opened in Baltimore, accepting women.
1894. First child labor law passed; first pure milk law passed.
1894. Baltimore women formed Arundell Club.
1894. Provident Hospital, Baltimore, founded by William T. Carr and William H. Thompson.
1894. Baltimore Orioles won their first professional baseball championship.
1894, May. "Coxey's Army," an "industrial army" organized by Jacob Coxey (1854-1951), encamped at Bladensburg and other Maryland sites after first march on Washington, DC.
1894, June. Frostburg coal strike.
1895. Maryland Bar Association held first convention.
1895. Charles County seat moved from Port Tobacco to La Plata.
1895, Nov. Reformers carried Baltimore City and State elections.
1896. Maryland adopted improved "secret" ballot.
1896. General Assembly ended practice of electing one U.S. senator from Eastern Shore, passed law restraining courts from compelling reporters to divulge their sources.
1896. Columbian Iron Works built Argonaut, path-breaking submarine.
1896-1900. Lloyd Lowndes (Republican), governor.
1896, April 4. Office of Game Warden established.
1897. Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., planned west side of Roland Park (company organized 1891).
1897, Feb. Maryland Public Health Association formed, Baltimore.
1898. Baltimore obtained reformed city charter.
1899. William B. Clark issued report on State roads.
1899, Jan. Baltimore Municipal Art Society formed.
1899, March 28. Building program began at U.S. Naval Academy, Ernest Flagg, architect. Construction started with Dahlgren Hall, first building of "new" Naval Academy.
1899, Dec. 1. Maryland Federation of Women's Clubs organized at Baltimore.
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