USA > Maryland > Montgomery County > Sandy Spring > Annals of Sandy Spring history of a rural community in Maryland, Volume II > Part 17
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Drought continued until wells began to fail, clouds of dust filled the air, but, as was pertinently said by one of our own people, "Dust is a concomitant of civi- lization, and only follows where the activity of man has gone before," so we bore it as well as we could.
Sherwood Friends' school opened with forty-two scholars, which number increased to fifty-four during · the year. The building has been enlarged by the addi- tion of a vestibule for the girls and two class rooms are also new. Cornelia Stabler came from New York City to reside at Cloverly and assist her son, Charles M. Stabler, principal of the school, who has associated with him as teachers in various branches Arabella Hannum, Jessie B. Stabler, Bessie P. M. Thom, Sarah Farquhar, Elise Hutton and Sallie P. Brooke.
Ellen Farquhar and Rebecca T. Miller returned in this month from an extensive tour abroad.
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Ninth month, 19th and 20th, many persons, white and colored, went to Washington to see the great pa- rade of the Grand Army of the Republic-over 80,000 men in line-and a splendid illumination and electrical display at night, plainly visible in our skies.
William Brooke, son of the late James W. Brooke, a member of the G. A. R., came to visit his birthplace, "Charley Forest," after an absence of thirty-three years. He noted many changes in that time, and was only able to recognize three or four of his former ac- quaintances.
Emily T. Brooke was appointed teacher of the pub- lic school at Brookeville, and Miss Dove, of Rock- ville, took charge of the public school at Sandy Spring. Later on Miss Renshaw and Miss Hender- son, of Spencerville, were appointed teachers at Oak- ley school.
Ninth month, 24th. Edward J. Farquhar resumed his lectures at Alloway, on "Foreign States and Their Politics." Sandy Spring is more deeply indebted to this citizen than it, perhaps, realizes. For many years he has willingly and cheerfully spread before us in these informal talks the phenomenal store of his var- ied knowledge on a wide range of subjects, always in- teresting and. full of instruction, and the meetings of this literary society, which has neither local habitation nor name, has been continued fortnightly up to this date to the edification of all in attendance.
Ninth month, 25th. "The Friends' social and re- ligious circle" convened again, and met at Tangle- wood. Many boarders and guests still lingered ; our meetings on first days were invariably large, and the
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acceptable ministrations of several of the younger members of society stirred the members and renewed spiritual fires.
As some compensation for the storms of early sum- mer, the intense heat of later months, and the long- continued drought, perfect weather came on with the season once called "the fall of the leaf," but now shorn of half its title in these hustling days of quick think- ing, speedy action and curtailed speech.
The foliage, changing slowly, soon presented a panorama of unusual gorgeousness, many remarking not only the brilliancy of the autumn tints, but their long continuance.
. Mary S. Hallowell went to Savannah, Ga., to be assistant teacher in the private school of Emelyn Hart- ridge, of that city.
Tenth month, 2nd, Washington Hallowell, son of Washington, jr., and Eliza M. H. Chichester, was horn.
At noon, Tenth month, 4th, Robert E. Marshall, of Virginia, and Martha Ellicott, daughter of the late Henry and Mary G. Tyson, were married at Marden by Episcopal ceremony, in the presence of a few rela- tives and intimate friends. The young couple drove away in the brilliant afternoon sunshine, followed by good wishes and happy predictions. They will reside in Wilmington, Delaware.
Republican and democratic meetings now prevail- ed. and the voice of the politician was heard in the land. Parties and issues were strangely mixed ; voters went to bed republicans and arose democrats, or vice versa; prohibition and people's candidates, and
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female aspirants appeared in the field. In this multi- tude of contending interests all hoped for victory, while each feared defeat.
On the evening of Tenth month, 6th, a number of friends called at the home of Charles G. and Jane T. Porter to congratulate them on attaining the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding-day, they being the ninth couple in this community, within the last thirty years, who have been permitted to live together half a cen- tury.
Tenth month, 12th. Incorporators of the Washing- ton, Colesville and Ashton Electric Road met. For the route from Burnt Mills to Ashton, Robert H. Mil- ler, Dr. Francis Thomas, Alban G. Thomas, George Bonefant, Asa M. Stabler and William E. Mannakee represented our section. There is, of course, some diversity of opinion as regards the desirability of in- creased facilities for either getting into, or out of, our neighborhood. Many are willing the railroad should run through their front yards, and others think it will sound the death knell of the pleasant seclusion of real country life. Relying on past experiences, rather than future hopes, there seems no immediate danger of any other method of travel than the stage, or private conveyance, for some time to come.
Tenth month, 21st and 22nd, members of the Plainfield, the Cedars, Mt. Airy and Norwood fami- lies made a pleasant excursion to the Sugar-Loaf mountain, enjoying on the way the beautiful aspect of old Montgomery in gayest autumn colors; the party was delighted to discover such charming scen- ery within a day's ride of their own doors.
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George Nesbitt, jr., returned to his former home, "Longwood," and resumed farming ; he had been for some years employed in the offices of the Norfolk & Western Railroad at Roanoke, and Kenova, Virginia. We have had to note the departure of so many young men from our midst in past years, let us hope the re- turning tide has set hitherward.
Tenth month, 27th. A fine barn was successfully raised at "Amersley," and this item reminds your his- torian that in 1887 a barn was built at Ingleside which received no mention in the historical notes of that year. It is well to be reminded of these dropped stitches, and still better to be allowed to take them up and correct the record.
The appointment of Robert H. Miller, as chief of the experiment station at the agricultural college, Prince George county, about this time, met with general approval from his friends and neighbors; it was noteworthy from the fact that in this instance the office had unquestionably sought the man.
George Tatum and family moved from Howard county to the farm at the junction of the Hawlings and Patuxent rivers, known as "The Cliffs," now owned by Charles R. Hartshorne.
Mrs. Jane Clark, of Massachusetts, the first instruct- or of the colored people here after the war, made a visit to the neighborhood and addressed them at church and school.
Indian summer, which seems to combine the sweet- ness of all seasons came early in the Eleventh month, as the poet expresses it,
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"Now past the yellow regiments of corn, There came an Indian maiden autumn born- And June returned and held her by the hand, And led Times' smiling Ruth, throughout the land, A veil of yellow hair was o'er her flung-
The south wind whispered and the robins sung."
In sharp contrast to the soft beauty of these mild, hazy days, on Eleventh month, 9th, there was sleet and snow.
The Chinese-tea inaugurated by Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Davis, and others, was given at Olney Grange hall on the afternoon of the 17th, and was a great success financially and socially. Many useful and pretty articles were sold at low prices, and refresh- ments served at reasonable rates. Over one hundred dollars was realized, which was devoted to temperance work and charities in this vicinity.
Eleventh month, 16th, Elizabeth L., daughter of Charles R. and Nellie L. Hartshorne, was born.
Eleventh month, 19th, Roger B. Farquhar and wife, of Rock Spring, celebrated their silver wedding ; num- erous friends and relatives attended this pleasant re- union. Twelve other new and old brides were brave enough to array themselves in their wedding gowns, which ranged in age from two months to twenty-seven years. Many were exceedingly quaint, but had all, in their day, been the very "glass of fashion and mould of form."
Edward C. Gilpin disposed of a number of lots varying in size from one to twenty acres, part of a large tract purchased by the late. Albert Gilpin, of Bal- timore, from the Chandlee heirs. This land was
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mostly sold to colored persons, who have, in our his- torical year, built several neat houses on their own land, and a new church below Ashton.
The many friends of Mrs. Cornelia Strain, widow of the late Capt. Strain were much shocked by her very sudden death from heart disease, on the 25th, at her home, near Olney. The interment was in Wash- ington .**
Eleventh month, 27th, nearly all the numerous friends and nephews and other relatives of our genial and well-beloved friend, George E. Brooke, called on him at Brooke Grove, to congratulate him on being eighty years young, and to wish him happy returns of his birthday.
The Rev. Mr. Keiffer, of Chambersburg, Pa., gave a finished discourse at the Lyceum, on the evening of Eleventh month, 30th. His subject was, "Realism , and Idealism."
"The Woman's Suffrage Association of Maryland" held its annual meeting. Caroline H. Miller refused to be reelected president, and Mary Bentley Thomas was chosen presiding officer. Several original papers were read and speeches made. Caroline H. Miller, Mary E. Moore, Sarah T. Miller and Arabella Han- num were appointed to attend the national conven- tion at Washington, in the First month.
John C. Bentley, Henry H. Miller. Frank M. Hallo- well and William Gilpin went on their annual hunt, this year invading Middlesex county, Va., where they found abundant game.
Mahlon Kirk, jr., and Miss May Woodward were married by Episcopal ceremony, Twelfth month, 7th,
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at the home of the bride, in Washington, follow- ing an English custom the young folks came immedi- ately to "Woodburn," which the family had vacated, they going on trips while the newly-married couple remained at home.
Twelfth month, 15th. Intensely cold weather be- gan, splendid ice was gathered and stored, a long hard winter was upon us, and there was no cessation of its rigors for many weeks.
On the afternoon of the 24th the fine barn, com- paratively new, at Philip T. Stabler's, was totally de- stroyed by fire, supposed to be caused, as in many other cases, by the dangerous friction match, the blaze first appearing in the very top of the building.
Despite an "eager and a searching wind," many came into the neighborhood on the 24th to revisit their old homes, and in pleasant family reunions, par- take of Christmas cheer. While some of the old sup- erstitions about this festival are dying out, there are few who do not still deck the house and table with holly, burn the yule log, and sacrifice the largest tur- key in the flock on that particular day.
Twelfth month, 29th, at Yuba City, California, B. Gilpin Stabler died in his fifty-ninth year. It was his own request that his remains should be brought back to his old home, and buried by the side of his mother, to whom he had been most devoted. His funeral ser- vices were held at the meeting-house, First month, 8th, 1893. He was the first of the large family of ten children of the late Edward and Ann R. Stabler to pass away, and though he had wandered far and wide, it was within sight of his birthplace, "Harewood," that
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he was laid to rest. For eight years previous to his death he had been successfully engaged in fruit raising on a ranch in California.
Of excellent abilities and ever ready to extend the helping hand he did more for others than for himself, and had that kindliness of heart and delicacy of feel- ing that secured him many friends and no enemies.
The mercury continued to hover around and below zero, sleighing was excellent, the ponds and rivers were deeply frozen, and the young folks merrily skated the old year out and the new year in on the icy Patuxent, and we who are nearing our half century mile-post sagely remarked that it was a real old-fashioned win- ter, and much more healthful than the half-and-half seasons of recent years. But few cases of sickness prevailed, and the remarkable recovery of little Doug- lass Farquhar from the dangerous operation of trach- eotomy relieved the whole community from the heart- felt sympathy and anxiety it had shared for many weeks with the family at "The Cedars."
Elizabeth B. Smith and daughter, and Arthur Stab- ler and wife were settled in Baltimore for the winter; Dr. Francis Thomas and family, M. Edith Farquhar and Malvinia Miles in Washington ; Caroline H. Mil- ler went on a long visit to New York; and Mary E. Gilpin to Baltimore.
Samuel S. Bond secured a situation in Washington. Walter Scott and wife returned from their homestead in Florida to take up their abode with us again for a time.
Elizabeth Scott established a dancing-class at her .
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home, for children, and a few of older growth ambi- tious to "trip the light, fantastic toe."
First month, 24th. President Gilman, of the Johns Hopkins University, delivered, to an attentive audi- ence at the Lyceum, a lecture called, "Glimpses of the Mediterranean," which embraced some interesting facts regarding the history of the many nations which live on the shores of this inland sea, and more especi- ally he explained the great "eastern question," always convulsing Europe.
At Norbeck, on the very outskirts in one direction of our rather limitless settlement, appeared about this time a bright, little paper called "The Anonymous News," of which John E. Muncaster was editor and printer.
The annual convention of farmers met at the Lyceum First month, 31st, 1893, and was largely attended. In addition to more than two hundred Montgomery county agriculturists, there were visitors from How- ard county, Baltimore, the eastern shore of Maryland, Washington, Alexandria and Fairfax county, Va.
The discussions were animated, and in the end some of the questions under consideration had to be post- poned for want of time. Benjamin D. Palmer presid- ed, and Henry H. Miller and J. Janney Shoemaker were the secretaries.
The committee on railroad crossings reported that , while there had been some improvement there was still room for more at Rockville and Silver Spring. Rob- ert H. Miller presented an article on potato culture, of much interest and suggestion. The crop reports from the Senior, the Enterprise and the Montgomery
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Clubs were read. The average yield of corn had been about eight and a-half barrels per acre ; wheat, twenty bushels ; potatoes, fifty bushels ; oats, eighteen bush- els; rye, twelve bushels ; hay, a little over one ton.
One member reported one hundred and thirty-six: pounds of butter from one cow, and one had sold $175 worth of eggs from one hundred and twenty-five hens.
A vast amount of cream and butter had been dis- posed of, but the year had been far from profitable, al- most every product falling below rather than above the average.
The question, "By what practical means can our county roads be improved and made thoroughfares?" was discussed. Some thought that the county should issue bonds sufficient to build good stone roads every- where ; others that individual effort and unity of action were all that was needed; others, that national aid should be extended, as the government expends large sums annually to remove obstructions from harbors and rivers ; it might as well improve the public high- ways, and make it as convenient for the countryman to get his wagon to market as his boatload of produce.
On the evening of Second month, 8th, thirty-six gentlemen, ranging in age from eighteen to seventy- eight years, were entertained at Plainfield by the "one-man club," Henry W. Davis.
If it was a brave person who swallowed the first oyster these gentlemen were heroic in their efforts to test the many delightful methods in which this cele- brated bivalve can be prepared and eaten. As the menu card proclaimed,
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"They are good for the sick, They are good for the well,
They are good in the stewpan They are good in the shell, They are good as a roast, They are good as a fry-
Good to stuff turkeys with, Good in a pie."
Mrs. Davis and a corps of maids and matrons passed the viands and assisted at the long table spread through the rooms, brilliantly lighted, and adorned with blooming plants. The venerable Hadassah J. Moore looked in a moment to speak a kindly word and wel- come all to Plainfield. The host at one end of the ample board, ably assisted by William W. Moore, at the other, presided admirably.
Three hours were spent most happily as "course succeeded course," and the "feast of reason and flow of soul" was uninterrupted.
Letters of regret purporting to come from the Prince of Wales, Bismarck, Harrison, Cleveland and Wanamaker were read at intervals By Mr. Davis, and were responded to with much point and humor by Henry C. Hallowell, Prof. W. T. Thom, Charles M. Stabler, Henry H. Miller and others.
George F. Nesbitt and John C. Bentley sang solos, and the hunting club gave their ear-splitting chorus and other songs. Various speeches from gentlemen "too full for utterance" testified to the success of one of the most unique and delightful occasions ever en- joyed in our neighborhood, celebrated for every kind of society and organization except this latest addition to the list, "The one-man club."
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If "ease is the lovely result of forgotten toil," it seemed now as if we had abundant time to cultivate the amenities in our own homes, and enjoy the leisure of rural life, which only comes in the depths of winter, when frequent storms and obstructed roads shut out the world and confine us closer to our own hearth . stones.
With the warmth and comfort inside, the pleasant book, the open fire, who has not dreamed before the blazing logs of all that Helen Hunt expressed when she wrote :
"Oh, helpless body of hickory tree! What do I burn in burning thee?
Summers of sun, winters of snow- Springs full of sap's resistless flow, All past year's joys of garnered fruits,
All this year's purposed buds and shoots,
Secrets of fields of upper air-
Secrets which stars and planets share.
Lights of such smiles as broad skies fling, Sounds of such tunes as wild birds sing; Voices which told where gay birds dwelt,
Voices which told where lovers knelt;
O strong white body of hickory tree, How dare I burn all these in thee!"
To those who have seeing eyes there can be no season which does not hold its own peculiar charm, and the snow-covered fields, the delicate tracery of the dark, bare trees against the sky, the dull green of the cedars and pines, toning in with the sleeping world, are all fraught with beauty and manifold suggestion to the true lover of nature. We country folk should learn all the mysteries and get close to the innermost heart
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of the universal mother earth, since we who possess her woods and fields are her favored children.
After long weary hours of suffering, with brief, sharp illness, or swift as the lightning stroke, to one and all must come in time the pale messenger, and often to those whose hold on life seems most secure who are in the full tide of maturity and usefulness the mysterious door is abruptly opened, and the friend we thought most likely to remain passes through before.
As a great shock came the tidings of the sudden death of Samuel Hopkins, of White Hall, on the night of Second month, 15th, in his fifty-fourth year.
He had retired apparently in excellent health, and in a moment, without a word of warning, he arose from his bed, took a few steps and fell dead. A manly man of fine presence and vigorous physique, it seemed impossible that he was to be laid away, and the beauti- ful old home so filled with his cheerfulness, the devoted wife and little children would know him no longer. He had that knowledge of the world, that experience of men and affairs that made him a most valuable citi- zen, and one whose advice was constantly sought. He was greatly interested in the club and the horticul- tural ; was an extensive and successful farmer, and the surrounding country will keenly feel the loss it has sustained in his untimely death.
Hospitable to a marked degree and generous in thought and deed, he had constantly helped others to help themselves, the truest form of charity. Many persons from Howard and Montgomery counties and other sections attended his funeral on the afternoon of the 18th, at Woodside Cemetery.
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On the following seventh day afternoon, the Enter- prise club met at Plainfield, and, after the reading of the report of the previous meeting of that body, in the First month, at White Hall, by the secretary pro tem., the following tribute was offered :
"It seems fitting that the minutes of the last time our organization will ever convene at this beautiful . and hospitable home, should conclude with a reference to the great loss we have sustained. Just four weeks ago this afternoon we gathered at White Hall, the guests of our beloved and respected fellow-member, Samuel Hopkins, and now we have to chronicle his most unexpected demise, on the morning of Second month, 18th, 1893, called in an instant, as it were, from works to reward. One of the first to join the Enter- prise club his interest had never flagged in the twenty- seven years of its existence. Whole-souled, generous, cheerful, the friend alike of rich and poor, old and · young, what he was to us individually and collectively, we may partly compute, knowing that he was even more valuable to the community in which his lines were cast.
"We believe that the seed sown by the life and char- acter of this faithful comrade, good citizen and de- voted husband and father will yet bear fruit a hundred- fold in Howard county."
Second month, 23rd. The second of the regular course of lectures was delivered by Anson A. Maher. of Wilmington, Delaware. His subject, "Travels in South Central Africa," followed by incidents of the Zulu war, in which the Prince Imperial of France lost his life, was a very interesting narrative, indeed.
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The Sandy Spring library, after an existence sup- ported by subscription and donation of fifty years, was declared absolutely free to all responsible per- sons by action of the board of directors, and Mary Fowler continued as librarian. About this time a new industry was inaugurated in the establishment of a daily milk-route from the farms of Edward P. Thomas and George Willson. Cream has flowed towards the District in a steady stream for some years, but if we can now induce the inhabitants of neighboring cities to use our skim-milk we will be fortunate in disposing of our surplus, as most of us have observed that while there is a great deal of skim-milk, so to speak, along life's pathway, there is generally a very small propor- tion of cream.
Third month, Ist. Alban G. Thomas, who has been for twenty-two and a-half years engaged in business at Ashton, associated J. Wallace Bond with him, the new firm to continue business under the name of A. G. Thomas & Co. E. Clifton Thomas entered the es- tablishment as clerk.
Third month, 2nd. 'At a directors' meeting and the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the savings institution of Sandy Spring, the treasurer. Jos- eph T. Moore, submitted a report and resume of the · corporation since its inception, Third month, 30th, 1869.
Of the twenty-six gentleman named as incorporators in its charter of that date, eleven have died, four re- signed, and eleven still remain as members of the board. In this quarter of a century over a million dollars have been received from depositors, over $820,-
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000 returned to them, and $125,000 paid out in inter- est. The treasurer recommended that in view of the amount of surplus on hand, and in commemoration of this twenty-fifth anniversary, an extra dividend of two per cent. in addition to the regular four per cent. should be declared, which was promptly acted on and approved by the board of directors. The same officers continue in charge of this institution ; Charles G. Por- ter, president ; Robert R. Moore, vice-president ; Jos- eph T. Moore, treasurer, and Allan Farquhar, sec- retary.
On Christmas day, 1892, our esteemed friend, Rich- ard T. Kirk, of Fair Hill, had a severe fall, which frac- tured the bones of his leg. Other complications seem- ed to arise from this accident, and he lingered in much pain and discomfort until Third month, 5th, when death released him from all earthly suffering. Devot- edly nursed by his family and neighbors through all these weary months, he evinced the most patient and uncomplaining spirit, and was resigned to the inevit- able change which he anticipated with a calmness that knew no fear. Born and reared in Sandy Spring, his long life of nearly seventy-four years had been spent closely at home, where his hospitality and great kind- ness of heart drew around him hosts of friends.
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