“We’ve Always Been Free” — The Caulk Family of Morgnec, Md.
Morgnec is located five miles from Chestertown, in a peacefully green piece of forest, with a United Methodist church beside the cemetery, all shaded by a grove of tall oaks. Tombstones for many families give witness to the length of time that Morgnec has existed. The church used to be the social center for the families that lived within a two- or three-mile radius: the women stayed inside while the men went outside to smoke and gossip, and the children played. There was plenty of room because there had been a campground beside the church for revivals.
The largest stone in the churchyard is inscribed for Joshua Caulk and his wife Martha. They are the foundation ancestors. Martha bore 13 children and five of them reached adulthood. Their descendants are proud to be Caulks.
Joshua Caulk’s father, Isaac Caulk, purchased a plot of land known as “Jacob’s Lot” and we have the map (shown below) of it when it was resurveyed in 1839. Jacob Caulk was a property owner in the 1790 federal census and both Jacob and Isaac Caulk appear as heads of families in the 1800 census.
The family history starts in the 17th century when a free Black man came over on a ship from England as a cook. Dorothy Campher, a Caulk descendant, stated, “A great stone was unearthed some 80+ years ago on the farmland now the Travilla Farms; upon this stone was etched the name ‘Joshua Caulk’ and an illegible date of 163… ” Another version was that he came in 1697. This is possible but unproved. The family claims that it is related to the White Caulk family that settled early in Kent County.
The story continues about a stone that emerged from the Chester River, according to Ms. Campher. “The stone was orange in color and the markings appeared to have been burned in.” She remembers that her mother had been a seamstress and “that’s how she come to be at the old Stradley Farm when that huge stone with Joshua Caulk’s markings on it was unearthed in a hearth. It was probably the size of the stone that prohibited William [her father] and his three sons from bringing it to the Joshua Chapel cemetery as Sarah [her mother] often requested, thus it lies somewhere today as mysteriously undetected as it once appeared.” Her story has a common African theme of a stone that emerged from the river and or from the earth, as was the case here. This was an African way to substantiate their claim to land in ancient times. She and others living in Morgnec firmly state, “We have always been free!”
Jacob Caulk was probably Isaac’s older brother. Jacob was born around 1745 and Isaac was born about 1760. Isaac died before 1843. Isaac’s son Joshua was born about 1785 and died in 1867, shortly after the Civil War. His wife Martha was born about 1798 and she died 80 years later. No one remembers Jacob or Isaac anymore. It is Joshua and his wife that for them are the founders. This is an old, old American family with deep roots into the 17th century.
The White Caulk family lived on the upper Sassafras River. In the 17th century their immigrant founder came from Sweden to New Sweden, now Delaware, to fight for Sweden’s claim to the land against the Dutch. “Caulk” was his nickname in the army because his hair was as white as chalk (“caulk” in Swedish). He left the army and fled to Maryland. There he married an English woman and claimed head rights (a legal grant of land). Of his four sons, two stayed in Kent County and two went to Talbot County. The two who stayed were Jacob, born in 1700, and Isaac, born in 1723 or 24. This Jacob had two sons, named (you guessed it!) Jacob and Isaac. There must have been a link of some sort between the two founders but there is no evidence at this time.
This White and Black pattern became the norm. The area became a checkerboard of related families, all of them becoming American in 1776. These families have had deep roots in Maryland for over 330 years.
Note: Dorothy Campher’s words were graciously provided to me by Karen Somerville after Dorothy died in 2004. My research was ethnohistorical: interviews, oral histories, historical documentation on the federal, state, and county levels. A big “thank you” to Kent County Clerk Mark Mumford and the staff at the courthouse who were always helpful and courteous.
Jeanette E. Sherbondy is a retired anthropology professor from Washington College and has lived here since 1986. In retirement she has been active with the Kent County Historical Society and Sumner Hall, one of the organizers of Legacy Day, and helped get highway /historical markers recognizing Henry Highland Garnet. She published an article on her ethnohistorical research of the free Black village, Morgnec.
Common Sense for the Eastern Shore
