Sunday 27th. About 9 oclock this morning I left Annapolis under a discharge of Artillery, and being accompanied by the Governor a Mr. Kilty of the Council and Mr. Charles Stuart proceeded on my Journey for George Town. Bated at Queen Ann, 13 Miles distant and dined and lodged at Bladensburgh. Many of the Gentlemen of Annapolis (among [whom] was the Chanceller of the State) escorted me to the ferry over So. River.
John Kilty (1756–1811) of Annapolis, apparently a brother of Dr. William Kilty (see entry for 8 Aug. 1788), was a member of the Maryland council 1785–91 and 1792–93. During the first years of the War of Independence he served as a lieutenant in the Maryland line and later as a captain in the Continental dragoons. GW appointed him supervisor of the revenue for Maryland in 1795 (Md. Hist. Mag., 6 [1911], 357; , 71:64, 149, 227, 301, 72:58, 153, 235, 300).
The chancellor of Maryland was Alexander Contee Hanson (1749–1806) of Annapolis. In June 1776 he was appointed GW’s assistant secretary at headquarters but resigned a few months later because of bad health. A justice of the Maryland General Court for many years, he was appointed chancellor in 1789 and served until his death.
Queen Anne, Md., was described by the English traveler Samuel Vaughan in 1787 as a “pleasant Village” with “12 houses” and a tobacco warehouse from which about 1,100 hogsheads of tobacco were shipped annually (, 60). At Bladensburg, Md., according to a local tradition, GW lodged at the Indian Queen Tavern, now called the George Washington House (, 4:152, n.5; , 262).
The South River ferry crossed to Londontown, Md. GW had used this ferry often on his way to and from Annapolis (, Map, No. 60; md, guide, 232–33).