THIS state is bounded on the north by Chester and Delaware counties in Pennsylvania, on the northeast by Delaware bay, on the southeast by the Atlantic ocean, on the south by Worcester and Somerset counties in Maryland, and on the west by part of the same state, viz.: Dorchester, Caroline, Queen Ann, Kent, and Cecil counties. It lies along the Atlantic coast twenty miles, from Cape Henlopen to Fenwick island. The entire outline is two hundred and fifty-nine miles; length, one hundred miles; mean breadth, twentyone miles; area, two thousand one hundred square miles. It lies between 38° 27′ and 39° 50′ north latitude, and 1° 17′ and 20° 0′ east longitude from the city of Washington. The state occupies a long and narrow plane, with a gentle eastern slope to the Atlantic and the bay, with a higher and more uneven region in the north. The upper portion has a waving rather than a hilly surface, and the southern is nearly a dead level. The eastern slope is drained by several small rivers, viz.: Indian, Broadkill, Cedar, Mispohan, Motherkill, Jones, Duck, Apoquinimink, Brandywine, &c. Delaware contains only three counties-Newcastle in the north, Sussex in the south, and Kent between them. The population in 1790 was 59,094; in 1800, 64,273; in 1810, 72,674; in 1820, 72,749; in 1830, 76,748; in 1840, 78,085; in 1850,90,407. Settlements were commenced at an early date within the territory of this state. Under the patronage of Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, a few feeble colonies were founded here in 1627, before any other Europeans had attempted to occupy the soil. The country received the name of New Sweden, and the settlers were Swedes and Finlanders. They settled along the shores of Delaware bay, but were reduced in 1655 by the Dutch, and again in 1664 by the English. Charles II. included the territory in the grant which he made to the duke of York, by whom it was conveyed to William Penn, in 1682. For several particulars in respect to this part of the history of Delaware, the reader is referred to the description of Pennsylvania. Delaware had a colonial assembly in 1704, which met at Newcastle, although the territory nominally belonged to Pennsylvania until 1775. The people took an early and active part in the revolution; and many of their militia fell in the unfortunate battle of Long Island, in 1776, when the British army obtained possession of New York. She adopted à constitution as a state in that year; and the constitution of the United States was adopted by a convention on the 12th of June, 1792. Although the smallest state in the Union, it has been honorably distinguished by men of ability and high character in the national government. The present constitution was adopted in 1831. The governor is elected for four years, but can not be reëlected. The senate consists of three members from each county, chosen for four years. The house of representatives consists of seven membèrs from each county, elected for two years. The sessions of the legislature are biennial, commencing on the first Tuesday in January. Every male citizen who is twenty-one years of age, and has been a resident in the state one year, and in the county one month, next preceding the day of election, and has paid a tax, is a voter. If he is between twenty-one and twenty-two years of age, the payment of the tax is not necessary. The courts of Delaware are a court of error and appeals, a superior court, a court of chancery, an orphans' court, a court of oyer and terminer, a court of general sessions of the peace, and such courts as the general assembly may from time to time establish. There are five judges to compose these several courts, whom the governor appoints. They hold office during good behavior. The superior court consists of the chief-justice and the two associate-justices, who do not reside in the county where the court is held; and the court of sessions is composed in the same manner. court of oyer and terminer consists of all the judges except the chancellor; and the orphans' court, of the chancellor and the resident judge of the county. The Delaware College, situated at Newark, Newcastle county, is the only higher institution of learning in the state. Commencement is held on the 4th Wednesday in September. There are twenty academies and about one hundred and fifty common schools, with a school-fund of $170,000. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal was constructed at great expense, and in spite of many discouragements, over one of the most unfavorable tracts of ground ever crossed by a work of that kind. It was intended to open a channel of sloopnavigation between Delaware city, on Delaware river, and the Chesapeake; and the work was successfully accomplished in a few years. It is thirteen miles in length, and lies chiefly in Delaware, but partly in Maryland. It is sixty-six feet wide on the surface of the water, and ten feet deep. Printing was first introduced into this state in 1761, by James Adams, who then commenced the publication of a newspaper, called "the Wilmington Courant," which ceased in six months. other newspaper was published in the colony before the revolutionary war. No The Delaware Breakwater.-About twenty years ago, the construction, of a breakwater was commenced, by the United States government at the mouth of Delaware bay, at Cape Henlopen, designed to afford protection to vessels passing that exposed part of the coast in stormy weather. The mouth of the bay is twelve or thirteen miles wide, and exposed to the full force of the waves of the ocean, which, in an east erly storm, are extremely violent, being unchecked by the neighboring land, which is too low to offer any resistance to the wind, or any protection from the surges, as they sweep in from the open sea. The ice which floats down the river is sometimes not less dangerous to vessels. The breakwater is formed according to the principles of science, and is an immense work, of stone brought from a great distance, and composing a solid wall with sides standing at an angle, best calculated to withstand and destroy the force of the waves on the one hand, and the fields of ice on the other. As the number of vessels employed in the navigation of the bay is very great and annually increasing, and the coasters and foreign ships occasionally exposed to risk of loss on this part of the coast, in easterly storms, are also very numerous, the value of such a work may be appreciated, when it is borne in mind that there is no other place of refuge within a great distance. Even in moderate weather the breakwater often affords to many vessels the conveniences of a good harbor, when the state of the wind or of the ice forbids the passage from the bay to the ocean, or from the ocean up the bay. Cape Henlopen, which forms the southern point of Delaware bay, is in latitude 38° 45′ and longitude 10° 53' east from Washington. WILMINGTON.-This town is situated one mile above the junction of Brandywine and Christiana creeks, twenty-eight miles southwest from Philadelphia, forty-seven north from Dover, and one hundred and eight northeast from Washington city. It is built on the dividing line between the primitive region and the alluvion, which lie in juxtaposition through most of the middle and southern Atlantic states. Wilmington, in this respect, resembles Philadelphia, Baltimore, Georgetown, Richmond, and several smaller towns; but owing to the greater depression of the western rocky range in Delaware, Wilmington has less variety of scenery in its neighborhood than most of them. Brandywine river, however, at a short distance from the town, is precipitated over a precipice, of such height that it affords many mill sites of great value, which have long been employed to great advantage. Numerous manufactories of large size crowd the banks of the stream, most of which are flourmills; the grinding of wheat is also carried on to a great extent, and with such skill that they have long been among the best in the Union, and have done much to render the flour manufactured there highly celebrated. Sawmills, papermills, cotton and woollen factories, &c., stand also upon the same stream. Wilmington is governed by two burgesses and six assistants. It stands upon a long and gentle elevation, upon the ridge of which lies the principal street, which is wide and straight. The principal public buildings are the cityhall, the almshouse, the arsenal, two markethouses, three banks, the public library, sixteen churches, nine academies, and the friends' female boarding-school. The population is at present fourteen thousand. The Philadelphia and Baltimore railroad lies through this town, and affords communication with both those cities twice a day. The Brandywine Springs.-This place is much resorted to by visiters, for health and pleasure, in the summer months. It is five miles from Wilmington. DOVER. This town, the capital of the state, and county-town of Kent county, is situated on the right bank of Jones's creek, ten miles from its mouth in Delaware bay. The streets are straight, broad, and laid out regularly, and a large public square is in the middle of the town, where the statehouse and several other public buildings are placed to great advantage. There are three churches, one bank, and an academy. A monument has been erected to the memory of Col. John Haslett, who fell at the battle of Princeton, in the revolutionary war. There is a communication with Wilmington daily by stagecoaches, and with Snowhill (Maryland) three times a week. It is in latitude 39° 09' and longitude 1o 28' east of Washington. NEWARK stands on Christiana creek, and is twelve miles southwest-by-west from Wilmington, fifty-two north-north- | about four hundred inhabitants, a court west from Dover, and one hundred and thirteen north-northeast from WashingIt contains three churches, the college, an academy, and about eight hundred inhabitants. Delaware College is situated in this town. It was founded in the year 1833, and received an endowment of $100,000 from the state. It has a president, four professors, one tutor, and about fifty students. The first building of the college was erected in 1833, for eighty students, since which time it has been doubled in size. The centre is three stories high, with a basement, and the wings three stories; whole front, one hundred and eighty feet. house, an academy, a bank, &c. There is a communication three times a week with Wilmington by stagecoaches. Delaware, in several respects, bears a resemblance to the other two of the smallest states, Rhode Island and New Jersey: lying on the main route of travel and transportation near the Atlantic border, and deriving only a secondary advantage from the vast quantities of merchandise which annually pass through it on the way from larger states adjoining: yet, availing herself of the facilities which nature has afforded her in her narrow territory, she provides employment for the streams as they pour over her rocks, and use for her navigable waters. The chief of the latter is Delaware bay, which is the scene of an immense amount of trade, chiefly with Philadelphia, and much of it in coal. The channels are unfortunately winding and difficult. NEWCASTLE. This town, the former capital of the state, is situated on the west side of Delaware river, and is the site of the old Dutch fort Casimir, and of the village of Nieu Amstel, or NewAmsterdam, founded by the Hollanders. The public buildings are the courthouse, The County of Newcastle, which emtownhouse, arsenal, five churches, the braces the northern part of the state, is academy, and the public library contain- bounded north by Delaware county in ing four thousand volumes. The popu- Pennsylvania, east by Delaware river lation is about three thousand two hun- which separates it from Salem county dred. (N. J.), south by Kent county in DelaLEWES, On Delaware bay, is a post-ware, southwest by Kent county in town in Sussex county, one hundred miles northeast-by-east from Washington. It is one of the early settlements, and its appearance is that of antiquity, the houses being old and shingled with cedar. The Ocean House, in this town, is a respectable hotel, for the accommodation of pleasure-parties, often visiting the place. DELAWARE CITY.-The town is situated on Delaware river, at the beginning of the Chesapeake and Delaware canal. It is thirty-two miles north from Dover, and opposite Peapatch island, on which is situated Fort Delaware. Maryland, west by Cecil county in Maryland, northwest by Chester county in Pennsylvania. It is thirty-eight miles long from north to south, and twelve miles mean breadth, with an area of four hundred and fifty-six square miles. The county lies between latitude 29° 18′ and 30° 50', and between longitude 10 17 and 1° 38′ east from Washington. The boundary between Delaware and Maryland lies along the ridge of land which divides the waters of the Chesapeake from those of the Delaware; and hence, as might be presumed, Newcastle county has a gentle slope from west to east. MILFORD, Sixty-eight miles from Wil- Brandywine creek, with its various mington, stands on Mispillion creek. It branches, drains the northern part of has three academies and two churches, the county, and, flowing almost to Wiland contains about nine hundred inhab-mington, falls into the Delaware. Beitants. GEORGETOWN is eighty-eight miles from Wilmington, and near the headstreams of Indian river. It contains low this stream are the Apoquinimink, Blackbird, and Duck creeks, the last of which forms the boundary of Kent county. In this county is that part of the Chesapeake and Delaware canal | eral creeks into Delaware bay, east the which we have noticed elsewhere. It tributaries of Rehoboth bay, south those extends to Elk river, a tributary of the of Pocomoke, and southwest those of Chesapeake. The principal excavation Nanticoke. on the route is three and a half miles in length, and at the deepest part seventysix and a half feet. Some of the lower parts of Newcastle county, near the Delaware, are low and marshy; but at some distance the surface becomes irregular and even hilly in the north. The soil is generally fertile and produces grain, grass, and fruit. The tributaries of the Brandywine have so rich descent as to afford many good mill-seats; and various manufactories are carried on in the interior of the county. Among the men distinguished in the revolutionary periods of the history of this state was Cæsar Rodney; and some of the most interesting events connected with the important circumstances of those times may be here appropriately introduced, in an outline of his biography. At the age of twenty-eight, he His grandfather came to this country from England in the days of Penn, and ̧ after a short residence in Pennsylvania, settled in Kent county (Delaware). His youngest son, Cæsar, inherited his estate, which was large, and married the Kent County is bounded on the north daughter of the Rev. Thomas Crawford, by Newcastle county, on the east by who is said to have been the first clergyDelaware river, on the south by Sussex man in that part of the country. Cæsar county, and on the west by three coun- Rodney, the subject of the present ties of Maryland, viz.: Caroline, Queen sketch-a distinguished statesman of Ann, and Sussex. It lies between lati- Delaware, and one of the signers of the tude 38° 50′ and 39° 20′, and between Declaration of Independence—was born longitude 1° 18′ and 1° 50′ east from about the year 1730, and, according to Washington. Nearly the whole surface the law of entailment then existing in of this county has a slope east toward that state, became heir of the family Delaware bay, and here are the follow-estate. ing creeks, viz.: Mispillion, Motherkill, was appointed high sheriff of the county Jones's, and the two Duck creeks. A of Kent, after which he was a justice small part of the western border slopes of the peace and judge of the inferior westward, and is watered by the head- courts. springs of the Choptank and Nanticoke rivers. The surface is but slightly varied, and the soil of middling quality. The length of the county is thirty-two miles, the mean breadth twenty, and the area six hundred and forty square miles. Sussex County is bounded north by Kent county, northeast by Delaware bay, east by the Atlantic ocean, south by Worcester county (Md.), southwest by Somerset county (Md.), west by Dorchester county (Md.), and northwest by Caroline county (Md.) It is thirty-five miles long from east to west, the mean breadth twenty-five, and the area eight hundred and seventy-five square miles. It lies between latitude 38° 27′ and 38° 58′, and longitude 1° 14′ and 1° 58' There are no records of the legislature of Delaware in existence, of an earlier date than 1762, and therefore it has been found impossible to ascertain when Mr. Rodney commenced his career as a legislator. He was a representative for his native county at that time, and was one of the most prominent members, being appointed as a colleague with Mr. M'Kean, to transact some business of importance with the government. În the time of the stamp-act, mucl. excitement was caused in Delaware; and in 1763 the members of the assembly held a meeting, during the recess of the chamber, and appointed delegates to attend a congress at New York, for consultation on measures to be taken Most of the county is table-land, for the general good of the colonies. with some parts marshy; and streams They unanimously appointed Messrs. flow from it toward all the points of the Rodney, M'Kean, and Kollock, and the compass. From the northeast flow sev-speaker gave them explicit instructions. east. |