Instead, they came from north of the Potomac. In order to understand the reason for the migration of these pioneers from the north side of the Potomac to its south side, it is necessary to go back a few years and study the situation in the upper Chesapeake Bay region. Before 1640 the activity of white men in the Chesapeake Bay centered about a trading post at Kent Island, situated far up the Bay. The trade there was with the Indian tribes in "fur, skins and Indian baskets." Captain Henry Fleet, William Claiborne, a Virginian, and Lord Baltimore and his brother were chief among those who were making history in this region at that time. Claiborne and a number of Virginians had established a colony on Kent Island under a charter secured before Lord Baltimore had settled his colony on the north side of the Potomac in a region that he called Maryland. When Lord Baltimore was granted a charter to settle in this area, his charter included Kent Island. The charter, however, had said that he should have authority only over uninhabited lands. Claiborne considered that Kent Island was inhabited and was not, therefore, a part of Maryland. In 1634, the second Lord Baltimore sent about one hundred settlers, under the leadership of his brother, Leonard Calvert, to a point of land across the Potomac from the Northern Neck, and a settlement was established there, known as the "Citie of St. Mary's." A year after this colony had been planted the settlers were instructed by their Governor, Leonard Calvert, to seize Kent Island. Claiborne appealed to the Crown but the decision was in favor of Lord Baltimore's claim. [Illustration: _First settlers at Coan._] Claiborne did not give up so easily. With the help of Puritan rebels he seized Kent Island, captured the "Citie of St. Mary's" and drove Calvert from the colony. But Calvert was also tenacious. He returned a year later, regained control of his Maryland possessions and forced Claiborne to give up Kent Island. Later, the English government decided, once and for all, in favor of Lord Baltimore's claim. At this time there was much religious dissension in England and in Virginia. Lord Baltimore, a Catholic himself, had hoped to establish a colony where religious freedom could be had by all. Many Puritans left the lower Tidewater Virginia and joined the Maryland settlers. But Lord Baltimore's plan for a harmonious mingling of all religions did not work out. The Puritans seized the reins of government and there followed years of intolerance and persecution in the "Citie of St. Mary's." Many Protestants and Royalists in the Maryland colony decided to look for a new home where they could live as they pleased. Across the Potomac there was a long peninsula inhabited only by Indians. What better place was there to find peace? It was in this way that the first settlers came to the Northern Neck from north of the Potomac. _THE FIRST SETTLER_