CHAPTER XI. COUNTIES. 1. Origin. When Maryland was first settled there was but one court house; but as the settlements increased in number it was found very inconvenient for people to come from a long distance to have their local business carried on, so the Province was divided into counties which should attend to the minor matters of government. These have been increased in number until there are twenty-three counties, in addition to Baltimore City, which is not in a county, but ranks as equal to one in government. 2. Names of Counties, Dates of Founding, and Names of County Seats: Allegany, 1789, Cumberland (Duke of Cumberland). Baltimore, 1659, Towson (Family of settlers). Calvert, 1654, Prince Frederick (Husband of Queen Anne). Caroline, 1773, Denton (Gov. Robt. Eden) or (Name of settler). Carroll, 1836, Westminster (English town). Cecil, 1673, Elkton (On Elk River). Charles, 1658, La Plata ( ? ). Dorchester, 1666, Cambridge (English town). Frederick, 1748, Frederick (Last Lord Baltimore). Howard, 1850, Ellicott City (Family of settlers). Prince George's, 1695, Upper Marlborough (English town). St. Mary's, 1634, Leonard town (Gov. Leonard Calvert). Washington, 1776, Hagerstown (Founder's name). ? ). 3. County Seat. At some convenient place in each county, usually in the largest town, a county seat is established. At this place is built the Court House, where the Courts meet and where the county records are kept. There too is found the county jail, where wrong-doers are confined; and near at hand the almshouse, where the county cares for those too poor and infirm to care for themselves. In one or two counties, such as Frederick, a part of the almshouse is devoted to the care for the insane poor, but most of the counties use the State's asylums for that purpose. The General Assembly determines where the county seat is to be. (Const. XIII. 1.) 4. New Counties. The General Assembly provides for organizing new counties and changing county limits. The majority of the voters within the limits proposed to be formed into a new county must give their consent; and if it is to be formed from parts of two or more counties, the majority in each part must consent. No new county may be formed containing less than 400 square miles nor less than 10,000 white inhabitants; nor shall any change in county lines be made so as to reduce a county below these limits. (Const. XIII. 1.) 5. County Lines, Changes in. The Legislature may provide for such change; but a majority of voters in the district proposed to be transferred from one county to the other must agree to the transfer. (Const. XIII. 1.) 6. County Commissioners, Powers of. Each County is governed by a body of men called the County Commissioners, chosen by the people to attend to the county affairs. A most important duty of the Commissioners is to provide for the raising of sufficient taxes to meet the expenses of the county. Once each year they determine how much the expenses will amount to for schools, salaries of officers, care of the poor, repairs of roads and bridges, etc.; and provide for raising this money by taxation. This process is called making the levy. The money for the payment of the expenses of the jail and of expenses of trials in court must also be raised. The Commissioners appoint a clerk and frequently divide the county between them, so that each shall be responsible for one part of it. All sorts of minor duties fall to the Commissioners. They may offer rewards for the capture of criminals; may act as health commissioners; may lease wharves on navigable rivers; fix rates of charges in taverns; appoint a keeper of weights and measures; give a bounty on the capture of wild animals; set up guideposts on the roads; provide hospitals in case of epidemic diseases, etc. In Baltimore County, where the population is quite dense, they have established a police force and a fire department; have laid out streets, and erected lamps along the road to guide travellers at night, etc. In all the counties they have the general care of the poor. In several counties they appoint a special board to take particular charge of the paupers. The Commissioners provide for the purchase and maintenance of a building known as an almshouse, in which the poor may be kept at the county's expense. The County Commissioners also act as auditors of the accounts of the other county officers, and adjust their accounts before they are paid so as to see that their bills are correct. 7. County Commissioners, Origin of. In the Provincial days each county was governed by a Levy Court, so called because it laid or levied the taxes; but early in the nineteenth century these courts were abolished and the County Commissioners took their place. The Levy Court was composed of the Justices of the peace for the county. The County Commissioners are elected by the people of the county on a general ticket for four or six years; the term as well as the number of commissioners varying in the different counties; the number is either three or five. In no case (Const. VII. 1) is more than a majority of the Commissioners chosen at any one election, and in some counties only one-third of the board is changed at any time. 8. Highways. The care of roads is a very important part of the duty of the county officers. Good roads are most important for commercial and social reasons. In many parts of Maryland, the people did not feel they could afford to be taxed for good roads, and so private companies were formed which built roads known as turnpikes and placed on them gates at which a toll or fixed sum of money is asked from each passer-by using the road. County Commissioners are often authorized to subscribe for part of the stock in a turnpike. The county is generally divided by the Commissioners into road districts, over which they appoint Supervisors, who expend on their districts, under the direction of the Commissioners, the money raised by taxation for this purpose. 9. County Surveyor. This officer is elected biennially at the time of electing the members of the House of Delegates. His term begins on the third Monday in January after his election. Vacancies in the office are to be filled by the County Commissioners or the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, for the remainder of the term. (Const. VII. 2.) He makes surveys of land bought or sold by the county, and of roads and bridges newly laid out and built, or whose position has been changed. He may record in his office any private survey, charging a fee for this service. 10. Bridges. When rivers cross the roads it is necessary that bridges be thrown across the stream. The County Commissioners provide for the building and care of these bridges. Often a large part of the expense for any year is incurred to put bridges across some stream where a flood has swept them away. 11. Clerk of the Court; Land Records. The Clerk is also the keeper of the land records of the county. In his office will be found copied in large books all the transfers of land ever made in the county. He is required to send to the State Land Office at Annapolis a brief account of these transfers. |