The First Mayor of Chesapeake Beach
Oh how I love finding missing pieces of history I didn’t even know I was looking for!
One of these pieces fell into my lap last year when a series of three, original documents caught my eye. First the letterhead, then the date caught my attention: “The Washington and Chesapeake Beach Railway Co., Washington, D.C…. April 28, 1894.” I thought …well I indeed have something here!
These three documents were the original swearing-in papers, with signatures, of the first Mayor, the first Commissioners, and the first Bailiff of Chesapeake Beach! They had the raised seal from the Circuit Court of Calvert County, and the attached paperwork from the State of Maryland, with all the legal jargon certifying that J.M.B. Dalrymple, was authorized to administer oaths and sign the official paperwork, which was on May 3, 1894.
Drum Roll Please:
- The first Mayor of Chesapeake Beach:
- ◊ J.T. Hutchins [John T(homas) Hutchins]
- The first Commissioners were:
- ◊ James W. Owens
- ◊ A.H. Mattox
- ◊ J.T. Hutchins (yep! Same guy!)
- ◊ C(aleb) C. Magruder
- ◊ Washington Dannenhower (big real estate broker in those early days!)
- ◊ George S. Chase
- ◊ **Thomas Parran ?? maybe! … one little discrepancy was that a few newspapers listed Mr. Parran as a commissioner, but he was not on these official documents)
- The first Town Bailiff:
- ◊ Thomas D. Welsh
So there you have it… The 1st Mayor of Chesapeake Beach (in name at least) was John T. Hutchins
BUT WAIT! … There was a little hiccup…
To fully understand the bigger picture of this little tale, we need a super-brief recap on the co-dependent relationship between the railway and the town.
◊1871: Marked the first mention I could find of a proposed railway between DC & the Chesapeake Bay… from there the idea zigged, zagged & fizzled for years, with many ups and downs.
◊1881: Marked the first mention I could find of the Washington & Chesapeake Beach Railway Company being incorporated… it was moving towards more than just an idea... see that was a step in the right direction! Over the years, the company would go through several managements & owners, but all with that similar plan, a railway between DC & the bay. With each zig and zag, a little ground was gained, and some progress made.
◊1894: This was a BIG year for the struggling railway idea AND for the town! The company was reorganized yet again, a new town was formed, and plans were being made. It certainly seemed that things were looking up!
The 1894 Tale of a Town & Railway Management:
Early April 1894 saw The Town of Chesapeake Beach incorporated, largely driven by railway company management [the idea of incorporating the Town of Chesapeake Beach had been attempted several times in prior years by the various railway companies to throw their hat in the ring, at least since 1884].
Late April 1894 saw the new town’s mayor, commissioners, and bailiff sworn in. Furthermore, the railway company implemented plans for a swing bridge for the train to cross the Patuxent River, as well purchased 718 acres of bayfront property. This sounds like a company & town on the move and on the upswing!
‘Mayor Hutchins’ entered in the midst of what looked like a company & a town in motion!
A few notes about the timeframe these new officials were elected… First, J.T. Hutchins was elected as President of the Board of Commissioners, which as this point equated to Mayor. At the time of these officials ‘election,” the Town of Chesapeake Beach had just been incorporated, I mean brand-new, a fledgling town. The railway was not yet built and these two entities (the railway AND the town) were extremely dependent on each other… for one to succeed, it needed the other.
Now we come to one of the bigger hiccups… unfortunately, not even one month after Hutchins was sworn in, newspapers ran articles about smallpox among the railway workers in the beach. It caused panic, and once that ball started rolling on this deadly disease, it was hard to control. Other factors were involved, but sometime around October of 1894, the company went into receivership.
So… in summary the happy then sad year of 1894:
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- ◊ Early April 1894: The Town of Chesapeake Beach was incorporated
- ◊ Late April 1894: Mayor J. T. Hutchins & other town officials sworn in
- ◊ May 1894: reports of smallpox among the railway workers
- ◊ October 1894: Railway went into receivership
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What did this mean for Mayor Hutchins?!?
Honestly, it is unclear. While he is listed in the newspapers in 1894 as the Mayor of Chesapeake Beach, he does not show up in that capacity beyond this year. Because of that crucial point about the co-dependent relationship between the town and the railway, I’m sure Hutchin’s intended role as ‘Mayor’ greatly changed without the railway company. At the moment, I have very little information on him or his time as mayor, or the other officials. This is a work in progress. My thoughts are that they were “all in” as long as the company was moving in the right direction. It looks to me that when the company went into receivership, Chesapeake Beach became a side-story until about 3 years later, when the Chesapeake Beach Railway Company came on the scene.
We do know though, that in 1900, Charles Popper was noted as Mayor of Chesapeake Beach, which coincided with the railway & resort that actually were built! He was one of the founders of the Chesapeake Beach Railway Company… see? The railway company and town management overlap continued for years!
He remained mayor at least until 1902, and possibly until 1905 when a new mayor was elected. Perhaps we should add a qualifier and introduce Mayor Popper as the first-fully-active Mayor of Chesapeake Beach!
If you are one who likes deeper dives into the history, visit our museum’s website and checkout our “Side Tracks Blog,” specifically the blog about 1894 and smallpox [Timing is Everything… when building a Railway! ].
My goodness history is interesting!
Interested in those documents? check these out!
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