A history of Washington County, Maryland from the earliest settlements to the present time, including a history of Hagerstown, Part 63

Author: Williams, Thomas J. C. (Thomas John Chew)
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: [Chambersburg, Pa.] : J.M. Runk & L.R.
Number of Pages: 622

USA > Maryland > Washington County > Hagerstown > A history of Washington County, Maryland from the earliest settlements to the present time, including a history of Hagerstown > Part 63

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*The Hagerstown Mail in November, 1885, pub- lished the following:

St. John's Episcopal Church on Prospect Street, the third church of the parish, is now so far complet- ed as to be fit for occupancy. The Sunday School room, under the rear end of the church, has been used for holding services since October, 1873. Our readers will recollect that the old church on Jonathan Street was destroyed by fire with the Court House on the night of December 23, 1871. This was quite an old building, having been built in the early part of the century, to replace the first church, which stood upon the site of the present Episcopal burying ground opposite the seminary.

Just before the fire, the former popular Rector, the Rev. Mr. Haines, had tendered his resignation, and the present Rector, the Rev. W. A. Mitchell, was called by the vestry to fill the position. Upon the arrival of Mr. Mitchell in the spring of 1872 he turn- ed his attention to rebuilding the church and it is mainly owing to his exertions and untiring energy that the congregation are so soon provided with one of the handsomest churches in the diocese.

The new church is situated on the corner of Prospect and Antietam Streets, in the most com- manding situation of the town. The architecture is Gothic, and the shape cruciform. The plan seems almost faultless. The material of which the walls are constructed is the native blue hammered lime- stone. The following is a list of persons employed upon the building:

Building Committee-Rev. W. A. Mitchell, Dr. Fred'k Dorsey, Geo. W. Harris and Geo. W. Pole, Esq'rs.

Architect-E. T. Littell, of New York.

Contractor of Masonry-Wm. Eyerly.

Franees Kennedy built a useful Parish House, as a memorial to her two deeeased sons, Frank and Howard Kennedy .*

The Episcopal Church seems to have been the first religious denomination to establish itself within the limits of Washington County. It was at the time the established church in Maryland. Many of the largest landowners were of that faith, and places of worship were provided by the Leg- islature. The whole County was contained in All Saints Parish, Frederiek County. A small ehapel was built at an early date in the woods between the present College of St. James and the Sharps- burg turnpike, which is still known as "Chapel Woods." In 1761 a petition was sent to the leg- islature representing that this ehapel was decayed and too small to contain the congregation, and asking for a more commodious place of worship. This was built, but it has long sinee disappeared, and the site is marked only by a number of grave stones, which still remain.

In 1770, St. John's Parish which included

Contractor of Outside Carpenters' Work, Roof, &c .- C. W. Stover. Contractor for Finishing Inside-R. C. Thorn- burg. Plasterer-John Lushbaugh.

Heating Apparatus-Oscar Bellman.

The seating capacity of the church is 450, the pews are of handsome oiled walnut and chestnut, and there are three aisles, one central and two sides. The walls are a neutral drab color, and wains- cotted 4 feet from the floor, with alternated beaded walnut and chestnut planks, oiled. The ceiling is open, and is painted cobalt blue, the rafters and braces chocolate color, chamfered with vermillion. The church is finished with walnut and the furniture is of the same wood, made by Lamb, of New York. The Vestry room and organ chamber are in the angle of the south transcept and chancel, the latter divided from the chancel by open screen work. The windows, made by Messrs. Stack & Booth, of Orange, New Jersey, are exceedingly handsome and rich in their coloring. The central light of the chancel window is a figure of St. John, the two side lights, figured stained glass, the three upper circular win- dows are figures of adoring angels with trumpet, lute and harp. There are three handsome windows in the south transcept, one, the subject of which is the Annunciation and Nativity, contributed by the Sunday School of the church, costing about $160. Another, representing the Presentation in the Tem- ple and our Lord among the Doctors, is memorial of the late Major Holker Hughes; the window in mem- ory of Miss Anna Fitzhugh, is triangular, and rep- resents the adoration of the wise men. In the north transcept is a large circular window representing the Ascension. The other windows are of diamond- shaped buff with stained glass.

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OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND.

all of the State west of South Mountain except Pleasant Valley, was created. At that time the Rev. Bennett Allen, Rector of All Saints, Frederick, resided in Elizabeth Town, and had a curate io look after the parish church in Frederiek. Mr. Allen was an Englishman and when the Revolu- tion began he returned to his native country.

One of the early clergymen of the Episcopal Church to make his home in Washington County was the Rev. Bartholomew Booth. He was a na- tive of England and a descendant or relative of Lord Delamere. He took his degree at Oxford in 1754; in the next year he was ordained deacon by the Bishop of Chester, and in 1758 was elevated to the priesthood. About 1770 he came to Amer- ica, and settled in Frederiek County at the eastern foot of South Mountain near the present town of Burkittsville. His home there was "Needwood," afterwards owned by Governor Thomas Sim Lee, whose descendants owned it until a few years ago.

At the beginning of the Revolution, the clergymen of the Church of England, or the Epis- eopal Church, as it was called in this country, did not enjoy the popular favor. Many of them were men of "earnal minds," sent over from Eng- land to enjoy livings seeured for them by family influenee, who were more interested in fox-hunting than in doing the work of an evangelist. These men were supported by taxation, and the people resented it. Some of them, however, were mcn of genuine piety and a few were Americans who had gone to England for ordination. These Americans, like the rest, had been required to take the oath of allegianee to the British Gov- ernment at their ordination, and they, as a rule felt that oath binding upon their conscience until the government had given place to another which demanded their allegiance. This natural senti- ment of honest men produced the impression among their neighbors that these clergymen were "Tories" and some of them suffered a measure of proscription and some persecution. All were inhibited from conducting publie worship and preaching. Bartholomew Booth suffered with the rest and so pronounced did the hostility of the people around him become, that he fled aeross the mountain to Washington County, and settled down on the banks of the Antietam where Beaver Creek flows into it-a place of great natural beau- ty, popularly known as the "Devil's Baek Bone.' It was just at this point that Braddock's Army

erossed the Antietam some twenty years before. Mr. Booth purchased here a large tract of land, which he ealled "Delamere" after the title of the Booth family in England. Upon a commanding eminenee above the brawling creek he built his home, and later, a mill, turned by the waters of the creek. This mill, known as the "Delamere Mill," under the successive ownership of many possessors, continued to supply the surrounding country with flour and lumber until it was de- stroyed by fire near the end of the nineteenth cen- tury. The old homestead and a part of the great Booth tract is now owned by Dr. William Booth living at present in Colorado, a descendant of Bartholomew. Other portions of the original tract are also owned by descendants of the Rev. Mr. Booth, brothers and sisters of Dr. Booth. Bartholomew Booth established a school at Dele- mere which gained a high reputation. Here he instructed sons of many y prominent people. Among the patrons of his school were Robert Mor- ris, Edward Shippen of Philadelphia, Gen. Bene- dict Arnold, Gen. Charles Lee and Mrs. Hannah Washington. The son of the latter, who attended school at Delemere was afterwards Justice Wash- ington of the Supreme Court of the United States. Dr. William Booth inherited a number of letters from these patrons which bear the striking testi- mony to the reputation and the excellence of this first school west of the mountains. Robert Morris wrote to him from "York in Pennsylvania, Nov. 25, 1777." In his letter, this distinguished citi- zen and patriot said :

"Sir-The high reputation you have acquired by your institution for the instruction of youth must naturally create a desire in many parents to have their sons admitted into so promising a sem- inary, and I am amongst the number of those who admire your character and wish my son to partake the advantages of instruction from so accomplished a gentleman. I expect none but the customary terms and without inquiring what those are I shall readily comply with them. My ehild reads and writes English tolerably for a boy not yet eight years old : he is just entering on Latin with a master in this place, but we are at a loss for school books, as none are now in the shops for sale. I shall write to Europe for some as soon as possible. Understanding that you limit the number of seholars, I address you now to know if my son can be admitted, and if he ean I will

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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD

bring or send him as soon as convenient. With respect and esteem, I remain, sir, your obedient, humble servant, ROBERT MORRIS."

That Mr. Morris was not disappointed in the school of which he had heard so favorably, is proved by a letter which Mr. Booth received a year and a half later, from Edward Shippen, of Philadelphia, who wrote from that city under date of May 29, 1779 .. He had been anxious, Mr. Shippen wrote, "to have my son admitted to a share of your instruction, but till lately have had no expectation of it from a belief that your num- ber of pupils was complete. However, on con- sulting with Mr. Robert Morris and Mr. Pur- viance, I have reason to expect there is still a vacancy and they both encourage and advise me to send my boy by this opportunity. Relying therefore on their recommendation and opinion that he will not be rejected, I take the liberty of ' sending him in company. with Gen. Arnold's son and a son of Col. Plater, and at the same time have enclosed in a bundle in my son's trunk the like sum of money which other gentlemen have agreed to pay you * * * I am told you have sent a bond to the other gentlemen."

Instead of sending "a son" along with Mr. Shippen's boy Gen. Arnold sent two. Hc had married a second time. and his young wife, per- haps found her husband's sons a good deal in the way, as Gen Arnold was then leading a fashion- able life, living in one of the handsomest resi- dences in Philadelphia, and incurring those debts which helped to drive him to ruin and disgrace the next year. In the letter which his sons car- ried to Booth, Gen. Arnold also testified to his esteem for the teacher. "I am extremely happy in committing the care of their education," he wrote, "to a gentleman so universally esteemed and admired, not in the least doubting your care and attention to them in every particular. Let me beg of you my dear sir, to treat them in the same manner as you would your own; when they deserve correction, I wish not to have them spared. They have been for some time in this city which is a bad school and my situation has prevented my paying that attention to them I otherwise should have done. If they have Contracted any bad Habits they are not of a long standing, and I make no doubt, under your ('are they will soon forget them. I wish their Education to be useful rather than learned. Life is too short and un- certain to throw away in speculation on subjects

that perhaps one man in Ten thousand has a genius to make a figure in,-you will pardon iny dietating to you Sir, but as the Fortunes of every Man in this Country are uncertain, I wish my Sons to be Educated in such a Manner that with prudence and Industry they may acquire a For- tunc (in case they are deprived of their patri- mony) as well as to become useful Members of society.

"My taylor has disappointed me and sent home their clothes unfinished. I am therefore under the necessity of sending them undone or detaining the Waggon; I cannot think of doing the latter, and must beg the favor of you to pro- cure their clothes finished and some new ones made out of my old ones. I must beg you to pur- chase any little matters necessary for them. I have enclosed three hundred Dollars for their use out of which you will please to give them as much to spend as you think Proper, with this con- dition that they render to you a Regular account as often as you think necessary of their Expenses, a copy of which I shall expect they will transmit to me, this will teach them economy, and Method, so necessary in almost every thing in Life.

"If there is any Books wanting I beg you to purchase them, and whenever you are in want of money to draw on me. I shall expect they will write to me frequently-of this they will doubtless want reminding.

"I have the honor to be with great Respect and Esteem, Dear Sir, your most obedient Hum- ble Servt. B. ARNOLD.

Mr. Booth's school continued and prospered for many years, and there is still standing a log house which it is believed was the school house in which many boys who became distinguished men, were educated.

As has been already stated, St. John's Parish Washington County, at that time Antietam Hun- dred of Frederick County, was erected by the Leg- islature in 1770. But it would appear that there was no Episcopal Church in Hagerstown until after the Revolution. The records of the vestry of the parish begin that year and tell us that on April 21, "A number of. the inhabitants of Wash- ington County professing the Protestant religion of the Episcopal Church" met in the Court House in Elizabethtown, organized a congregation and elected a vestry. The vestry then elected were John Stull, Daniel Hughes, Alexander Clagett, Thomas Sprigg, Richard Pindell, Nathaniel Roeh-

385

OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND.

ester and Eli Williams. These were among the strongest and most distinguished men in the County, and indeed in the State. Most of them had served their country in the war just over. Col. John Stull had been at the head of the nien who governed the County until the State govern- ment was in full operation, and was one of the Justices of the County Court for years. He was a member of the convention which ratified the Con- stitution of the United States, and took a leading part in urging the adoption of that instrument. Daniel Hughes was also a patriot of the Revolu- tion. He was an iron founder and made at Mt. Etna furnace some of the cannon used by the Continental Army. Alexander Clagett was a dis- tant relative of the Bishop of the Diocese. He was a patriot of the Revolution, and for three years was sheriff of Washington County, then the most important local office. In 1818, he removed to Baltimore to reside and died there three years later. Gen. Thomas Sprigg was a soldier of the Revolution and member of Congress; Dr. Rich- ard Pindell was a distinguished physician. He was a brother-in-law of Henry Clay, having mar- ried a daughter of Col. Thos. Hart. In 1793, he went with Col. Hart to Kentucky. Nathaniel Rochester was a native of Westmoreland County, Va., was Deputy Commissary General of Military Stores for the Revolutionary troops for Orange County, N. C. After the war he came to Hagers- town, engaged in maufacturing, established the Hagerstown Bank and later founded the City of Rochester, N. Y., which was named after him. Eli Williams was a soldier of the Revolution, a brother of Gen. Otho Holland Williams, and the first clerk of the Circuit Court for Washington County.

This vestry gave out a contract for building the parish church, which was erected on the lot now occupied by the Episcopal graveyard, at the then southern end of Locust street. The contract for 26,000 bricks was awarded to Henry Bowart, and John Willar was employed to do the carpen- ter's and joiner's work. Subscriptions were made in work and material, as there was then no na- tional currency, and most ordinary transactions were done by barter. It was several years before the church was completed, and it was a substan- tial brick building but so small that the congre- gation outgrew it before many years, even though an addition was made to it in 1797. The first rector was the Rev. George Bower, who served

.from December 1, 1786, until his death in 1813. He was buried at the church, and his grave has recently been discovered. In 1788, however, Mr. Bower left, to become Rector of Queen Caroline parish, Anne Arundel County, but returned to Hagerstown within the year.

Mr. Bower's salary was £100 per annum, which was subsequently increased to £150 and then re- duced to $400. Rezin Davis and William Prather were the church wardens, and Nathaniel Roch- ester Register of the parish. It must be confess- ed that Mr. Bower was not overpaid for the work he performed. In a letter to the Right Rev. Thomas John Claggett, Bishop of the Diocese, dated July 1, 1797, Mr. Bower, after saying that the congregation in Hagerstown had become "very respectable," and that the addition to the church was not yet completed, gave the routine of his duties as follows: "I attend here (Hagerstown) every other Sunday, at Fredericktown every fourth Sunday, at Taneytown every fourth Sunday." This continued throughout the year. Fred- erick is about 24 miles distant, and Taney- town about 40 miles. The roads across the moun- tains and through the valleys were mere muddy trails in the spring and winter, and the journeys backwards and forwards must have been a great burden. His parishioners, Mr. Bower said, were "scattered about this extensive parish, -which con- tains three counties, and is, I believe, near one hundred and fifty miles in length, reaching from Baltimore County to the end of the State."

Mr. Bower was a man of some importance in the diocese, and was for a number of years mem- ber of the standing committee. Mr. Hezekiah Clagett was the first lay delegate from the Hagers- town Church to the Diocesan convention. On Sept. 13, 1813, the Rev. Thomas P. Irving was elected Rector at a salary of $400 a year. He was a native of Somerset County, Md. In 1816, he resigned on account of ill health and died the next year. His successor was the Rev. Joseph Jackson, an Englishman by birth, who continued in the charge but one year, when he resigned and was succeded by the Rev. John Curtis Clay who also left after a year's service. Later he became Rec- tor of Gloria Dei Church in Philadelphia, where he died in 1863. The next Rector of St. John's was the Rev. Samuel B. Shaw, of Massachusetts, elected Feb. 27, 1822, and he was succeeded six months later by Rev. George Lemmon, a native of Baltimore, elected October 12, 1822, at a salary

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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD

of $800. For six years he continued his pastor- ate, and during this time the new church on South Jonathan street was completed, paid for and consecrated June 18, 1825, by Bishop James Kemp.

The removal from Locust street to Jonathan street was determined upon at a meeting of the vestry held August 31, 1813. It seems remark- able that the old site ever was selected, as there were at the time few, if any, residences in that quarter. The congregation lived along Potomac, Washington and Franklin streets and the road to the church was doubtless at times almost block- aded by the mud. The building committee of the new church was composed of Eli Beatty, cash- ier of the Hagerstown Bank, George Baer, Otho H. Williams, Clerk of the Court, and Franklin Anderson. This committee bought a lot on Jon. atlıan street from Christian Fechtig for $600. Among the contracts for the building was one with Daniel Sprigg for 100,000 bricks.

The Rev. Robert Brent Drane was elected Rector June 26, 1828. He was a native of Mary- land. In 1835, the parsonage on the corner of Jonathan and Antietam streets, was built. After the church was burned in 1871, this parsonage was sold to Dr. A. S. Mason. Mr. Drane resigned April 26, 1836, because as he explained in reply to an inquiry by the vestry "of the malicious and vindictive conduct of some" who, he said, tried to destroy his influence as a clergyman. He sub- sequently became rector of St. James' Church, Wil- mington, N. C., and President of Shelbyville Col- lege, Kentucky. The Rev. John Wiley, of Dela- ware, was elected April 2, 1837 and he was suc- ceeded in 1840 by the Rev. Theodore B. Lyman of Connecticut, afterwards Bishop of North Car- olina. During his pastorate the church was en- larged and repaired, and he took a leading part in co-operation with Bishop Whittingham, in founding the College of St. James. In 1849 Dr. Lyman left Hagerstown for Columbia, Pa.

In September, 1850, the Rev. William G. Jackson, a native of England, became rector of St. John's. In 1852 he married Mrs. Lydia E. Kennedy, a daughter of Col. Jacob Hollingsworth, of Hagerstown. In 1853, the Rov. Walter N. Ayrault was elected to succeed Mr. Jackson, who had resigned, and he in turn was succeeded in 1857 by the Rev. Henry Edwards of Connecticut, who administered the affairs of the parish until 1867, when he became rector of St. Mark's Church,

Lappons X Roads, St. Paul's, Sharpsburg, and had in addition for many years charge of St. Luke's, Pleasant Valley, and St. Andrew's, Clear- spring. He continued to live in Hagerstown un- til his death in 1899. Mr. Edward's rectorship covered the period of the Civil War and it was a stormy time. Being a Northern man his sym- pathies were for the union and he never made any compromise with his conscience. The major- ity of his congregation were friends of the South, and bitter differences arose out of these questions. Mr. Edwards was charged by the Government with the spiritual care of a number of hospitals, and received a commission as an army chaplain. He was a man of unbounded charity, and while bit- terly opposed to the South that made no difference in his ministration to sick and wounded Confed- erate soldiers.

After the termination of Mr. Edward's pas- torate in January, 1867, the Rev. Claudius R. IIaines was elected, and in 1872 the Rev Walter A. Mitchell, a native of St. Mary's County, Md., took charge of the parish. This good man served the parish for just twenty years, a longer term than that of any of his predecessors, except tlie Rev. George Bower. When he came to Hagers- town the 1st of January, 1872, he found the church in ruins, the congregation scattered and disheartened. When he left in 1892, there stood on one of the most commanding situations in the town a magnificent church, which had cost about $50.000 and which was fully paid for; and upon the same street a fine rectory had been purchased. The parish church had been built and a prosper- dus mission established in the Eastern part of the town. The parish house was also built in these years, and all the agencies of parish work in- creased.

The present Rector, the Rev. Henry Evan Cotton, succeeded to the parish in 1893. Under his care the Rectory was sold and a fine stone Rectory built. adjoining the church. A new organ has been installed and several beautiful me- miorial windows placed : the chancel has been re- modeled, and splendidly decorated by Mrs. Henry Rosenburg, who also contributed a fine chancel window and erected a tablet in memory of her father, Dr. Charles Macgill, for years a vestryman of the parish.

Among the vestrymen of St. John's parish during its long history. in addition to those already mentioned, we find the names of Hezekiah Clagett,

Presbyterian Church, Hagerstown.

sear

Zion Reformed Church, Hagerstown.

389

OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND.

William Reynolds, Cephas Beall, Charles Ogle, William Fitzhugh, Benjamin Clagett, Frisby Tilghman, Samuel Ringgold, Benj. Galloway, Thomas Grieves, Thomas B. Hall, Otho H. W. Stull, Daniel Hughes, Jr., John Ragan, Harry Lewis, Eli Beatty, Daniel Sprigg, Otho Lawrence, Edward Gaither, Marmaduke Boyd, J. P. Dall, Horatio McPherson, Dr. Frederick Dorsey, John R. Dall, Joseph I. Merrick, Jacob Hollingsworth, John Thompson Mason, Peregrine Fitzhugh, Jer- vis Spencer, Judge William Motter, Washington Berry, Dr. T. W. Simmons, Dr. William Ragan, Dr. Frederick Dorsey, Jr., D. Gaither Huyett, George W. Pole, George W. Harris, Alonzo Berry, B. Howell Griswold, Buchanan Schley, Alexander Neill, Henry A. McComas, T. J. C. Williams, Admiral D. McN. Fairfax, Herman C. Koehler, Alex. Hagner, J. Clarence Lane, Col. Win. P. Lane and A. W. Lucas.

On Christmas day 1875 the new Presbyterian Church on the corner of Washington and Pros- pect, was dedicated and occupied for the first time. The Rev. J. C. Thompson was at that time the pastor of this, which is one of the historic congregations of Washington County. On the day of the dedication the Rev. J. T. Smith, of Baltimore, preached in the morning, and Rev. Geo. P. Hayes, D. D., President of Washington College, in the evening. The new church is of beautiful design, occupying one of the finest lots in the town. It is of the native blue limestone. The triple window in the front is a memorial to Victor Thompson, a generous contributor to the church in his will.

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A history of Washington County, Maryland from the earliest settlements to the present time, including a history of Hagerstown, Part 63

Author: Williams, Thomas J. C. (Thomas John Chew) Publication date: 1906 Publisher: [Chambersburg, Pa.] : J.M. Runk & L.R. Number of Pages: 622

Author: Williams, Thomas J. C. (Thomas John Chew)
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: [Chambersburg, Pa.] : J.M. Runk & L.R.
Number of Pages: 622