Dark Tides:Maryland
George Calvert, first Baron Baltimore, applied to King Charles I for a royal charter for a new colony in North America in 1629. George Calvert died in 1632 before the charter could be executed, so his son, Caecilius, or Cecil, second Baron Baltimore, undertook it in his place. The charter granted the Calvert family a territory north of Virginia and south of the 40th parallel, comprising approximately 12 million acres, although the exact boundaries were vague and poorly defined until much later.
Contents
Annapolis[edit]
Founded in 1649, Annapolis stands on the Severn River, and became the capital of Maryland in 1694. Annapolis has become very wealthy through the slave trade, and is noted for its affluent and cultivated society. Other important trades include oyster packing, boatbuilding, and sail-making. It has an influential newspaper, the Maryland Gazette, and a theater — a sure sign of its status as a hub of culture.
As the capital, this is where most of the intrigue happens. People of wealth and influence in Maryland, even if they live elsewhere, have a presence in Annapolis, in the form of trusted retainers if nothing else. And occasionally, these people will have a need of a ship and crew.
Jonas and Anna Green[edit]
Jonas Green is the second publisher of Maryland Gazette and a former protégé of Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. The Gazette's masthead reads as follows:
"Annapolis, Printed by Jonas Green at his Printing Office on Charles Street; where all persons may be supplied with this Gazette at twelve shillings, six pence a year, and Advertisements of moderate length are inserted for 5 shillings the First Week and 1 shilling each time thereafter; and long ones in proportion."
Money is sometimes hard to come by, so Green sometimes trades an ad or a subscription for supplies. His wife, Anne Catherine Hoof Green, also helps to make ends meet by selling homemade chocolates at the post office.
Dr. Alexander Hamilton[edit]
Hamilton was born near Edinburgh. His father was Dr. William Hamilton, professor of divinity and principal of the University of Edinburgh. He was raised and educated as a member of the Scottish gentry. He emigrated to Maryland in 1738 and quickly set up his medical practice in Annapolis.
This very year, Hamilton founded The Tuesday Club. This Annapolis-based social club includes prominent men of the colonial Maryland community as both members and guests. If you need a meeting with a person of note, Dr. Hamilton can arrange it – if he can be convinced to.
Baltimore[edit]
After Charles Town in South Carolina, Baltimore is the second-most important port in the southern Colonies. Named after Lord Baltimore, it was founded in 1729 on the site of an existing port for tobacco exports. It acts as a repository for Caribbean sugar and other goods, and is also the colony’s main shipbuilding center.
Baltimore’s heydays are still in the future. The town was founded just 16 years ago and has just a bit over 20 homes, including a church and two taverns. The port, founded as a port of entry for tobacco trade, predates the town by 23 years and is of far more importance. Therefore, the focus of the authorities is on the port. But for people seeking to discreetly move something without the knowledge of the English authorities, the town is the place to go to. Particularly one of the taverns.
The Rough House[edit]
Anne Brennan arrived for the founding of the town in 1929 with her 5 year old daughter, and opened one of the taverns. While the locals went to the other tavern for a pint or two after work, the Rough House was from the start the place frequented by dock workers, sailors, and other sorts who worked and partied hard. The rougher sort. And Brennan is known not to mind a friendly fight or two, as long as no one gets killed in her establishment and the house does not burn down.
Should things get too far, or someone bothers her daughter, people will soon learn what Brennan is capable of. She can throw a mean punch and keeps a stockpile of weapons from a club to a blunderbuss under the counter. And she is a painfully accurate shot with a brace of pistols, as a number of people who have had to have a pistol shot removed from their posterior can testify.
This day somewhere close to 50 years of age, Brennan’s red hair shows no hint of gray yet and she still draws stares. Although it is her now 21 year old daughter Mary who draws most of the stares. She has recently started captaining her own vessel, and anyone who bothers her will soon learn that she is her mother’s daughter.
A person with even a bit of streetwise knows that if one is seeking a ship and crew for something discreet, Anne Brennan is the person to talk to. And any crew looking for such a job should visit the Rough House.
Port Tobacco[edit]
Port Tobacco was the second-largest town in Maryland until the rise of Baltimore. Situated on the Port Tobacco River, it is a thriving port, and, since 1658, it has been the seat of Charles County. The most notable building is Christ Church, an Anglican church built in 1683, on the town square. Although tobacco has made the town prosperous, its name comes from the original native settlement on the site, Portopaco or Potobac.
If Annapolis is where the intrigue is, Port Tobacco is the center of business. Cargoes and passengers seeking a ship to transport them can be found here, some seeking openly and others discreetly.
John Hanson[edit]
A merchant. The 24 year old son of Samuel Hanson, who owns the Mulberry Grove plantation. Hansons are a wealthy and prominent family. If you have a cargo of quality goods in need of a buyer, John Hanson is the man to visit. (John Hanson will eventually be the first President of the Continental Congress.)
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer[edit]
This 22 year old man is Maryland’s receiver general - an officer responsible for accepting payments on behalf of a government, and for making payments to a government on behalf of other parties. If the crew needs to deal with the colony’s government, this is the person to talk to. (Will one day be one of the signers of the United States Constitution.)
