Editing Port Tobacco Village, Maryland (section)

===Colonial era===
Within a generation of the first Maryland settlers' landing at [[St. Clement's Island]], they pushed the frontiers of the colony north and west toward the Potomac and Port Tobacco rivers. The English developed a small village about 1634 on the east side of the Port Tobacco tributary. It became the nucleus for trade and government. It was first called Chandlers Town. The town was one of the oldest English-speaking communities on the [[East Coast of the United States]]. In 1658, it was designated the first county seat of Charles County.

Later the [[English people|English]] adapted the Potapoco name as Port Tobacco. Its name also referred to what became the colony's chief export commodity crop. The town grew as it became a major port for the [[tobacco]] trade, with exports transported by ocean-going sailing ships. During the late 17th century, Port Tobacco became the second-largest [[river port]] in Maryland.

The early immigrants to Port Tobacco were products of the religious turmoil in England. Their deeply felt convictions were powerful influences in Maryland's history. The area had both English Catholic and [[Church of England]] congregations. Father [[Andrew White (missionary)|Andrew White]] of the [[Jesuits]] established a mission in 1641 and later a church at what became [[St. Thomas Manor]] at Chapel Point. The manor's chapel was expanded to what is called St. Ignatius Church, a center for local Native Americans converted to [[Christianity]]. The oldest continuously operating Catholic parish in the United States, the complex has been designated as a [[National Historic Landmark]] and is part of the Religious Freedom [[Maryland Scenic Byways]] route.<ref>[http://www.marylandroads.com/oed/MarylandScenicByways.pdf Maryland Scenic Byways at pp. 66-71 of 91-page pdf file, pp. 128-138 in internal pagination]</ref> Catholic parish records identified Indian families through the decades, when civil records began to use only designations of [[free people of color]], colored, or Negro for mixed-race persons, thus failing to record their cultural identification. The two state-recognized [[Piscataway people|Piscataway]]-descendant tribes have used Catholic records in making their case for cultural continuity.

Freed from restraints by the [[Maryland Toleration Act|Toleration Act]] of 1649 and feeling a need for spiritual guidance, some settlers gathered their first [[Anglican church|Anglican]] congregation in a log building at the head of the Port Tobacco Creek in 1683, nine years before the [[Establishment Act]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.christchurchlaplata.com/history.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060717064858/http://www.christchurchlaplata.com/history.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 17, 2006 |title=A History of Christ Church, Port Tobacco Parish, Established 1692 |access-date=November 22, 2007 }}</ref> Supported by the tobacco [[Tax per head|poll tax]] of 40 pounds per head from 1692 to 1776, Christ Church prospered. The community built a second structure in 1709. After the [[American Revolution]], although the Anglican Church was disestablished in the US, parishioners rallied to contribute directly to Christ Church, and Lemuel Wilmer, of a distinguished family of Maryland Episcopalian clerics which included his brother [[William Holland Wilmer]], uncle [[James Jones Wilmer]], and father, grandfather and brother (all named Simon Wilmer) served as rector for 35 years. After a tornado destroyed the building in 1808, they held a lottery and ultimately financed a new brick structure, which was rededicated in 1827. Falling into disrepair after 60 years of use, it was demolished and replaced with a sandstone edifice in 1884. However, only the graveyard now remains of this church (and a relatively recently outline of the historic church's foundation), since it was disassembled in 1904 and reassembled in La Plata, which had become the county seat in 1895.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.christchurchlaplata.org/about-us/our-history/ |title=Our History - Christ Church Port Tabacco Parish |access-date=July 4, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714151341/http://www.christchurchlaplata.org/about-us/our-history/ |archive-date=July 14, 2014 }}</ref> 
[[File:Christ church port tobacco.jpg|right|thumb|Graveyard next to outline of historic Christ Church in Port Tobacco (building moved to La Plata)]]
For two centuries, Port Tobacco area residents assumed important roles in state and national history. [[John Hanson]] was elected first President by the [[Continental Congress]] under the [[Articles of Confederation]] before moving to [[Frederick, Maryland|Frederick]]. [[Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer]] was a signer of the [[United States Constitution]]; and [[Thomas Stone]] was one of four of the Maryland delegation who signed the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].
[[File:Charles County, Maryland. Churches are important in the community life of Charles County people. In . . . - NARA - 521540.tif|thumb|upright|left|The Episcopal Church moved from Port Tobacco to the new county seat at La Plata.]]