Foreword:
The special quality of the land that was to become the State of Maryland was recognized by the first settlers who arrived there in 1634.  Father Andrew White tells us of the large forests, the fertile soil, and the abundance of game.  Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, wrote that it had been reported to him that the situation of the country was excellent.  To this new country came men and women from England, most seeking religious freedom, joined by others like themselves who hoped to find in addition to freedom of conscience, a land of opportunity.

The chronicles of Maryland have recorded the men who founded the state.  We can name the governors, the Lords of the Manors, the soldiers, the priests, and even many of the men who came as indentured servants.  Much less is known about the women who came with them and worked beside them to establish the Colony.  By the next century, wives, and mothers of Maryland were the support and inspiration for the men of the Colony, who spearheaded the move for political independence and the establishment of the United States of America.

This book, authored by the member of the Southern Maryland Regional Committee and the guest Dames of The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of Maryland, presents a few of these women.  It is a lively kaleidoscope of personalities from the Queen of England to the dedicated nuns who crossed the ocean to found the first religious convent in the English speaking America.

The women in this book are only a few, but they are representative of all the others who came to the new world and carved a new path to freedom.  They have much to teach each of us about the personal responsibility to accommodate and contribute to the world in which we live. 

Their lives are part of our state’s history and tradition.  This is our heritage.  Read it, enjoy it, and share it with others!