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Thomas Holliday Hicks was born near Cambridge on Sept. 2, 1798, and served as Maryland's governor from 1858 to 1862. Throughout his term, he was pressured by the General Assembly and Confederate sympathizers to allow Maryland to secede from the Union. Instead, Hicks worked closely with President Lincoln to prevent disruption of supply lines and interference with US troops.
Hicks is buried less than a mile from here in Cambridge Cemetery. His grave is marked by the monument pictured above, whose inscription states, "This monument, erected by the state in 1868, honors Thomas Holliday Hicks, a native and life resident of Dorchester County. Late in 1860, and early in 1861 as Maryland's first Civil War governor, he opposed the doctrines of secession and of coercion. In furtherance of his policy and resisting great pressure, he refused for five months to call the legislature in special session. During the war he supported the Union." |