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| ====== Taneytown, MD ====== | ====== Taneytown, Maryland ====== |
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| Taneytown is now a city in Carroll County, MD. In 1754 a land grant of approximately 7,900 acres was granted to | Taneytown is now a city in Carroll County, MD. |
| | ((Wikipedia article: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taneytown,_Maryland|Taneytown, Maryland]])) |
| | Until Carroll County was formed in 1837, however, Taneytown was in Frederick County, MD |
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| Taneytown was founded in 1754 when one of the area’s first land grants took place. Nearly 7,900 acres were granted to Edward Diggs and Raphael Taney under a patent designated as the Resurvey of Brothers Agreement. Lots were laid out and the first deeds registered in 1762. Raphael Taney, whose home was in St. Mary’s County, probably never lived here. He did, however, help design the town’s layout and gave it his name. | It was part of land originally purchased in 1754 by John Digges, who lived in St. Mary's County, MD. He then passed along a tract of ~7,900 acres to his son, Edward Digges, and his son-in-law, Raphael Taney. In the patent granting title, the parcel was designated "Re-survey of Brothers Agreement." |
| | (([[https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll/lifestyles/ph-cc-carroll-living-taneytown-20170621-story.html|Taneytown: City doesn't take its name from whom you think]] ---Article by Kevin Dayhoff dated June 21, 2017 posted on the website of the Baltimore Times, last accessed on 15.Sep.2022.)) |
| | Prior to the American Revolution, certain colonies solved the problem of land distribution and settlement by transferring large tracts of land to an individual or entity who would then make arrangements for survey and division into smaller tracts, followed by sale or rental of lots, leading to settlement and productive land use. In the early stages of settlement, smaller parcels were often leased or sold on generous terms in hopes that the presence and improvements of the initial settlers would lead to increasingly profitable land sales. Taneytown is the result of such a process. |
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| The earliest leases for lots in Taneytown in 1761 called for the construction of a house containing at least 480 feet ,with a brick or stone chimney, at which time the ownership would be conveyed. The owner of the 46 original lots was absentee landlord, Raphael Taney of St. Mary's County who never lived in Taneytown. | Most of the land was sold in farm-size parcels (e.g. 100 acres) to German-speaking immigrants and their descendants, many coming from Pennsylvania. |
| | (([[https://taneytown.org/residents/taneytowns_history/index.php|Taneytown's History]] ---Page on a website about the city of Taneytown.)) |
| | The first of these arrived after leasing lots in 1761 under terms requiring the construction of a house containing at least 480 feet, with a brick or stone chimney, after which land ownership would be conveyed. Meanwhile, Taney helped lay out a plan for a town, which was along the main road from Frederick, MD to York, PA. |
| | (([[http://meadowbrook-online.net/about-taneytown|Taneytown History]] ---Page on website of Meadowbrook Homeowners Association]])) |
| | It is thought that Taney himself continued to live in St. Mary's County, which is not surprising. More often than not, land "speculators" (as they were called) were not themselves settlers, but rather land brokers and developers. However, it is from Taney that the town got its name. |
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| Taneytown is laid out on small part of the land patent "Resurvey on Brothers Agreement", surveyed for Taney and his brother-in-law Edward Digges in 1754 comprising 7,900 acres. The village adjoined the main road from Frederick to York, Pa., at the Piney Creek. Most of the land grant was sold in farm-size acreage. | Until 1767, Taneytown was in an area that was claimed by both Maryland and Pennsylvania. This may explain why land sales and settlement didn't really take off until after that dispute was ended with a boundary line mapped by surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. |
| | ((This survey became the basis for the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason%E2%80%93Dixon_line|Mason-Dixon line]] used by the Missouri Compromise of 1820.)) |
| Some acreage deeds were signed by both Taney and Digges; some just by Taney with acknowledgment/agreement by his wife Eleanor (Digges )Taney. Actually it was Eleanor's inheritance from her father and brothers that provided Taney with the original interest in the land, but married women could only hold title through their husbands, so it became Taneytown instead of Diggestown. [3] | After that, the town grew to include the Adam Good Tavern, which provided overnight lodging to President George Washington in 1791. In the 1830's the town passed an ordinance for fire company regulation, and Taneytown was incorporated in 1836. |
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| Wikipedia article: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taneytown,_Maryland|Taneytown, Maryland]] | |
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| [3] [[http://meadowbrook-online.net/about-taneytown|Taneytown History]] page on website of Meadowbrook Homeowners Association]] | |
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