Individual Details
Margaret Brent
(1601 - 1671)
Margaret Brent
Margaret Brent (1601-1671) is most renowned today for requesting a vote in the Maryland Assembly in an age when women, queens excepted, were not allowed direct participation in political life.
1601-1671
Born to a gentry family, she immigrated to Maryland in 1639, as a 38-year-old spinster, along with her sister Mary (?‑1658) and brothers Fulke (?-1656) and Giles (ca 1600-1672), who were soon to be very influential in Maryland affairs. Margaret and Mary patented “Sister’s Freehold” near St. Mary’s City upon arrival and soon became wealthy planters.
Governor Leonard Calvert died suddenly in 1647 leaving only an oral will. He named Thomas Greene as Governor, and Margaret Brent as executor of his estate. She was now responsible for paying off all of Calvert’s debts, which included paying the soldiers who had helped rid the colony of rebels just six months earlier. Calvert’s famous words to Brent were, “take all and pay all.” The soldiers began to threaten mutiny because they were getting hungry as well as being unpaid. Unfortunately, Leonard Calvert’s estate was not sufficient to cover the soldier’s pay.
The Provincial Court, as an emergency act, made her Lord Baltimore’s attorney in place of Leonard Calvert to whom Lord Baltimore had given that power. The Provincial Court, the highest court in colonial Maryland, really did not have the power to make Margaret Brent the Lord Baltimore’s attorney without consulting Cecilius Calvert himself. But he was in England and it would take too long to send word and get response back. This was a true emergency, and the court needed to act immediately. The colony’s leaders thought they could explain everything to the Lord Baltimore after the matter was settled. This decision on the part of the Provincial Court led to the crisis that made Margaret Brent famous.
Brent faced seemingly insurmountable odds. She was appointed to a representative position by a group of men who did not have the power to do so and yet who now expected her to act. This same group refused to tax themselves in order to pay the soldiers who had helped save the colony. It is possible that she knew the Lord Baltimore would be unhappy with her appointment and was seeking ways to cover for herself, but there was little she could do.
On January 21, 1648, Margaret Brent appeared before the Assembly and demanded to be admitted with two votes, one for herself and one as Lord Baltimore’s representative. This request, unimaginable in the 17th century, is something that makes her very different from most other women at that time. The governor refused and she departed, protesting the proceedings unless she could be present and vote.
The day after the Assembly refused her request to vote, Brent turned to the only realistic option left to her which would allow her to pay the soldiers and avoid a mutiny. This was the sale of Lord Baltimore’s only portable possessions in Maryland. Without the Lord Baltimore’s permission or knowledge, Brent began to sell his cattle in order to save Maryland.
The Maryland Assembly defended Margaret Brent’s actions to the Lord Baltimore in a letter to him in 1649: “We do verily believe, that your estate was better for the colony’s safety at that time in her hands than in any man’s else. For the soldiers would never have treated any other with civility and respect. She rather deserves favor and thanks from your Honor for so much concurring to the public’s safety than to be justly liable to bitter invectives.” In the Assembly’s view it was not only Margaret Brent’s courage and diplomacy that enabled her to save the day but her womanliness, which demanded and received civility.
In 1649, there is a suit between Capt Thomas BALDRICH and Mrs Margaret BRENT. By this time, Baldridge is elsewhere, either in Barbadoes, or in Northumberland.
Shortly after this affair, Margaret Brent left Maryland for Virginia, where she established a new plantation, Peace. Little is known of how she lived out the remainder of her life. But what is certain is that Maryland would not have survived without her. Her legacy, as Dr. Carr remarks, is not so much what she did, but what she could envision. Some have interpreted her as an early feminist or suffragist. (Note: Margaret Brent should not be identified as the first women suffragist, nor should she be identified as the first woman attorney or lawyer.) Dr. Carr states that she was well born, exceptionally able, and carried a heavy responsibility both to the Lord Baltimore and for the welfare of the colony. Nothing indicates that she believed that all women should have the vote.
Gov. Leonard Calvert relied greatly upon her, and made her his attorney and at his death in 1648 his administratrix; keenly alive to her rights, she claimed the right to vote in the assembly "for herself and also as his Lordship's attorney." Some years later she went with her sister Mary to "Peace," her brother Col. Giles Brent's estate in Westmoreland county (now Stafford) Virginia. She made her will in 1663.
Margaret Brent (1601-1671) is most renowned today for requesting a vote in the Maryland Assembly in an age when women, queens excepted, were not allowed direct participation in political life.
1601-1671
Born to a gentry family, she immigrated to Maryland in 1639, as a 38-year-old spinster, along with her sister Mary (?‑1658) and brothers Fulke (?-1656) and Giles (ca 1600-1672), who were soon to be very influential in Maryland affairs. Margaret and Mary patented “Sister’s Freehold” near St. Mary’s City upon arrival and soon became wealthy planters.
Governor Leonard Calvert died suddenly in 1647 leaving only an oral will. He named Thomas Greene as Governor, and Margaret Brent as executor of his estate. She was now responsible for paying off all of Calvert’s debts, which included paying the soldiers who had helped rid the colony of rebels just six months earlier. Calvert’s famous words to Brent were, “take all and pay all.” The soldiers began to threaten mutiny because they were getting hungry as well as being unpaid. Unfortunately, Leonard Calvert’s estate was not sufficient to cover the soldier’s pay.
The Provincial Court, as an emergency act, made her Lord Baltimore’s attorney in place of Leonard Calvert to whom Lord Baltimore had given that power. The Provincial Court, the highest court in colonial Maryland, really did not have the power to make Margaret Brent the Lord Baltimore’s attorney without consulting Cecilius Calvert himself. But he was in England and it would take too long to send word and get response back. This was a true emergency, and the court needed to act immediately. The colony’s leaders thought they could explain everything to the Lord Baltimore after the matter was settled. This decision on the part of the Provincial Court led to the crisis that made Margaret Brent famous.
Brent faced seemingly insurmountable odds. She was appointed to a representative position by a group of men who did not have the power to do so and yet who now expected her to act. This same group refused to tax themselves in order to pay the soldiers who had helped save the colony. It is possible that she knew the Lord Baltimore would be unhappy with her appointment and was seeking ways to cover for herself, but there was little she could do.
On January 21, 1648, Margaret Brent appeared before the Assembly and demanded to be admitted with two votes, one for herself and one as Lord Baltimore’s representative. This request, unimaginable in the 17th century, is something that makes her very different from most other women at that time. The governor refused and she departed, protesting the proceedings unless she could be present and vote.
The day after the Assembly refused her request to vote, Brent turned to the only realistic option left to her which would allow her to pay the soldiers and avoid a mutiny. This was the sale of Lord Baltimore’s only portable possessions in Maryland. Without the Lord Baltimore’s permission or knowledge, Brent began to sell his cattle in order to save Maryland.
The Maryland Assembly defended Margaret Brent’s actions to the Lord Baltimore in a letter to him in 1649: “We do verily believe, that your estate was better for the colony’s safety at that time in her hands than in any man’s else. For the soldiers would never have treated any other with civility and respect. She rather deserves favor and thanks from your Honor for so much concurring to the public’s safety than to be justly liable to bitter invectives.” In the Assembly’s view it was not only Margaret Brent’s courage and diplomacy that enabled her to save the day but her womanliness, which demanded and received civility.
In 1649, there is a suit between Capt Thomas BALDRICH and Mrs Margaret BRENT. By this time, Baldridge is elsewhere, either in Barbadoes, or in Northumberland.
Shortly after this affair, Margaret Brent left Maryland for Virginia, where she established a new plantation, Peace. Little is known of how she lived out the remainder of her life. But what is certain is that Maryland would not have survived without her. Her legacy, as Dr. Carr remarks, is not so much what she did, but what she could envision. Some have interpreted her as an early feminist or suffragist. (Note: Margaret Brent should not be identified as the first women suffragist, nor should she be identified as the first woman attorney or lawyer.) Dr. Carr states that she was well born, exceptionally able, and carried a heavy responsibility both to the Lord Baltimore and for the welfare of the colony. Nothing indicates that she believed that all women should have the vote.
Gov. Leonard Calvert relied greatly upon her, and made her his attorney and at his death in 1648 his administratrix; keenly alive to her rights, she claimed the right to vote in the assembly "for herself and also as his Lordship's attorney." Some years later she went with her sister Mary to "Peace," her brother Col. Giles Brent's estate in Westmoreland county (now Stafford) Virginia. She made her will in 1663.
Events
| Birth | 1601 | Gloucestershire, England | |||
| Event | 1619 |  | |||
| Immigration | 22 Nov 1638 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 25 Apr 1642 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 8 May 1642 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 4 Aug 1642 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 14 Mar 1644 | | |||
| Event | 9 Jun 1647 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 18 Nov 1647 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 1648 | | |||
| Event | 3 Jan 1648 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 21 Jan 1648 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | Feb 1648 | | |||
| Event | Mar 1648 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 6 Jun 1648 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 23 Sep 1648 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | Oct 1648 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | Nov 1648 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | Dec 1648 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | Feb 1649 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 21 Apr 1649 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 1 Jun 1649 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | Feb 1650 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 13 Apr 1650 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 20 May 1650 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 22 Jul 1650 | Maryland | | ||
| Event | 6 Aug 1650 | | |||
| Event | 1 Oct 1651 | | |||
| Event | Nov 1651 | | |||
| Event | 8 Apr 1661 | | |||
| Death | 1671 | Westmoreland County, Virginia, British America | |
Families
| Father | Richard Brent (1573 - 1652) |
| Mother | Elizabeth Reed (1578 - 1637) |
| Sibling | Jane Brent ( - 1680) |
| Sibling | Fulke Brent ( - 1656) |
| Sibling | Richard Brent ( - 1678) |
| Sibling | William Brent (1600 - 1691) |
| Sibling | George Brent (1602 - 1671) |
| Sibling | Catherine Brent (1602 - 1681) |
| Sibling | Giles Brent (1606 - 1671) |
| Sibling | Mary Brent (1608 - 1658) |
| Sibling | Anne Brent (1622 - ) |
| Sibling | Nancy Brent (1624 - ) |
Notes
Event
Margaret Brent was not a Catholic until a younger sister, Catherine, converted to Catholicism about 1619 and brought the rest of her family along with her.Immigration
In company with her sister Mary and two brothers, Giles and Fulke, she arrived in Maryland on November 22, 1638. The two sisters were armed with orders from Lord Baltimore that they were to be granted land on the terms he had offered to the first adventurers of 1634. The Brents were Catholics of noble descent and were distant cousins of the Proprietor. In Maryland they sought religious freedom and economic opportunity. Lord Baltimore, in turn, clearly expected that they would be valuable to his colony.Lord Baltimore intended Maryland to be both a Catholic refuge and a profitable enterprise. To these ends, he needed Protestant as well as Catholic settlers. But how could Protestants and Catholics live peacably together in Maryand when they could not do so in England? To solve this problem, he promised toleration of all Christian religious practices and political participation to all settlers otherwise qualified without regard to religious preference. The Brents were participating in an experiment extraordinary for the time.
Margaret Brent's career in Maryland was remarkable in many ways, but one of the most striking things about it is that she and her sister never married. Their single status was more unusual than perhaps most people realize because in coming to Maryland they moved to a society in which, at this time, men outnumbered women about six to one. The pressures on them to marry must have been extreme, unless they were protected by vows of celibacy. Whether this explanation is possible is a question that deserves exploration.
All the early investors in Maryland -- Jesuit priests included -- were entrepreneurs, who brought in settlers, developed land, and raised tobacco for an international market. Margaret Brent was no exception. She and her sister, who as unmarried women were legally able to own and manage property, took up land and established a household independent of their brothers. Fulke soon returned to England, but Giles immediately became a colony leader. Margaret was active in importing and selling servants and lending capital to incoming settlers. She appeared for herself in court to collect her debts and in general handled her business affairs as a man would have done and without assistance from her brothers. With Governor Leonard Calvert, she was joint guardian of the daughter of the Piscataway "Emperor" Kittamaquand. Were these achievments all there is to tell, Margaret Brent would attract our attention and admiration for her enterprise under rugged conditions.
Event
April 25, 1642 "Margaret and Mary Brent demand 1000 acres of Land Due by Conditions of Plantation for transporting 5 men into the Province aforesaid the 25th march last vizt Thomas Gidd Samuell Pursall Francis Slower John Stephens John DelaheyEvent
"Sold unto Mrs Mary Kitomaquund, foure kine, three yearling heifers, one yearling bullock, two bull calves, & 2. cow calves of his Lops stock, now being in the possession of mrs Margarett Brent; for the price of five thousand seven hundred wt of tob & cask, received by us of the said mary Kitomaquund to his Lops use afore the signing hereof. And we does hereby on his Lops behalfe warrant the said Kine & their encrease unto the said mary and her assignes against all men." Signed by Giles Brent, John Lewger and William Brainthwait. Archives 4: 271-272.Note: These court entries are the first direct evidence that Margaret Brent and Leonard Calvert were guardians to Mary Kitomaquund. At this time, Leonard Calvert is in England.
Event
Aug. 4, 1642. Margaret Brent brings five actions in the Provincial Court.Event
Court orders attachment of 7,000 pounds of tobacco worth of chattels of Leonard Calvert until he or his attorney answers the suit of Margaret Brent "guardian to Mrs. Mary Kitomaqund" in an action of debt on March 16.March 16, 1643[4]. "Margaret Brent guardian of mary Kitomaqund orphan p attorn Francis anthill" demands of Leonard Calvert Esq 7000 pounds of tobacco "for the price of 4 kine & 4 yong cattell & 3. calves due to the said orphan by the assumption of the said Leonard, for so much of her estate remaining in his hands upon acct of his guardianship."
Event
Leonard Calvert, for reasons that remain mysterious, did not return to his colony until late November or December 1646. Arriving with a small band of soldiers, nearly half of whom were former settlers, he met with little resistance, except on Kent Island. He had paved the way with a promise to pardon all willing to swear fidelity to the Maryland Proprietor. Then, on June 9, 1647, he died. On his death bed he appointed Thomas Green as governor, but made Margaret Brent the executor of his estate, with instructions to "take all and pay all."June 10, 1647. Margaret Brent deposes before the council that on
June 9, Governor Calvert "being lying on his death bed, did by word of mouth on the Ninth of this month nominate Thomas Greene Esq Governor of the Province of Maryland."
June 19, 1647. Margaret Brent asks the Governor to give testimony
Under oath about Leonard Calvert's nuncupatory will. Greene asks Giles Brent, Esq. "one of his Lops Councell" to administer the oath. Greene states that about six hours before Calvert died, he said to Margaret Brent "I make you my sole Exequutrix, Take all, & pay all." The court then makes Margaret administrator of Calvert's estate. Archives 4: 312-313.
Note: Giles Brent was in Maryland on Nov. 6, 1646 (see above, 6a), but does not appear again in any record until the above date, after Leonard Calvert's death. Was he in Virginia? or at Kent Island? If he had been at St. Mary's when Calvert died, would Calvert have made Giles his executor? Or was Giles in fact on hand and ignored? This last I doubt. If he had been in St. Mary's he likely would have been present with his sisters at Calvert's death bed. See (6a) and Comment
There is no doubt that at that moment Margaret Brent's courage and diplomacy were important to Maryland's survival. Without her, the Calverts might have lost their territory to Virginia and the experiment in religious toleration would have ended then and there. The soldiers were clamoring for their pay. There was a shortage of food. New disorders seemed imminent. Leonard Calvert had pledged his whole Maryland estate and that of his brother, the Lord Baltimore, to pay the soldiers, but Leonard's movable assets were insufficient, and under English law, as executor, Margaret could not readily sell his land. She kept pacifying soldiers ready at times to mutiny.
Event
Walter Beane vs. Margaret Brent, administrator ofLeonard Calvert. Margaret Brent acknowledges the debt to be due. "Judgmt respited till next Court, in respect of Mr. Calvert's estate tht is now in defts hands is allready attached att the suite of the garryson. And tht shee can part wth noe part of it till shee hath made answere thereunto
Event
Late in 1648, Margaret was at Kent long enough to supply sugar, spice, and strong waters to William Cox in his last sickness and "for a funerell Diner for him." And on January 13, 1648[/9] she gave Zachary Wade power of attorney to recover her debts and collect rent corn due the proprietor. Probably neither she or her brother attempted to rebuild the plantation he had lost.Event
with no time to gain Lord Baltimore's consent, on January 3, 1648, the Provincial Court appointed her as his attorney-in-fact. She was replacing Leonard Calvert, to whomthe Proprietor had given power, jointly with John Lewger, the provincial Secretary, to dispose of his property in emergency without authorization.At this point, Margaret made the move for which she is most famous today. On January 21, 1648, she appeared before the Assembly to demand two votes, one for herself as a landowner and one as Lord Baltimore's legal representative. The Governor refused and she departed with the statement that she "Protested against all proceedings ... unless she may be present and have vote as aforesaid." It is unlikely that she expected success, but she knew well that the Assembly was unwilling to vote taxes to pay soldiers whom Governor Calvert had promised to pay himself. She may have hoped by her protest to cover herself as she faced the immediate necessity of selling the Proprietor's cattle without his knowledge. That day she began the sale, thereby averting a crisis that might have destroyed the colony and its policy of religious toleration.
As it turned out, her tactic, if it was such, was of no avail. Lord Baltimore was furious at what he saw as confiscation of his property and he was suspicious of Margaret's motives. When Leonard Calvert had been away in England in 1644, she had allowed her brother Giles to marry her ward, the Piscataway "empress" Mary Kittomaquand, and Lord Baltimore evidently feared that Giles would claim Indian lands in her name.
Event
Jan. 21, 1647[/8]. "Came Mrs Margaret Brent and requested to have vote in the howse for herselfe and voyce allso for that att the last Court 3d Jan: it was ordered that the said Mrs Brent was to be lookd uppon and received as his Lps Attorney. The Govr denyed that the sd Mrs Brent should have any vote in the howse And the sd Mrs Brent protested agst all proceedings in this pnt Assembly unlesse shee may have vote as aforesd." Archives 1: 215421. Jan. 21, 1647[/8]. Margaret Brent sold to William Whittle one cow of Lord Baltimore's stock as part paymt for wages. Archives 4: 449.
Note: This is Margaret Brent's first sale of livestock from Lord Baltimore's stock.
22. Jan. 22, 1647[/8]. Second sale of an animal from Lord Baltimore's stock: "Sold and delivered by me Margaret Brent gentelwm & Attorney to my Lord unto Anthony Rawlings one browne pyed heighfer of his Lps stock." Archives 4: 367.
23. Jan. 24, 1647[/8]. There is no corn to be had. The soldiers are destitute. The Assembly authorizes measuring everyone's corn and impressing all surplus for the soldiers. Archives 1: 217-218.
Event
24. Feb. 16, 1647[/8]. Margaret Brent sold to John Ward of St. Inego's Fort one brown cow from Lord Baltimore's stock. Archives 4: 373.25. Feb. 24, 1647[/8]. Margaret Brent sold a heifer from Lord Baltimore's
stock to Thomas Allen, whose heifer had been impressed to feed the soldiers at St. Inigoes Fort. Archives 4: 374.
Event
Mar. 6, 1647[/8]. Margaret Brent sells two "ox yearly calves" of his Lopps stock to Edward Cottom, carpenter.Event
June 6, 1648. Margaret Brent's administration account for Leonard Calvert's estate is recorded. Archives 4: 388-389. Shows:a. 56,142 pounds of tobacco in total credits. 11,000 is in land and houses and 18548 in Lord Baltimore's debt "to the estate layd out in Mr. Calvert's lifetime."
b. 23,440 pounds of tobacco in total debts paid.
Note that when land and Lord Baltimore's debt -- which could not be immediately drawn upon, supposing the Proprietor agreed that he was liable -- are subtracted from credits, only 3,154 pounds of tobacco are left for future debts payable.
c. paid 1,250 pounds of tobacco for Dr. Waldron's fee and 80 pounds for provision for carrying him "down to Virginia"
d. paid 9,522 pounds of tobacco to the soldiers.
Event
Anthony Rawlings vs. Margaret Brent, His Lordship's attorney, for two barrels of corn due a soldier who had assigned it to him. Edward Hull vs. Margaret Brent, His Lordship's attorney for "2 barrels of corn the last yeare, due for Soldiers wagesEvent
Oct. 3, 1648. Rawlings vs. Brent, His Lordship's attorney (see above, (30)). Margaret concedes that the corn is due and asks delay until it can be raised from His Lordship's revenues. Archives 4: 414.31a. Oct. 5, 1648. John Hampton by his attorney John Hallowes vs. Margaret Brent, administrator of Leonard Calvert, 500 pounds of tobacco due for wages. "The deft denyeth the sd 500 pounds to be due from the admistrr because it was for publike employment And if it were due, tht shee hath not assetts in her hand, the sd Govrs estate being by Act of Assembly applyed to the paymt of the Garrison Soldiers of St Inegoes ffort." Archives 4: 419.
Note: The act must be the act passed in March 1647 establishing the 10 shilling per hogshead custom, half to be used to pay for the expenses of recovery of the colony. See (37). Lord Baltimore has not yet responded.
31b. Oct. 5, 1648. Margaret Brent acts on behalf of His Lordship "tht stoppige (sic) may bee made of a Cow & her increase now in the possesn of Mr Thomas Copley, & claimed by Willm Harditch & intended to be transported out of this province by him Untill hee shall have made his tytle better appeare thereunto, then as yett he hath done, Conceyving his Lp to have an Interest in all uncertain tytles." Archives 4: 420.
31c. Oct. 9, 1648. Margaret Brent acts for the Lord Proprietor in the motion that Mr. Thomas Copley may demand and receive the rents for several tenements on the "Manor of St. Mary's" until "final determination of the difference now depending" between Copley and the Proprietor. She asks and receives court permission for this arrangement. Archives 4: 426.
Event
Nov. 6, 1648. Margaret Brent as His Lordshhip's attorney complains and proves that Edward Commins has defied an order of the Governor and said that there was no law in the province. The court fined him 2,500 pounds of tobacco for contempt. Archives 4: 434.Note: Here it appears that MB is acting as an attorney at law, not just in fact, to prosecute a contempt. This is going way beyond the jurisdiction granted her. Commins's contemptuous speech to her may have been made in connection with a long-standing dispute she had been litigating with him over the Brent properties on Kent Island, in which case, she was not prosecuting the contempt but complaining as a litigant. The record is not clear on this point.
Event
Dec. 7, 1648. Margaret Brent asks the opinion of the Provincial Court as to whether Governor Leonard Calvert's patent for his manors gave him the forfeiture of the tenements that belonged to rebel tenants. The Court answers yes: such rights "usually" belonged to the lords of manors in England. Archives 4: 457.33. Dec. 7, 1648. Giles Brent is still a member of the council and sitting as a Provincial Court judge. He has missed very few sessions since his return to Maryland a few days after the death of Leonard Calvert. But this is his last appearance. Archives 4:458. News of Stone's appointment may have arrived, along with notice of Lord Baltimore's displeasure with the Brents.
Event
Feb. 9-10, 1648[/9]-April, 1650. On Feb. 9-10, the Provincial Court sits, with the Governor as the only judge. Although the Governor is not mentioned by name in the proceedings, Greene signs a document on the last day of this court calling himself Governor of Maryland.On the first day of this court, Margaret Brent makes her last appearance as His Lordship's attorney in a case she had brought against Thomas Cornwallis concerning the half of a forfeiture, of what or for what is not told. The case is postponed and never appears again. She continues to appear at this and later sessions in her own right, as Leonard Calvert's administrator, and occasionally as her brother's attorney. Archives 4: 470-474, 477, 481, 494-495, 514, 516, 517, 518, 521, 524, 527, 529, 532 540-541; Archives 10: 4, 5, 6-7.
35a. Feb. 9, 1648[/9]. Margaret Brent, executrix of Leonard Calvert, sells 90 acres of land in Trinity Creek in Trinity Manor to Henry Pountney for 950 pounds of tobacco, for which she has received satisfaction, he paying yearly 9 bushells of merchantable corn at Christmas and doing service at the manor court. Patents 2: 437.
Event
April 21, 1649. Last day of Governor William Stone's first Assembly. Proceedings of this Assembly, which began April 2, have survived only for this last day. They consist mostly of a letter to Lord Baltimore, read to the Assembly and signed by the Governor, the Council, and all burgesses present. (Note the implication that this Assembly sat in two houses.) Archives 1: 235, 238-243.I offer a brief summary of this letter. It:
1. defends Margaret Brent as a saviour in a time of crisis, not deserving the opprobrium the Proprietor has cast upon her.
2. attacks the Assembly of Dec 27-29, 1646 as illegal, since Leonard Calvert had not called for the election of a new assembly but had called the men who had sat in Edward Hill's Assembly. These were mostly rebels.
3. asserts that at most 12 cows and a bull of his were used to pay the soldiers.
4. argues that Leonard Calvert and John Lewger had both promised payment from the proprietor's estate for soldiers wages if necessary.
5. protests the sixteen laws Lord Baltimore has sent to be passed as perpetual, without change, as a block (arguing first, that they are too hard to understand and time is needed to consider them and second, that the members of the Assembly have to get back to their crops at that time of year).
6. analyzes the proposed laws in so far as the Assembly understands them as intended
a. to preserve the country and govern it in peace with justice;
b. to raise some competent support to the Proprietor and his governor;
c. to raise a stock of cattle to replace those taken from the Proprietor's estate;
d. to satisfy all who had supported the Proprietor.
7. informs the Proprietor that from his sixteen laws the Assembly has selected those parts most conducive to confirm a settled peace and has added others to fit the colonies needs.
a. For Lord Baltimore's support, the Assembly has voted
that he and his heirs shall have a custom of 10 shilllings in tobacco per hogshead of tobacco shipped from the colony in Dutch ships, one half of this custom to be used to pay for the recovery and defense of the province, all claims to be brought to the secretary's office by the last of March next.
b. There shall be an assessment on all inhabitants to raise within two years 16 cows and a bull, "by a third more than ever was known to be found certainly of your Lordships own Proper stock in this Colony since the Recovery of the same."
8. asks Lord Baltimore please to ratify the disposition already made of his estate, according to the engagement his brother had made.
9. asks Lord Baltimore to use forfeiture of estates rather than the swearing of loyalty oaths to keep men honest.
10. asks him to send no more bodies of laws for them to pass, but to forward instead "some short heads of what is desired" and let the Assembly draw them up.
Note: The letter states the custom as 10 tobacco per hogshead; the act as recorded more clearly indicates the meaning, saying 10 shillings per hogshead.
Event
Henry Pountney demands from Margaret Brent a cow and two year's increase, it being for his pay as a soldier. The cow she had paid him turned out not to belong to Lord Baltimore. Margaret defends only as Leonard Calvert's executrix and pleads no assets. The court rules that Pountney should now "be paid as other souldiers that are yet unsatisfied."Note: The court was referring to the act mentioned in (37) whereby soldiers were to be paid from the 10 shillings per hogshead custom on tobacco shipped in Dutch ships.
Event
Feb. 15, 1649[/50]. Thomas Sturman brings action against Margaaret Brent for disturbing him in his possession of a house and plantation of 1000 acres, part of one of Leonard Calvert's manors. Margaret Brent challenges his right to this land, claiming that he had agreed with Governor Calvert to pay rent for part of the land and accept the rest in some other place. Case is postponed until November court. Archives 4: 541.Event
Margaret Brent gives "her loving ffriend George Manners" power of attorney "to demand sue for and recover all debts goods or other dues belonging to mee, my brother Giles Brent" from any one in Maryland or to answer any suits against them "after notice from mee." Archives 10: 19Note: About this time Margaret and her sister must have departed to Virginia.
Event
May 20, 1650Thomas Johnson, merchant, testifies that there was an agreement between Mrs. Margaret Brent and Capt. Wm Stone for one house and 100 acres with all things thereuntil belonging. The house was at St. Mary's and belonged formerly to Governor Calvert. Captain Stone agreed to allow Mrs. Brent 4,500 weight of tobacco on condition that she would engage herself to defend him from all just claimes. Mrs. Brent was content to underwrite the bill of sale and received some goods in part payment, which she left in Capt. Stone's hands until the return of her shallop. Archives 10: 105-106.Event
Margaret Brent to Captain William Stone. "I received your letter by Mr. Copley concerning the assurance to you of my house at St Maries, which I did once Offer to Secure to you against all Just claymes, but at our last parting you cannot forget that I desired you to See in the Records what right I had to it, and that I would advise with my brother before I would Make any writeing to you I further told you that if my title were not good I would return the house into the Inventery, and would not intangle my Self in Maryland because of the Ld Baltemore's disaffections to me and the Instruccons he Sends agt us This Sr if please you to call to mind what past I know you will remember, Yet verily Sr I doe not refuse to make you Security for any doubt I have of my title, but because I know it will be more for the avoyding of trouble both to you and me to disinterest my Self in it I will at my comeing down bring with me the Coppy of the Statute to Justife my right to Mr Calverts Land, and I hope to have a tryall for them in your own Court, and Soe I shall make an end with you to your own content I beseech you Sr be pleased to dispose of those goods I laid by because I have been forced to provide my Self by my brother in Virginia, Soe I Shall want the Tobacco to furnish ourselves with other things."Event
Declaration of Lord Baltimore to the Assembly that met March 11, 1650/1. It:1. ratifies "such Sale and disposition of our stock of Neate Cattle and personall Estate there as was made thereof from and after the death of our late deare brother" until April 21, 1649, provided the promise to raise 16 cows and a bull for His Lordships use is fulfilled.
2. excepts from this confirmation "our ordinance and also such other things of ours as did at that tyme ... remaine in the hands of Mrs Margarette Brent undisposed of, or that were or have at any other tyme before or since bine sould or disposed of by her to her brother Mr Gyles Brent or to her Sister Mrs Mary Brent or to any other pson or persons in trust for them."
Archives 1: 316-317.
Note: This document indicates continued distrust of Margaret Brent and her work.
Event
Margaret Brent receives 390 lbs. tob. from Thomas Hatton, being the remainer of 510 lbs. tob. allowed her "as assignee of Stephen Salmon by Virtue of the Act for defraying the Charge of St Inegoes Garrison." Archives 10: 374.Note: No place is indicated, but it is unlikely that Secretary Hatton traveled to Virginia for the transaction.
October 22, 1651. Deposition of Elizabeth Parry: "That She was present when Mrs Margaret Brent made an absolute bargain with Wm Stone Esqr of a house at St Maries formerly belonging to Leonard Calvert Esq deced & that there was goods at her request delivered unto her in part of payment for the Said house, And that She was present when there was a bill of Sale made for Mrs Brent to Set her hand unto, but she refused to Sett her hand to it, if that it was therein written that She Should be bound to defend him from all Claims, But She would willingly Set her hand to the Bill of Sale if that it was therein written, all Just claims whatsoever, Moreover She heard her Say afterwards that She wwould not Meddle with the goods aforesd unless the Govr would enter upon the house."
Event
November Court, [1651]. Stone complains that Margaret Brent, after being called to June Court, 1651, to answer to his action, asked for postponement to this court, which was granted, but then wrote on July 10 "that She now waves all former proceedings, and preremptory averreth that She will be disengaged of the Bargain and be free to dispose of the house in question to her best profitt which Expressions being used to the Governor by the Defdt in her Letter upon a Suit depending She absenting herself out of the Province and willfully refusing to appear, this Court apprehend can amount to noe less then a Slighting and Contempt of the Court and Governmt, And doth therefore and for the reasons before Shewed think fit upon the Complaynts mocon to proceed to the hearing of the Cause the Defdts absence not withstanding." Given this history, "the Very great charges upon the premisses" expended by Stone, and the depositions offered to prove the bargain, "It is by this Court Ordered and adjudged that the Complaynt his heirs and assignes Shall forever hereafter have hold and enjoy the quiet and peaceable possioin of the house and Land in question against the Defdt and all claiming by from or under her or her title." Stone is to pay what is still due of the 4,500 pounds of tobacco. If Margaret does not demand and accept this payment, Stone is to give "sufficient tender" in front of witnesses. Margaret is to give Stone a "Sufficient Conveyance or Bill of Sale of the premisses with warranty against all Just claimes." Since Margaret is nonresident and "it being doubtfull how Soon She may further absent herself where She cannot be found or compelled to the Performance" of this order, the Court also requires that after the tender of the final payment, she is to give "Sufficient Security for the Plts his heires and assignes their quiet and peaceable possession of the premisses according to this Order Which is to be absolute and binding" unless she appear at December Court to show cause to the contrary. Archives 10: 106-108.Event
"Margaret Brent Gent aged Sixty years or thereabouts" deposes that "I never did make any Conveyance of the howse and land of St Marys which formerly was Leonard Calverts Esqr to Captaine William Stone and that neither he nor the heires of the aforesaid William Stone hath any right or tytle to the aforesaid house or Lands." Archives 41: 453.Note: In 1661, William Calvert, only son of Leonard Calvert, arrived in Maryland to claim his inheritance. He took possession of all of his father's lands, but had to bring an action against Verlina Stone, widow of William Stone, to regain "The Governor's Field." He then quickly sold the property to Hugh Lee, who had been operating an ordinary in the house since early 1660. No evidence of Calvert's transfer to Lee is extant, but the records show Lee's widow Hannah as owner after his death late in 1661, and she relinguished the property to the Province in 1662. The development of the village that became St. Mary's City began on this site soon thereafter. Archives 41: 388-389, 435, 398-399, 453-54; 1: 436, 450; 3: 459; Lois Green Carr, "'The Metropolis of Maryand': A Comment on Town Development Along the Tobacco Coast," Maryland Historical Magazine 69 (1974): 128-135.
Death
Margaret lived on her plantation, named "Peace," until her death about 1671Margaret Brent dies at her plantation "Peace" in Staffordshire County, Va. about 1670. She had distributed some of her property and devised the rest in 1663. That year she assigned to her nephew, James Clifton, her rights to 1,000 of the 2,000 acres in Maryland due to her and her sister Mary for the transportation of themselves and nine servants. Her will left her remaining rights in Maryland not disposed of to her nephew George Brent.* To her nephew Richard Brent, son of Giles, she gave land in Virginia and her proprietary lease for Kent Fort Manor, unless her brother Giles decided to sell it, in which case he was to give his son the equivalent in other property. Except for some legacies of livestock and six silver spoons that were to go to her neices, she gave the rest of her estate to her brother Giles.
Some modern advocates of women's rights have interpreted Margaret Brent as an early feminist. This she surely was not. Well born, exceptionally able, and entrusted with a heavy responsibility, she undoubtedly felt entitled to participate in making the decisions necessary to rescue the colony; but nothing indicates a belief that women generally should have the vote or that the patriarchal arrangements that deprived married women of independence were wrong.
The Maryland Assembly expressed well the nature of Margaret Brent's achievement. "We do Verily Believe," they wrote Lord Baltimore, "... that [your estate] was better for the Collonys safety at that time in her hands then in any mans else ... for the Soldiers would never have treated any other with ... Civility and respect .... She rather deserved favour and thanks from your Honour for her so much Concurring to the publick safety then to be justly liable to ... bitter invectives." In their view, it was not only courage and diplomacy that enabled her to save the day, but her womanliness, which demanded and received "Civility." The men of her place and time would not give her the vote, but they openly acknowledged that her abilities and civilizing talents were of crucial importance to the "publick safety."