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Gc 975.202 Sa57 a v.1 1752984
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02167 340 2
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/annalsofsandyspr01farq
ANNALS OF SANDY SPRING
OR
TWENTY YEARS HISTORY
OF
A RURAL COMMUNITY IN MARYLAND
V. 1
BALTIMORE: CUSHINGS & BLILEY 1884
563
1752984
PREFACE.
The object of writing prefaces to books must consist chiefly in the desire to place the reader, to some extent, in harmony with the subject before him. Preliminary re- marks may thus aid in accomplishing the purpose held in view by the writer. There should be a reason for all things; and certainly a good reason is required when people resort to print.
In the present case, the writer feels that peculiar justi- fication is needed, which it is his duty to explain at the beginning. He had not the most remote idea, on com- mencing to write the following records, that they would ever be presented to the public; such a thought was not in his mind, nor was the suggestion then made by another.
A number of persons, engaged chiefly in rural pursuits, desirous of improving their minds while cultivating their farms, united twenty-five years ago in the erection of a comfortable building, to which they gave the name of The Lyceum. un. Finding much satisfaction in the interest - ing proceedings that attended their various meetings, a company was formed, and regularly incorporated under the
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PREFACE.
title "The Sandy Spring Lyceum Company." Although the lectures were generally well attended, it was found difficult to get a quorum together at the annual meetings for the election of officers. Francis Miller suggested that if these meetings could be made interesting the people would. attend; he proposed that a historian and statis- tician should be appointed, to give at each Annual Meeting a sketch of events during the year. The idea was cordi- ally seconded, and William Henry Farquhar was elected Historian. The appreciative audiences since have demon- strated the wisdom of the plan; and from it sprang the following " Annals." After listening for twenty years to the reading of these records, it was resolved by a unani- mous vote in the session of 'S3, that they should be published in the form of a book.
The persons of whom the company was composed were chiefly, though by no means exclusively, members of the "Society of Friends," settled over the southeastern part of Montgomery County, Maryland. These primitive settlers of Sandy Spring neighborhood were confined within no precisely defined limits, but were linked to- gether by the ties of similarity in birth, education, and manner of living; without which, the attempt to con- dense the interests and incidents of ordinary life into one chronicle must be fruitless.
The writer has formed decided and possibly peculiar views in regard to the practicability of considering the people of a whole neighborhood as an entity in itself, one
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PREFACE.
united being, and thus claiming the right to give their Annals the more dignified name of History. Of this it is for the reader to judge. He will find a variety of topics ; and, though no abundance of rare or exciting in- cidents, yet a fair portion of those simple, homely traits in human life and character which are never without natural interest. The book is new, and it is truc. It tells the story of country life as it passes through suc- cessive periods, at long intervals. Agriculture is the chief subject and concern of the work; a subject requiring no excuse for intruding upon the people of America. We who are specially connected with it, as the principal busi- ness of our lives, cannot fail sometimes to observe that our position in the world is not properly appreciated, nor even fully understood. Believing this to be the case, we would fain supply the rest of the world with some im- portant facts to them unknown. The works written upon agriculture are naturally addressed chiefly to farmers ; but it is surely not amiss to promote a closer union of interests and ideas between the two halves into which the people of the United States are nearly equally divided, viz. the farmers and those not farmers.
The present book is not, as appears at sight, merely a transient local concern, describing the incidents which occur every year to a limited number of ordinary farmers residing in the interior of Maryland. Were that all. it. would require some assurance on the part of " The Sandy Spring Lyceum Company " to publish the book to the
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PREFACE.
world. But there is an impression in the minds of many persons outside of that company, and confirmed from time to time by visitors impartial and qualified to judge, that Sandy Spring is not quite an ordinary country neighbor- hood. In defence of this seeming pretension we invite our readers to commence with examining Chapter VII of this book, and the book itself.
If there is any truth in the flattering opinions expressed in the pages referred to (in which we all acknowledge a degree of exaggeration), it must be of some interest to other farmers to trace the course that has led to such results. In reviewing the various chapters it will be observed that one central idea of unlimited association has been the leading influence.
The book will contain an Appendix, which we believe will add to its interest and value. Meteorological Pheno- mena, carefully observed by Henry C. Hallowell and Allan Farquhar, for many years, exhibit the weather of this region-and all take an interest in the weather.
I could not close this preface without acknowledging the benefit which the Annals have received from the assistance of two Friends, Hadassah J. Moore and Mary B. Thomas.
WMr. H. FARQUHAR.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
Centres of settlement - The Sandy Spring : mistakes in its char- acter - Land patents - The unbroken forest - The Indians and wild animals - Tide of immigration rolling up from lower counties - First settlers - Adventures with wild beasts - Friends' Meeting - George Fox -- James Brooks - Evan Thomas - Simplicity of our ancestors - Emancipation - Three periods - Decline of soil - Revival - Bone dust and guano - Social, literary and business affairs ; insurance and savings institutions - Fidelity to principle. Page xiii.
ODE ON LYCEUM,
Page xxxVi.
CHAPTER I.
1803-1861.
Origin of the book - Historian's chief duty - Turnpike and map - First invasion by " the Gray " - Historical Society - Clubs, and other associations - Speeches by Judge Bowie, Judge Blair and Gov. Randall -Obituaries of John Elgar Hallowell, Caleb I'. Iddings and Matilda Gilpin. Page 1.
CHAPTER II. 1864-1865.
An eventful year- Charitable contributions - Uses of Lyceum Hall - Invasion of Maryland - Battles near home - Obituaries of Thos. P. Stabler, Evelyn Stabler, Bertha Miller, - Peirce, Tarleton Brooke, B. W. Waters. Alexander J. Brooke, Archi- bald D. Moore, William Chandlee and Mary H. Brooke.
Page 9.
..
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III:
1865-1866.
Tame annals happiest - Peace celebration - Lincoln mourning - Wheat declining -Sorghum - Schools -- Marriages numerous after the war - Mrs. Clarke's colored school - Obituaries of Elizabeth Briggs, Isabella Stabler. Timothy Kirk, Martha Thomas, Edward S. Hallowell, Annie Moore and Clarkson Sta- bler. Page 21.
CHAPTER IV.
1866-18CT.
Invitation to assist the Ilistorian- Farm improvements - Life of the clubs - Mercantile interest - Branch turnpike - Toll- gate - First appearance of railroad engineers - Literary so- ciety - Schools prosperous - Obituaries of three young chil- dren of Edward Peirce and R. S. Moore, Mary Brooke, Julia Miles and William Stabler. Page 31.
CHAPTER V. 1867-180S.
A changed neighborhood - A fair month following & discouraging - one - New road system, not the railroad - New school system - Savings institution organized - Five years' statistics -- Agreeable immigration - Obituary of Roger Brooke.
Page 40.
CHAPTER VI. 13GS-1569.
What is a neighborhood ?- Dien printanets- Attempt at a consue of the neighborhood - Fires and food - Political contest - Science in the Lyceum - Amusements- Hard times - Deaths, none. Page 50.
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII. 1869-1870.
Descriptions of Sandy Spring by William Darby, Moncure D. Con- way and A. G. Riddle, Esq. - " Noblesse oblige " - Dull year -Crops fairly good despite rainless months - The 16-year interval -- The societies flourish - Lectures of B. Hallowell and others - The girls ahead of the boys in respect to educa- tion - Obituaries of Abby Maigne, Dr. W. P. Palmer, George Brooke and Elizabeth Kirk. Page 60.
CHAPTER VIII. 1870-1871.
Why the Lyceum year commences with the 4th month - Moral- izing - Census of Friends' Meeting - New buildings and roads --- Norwood Branch - Home interests - Oyster-shell lime vs. phosphates - County agricultural fair - Society and late hours - " The marriage gale " - Deaths, none. Page 71.
CHAPTER IN. 1871-1872.
Variations of weather - More compliments from Mr. Ramsdel --- Summer boarders -- Birth of the various associations - Use of supper - Fresh news of railroads - Postoffice reports - " The Farmers' Convention " - Obituaries of Rachel G. Gilpin, Wil- liam Thomas, Mary E. Stone and Catharine Chandlee.
Page S3.
CHAPTER X. 1872-1873.
Progress of the history - Dry season and good crops - Epiznti - How does farming pay? - The labor question - Severe remarks on railroads- Extent of the association principle - Summary of ten years' statistics -Obituaries of Wilson Scot!, Isaac Bond, Ann Wetherald and Virginia Moore. Page 98.
-4 4%
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI.
1873-1874.
Resumption of the history - Influence of the age - Solid basis - Increase of travelling and of fresh meat - Economy - Dairy business extending -- Rise of the "Grange " - Lectures by Rev. J. F. W. Ware, Samuel Stabler, and others -- The Black Friday - The telegraph established at Olney, and the Metro- politan railroad at Rockville- Golden weddings - Obituaries of Walter Bond and Isaac Briggs. Page 116.
CHAPTER XII.
1874-1875.
"The bright side, the true side " - Progress always - Sandy Spring less affected by drought - The Colorado bug makes its appearance -- Encouraging views - Annual Convention of farmers highly successful - The Grange flourishing, and all the societies - Telegraph withdrawn - Obituaries of William D. Stabler, Elizabeth Frast and Roger B. Nesbit, and of Wil- liam Bellows, Sam'l Pumphrey and Thomas Marriott, three excellent colored men. Page 129.
CHAPTER XIII.
1875-1876.
Grumbling among farmers - The Centennial influences - Paris green effectual against the boys - A dairy association insti- tuted - A reporter of the San af ars at the " Farmers' Cou- vention " -- Obituaries of Mary B. Brooke, Margaret E. Hal- lowell, Samuel Thomas, Robert M. Farquhar, Sally Gilpin (95 years old), and Joseph Scott. Page 144.
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV.
1876-1877.
Ancient recollections - Animated pursuits - Sandy Spring at the Centennial - The Murderer caught - Presidential election - Defence of the Lyceum -Science -List of visitors at the Cen- tennial -- Obituaries of Anna Stabler, Howard Stabler, Samuel Miller, Harriet Iddings, Anna Holland, Deborah Paxson and Hannah Birdsall. Page 161.
CHAPTER XV. 1877-1878.
The story of the world -Influence of the Meeting House- Former remarkable seasons- Our bank - Telephones - Improved roads - Immigration of Baltimoreans- Book club-Character of the obituaries - Obituaries of Mary Chalfant, Elizabeth Plea- sants, Benjamin Hallowell and Sarah T. Brooke. Page 176.
CHAPTER XVI. 1878-1879.
Census of the Neighborhood -The great hailstorm -Stanmore school removed to Rockland - Pleasure tours in new directions - Relief to yellow fever sufferers - A bad sport - " Benevolent Aid Society " - Elections-Obituary of Frank Sullivan.
Page 195.
CHAPTER XVII.
1879-1880.
The largest tree -- Changes in man- A year of action -- Bain raising - Help to sick harvesters- New amusements - Nov Bible class -The great cyclone --- Sanitary facts - The success of the ladies at the Lyceum -- The Dickens calendar - Revising the discipline -- Two new societies-Obituaries of Ann M. Stabler, Phebe Farquhar and Alice Stabler, Page 12.
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVIII. 1880-1881.
Historian's proper business -Evolution-Darwinism -Local Option campaign - Census of Friends-Dr. Scott in Europe - Sad, sudden death of. Dr. J. W. Magruder -Orthodox Meeting - Glorious victory of local option - Afternoon First-Day Meeting - Fast driving - Obituaries of Samuel Ellicott, James Stone, B. R. Roberts and Judge R. J. Bowie. Page 232.
CHAPTER XIX. 1881-1882.
Early history of Sandy Spring, transferred to "The Introduction" -- The Women Board of Directors - Fund for benefit of library - Death of President Garfield - Ensilage - Aid to sufferers by Michigan fires- Election of Joseph T. Moore as senator of Montgomery County - New arrangements in Friends' graveyard -- Obituaries of Martha T. Harvey and Cleorah Palmer.
Page 252.
CHAPTER XX. 1882-1883.
Conclusion of the Lyceum company to print the annals - Epithets used in the war " scattered to the wind" - The army worm - Pleuro-pneumonia -- The three weddings at Rockland -- Higher school at Sherwood -- The bank -- Fire insurance company -- Last tribute - Obituaries of Eliza Brooke, Anna Stabler, Ed- ward Thomas, Mary B. Kirk, Caroline Stabler and Win. HIenry Stabler. Page 257.
PAGE.
Remini-cences of Thomas McCormick.
276
Letter on Mutual Insurance Company, of Hon. A. B. Davis, 281
Meteorological Notes, . € 285
INTRODUCTION.
It must be a natural conclusion of every one who com- mences to read "The Annals of a People for Twenty Years," that such a people, if worthy of these records, must have possessed something in the character of a previous history. In point of fact the (so-called) historian, who first ac- cepted the name, as a mock-title of dignity, had made careful researches into the facts relating to the carly history of " Sandy Spring Neighborhood," several years be- ";"ore the Lyceum Company instituted the annual records of which the following chapters consist. In the year 1860 a lecture was delivered by him at the Lyceum, as the result of those researches; many of the historical inci- dents being obtained from aged persons then alive, as well from all the books in his reach relating to the subject. What follows now will be
THE EARLY HISTORY OF SANDY SPRING.
In order that its position may be rightly understood it is necessary to remind the present reader that it was addressed to the same Lyceum Company which listened to the various chapters that follow.
At the commencement of this history it is proper to fix some definite ideas in regard to the region of the country which is included under the name "Sandy Spring.". The most distinguished writers tell us there have always been certain "centres of settlement" for all the principal nations. Humboldt speaks of " the central
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INTRODUCTION.
radiant points" as being of the highest importance first to understand.
Now where is our Central Radiant Point? In order to begin at the fountain-head, both literally and figur- atively, I made a pilgrimage to the Spring from which our neighborhood receives its name. A fraction of a mile south of the Lyceum and of our Meeting House, the waters flow out of the earth. I cannot say of them what Whittier tells us in describing the sources of the Saco river, among the White Hills of New Hampshire, that
" There. in wild and virgin freshness, its waters foam and flow,
As when Snowden first beheld them, near two hundred years ago."
Indeed. the place is very much changed since then. No longer does the water bubble up through the white sand that gave the spring its name, so famous once that the neighbors sent to it, some distance round, on account of its peculiar scouring and polishing excellence. Where the red Indian stopped to drink, unfastening the wild beast's skin from his swarthy neck ; where the white man chasing the deer, the wolf and the bear, first parted the tangled wildwood that clustered thick over the clear, refreshing fountain, we now see only the plain, ordinary spring of our common fields. Wagon loads of stone, together with alluvial deposits of other soil, have almost covered the large original basin, and the white sand of the original Sandy Spring exists only in history.
It is a singular fact that the name of our neighbor- hood, thus derived, has caused among strangers a double deception. On first hearing it they imagine (giving the latter part of the name a plural termination) that we bave here a regular watering place,-an honor to which we by no means aspire. On the other hand, the agri-
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INTRODUCTION.
cultural traveller expects to find a light, sandy soil -- the very opposite of that which the condition of our winter roads soon makes apparent.
Those who discovered and named our spring had no such quizzical intentions ; and it is the sincere, earnest and special desire of the inhabitants that the letters ad- dressed to our postoffice shall omit the final S, so often improperly used.
It is a circumstance much to be regretted that the name of the first discoverer of this particular region has not been found with any degree of certainty.
It appears from the earliest Land Records, that the first settlements were made soon after the beginning of the last century. The tract taken up under the name of "Snowden's Manor," which is now in possession of our friends, the Thomases and Stablers, was dated in 1715: " Beall's Manor," adjoining it on the south, five years later. The "Charles and Benjamin," a tract of land bo- ginning at a point not far from Hawlings river, and ex- tending in a very meandering direction, nearly through the heart of the neighborhood (as was unfortunately too much the old fashion of taking up fresh land), bears the date 1718. In and among and around several of these tracts, an independent grant of near 2000 acres was made to Major John Bradford, the 10th day of August, 1:16. and called " Charley Forrest," which must certainly be regarded as one of the chief " centres of settlement."
From this evidence we find very nearly the exact period when the wild lands of this region were conveyed by the Lord Proprietor of Maryland to the first regular settlers. ' No doubt the roving hunter, always pioneer in exploring new countries, had impressed " the white man's tread " as early as the latter half of the 17th century, or
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INTRODUCTION.
full 200 years ago. What did he find here, and what was the spectacle that met his eye? An unbroken forest covered the whole region, except in a few spots where the wigwams of the native Indian showed around them little patches of corn and tobacco, so few and far between as scarce to break the face of the primeval wilderness. A fact showing that the forest of these days was not, like ours, filled with shrubby undergrowth, was brought to my knowledge in riding with John M. Sandidge, himself a pioneer settler of the forests in the Southwest. He ventured to assure me that any of the old-time settlers would confirm the statement. Going on to "Brooke Grove" we proposed to the venerable Roger Brooke (then past 80 years of age), the opinion expressed by Mr. Sandidge. The old gentleman said at once that he was right, and related an incident that happened at a very early period. "A horse had got loose some miles up in the country and made his way down through the dense forest. His owner was able to follow his course by the distinct tracks left where the horse's feet were placed. This could not be readily done now."
. It appears quite certain that the Indians could never have existed here in any considerable numbers, from the circumstance that no burial place containing their re- mains, so far as I am able to learn, has been discovered hereabout. And this is one of the monuments which perishing mortality is sure to leave behind it, where has been even a moderate population. The absence of graves, and scarcity of other remains, go to redeem our fore- fathers from any large share in the extermination of that doomed people. Arrow-heads, with a few rude attempts at the manufacture of culinary utensils, are occasionally picked up still in our fields.
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INTRODUCTION.
Next we come to the wild animals that abode in these forests. The bear, the panther, the wolf, the deer, and some others long extinct, shared the woods with the human inhabitants scarce less wild than they. Evidences of their existence are found in the names given to the tracts of land taken up by the first settlers of our country. Such designations contained in the original patents as " Bear Den," " Bear Garden," "Deer Park," "Wolf Den," and others of similar signification are quite numerous; while "Bear Bacon," one of the very ancient patents, lying on the Laurel road, about Spencerville, serves as a plain indication of the use often made of these wild tenants of the forest.
Into this waste and wilderness, bearing scarce any im- press but from Nature's hand, rolled slowly and gradually, from the southeast, the tide of immigration. The region of our State lying toward the mouth of the Potomac re- ceived its first European settlers in the year 1634. The companions of Cecilius Calvert, a brother of Lord Baltimore, came over in two small vessels, bearing the auspicious names of " The Ark" and " The Dove": Ark of refuge-Dove of peace. The liberal policy of those Catholic founders of Maryland, securing to all who came that rare boon in those benighted ages-religious toleration to all scots-attracted a mingled crowd of emigrants from many lands. The lower counties were first partially occupied ; and it required about three-fourths of a century for the tide of immigration, passing successively through, and instituting first St. Mary's, then Charles, then Prince George's, at length reaching our borders. In 1748 what is now Montgomery was made part of Frederick county, continuing so till 1776. The route can be traced by the dates of the Land Patents along the
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INTRODUCTION.
line of the Laurel Road. The tract of " Bear Bacon," before mentioned, at or near Spencerville, is of 1703, while those lying farther cast were still earlier. Snowden's Manor, on this side, is only twelve years younger, which shows how slowly the settlement progressed westward. It appears that emigration taking this direction was determined by an old Indian trail, used now as the bed of the road; and the coincidence is not uninteresting, as the same road which formed the avenue of approach for the earliest settlement of this neighborhood, after lying many years almost unused, has become in these times the way by which we communicate daily with the rest of the world. Our best conveyance is still by stage; but great hopes are entertained of seeing the car moving with lively speed along that same road, albeit the "narrow gange " be the means.
It is time now to show that the true fathers of "Sandy Spring Neighborhood " were not the first settlers. Neither Major Bradford, nor the Richardsons, nor Charles Beall, nor Benjamin Berry, had much to do with laying the foundation. It was left to another band, immediately following, to form the institutions, to impress the char- acter and affix the name. Drawn to Maryland by the re- ligious toleration denied them in the old world, "the Friends," or " People called Quakers," appeared in this colony in considerable numbers at quite an early period. In 1672 George Fox himself.came over; and (borrowing now from the work of Lackland Davis) " proceeded on his mission. Being a true reformer, a man of rude but powerful eloquence, his fame had preceded him. Travel- ling with an energy almost incredible over various parts of the continent, through forests and thickets, through deep marshes and dangerous bogs-crossing
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INTRODUCTION.
rivers and bays in canoes and sleeping in the open woods ; preaching at the cliff's of the Patuxent and upon the banks of the Severn, upon the Choptank and elsewhere to Indians and crowds of colonists ; speaking before abor- iginal kings and leading emigrants from the Old World ; giving utterance to the Spirit in words of fire, and with all the power of an Apostle-no wonder he promoted the growth of a denomination which soon absorbed a number of the most distinguished families of the Province." And so it is that George Fox, though never here in person, was the founder of Sandy Spring !
The Friends, who had been fortified by the harsh, but strengthening hand of persecution in the Old World, and fitted to bear the hardships of the New, appeared at this place in sufficient numbers to organize a meeting a while before the middle of the last century. In the minutes of an ancient monthly meeting held at the Cliff's and Herring Creek is contained the first mention that I have seen of the "Meeting at Sandy Spring," presenting its report to the former meeting on "the 27th of the 7th month. 1255." The first members composing the meeting appear to have belonged to the families of the Brookes, the Thomases and Snowdens. It was in 1712 that Richard Snowden conveyed 500 acres, part of his Manor, to Philip Thomas. It is stated on the Genealogical Tree of the Brooke family-a complete and beautiful picture recently pro- duced by the delicate labors of Mary C. Brooke of Avon- that James Brooke settled at "Charley Forrest" in 1 ?? S. and founded in our county the well-known family of th .: + mune. He was a descendant of one Robert Brooke. wh had emigrated from England in 1650 to St. Mary's county, bringing with him a large family and a numerous band of retainers. The Brooke family, like the Calverts, Wele
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