USA > Maryland > Montgomery County > Sandy Spring > Annals of Sandy Spring history of a rural community in Maryland, Volume 1 > Part 4
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the young and happy .- 14th. The excitement is passing away, and reaction coming on."
We may repeat what was said in last year's history, . that "only a ripple in the tide of war has swept by Sandy Spring." A few horses were taken, but not so many as in last summer.
It is a well-known experience that the things left be- hind after a great inundation, the slime and the ugly crawling creatures, are often more to be dreaded than the flood. The after effects and consequences of a disease are sometimes worse than the disease itself. So it hap- pened in our experience of rebel incursions. A robbery committed on one of our friends while riding on the high- road near the middle of the neighborhood, some time near the end of July, was the first unpleasant intimation that person and property were no longer safe from outrage in Sandy Spring. On the night of the 5th of September, Ashton store was robbed of money and goods to a con- siderable amount, the perpetrators being rebel guerillas, as was proved beyond reasonable doubt. One month later, it being the night of the 6th of October, Sandy Spring was invaded by a band of eleven guerillas, who, after threatening to hang the clerk, broke open the store and helped themselves freely to its contents. So far the outrages committed in the neighborhood, the taking of horses by violence, the pillage of stores and personal robbery, had been suffered quietly and without resistance. I have now to record an occurrence of different character. It is one so anomalous, so outside the long even tenor of life at Sandy Spring, that the recital might be omitted as being an exception; but the truth of history makes an irresistible claim for the statement of facts just as they occur.
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After the robbers above referred to had gone their way, the proprietors of the store, without losing much time about it, sent for the Sheriff of the county, whose duty it was to pursue and arrest the perpetrators of the outrage. Under his official sanction, acting as a posse comitatus, a number of the neighbors, fifteen, I believe, in all, with the accoutrements required by the nature of the expedition, proceeded in the track of the guerillas. They went to find them, and they did find them. What was the next thing they intended to do this historian knows not; but whatever the intention may have been, the result naturally to be expected actually followed. Somebody was hurt; and, fortunately for us all, it was not one of the pursuing party. The leader of the gueril- las, in the act of charging upon our party, with intent unquestionably to kill, was himself killed. The rest fled, it is presumable more through ignorance of the force and character of their pursuers than from any other circumstance. Part of the plunder was recovered ; some horses were restored to their rightful owners, and the whole affair passed off as favorably as could be expected under the circumstances. If censure falls anywhere in this transaction when calmly and impartially reviewed, it should be limited to the charge of imprudence. Viewed in the best light, however, it must be owned that there are other things in the annals of Sandy Spring upon which we shall hereafter dwell with higher satisfaction than upon " the battle of Rickett's Run."
These events occurring in connection with the stirring scenes of war in all parts of the country, naturally directed the more fiery spirits among our young men to the subject of "Home Defence." Several meetings were called to examine this question, but after a fair discus-
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sion, the counsels of prudence and the influence of early religious impressions prevailed, and the idea of an armed home-guard was laid aside.
This eventful summer was marked by the prevalence of an extreme drought, which, however, proved less hurt- ful to our interests than was feared. Bounteous fall rains went far to redeem the losses from the dry, hot summer.
Autumn came on. The season had indeed been a try- ing and eventful one. Rebel raids, highway robberies, pillage of stores, the drought and the draft had inflicted serious injuries. These, the hand of industry, the genial rain and sunshine, and the welcome return of sweet peace, will soon repair. But far more serious losses were now impending, which no human efforts, no rain or sunshine, no gentle peace, can ever mitigate or restore. Only His hand that inflicted the wound can drop the balm.
Our bereavements commenced in the spring. On the 30th of April, Thomas P. Stabler was suddenly taken from among us. No one in the neighborhood was more identified with its history, progress and character, than he. Every house, every farm, every road, and especially every sick room knew him ; for he was ever ready, by kind action or interesting conversation, to help or to entertain. His clear head and warm heart seemed to grow warmer and brighter to the last. Contrary to general experience, his views of life became more enlarged and liberal as he advanced in years; and he watched with lively interest, aiding by tongue and pen, the cause of social progress. Sound and true were his views of the nature of the great struggle going on in our country; the end of which he predicted, though he did not live to see. The long funeral train that followed the remains of Thomas P.
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Stabler to the resting-place he had provided was watched from the window of a neighboring house by a pale, sweet invalid, his little granddaughter. Just a week later, the earthly remains of Evelyn Stabler were laid near those of her grandfather. She was taken in the early morning of life, when only a few had the opportunity to mark the promise of excellence which she gave; but with those few, her traits of solid worth, above all her ripened con- scientiousness, will long keep her memory green.
Shortly after midsummer, an infant, Bertha Miller, child of Warwick P. and Mary Miller, struck by a strange, sad decline, fell asleep. A month later, another babe, daughter of Edward and Sophy Peirce, was released from lingering pain.
Thus had death visited the extreme points of the neighborhood, the west, the east and the north. Its next awful visitations were to the south and the centre. It had removed the old man, the budding girl and the tender babe; it was now to cut down youthful and manly prime.
On the 28th of September died Tarleton Brooke, in the 21st year of his age. Of such as he we are told :
" He, the young and strong, who cherished Noble longings for the strife, By the wayside fell and perished, Weary with the march of life."
If I know myself, no word of eulogy shall ever be traced in these pages which my conscientious convic- tions do not sanction : but when a youth of noble promise is taken away from the neighborhood, I cannot fail to set it down among the most important, as well as saddest incidents that go to constitute our annals.
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November 13th died B. Worthington Waters. Though not exactly included within the local limits of Sandy Spring, the deceased was so near and so intimate with many of our people, it is deemed proper not to pass him by. He died in the prime of years and usefulness ; laav- ing an impressive example of the results that energy can achieve in the boundless field of agricultural pursuits.
November 20th, Alexander J. Brooke, in the 22d year of his age. The best poet of America can best give an impression of his sufferings and his life:
" He, the patient one and weakly, Who the cross of suffering bore, Folded his pale hands so meckly, Spake with us on earth no more."
But life was not all suffering with him. He had high enjoyments too. I have seen his cheeks glow and his fine eyes kindle while exploring with cager faculty the wond- rous mechanism of the vegetable and insect world ; and in vision I have seen them brighten with unfading Instre, impressed with the wonders of that glorious land which needs no microscope to reveal.
November 27th. Another interval of a week, and within six hours of one another, two near neighbors, each a youth- ful husband and father, are called away from the carthly home to which they were bound by such ties of love. The one, Archibald D. Moore, passed quietly away after an acute illness of just three weeks. His good and gentle life will long be held in tender recollection by his friends,- enemies he had none The other, William Chandlee, was the victim of a sudden and terrible accident. While quietly attending to his own concerns, interfering with none, he was instantly deprived of consciousness, and soon of life, by the bursting of a gun in his own hands.
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One more victim of this strange, fatal year ! The vener- able grandfather, the budding girl and the babe, the promising youth, the energetic man, the long-suffering in- valid, the youthful husband and father-these, O Death ! were thine! But there is a still tenderer name than these -and thou wilt have the tenderest and best-the young wife and mother-she too must be thine!
November 29th died Mary H. Brooke, daughter of Benjamin and Margaret E. Hallowell, having just com- pleted her 25th year. And now death's hand was stayed.
" What is the use," does any one ask, "of seeking to revive all these sad recollections ?" It appears to me there may be much use in it. Here are we sitting where we sat a twelvemonth ago, when all these were as full of life as we are now, calling to mind the work of death. Are we not solemnly bound to realize the awful fact, to stand face to face with it, ready to draw the lessons it was designed to teach ? We have surely no right to shrink from the contemplation.
It is not for me to point you to the highest, the only efficient consolation ; I would in silence share it with you.
But there is another aspect in which to view these afflic- tions, that I may not pass over. Can you believe it was the design of Providence that these our friends should perish, all (with one exception) so long before reaching full maturity ? Is there not good reason to believe that if the conditions which regulate the well-being of our bodily frame received as much attention as so many less impor- tant subjects, that the life given us here would generally be prolonged until it could answer the end for which life is given ? We possess capacity to know and ability to practice the laws on which health depends. May these solemn monitions serve to confirm the resolve to make
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knowledge and practice go hand in hand! Remember that "History is philosophy teaching by example," and to be valued only so far as it teaches us.
The clubs and other associations which begin to distin- guish our neighborhood are to be regarded as so many wheels in the machinery of social progress; and from the way in which they have been kept running during the past year, we may hope that our progress has been good. The exclusively masculine club, the exclusively feminine asso- ciation, and the Literary Association which so gracefully mingles the two, have flourished with unabated vigor and interest. The Horticultural may become, if it live a year or two longer, one of the institutions of the neighborhood.
The Lyceum, at once the focus and crown of our literary and intellectual activity, certainly appears to have lost none of its interest. Fears have been expressed lest the minds of our people should be worked up to a high pitch of excitement by this " dangerous" novelty. No just grounds for such apprehension are perceived by this historian.
Our roads are improving. I had hoped that the Sandy Spring Pike would merit a decided puff; but unfortunately, the recent condition of one section does not admit of such praise; it will have to wait until next year. Perhaps the commencement of another sort of road may then be chronicled.
It is altogether in order, I am sure, to mention that marriages have taken place this year in our commu- nity to the number of three. The immediate effect has been that we lose one fine woman and gain another, being kept even so far. Also eight have been added to our infau- tile population, being three boys and five girls.
In conclusion, it seems proper to make the inquiry by weighing our losses and gains,-have we, as a community,
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or have we not, made progress during the year? A sad weight is thrown into the negative scale by the removal into another sphere of so many valuable members of society. What counterpoise can we place on the opposite side ? Even in point of numbers we have lost. Are we entitled to throw into the scale a few acres of land improved, a few. investments in stocks, or a multitude of greenbacks? I fear their weight would be insignificant in such a scale.
We can add some show of mental activity-that is well: son e works of practical benevolence -- that is better. But we are still obliged to confess that the balance sheet is against us, unless we may claim that our grief for the dead has increased our tenderness for the living; unless the wondrous thread of blessings and afflictions woven and mingled together in this past year has served to draw closer the bands of goodl fellowship and social union.
United we stand-divided we fall.
CHAPTER III.
ENDING 4TH MONTH 7TH, 1866.
Tame annals, best, of a quiet local character -- Unanimity of views -- The conservative element prevalent -The peace celebration - Lincoln mourning - Wheat erop declining - Horticultural Ex- hibition -The Club Junior -Sorghum manufacture - Close of Fair Hill Boarding School -- Opening of James S. Hallowell's -- New Public School System -Colored School by Mrs. Clarke --- Marriages numerous after the war -Six in one year -Contrasted with the deaths, the rate of the latter too large.
"Blessed is the nation that has no history," exclaims one of the most distinguished writers of Europe. 1 sup- pcse what is true of nations is equally true of neighbor- hoods.
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But the history referred to by that writer was of the sort that usually goes by the name ; a record of exciting events, mostly calamities; of wars, with their battles and sieges ; of the overthrow of one tyrant, and the climbing to his throne by another, up steps gory with blood. The less of such history the better.
In this sense the neighborhood annals of the past year compared with the preceding, are necessarily tame.
The year had, however, a very animating commence- mert. On the evening of our last annual meeting, just one year ago, the announcement was made to us from the chair, and received with tumultuous cheering, that the National troops had on that very morning taken quiet possession of the Confederate Capital. Events of most exciting character followed each other in rapid succession for a few brief weeks, and then the great rebellion passed into history; but not into this one. Our affairs are of a local, not a national character. Only as public events affect directly the situation and welfare of this little com- munity, tending to influence its progress, do they become proper material for the present historical sketch. Our connection has been for the past few years of a close kind. We have been both an active and a passive party, through the late tremendous civil convulsion. In making up a summary of the parts thus performed, it seems proper to acknowledge on the one haud, that our sufferings have been comparatively light and trivial, with a great balance of gratitude due for our preservation ; and on the other, we have a right to enjoy the consciousness that our ex- ertions and sacrifices, though insignificant when compared with those of some other communities, were yet mainly on the right side; that we did not stand neutral or lukewarm in a conflict where such transcendent principles were in-
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volved, but with a concert of action amounting nearly to unanimity, our whole neighborhood gave its influence by tongue and pen and vote, by hands and purse, to aid the cause approved by our highest convictions of right and truth.
This near approach to unanimity among us on the great question of the age appears to me as a matter of just satisfaction. We have disciples here with widely diverg- ing doctrines. Radicals and conservatives, each with very decic ed opinions, are to be found among us ; although it must be acknowledged that the conservative element has always predominated at Sandy Spring. But in our coun- try's extremity, the conservatives saw that the very founda- tions of government were assailed, and naturally rallied to the support of law and order; while the radicals beheld in the success of the National cause the triumph of their own cherished principles. Both earnestly desired peace : all came together and joined with enthusiasm in the re- joicings that signalized the close of the contest. On the evening of the 12th of that eventful month of April, this Lyceum building saw another sight than any it had yet witnessed-yes, saw, looked out into the night with a hundred burning eyes, while the interior resounded with paeans for union and peace !
When the Nation's birthday returned there was another successful celebration, somewhat unusual in this special locality, but justified by the extraordinary, the transcendent occasion. As our people were one with the other loyal people of the land in their joy, so were they one in mourning. There were few places where the tidings of President Lincoln's assassination produced such chilling horror, such sincere grief.
Equally indifferent to our joy and our loss, the months
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moved on. In the fields the season was an unusually early one, and our farmers rejoiced in the bountiful promises of the spring. The summer and autumn fulfilled these promises, with two notable exceptions. The important crop of wheat, which had been declining in our neighbor- hood for several years, reached what is to be hoped will be the lowest point of production, in an average of eight to ten bushels per acre. The apple, most valuable of fruits, was also a remarkable failure. As to the productiveness o? the season in other fruits, in garden vegetables, in corn and grass, some evidence-was afforded by a Horticultural Exhibition, or miniature Agricultural Fair, held on the 16th of September, in this building. For a first attempt it was regarded as a decided success, and well worthy of being repeated. If this very creditable affair is to be con- sidered an outgrowth and practical result of the Horti- cultural Society, whose establishment and progress are noted in our two preceding chapters, the enterprising young institution may aspire to an honorable place among the beneficial associations with which the neighborhood is so highly favored. In this connection, your historian could not think of passing over without respectful notice the birth of a new agricultural society-" The Club Junior," as it is termed in the absence of a distinctive epithet. We anticipate a rich harvest of usefulness from this new enterprise, proportioned to the zeal and energy, and (I hope we shall be able to add) the constancy and perseverance of our younger brethren in agriculture.
Before leaving the subjects that concern us so nearly as farmers, we have to note the establishment of the manu- facture of sorghumn. About To00 gallons were made during the year, and growers and manufacturers both secin to regard the enterprise thus far as being a success.
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An event occurred during the sumirer which was of interest to several families. I refer to the final close of Fair Hill Boarding School, and the sale of the property to a private individual, after having been for nearly half a century in charge of the Baltimore Ycarly Meeting of Friends. That building has not been without its history. Between seven and cight hundred young persons, prin- cipally females, were scholars there. Scattered widely over the two adjoining States, they doubtless retain varied y, t vivid recollections of the period passed under the old roof, which would furnish ample materials for many a lively story, destined probably to remain unwritten.
One " boarding school for girls" was closed; another was opened by James S. Hallowell, at Fulford, during the year, under reasonably favorable auspices.
In connection with this subject it is proper to mention that the new system of public schools, inaugurated in our State under the new Constitution, was at once introduced into our neighborhood.
In regard to this important subject, it is well for us to remind ourselves that the grand object and ultimate aim of this vital institution is to level upwards. Therefore, if any community (such as ours for instance) shall con- sider that it is not much benefited at first, it may be con- soled by the self-complacent idea that the high position it occupies has not yet been reached by the swelling tide. perceptible only on average elevations. But the tide is swelling, and will reach even them. Let us be patient : the beneficial wave of intellectual light ever rises, and can know no ebb. "For God Himself is Light!"
Another school was organized in the neighborhood! during the present year, altogether as successful, and probably quite as useful as the preceding. A school for
3
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colored people was no new thing in our neighborhood ; and though the attempt to keep it up was often interrupted and the school dispersed by violence under color of law, it served among sundry other causes to attract and retain the more valuable class of operatives. Viewed in a merely material and selfish light, it was a benefit to us all.
These advantages, and many more of a much higher character, have been secured and confirmed by the truly admirable teaching of Mrs. Clarke, the lady who under- took the arduous task of conducting the present colored school, situated in a spot that has borne the name of "Sharp Street." Every person who is willing to visit there, and to give full play to the instincts of reason, justice and humanity, while listening to the exercises, must echo with honest enthusiasm the beautiful couplet they fondly sing-
" Long may our land be bright With freedom's holy light !"
Change we now the theme! "To heavenly themes diviner strains belong." The events now to be recorded demand a pen of rosewood and the juice of roses for ink. Would that I might command language flowery enough to describe the incidents for which this year of grace, judged by the emotions of many of our young friends, was especially made. I keep, however, to the simple facts, and refer you to a certain evening, still fresh in your recollection, when at a meeting of the Literary Society it was found nearly impossible to fix a time for the next meeting, at which somebody or other was not going to be married !
Certainly there was never in our neighborhood such a revival of the matrimonial spirit during any year that I
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have known it. The parties waited so appropriately for this year of peace and union, thus adding to life's brightest charm its crowning grace.
Six weddings in one year in our small circle show pro- gress indeed. The coming of the most important event in life to at icast twelve persons leads naturally to other material improvements. The bird must have its cage, either newly made or enlarged; thus several comfortable additions have been procured to the homes of Sandy Spring.
It seems an abrupt transition, yet one frequently made in this world, to pass from the marriage altar to the tomb ; from the commencement of life's serious cares and duties, to the place of never-ending rest. Two sweet stanzas express the peculiar contrast:
"I saw two maids at the kirk, And both, were fair and sweet -- One in her wedding robe, And one in her winding-sheet.
" One, on the morrow, woke In a world of sin and pain ; But the other was happier far, And never woke again."
This page of our record is again filled with many names. On the 24th of August died Elizabeth Briggs. After nearly two years of severe illness she passed very quietly away. In patience, in meekness, and all the mild, unobtrusive virtues that diffuse their light round the domestic hearth, her character was peculiarly blessed. A sportive fancy and playful humor, amusing all and hurting none, were remarked by those who knew her best. Of such as she we do not need to say "peace be with
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them !" for their lives are wholly peace. A month later, a fine, blooming child was taken away from parents who had already experienced the crushing bereavement. Clarkson Stabler died the 22d of September. Too young to have made a permanent impression outside the circle of his innediate friends, it seems to others a void easily filled, but to the parents that void is deep in proportion to the narrow space which the little life filled. It was a lovely afternoon of the 11th of October, just when the jading graces of autumn flush the dying year, that the sweet, pure spirit of a young girl was rendered back to God who gave it. Isabella Stabler was in her 18th year. To minds concerned only in the things of earth, such a bereavement is utterly overwhelming and irreparable. There was everything about her to give satisfaction to the present and promise for the future. Favored by per- sonal attractions, and in th) fairer charms of an amiable disposition, she possessed a mind earnestly drawn to the pursuit of knowledge. All these gifts and graces were reft at one blow. Nay, not wholly reft ; they live still in " the memory of her friends, who cherish fondly the tender recollection, admonishing them,
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