 Established
in 1683, as part of an Act for Advancement of Trade, Benedict was just one
of several ports located in Charles County. Originally named
Benedict-Leonardtown, after the 4th Lord Baltimore Benedict Leonard
Calvert, this town along the Patuxent River has seen its fair share of
excitement, intrigue, and historical significance. From its earliest days,
Benedict played a vital role in the area's trade and served as a ship
building port which even constructed a vessel for George Washington in
1760. Though not as large as Port Tobacco, the town of Benedict soon had
several hotels and taverns to serve the many travelers along the Patuxent.
Like many other port towns in Charles County, the town might well have
been just a paragraph in the history books had it not been for its fateful
role in the War of 1812.
Several years prior to the year 1814, the British had maintained a fleet
in the Chesapeake Bay which pillaged and plundered towns all along the
Virginia and Maryland coastlines. These privateers also raided any
merchant vessels they could commandeer up and down the Potomac and
Patuxent rivers. The marauders took anything of value they could find and
burned what they couldn't carry or did not want, leaving a wake of
destruction in their path. In the summer of 1813, a flotilla of gunboats,
commanded by Commodore Joshua Barney was ordered to be established by the
Secretary of the Navy to defend against the British fleet. Just one year
later, in early June, Barney's men were ready to face the British at the
mouth of the Patuxent. After several skirmishes with the enemy, Barney
moved up river towards St. Leonard. Here several more engagements took
place that were unsuccessful in stopping the British from moving up the
Patuxent. The British landed in Benedict on June 15, 1814 making Benedict
the only place in post Revolutionary War America to have ever been invaded
by foreign troops. (The invasion of the Aluetian Islands during WWII was
before Alaska became a state and the attack on Pearl Harbor was from the
air only.)
Unlike many other places, the British spared the town, leaving most of the
buildings intact. The Hotel Benedict served as a hospital for the British
during the war and Maxwell Hall Manor, which stands on a knoll overlooking
Swanson's Creek just a mile away, served as headquarters for invading
British troops. Over the next few decades, life in Benedict would return
to a more quiet existence.
The town would again play a role during wartime when in 1863 Camp Stanton
was established in Benedict following the Emancipation Proclamation.
Established to train African American soldiers for the Union Army, the
camp heavily recruited newly freed slaves from nearby plantations and
established four separate regiments. These soldiers, who were promised
food, shelter, and money in exchange for their service faced harsh
conditions and inadequate supplies, yet those who survived were
transported by steamer to Virginia where they were dispatched to fight in
some of the most important battles of the Civil War. Little remains of the
camp today which is now part of a Department of Natural Resource's
management area.
As the 19th century came to a close, Benedict once again slipped back into
its easy going lifestyle. Most of the residents were farmers or watermen
making their living off of the land. Still a port town, steamboat traffic
transported goods in and out of the area and also introduced tourists from
Washington and Baltimore to the bountiful fishing in the area. A mill also
operated on the creek side of the town in the 1800s. By the turn of the
century, several seafood packing plants, a post office, a school, and two
churches had been added to the landscape of Benedict.
St. Francis de Sales, a Catholic Church established before the turn of the
century, was built on land donated by the Augustus Bowling family of
Baltimore. Priests at the parish were also expected to minister at a
mission in Solomons known as St. Mary's Star of the Sea. This meant that
the pastor was required to commute between the two churches by boat, not
an easy task during inclement weather yet this arrangement continued until
the parishes were made separate in 1920.
During the 1920s and '30s, Benedict would see its population expand, not
only with more permanent residents but also with the influx of visitors on
weekends and in the summer. The small schoolhouse which had once been
sufficient was replaced by a new consolidated school located in
Hughesville. Lifelong resident Dusty Welch still recalls riding in the
back of an open truck used to transport children to the school until buses
were purchased. The first graduating class from the Hughesville School was
in 1928. Today the old two room Benedict schoolhouse still stands and
serves as a private residence.
Also during this time, Benedict firmly established itself as a resort for
sport fisherman and duck hunters attracting enthusiasts from as far away
as Pennsylvania. Restaurants and hotels thrived during the summer months
when the sleepy little town became a hub of activity. One such restaurant,
Chappelear's Place got its start when fishermen staying at Messick's Hotel
would ask Thomas Irving Chappelear if his wife would make them sandwiches
for lunch during their stay in Benedict. Triplets Flavia Hoffman, Rose
Houser, and Virginia Chappelear can still remember their mother Mae Bessie
Chappelear making meals for the out of town visitors. "We used to sit on
the back porch and help pick crabs," Flavia recalls of those early days
before the business was moved out of their house and into a separate
restaurant. The restaurant which had operated until just recently, was
destroyed by hurricane Isabelle in 2003 and there are currently no plans
to rebuild.
Hotels such as Bell's, Bresnahan's, and Benedict's all catered to the
tourists arriving first by steamboat and later by automobile. Hotel guests
and visitors were not only interested in the fishing and hunting in
Benedict, some came for a little less wholesome activity. One hotel known
as Thomas' was the place to go if you were looking for a Saturday night
cock fight. Brothers Adolf and Dusty Welch remember climbing on rooftops
near the hotel to watch the fights, while the Chappelear sisters recall
climbing trees to get a better look. Barnsley Warfield, also born and
raised in Benedict, recalls the days during prohibition when stills dotted
the shoreline of surrounding creeks, making it nearly impossible for
federal agents to locate and destroy them.
The 1940s and 1950s would bring continued prosperity to Benedict. A tomato
packing plant and several more restaurants, including Welch's Place, owned
by Adolph Welch, joined the ranks of successful businesses in Benedict. In
1943, the Catholic church rectory burned, and the first fire company to
respond was Leonardtown. The tragic loss of the building prompted
residents to establish their own fire department, and by 1945 the Benedict
Volunteer Fire Department was up and running. Captain Peter C. Henderson's
ferry which had transported residents across the Patuxent from Holland
Point (now known as Hallowing Point) to Calvert County stopped running in
1952 following construction of the Benedict bridge in 1951. Benedict was
just like every other part of Southern Maryland, and slot machines could
be found in many places throughout the town.
Following its heyday as a fishing mecca in the first half of the 20th
Century, Benedict found itself hurt by an increase in water pollution and
a decline in fish, crabs, and oysters in the river. Working the water
which had once been a hard but fruitful living for many of its residents
was becoming harder and harder to do. Over the next four decades the sport
fishing industry began to dwindle and the seafood packing plants, which
had once thrived, were no longer able to sustain themselves. Though the
hotels disappeared one by one, restaurants in the area still served up
some of the best seafood in Southern Maryland.
Today, the small town feel where neighbors know one another, and news is
still gained more at the post office than from the television, is alive
and well in Benedict. Restaurants like Tony's Riverhouse, Ray's Pier, and
Benedict Marina still serve up hot blue crabs and cold beer. Even war and
hurricanes can't deter the beauty and strength of this community from
shining through, making it a place worth noting in more than just the
history books. |
