Calvert of Maryland: A Story of Lord Baltimore's Colony

Calvert of Maryland: A Story of Lord Baltimore's Colony is a children's historical fiction narrated by young George Calvert (a fictional relative of the prominent Calvert family). It follows thirteen-year-old George and his father as they sail from England to the New World in the early 1630s to join Lord Baltimore's (Cecilius Calvert's) fledgling Catholic colony in Maryland. The story details the transatlantic voyage, challenges at sea, arrival in the Chesapeake region, and the establishment of St. Mary's City as a haven for religious tolerance amid Protestant-Catholic tensions in England.

Through George's perspective, readers experience pioneer life: interactions with Native Americans (including the Piscataway), building homes and fortifications, daily colonial labors, hunting, trading, political maneuvering to secure the colony's charter, and adventures involving wildlife, supply shortages, and threats from rival settlers or unrest. The narrative emphasizes themes of faith, tolerance, family resilience, and the vision of Lord Baltimore's "Maryland" as a place of refuge and opportunity. Consistent with Otis's other works (such as Mary of Plymouth and Hannah of Kentucky), it offers an engaging, fact-based window into early colonial American history for young readers.