In the Colony of Maryland

The American colonists organized themselves and laid out their civil and legislative districts. Today we think in terms of neatly laid-out townships and counties. In the 1600's, the colonists began by counting heads. Then they drew the map for a Hundred. This description explains it well.

"When researching Baltimore county before ca 1820, you will encounter two terms referring to an area of land. One of the terms is Hundreds and the other is parishes. Hundreds as a political subdivision date back to the Roman occupation of Britain. There are several variations of the orginal meaning of the term. The most commonly accepted is that it was an area that contained 100 families. Another variation is that it was an area that was large enough to raise an army of 100 men.

"From the late 1600s to early 1800s in Maryland the term was applied as a political subdivision of the county primarily for tax purposes and judicial affairs. The latter being that there was a constable appointed for each hundred and a justice of the peace for each hundred. The 1790 and 1810 Federal census for Baltimore county are at least partially broken down by hundreds. The equivalent term today for a hundred is an election district within the county." (See link to the author below.)

Credits

The above description is from the USGenWeb Baltimore County Site of Maryland. To learn more about the story, click here.

The General Assembly of Maryland published a short "Early History." To see how a colonial Hundred chose their representatives, click here.

Another very short explanation was written by Bob O'Neal. It is available on the MDGenWeb state site of Maryland. To understand the origin of Hundred in feudal England,  click here.

Editor's Note

The Hundred is a great idea for any student who needs a topic in American history. It is out of the ordinary. It works for a third-grader writing one page. It works for a graduate student in history who needs to write a book-length dissertation.