Catholics on the Frontier
Timothy O'Rourke
In 1785, a group of
southern Maryland residents formed a "Catholic League of Families" and
agreed to move to Kentucky as soon as they could settle their affairs in
Maryland. John Carroll, Archbishop of Baltimore, promised to send a parish
priest if the emigrants settled together.
Another reason for the exodus of people from the Chesapeake Bay area to Kentucky
was the depredation suffered by the citizens at the hands of the British during
the Revolution. The British fleet, almost constantly present in the Bay,
confiscated slaves and stock, sacked homes and literally lived off the supplies
plundered from the Maryland residents.
Economic reasons also figured in the exodus to Kentucky. Many farmers were
ruined by the Revolution and lost their lands because they could not pay their
debts. They saw migration to Kentucky as a way out of their economic
woes.
http://www.win.net/~ehayden/mcf/maryland.htm
