USA > Maryland > Montgomery County > Sandy Spring > Annals of Sandy Spring history of a rural community in Maryland, Volume 1 > Part 14
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There follows an extract from the Baltimore American, giving the last and most authentic news about the never- to-be-omitted "Sandy Spring Railroad": "Mr. Keyser exhibited a map, showing a line from Hanover on the Washington Branch, to the Metropolitan Road, which would relieve the Washington Branch entirely of the through business. That road would have been built be- fore this, but for financial difficulties. It will be about twenty-five miles, and cost about $1,000,000. That road will yet be-must be-built."
I always told you that a railroad through Sandy Spring was a sure thing-as sure as taxes !
My associate mentions that we had a large, good Quar- terly Meeting, in Sixth Month last. This item of the year's history recalls another of quite sufficient import- ance to make it matter of record. A move was made toward dropping the Sandy Spring " Preparative Meet- ing," as having become rather matter of form than of substance. Difficulties were found to be in the way, which led to a general agreement not to urge the matter, though
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it can scarcely be said that the convictions of its advocate- were changed.
The page which contains a reference to Meeting affairs might be considered a proper place to record delinquencies of our young folks ( of course old folks don't have any of the sort referred to); I mean those excesses of the social impulses that lead to turning day into night, or night into day, one or both, and the hurtful loss of sleep, or its trans- fer from the carlier parts of the night to the earlier parts of the day. If this sketch were a moral discourse, instead of a History, I should feel just like Franklin, when his graceless nephew desired to write a promissory note ac. knowledging a loan : the wise old man said: "You have the money, but don't waste paper." Your historian is differently situated; he has nothing to do with reforming people-his business is to record facts of sufficient import - ance; and one of these facts is, that the delinquency afore- said has increased, is increasing, and ought-but it is not my province to dictate what any person ought to do. Still a historian, while bound to relate facts that may affect the manners and morals of the community which he describes, may indulge himself in an ejaculation such as this: " How soon will our young people discover that their own homes have social claims on their leisure 10. ments, and that 'evenings at home' might often by made as pleasant as in any other place ? " Of course they all expect to find it so, with the proper companion. But ah! it seems to require preparation and use to know how rightly to enjoy the home. If the bee did not learn to make honey in the parental hive, before swarming. i. would fail in the new one, had he ever so fine a g.o .d mayhap there would be little honey, but plenty of sting ...
This last allusion ( to the honey, of course) naturali.
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brings us to the record of marriages for the year. This department is brief, but oh, how much can be told in one short line !
Married, 10th Month, 7th, 1875, Annie Miller to Joseph M. Shoemaker, of Philadelphia. When these strangers (be they ever so nice) come and take away our girls, it is some satisfaction to place her name first, as being that with which we are most concerned.
This portion of our record being small the present year, there is some satisfaction in referring to an associated an- niversary, always interesting,-the Golden Wedding in August last, of Caleb and Ann Stabler, grandparents of the bride just named. Although at the request of the parties there was no celebration of the event, yet none the less did many an affectionate prayer go up from numerous friends, that their remaining days may be lit up with golden reflections from the memories of their well-spent lives. The last month of the year saw their old homestead broken up, but not their home.
Close in the same neighborhood another anniversary took place, the Tin Wedding of Asa and Albina Stabler.
Being " short" on this marriage stock, it is proper to make much out of little. Tin Weddings are not much ; but while discoursing of the historie subject, it is proper to record the remarkable circumstance that the three brothers Stabler-Edward, Caleb, and Henry-should have passed the 50th anniversary of their marriage within less than two years of each other : making, with Benjamin Hallowell's, four such anniversaries, all in the same neigh- borhood.
My associate writes, that in order to repair an omission inade last year, she desires me to record the marriage of G. W. C. Beall and Mary Palmer.
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Births in the neighborhood during the year, 3 boys and 1 girl.
The next and last part of our record for the year shows a resultaltogether unprecedented in our Annals ; the number of deaths exceeding the aggregate of births and marriages. It is with pain I proceed to the narrative ; pain softened. by the sympathy of many hearts present.
It is proper that I should use the pens of my associates. instead of indulging too far the expression of my own feelings in the delineation of persons so near and dear to myself individually, though better known to none than to me.
At Falling Green, Fourth Month, 18th, 1875, Mary F. Brooke, just two months after a pleasant gathering of near relatives at her residence, to celebrate her seventy-seventhi birthday; loved and respected by all who knew her, she possessed a character in which rare intelligence and sweet- ness were combined.
Two weeks afterwards, at Rockland, Fifth Month, Ist. Margaret E. Hallowell, wife of Benjamin Hallowell (and sister of the writer), closed a long, useful and precious lif .. wanting a few months of seventy-seven years. She was married in the same year as the preceding cousin : they were close friends in their youth, womanhood and old age ; their remains rest side by side in the " old kirkyard."
Fourth Month, 23d, Joseph Scott, an aged unele of Caroline B. Scott, died at her house, and was buried at the Meeting House. Known, as I believe, to few, no harm was ever said of him.
Eleventh Month. 22d. Samuel Thomas. son of Edward. died after a very long and suffering illness. " He lias ho doubt entered the beautiful land where the weary are a: rest." Ilis custom of friemlly salutation with the warm pressure of his hand remains still in my memory.
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" An empty cradle," my associate says, "stands for the next record." A page of the last chapter, written a year ago, mentions that "in the blooming month of May, the extreme southwestern verge of our neighborhood was gladdened by the arrival of a boy, to whom was given the name of Robert M. Farquhar." His little frame of more than ordinary beauty was struck within a few months by a strange disease. Being carried in the hope of relief to Lakeside, Baltimore county, he died there on the 20th day of the Tenth Month, and was returned to his parents' home.
My young friend adds these lines from George Herbert :
" It is not growing like a tree In bulk, doth make man better be ; Or standing long an oak. Three hundred year, To fall a log, at last, Dry, bald, and sere :
The lily of a day Is fairer far than they ; Although it fall and die that night. It was the plant and flower of Light."
Second Month, 21st, 1876, Aunt Sally Gilpin died, aged ninety-five years and eight months. This is probably the greatest age ever reached in this neighborhood. While she lived, five generations subsisted at one time among us.
These six deaths are all that properly can be said to belong to our neighborhood. Yet it would seem unnatural to omit the mention of the death of Benjamin P. Moore at Fallston, Harford county, on the 25th, Fourth Month, in his eighty-fourth year, so numerous are his relatives and friends here, who highly esteemed the man that filled the measure of a Christian gentleman.
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. It is also proper to notice the burial, Fourth Month, 10th, of Mortimer Osborn, whose dying request was ful- filled, that he might be brought to Sandy Spring to be interred.
I close with decidedly the most startling and sensa- tional event of the year. This was the sudden appearance of a person professing to be one Marcus Nutting, well known in the western border of our neighborhood, who left his family twenty-seven years ago, and was universally supposed to be dead; but now returns to claim valuabk. property, sold by his family years ago in order to provide subsistence, and greatly improved by other hands. He would fain reap where he did not sow. Perhaps it is lawful to hope it will turn out a Tichborne case.
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CHAPTER XIV.
FROM FOURTH MONTH, 3D, 1876, TO FOURTH MONTH, 2D, 1827.
Ancient recollections -Questions touching the future -- Animate 1 pursuit in agricultural improvements -- Various products of the crops - How hay should go to market -Of the potato predie- . tion - Peculiarities of the weather - Improvements of mills -- Railroads very slightly referred to-Sandy Spring at the Centennial - The tramps and murderer; how the latter wu- caught - Discussions of the Presidential election - The beacon lights of true progress -- Monkey and hand organ --- Defence of the Lyceum -Science invites more attention, as comprising all that is worth knowing, all that there is to know -Triumph of the elder Farmers' Club at Annual Convention -Sleighing and Barns - List of visitors to the Centennial.
I preface the narrative of the present year by reading a historical sketch of our neighborhood, referring to a period
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considerably further back than any hitherto described in these pages. (See Appendix.)
According to the recollections of this ancient chroni- cler, it would appear that Sandy Spring had its attractions and its notabilities, even so long ago as the beginning of the present century ; that there were men and women here of worth and character, even before we came on the stage of action, and pointing to hopeful grounds for believing that " wisdom will not die with us." In reminiscences such as these, and the prospects they suggest, lie the interest and value of history.
A distinguished living writer, whose profound work on the " Intellectual Development of Europe " has lately been added to our Library, strongly advocates the doctrine that every institution, community and nation, large or small, has, like the individual, its beginning, growth, maturity, decline and extinction. I am not quite satisfied with the evidences which Mr. Draper gives of his theory; but if it is indeed an inexorable law of nature, then shall we also have to contemplate the fate of our neighborhood as some- thing inevitable. We may, however, derive some comfort from the reflection, that the modern scientific prophets are by no means stingy in the length of time they allot to periods past and to come. With a lavish hand they give us years, centuries, acons, as necessary to bring about the changes that have occurred, as well as those which they predict. The sun himself, scientifically as well as practi- cally speaking, " is but a spark of fire, a transient meteor in the sky"; containing the elements of his own inevi- table dissolution, he must pass away into other forms- but not very soon; he will. by the lowest calculation, endure for several millions of years yet. So, as is written in another valuable book, a precious old treasure which
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is also just added to our Library by its liberal-minded Direciresses, so
"It must come, the day decrced by fates,- How my heart trembles while my tongue relates !-- The day, when thou, imperial land, must bend, Must see thy heroes fall, thy glories end !"
Even so, doubtless, will it be with Sandy Spring.
Without giving way to melancholy emotions, it is interesting, and quite pertinent to the present occasion, to ask which of the three possible stages of existence we may have reached : is it growth, maturity, or decline? What answer does the history of the last year give to the momentous query ?
Taking a fair retrospect, we find the tokens of more than usual activity and movement, such as might be looked for in the Nation's Centennial Year. It is also unde- niable that activity is life ; though it is well to remark that in estimating permanent effects, it makes a material difference what direction the movement takes, and whether it has been such as to advance the more important, per- manent and higher interests.
As before observed, the material interests of this neigh- borhood are essentially agricultural; and taking the con- dition of our agriculture as the criterion, I see no reason to doubt that the general result shows progress. This is especially visible in certain departments of farming in- dustry ; perhaps more in the dairy business than in any other. Whether we consider the Dairy Association as cause or effect of the recent animated pursuit (and it ma; be justly regarded as both ), it has certainly been the means of diff'using information in a wider circle, of the success at - tained by those among us who have devoted a larger
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portion of time and labor to this interesting branch of rural industry. So wide is the renown already acquired by this Association, that its proceedings have been noticed in that other " Hub," away in Boston ! Of course this is all right. Harmony requires the two hubs to make corresponding progress.
In regard to old staples of the farmer, you may recollect that the returns of crops made at the Annual Convention in the 1st month showed that there was no falling off in aggregate product. The wheat crop rather exceeded the general average, being a little over 20 bushels per acre. Corn was not so good as in the previous year, which was exceptionally bountiful. Some grumbling there was- not without cause-about the low price of hay ; yet when we consider the immense amount produced, and that the profits are mainly derived from sales to town horses, and a limited number of town cows, it is not surprising that prices fall below the former exceptional figures. There would be small hope of better times in this respect if farmers could not look to any other uses of their corn and hay. Set before your mind's eye, in one heap, the huge production of corn and hay in this country, and on the other side the chance of selling the whole surplus to feed city cows and horses, and the view is despairing. Fortu- nately, however, the field is widened materially-in the case of corn, by a foreign demand lately springing up, and in the case of hay, by the well-established fact that for the best present and future profit the hay " should go to market on its own legs," or else in tin-cans and the butter- box; in short, should be made to feed man instead of best. He will always pay better for his own personal gratification than that of his animals.
In regard to the once great staple of potatoes, I must
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revive your recollection of something that was said on the subject in the sketch read a year ago. It was to this effect : that "somebody who was not deterred by bugs and low prices from planting a full crop, would probably make a good thing of it the coming season," and, as you are now aware, somebody did that very thing; though fewer than was desired. Now here was a fulfilment of " historical prophecy " worthy of your observation, and of your attention to future predictions. But why speak of this proof of my successful predictions ? Is it not always the case that "a prophet shall have honor, save in his own country " ?
It was customary in former chapters to describe in con- nection with agricultural affairs, the weather, on which they are so dependent. Now since you have a meteorologist of your own who comes before you with his report, sanc- tioned by the National Signal Service Bureau, these pages may be spared from the usual weather observations, except those of the Assistant Historian ; she remarks that thin- derstorms were unusually prevalent and severe in the ath month; also that the heat of the tth month was excessive. and the cold of the 12th unexampled ; while the sleighing consequent on the steady severity of the first two winter months lasted continuously for forty-four days.
In reference to business concerns, other than agricultu- ral, it is proper to mention the subject of the neighborhood mills, and the improvements effected during the year in these important structures. On the Patuxent, an old mill has been refitted, and operated by the hands of two enter- prising young men of the Les family, with a vigor att energy deserving success. In the central part of d. neighborhood, the steam mill of B. Rush Roberts, which has been of such great benefit to the public, meriting re-
.
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cord in our history as an institution of which we may well be proud, has also been revised and improved. If it should ever be suffered to stop, we would complain more of the privation than we manifested gratitude at the establish- ment: such is mankind.
There remains still another mill, a greater novelty than either of the others. A turbine wheel was fixed up-I might almost say constructed-by Charles F. Brooke, whose inventive enterprise was, doubtless, sharpened by that trip to the far West mentioned in a former chapter. The wheel strikes us as being a queer little fellow, whose effective power is another proof of the old saying, that strength is not always in proportion to size; that "cun- ning is better than strong."
Another evidence, in the way of business prosperity, that Sandy Spring is not ready for its Gibbon, is afforded by the continued, gradual growth of the "Savings Institu- tion," whose deposits (though its most active founder, J. T. Moore, tells me I must not call them "deposits," but "its total funds on hand,") have risen in the year from $60,000 to $70,000. It is a gratifying feature of our Institution, that a considerable portion of this fund remains in the county to push on the wheels of progress.
Under the head of material improvements would prop- erly come a statement of the condition and prospects of the railroad, which has been spoken of several times be- fore, and which shall continue to constitute one of the subjects of this history so long as the present writer holds the pen. This is about all that he has to say at this time. Better luck next time.
It is well remarked by my Associate that the events of the year, as far as they are matter of record, are all summed up, and nearly all swallowed up in one comprehensive
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word, "The Centennial." It will be of interest to state the number and names of those who went from Sandy Spring,-the person who did not go became a curiosity. Beginning in the 5th month, at the very opening, the stream of visitors from our neighborhood kept up the flow through the whole season. Some of these, on the 10th of May, saw the great Corliss engine set in motion by the President and the Emperor, and looked, November 10th, upon the last revolution of the immense wheel, slowly, slowly dying away! In many cases the visits were re- peated a second and a third time; and who is there that regrets having gone ? whose brain was not enlarged and filled with pictures and ideas that will be a treasure while life remains? The information imparted to the mind, and the life and energy given to the spirit, by one of the greatest of human achievements, are full of compensation to the individual and to the nations for all it cost. Per- haps the comparative degree of attendance on the Center- nial by different country neighborhoods is a fair criterion of their intelligence and progress.
The event which we are next bound to record is of very different character. In common with most other rural communities, we have been pestered by the invasion of tramps, in unusual numbers. While we are obliged by our reason and better feelings to make some allowance for a throng of disagreeable visitors, of whom many conte because they have no place in the wide earth to go, since the depression in business has closed the avenues of in- dustry, their coming among us is none the less unwelcome on that account. But there were some who came to hide themselves from the avengers of their crime. Two of these, guilty of atrocious murder, dropped last summer into our midst and went to work in ditching for come
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weeks, without giving the least suspicion for some time of the horrid characters we were harboring in our kitchens and tenant-houses. Then Sandy Spring store was broken open and robbed. Other burglaries followed; but the avenger was on their track. He came; and with assist- ance freely and efficiently rendered, secured the culprits. The capture required no little contrivance to plan and courage to execute.
It is only the truth to say that great credit is due to those whose courage and contrivance delivered our com- munity from dangers certainly to be apprehended from the presence of such miscreants. And it is great satis- faction to have this proof that Sandy Spring is not a safe place for men of that character. Neither is it the first time she has showed that she nourishes within her quiet borders the spirit called for by the occasion. Of course we are a peaceful people; but still we would rather keep with us the sort of young men who have the spirit which the occasion calls for. This is very useful sometimes, and not really un-Quakerlike.
Another important event of the year remains to be re- ferred to; I allude to the Presidential election of 1876. This event is rendered conspicuous in our annals, chiefly by the circumstance that it produced a division in political sentiment, such as, I suppose, has never before occurred among us. Yet there is not much harm apparent from it so far; the disputes have been lively, without being violent, I think. And then-may I not say ?- " there is a little bird in the air" that sings of a coming lull in the waves of party strife.
. Now having disposed of mere events and material con- cerns, let us turn to those beacon-lights of true progress shining forth from our intellectual, moral, æsthetic and
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industrial associations (for we have them all). Let us begin with the Lyceum as the central point for developing literary and scientific progress. Should the gains there- from seem small, the deficiencies cannot be imputed to the president and directors. There have been lectures and exhibitions of various sorts and of different qualities; the attendance has been large at times, at other times small; with this unfortunate circumstance that some of the best lectures ever delivered here have had a meagre andience, while throngs have come to see and hear those which professed only to offer entertainment.
Such preference palpably paid to passing pleasure drew from one of the fathers and steady friends of the Lyceum the caustic censure that "a monkey and hand-organ would soon be the only sort of attraction sufficient to fill this hall." Too severe this, perhaps, but like all honest severity, much more wholesome than flattery. It is proper, however, to acknowledge that our people are not peculiar in preferring entertainment to instruction. Why do they come, if not to be entertained ? Still the fact remains, that it is best of all to give each demand and faculty of our nature its proper place. A laugh is good ; something to feed the mind with thoughts that inform and elevate is better; and, in the end, higher and more enduring pleasure will come of the latter. A proper mixture of instruction and entertainment is what this Lyceum was built for; and if your historian is not mistaken in appre- hending that a disproportionate place is being given to the comic and the droll, this is the right time and place to sound the alarm. Instead of continuing the process of scolding, to which there are always great objections ? .. . made, let me recommend that our young people shall take up a course that may lead to solid acquisitions worthy of
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their character for intelligence, and the times they live in. Let them form an association for the promotion of science, art, and the study of history. Books alone will not answer. A society is wanted to cultivate that acquaintance with the history of past times, without which no solid judgment can be formed of the present. Such knowledge is abso- lutely necessary in order to correct the raw, crude notions formed of passing events, from prejudices instilled by the passions and excitements of the parties of the day. An association for the promotion of science among us- science, that queen in the realm of mind whose power goes on more and more rapidly dispersing old clouds of dark- ness, and bringing the light that shows the true nature and meaning of all created things, from starry universes down to the microscopic germs floating in the invisible air and bringing the seeds of pestilence and death-science, which as now being investigated and utilized, comprehends simply all that is worth knowing -- all there is to know.
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