USA > Maryland > Montgomery County > Sandy Spring > Annals of Sandy Spring history of a rural community in Maryland, Volume II > Part 13
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In the Sixth month the family of Edward N. Bent- ley moved to Washington to reside. Edward Ma- gruder took the Johns Hopkins' examinations, having been prepared at Sherwood.
The Horticultural Meeting at Fair Hill was re- . markable, inasmuch as so many who attended had been pupils within its venerable walls. Henry C. Hal- lowell, the president, made a beautiful address upon the interesting memories which cluster around this rooftree, under whose branches his parents first met as coeducators.
Everyone was now in the midst of wheat gathering -interrupted by frequent thunder-storms. Rutledge and other places were struck by lightning.
An unusual number of accidents happened during this busy season, and maimed hands were the order of the day. Our young farmers seemed to work their
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machines on the principle that a finger lost was five n:inutes gain in the harvest field.
The inevitable hightide of boarders and visitors had set hitherward, and as one tiller of the soil feelingly remarked, "The very day the mowers and binders en- tered the fields, the parties and athletic sports began."
The Seventh month, which the poet calls "sweet summer time, when the leaves are green and long," came on, and frequent mention of the "dog-days" proved that there is nothing to which human nature clings so closely as some phrase or expression which has long outlived its right to exist. The old Roman superstition of a connection between the heat of July and the rising and setting of the dog-star, Sirius, has been declared a fallacy.
Seventh month, 20th, Dorothy, daughter of Samuel and Florence Wetherald was born.
Seventh month, 24th, George B. Miller and Zaidie Tennant were married at the home of the bride's par- ents, in St. Louis, by Episcopal ceremony, and came to live at Oakleigh. This lady is one of many who have come from the city to reside among us.
Seventh month, 29th. Our community was shock- ed to learn that our genial friend and neighbor, John Marsh Smith, had been stricken with paralysis, and after a few hours illness he expired in the seventy- third year of his age. Born in Baltimore City of friendly parentage, he was educated in Alexandria by Benjamin Hallowell. He married Elizabeth Brooke, daughter of the late Nathan and Martha Tyson, who, with four children, survives him. He was seized with the gold fever in 1849, and went to California, and
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none who heard him recount his varied experiences and adventures of that stirring time can ever forget .them. While his cordial manners and ready wit in- variably attracted strangers and the young, those who enjoyed the privilege of an intimate acquaintance with him knew how true a gentleman, how sincere a friend, he was under all circumstances. Honorable. correct and generous, his carefulness and rectitude in money dealings was proverbial, and he was especially noted for his liberality to those he employed, and to the poor. Coming many years ago to make Sandy Spring his residence, he identified himself with the place and people, and his loss was unusually mourned.
"Friend to truth, of soul sincere,
In action faithful and in honor clear, Who broke no promise, served no private end, Who gained no title, and who lost no friend."
His remains were taken to Baltimore, Eighth month, Ist, and buried at Greenmount.
If the wheat harvest had been a sad disappointment our constitutional grumblers were somewhat cheered by the immense yield of hay. It lay in great wind- rows, like the waves of the sea, in the fields, and groups of stacks attested the phenomenal amount se- cured. Our farmers were enabled to maintain their poverty-stricken condition later on, as the corn crop was poor in quantity and quality. In all the multitu- dinous work on the farm, from the first turning of the furrow through the planting, cultivating, harvesting and housing the crop, the slow-moving plow, the faster-running drill, the busy hum of binder and thresher, the great wagons winding homeward with
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their loads, we can but reflect that the whole world is dependent on the tiller of the soil. Perhaps it is his tremendous responsibilities that induce him often to look on the dark side, and fail to perceive the silver lining to the cloud.
Tie for one year the farmer's hands, and bid him rest from his labors; let his fields lie fallow, his herds and flocks disperse, and starvation and death would claim millions of victims on every spot of earth where the banana and the date-palm do not grow. As the poet has said :
THE FARMER FEEDS THEM ALL.
"My lord rides through his palace gate, My lady sweeps along in state, The sage thinks long on many a thing, Anu the maiden muses on marrying; The minstrel harpeth merrily, The sailor plows the foaming sea, The huntsman kills the good red deer, And the soldier wars, without a fear; But fall to each, whate'er befall, The farmer he must feed them all.
"Smith hammereth cheerily the sword, Priest preacheth pure and holy word, Dame Alice worketh 'broidery well, Clerk Richard tales of love can tell, The tapwife sells her foaming beer, Don Fisher fisheth in the mere, And courtiers ruffle, strut and shine. . While pages bring the Gascon wine; But fall to each, whate'er befall, The farmer, he must feed them all.
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"Man builds his castles fair and high,
Whatever river runneth by,
Great cities rise in every land,
Great churches show the builder's hand,
Great arches, monuments and towers,
Fair palaces and pleasing bowers,
Great work is done be't here and there,
And well man worketh everywhere;
But work or rest, whate'er befall,
The farmer, he must feed them all.
We had in the Eighth month the most variable temperature, and on the Ioth and IIth, after some days of intense heat, the mercury suddenly fell thirty degrees, and we were glad to close windows and doors, and again hover over fires that had been re- lighted at least once in every month.
It was now the height of the season, and our neigh- borhood, never without the stranger within its gates, was teeming with visitors and boarders. Indoor gai- eties and outdoor sports-picnics, excursions and match games of base and football, and lawn-tennis. were the order of the day. The 'spare rooms were all full; no carriage had a vacant seat ; the old meeting- house had almost a crowded look on the Sabbath ; hos- pitality and good cheer ruled the hour. One rooftree in our midst sheltered at this time the following relatives :
Two old couples, one married fifty-five years, the other fifty-three years; three grandfathers, three grandmothers, one great-grandfather; one great- grandmother. three husbands. three wives, three mothers, three fathers, three daughters, one step- daughter, two sons, one stepson, two grandsons, one
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great-grandson, one granddaughter, one brother and one sister, one stepbrother, one stepsister, one step- uncle, one stepfather, one stepmother, two fathers-in law, two mothers-in-law, one son-in-law, one daugh- ter-in-law, two sisters-in-law, two aunts, three cousins.
Many years hence, when the curious antiquarian shall be searching these records of a country hamlet, long since merged into the busy streets and avenues of the national capital, he may, perchance, cite this example of the overflowing households of the nine- teenth century ; so I will leave him to puzzle out the correct answer to the question, "Of how many mem- bers did this remarkable family consist?"
Eighth month, 22nd, Katherine, daughter of Henry H. and Helen Gray Miller, was born.
Eighth month, 25th, Thomas L. and Estelle T., twin children of Joseph T., jr., and Estelle Tyson Moore, were born.
For six months favored relatives and friends had been entertained with delightful letters from foreign lands written en route by the Alloway family and Ellen Farquhar ; the latter part of August our traveled neighbors returned safely to their homes.
Ellen Farquhar is the first person from our section who has visited Norway and Sweden and witnessed the wonderful spectacle of the midnight sun at North Cape, within the Arctic Circle. She, therefore, has exceptional scope for her descriptive powers.
Ninth month, Ist, Eliza Palmer Griffith, sister of Benjamin D. Palmer, died very suddenly at her home near Unity. This generous, warm-hearted woman was tenderly remembered by many of her old friends
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in Sandy Spring, and her sad funeral at St. John's Church, Olney, Ninth month, 3rd, was largely at- tended:
Rockville Fair was held on the third, fourth and fifth. Fine, clear weather, and a larger attendance than ever before enabled the society to liquidate a debt of long standing.
Your historian is unable to state whether the in- creased flock of young ladies present was due to an overwhelming interest in athletic sports, or to the fact that the managers of the Fair had secured the services of a most eligible bachelor president.
Our people were awarded many premiums in all de- partments, but the presiding officer was not included in the "sweepstakes."
About this time a monster threshing machine, with a straw-stacker, said to do the work of six men, made its appearance in our fields. Another innovation was the selling of unfanned wheat to the fine new mill at Laurel.
In the Ninth month, Harry Sherman, of Washing- ton, purchased the homestead at Olney belonging to the heirs of Sarah B. Farquhar, and he is to be con- gratulated upon the possession of what was once the home of his grandfather, Joseph Elgar, and from which his mother, Margaret Elgar Sherman, was married.
Jessie B. Stabler received the appointment of teach- er at Sandy Spring public school, and Alice B. Stabler went to Linden to take charge of a public school there. Rockland and Sherwood. with full quotas of students, resumed their sessions.
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October came on, not with the hoped-for clear, frosty. days, but with two weeks of dismal clouds and heavy rains, followed later in the month by the soft and genial weather of the Indian summer.
Tenth month, 21st, Mary A. Livermore, the distin- guished lecturer, delivered a fine address to a large audience at the Lyceum. Her subject, "Dream of the Future," was all-embracing in the variety of topics touched on.
Tenth month, 22nd, Anna, daughter of Charles R. and Nellie T. Hartshorne, was born. William and Jane Scofield and daughter Sarah went to San Antonio, Texas, to live; and Sarah has established near that quaint old city a day-school for boys and girls.
A sale was held at the old Chandlee homestead, and the accumulations of a hundred years disposed of. Charles Pidgeon and family, who had been in charge, removed to Pennsylvania to live.
There was serious loss in this month to potato growers by the rotting of a large proportion of the tubers, estimated in some sections to be ninety per cent. of the crop. Those that were housed kept -badly, but the few that remained sound the following spring retailed as high as one dollar and sixty cents per sack.
Eleventh month, 17th. At White Hall, the resi- dence of her son, Samuel. died Elizabeth Hopkins, in her eighty-second year. This gentle friend came with her family from Virginia many years ago to reside among us, and endeared herself greatly to her neigh- bors by her affectionate interest in those around her. her warm, charitable heart and pleasing serenity of
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manner. She was laid to rest at Woodside Cemetery. Thomas J. Lea erected a neat, convenient dwelling and barn on land purchased from his father, and moved his family from Springdale to this new home, which is called "Argyle."
Eleventh month, 28th, Mr. and Mrs. George Nes- bitt celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of their marriage by a large evening reception at Longwood. New and old brides appeared in their wedding robes, and occasioned much amusement by the diversity of styles running through a quarter of a century.
Eleventh month, 30th, Edward P. and Mary B. Thomas had a family tea-party in commemoration of their twenty-fifth anniversary.
Surgeon Frederick W. Elbrey, U. S. A. (retired), purchased Rutledge from Thomas L. Moore.
Dr. and Mrs. Elbrey, having spent many months at different times in Sandy Spring, will come to reside permanently among old and new friends in our neigh- hood. They have named their home "Mirival," very appropriately, in view of the beautiful valley which it overlooks. Louis Stabler left Ashton store, where he had been employed four years, and secured a situation in Washington. Francis T. Lea also went into busi- ness in Washington. About this time three of our young women took advantage of an excursion ticket to visit Roanoke, Virginia. Apart from the European travelers, persors from our section had made summer or autumn trips to Gettysburg. Wilmington, Phila- delphia. Boston, Prouts Neck, the White Mountains, Richmond, Atlanta, St. Louis, Minneapolis and other points of interest.
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Eleventh month, 25th, was the day set apart by the governors of all the States as one of thanksgiving. This purely American festival was hardly noted out- side of New Engand when some of us were young, but now is becoming more general, and even in Sandy Spring a few family gatherings and dinner parties made the day one of rejoicing and praise. It is re- lated that the first feast of this kind was furnished the Pilgrims by skilled hunters sent out by Governor Bradford, who brought in wild birds, turkeys and deer from the woods around Plymouth. And often, now, at the yearly celebrations through Massachusetts, five grains of corn are placed by each guest, on the lav- ishly-filled table, as a touching reminder of those he- roic men and women, who dared famine and slaughter for their principles, and were reduced, at one time, in that terrible first winter, on an inhospitable coast, to five grains of corn apiece, no more, no less.
Eleventh month, 26th, a meeting of the only Auxili- ary Suffrage Association in the State of Maryland was held at the Lyceum, and presided over by the president, Caroline H. Miller.
The proceedings were characterized by abundant spice and good nature. Caroline H. Miller was re- elected president. James P. Stabler, secretary, Jessie B. Stabler, treasurer, and Rebecca T. Miller, vice- President. At first the audience consisted principally of little boys and their mothers, but was increased through the evening to a respectable size by numer- ous full-grown men, some of whom were speedily converted and joined the Association amid wild ap- plause, thus following the illustrious example of
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Admiral James E. Jouett, who has generally been ahead in every fight, whether he encountered bullets or ballots. Excellent papers were read for and against giving suffrage to women, by Mary Bentley Thomas and Allan Farquhar.
Twelth month, Sth. Snow covered the ground, ice ponds froze over, and we rejoiced in the prospect of a good, old-fashioned season.
About this time Dr. Francis Thomas had a sale of numerous farming implements, and removed to Washington, which is fast becoming the Mecca of our people for the winter.
The day after Christmas all the school children and college students home for the holidays were rejoiced by quite enough snowfall for good sleighing, and old and young hardly waited for the fast-falling flakes to cease to take advantage of this delightful mode of lo- comotion. Several large parties were given, and the merry jingle of bells resounded all day and far into the night.
First month, Ist, 1891. The firm of Scofield & Henderson dissolved partnership by mutual consent, and. Louis Scofield took charge of his father's farm.
The Board of Directors of the Montgomery County Mutual Fire Insurance Company reduced its rate of "interest" on premium notes for the year 1891, from four and one-half to four per cent., making the cost of insurance one-ninth less than it was in 1890. This they were enabled to do. notwithstanding the losses paid in 1890 exceeded $48,000.
The popular season for reforming the world and one's self had now come round again, and as the old
AFT
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year merged into the past, with all its hopes and icars, successes and failures, we were ready to greet the new, to make the customary good resolutions, and to turn once more the untarnished leaf that should help us to "high thinking" and right living in the months to come.
Llewellyn Stabler, who had left his business in Bal- timore, and spent some months at Sunnyside for health's sake, secured a situation at Amersley with R. Rowland Moore as general utility man.
Some severe cases of illness, which had shadowed many homes earlier in the winter, had now happily recovered ; and, as if in rebound from sorrow and anx- iety, a series of very pleasant afternoon teas and even- ing entertaininents were given; these had the merit of early and sensible hours.
First month, 24th, Hadassah J., daughter of R. Rowland and Margaret G. T. Moore, was born, and the great-grandmother at Plainfield was honored and delighted with her first namesake.
First month, 27th. The nineteenth annual con- vention of the Montgomery county farmers met at Sandy Spring, and the Lyceum hall was filled beyond it : seating capacity. Henry C. Hallowell, who had been president of the convention for eighteen years, called the meeting to order. and deliverd a valedictory address, after which B. D. Palmer, the new presiding officer, took the chair. The minutes of the meeting of committees from the several farmers' clubs were read, and showed that the following officers of the convention had been selected :
President. Benjamin D. Palmer ; vice-presidents,
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Dr. Mahlon Kirk, Roger B. Farquhar and Henry H. Miller ; secretaries, Francis Snowden and Charles I :. Bond.
The reports from the different clubs showed that the average yield of wheat per acre was about fifteen: bushels ; corn, nine barrels ; potatoes, one hundred and four bushels ; hay, one and three-quarter tons; and an immense amount of cream and butter had been sold.
Edward P. Thomas, Henry C. Alvord and Charles Abert discussed the benefits to be derived from at- tending county fairs. Some thought they would be of far more value if horse-racing and betting could be eliminated.
Interest in the proceedings was well maintained. and the different subjects treated with much anima- tion throughout the day.
A substantial lunch was provided and enjoyed, and adjournment reached at four o'clock.
Second month, 5th. Dorcas Pumphrye died at an advanced age. She was a most worthy and excep- tionally intelligent colored woman, upright and hon .- est. The mother of sixteen children, she adopted ye: another, which she cared for as her own. For many years she used the plain language and wore a Quaker bonnet, and directed that she might be buried in the old ground at Sharpstreet, in the most simple manner.
Wallace Bond came from Brookeville to live again at his home, and to enter Ashton store : later on Caleb Stabler also secured a clerkship in this popular resort for aspiring young business men.
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Second month, 6th. George L. Stabler had a sale of household goods, and on the 11th, with his family, started for Portland, Oregon, to make a new home among Orthodox Friends in that far-away State. The house occupied by him at Ashton was rented by Mr. Colt and family, from Washington.
Second month, 10th, Robert Sullivan died at his home in Ashton, in his sixty-fourth year. He was in- terred the next afternoon, at Woodside Cemetery.
Second month, IIth. George Brooke Farquhar, of Roanoke, Va., and Edith Bentley, eldest daughter of Edward P. and Mary Bentley Thomas, were married by Friends' ceremony at "Cherry Grove," the residence of Samuel P. Thomas, greatuncle of the bride, who was the sixth generation in direct line from the build- er and owner of this fine old mansion. Several rooms, the wide hall and stairway were beautifully decorated with greens and potted plants, and about one hundred and fifty persons witnessed the ceremony and signed the certificate. The young couple went to their new home in Roanoke, Va., followed by the best wishes of an exceptionally large circle of friends and near relatives.
On the 17th and 18th of Second month, the mer- cury touched seventy-two degrees at noon. Shrubs and maples budded, and the rash crocus shot up and prepared to bloom. On the 20th the ground was again covered with snow, and premature vegetation was forced to take another winter nap.
Between thirty and forty of our citizens, white and colored, were summoned to Baltimore in February, and kept there some days, sorely against their will,
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to testify in the famous case of Hammond versus the Ashton, Colesville and Washington Turnpike Com- pany, which was gained by the plaintiff, and heavy damages awarded.
The icy fetters of winter did not restrain our restless population ; like death, the Sandy Spring traveler has all seasons for his own, and some who had not been away through the summer and fall started off now to make good the record of the year. Samuel Wetherald went to California and Oregon; Mrs. A. G. Thomas and daughter, Anna, Elizabeth Tyson and Malvinia Miles went to Florida ; and our Indian agent, Benja- min H. Miller, could be traced by the persevering all over the western map of our country.
In the winter a small Chautauqua circle was form- ed at Brighton. It seems remarkable that this im- proving and wide-spread organization has compara- tively so few votaries among us.
Now that ground has been donated for a national Chautauqua at Glen Echo, our people will no doubt reap some of the benefits of being within easy reach- · ing distance of a fine summer school. The wise finan- cier will do well for posterity, if not for himself, to se- cure some choice corner lots at Glen Echo.
Third month, Arthur Douglass, son of Allan and Lottie H. Farquhar, was born.
Third month, IIth, Mrs. Bessie Starr Kieffer deliv- ered a fine address at Olney Grange Hall. This gifted and beautiful woman has spoken on the subjects of "temperance" and "woman suffrage" from New- foundland to the Gulf, and from ocean to ocean. As an evidence of her pluck and endurance, the fact may
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be chronicled that she left New Haven, Connecticut, at two o'clock that morning, eating breakfast, dinner and supper all at once at Doctor Magruder's, and a few minutes later faced her audience fresh, bright and witty, and kept them thoroughly entertained for over two hours. How soon will one of our college graduates beat this record, and afford me the pleasure of making a note of it?
Third month, 12th. The Rev. Orlando Hutton died at an advanced age at his residence, near Brookeville. This admirable Christian gentleman had been pastor of various churches in our county during many years of service in the ministry, and had officiated at many marriage ceremonies and funerals in our neighbor- hood. His golden wedding was celebrated last au- tumn, since which event he has been in feeble and failing health. He was considered among the most able and accomplished preachers of the Episcopal diocese of Maryland, and his unfailing courtesy, his cultivated mind, his timely word and untiring work for the good of humanity were the outward and visi- ble signs of inward purity and high intellectual and moral character.
Third month, 14th. Asa M. and Albina O. Stabler celebrated, at Sunnyside, the twenty-fifth anniversary of their wedding by a large evening company, making the fourth couple in our historical year to proclaim to the world that if marriage is a failure in Sandy Spring it takes more than a quarter of a century to prove it.
Third month, 15th, Alda Brooke, daughter of Sam- uel and Pattie T. Hopkins, was born.
Third month, 18th. Dr. Charles Farquhar held a
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sale of farming implements and stock, preparatory to) a long visit, and a possible residence, in the State of Washington.
Third month, 18th. A large gathering of farmers from Montgomery County filled Brighton Grange Hall during two sessions of the farmers' institute. The meeting was held under the auspices of the Maryland State Grange and the experimental de- partment of the Agricultural College, and was devoted to the discussion of milk in all its phases.
A large number of young men were present, who showed a lively interest in the proceedings. Milk separators and testers were exhibited, and their utility practically demonstrated.
Major Henry E. Alvord, of the Agricultural Col- lege, spoke of the advantages of cooperative cream- eries, and the fact that the average of creamery but- ter sold six or eight cents higher per pound than the average of dairy or home-made butter. Papers were read on the quality of milk, as it affects the farmer, and the best breeds of cattle for dairy purposes. Of these the preference was clearly given to the Jersey and Guernsey.
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