The C
ontr
ibut
ors
In 17
01 W
illiam
Pen
n an
d fif
teen
of h
is fe
llow
Qua
kers
mad
e hi
stor
y by c
arvin
g out
18,0
00 ac
res o
f wild
erne
ss an
d cr
eatin
g w
hat b
ecam
e kn
own
as th
e No
tting
ham
Lot
s. In
colo
nial
times
bo
unda
ries
of c
olon
ies w
ere
ofte
n ca
lled
into
que
stio
n. P
enn
wan
ted
this
parti
cular
gro
und,
as i
t wou
ld e
xten
d th
e so
uthe
rn
boun
dary
of h
is co
lony
, Pen
nsylv
ania,
to in
clude
the h
eadw
ater
s of
the C
hesa
peak
e Bay
. Not
all o
f the
fifte
en Q
uake
r fam
ilies t
hat
supp
orte
d Pen
n in t
his e
ndea
vor c
ame h
ere t
o set
tle. T
hose
who
di
d w
ere
face
d w
ith a
gre
at u
nder
takin
g. H
owev
er, a
ll fif
teen
to
ok a
grea
t “lea
p of
faith
” in
thin
king i
t cou
ld b
e don
e.
Thre
e hu
ndre
d an
d te
n ye
ars
later
, fifte
en lo
cal b
enef
acto
rs
show
ed th
at sa
me
faith
in th
is No
tting
ham
Lot
Hist
oric
Proj
ect.
Thes
e fifte
en be
nefa
ctor
s beli
eved
in, s
uppo
rted,
and f
unde
d this
pr
ojec
t. Th
roug
h the
ir eff
ort w
e wer
e abl
e to p
lace a
gran
ite m
ap
ston
e at t
he Ea
st N
ottin
gham
Frien
ds M
eetin
g Hou
se “T
he Br
ick”,
as w
ell as
a gr
anite
lot m
arke
r on e
ach o
f the
thirt
y-sev
en lo
ts.
The
fifte
en Q
uake
r fam
ilies i
n 17
01 m
ade
the
hist
ory t
hat t
he fi
f-te
en b
enef
acto
rs in
2011
are
tryin
g to
pre
serv
e. It
will
be fo
r all
time t
he re
spon
sibilit
y of a
ll tho
se w
ho liv
e on t
his g
roun
d and
all
futu
re g
ener
atio
ns to
pro
tect
this
land
and
pres
erve
the h
istor
y th
at is
the N
ottin
gham
Lots
.
Than
k Yo
u
Fred
and
Doris
Orr
Lot #
26
Trip
le O
Farm
Sam
and
Shirl
ey O
rr Lo
t #24
Or
r’s A
cres
Farm
Bill a
nd Fr
eda F
ell
Lot #
16
Fell F
amily
Farm
Leon
ard
Wils
on Fa
mily
Lo
t #13
M
t. Ro
cky F
arm
John
and
Kare
n Bo
yd
Lot #
5 Th
e Boy
d Fa
rm
John
and
Mar
ilyn
Scar
bath
Lo
t #28
Ol
d Ce
dar F
arm
Jess
e and
Mer
ita M
cMilla
n Lo
ts #1
6, 29
M
cMilla
n Fa
rms
Joe a
nd A
nne M
ahon
ey
Lot #
25
Wick
Wyn
Farm
Dona
ldso
n an
d Ju
dith
Col
e
Chau
kley’s
Gar
den
Ed an
d Ca
rol B
elote
Lo
t #14
Ce
cil So
il Mag
azine
Ruth
Gra
ybea
l Fam
ily
Lot #
30
Dee E
msle
y Lo
t #1
Boar
d of
Dire
ctor
s Lo
t #30
Ro
seba
nk C
emet
ery
Boar
d of
Dire
ctor
s
Cecil
Hist
orica
l Tru
st
Boar
d of
Dire
ctor
s
Risin
g Sun
Hi
stor
ical C
omm
issio
n
The Caretakers
In 1701, W
illiam Penn granted 40 acres to his Quaker follow
ers and their successors forever as a place for w
orship, burial and education. Penn set aside five “Proprietary Lots” for him
self, and the rem
aining lot numbers w
ere then mixed together. M
ost of the prospective buyers w
ere to get two lots, w
hich they drew
from the m
ix in turn. This process, though fair, allowed few
fami-
lies to have lots close together.
THANK YOU TO OUR THIRTY-SEVEN CARETAK
ERS Lot #1
Robert Palmer Fam
ilyLot #2
Wayne Scully Fam
ily Evans Choice
Lot #3 Richard Fox Fam
ily Richardsm
ere FarmLot #4
Donald Balderston Family
Balderston OrchardsLot #5
John Boyd Family
The Boyd FarmLot #6
C. Dale Lofthouse Lot #7
James M
onger Family
Lot #8 M
argaret Sprout W
illowdale Farm
Lot #9 Jean Holbrook Fam
ily Lot #10
Terry Greenleaf Ag Industrial, Inc.
Lot #11 Scott Brow
n Family
Fox Knoll FarmLot #12
Lucas Family
Lucas FarmLot #13
Leonard Wilson Fam
ily M
t. Rocky FarmLot #14
George McCreary Fam
ily Thankless Lane Farm
Lot #15 George M
cCreary Family
Thankless Lane FarmLot #16
William
Fell Family
Fell Family Farm
Lot #17 C.W
. Brown Fam
ily Klarw
in FarmLot #18
Richard Broomell Fam
ily Four Acres Farm
Lot #19 Pete Ladas Fam
ily Lot #20
Earl Rakes Family
Lot #21 Joseph Bennett, Jr.
Lot #22 Bill Kilby Fam
ily Kilbys, Inc. Farm
Lot #23 Lynda Lieske Fam
ily Ponderosa Farm
Lot #24 Sam
Orr Family
Orr’s Acres FarmLot #25
Joseph Mahoney Fam
ily W
ick Wyn Farm
Lot #26 Fred Orr Fam
ily Triple O Farm
Lot #27 David W
herry Family
Cedar FarmLot #28
John Scarbath Family
Old Cedar FarmLot #29
Clifford England Family
Bethel FarmLot #30
East Nottingham M
eeting “The Brick”
Lot #31 David Reisler Fam
ily Richland Farm
Lot #32 Robert M
oore Family
The Moore’s Farm
Lot #33 Grove M
iller Family
Pleasant View Farm
Lot #34 Helen Brow
n Family
Lot #35 David Holsten Fam
ily The Onion Bed
Lot #36 Phil Johnson Fam
ily W
alnut Springs Lot #37
Ray Hilaman Fam
ily
• th
e N
otti
Ngh
am
Lot
s •
1701
~ 2
011
self
-gui
ded D
rivi
ng t
our
of th
e Not
ting
ham
Lot
s
We
appr
ecia
te t
he m
any
peop
le w
ho g
ave
thei
r ti
me
and
expe
rtis
e to
mov
e th
is p
roje
ct fo
rwar
d.•
The
Soc
iety
of F
riend
s•
Dav
id B
lack
, AIC
P•
Cec
il So
il M
agaz
ine
• A
ce H
ardw
are
in R
isin
g Su
n•
Jam
es K
yte
R.T.
FO
ARD
MEM
ORI
AL C
OM
PAN
YRI
SIN
G SU
N •
ELK
TON
• N
EWA
RK •
Ch
ESA
pEA
KE C
ITy
1-800
-832
-228
3 •
ww
w.rt
foar
d.co
mTH
ANK
YOU
R.T.
Foa
rd •
Sus
an S
tacy
• B
riana
Sap
onar
o
Broc
hure
des
ign
by
Nee
ley
Spot
ts •
Inks
pott
s Cre
ativ
e Se
rvic
esw
ww
.inks
pott
s.co
m
© 2
011 T
he N
otti
ngha
m L
ot F
ound
atio
n, In
c.
For m
ore
info
rmat
ion
vi
sit w
ww
.not
ting
ham
bric
k.or
g
The history of the Nottingham
Lots has been the subject of m
any books and papers because it is a history that spans over three hundred ten years. It goes back to the colonies and the be-ginning of our country.
In 1701, the third Lord Baltimore, Charles
Calvert, was the proprietor of the Colony
of Maryland. His kinsm
an George Tal-bot, Surveyor General of M
aryland, was
given a tract of land of about 32,000 acres in exchange for services rendered
to the colony. The tract of land known as
the “Susquehanna Manor” touched on the
Susquehanna River and the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay.
While Lord Baltim
ore was involved in boundary disputes w
ith the Colony of Virginia, George Talbot w
as involved in the murder of
Christopher Rousby, a collector of the King’s taxes in Maryland.
Talbot was eventually sent back to England for trial. He never re-
turned to Maryland. Thus the ow
nership of his land and its exact boundaries fell into question.
William
Penn, a Quaker and the propri-etor of the Colony of Pennsylvania knew
three things: 1) the land in question w
as fertile ground and could extend the southern boundary of his colony to in-clude the headw
aters of the Chesapeake Bay, 2) the ow
nership and boundaries of the land know
n as the Susquehanna Manor w
ere in question, and 3) at this tim
e period England was in turm
oil and the House of Baltim
ore was not in favor w
ith the English Crown. Thus Lord
Baltimore w
as not in a position to defend the colony of Maryland
from such encroachm
ents.
William
Penn decided to act on what he knew
and granted 18,000 acres of this unsettled land to fifteen of his Quaker follow
ers. Penn first set aside and dedicated 40 acres of land to the Quaker “Society of Friends” forever. The land w
as to be used for public w
orship, right of burial and the privilege of education. Penn then divided the rem
aining acreage into lots of approximately five hun-
dred acres each, resulting in a total of thirty-seven lots. Each lot w
as given a number from
one to thirty-seven. He then set aside five of these lots for him
self. He called them “Proprietary Lots”.
These lots were later purchased by fam
ilies in whole or in part
for his own investm
ent. Many of the Scotch-Irish that established
West Nottingham
Church settled on these Proprietary Lots. The rem
aining lot numbers w
ere then mixed together and the origi-
nal fifteen prospective owners m
ade their selection by the draw-
ing of lots. The drawing of lots, in turn, show
ed no favor among
these families and thus w
as fair. As most of these fifteen fam
ilies w
ould own m
ore than one lot, the procedure allowed few
fami-
lies to have lots that were close together. Som
e of the original fifteen fam
ilies did not actually come to live on their lots, but did
support and invest with Penn.
Along with the hardships of living in unsettled territory, the lots
settled by these families w
ere to be in dispute until the Mason-
Dixon Line was surveyed in the late 1760s. At that tim
e only 1,300 acres w
ould remain in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The rem
ain-ing 16,700 acres w
ould be in Cecil County, Maryland. In 1788, the
State of Pennsylvania and State of Maryland re-issued title of
these lots to the owners having proof of purchase from
Penn.
Dates differ in historical records, however around 1706, the Quak-
ers living in Nottingham built the first M
eeting House made from
logs. It w
as replaced around 1724 with the tw
o-story brick side of the building you see today. Due to a fire the brick side w
as gut-ted. In 1752, the brick side w
as restored and the two-story stone
side was added, thus it w
as doubled in size. The expanded brick-and-stone building w
as probably the largest building in the area at that tim
e. In 1810, the Meeting House w
as again damaged by
fire and restored. In 1962, major renovation of this historic M
eet-ing House w
as completed under the supervision of Edw
ard Plum-
stead, with the perm
ission and assistance of its Quaker owners.
The Meeting land continues to serve the purpose for w
hich it was
dedicated. Meeting is held at “The Brick” —
as it is often called—
on the first and third Sunday of the month.
In 1781, during the colonial fight for freedom, the French General
Lafayette led his troops through the Nottingham Lots, to cross
the Susquehanna River en route to Baltimore. The troops w
ere encam
ped in the then thirty acres of woods surrounding the
Brick Meeting House. The M
eeting House served as a hospital during the Revolutionary W
ar. A mem
orial stone for the soldiers that died here is in the adjacent cem
etery.
Two other M
eeting Houses were built on the Nottingham
Lots.
The West Nottingham
Friends Meeting House on Harrisville Road
west of the tow
n of Rising Sun, was built on Lot #20. The first
meeting house on this site w
as a log structure erected in 1727. In 1811 it w
as replaced by the present one-story brick building.
The Colora Friends Meeting House in Colora w
as built on Notting-ham
Lot #18 in 1841. It was built on land set aside by W
illiam W
ar-ing. M
eeting is held here once a year.
• th
e history of th
e NottiN
gha
m Lots •
Not
tiN
gha
m L
ots
self
-gui
ded D
rivi
ng t
our
The N
ottin
gham
Lots
Self-
guid
ed D
rivin
g To
ur ca
n be
driv
en in
an
hou
r. It
can
also
be d
one
in se
gmen
ts w
hen
you
have
the
time.
It is
a w
onde
rful h
istor
y to
learn
and
shar
e. P
aren
ts, g
rand
-pa
rent
s, fa
milie
s, sc
hool
s, gr
oups
, you
ng a
nd o
ld w
ill en
joy
this
tour
. It p
rovid
es th
e op
portu
nity
, not
onl
y fo
r chi
ldre
n to
lear
n th
e hi
stor
y of t
he N
ottin
gham
Lots
, but
to u
se re
adin
g an
d m
ap-
read
ing s
kills.
This
Drivi
ng To
ur is
an
appr
oxim
ate
circu
mfe
renc
e of
the
thirt
y-se
ven
Notti
ngha
m L
ots u
sing
toda
y’s ro
ads.
It is
appr
oxim
ately
th
irty
mile
s aro
und
the
rout
e. D
rivin
g th
e cir
cum
fere
nce
of th
e lo
ts w
ill gi
ve an
idea
of:
• Ho
w la
rge a
n ar
ea th
e Not
tingh
am Lo
ts en
com
pass
ed
(18,0
00 ac
res)
.•
How
larg
e eac
h Lo
t was
(app
rox.
500
acre
s).
• W
here
the L
ots a
re lo
cate
d (fr
om B
lue B
all to
Col
ora)
• Ho
w th
e top
ogra
phy o
f the
Lots
chan
ges b
etw
een
Blue
Ball
(fl
at an
d w
oode
d) an
d Co
lora
(hilly
and
rock
y).
• Ho
w m
uch
of th
e lan
d is
still
in A
gricu
lture
. (Se
e the
map
in
side t
his b
roch
ure.
)•
How
the M
ason
-Dixo
n Lin
e (17
63-17
67) d
ivide
d so
me o
f th
e Lot
s. (It
rest
ored
16,70
0 ac
res t
o M
aryla
nd; 1
,300
acre
s re
main
ed in
Pen
nsylv
ania.
)
At th
e Eas
t Not
tingh
am Fr
iend
s Mee
ting
hous
e “Th
e Bric
k”•
A gr
anite
map
ston
e give
s an
over
view
of t
he p
rojec
t. It
show
s th
e 170
2 Not
tingh
am Lo
ts (i
n re
d) o
n cu
rrent
coun
ty ro
ads.
• To
get
a se
nse
of th
e siz
e of
thes
e lo
ts (5
00 ac
res)
, a o
ne ac
re
lot h
as be
en m
arke
d by f
our p
osts
near
the w
oods
. Imag
ine t
he
need
s and
tool
s it t
ook t
o se
ttle a
wild
erne
ss.
• Fo
llow
the
map
that
is in
you
r bro
chur
e. It
show
s whe
re th
e m
arke
r is l
ocat
ed o
n ea
ch lo
t and
how
the l
ot is
pos
ition
ed.
• Ea
ch m
arke
r is v
isibl
e fro
m th
e ro
ad a
nd h
as a
read
able
“NL”
an
d th
e num
ber o
f lot
.•
Thes
e mar
kers
are c
ared
for b
y the
fam
ilies o
n w
hose
pro
perty
th
ey si
t.
Plea
se dr
ive c
arefu
lly a
nd
do n
ot tr
espas
s on
priv
ate p
ropert
y!TH
ANK
YOU
Protect • this •Land
the Nottingham Lots originally covered 18,000 acres from Blue Ball to Colora.
• • the NottiNgham Lots 1701 ~ 2011 • ••
Pres
erve
this
hist
ory
•• Perpetuate its future •
Agriculture percentages based on Oct 2009 report from Cecil County Planning & Zoning Commission.
Lot #33ORIGINAL OWNER:
William Brown75.11% Agriculture
Lot #32ORIGINAL OWNER:
Andrew Job68.86% Agriculture
Lot #31ORIGINAL OWNERS:
Robt. Dutton & Saml. Littler40.77% Agriculture
Lot #30ORIGINAL OWNER:
Meeting house Common57.62% Agriculture
Lot #29ORIGINAL OWNERS:
Robt. Dutton & Saml. Littler62.92% Agriculture
Lot #28ORIGINAL OWNER:
William Brown72.02% Agriculture
Lot #27ORIGINAL OWNER:
James Brown57.47% Agriculture
Lot #26ORIGINAL OWNER:
James Cooper65.26% Agriculture
Lot #25ORIGINAL OWNER:
penn “proprietary” Lot70.96% Agriculture
Lot #24ORIGINAL OWNER:Cornelius Empson68.78% Agriculture
Lot #5ORIGINAL OWNER:
henry Reynolds71.16% Agriculture
Lot #6ORIGINAL OWNER:John Richardson51.20% Agriculture
Lot #7ORIGINAL OWNER:
penn “proprietary” Lot19.55% Agriculture
Lot #8ORIGINAL OWNER:Cornelius Empson56.02% Agriculture
Lot #9ORIGINAL OWNER:
penn “proprietary” Lot55.68% Agriculture
Lot #10ORIGINAL OWNER:Ebenezer Empson
29.72% Agriculture
Lot #11ORIGINAL OWNER:
Joel Bayley40.21% Agriculture
Lot #12ORIGINAL OWNER:
James Cooper44.32% Agriculture
Lot #13ORIGINAL OWNER:
penn “proprietary” Lot52.04% Agriculture
Lot #14ORIGINAL OWNER:
James Brown15.53% Agriculture
Lot #4ORIGINAL OWNER:
Edward Beeson43.93% Agriculture
Lot #15ORIGINAL OWNER:
Randell Janney55.73% Agriculture
Lot #3ORIGINAL OWNER:
John Guest33.40% Agriculture
Lot #16ORIGINAL OWNER:John Churchman30.85% Agriculture
Lot #2ORIGINAL OWNER:
John Guest42.64% Agriculture
Lot #17ORIGINAL OWNER:John Churchman59.13% Agriculture
Lot #18ORIGINAL OWNER:
Edward Beeson50.05% Agriculture
Lot #19ORIGINAL OWNER:
henry Reynolds31.46% Agriculture
Lot #20ORIGINAL OWNER:John Richardson53.59% Agriculture
Lot #36ORIGINAL OWNER:
John Beale44.59% Agriculture
Lot #37ORIGINAL OWNER:
John Beale45.71% Agriculture
Lot #1ORIGINAL OWNER:
Unknown42.58% Agriculture
Lot #21ORIGINAL OWNER:
penn “proprietary” Lot40.48% Agriculture
Lot #35ORIGINAL OWNER:
Andrew Job50.84% Agriculture
Lot #22ORIGINAL OWNER:Ebenezer Empson54.40% Agriculture
Lot #34ORIGINAL OWNER:
Randell Janney54.92% Agriculture
Lot #23ORIGINAL OWNER:
William Brown56.14% Agriculture