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In 1812 the Maryland Legislature passed a law which created the office of "Commissioners of the Tax" for St. Mary's County. The function of the Commissioners of the Tax was to assist the Levy Court justices; the Levy Court justices continued as administrators of county government.
That same 1812 legislation clarified some of the functions of county government. Called "An act for the valuation of real and personal property in several counties of Maryland," it set specific guidelines for the levying of taxes. All property, excepting government properties, church cemeteries, and school properties, was to be assessed for the purpose of taxation. Five "sensible, discreet, and experienced persons" were appointed from each county to serve as Commissioners of the Tax to "ascertain the value of land … for the purpose of laying the public assessment." No member of the St. Mary's County Levy Court, Orphans' Court, nor the Register of Wills was eligible to serve as a Commissioner of the Tax.
The 1812 law further instructed the Commissioners of the Tax to meet and appoint assessors for each election district. The county clerk was instructed to provide the commissioners with a list of alienations and transfers.
The following men were appointed the first Commissioners of the Tax for St. Mary's County: John R. Plater, Thomas Gardiner, James Hopewell, William Mills, and Francis Millard.
Three books of minutes recording the activities of the Commissioners of the Tax for the period 1815 through 1826 survive. In the first of these minute books one finds the following entry which summarizes the work of the Commissioners of the Tax.
The Commissioners of the Tax signed the following account which was delivered the Levy Court this day as also the following certificate of the amount of assessable property together with a duplicate of the alphabetical list of owners and persons chargeable with the assessment of property with St. Mary's County, with the amount of each person's assessable property annexed his or her name were delivered the Clerk of the said County and the Collector of the Tax also a summary accountor list (in columns) in which were expressed the number of slaves of each description within the act, the weight of plate, the value of each of the said species or fund of property and all the other personal property and the value thereof in each district extended and the amount of each column which was signed by the Commissioners enclosed for public service to the Clerk of the House of Delegates and delivered to the Sheriff of St. Mary's County also a duplicate thereof was to the Clerk of said County to be lodged among the records of said County.
It is evident from those records that citizens were responsible for notifying the Commissioners of any change in their taxable property. In the minute books it is noted that the "Commissioners of the Tax will continue to sit every Tuesday until business is finished and any person wishing allowance or deduction on accounty of any negro or other property lost by death or destruction must make report of same to the Commissioners supported by oath." Public notices of that responsibility were ordered posted at Leonardtown, Head of St. Clement's Bay, Chaptico, The Clifton Factory, and St. Inigoes. That period predates the establishment of a St. Mary's County newspaper, and the minutes state that lists of tax delinquent property owners were to be published "once a week for four weeks" in the
Federal Republican, the Baltimore Telegraph, and the
National Intelligencer. Failure to pay the tax within thirty days of the notice resulted in public sale of the property to the highest bidder.
Names of St. Mary's County Commissioners of the Tax are included herewith. Thomas Gardiner, one of the original five commissioners, served until his death in 1826. Other members included William Thomas, William Herbert, John Leigh, George Plater, William B. Scott, Walton M. Jones, Robert Holton, Charles L. Gardiner, James H. Wathen, and James F. Sothoron. Benedict L. Heard was appointed in 1824, but was disqualified two years later when he was appointed to the Levy Court. Enoch J. Millard served as Clerk of the Commissioners of the Tax for the entire period for which records survive.
In 1830 legislation entitled "An act for the revaluation of the Real and Personal Property in St. Mary's County, and for other purposes" abolished the office of Commissioners of the Tax for St. Mary's County. That legislation stipulated that all the powers and duties of the Commissioners of the Tax were to revert to the Levy Court justices.
In 1825 legislation was enacted which added another function to the list of duties performed by the Levy Court justices. That 1825 law authorized the Levy Court of St. Mary's County to determine and regulate the rates for all public inns and taverns in the county.
The county commissioner form of government in St. Mary's County dates from 1838. In that year legislation was enacted which abolished the Levy Court of St. Mary's County and provided for and elected Board of County Commissioners. That act provided that the Board of County Commissioners be comprises of five members, one elected from each of the county's five election districts. The first five commissioners were to be elected in April "next ensuing following the passage" of the act. Those five commissioners were to serve until the scheduled election on the first Wednesday of October, 1841. Subsequent elections to choose commissioners were to be held every three years.
The same 1838 legislation stipulated that the qualifications required for a candidate for county commissioner were the same as "the qualifications now requisite to be eligible to a seat in the house of delegates of Maryland." The candidate for county commissioner was required to have resided in the election district he represented for at least one year immediately preceding his election.
The county commissioners were instructed to choose one of their body to serve as president. They were empowered to replace any commissioner in the case of death, resignation, or refusal to serve. The 1838 act provided that the commissioners receive $2 per day compensation for each day's service. They were authorized to appoint a clerk who would receive a salary for his services.
St. Mary's County's adoption of the county commissioner form of government preceded its uniform adoption throughout the state of Maryland by thirteen years. The Maryland Constitution of 1851 provided that all the counties of the state be administered by a Board of County Commissioners. Article VII, Section 8 of that Constitution reads: "The county authorities now known as levy courts or county commissioners shall hereafter be styled 'county commissioners' and shall be elected by general ticket and not by districts by the several counties on the first Wednesday in November, 1851 and on the same day in every second year thereafter … the powers, duties, and tenure shall be uniform throughout the state."
The five-member Board of County Commissioner form of government remained in effect in St. Mary' s County until 1892. The list of county commissioners and their year of election follows. Henry Fowler, Henry Sewell, George Crane, Stephen H. Gough, Morris Shanks, and William Edelin constituted the final Levy Court justices.
ELECTED NAMES OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
1841 George Crane, Henry Sewell, Stephen H. Gough, Morris Shanks, Thomas E. Harrison,
Thomas W. Morgan 1842
1844 John W. Bennett, William H. Hebb, Edward Plater, William Biscoe, Thomas E. Harrison,
William Loker April 1, 1844
1847 J.M. Brome, T.W. Gough, W.H. Hebb, A. Young
1850 Peter P. Smith, Robert Crane, Charles Thompson, Edmund S. T. Maddox, Henry Fowler.
Henry Fowler resigned in April of 1851, and Gideon D. Harris was chosen to replace him.
1851 John H. Bean, John Harrison ,Edmund S.T. Maddox, Charles Dunbar
(Clark J. Durant commissioned 3/8/1853)
1853 Edmund S.T. Maddox, district #4; John B. Hayden, district #3; John A. Crane, district #1;
John H. Bean, district #2; John Harrison, district #5. John B. Hayden died in 1854, and
William A. Combs was chosen to replace him.
1855 Richard Colton, Head of St. Clement's Bay; Thomas O. Spencer, Clifton Factory; William A. Combs,
Leonardtown; Edmund S.T. Maddox, Chaptico; Matthew A. Stone, Leonardtown.
1857 Young P. Dawkins, Edmund S.T. Maddox, George D. Duke, Matthew A. Stone, John A. Dunbar
1859 F. Ferdinand Floyd, Richard Colton, Robert Ford, James Heard, John E. Carpenter
1861 J. Thompson Yates, John C. Herbert, James R. Hopewell, F.F. Floyd (only four names listed)
1863 Lewis H. Leigh, John C. Herbert, Ferdinand F. Floyd, James R. Hopewell, James M. Heard
1865 Thomas L. Davis, Theophilius Harrison, John Dillahay, Robert Ford, Ferdinand F. Floyd
1867 John Parsons, James Duke, Theophilius Harrison, John Dillahey, John E. Carpenter
1869 William R. Bean, James Duke, John Dillahay, John E. Carpenter, Jefferson J. Redmond
1871 John B. Abell, Thomas M. Shadrick, John Parsons, A.C. Tennison. Asa A. Lawrence
1873 John Parsons, John B. Abell, Philip H. Dorsey, Absolom C. Tennison, Aloysius Fenwick
1875 Benjamin Foxwell, Stephen Jones, James H. Alvey, A.S. Fenwick, Joseph B. Davis
1877 John J. Allstan, James H. Alvey, Joseph B. Davis, George W.L. Buckler, J. Hillery Parsons
1879 James H. Alvey, Joseph O. Taylor, Asa A. Lawrence, Stephen Jones, J. Hillery Parsons
1881 William F. Leach, Isiah Canter, Augustus J. Blain, Benjamin J. Shermantine, Stephen Jones
1883 William F. Leach, Isiah Canter, James A. Tennison, Benjamin J. Shermantine, Augustus J. Blain
1885 John H. Parsons, William H. Carroll, Allen C. Tyler, J. Marshall Dent, George W.L. Buckler
1887 James A. Tennison, Joseph B. Davis, William H. Dawson, James T. King, John E. Reintzell
1889 J. Oscar Jones, Thomas B. Watts, James A. Tennison, John T. Ballinger, William F. Yates
1891 George F. Tennison, Webster B. Herbert, Jesse Turner, George W.L. Buckler, John L. Hilton
Four St. Mary's County Commissioner Minute Books survive for the five-commissioner period of county government. These books record the proceedings for the following years: 1842-1847, 1847-1862, 1876-1887, 1888-1907. These records reveal that part of the business at the first meeting of each newly elected Board of County Commissioners was the election of one of their members to serve as president. Another member was chosen to serve as treasurer. Those elections where followed by the selection and appointment of a clerk and a messenger. Both of the latter appointees were salaried and were not members of the Board. After 1853, when the law was enacted which gave the commissioners an allowance for mileage in addition to their salary, part of the business of each first meeting was the determining of mileage from each commissioner's home to Leonardtown. A meeting day was also agreed upon. During the 1850's the commissioners met on the second Tuesday of each month.
The surviving records show that those five administrators dealt with every aspect of county business. They made decisions about roads, care of the poor, education, finances, construction, public safety, law enforcement, and many other miscellaneous problems.
The commissioners' supervision of road matters included the following functions: the appointment of a road supervisor, the appointment of district supervisors of roads, the examination of bridges and reports on their condition, the appointment of individuals from the community to contract for the construction of bridges, the setting of the levy for repairs of public roads, the setting of expenditures for each district for labor on public roads, and the setting of standards for roads.
The commissioners' duties as welfare officials were also numerous. They appointed trustees of the poor, heard petitions and decided who warranted being placed on pension lists, ordered the amount of levy for the support of the poor, approved almshouse accounts, appointed trustees for the almshouse, and appointed the physician who made monthly visits to the almshouse.
The commissioners' role in county education included the appointment of commissioners of primary schools, the division of the state school fund among the county schools, the setting of the levy on St. Mary's County property to raise the common school fund, and the allocation of shares of that fund to the different county schools.
As officers of finance they set the levy rate for the county, appointed collectors of the county and state tax, and set the percentage for compensation of those collectors of the tax. They ordered the publication of names of delinquent taxpayers, levied the amounts for the repair of the courthouse and other county property, ordered any construction amounts for the repair of the courthouse and other county property, ordered any construction undertaken by the county, and awarded all contracts for that construction. They examined land assessments in each election district, reducing any assessment on land, houses, or slaves they judged too high, and increasing any they deemed too low.
Although the county commissioners had no direct judicial powers, they determined the number of constables for each district and appointed those constables. They appointed judges of elections for each district and set their salaries.
Their miscellaneous duties included supervision of the recording of alienations and transfers, granting permission for the construction of steamboat wharves at public landings, granting permission to the debating society to hold their meetings in the county courthouse, supervising the filing of notices, setting the rate to be charged by innkeepers under the 1825 legislation, and setting the bounty to be paid for crows' heads.
During the second half of the 19th century the county commissioners continued to perform duties similar to those cited for the previous two decades. One notable change was that during the 1876-1887 period the commissioners met more often than their predecessors had met. Tri-monthly meetings replaced the monthly meetings of former years.
In 1892 legislation was enacted which reduced the Board of St. Mary's County Commissioners from five to three members. The 1892 legislation also grouped the county's nine election districts into three commissioner districts. The division read as follows: "The first, second, eight, and ninth election districts shall compose the first commissioner district. The third and sixth election district shall compose the second commissioner district, and the fourth, fifth, and seventh election districts shall compose the third commissioner district …" The legislation stipulated that one commissioner was to be elected for each of the three commissioner districts. The term of office was designated as six years with successive terms prohibited. A majority of the commissioners constituted a quorum for the transaction of business. The law stipulated that meetings were to be held on the second Tuesday of each month and oftener if the public interest required it. Salaries were set at $3 for every meeting attended, provided the compensation for any one commissioner for any one year did not exceed $75.
The 1892 law spelled out the mechanics of transition from a five-commissioner to a three-commissioner system:
… One of the county commissioners in office at the time of passage of this act shall hold office for six years from the date of his election… one other of the said present board… for four years and the remaining three commissioners of present board shall hold their office for two years from the date of their election… selection shall be made by lot… provided that those who shall serve for four and six years as above shall not both be selected from the same commissioner district… At the next general election to be held in this state after the passage of this act… one commissioner elected from each commissioner district… being the intention of this act that each of said commissioners' district shall have representation in said board of county commissioners.
A law enacted in 1896 gave official sanction to the duties which had been performed by the St. Mary's County commissioner for decades. That legislation authorized a "… levy on assessable property of St. Mary's County of amount sufficient to meet county expenditures for each current year." The law authorized the commissioners to apply county funds for road purposes, almshouse support, and pensions, -- expenditures which they had been making since their inception. The law stated further that it was the duty of the commissioners to pay jurors and witnesses, bailiff and criers of the circuit court, bailiff of the orphans' court, and messenger to the county commissioners.
The same 1896 legislation stipulated that taxes were due on July 1st A three percent discount was given to taxpayers who paid in July, a two percent discount to those who paid in August, and a one percent discount to taxpayers who paid in September. After November 1st six percent interest was charged those taxpayers who had not paid.
The system of electing one county commissioner every two years to serve a six-year term remained in effect until 1922. The names of St. Mary's County Commissioners and the year of each man's election follow:
1893 Arthur C. Combs 1895 John J. Billingsley 1897 Daniel F. Bowles
1899 J.G.H. Lilburn 1901 John H. Bailey 1903 J. Thomas Abell
1905 John T. Cecil 1907 Samuel Hayden 1909 Frederick Wathen
1911 John L. Hilton 1913 John H. Oliver (retired 1919; J. Marshall Dent completed his term)
1915 Peter H. Thompson 1917 Alfred G. Sanner 1919 J. Marshall Dent
1921 Philip T. Graves 1923 George R. Quirk
In 1922 a constitutional amendment designed to reduce the frequency of elections was adopted. The new article entitled "Quadrennial Elections" amended the state constitution to provide that all state officers, except judges, and all county officers be elected in every fourth year for terms of four years. This provision was to commence with the election held in November of 1926. To facilitate the transition, the amendment stipulated that the terms of state and county officers elected in 1923 were reduced to three years, and that the terms of other elective officers were increased or reduced, as necessary, so that their successors could be elected in 1926.
The Board of County Commissioners comprised of three members elected for four-year terms existed in St. Mary's County from 1926 through 1974. The list of St. Mary's County Commissioners and the year of each board's election for that period follows:
1926 George B. Cecil, 1st commissioner district; Peter H. Thompson, 2nd commissioner district;
Charles L. Johnson, 3rd commissioner district
1930 Benjamin F. Redman, 1st commissioner district; John Ralph Abell, 2nd commissioner district;
Thomas C. Harrison, 3rd commissioner district
1934 Clarence D. Bradburn, William P. Wise, F. Harvey Bailey
1938 J. Frank Combs, John M. Wible, J. Claude Johnson
1942 W. Paul Cecil, John E. Guy, Elmer R. Jarboe
1946 J. Frank Raley, Sr., Frank Bailey, Matthew R. Bailey
1950 Ernest L. Stone, Leonard S. Alvey, C. Byron Guy
1954 Ernest L. Stone, Leonard S. Alvey, C. Byron Guy
1958 John M. Hodges, Leonard S. Alvey, C. Byron Guy
1962 Clarence H. Ridgell, J. Wilmer Bowles, F. Elliott Burch
1966 J. Wilmer Bowles, George R. Aud, F. Elliott Burch
1970 J. Wilmer Bowles, George R. Aud, J. Stanton Guy
The year 1972 was marked by a home-rule movement in St. Mary's County. The Maryland Constitution had been amended in 1915 to allow counties to adopt county charters which home rule power. In December, 1971, the St. Mary's County Commissioners appointed the following seven citizens to a Charter Writing Board: Ernest Bell, II, chairman; J.F. Raley, Jr., vice chairman; Ford Dean; Eldred Greenwell; Melvin Holland; Mrs. Ivy Hurry; and Mrs. Elizabeth McCoy. In September, 1972, this board presented the prepared charter to the county commissioners.
In a referendum vote held on November 7, 1972, St. Mary's Countians rejected charter government. The official vote was 3,710 in favor and 6,466 against.
Legislation enacted in 1974 increased the membership of the St. Mary's County Board of County Commissioners from three to five. This law was co-sponsored by Delegates John Hanson Briscoe and J. Manning McKay. The law provided for the election of commissioners as follows: two county commissioners to represent the first commissioner district comprised of election districts 1, 2, 8, and 9; one county commissioner from the second commissioner district comprised of election district 3 and 6; and one county commissioner from the third commissioner district comprised of election districts 4, 5, and 7. The fifth county commissioner runs at large and serves as president of the board.
Five Democrats were elected St. Mary's County Commissioners in November, 1974; Dr. J. Patrick Jarboe and J. Larry Millison from the first commissioner district, Ford L. Dean from the second commissioner district, and John K. Parlett from the third commissioner district. James Manning McKay was elected President of the Board of St. Mary's County Commissioners.
There has been tremendous growth in the population of the Eighth District since the 1940's. To provide a more equitable system of political representation in St. Mary's County, a law was enacted in 1974 to divide St. Mary's County into four commissioner districts. This act stipulated that within one year after their inauguration, the county commissioners elected in November of 1974 were to appoint a redistricting board for St. Mary's County. This board was to be comprised of five members, one member appointed by each county commissioner. In November, 1975, the county commissioners appointed the following countians to a redistricting board: Kennedy Abell, James T. Tennison, Alice Taylor, William R. Schmalgemeyer, and Sterling Tennison. Their task was to divide St. Mary's County into four commissioner districts according to population. One county commissioner was elected from each commissioner district, and the president of the Board of St. Mary's County Commissioners was elected at large.
The election of 1978 was the first to utilize this commissioner districting. The 1st Commissioner District included the 1st, 2nd, and 9th election districts; the 2nd Commissioner District included the 3rd and 6th election districts; the 3rd Commissioner District included the 4th, 5th, and 7th election districts, and the 4th Commissioner District was comprised of the 8th election district. All candidates ran at large and any voter in any district could vote for any candidate in any district. The Commissioner President was elected at large.
The Board of County Commissioners elected in November 1978 consisted of the following: George R. Aud, President; David F. Sayre, 1st commissioner district; Ford L. Dean, 2nd commissioner district; Richard D. Arnold, 3rd commissioner district; and Jay Laurence Millison, 4th commissioner district.
In March 1978, the offices of the St. Mary's County Commissioners moved to the "new" County Governmental Center. The new center occupies the former Leonard Hall School, located on Route 245, one mile north of the St. Mary's County Courthouse.
In 1989, charter government was again proposed for St. Mary's County. The proposed charter would have replaced the five elected county commissioners and the county administrator with five elected council members and a county manager. The proposed charter was overwhelmingly rejected in a special vote held on September 12, 1989. The vote for the charter was 1,819; the vote against was 3,781.
The election of 1986 was noteworthy in that two of the county commissioners were members of the Republican party, namely Joseph O'Dell, president, and Rodney Thompson from the 2nd commissioner district. Previous to this election, the last republican on the Board was Elmer Jarboe in 1942. Also in 1986, John Lancaster, the first Black county commissioner in St. Mary's County history was elected to represent the 4th commissioner district.
County commissioners from 1974 to the present were as follows:
(Names compiled from Test Book CBD and Oath Dockets MRB 1)
1974 James Manning McKay, President, J. Patrick Jarboe, Ford L. Dean, Jay Laurence Millison,
John K. Parlett.
1978 George R. Aud, President, Richard D. Arnold, Ford L. Dean, Jay Laurence Millison, David F. Sayre
1982 George R. Aud, President, Richard D. Arnold, Ford L. Dean, Jay Laurence Millison, David F. Sayre
George R. Aud resigned effective August 28, 1986. Dr. J. Patrick Jarboe Appointed August 28, 1986 to
serve remainder of Aud's 4-year term. Richard D. Arnold died 9-24-86. William Edward Bailey
replaced Arnold 10-28-86.
1986 Joseph P. O'Dell, President, William Edward Bailey, Robert Jarboe, John G. Lancaster,
Rodney Thompson
Joseph P. O'Dell resigned July 24, 1987. Carl M. Loffler, Jr. appointed to replace him 9-18-87.
1990 Carl M. Loffler, Jr., President, William Edward Bailey, Robert Jarboe, Barbara Thompson,
John G. Lancaster
1994 Barbara Thompson, President, Larry Jarboe, D. Christian Brugman, Frances P. Eagan, Paul Chesser
1998 Julie B. Randall, President, Joe Anderson, Thomas A. Mattingly, Sr., Shelby Guazzo, Daniel Raley
2002
Thomas F. McKay, President, Kenneth R. Dement, Thomas A. Mattingly, Sr.,
Lawrence D. Jarboe,
Daniel H. RaleyReference: St. Mary's County History © 1991
Regina Combs Hammett, PO Box 393, Ridge MD 20680
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