The Origin of Guilford's Name

On the Guilford Historical Marker (https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=19884) it was thought that “the name "Guilford" may have come from the town of Guildford in Surrey, England, known for its textiles, or it may commemorate Lord Guilford, the guardian of Charles, the fifth Lord Baltimore.”  But our friend and neighbor, super-sleuth Jerry Ueckermann, has a different and more plausible explanation.  It was named to honor the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in the Revolutionary War.

The first appearance of the name “Guilford” in our area was on June 5, 1789, when Richard Ridgely signed an indenture to secure debts based on combining several contiguous tracts of land he then called "Guilford", totaling 1,393 acres (see image on right):

• Cocksell: 350 acres

• Cole's Choice: 347 acres

• Cross's Forest: 123 acres

• Jones  Addition: 19 acres

• Hall's Lott: 121 acres

• Warfield's Contrivance: 285 acres

• Athol Enlarged: 45 acres

• Winkepin Neck: 13 acres

 These tracts making up Guilford were apparently not sold and no evidence of a new land patent called Guilford can be found.

The second instance of the name Guilford occurred 1792 when Richard Stringer deeded several properties to Archibald Moncrief, a Baltimore merchant, including all those lands and mills called “The Guilford Mills”(see image on right).  Richard Stringer first owned the Guilford Mills with Richard Ridgley in 1785 and likely named the mills when they were purchased.

It is very likely that Guilford Mills was named for the revolutionary war's Battle of Guilford Courthouse that took place in North Carolina during 1781, just 4 years before Stringer purchased the mills, in which the Maryland regiments “held the line” in this critical battle and were widely recognized and honored. Richard Stringer, co-owner of Guilford Mills, was a patriot serving Maryland regiments as a Captain from 1776 through 1782 much of it under Colonel Thomas Dorsey. It is likely he was at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse due to his active military service at that time, and named the mills for the last major battle that featured the heroics of the Maryland line's second regiment.

The next closest location named Guilford is a neighborhood located in Baltimore. The Guilford residential community associated stated on their Website that “Guilford appears to have first gained prominence as the property of General McDonald, who distinguished himself in our wars with England. It is supposed that to commemorate the battle of Guilford Court House, N. C., in which he was wounded, Guilford derived its name.” I would bet that our own Guilford is named to commemorate the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.

Sources:

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT (Land Records) NH 6, p. 0550-0551, MSA_CE76_34. Date available 04/26/2006. Printed 10/03/2019.

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT (Land Records) NH 2, p. 0295, MSA_CE76_30. Date available 04/03/2006. Printed 05/01/2018.