22 INTRODUCTION 



County were under the immediate control of Rofcert Brooke, Com- 

 mander of old Charles Countj^ In 1654 old Charles County was 

 aholished and the territoiy on both sides of the Patuxent was erected 

 into Calvert County. Somewhat later Calvert County was limited 

 to the territory on the eastern side of the Patuxent and Prince 

 George's County became part of the new Charles County which was 

 erected in 1658. This was the condition of affairs up to the general 

 act of 1695 when Prince George's Coimty was erected. It was then 

 enacted : 



"that the Land from the upper side of Mattowoman and Swansons Creeks 

 & Branches Extending upward bounded by potomock on the West and 

 Patuxent River on the East shall be and is hereby Constituted founded & 

 Incorporated into a County of this Province and shall be Denominated 

 Called and known by the name of Prince George's County and shall from 

 and after the said Twenty third day of Aprill next Ensueing being 

 St. George's Day as aforesaid have and enjoy all other Rights benefitts and 

 priviledges Equall w^ith the other Countys of this Province such as sending 

 Burgesses to Assemblys haveing County Courts Sherriffe Justices and other 

 Officers and Ministers requisite & necessary and as used in other Countys 

 of this Province." 



xVt the time Prince George's County Avas erected there were settle- 

 ments along the Patuxent nearly up to Laurel, l)ut there were few, 

 if any, settlements on the Potomac side in the vicinity of Piscataway 

 Creek on account of the presence of the friendly Indians, who had 

 reserved to themselves this territory for a permanent abode. There 

 were, however, settlements or small outposts at the mouth of Eock 

 Creek within the present limits of Georgetown and along the 

 Anacostia River in the vicinity of Hyattsville and Bladensburg, and 

 as far up the jSTorthwest Branch as the present Montgomery line. 



Within the next two decades these settlements had extended beyond 

 the present limits of Prince George's County although they were at 

 that time within its limits. During these same years the whites 

 began to settle on the territory formerly claimed by the Indians. 



The tirst curtailment of territory affecting Prince George's County 

 occurred in 1748 when it was reduced to its present limits, plus the 

 District of Columbia, by Chaptei-s 14 and 15 of the Laws of Mary- 

 land for 1748. According to the first act, which was stimulated 

 by a petition of some of the freeholders in Prince George's County 

 who found it inconvenient to attend the County Court at Upper 

 Marlboro, it was enacted : 



