Captain Claiborne & The Calvert Brothers
Depiction of William Claiborne
On the Eastern Bay of Maryland’s Chesapeake lies the quiet village of Claiborne. Today, it's known for its scenic views and once-thriving ferry dock connecting it to Baltimore and the Western Shore. But few realize that the village carries the name of a figure central to one of the earliest territorial disputes in American colonial history: William Claiborne.
Captain Claiborne
A Puritan and early settler, Claiborne first arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in 1621. After returning briefly to England, he secured a royal license from King Charles I to establish a trading post on what he named “Kent Island,” honoring his English home county of Kent.
By 1631, Claiborne had set up a small but prosperous outpost on the island. He traded with Native Americans, Dutch merchants, and even pirates. He built a fortified home, brought his wife to the settlement in 1635, and watched the community grow to include plantations and a stone church. A shipbuilder and seasoned mariner, he became known as “Captain Claiborne” and saw Kent Island as part of Virginia.
Dreams of “Mary’s Land”
First Landing of Leonard Calvert in Maryland, by David Acheson Woodward
But political changes in England disrupted Claiborne’s hold on the island.
Seeking to establish a new colony more hospitable than Newfoundland, George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, sought to expand English settlements after his failed venture to establish “Avalon,” a colony in Newfoundland. His son Cecil Calvert received a royal charter for the new colony in 1632. With Queen Henrietta Maria’s support and a desire to create a haven for English Catholics, the Calverts named their new land “Mary’s Land.” Cecil, however, never saw the new land, having to stay in England to manage the family’s business affairs.
Cecil’s younger brother, Leonard Calvert, led the settlement expedition that landed in 1634, accompanied by Catholic colonists and outlawed Jesuit priests. The Calverts held the first Catholic Mass on Maryland soil in March of that year.
Claiborne’s Contempt
One can only imagine the horror Captain Claiborne experienced when he was informed that Kent Island was smack in the middle of the new county palatine of Mary’s Land, and that his domain now belonged to the Calverts.
To Claiborne’s dismay, Kent Island was now claimed as part of Maryland. He refused to accept the authority of the Catholic-led colony, sparking a conflict that would last for decades. Claiborne saw the Calverts as aristocrats who hadn’t earned their claim through labor, and their Catholic faith only deepened the divide.
Depiction of a battle between William Claiborne and Thomas Cornwallis, 1635. Photo Source
Tensions came to a head in 1635, when Maryland colonial authorities seized one of Claiborne’s ships and arrested his agent for illegal trading. A naval skirmish followed on April 23, 1635. Later described as a naval battle, it ended in a victory for the Maryland colonists.
In 1638, Leonard Calvert seized and burned Claiborne’s outpost on Kent Island, asserting control over the territory.
The struggle didn’t end there. During England’s Civil Wars in the 1640s, Claiborne and other Puritans briefly regained power in Maryland. In 1644, Claiborne led an attack that burned St. Mary’s City. But Leonard Calvert returned and reestablished authority before his death in 1647.
Kent Island Legacy
Eventually, Claiborne decided to permanently relocate to Virginia. Maryland remained under the Calvert family’s control, and Cecil’s son, Charles Calvert, would later serve as the state’s governor. But the dispute over Kent Island marked one of the earliest and most intense colonial conflicts in the Chesapeake: a clash shaped by politics, religion, and personal ambition.
Sources
Footner, Hulbert. Rivers of the Eastern Shore, Second Edition. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2022.
Hall, C.C. The Lords Baltimore and the Maryland Palatinate. Baltimore: Nunn and Company, 1904.
Harrison, S.A and Tilghman, O. History of Talbot County, Maryland, 1661-1861, Volume 1. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins Company, 1915.
Maryland Center for History and Culture. First Landing of Leonard Calvert in Maryland. https://www.mdhistory.org/resources/first-landing-of-leonard-calvert-in-maryland/
Preston, Dickson. Talbot County: A History. Centreville, Maryland: Tidewater Publishers, 1983.
Shaum, Jack. “Virginian William Claiborne puts down first English roots in Maryland,” The Star Democrat, June 25, 2006.