John Leeds Barroll
Publisher Accused of Treason and Exiled
John Leeds Barroll first walked these courthouse grounds, as a prominent Kent County lawyer before becoming a newspaper publisher. He was admitted to the bar in 1852 and served as the county State’s Attorney, 1854–1856, then founded the Kent Conservator in 1859. Federal officials deemed treasonous an 1863 article reprinted in Barroll’s newspaper from the St. Mary’s Beacon, of Leonardtown, Md. Gen. Robert C. Schenck ordered a company of the 2nd Regiment Eastern Shore Volunteer Infantry to Chestertown, and Barroll was arrested on April 17. James L. Downs, the author of the original article, was arrested at the same time. In a May 5 letter to the Richmond Enquirer, Barroll and Downs described being held at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry and raged about their treatment. “We had not been allowed even a form of a trial, nor officially notified of the charges against us,” they wrote.
The pair were moved to Harpers Ferry and then marched to Winchester, Va., and finally to Newtown, Va. There they were released with a note that read “Guards pass James L. Downs and J. Leeds Barroll through the Federal lines, never again to return, under the penalty of being treated as spies.” Barroll eventually returned to Chestertown, however, and became involved in local politics, being elected to the Chestertown Town Commission in June 1866. He died an untimely death at age 36, on Aug. 6, 1866. His death notice reported that he went to bed that evening “in usual health,” and was found dead the next morning.
Marker can be reached from High Street, on the left when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
