|
The community that was to
become Sudlersville took root in 1740 when Joseph Sudler, a Kent
Island land owner, purchased 800 acres “south of the Chester
River.” The land included the homestead known as Sledmore, which
had been built in 1713. There is no indication that Joseph
Sudler ever took up residence at Sledmore. Most likely his son
Richard was the first Sudler to live there; he died in 1797 and
was buried in the family graveyard. Since that time until the
present day, a continuity of direct descendants of the Sudler
family has lived at Sledmore and elsewhere in Sudlersville.
In 1811, Dixon’s Tavern and a post office were established
near Sledmore in the village called Sudler’s Cross Roads. That
name was changed to Sudlersville in 1839. By the mid 1800s, the
village had 15 houses, a general store, a Methodist Church, and
a blacksmith. At the end of that century, there were about 40
houses and an assortment of commercial, ecclesiastical, and
educational institutions. One of those was the Asbury Methodist
Episcopal Church, whose then place of worship today houses the
Sudlersville Memorial Library.
|
