#21 - Lenape Country Part II - The Lord Baltimore Raids

 This week we are continuing to go over Jean R. Soderlund’s book Lenape Country: Delaware Valley Society Before William Penn. Last week’s post discussed the early history of Swanendael and the Lewes area up until the first Dutch/English power transition in 1664. This week we will see what happened between the original Dutch handoff to the Duke of York and continue through 1681 when William Penn took over. 

So, in 1664 Dutch control was handed over to the Duke of York’s English forces. This caused not insignificant disruption: smuggling between the Dutch and Marylanders was curtailed, and the non-English Europeans were made to swear allegiance to the English/Duke of York to retain their property and freedom of religion. The Sickoneysincks were still in the area of the Whorekill, but their numbers had diminished greated over the 30 years since Swanendael, although they still outnumbered the Europeans. In 1671, a census was taken over the New Castle and Whorekill areas. A Whorekill resident, Helmanus Wiltbank helped. It estimated that Whorekill had 24 men, 8 women, and 18 children. 16 were heads of households: 9 Dutch, 6 English, and 1 unknown. Dutch people were the majority of the European population below New Castle. In the summer of 1673, the English lost control of New York and Delaware to the Dutch. In December of 1673 Lord Baltimore raided the Whorekill. Lord B’more claimed the land he should have control of the Whorekill by using a land charter from 1632. Obviously both the Dutch the Duke of York disagreed. But when Captain Thomas Howell and his 40 soldiers burned the town, they also destroyed the plantation of Dr. John Roades, Sr., who received his land patent from Maryland. He may also have died while seeking help further up the bay, if we believe the depositions discussed in my blog post The Burning of the Whorekill. In 1674, when the Duke of York regained his land from the Dutch, the Governor was concerned that because of these raids, the Marylanders could attack again. In 1682, William Penn gained custody of the Delaware lands alongside his new Pennsylvania colony. By 1685, while the Lenapes still outnumbered them, the number of Europeans expanded to over 8,000 residents; presumably the population at the Whorekill also increased.

This is a bit of a short summary to a short section of the book, but it is important to discuss because the Ryves Holt House is supposed to have been built in 1665, or maybe in 1685. To determine this, we need to figure out if it could have survived the Baltimore Raids. We also need to see how likely it would have been to have a building even at the Whorekill this early. According to the 1671 census, which I need to find more info on, there were about 50 people in Whorekill (18 of whom were children!). Was there even a town in the 1670s or were there just isolated farms? By the time of the census, the RHH would have been 6 years old. It could have been part of a budding settlement; in 1673, during the raids, they do describe some sort of village center or congregation area, but they don’t describe what was there. Also, where the heck were the Mennonites? Plockhoy’s settlement lasted between 1662 and 1664, yet Soderlund makes no mention of them. Is there a reason she doesn’t mention them? She does mention Sir Robert Carr who was supposed to have destroyed the settlement, he was also integral to interrupting the smuggling between Dutch and Maryland. Clearly the destruction of the Mennonite settlement was related to the Duke of York’s fight for control of New Netherland from the Dutch, but this shows again the triangle of power between Maryland, New Netherland, and New York.

What I can do is start to find names and connect them to land patents. The 1671 census and the original land deeds could help me figure out who originally owned the land around the RHH and modern day downtown Lewes. I can also use other archaeological work like at Bombay Hook. Based on that information I should be able to extrapolate who owned the land of the RHH and how much activity was going on in the vicinity. 

I am also still interested in the political motivations for the Lord Baltimore Raids. Technically the Marylanders were attacking the Dutch, and while Dutch people were the majority of the residents of the Whorekill, they definitely attacked English settlers, too; even some fellow Marylanders. But if they had to swear allegiance to the prevailing power, did all the Whorekill settlers count as Dutch since the Dutch controlled the area? Did the Marylanders see the English settlers there as betrayers? Or as New Yorkers, and potential competitors to Maryland’s economic and political success? Did the Whorekill residents see themselves as Dutch or Marylander or New Yorker? How did they see and understand the raids? 

So many questions, dear reader, and so little time!