Volume 5 describes the decline of old Port Tobacco, which happened so quickly that in 1909 the Baltimore Sun newspaper described it as a ghost town. After about two decades of political and social strife marked by great bitterness, the promoters of La Plata as the new county seat brought victory to their cause. The Charles County courthouse in Port Tobacco was destroyed in a sensational fire in August 1892. All records stored in the main block of the courthouse, such as county commissioner's minutes, school board records and the law library, were reduced to ash. Fortunately, many of the records were duplicated in the newspapers, and are preserved in these abstracts. Here you will find marriages, births, deaths, court records, real estate transactions, election results, names in the news, business notices and important local events. A full name index completes this work.