USA > Washington DC > Historic graves of Maryland and the District of Columbia : with the inscriptions appearing on the tombstones in most of the counties of the state and in Washington and Georgetown > Part 4
USA > Maryland > Historic graves of Maryland and the District of Columbia : with the inscriptions appearing on the tombstones in most of the counties of the state and in Washington and Georgetown > Part 4
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Governor Plater is buried in the garden at "Sotterly," which, with its sundial, roses and traditions, conveys to the mind of the modern visitor an idea of continuity, or at least
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Saint Mary's County
wafts to his senses a delicate fragrance from the life of a day that is gone.
Another Plater place is "Bloomsbury," where Judge Plater lived and where his descendants are buried. It is to be found on the road leading from Valley Lee to Leonardtown.
The following inscriptions are found at Bloomsbury:
In memory of Sophia Plater dau. of Wm. S. & Sophia Ridgely, born in Georgetown, June 16 1820, died at Bloomsbury, the residence of her grand- father Judge Plater, on the morning of Sept. 2 1829.
In memory of Evelina, consort of Edward Plater & daughter of Josias Young of Prince George's Co., died August 12 1848, aged 34 years.
In memory of Elizabeth, wife of Stephen Gough & dau. of John R. Plater, born 31 of May 1792, died 10 Feb. 1845.
Sophia daughter of Stephen & Elizabeth Gough, born 25 Oct. 1827, died 16 August 1848.
John Rousbie, son of Stephen & Elizabeth Gough.
In the forks of the Trent river stands All Faith church, built about the year 1765 in place of an earlier one, which had antedated the period of church building ushered in by the act of 1692. Its most venerable graves, like those sur- rounding nearly all the old churches, have gone through the usual leveling processes of time, aided by neglect.
All Faith church possessed formerly a chapel of ease, known as the "Red Church." It stood on the west side of the public road leading from St. Joseph's Catholic church to Oakville, and about 200 yards below where it forks with the Patuxent road. A graveyard, sadly neglected, is now the only thing left to show where the chapel once stood.
St. Joseph's Catholic church is a large brick edifice of modern construction on the top of a high hill several miles from Leonardtown. Its predecessor, which is said to have been built in the year 1740, stood about 300 yards to the south of the present site, and in the center of the old grave- yard, which is still used as a place of interment.
Near Leonardtown is the old graveyard of St. Aloysius,
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Historic Graves of Maryland
but the chapel has disappeared. About ten miles distant is that of the Sacred Heart, which with St. John's, St. Francis, St. Nicholas and those already mentioned, completes the list of the oldest Catholic graveyards possible of identification in St. Mary's county.
The Sacred Heart chapel is a modest wooden structure that has stood upon the land of "Bushwood"-a fragment of St. Clement's Manor-for more than 125 years. The graveyard may have been there before the chapel, and it probably was. In 1669, Capt. Gerard Slye, then proprietor of this beautiful plantation inherited from his father, Robert Slye, was a very active leader in the proceedings which de- barred Catholics from holding office in the Province. This gentleman did not foresee that he was to marry a Catholic dame of intrepid character, that his will, probated in 1733, would direct that his children should be reared in the faith, that his wife should "think most proper and convenient for their souls' health," and that through her, his home, once the stronghold of Protestant intolerance, should pass into the exclusive possession of his Catholic posterity.
It is supposed that Capt. Gerard Slye was buried in the Bushwood family graveyard adjoining the Sacred Heart chapel, and that this chapel, so long the only place of worship allowed to the neighboring Catholic gentry, was built by his wife, probably after his death. At all events, their son, George Slye, who in turn inherited the plantation, bequeathed it to his nephew, "Mr. Edmund Plowden," and mentions " the two acres whereon the small chapel now stands," adding, "I further desire that the Church stuff, etc., now used in the chapel, may be kept for the use of said chapel and not ap- praised in my estate." This will was probated in 1773, and by its provision in favor of Edmund Plowden, the "Bush- wood " property, 2,000 acres surrounding a fine Manorial dwelling, now passed to a representative of the colonial period
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Saint Mary's County
in Southern Maryland, and, for more than a century the dead have rested here "upon the lap of earth."
. Edmund Plowden was appointed Captain of the Militia in the battalion of Upper St. Mary's in 1777; he was a mem- ber of the Council of Safety, and a member of the earliest State Legislature in 1783, 1792 and 1798.
Directly opposite to Drum Point, where the Patuxent empties into the Chesapeake, lies the small promentory known as "Cedar Point." At Susquehanna on this point, is the tomb of Christopher Rousby, the story of whose death reveals the jealousy existing between the King's collectors of revenue and those of the Lord Proprietary. Rousby, the King's officer, suffered at the hands of George Talbot, " Lord of the Northern Marshes," and his tomb, which records also the death of his brother John, bears the following inscription :
Here lyeth the Body of Xphr. Rousbie Esquire who was taken out of this World by A voilent Death received on Board his Majesty's Ship the Quaker Ketch, Capt. Thos. Allen Commandr. the last day of Octr. 1684 and alsoe of Mr. John Rousbie his brother who departed this naturall Life on Board the Ship Baltemore Being arrived in Patuxon River the first day of February 1685.
Back of Cedar Point is the "Pyne Hill," a creek which was the boundary of Calvert county as laid out in 1654, when it embraced both sides of the Patuxent. A quaint old house owned by Miss Mollie Carroll, on what is now known as the "Bay Farm," is a part of Mattapani, the home of the Sewall family. No old graves are to be found here, but it is said that the Sewalls of past generations repose in a large lot railed in just behind St. Nicholas' Catholic church about four or five miles back of the Patuxent river. In the chancel of this church is a marble slab placed there by Mrs. Maria L. Key-a Sewall and the last of her line-to the memory of Rev. G. Derosé, who died in 1812. Among the gravestones in St. Nicholas' churchyard are several after 1850, on which the name of Delahay appears; a name that can be traced back
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Historic Graves of Maryland
to the year 1659, when members of that family are mentioned as legatees in the will of Thomas Dinian, a Roman Catholic of St. Mary's county.
The earlier graves are marked as follows:
I.H.S. + Sacred to the memory of Catherine Jarboe who departed this life 24 November 1826 Aged 31 years, 9 months, 27 days. This tribute of respect to her virtues is erected by her husband, who loved her while living, and lamented her when dead.
Elizabeth wife of Robert Jarboe Jr. who died Sept. 6, 1810. Aged 60 years, 11 months & 2 days.
Sacred to the memory of Robert Jarboe, who died Mar. 21, 1803, Aged 51 years, 2 months & 18 days.
George Cissell, born Sept. 12, 1780, departed this life March 27, 1832. R. I. P.
Elizabeth Heatherland, aged 70.
In memory of Elizabeth Sauner, who departed this life Nov. 22, 1829, aged 31 years & 19 days. I am the Resurrection and the Life. For as in Adam all die.
In memory Sarah R. Broome, Born Sept. 10, 1820, Died Aug. 25, 1853, Aged 32 years.
Sacred to the memory of Thomas N. Bean, who departed this life March 23, 1813, in the 47th [49 ?] year of his age, also his sons Edward and Aloizius in the eleventh year of their age. And his daughter Virginia, Aged 14 months.
I.H.S. + Pray for the soul of Col Jarboe, died 1846.
In memory of William Holton Esq., who departed this life April 11th, 1812. In the 62 year of his age & was buried 16th same month. Dearly beloved in his life, Sincerely lamented at his death.
In memory of Philip Abell, Departed this life August 30th 1811, aged 37 years 4 months & 3 days.
Underwood 1826 & 27.
In an old Catholic churchyard, which can be reached from Briscoe's wharf, there is but one tombstone of an early date that can be deciphered. It is to the memory of Mark T. Wilkinson, who was born July 4, 1765, and died April 12, 1819. On the later stones are to be seen the names of Fen- wick, Tucker and Stone. The church, no longer used as a place of worship, serves as a dwelling.
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Saint Mary's County
One Catholic place of worship that has stood the wear and tear of time is the church of St. Francis Xavier at "Beggar's Neck," a peninsula to the west of Leonardtown. It is known as the "Newtown" church. Through this name it keeps in memory the munificent gift of one Wm. Bretton, Esq., who in 1661 presented to the Roman Catholic inhabitants of "Newtown " and St. Clements Bay Hundred and their pos- terity an acre and a half of ground for a chapel and a cemetery. The church is of quaint design, having been built in 1767 during the ministrations of Father Ashbey, who died shortly after its erection. The wooden crosses near the front of the church mark the place where rest in peace twenty holy, zealous men of God, also six of their humbler brethern. Fortunately a list of their names can be given :
P. James Matthews, December 8, aged 36, 1694; P. Francis Pennington, February 22, age [?], 1699; P. Henry Poulton, September 27, age 33, 1712; P. Robert Brooke, July 18, age 51, 1714; P. Francis Lloyd [or Floyd], November 13, age 37, 1729; P. Peter Atwood, December 25, age 52, 1734; P. James Carroll, Nov. 12, age 39, 1756; P. Michael Murphy, July 8, age 34, 1759; P. James Ashby (Middlehurst), September 23, age 53, 1767; P. James Beadnall, April 9, age 54, 1772; P. Peter Morris, April 19, age 49, 1784; P. Bennett Neale, March 21, age 44, 1787; P. Ignatius Matthews, May 11, age 60, 1790; P. Augustine Jenkins, February 3, age 53, 1800; P. John Bolton, September 9, age 67, 1809; P. John Henry, March 12, age 58, 1823; P. Leonard Edelen, December 21, age 40, 1823; P. Ignatious Combs, June 27, age 56, 1850; F. Richard Jordan, died October 20, age 32, 1827; F. Mark Faherty, died September 28, age 32, 1841; P. Walter Baron, died July 27, aged 80, 1855; F. Edward Nolan, died January 15, aged 63, 1852; P. John Franklin, died September 18, 1819; P. Cornelius Mahoney, 1805.
The last two were secular priests.
As is often the case with parish churches in Maryland, that of "King and Queen " has an official as well as a popular name. Owing to this fact and to the imperfect memory of man, it has been consecrated twice. With no bishops in Maryland before the Revolution, and with the general dis- organization of the church, leading to conditions not im-
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Historic Graves of Maryland
proved by the war of 1812, the first consecration did not take . place until the year 1817, when Bishop Kemp performed the sacred rite. On this occasion the records speak of "Chap- tico Church." In the Diocesan Journal of 1841, Bishop Whittingham reports having consecrated "Christ Church, Chaptico," under the representation of the rector and vestry that "in spite of its age," this had never been done.
"Chaptico" is a survival in name of one of the baronial manors of the Lord Proprietary, and in the massive struc- ture with its vaulted nave, its columns and aisles, we detect influences, not brought to bear upon the construction of most of the Maryland churches at the end of the seventeenth or at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The church has an apsidal chancel, which is the case with several of our old churches, but the rest of its design favors the tradition that it was the work of Sir Christopher Wren, the celebrated ar- chitect of St. Paul's, London, to whom are accredited many less ambitious creations.
The churchyard at Chaptico has its traditions also. As late as the year 1860, a slab of slate, eighteen inches or two feet square, was pointed out as the stone covering the last resting place of a pirate buried here at his particular re- quest in an upright position. As a matter of fact, the person thus interred was Capt. Gilbert Ireland, high sheriff of St. Mary's county in 1745, who, making his will in 1755 as Gil- bert Ireland, Gent., directed that he should be buried in Chaptico churchyard at the distance of three feet from the feet of his "good" friend, Mr. James Dickon, and that a slab of black "marblestone" be sent for to Philadelphia "with a proper inscription to be put upon it." The writer learned the above facts from a descendant of Captain Ire- land more than ten years ago. Behind the church is the vault of the Key family. The coat of arms there displayed in a reversed position is the same that appears on a pair of can-
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Saint Mary's County
dlesticks and a pair of salvers in possession of a member of the family. These heirlooms were handed down by Philip Key, who came to Maryland about the year 1720. In his will he mentions having bought them from the estate of "the Reverend Humphrey's," and it is presumable that the coat of arms engraved on the silver, on the feminine side of the shield, was the Keys by adoption and not olim et de jure.
In the church is a stained glass window placed there in 1882 by Thomas, Samuel and Thomas J. C. Maddox, to the memory of their ancestors: Samuel Maddox, 1666; Samuel Maddox, 1728, and Lydia Turner, his wife; Samuel Maddox, 1842, and Sarah Fowler, his wife.
In the churchyard the name of Turner appears again, and the initials C. T. on an irregular bit of stone, with the dates April 21, 1745, and January 4, 1796, may have belonged to a member of that family. It is to be found near the Car- penter graves, which favors the supposition, as a Turner married a Carpenter.
The gravestones and monuments remaining in the church- yard after the usual vicissitudes attending so many of our burial places, bear inscriptions as follows :
In memory of John Carpenter who departed this life 25th Feby 1803 aged 68.
In memory of Susannah wife of John Carpenter daughter of Edward Turner, who departed this life 26th Sept 1805 aged 56 years.
In memory of Susan E. Consort of Aquila Burroughs died March 20th 1849, aged 25 years 3 mos. 25 days. May she rest in peace.
In memory of Joseph Dunbar who departed this life February 27th 1801, aged 83 years.
In memory of James Cook Sen. died March 13, 1820, aged 60 years. Also Mary, his wife. Died April 11th, 1818 aged 55 years. For nearly 30 years they sojourned together on earth bearing each the others burdens and sharing each the others joys. Respected in life, in death lamented. They rest in peace.
Ann McPherson 1800, aged 44.
In memory of Zoba Columbia Zalute Eldest daughter of Jas. & Rebecca
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Historic Graves of Maryland
W. B. Cooke, who was born Sept. 8 1833 & died March 9 1846 in the 13th year of her age.
Thus our hopes & our prospects are shaded For the Plant which inspired them hath shed
Its foliage all green and unfaded Ere the beauty of springtime hath fled.
I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death. Hosea 13:14.
Sacred to the memory of John Briscoe, who died May 29th 1822 aged 81 years, emphatically it may be said that his life was a life of scrupulous integrity, rigid Justice and temperance with great moderation and self- denial.
To the memory of Cecelia Brown Lyles, who departed this life May 30 [10 ?] 1828 aged 40 years & 2 months
This tomb is erected by her devoted husband Wm. H. Lyles. O! here my friend the fair Cecelia's laid Too soon alas! the debt of nature's paid
Such virtue would adorn each sphere of life And grace the friend, the parent, child and wife
Sweet are the slumbers of thy virtuous breast
Sweet is thy sleep & all thy cares at rest.
Th' unfettered soul has bust the bars of night And winged its passage to the realms of light.
Sacred to the memory of Peregrine Hayden who departed this life Feb- ruary 29th, 1848, in the 84th year of his age. May he rest in peace.
Sacred to the memory of Henry Dade Burch, born July 17th 1817, Died Sept 19th 1850. He has left a wife and four children to mourn the irrepar- able loss. He was a kind and devoted husband, affectionate Father & in- dulgent Master. He lived beloved and died lamented.
We shared our mutual woes, Our mutual burdens bore; And often for each other flowed The sympathizing tear. When we at death did part
How keen, how deep the pain But we still are joined in heart And hope to meet again.
+ IHS Elizabeth W. R. Born May 26, 1843 Died Aged 3 months. Henry Dade Born July 28, 1850 Died June 6th 1854. Children of Catherine & Henry Dade Burch. And in their mouth was found no guile for they are without fault before the throne of God. Revelation XIV: 5.
To the memory of Philip Briscoe, who devoted his life to the education of youth, this marble is gratefully erected by those who received the benefit
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Saint Mary's County
of his labors, that it may perpetuate his memory as a public benefactor, when they shall have ceased to be living witnesses to his unsullied honor, profound learning and extensive usefulness. He was born Nov. 9th 1786 & died Sep. 26th, 1842.
The "Three Notched Road," which passes the site of "Four Mile Run " church, is the main road of the peninsula. It served in the old days as a direct route from Point Look- out to Annapolis. Branching from it at intervals are the shorter roads to steamboat landings or to venerable estates overlooking the Patuxent. "Cremona," about eighteen miles from "Sotterly," is one of the latter, and although no old graveyard is to be found there, the house itself is a pleas- ant pied-à-terre on the dusty road of investigation. It has the large hall and high ceilings of the stately homes of the best building period, and its hanging staircase is among the most beautiful specimens of the kind in Maryland. Ad- joining Cremona is De la Brooke Manor, an historic spot bringing to mind the fortunes of one of his Lordship's Coun- selors, Robert Brooke, who was seated here on a much larger tract in 1650. He held a commission as Commander of Charles county, whose metes and bounds differed entirely from the later creation of the same name, but he was degraded and his charter was annulled owing to a suspicion that his sympathies were with the Cromwell party, under whom he acted in an official capacity during its short ascendency in Maryland. To his son Baker, however, was granted the De la Brooke tract; but neither tombs nor traditions of tombs are to be found here. These are to be sought after on the other side of the Patuxent, where Robert Brooke retired in 1652 and where many of his descendants settled.
At Trent Hall, a few miles further up the river, are some very solid and handsome tombs, or rather what is left of them, for they are in such a state of neglect that their disappearance altogether is only a matter of time. Two are upright and four
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Historic Graves of Maryland
are in a fence corner, badly broken. The tobacco grows up about these stones, and the tenant who farms the place, while congratulating himself upon his fine crops, quietly ignores the claims of the dead. Little cares he for the memory of Maj. Thomas Truman, his wife Mary, or his brothers, Nathaniel and James; and yet this group of stones is among the oldest yet discovered in Maryland. They are inscribed as follows:
Here lyeth the body of James Truman, Gent, who died the 7th of August 1672 being aged 50 years.
Here lyeth the body of Thomas Truman Esqr. Who died the 6th day of December Anno. 1685. Aged 60 years. "The Memory of the Just is Blessed." Prov. ye 10ch. & ye 7th verse.
Here lyeth the Body of Nathaniel Truman, Gent. Who died the 4th of March 1678 being Aged
Here lyeth the Body of Mary, wife and Relict of Thomas Truman Esq: who died the 6th of July, Anno 1686 Aged 52 years.
Other inscriptions at Trent Hall are:
Here lyeth the Body of Thomas Truman Greenfield who departed this life the 10th of December, 1733 in the 51st. year of his age.
Here lies ye Body of Walter Truman Greenfield son of Col. Thomas Truman Greenfield & Ann his wife. He Departed this life ye 28th of May 1739 in ye 14th year of his Age. A Dutiful Son, the Glory of his Mother.
"Trent Hall" was granted to Maj. Thomas Truman; it now belongs to Miss Eliza Thomas of Baltimore. It is situated immediately on the Patuxent river, and is the termi- nus of the road leading from Charlotte Hall to Trent Hall wharf.
At Charlotte Hall is the Dent Memorial, a pretty little modern church. Back of it lie several flat tombstones that were transferred here from the glebe of Trinity parish. They are to the memory of the Rev. Hatch Dent, his wife Judith, and members of his family. On the wall of the sacristy is a tablet bearing the following inscription :
In Memory of Rev. Hatch Dent one of the founders of Charlotte Hall School and its First Principal 1796-1799.
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Saint Mary's County
Among the other memorials are a font placed there in 1883 to Henry Hatch Dent, who died in 1848 at the age of four; a rose window in the chancel end to Katherine and Anne Maria Dent, tablets to Henry Brawner, an officer of the school from 1799 to 1802, and to his son Henry, "an honoured and valued trustee of said school from 1826 to 1835."
The Dent inscriptions are:
Rev. Hatch Dent, Son of Hatch and grandson of John Dent of York- shire, England, One of the early settlers of the Province of Maryland, was born May 1757 and died Dec. 30 1799. An honored officer in the Army of the revolution of 1776, and an Eminent Teacher and Minister of the Church. Ordained by Bishop Seabury in 1785. Removed from the Glebe of Trinity Parish July 30th, 1883.
Judith Poston, wife of Rev. Hatch Dent, born Jan, 10, 1758, died Mar, 3, 1814.
Henry Hatch Dent, born Feb 11, 1815 died Nov 19, 1872.
Ann Maria Adlum, wife of Henry Hatch Dent, born Mar 27, 1813. died June 10, 1849.
Dr William Hatch Dent, born Jan, 22, 1787 died Feb, 1, 1818.
Katherine Brawner, wife of Dr William Hatch Dent, born Oct, 10, 1789, died April 24, 1860. Her last words were "I may not live to see the spring flowers, but I shall soon see more glorious things. It is nothing to die, Jesus can make the dying bed feel soft as downy pillows are. While on his breast I lay my head and breathe my life out sweetly there."
"Chesley's Hill" is above "Trent Hall" a few miles and overlooks the Patuxent river. It is on the east side of the road leading from Charlotte Hall to the "Plains." A monu- ment marks the grave of John Chesley, and bears the fol- lowing inscription :
This monument is erected to the memory of John Chesley, of Saint Mary's County, who died December the 5th, 1767, in the 64th year of his age. He was Magistrate of this County upwards of 30 years, during several of which he presided as judge of the Court and always distinguished him- self for Ability and uprightness.
Beneath this stone the cold remains are laid,
Of one who has the debt of nature paid,
Truth as she passes drops the silent tear,
Laments the husband, Parent, Friend
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Historic Graves of Maryland
Duty and love have thus inscribed his name, But virtue ranks it in the Book of Fame.
At Colonel Sothoron's place, "The Plains," are found the following:
Here lies interred the body of Col. Henry Peregrine Jowles, who departed this life the 31st. day of March 1720, in the 39th year of his age.
Here lies interred the Body of Mr. John Forbes, who departed this life on the 26 day of January 1737, in the 37th year of his age.
Here is interred the body of Mary Sotheron, wife of Henry Greenfield Sotheron, only child of Major Zachariah Bond. Born the 14th of January 1736 and died the 11th of October 1763 aged 26 years.
Under this tomb is deposited the body of John Forbes, who was born on the 19th of March 1757. He departed this life on the 31st. of December 1804 in the 46th year of his age. He was a good man.
Returning down the peninsula towards Point Lookout, a goodly number of private burying grounds have been ex- plored. On St. Michael's Manor, granted to Gov. Leonard Calvert in 1639, and traversed by the historic "Three Notched Road," are no less than three estates where well known county names are perpetuated in stone. These are "Corn- Field Harbor," a Jones place, now owned by Mr. Ackerly of Long Island, N. Y .; "Fresh Pond Neck," the old home of a branch of the Bennett family; and " William's Fortune," or "Long Neck," patented in 1745 to John Biscoe and re- maining in the possession of the Biscoe family until the year 1898, when it was bought by Austin Ridgel.
"Corn-Field Harbor," is situated on the Potomac river near Scotland P. O., St. Inigoes district, St. Mary's county, about five miles from Miller's wharf and on the right hand side of the "Three Notched Road," leading from the Pine to Point Lookout. In its graveyard the following inscriptions are found :
In memory of Mordecai Jones, born April 19th, 1747, died June 6th 1829.
In memory of Mrs. Mary Jones, Born Au 13th 1747 Died Oct. 19th 1818.
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Saint Mary's County
William Henry Jones, Born Dec 24th 1817 Died July 29th 1836. Alex Claxton Jones Born Aug 20th 1840 Died May 8th 1863.
There are stones marking the graves of three children and eleven unmarked mounds.
"Fresh Pond Neck" is near Scotland P. O., St. Inigoes district, St. Mary's county, Md., and about four miles from Miller's wharf. It is on the left hand side of the road leading from the Pine to Point Lookout. Here the following are found:
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