DELAWARE is bounded N. by Pennsylvania; E. by Delaware river, Delaware bay, and the Atlantic; S. and W. by Maryland. It extends from lat. 38° 30' to 39° 45' N. and from lon. 1° 13' to 1° 57' E. from Washington. It is 87 miles long from N. to S. and from 10 to 36 broad, containing 2,120 square miles. Population of Wilmington, the largest town, in 1820, 5,268; in 1830, 6,628; in 1840, 8,367. The principal rivers besides the Delaware which forms a part of the boundary, are Brandywine Creek, Christiana Creek, Duck Creek, Mispillion Creek, Indian river, Choptank, and Nanticoke. The general aspect of this state is that of an extended plain, favorable for cultivation. Some of the upper parts of the county of New Castle, indeed, are irregular and broken. The heights of Christiana are lofty and commanding, and the hills of Brandywine are rough and stony; but in the lower coun try, there is very little diversity of level. The highest ridge between Delaware and Chesapeake bays, passes through this state. On the summit of the ridge there is a chain of swamps, from which a number of waters descend on the west to Chesapeake bay, and on the east to the river Delaware. Along the Delaware river, and about nine miles into the interior, the soil is generally a rich clay, which produces large timber, and is well adapted to the purposes of agriculture; but between this tract and the swamps the soil is light, sandy, and of an inferior quality. In the county of New Castle the soil is a strong clay; in Kent it is mixed with sand, and in Sussex the sand greatly predominates. The principle articles of produce are wheat, Indian corn, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, and potatoes. The county of Sussex contains some excellent grazing lands, and it exports great quantities of timber, obtained from Cyprus Swamp or Indian river, which extends about six miles from east to west, and nearly twelve from north to south. The staple commodity is wheat, which is produced of a superior quality, and is highly esteemed for its uncommon softness and whiteness, and is preferred in foreign markets. Large establishments have been erected for manufacturing wheat into flour. Of these the Brandywine mills, in the vicinity of Wilmington, are the most important. These are one of the finest collection of mills in the United States, and are celebrated both for the excellence and the quantity of flour which they manufacture. In 1832 there were ten cotton manufactories, with an aggregate capital of $384,500, and making annually 5,203,746 yards of cloth. The other manufactures of note are woollens, paper, and powder. Delaware contains very few minerals. In the county of Sussex and among the branches of the Nanticoke, are large quantities of bog iron ore, well adapted for casting; but it is not wrought to any extent. ware Canal. This canal, which lies partly in Maryland, but chiefly in Delaware, Chesapeake 13 miles long, 66 wide at the surface of the water, and 10 feet deep, and Delaopens a highly advantageous communication between Philadelphia and Baltimore, and other places, by sloops and steamboats. During the year beginning June 1, 1830, and ending June 1, 1831, there were employed between Philadelphia and Baltimore, Alexandria, Richmond, Petersburg, and Norfolk, in the transportation of passengers and merchandise, by way of this canal, 2 lines of steam-boats and 7 lines of packets. But the trade through this canal has since greatly diminished. Finances. Delaware has no state debt, but possesses funds, exclusive of the school fund, to the amount of $339,686 43; and the balance in favor of the revenue, after the settlements of the accounts for the year 1839, was $19,223 34. There is a rail-road extending from Newcastle on the Delaware to French town, a distance of 16 miles, on which the passengers between Philadelphia and Baltimore are now transported. There is yet but one track completed. The number of banks in 1842 was 9, viz. 4 at Wilmington, 1 at Newcastle, 1 at Georgetown, 1 at Dover, 1 at Smyrna, and 1 at Milford. This state has a school fund, amounting to $173,000, the interest Education. of which, together with a small tax levied on each school district of four miles square, at the will of the majority of the taxable inhabitants, is appropriated to the support of common schools. No district is entitled to any share of the school fund, that will not raise, by taxation, a sum equal to its share of the income of the fund. But few of the districts have yet gone into operation under the school law. The number of periodical presses is 6, two of which are semi-weekly. The Methodists in this state have 15 preachers, and 12,304 memReligous denomina bers; the Presbyterians, 8 churches, 9 ministers, and 1300 commutions. nicants; the Baptists, 9 churches, 9 ministers, and 520 communicants; the Episcopalians have 6 churches and 6 ministers. The first European settlement in this state was formed by Swedes History. and Finns, in 1627; in 1655, the colony was taken from the Swedes by the Dutch, under governor Stuyvesant; and after the conquest of New York by the English, in 1664, it was placed under the jurisdiction of the gov ernment of New York. In 1682, the country was granted to William Penn, and it was placed under the same executive and legislative government with Pennsylvania. It was then, as it is now, divided into three counties, Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex, generally styled, till the American revolution, "The Three Lower Counties upon the Delaware." In 1701, the representatives of Delaware withdrew from those of Pennsylvania; the first separate legislative assembly met at Newcastle, in 1704. Outlines of tution as The legislative power is vested in a general assembly, consisting the consti- of a senate and house of representatives for two years. The representamended atives are elected, 7 from each county, the whole number being 21. Dec. 1831. The senators are elected for 4 years, 3 from each county, the whole number being 9. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is elected by the people for 4 years; and he is not eligible a second time to said office. The general assembly meets on the first Tuesday in January, biennially. The first meeting under the amended constitution was in 1833. The constitution grants the right of suffrage to every free white male citizen of the age of twenty-two years or upwards, having resided in the state one year next before the election, and the last month thereof in the county where he offers to vote, and having within two years next before the election, paid a county tax, which shall have been assessed at least six months before the election; and every free white male citizen of the age of twenty-one years and under the age of twenty-two years, having resided as aforesaid, shall be entitled to vote without payment of any tax. The judicial power of this state is vested in a court of errors and appeals, a superior court, a court of chancery, an orphan's court, a court of oyer and terminer, a court of general sessions of the peace and jail delivery, a register's court, justices of the peace, and such other courts as the general assembly may direct. The governor's annual salary is $1,333 33. This state sends one repre sentative to congress. Counties. Pop. 1820. Alleghany nw Baltimore Calvert S 8,073 Carroll w MARYLAND is bounded N. by Pennsylvania; E. by Delaware and the Atlantic; S. and W. by Virginia. It lies between long. 2° 31′ W. and 1° 58 E. and between lat. 38° and 39° 44' N. It contains 13,959 square miles, or 8,933,760 acres, of which one-fifth is water. Chesapeake bay runs through the state from N. to S. dividing it into two parts. The part east of the bay is called the eastern shore, and the part west of the bay, the western shore. The state is divided into 19 counties, 11 of which are on the western shore, and 8 on the eastern. TABLE OF THE COUNTIES AND COUNTY TOWNS. Anne Arundel Western Shore. Pop. 1840. 9,229 Prince Fred'ktown 16,000 Westminster Pop. 1830. 10,602 8,899 Charles Frederick Harford $ 16,500 17,666 16,315 17,120 Belair 14,669 Rockville Prince George's sm 20,216 20,473 19,939 Upper Marlboro' $ 12,974 13,455 Washington nwm 23,075 25,265 Eastern Shore. 13,224 Leonardtown 7,806 Denton 15,232 Elkton The principal rivers are the Potomac, which divides this state from Virginia, Susquehannah, Patapsco, Patuxent, Elk, Sassafras, Chester, Choptank, Nanticoke, and Pocomoke. In the counties on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake, the land is generally level and low, and in many places is covered with stagnant waters, giving rise in the summer and fall months to agues, and intermittent fevers. On the western shore, the land below the lowest falls of the river, is principally level and free from stones. Above these falls the country becomes successively uneven and hilly, and in the western part of the state is mountainous. The principal range of mountains is the Blue Ridge or South Mountains, which pass through the state in a northerly direction from Virginia into Pennsylvania. The extreme western part of the state is crossed by the Alleghany mountains. Between these and the Blue Ridge are several inferior chains, as Will's mountain, Evit's, Warrior, and Ragged mountains, and Sideling hill. The soil is well adapted to the culture of tobacco and wheat, which are the staple productions of the state. Some cotton of inferior quality is also raised, and in the western counties, considerable quantities of flax and hemp. Two articles are said to be peculiar to Maryland; the genuine white wheat, which grows in Kent, Queen Ann's, and Talbot counties, on the eastern shore; and the bright kite's-foot tobacco, which is produced on some parts of the western shore, south of Baltimore. The forests abound with various kinds of nuts, used for fattening hogs, which run wild in the woods, and are killed in considerable numbers for exportation. Apples and peaches are abundant. Excellent roads proceed from Baltimore in various directions. There is a turnpike from Baltimore to Cumberland on the Potomac, a distance of 135 miles. From Cumberland to Brownsville on the Monongahela, in Pennsylvania, there is now completed by the United States, a free turnpike road, of the most superior construction. The distance is 72 miles, making the whole distance from Baltimore to Brownsville 207 miles. This is the shortest and best communication yet opened between the tide water of the Atlantic and the navigable western waters. A turnpike extends from Baltimore, in a north-west direction, 16 miles, to Reistertown, and there divides; one branch turning more to the north meets the Pennsylvania line in 19 miles; the other. in a W. N. W. direction, runs 29 miles in Maryland. Iron ore abounds in various parts of the state, and coal is found in inexhaustible quantities, and of a superior quality, on the Potomac, in the neighborhood of Cumberland. Furnaces have been erected in various places for the manufacture of iron. Glass, paper, and whiskey are also made in considerable quantities. The value of manufactures in 1840, was $12,468,794. The principal exports are flour and tobacco. The value of the exports for the year ending September 30th, 1839, was $4,804,364. Maryland is the fourth state |